Chapter 32: Dao of Time

CH 32

He had wandered into the cave dwelling of a powerful senior during his earlier years. The senior was at the end of his lifespan and had given it to him.

The hourglass contained a trace of that senior’s Dao comprehension, which happened to be time. He planned to use it when he was about to enter the Immortal Realm, as it would help him comprehend his own Dao much faster, saving him hundreds of years of hard work.

Who would have thought that a mere Nascent Soul Realm bitch would force him to use such a priceless gift ahead of time?

The Invisible killer had to die no matter what!

BAM!

The old man slapped the surface of the hourglass once more while unleashing a vast amount of qi from his body.

Not too far away from the old man, Feng Shuran narrowed her eyes as she looked at the hourglass. The treasure was trembling violently and for some reason, she was getting a dangerous feeling from the hourglass.

As an experienced assassin, Feng Shuran’s senses towards danger were nothing to scoff at. She instantly moved back, creating more distance between herself and the old man.

While moving back, she raised the black needle and threw it at the old man like a miniature spear.

The needle pierced through the air and quickly arrived in front of the old man, but just before it could stab through the head of the other party.

Pah!

The hourglass shattered and an area of over fifty meters around the old man froze, this caused the needle to stop in front of the old man too, unable to travel any further.

A surprised glint flashed across Feng Shuran’s eyes. The space around the old man looked like a life painting; not even the air was able to pass through. The only one capable of movement in this space was the old man who was currently suspended in mid air and was glaring at her.

"The Dao of time," Feng Shuran mumbled softly as her expression slowly turned serious.

She didn’t know much about the requirements for higher realms but she had found books about things like domain and Dao concepts.

Only cultivators who had stepped into the Earth Immortal Realm were capable of comprehending a Dao concept and manifesting them into treasures.

How did this old man who was only at the Core Formation Realm get his hands on such a treasure?

If Feng Shuran had known earlier, she would have tried snatching the hourglass from the old man and not giving him the chance to use the power stored inside.

’It now made sense,’ Feng Shuran thought as a few images appeared in her mind.

The old man had blocked her needle and forcefully stopped the formation flags previously. He didn’t actually stop them; he had used a bit of the hourglass’s power to freeze them for a moment!

With this realization, Feng Shuran tried recalling her needle, but it didn’t respond to her. The needle remained completely frozen in front of the old man; Feng Shuran could see it but couldn’t sense it.

It was as if it wasn’t there yet!

Her expression became even more serious, her gaze shifting to the old man behind the needle.

"Hahaha, What’s with that expression? I never imagined seeing you looking scared. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t die too quickly!" The old man mocked after seeing Feng Shuran’s serious expression.

He slowly stepped forward, avoiding the needle in front of him with a mad look in his eyes.

But just then, a look of horror appeared on the old man’s face.

"What? How can this be?!" He screamed like someone who was experiencing a nightmare.

Feng Shuran was confused as to what was going on; she made more distance just to be safe and continued observing.

She saw the old man suddenly turned around and tried running, but something shocking happened instead. All the qi in his body was sucked away and he began to age rapidly.

In less than two breaths, the old man had aged so much that he looked like a twig.

"No, stop! Wait...!" The old man coughed with everything left in him, but it was pointless as he kept ageing.

Seconds later, the old man died of old age right in front of Feng Shuran and became a part of the frozen space. His shrivelled fingers hung in the air as if he was trying to reach out for something.

"!!!!"

Feng Shuran witnessed everything with a perplexed look on her face; she couldn’t understand why the old man suddenly aged and died in the blink of an eye.

She knew it was most likely because of the Dao of time stored in the hourglass, but why did it consume the old man?

"I’ll ask master when I return." Feng Shuran shook her head, deciding to forget the matter for now. She had to think of a way to retrieve her needle first.

The space where the old man had died was still frozen; Feng Shuran didn’t dare to approach, as she wasn’t sure what killed the old man yet.

Defending against the unknown was too difficult, so she decided to wait.

While waiting, her clones returned. They had killed the cultivators that they went after, and the five of them returned with the possessions of those cultivators.

After returning everything to Feng Shuran, the clones vanished.

Meanwhile, back in Otefe. Gu Chen was chilling inside his room when a notification from the system appeared in front of him.

...

(Ding! Mission completed!

Reward:20,000MP!)

...

A delighted look appeared on Gu Chen’s face; he immediately opened the system profile.

....

The Villainess Management system!

Host: Gu Chen!

Org: Bloody Rose!

Org rank: Silver

MP: 21,599/10,000

Members: 1

...

Inventory/ Store/ Skills.

....

Looking at the amount of MP he now had, Gu Chen saw that he could level up once. And he immediately did.

He had discovered that the strength of his forcefield would increase every time he levelled up; only by strengthening his home would he feel safe!

After choosing to level up, ten thousand MP were instantly deducted from his balance, and a new notification appeared.

.....

(Ding! Org has been upgraded to Gold rank!

The strength of the forcefield has increased!

Base forcefield: Saint Realm!

New skill unlocked!

Summon: Summon one member of the org back to base. Distance or restrictions will not affect the summoning process.

CD: 7 days!)

.....

Gu Chen stared at the screen in front of him, blinked, and nodded. He was satisfied with the changes and the new skill.

The strength of his forcefield was increased to the Saint Realm. Now, unless someone in the Immortal Realms attacked, his forcefield could hold the storm and clouds.

The new skill was a pleasant surprise to him. With this, it was like using recall, but this one wasn’t for him, and it had a long cooldown.

If not for its cooldown, Gu Chen would have tested it out by summoning Feng Shuran back to base.

"I have to save it for the right moment. Also, it looks like I’ll be able to unlock more skills if I keep levelling up." Gu Chen said, feeling a bit excited.

The skills of the system were rather... practical; Gu Chen looked forward to unlocking more of them.

While thinking of this, he opened the system store and went to the Skills category. Earlier, he had searched for a suitable needle technique for Feng Shuran and wanted to buy it.

He still had over 10,000MP after levelling up, so he didn’t hesitate to purchase the skill.

.....

( Ding! Purchase successful!

Skill: Formless Needle technique.

Price: 10,000MP!)

...

Two scrolls appeared in front of Gu Chen after he made the purchase. He reached out and casually grabbed them while checking his profile.

.....

The Villainess Management System!

Host: Gu Chen!

Org: Bloody Rose!

Org rank: Gold!

MP: 1,599/100,000

Members: 1

...

Inventory/ Store/ Skills.

....

He stared at his balance and the amount of MP needed for his next level up with an indifferent expression on his face. Gu Chen already expected this to happen, so he wasn’t too shaken.

He returned his attention to the scrolls in front of him. The Formless Needle technique had come in two parts, which was a surprise since there weren’t any details like that in the system.

Gu Chen began studying them. Although he couldn’t use them, he could still check them before giving them to Feng Shuran.

The first scroll of the Formless Needle technique was about changing the size of the needle. After learning it, one could make their needle as small as a grain of sand or make it as big as a mountain!

As for the second scroll, it would allow a cultivator to alter the shape of their needle after mastering the technique. Causing the needle to take on various shapes and greatly increase its versatility mid-fight.

"Hmm, good." Gu Chen nodded in approval; this skill was worth the amount of MP he had spent to buy it.

With this, the Immortal-grade magical needle in Feng Shuran’s hand would be able to threaten even an Earth Immortal Realm cultivator!