As He Li's voice fell, a golden bell and a golden cauldron appeared behind him, emitting a profound sacred power. With every tremor, ripples of the law of time spread.
"I am from the future. Our timelines are different, so I can't directly kill him for you. In the end, it's still up to you," the future He Li said helplessly.
"It's fine. Stall him. I will merge my divinity and bestiality with the golden bell and golden cauldron to reach my peak. I need some time," He Li said.
The future He Li nodded with satisfaction and uttered an incomprehensible sentence: "The river of history never changes for anyone. Even if there are ripples, things will eventually be set right."
With He Li's intelligence, he naturally understood the meaning of these words. He looked at his future self and said, "So, what I'm doing now is correct?"
The future He Li did not answer. Even though he came from the future, even though he had broken through the barriers of time and space to converse with his past self, some things could not be said. This was the rule of the law of time, just as he had said earlier, the river of history never changed for anyone.
What had happened was a foregone conclusion. Even if one went back to the past and changed it a thousand or ten thousand times, it would happen again at some point in the future.
And since the future He Li appeared here, the outcome of this great battle was obvious: He Li would have the last laugh and reach an unprecedented supreme realm.
However,
He Li was facing the current point in time. He couldn't be sure if his future self had eliminated the Lord of Time in this battle, or if it would happen in the distant future. Many things might occur within this period.
In short,
He Li won the battle of the laws of time against the Lord of Time.
But, at which point in time he won, He Li couldn't be sure. It might be today, or it might be some day in the future.
His future self came from two epochs later. He and his future self were separated by two epochs. What had happened in the epoch He Li was currently in and the two epochs that followed, He Li did not know.
This was also what He Li was most worried about. The variables were too great. Therefore, he had to go all out and eliminate the Lord of Time today to prevent unforeseen variables in the future.
"It's up to you," He Li said to his future self.
The future He Li shrugged lazily and walked towards the Lord of Time.
Then,
Two figures emerged from behind He Li. The one on the left was divinity, and the one on the right was bestiality.
He Li said, "I will separate you two. Each of you will break through to the Divine King realm, achieve supreme divinity, and join me in eliminating the Lord of Time."
Divinity remained silent. As He Li finished speaking, it turned and walked towards the golden bell.
Bestiality did not move. Instead, it looked at He Li mockingly and asked with a cold laugh, "I am not like Yan Ping, that sentimental trash who binds himself when he could be free. You separate me and help me achieve supreme divinity. Aren't you afraid I'll leave?"
He Li remained silent. He simply turned his head calmly to look at Bestiality. In his eyes, as calm as still water, it was as if ten thousand bolts of lightning struck from the sky, exuding immense divine might and unparalleled dominance.
In just an instant.
Bestiality took a step back, pouted, and said, "Understood." After speaking, it leaped onto the golden cauldron and sat cross-legged, accepting the baptism of divine power from the golden cauldron.
He Li looked back, watching his future self battle the Lord of Time, with countless past selves fighting past Lords of Time around them. The scene was exceptionally fierce.
This was the power of the law of time, cutting time into countless pieces. Each fragment of time contained an independent temporal node.
Time acceleration, stopping, and reversal were merely simple applications of the law of time. A more basic application was to intercept a period of time, pause it, preserve it, and then release it when needed, just as he had his time stolen from within the Star Devouring Beast, or how he had stolen time from Xun He.
Everyone had countless selves: the self from the previous second, the self from the second before that, even the self from the blink of an eye ago, the self from the moment before, the self from the next moment...
The true application of the law of time was to divide it. The self from each second was a complete, independent, conscious life.
This was undoubtedly terrifying. Broken time, overlapping time, merging timelines into a complete one, yet this timeline was further divided into countless temporal nodes.
The law of time could manipulate any temporal node, changing all conscious beings, including gods.
As long as they existed within time and subconsciously acknowledged its existence, they could not escape the dominion of the law of time.
Why did the Lord of Time fear Cheng Xilin and He Li?
The fundamental reason was that the externally imposed law of time was ineffective against the two of them. How could he tolerate that?
He Li felt the divine power within the golden bell and golden cauldron, belonging to Divinity and Bestiality, continuously ascending. His heart settled slightly. He turned to look at Cheng Xilin, who was old and frail, seemingly on the verge of death at any moment, and he struggled internally.
Should he save him?
If his previous guess about Cheng Xilin was correct, then Cheng Xilin was not only someone the Lord of Time feared, but also someone He Li himself could not ignore.
If he didn't save him, then a large part of his current self was thanks to Cheng Xilin. How could he ignore such a debt of gratitude?
Although he didn't care much about these things and was rather ungrateful, how could he turn a blind eye to those who had truly helped him?
Cheng Xilin was nailed in mid-air, his head hanging low. His white hair was stained with blood, scattered about him, making for a miserable sight. He seemed to sense He Li's gaze and looked up with difficulty. The moment his eyes met He Li's, he understood what He Li was thinking. After all, in his view, he and He Li were the same kind of people: inherently suspicious, ungrateful, yet unwilling to completely abandon their conscience, always carefully guarding the last shred of warmth in their hearts.
Cheng Xilin had long foreseen this. Or rather, these were all within his plans. Those two drops of vital blood were his final resort. He might not die, but he could also die.
Would a peerless hero hand over his fate to others?
Cheng Xilin and He Li.
In the midst of the roaring battle, they looked at each other in silence.
After a moment,
Cheng Xilin weakly lowered his head. He Li gently turned, facing the battlefield.
Everything was unspoken.
They were not companions. They had no bond. They only had a relationship of utilization and being utilized, of transactions and promises. They were partners from beginning to end.
Fairy tales were for children. The adult world was often bleak.
Everyone was the same.
Behind them was blue sky and white clouds; before them was a thorny jungle.
Alone, surviving in the cracks, facing blood and blades, there was no room for extra warmth and trust.
Cheng Xilin's contingency was not only prepared for the Lord of Time but also to guard against He Li.
The first thing He Li thought of upon seeing Cheng Xilin was whether to save him or not, what would happen if he did, and what would happen if he didn't.
Analyze the pros and cons, then make a decision.
It wasn't that their hearts were bad, but their experiences did not allow them to easily trust others.
Of course, they also had people they truly trusted. For example, Cheng Xilin trusted Chang Qingshan, and He Li trusted Chen Du.
It's just that they weren't here.
At this moment,
A scene that shocked He Li occurred.
A temporal node in the downstream of the river of time shattered. An unparalleled bombardment erupted from it, traveling upstream against the flow of time, rapidly approaching and striking the future He Li heavily.
Rumble!!!
As the light faded, an old man stood in the void, standing alongside the Lord of Time, looking at He Li with a blank expression.
He Li's heart tightened. Was this the Lord of Time from the future?
...