Chapter 17: An Instant, Ten Thousand Years

Ji Ning, Cangjiang Zhenren, Yu Wei, Jiu Lian, Mu Zishuo, Xue Hongyi, and the others were all extremely tense.

A faint glimmer of light could even be seen at Yu Wei's brow.

Ji Ning's primalforce had already seeped into his storage treasure, within which lay a green leaf. On the surface of the green leaf were gray runes, giving the leaf an aura of boundless mystery. This was one of two protective curios Ji Ning had exchanged at the Water Mansion, specifically for preserving his life.

"Hmm?" Jiu Lian clenched her fists, and white lotuses faintly appeared on the skin of the back of her hands.

Each of them was in a state of readiness to activate their protective treasures at any moment, all staring nervously at the warship and the golden light shield that had begun to shimmer and shift.

"Boom!" The enormous, fierce wave slammed heavily against the warship's light shield.

The warship tumbled violently, then continued charging forward.

Inside the tumbling warship, Ji Ning and the others stood as if their feet were nailed to the deck, their eyes involuntarily widening as they stared fixedly at the warship.

"Crack, crack, crack..." A series of sounds came from within the warship, and the golden light shield even began to dim.

"Argh! Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Shaoyan Nong roared, but a scroll appeared in his hand. The scroll was ordinary; the paper might have been rare in the Ji clan, but it was quite common in Anchan City.

Yet on this seemingly ordinary scroll was written a single character—

Still!

"Still!" Ji Ning and the others were all captivated by this single character on the scroll. The simple character exuded an aura of the Dao that was vaster and more expansive than the Dao of Rain or the Dao of Blazing Fire that Ji Ning usually comprehended. It even stirred in Ji Ning and the others a desire to submit and worship.

"Hum!"

The character 'Still' on the scroll suddenly blazed with light, emitting a hazy radiance that illuminated the surroundings, including the massive wave of sea monsters nearby.

At that moment, the wind stopped, and the water stopped.

It was as if heaven and earth had been frozen.

Ji Ning and the others were completely unaffected, and they were all stunned.

"This, this, what's going on?"

"No, the wave of sea monsters is still moving, just very slowly." Ji Ning and the others immediately noticed that the massive wave nearby had not stopped but was moving at an extremely slow pace.

"Whoosh."

Without the obstruction of the wave of sea monsters, the warship shot forward more than ten li in an instant.

"Open." Shaoyan Nong, his face ashen, held the key to the immortal mansion, and a void gate appeared before them. The warship shot into the void gate, which then closed.

"Whoosh..."

The moment Shaoyan Nong and the others entered the void gate, the massive wave that had seemed frozen surged forward violently.

"How can this be? How is it possible?" The leader of this wave of sea monsters, True Treasure Daoist, stared incredulously at the now-closed void gate. "Just now, just now..."

He would never forget that feeling.

He had been fully controlling the wave of sea monsters, and their attack speed was fast. But why had the enemy warship's speed suddenly seemed to increase ten thousand or a hundred thousand times? Because their speed had surged so absurdly, he couldn't even launch a single attack before they had pierced through their formation and opened the void gate.

"Master, how did they suddenly become so fast? I couldn't resist at all." True Treasure Daoist transmitted.

Far away, Duohe Immortal, who had been dealing with the divine demon Xiangliu Fang, had also been watching this area, since the humans in the warship were the most important.

He had been stunned too.

"It wasn't that they were fast, but that you were slow." Duohe Immortal transmitted. "All your sea monsters, in that instant, were moving slower than a little turtle crawling."

"How is that possible? I didn't feel slow, and none of my soldiers felt slow either." True Treasure Daoist said urgently.

"That's because... your time slowed down. You should have heard of 'one day in the heavens, one year in the mortal world.' That's because the flow of time in the heavens and the mortal world is different. You feel like only a day has passed in the heavens, but a year has passed in the mortal world. That's what happened to you just now. You felt like only an instant had passed, but in reality, a long time had gone by, and the enemy warship had already flown more than ten li." Duohe Immortal's eyes held a hint of despair. "These humans can produce such a treasure. Is heaven determined to destroy the beings of the Immortal Mansion World?"

True Treasure Daoist understood.

It was time.

Time had changed.

Just as he felt only an instant had passed, others had already lived through a thousand years. This difference in the flow of time had caused what just happened.

"To think they have such a treasure." True Treasure Daoist murmured to himself.

"Hahaha... You can't stop my young master, you can't stop him." In the distance, the divine demon Xiangliu Fang had already begun to flee far away, his laughter echoing through the sky.

The wave of sea monsters didn't bother to pursue.

If the divine demon Xiangliu Fang was determined to flee, they had no way to catch him.

"Let's go. Let's go over there." Duohe Immortal, who appeared middle-aged, suddenly seemed to have aged considerably.

"Boom..."

The two waves of sea monsters merged into one, and the massive wave flew swiftly into the distance.

Before long.

The massive wave of sea monsters joined forces with the yaksha soldiers.

"You failed? You lost?" Wu Sui Immortal transmitted, and the other demons of the Wu Jiang clan looked over.

"We lost." Duohe Immortal said hoarsely. "These humans produced an inconceivable treasure." Earlier, the two sides were separated by ten thousand li, so the Wu Jiang clan couldn't see the battle clearly.

"What treasure could break through your blockade?" Wu Sui Immortal pressed.

"It was a treasure that could affect time." Duohe Immortal shook his head.

"Time?" Wu Sui Immortal was startled. As a member of the Wu Jiang clan, he knew some secrets. Treasures that affected time were common in battles among Celestial Immortals, but among the tens of thousands of Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, not one could become a Celestial Immortal...

Such a treasure that could alter the flow of time was extremely powerful even for Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals. Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals from the outside world might have seen one, but these two Loose Immortals of the Immortal Mansion World had only heard of them.

"Don't worry." Wu Sui Immortal transmitted. "If they have one such treasure, that's already remarkable. I don't believe they have a second."

Duohe Immortal nodded.

"Duohe, we have no retreat now. This is the last branch hall, and we must defend it! This is also our last chance to obtain the key to the immortal mansion." Wu Sui Immortal said. "This is the final opportunity for the countless demons of the Immortal Mansion World after endless years."

"Not just the final opportunity." Duohe Immortal said hoarsely and deeply. "It's also our only chance to survive."

"Survive?" Wu Sui Immortal was taken aback, then his face turned pale.

"Being able to use such a treasure, having a divine demon as a guard... these humans must have an extraordinary background." Duohe Immortal's voice echoed in the ears of every demon soldier nearby, slowly speaking the fear that every demon in the Immortal Mansion World shared. "Once this last branch hall is refined by them, the entire immortal mansion will be under their control. Then they can do whatever they want to us. They can summon an army from outside, or they can destroy our Immortal Mansion World, leaving our descendants with nothing to eat or drink, starving them to death. In short, once they refine the immortal mansion, they have plenty of methods."

All the demons were terrified.

Yes.

Once the enemy controlled the immortal mansion, they could appear anywhere in the immortal mansion at will, drop some terrible poisons... destroying a region of tens of thousands of li would be too easy. Terrible poisons could make tens of thousands of li barren.

Building is hard; destroying is easy.

If this world were destroyed, after enduring for tens of thousands of years, perhaps only a few living beings would remain in the entire Immortal Mansion World.

"This is our last hope."

"This is our last chance."

"We must fight."

"We must seize the key to the immortal mansion!"

"Even if we all die in battle, we cannot let them refine this last branch hall!!!" Duohe Immortal's voice resounded through heaven and earth.

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

All the demons roared, their battle intent soaring to the heavens.

This was no longer a battle for freedom, but a true battle for survival.

...

In the ancient hall.

A warship shot in. The golden light on its surface had vanished, and the mysterious, powerful aura it once had was gone, as if it were a dead thing.

"The formation diagram has completely collapsed." Mu Zishuo shook his head. "At the very end, the warship flew in purely by inertia. A Heaven-ranked puppet warship, destroyed just like that."

"What's a Heaven-ranked puppet warship?" Cangjiang Zhenren shook his head and gestured with his eyes. "Look at Young Master Shaoyan."

Ji Ning and the others noticed.

Young Master Shaoyan was holding the scroll, staring fixedly at the character 'Still' on it.

But now, the character 'Still' had lost all its special charm, as if it were just an ordinary character.

"An instant, a thousand years." Yu Wei said softly. "This is a treasure of the 'instant, thousand years' type. Once such a treasure is used, it can almost guarantee the killing of a Loose Immortal. Although it's not an Immortal-ranked treasure, it's not far off."

Ji Ning was puzzled.

Seeing Ji Ning's expression, Jiu Lian transmitted, "'An instant, a thousand years' refers to a treasure that can alter the flow of time. It's like you feel only an instant has passed, but for the other party, a thousand years have gone by. Of course, this is a very exaggerated description. But with such a difference in time flow, a Primal Daoist using such a treasure could kill a Loose Immortal. You can see how precious such a treasure is."

Ji Ning understood.

Back when he had received the divine ability 'Star Picking Hand' in the Water Mansion, he had gone to a transmission space. In that space, he had stayed for several months, but outside, almost no time had passed. That was far more exaggerated than this scroll.

"Damn it, damn it." Young Master Shaoyan gritted his teeth as he looked at the scroll in his hand.

...