Shimmering beams of artificial sunlight cascaded down through the clouds and bathed the land of the Trial World.
The chirping of birds and the low growls of beasts rang out intermittently as the world came alive.
On a certain mountain peak overlooking the world, Damien slowly opened his eyes.
‘Two months worth of progress…I can’t say whether it was good or bad.’
Two months had passed since the events of the Inheritance site, and after parting from Feng Qing’er and Qing Tan, Damien didn’t move at all from the spot where he sat.
He was immersed in his comprehension at almost all times, but when compared to the effort he put into it, the results were negligible.
Time. It was such an elusive concept. Even though it was put in the same vein as space, Damien found an incomparable wall between the two.
Comprehending space came so naturally that it was almost too easy. It was a smooth flow that Damien just had to feel and be guided by. Even if he just immersed himself in the feeling of the space around him, after enough time he’d walk away with some comprehension.
It just went to show how much talent he possessed in that field. For others, space as a concept was something they couldn’t grasp even if they spent a lifetime of effort on it.
Feeling the space around them? What did that even mean? For one who didn’t have an affinity for space, they wouldn’t be able to feel any difference between space and the air around them.
But for spatial cultivators, it was a vast world. Even among them, Damien was at the peak of potential.
He only realized the struggles of others when he dipped his toes into the concept known as time.
It wasn’t simple at all. His meditation had yielded him some results, but even still it wasn’t enough to grant him the affinity he wished to unlock.
Every step he took in comprehending space would take a hundred, or even a thousand steps when comprehending time.
A journey of a few days became a journey that lasted years on end.
‘Time is relative. I’ve experienced it myself both in this Trial World and when I was trapped in my spiritual world. Only, what can I comprehend from relativity?’
Relativity was the concept he found himself immersed in most of the time. It resonated with him on a level deeper than anything else, as it was the thing he had experienced most.
He thought back to that night in the forest with Ruyue. At that time, he had a similar thought.
Time, for him back then, he didn’t have enough time to deal with the troubles in his immediate surroundings. He was forced to rush to the hidden convention of wicked path sects for his mission.
But what did that time mean for those he had left behind? For them, every second must’ve felt like an eternity. They were being stalked and hunted as prey by unknown beings, they were being herded like livestock.
While time was short for him, it was incredibly long for them. While he wished to get to his destination as soon as possible, they wished that time would slow and give them enough time to escape their predicament.
And what about the Trial World? Unlike a vague example like the previous one, the Trial World was subject to a literal distortion in time.
The time he spent within would be 3 times longer than the time outside. If a year and a half was spent inside, only 6 months would pass in the real world.
It was a truly bizarre concept. How could one affect time itself? This ever-present essence that ruled the world along with space. The difference between the two was in perception.
If space was a canyon, time was the river that flowed through it.
Finally, Damien thought of his time in the spiritual world. How long was it that he spent there? It was at least 5 years that he spent arduously bringing the thousands of floating continents together to reform his spiritual land.
But when he woke up, only three months had passed. Even when compared to the time dilation in the Trial World, this kind of difference was insane.
It was so disconcerting when Damien woke up that he almost couldn’t believe how fast he adjusted. No, if it wasn’t for the essence of the Primordial Undying Tree, it probably would’ve taken at least a month to get back on his feet.
The time he spent in his spiritual world actually aided his comprehension far more than he originally expected it would. Spending so many years in a space where the flow of time became nill, it helped him become more aware of the essence that flowed around him.
When combined with the atmosphere of the Trial World, where the essence of time was more prevalent than it was in the outside world, Damien was truly able to feel and experiment with that essence.
Only, he was never able to grasp that fundamental truth. He pondered and pondered, but he could never understand the link that made him keep thinking of these three instances over and over again.
‘I’m almost there. I can feel it. This is a bottleneck that I won’t be able to pass by just sitting and immersing myself in comprehension. A single spark. That’s all I need to finally unlock that affinity.’
The final wall separating him from his time affinity wasn’t something he could rush to break, otherwise, it might lead to a setback instead.
‘Patience. In the end, isn’t patience a concept related to time as well? Who knows, in the end it might help me out with finding that final spark of inspiration.’
He consoled himself lightly as he stood up. Without him even realizing it, another 15 days had passed.
‘Now that I’ve gotten into this mindset, I keep noticing the oddities and relativity of time around me at every corner. These little details that I wouldn’t have noticed before are like glaring beams of light for me now.’
Damien’s gaze panned over the mountainside below him. A soft wind drifted through the air and gently brushed across his face. A feeling of absolute peace and serenity suddenly enveloped him.
Damien found himself entering a profound state of mind.
The rapidly beating wings of bees that zipped through the air, the stretching body of a lion-like beast that had just awoken from its slumber.
The swaying of tree branches in the wind, the petals of a flower opening and closing as it sensed a threat approaching.
Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down.
The wings of that bee were beating at a pace that even a mortal could easily follow. That lion beast seemed to be paused in place as if it was posing for a portrait.
The branches of that tree seemed to halt, but its leaves were lightly trembling and fluttering even at this pace. The petals of that flower slowly unfurled as if mirroring the day when it first bloomed.
Standing atop the mountain peak, Damien took in all these scenes with a light smile dancing on his face. The rays of sunlight that illuminated the world seemed extra warm today.
‘Just a single step away.’
He lifted his foot and stepped forward. It was high time to leave this Trial World and face the trials of the Primordial Undying Realm once again.
