CHAPTER 46: A DAD-MAKING OPERATION FROM THE FUTURE?

The face let out a sigh, as if it was already certain that Lu Chen wouldn't agree. "Sigh... You've been this stubborn since you were a child. Trust me, the sooner you give in, the sooner you'll benefit from it.

"One day, you'll need my power. But by then, the price you'll have to pay... is something you'll never dare accept. I am you, and you are me. If you ever need me, just summon me. The Dad-Making Project is always on standby."

The face stared intently at Lu Chen, its expression tinged with reluctance. As it slowly faded, it murmured, "Take care of Wan'er. I hope that day never comes, the day you and I make a deal."

Watching the movement of the face's lips, Wind Dragon had a sudden realization that he might've just glimpsed the truth behind a hidden secret.

He decided to test his theory. He opened his mouth, infused his voice with his core spirit qi, and shouted at the face, "Coward!"

The face, which had been vanishing, suddenly froze mid-disappearance. "What did you say? Oh crap... I'm doomed..."

Wind Dragon vaguely heard the startled mutter before the face vanished completely without a trace. It lasted only for a moment, but Wind Dragon had seen it all, and a few thoughts began to take shape in his mind.

***

Lu Chen looked up at the Green Sovereign Divine Tree. "It's gone?"

Wind Dragon furrowed his brows slightly, sensing the lingering energies around them. Upon hearing Lu Chen's voice, he replied, "It's really gone this time. There's no trace of its presence left."

Lu Chen's expression finally eased. He slowly walked toward the Green Sovereign Divine Tree.

"By the way, Wind Dragon, I need to talk to you. When others are around, could you stop mocking me? I'd like to maintain a bit of dignity."

He had assumed Wind Dragon had just called him a coward. The thought left him in a foul mood, grumbling as he walked up to the tree. He then reached out to grab it.

Still preoccupied with what had just happened, Wind Dragon gave a half-hearted response, "Alright, alright. When there are people around, I'll give you some face."

Even so, Wind Dragon remained uneasy. He was worried there might still be traces of the face lingering nearby. To be safe, he summoned a fierce gust of wind, sweeping away every last remnant of the face's presence.

Just then, a compressed message shot straight into Wind Dragon's mind. "My dear hoarder dragon, you did well. Don't worry. I've already erased all traces of myself from this world. No one in the present world can detect me."

Wind Dragon quickly turned his head to scan the surroundings, but saw no one.

"No need to look. I'm temporarily residing inside his body. This is our little secret. Don't let him find out I'm here. And remember one more thing. I'm not the only one who can come to this place... nor the only one searching for him."

Cold sweat broke out over Wind Dragon's back. He quickly activated a secret voice transmission technique and replied, "Is it really you? What do you mean by that?"

But no answer came.

***

Lu Chen stood at the center of the room, staring at the stone monument the Hunyuan Greatsword had pierced. He tried several methods to examine it. "If this monument can't be repaired, then how are we supposed to activate the trial?"

Lu Chen knew that the temporal power of the tower's first floor had already been condensed into the planetary jade token. The planet itself had transformed into the jade token, and as long as he possessed the primordial five-element core essences, he could activate it.

Nevertheless, he still wanted to try. Perhaps he could use his own spirit qi to unlock the first floor of the Tower of Time.

Wind Dragon saw Lu Chen circling the monument anxiously and explained, "Little Lu, stop looking. The stone monument is just a link, a bridge. The real temporal power resides in the planet. Now that the planet is gone, this floor's temporal power no longer exists.

"Just insert the Hunyuan Greatsword into the center of the stone monument and use the jade token to release the temporal power. That'll restore the stone monument's energy."

"Is there no other way to activate it?"

Lu Chen didn't want to use the jade token right away, fearing he might get entangled in unknown karmic threads.

Wind Dragon immediately saw through his concerns. "It's too late for that. The karmic ties you fear have already latched onto you. Maybe this really is your destined path."

Lu Chen was still hesitant, his hand hovering over the jade token as he hesitated.

Wind Dragon lay on top of Lu Chen's head, idly grooming his scales as he continued, "Don't worry. That face definitely won't harm you. So what if it's destiny? Do you believe in it? I don't."

Lu Chen sighed deeply. "Looks like we don't have much of a choice, then."

He picked up the planetary jade token with his left hand and pressed it into the slot on the sword's hilt.

The circular slot on the hilt responded to the aura of the planetary jade token, instantly shifting into a rounded depression that matched the shape of the planet.

Lu Chen firmly pressed the token into the slot.

Eight brilliant blue streams of light emerged from the jade token. The front ends of the streams slithered like serpents, coiling around the hilt of the Hunyuan Greatsword, forming a protective layer around the token.

The eight streams of light neatly divided the jade token into eight fan-shaped sections, each aligning with a cardinal direction.

The trailing ends of the streams pierced through the void, stretching forward into nothingness. They gradually faded, disappearing into the unknown, as if connecting to something unseen.

Lu Chen could clearly sense that each of the light streams flowed through time at a different rate.

Some rushed forward, others moved sluggishly. One held still, while another even moved in reverse.

Due to the varying flow of time, the space around the Hunyuan Greatsword twisted and distorted continuously.

Sensing the changes, Wind Dragon urged, "Little Lu, insert the Hunyuan Greatsword into the center of the stone monument."

The stone monument sensed both the greatsword and the warped time around it.

A powerful pulling force erupted. The greatsword was drawn in instantly.

With a thunderous boom, the Hunyuan Greatsword slammed into the missing section of the stone monument, locking in place.

The structure was now complete. The flows of time traveling along each blue strand of light immediately stabilized.

From the slot in the sword hilt, the jade token slowly floated upward.

It began to swell, inflating like a balloon, then transformed once more into a miniature planet. It hovered quietly above the stone monument.

The distorted flow of time around them gradually calmed.

***

Lu Chen looked around in mild astonishment at the changes. "That's all? Let's see if I can control it, then."

He gripped the Hunyuan Greatsword with both hands and started trying to control the flow of time.

He poured spirit qi into the greatsword, but nothing happened. He tried immersing his consciousness into the stone monument. Still nothing. He even rammed his head into the small planet, only for it to end in utter failure.

The surrounding flow of time remained stable. Nothing changed.

"Wind Dragon, are you sure this timeflow thing is as amazing as you said?"

Wind Dragon scoffed. "Little Lu, are you seriously that dumb? Didn't that guy mention the primordial five-element core essences?"

As he spoke, Wind Dragon opened his mouth and spat out a swirling mass of green energy.

Lu Chen's eyes widened. He reached out and gave it a light touch. "What's this? The energy in it feels incredibly strong."

Wind Dragon casually explained while glancing at the planet floating in midair. "This is my core power. Wind is from the wood category, so this is wood-element core essence."

He swiftly formed a hand seal and pushed the green energy vortex toward the small planet.

Hearing that Wind Dragon had released his core power, Lu Chen couldn't help but feel a bit worried. "Wait! Your core power? Won't that affect you?"

"It's fine. This was something I accumulated over the years. Beasts like me, born of the energies across heaven and earth, generate one of these every ten thousand years. I've still got two more. You can have them all if you want."

"Besides, this energy is no longer important to me. I already have a physical body, and I'm cultivating a demon core now."

Wind Dragon didn't seem the least bit concerned that his core power was being used as fuel.

Lu Chen had no more reasons to argue and turned his gaze back toward the floating planet.

The green energy stopped above it.

Thousands of fine rays of light spread from the vortex, slowly infusing its core essence into the miniature world.

In Lu Chen's eyes, everything on the planet seemed to speed up, as if someone had pressed fast-forward. Movements accelerated tenfold in an instant.

He uttered in surprise as he sensed the drastic shift.. "Time is speeding up?"

Wind Dragon saw the change on the planet. Knowing they had succeeded, he couldn't stop himself from teasing Lu Chen. "Looks like one core essence can boost the time flow by ten times. Once you gather all five, it could reach a hundred thousand times[1]. Who knows? Maybe your dream of becoming the King of Time really will come true."

"Really? Ten times from just one?"

Lu Chen's heart itched with longing as he watched the rapid evolution of the miniature world. However, he soon frowned. "Still, it's not that simple. Even ignoring the costs, where would I even find the other core essences?"

"Core essences? I know where to find one more. Have you forgotten where we are right now?"

Wind Dragon looked at Lu Chen, his eyebrows twitching, signaling for him to say it.

Lu Chen caught Wind Dragon's hint and replied tentatively, "The Beast King's secret realm... right?"

Wind Dragon continued guiding him, "And what's our next move?"

"To find the Flame Demon," Lu Chen answered immediately.

"And why are we finding the Flame Demon, Little Lu? Say it nice and loud."

"We're going to get the Fire Essence!" Lu Chen blurted, then froze. "Wait! Fire Essence... that's the fire-element core essence!"

After Wind Dragon's prodding, Lu Chen finally realized that the place they were about to visit held one of the pure five-element core essences.

"That's right. And after that, we should visit all the other chieftains. With the Beast King's inheritance backing us, it shouldn't be a problem to ask them for a few core essences."

Wind Dragon's words sounded like divine music to Lu Chen's ears. He went on to say, "With that, the issue of the primordial five-element core essences is solved. As long as we don't go to the upper layer, we won't need to worry about spirit qi either. Becoming the King of Time will be a done deal."

Lu Chen's imagination took flight. He began picturing himself cultivating for tens of thousands of years in a single day. He couldn't hold back the excitement, and his grin stretched nearly to his ears. "This feels amazing. Hahaha! I, Lu Chen, the future King of Time, am finally about to make my debut!"

1. 5 core essences should logically give you 10 × 5 = 50× or possibly 10⁵ = 100,000× if it were exponential. ☜