A Will Eternal

Bai Xiaochun’s eyes lit up. Although he hadn’t detected the Essence aura, his cultivation base had surged, and his Time Immemorial Codex had automatically become active.

Clearly, this world was to him like sweet dew to a parched traveler, and it instantly caused his heart to begin pounding.

However, after what had developed with the old ghost woman, he was completely on guard against any type of danger, and would definitely not act rashly. The first thing he did was send out his divine sense to simply observe the hourglasses that made up the world!

As he did, his expression flickered, and eventually, a look of dumbstruck awe filled his face.

“Hey, little automaton, look at that world… can you see… that one particularly strange area?!?!”

By this point, Bai Xiaochi had mostly recovered from his earlier shock. After looking down at the world, he found the area Bai Xiaochun had referred to, and yet, couldn’t see it any clearer than Bai Xiaochun could. However, there were fluctuations coming from it that seemed incredibly powerful!!

Bai Xiaochun also sensed the fluctuations, and they caused his entire body to thrum.

“Sovereign aura! There’s a sovereign aura there!” Bai Xiaochun and Bai Xiaochi shared a shaken glance. At the same time, Bai Xiaochun was already coming up with some speculations about what was happening!

“I wonder… if this sunken area within the void is actually an enormous hourglass…. And that world is the middle of the hourglass. And maybe that strange area is actually the other half of the hourglass!

“If I'm right, then this hourglass must be the precious treasure of a sovereign! And it’s currently ownerless!” The mere thought caused his eyes to shine brightly, and his heart to race. With that, he flew off of the fan with the intention of circling the area a few times, trying to see if he could take the precious treasure that was this hourglass with him.

Bai Xiaochi’s eyes immediately went wide.

“Don’t cause any more trouble, Bai Xiaochun! This is probably a magical item similar to me! And it’s not damaged or incomplete. If you piss it off, we’re both finished!!”

Clearing his throat, Bai Xiaochun replied with the usual, “Don’t worry, I have plenty of experience with this kind of thing!” 

Bai Xiaochi’s mind instantly began to spin as he realized that Bai Xiaochun had said this exact same thing before. Then he realized what Bai Xiaochun meant by having experience in this specific situation, and his eyes began to burn with anger.

However, after a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that Bai Xiaochun would really have no way of successfully taking the hourglass.

As for Bai Xiaochun, he was feeling very distressed about the situation. After all, the hourglass was different from the damaged fan. The only reason he had successfully acquired the fan was because it was damaged, whereas this hourglass wasn’t harmed in any way.

Obviously, it was a precious treasure that would surely have its own spirit automaton. And since it wasn’t a legacy item, it couldn't be taken by force except by someone with the power of a sovereign.

Not willing to give up so easily, he put some thought into the matter and then produced his turtle-wok. However, not even performing a spirit enhancement on it seemed to do anything.

Eventually, he realized what the problem was. It wasn’t that spirit enhancements didn’t work on the hourglass. Rather, it was simply too powerful. Performing a onefold spirit enhancement on it wouldn’t do anything, and if he tried to perform more enhancements, it could provoke the wrath of the hourglass's spirit automaton.

When Bai Xiaochi realized what he was doing, he shouted, “Stop it! Stop it!! Listen to me, Bai Xiaochun. That precious treasure’s spirit automaton is asleep. If you perform spirit enhancements and wake it up, we’re both doomed!”

Bai Xiaochun hesitated for a moment as he analyzed the situation. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that trying to force spirit enhancements onto the hourglass could very likely incite a deadly storm of consequences. After some more hesitation, he sighed and abandoned the idea. However, he still wasn’t ready to give up.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochi was on the verge of weeping. Over the years, living with Bai Xiaochun had been too nerve-wracking…. No, too dangerous! Back when Bai Xiaochi had been alone on the fan, he had never encountered any problems. But with Bai Xiaochun, he faced one danger after another.

The old paper woman was bad enough. If they ended up having a precious treasure filled with the Essence of time trying to chase them down and kill them, well, Bai Xiaochi didn’t see how he could take it.

“I can’t handle this. Sometimes this bastard is a coward, and sometimes he's a psycho! I have to think of a way to distract him, otherwise he's going to end up pissing off that precious treasure….” His eyes turned up in thought for a long moment, and then lit up.

“Milord, look, that world of hourglasses is definitely the best place to gain enlightenment of the Essence of time! It would be really beneficial for you to do that!

“Besides, I noticed before that the technique you cultivate has something to do with the Essence of time. This place is basically a holy land for you!

“Aren’t you stuck in a bottleneck with your flame conjuring? If you gain some enlightenment of the Essence here, it will probably help you break through that bottleneck. Since the spirit automaton is asleep, it's the perfect time. After all, once it awakens, you won’t have the same chance again!

“Don’t worry, milord. I’ll stand as Dharma protector for you. I won’t let anything dangerous happen while you’re seeking enlightenment!” Worried that Bai Xiaochun wouldn’t trust him, he unleashed his divine sense in dramatic and potentially harmful fashion, causing the fan’s detection and defense abilities to surge into action.

Bai Xiaochi’s suggestion actually made sense to Bai Xiaochun. That was especially so considering that his Time Immemorial Codex seemed to be leaping with anticipation. And he was in a bottleneck with his twenty-seven-colored flame. After taking another look at the hourglass, he decided that gaining some enlightenment would probably make it easier to acquire it for his own. And even if he didn’t, he would at least come out with some level of benefit.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, and seeing that Bai Xiaochi was really going all out, he sighed and gave the spirit automaton a nod of approval. After sending out his own divine sense one more time to make sure that nothing was amiss, he flew toward the hourglass world.

At this point, Bai Xiaochi finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he mused that being with Bai Xiaochun in situations like this was potentially life-threatening.

Meanwhile, Bai Xiaochun was getting closer and closer to the hourglass world. Nothing was opposing his approach though, so soon, he was descending into the world itself.

As he did, his expression flickered as he realized that the flow of time was completely different. In fact, it seemed that time flowed differed even within different areas of the world.

In some places, it slowed nearly to a standstill. In other places, it was to his shock that he realized that it moved ten times faster, even a hundred or a thousand….

As he moved through this shocking world, he saw the endless hourglasses of varying sizes. Some were tens of thousands of meters tall, others were the size of a hand.

Soon, he came to realize that the chaotic nature of time within this world was a function of the hourglasses themselves. Each hourglass had a different flow of time.

“Different worlds, different natural laws…. In that old ghost woman’s world, magical techniques and divine abilities don’t work, and one’s flesh and blood become paper. In here, the laws are different!” He had seen and experienced a lot on his journey through the void, giving him a much different perspective on life.

As of now, he knew that each of these hourglasses contained the natural laws of this world, and could influence their environment. With each moment that passed, he felt more and more shocked.

“But what could have created these differences in time?”