Chapter 2044: The Differences Between Times
Time had a distinction of strength and weakness—this realization left Xu Huo momentarily stunned, because the state of time power could not be altered, so it could not increase its intensity by adjusting the density of rays like space power could. Moreover, the flow rate of time within a single space was uniform; time rays were merely a medium of perception and did not hold much significance on their own. Additionally, even when he saw interference from time power from other zones in Carmen Field's time records, he could not perceive what difference the two different times actually made...
Yet within this location item, the disparity in time power was clearly laid out before his eyes.
Was this the gap in understanding that Huahan Werner had referred to?
Indeed, time power and space power were fundamentally different, so the experience of space evolution did not apply to time evolution. The time rays existing within the location item were merely his personal understanding of time power, not actual time rays present inside. So was this change in time power a distinction in detail after time itself had been magnified hundreds or thousands of times, or was it, as Huahan Werner said, the difference in intensity between rain and flowing water when introducing time power from other zones?
But even if the scale of time power introduced from other spaces varied in size, there should still be two kinds of time power existing within the same courtyard. Yet he could not sense them now—was it because his evolution level was insufficient, or due to the limitations of the location item itself, or perhaps his understanding was flawed?
Xu Huo's thoughts surged rapidly as he gradually stopped walking and stood still in a courtyard.
No one knew how long passed, but the time within the courtyard seemed to begin flowing. The wall on one side of the main entrance faintly reappeared, starting as a single wall, then forming a complete courtyard, followed by rooms on three sides of the courtyard, then rooms behind those rooms, and rooms connecting to new rooms, forming new square courtyards. However, unlike the other already-formed courtyards, the plants and trees in the newly appeared courtyards were not fixed at a certain time. Instead, they continuously sprouted, grew, bloomed, bore fruit, then withered and shed leaves, with new seeds starting the next cycle of life and death.
Almost all the courtyards generated afterward were in this state, continuing until the newly appeared square courtyards formed a complete ring around the original item space, even pushing the main gate outward by one layer.
But this state did not last long, because as Xu Huo, standing at the center of the location item, furrowed his brow, those courtyards disappeared just as they had appeared, like a video playing in reverse, gradually returning to their original form.
However, after only a few minutes of stillness, the courtyards reappeared, still following the previous pattern, piecing themselves together bit by bit. Not only the plants and trees but also the furnishings and displays changed. But when the main gate began to shift outward again, all the newly generated courtyards dissipated in an instant.
At the same time the courtyards dissipated, Xu Huo, standing in the middle of the courtyard, opened his eyes. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with slight irritation, set up a table and chair on the spot, and began eating the dry rations he had brought.
He felt he had almost grasped something, but there was always an elusive sense of not quite touching the key point. Unable to find an answer through deep thought, he could only stop and rest for now.
In the mountain forest, wind surged and trees swayed, filled with the calls of birds and beasts. Xu Huo slowly put down the food in his hand, leaned back in his chair, and slightly tilted his head to look at the trees ahead.
A flock of birds suddenly flew out from the woods. They circled above the canopy for a moment, then plunged back into the forest, probably hunting. Soon, the roars of beasts and the sharp cries of birds echoed from the woods.
Some birds succeeded in hunting, while others returned empty-handed, and the flock scattered from then on.
The birds dispersing in the air flew toward more distant woods, while some headed toward the location item. Perhaps thinking there was food in the courtyard, several birds lowered their altitude and landed on the courtyard walls, then jumped from the walls to the ground, pecking at the plants and flowers. Then they jumped onto the next courtyard wall, observed another courtyard, and only jumped to the ground again after confirming there was no danger.
Not all the birds stayed in one courtyard, but as they tirelessly hopped through most of the square courtyards, one of them suddenly became very weak.
Xu Huo checked the data on that bird and found it was a mutated species that lived an average of only twelve hours. Counting from the moment it broke out of its shell, the shortest was ten hours, the longest sixteen hours—this type of bird had never lived past a single day.
He stared at the bird thoughtfully for a while, then confined it to a courtyard with the fewest time rays.
Over the next period, aside from familiarizing himself with the item and exercising, Xu Huo's remaining focus was on closely monitoring the bird's survival state.
By the time the second day dawned, this bird had already exceeded sixteen hours since it first appeared in the courtyard.
He released the space barrier, and the bird had just flown out of the courtyard when it fell back to the ground, no longer moving.
Without catching a second bird for experimentation, Xu Huo had already vaguely understood the situation regarding the time rays in the courtyard.
This location item likely used the courtyards to divide different time rays, or rather, each different courtyard had a different time. The differences between times were minimal, so people inside could not clearly perceive the trick of time speeding up or slowing down, but it was different for animals with short lifespans.
The courtyards were not completely sealed; the inside and outside could connect. Although he did not know how the item fixed time power within a certain space, this proved that what Huahan Werner said was correct—when time power invaded other spaces, it was more like rain or water, exhibiting a certain degree of encroachment. The difference in the amount of time rays he perceived was likely due to the subtle gaps between different times. These gaps might be infinitesimal, but now magnified by the item, what appeared before him was the distinction in the quantity of time rays.
This was the "wrong path."
If he continued evolving along the model of time rays, Xu Huo might develop a finer perception of time power. By then, time rays in different spaces might all be different. Whether he tried to refine further or advance further, he would basically reach a stage of complete confusion, because the foundation of time evolution lay not in scope and depth, but in perceiving the differences in time power. Only then could he take the next step—that is, perceiving time power from other spaces.
Time power within one space was a whole, so what should be subdivided was the time power between different spaces, not the time power within a single space.
However, although the direction had gone slightly wrong, it was fortunate that he corrected it in time. And with the aid of his original "time rays," he had more intuitively and successfully captured the subtle differences between times. (End of chapter)