Chapter Thirty-Four: The Temporal Beast

"Although I have gained much from the Divine Trials, this one involves time—a law of such profound mystery and complexity that I truly lack confidence," Ling Xiao thought, closing the system interface and gazing out at the vast expanse of the world.

"Ding! Task issued: First trial of the God of Time. Hunt and kill a native creature whose innate secret technique is Time Acceleration."

"Huff!"

"An innate secret technique for Time Acceleration? It seems I have to search for it. Who knows what the innate technique of any random native creature might be?" Ling Xiao shook his head and descended toward the continent below.

Perhaps it was bad luck, but no sooner had Ling Xiao touched the ground than he was ambushed. He narrowed his eyes, sensing a subtle ripple directed toward him. Suddenly, his figure flickered and he vanished into the air, while the spot where he had just stood was devastated, the trees torn asunder.

"This is not the Law of Time, but Wind—one of the ten minor laws. It seems I have already been noticed." Ling Xiao looked at the destruction, spreading his soul power to search for his target.

"Found you!"

Ling Xiao glanced in one direction. A figure was fleeing. He flickered and disappeared, traversing hundreds of miles in an instant to appear before the creature. Seeing how quickly Ling Xiao had caught up, the creature grew instantly vigilant, standing its ground.

Ling Xiao focused his gaze. It was a strange beast, about ten meters long, covered in cyan scales. Its front limbs were sharp claws, its hind limbs were hooves, and it possessed a tail four meters long with a crystalline horn upon its head.

"So this is a native lifeform of this world. Its strength is only at the Divine Venerate realm, yet its speed is incredible. It fled hundreds of miles in just a few breaths. Could this be a creature possessing the Time Acceleration technique?" Ling Xiao’s eyes brightened; he had not expected to encounter his target so quickly.

The beast seemed to sense Ling Xiao's ill intent. It let out a roar and sprinted in another direction, its speed far exceeding the Divine Venerate level, putting it thousands of miles away in mere moments. If Ling Xiao were only at the Divine Venerate level, he would certainly have failed to catch it, but he was now in the late stage of the Divine Lord realm, his strength a thousand times greater than the peak of the Divine Venerate.

"Space Lockdown!"

Ling Xiao stepped forward, covering a thousand miles in a single stride, closing the distance to the beast. As space power surged, the surrounding thousands of miles of space solidified, slowing even the beast's immense speed. Realizing its movement had been hindered, the beast turned to look at Ling Xiao, who was less than a hundred meters away, its expression becoming frantic.

"Roar!"

The beast let out a cry, a faint light emanating from its body as its speed increased once more. Yet, under the spatial lockdown, it remained far slower than before.

"Let this end!"

Ling Xiao reached out into the air and clenched his hand.

"Spatial Shred!"

The beast shrieked as it watched its own body torn apart by an unseen force, agony flooding its mind. It struggled to break free from the spatial shredding, but it could not. Within a few breaths, its entire body was completely disintegrated, vanishing from the world.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host. Task complete. Reward: Divine Ability—Momentary Radiance."

Ling Xiao looked at his reward, his eyes gleaming.

"A Time Acceleration ability. It speeds up my own pace. If my speed previously allowed me to launch one attack per second, now, while others launch one, I can launch ten. And this is far from the limit."

"Ding! Task issued: Second trial of the God of Time. Hunt and kill a native creature whose innate secret technique is Time Stasis."

The system's voice rang out again.

"It seems I can reap quite a harvest in this world!" Ling Xiao whispered, surveying his surroundings as he sent out his soul power.

...

"Judgment of the Flaming Marsh!"

Ling Xiao looked at the nineteen beasts before him. A sea of black flames burned around him, the terrifying heat shattering space itself and revealing vast swaths of dark void.

"Roar! Roar!"

The nineteen beasts looked on in terror at the black flames engulfing them. The fire had even ignited the Laws of Time within their bodies; they could no longer utilize Time Stasis or Time Acceleration.

"Die! Your deaths will allow me to forge a path to the supreme!" Ling Xiao said coldly, his eyes filled with killing intent.

"Judgment of the Heavenly Eye!"

A fissure suddenly tore open in the sky, widening continuously as endless thunder flickered within. Each strike of lightning that descended left a thousand-mile scar upon the earth. The system remained silent, sensing that due to the excessive killing over the past half-year, Ling Xiao’s temperament was gradually being clouded by bloodlust, changing him completely from what he once was.

Opposite him, the nineteen beasts realized they could not escape. They exchanged a cruel glance, and then, the unexpected occurred. They began to devour one another. With each beast consumed, the ripples of time grew more violent, even causing the sea of flames to cease its burning.

Ling Xiao controlled the thunder from the Heavenly Eye to strike them, but as the lightning reached them, it seemed to be hit by a pause button, freezing in mid-air.

"Mutual devouring—it strengthens the power of Time Stasis?" Ling Xiao watched the beasts, a crimson glint flashing in his eyes.

"Soul Shatter!"

Ling Xiao’s eyes shone with golden light. A massive wave of soul power struck one of the beasts like a heavy hammer.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The beast shuddered from the heavy blow, its face twisting in agony, unable to continue devouring as it clutched its head. Though it stopped, the others did not. Ling Xiao struck again, but his attack was blocked by another beast. Though that beast was heavily wounded, a third took the opportunity to devour the injured one.

"These beasts... their power is cumulative. That strongest one has only devoured seven, yet its strength is already approaching the early stage of the Divine Ancestor realm!" Ling Xiao felt the aura of the strongest beast and looked surprised; his own strength was only at the middle stage of the Divine Ancestor realm.

"Finger of Heaven!"

Ling Xiao pointed, and a massive golden finger spanning ten thousand miles descended, shattering space for a hundred thousand miles. This successfully interrupted the devouring among the beasts. The giant finger crushed and annihilated three of them. One of the survivors had already devoured three others, reaching the peak of the Divine Lord realm, while the other two had each devoured one. However, this move left Ling Xiao feeling strained, his internal divine power dropping below seventy percent.

"It seems I cannot stop it. If so, I shall recover my divine power first."

Ling Xiao looked at the final two beasts, knowing he could not prevent their fusion. The strongest beast’s strength was now nearing the middle stage of the Divine Ancestor realm. If he did not recover his power, he might lose.

He produced three bottles of Medium Life Water and drank them. His divine power began to surge back. After a dozen breaths, he was at his peak. By now, the beasts had completed their integration.

"Hoh!"

The final remaining beast roared, creating a void in the sea of flames and erasing the very thunder.

"Middle stage of the Divine Ancestor realm!" Ling Xiao looked at the beast, sensing an aura only slightly weaker than his own, his expression icy.

The beast looked at Ling Xiao with hatred, swiping a claw; wind mixed with the power of ice attacked him.

"Wind and Ice, two of the ten minor laws," Ling Xiao thought, his eyes flashing with black light as he retracted his Judgment of the Flaming Marsh and Judgment of the Heavenly Eye.

"Swallow the Firmament!"

Instantly, the surrounding hundred thousand miles of space plunged into darkness. Ling Xiao and the beast entered a strange dimension. The power of the Wind and Ice laws within the beast's claw was swallowed by this space. The beast looked around in disbelief, unable to understand why its attack had vanished.

"Now that your strength has increased so much, perhaps after devouring you, my own power will surpass the middle stage of the Divine Ancestor realm!" Ling Xiao said, looking at the beast as if it were a meal.

"Soul Devour!"

Suddenly, a massive vortex appeared in the dark space, and dozens of chains emerged to bind the beast, dragging it toward the center. The beast shrieked in terror; it sensed the aura of death within the vortex. To be pulled in meant certain death!

As it was dragged, a ripple of time appeared on the beast, and the chains pulled it backward, away from the vortex.

No! It was not moving away; it was as if it were returning to a position from before it was pulled.

"Time Reversal!" Ling Xiao watched the beast in surprise.

"Right, although this world focuses on cultivating time, the Law of Space exists here as well. I did not expect it to have mastered two laws."

Ling Xiao’s eyes grew excited. If he devoured this beast, he could complete the fifth trials of both the God of Space and the God of Time simultaneously.

"Nine Souls!"

Ling Xiao’s gaze sharpened. Nine soul clones appeared around him, each possessing one-tenth of his true body's strength. If he could cultivate his soul power to match his physical form, he would possess equal strength in both.