Chapter 100: 35: Tracing Back Again, The Temporal Puzzle

He walked forward tens of steps, and the view suddenly opened up.

They found themselves on a plateau above a cliff, with an endless sea of clouds in the distance, connected only by an Iron Chain Long Bridge on this side.

A tall, armored warrior stood guard at the head of the bridge, a long saber in hand, eyes closed and unmoving.

Qiu Changtian tried but found that he couldn’t use Sword Control here, so he carefully observed the armored warrior.

Suddenly, he heard the voice of the Kunlun Mirror in his Sea of Consciousness exclaiming in surprise,

“What is going on here?”

“What’s the matter, Ah Jing?” Qiu Changtian asked, frowning.

The Kunlun Mirror fell silent for a moment, then spoke gravely to Qiu Changtian,

“The things I’m about to tell you, you mustn’t be afraid, no matter what.”

“You can count on me,” replied Qiu Changtian earnestly, “I’ve been professionally trained; no matter how terrifying the situation, I won’t be afraid… unless I can’t help it.”

“What sort of professional training… Never mind.” The Kunlun Mirror then recounted the previous events to him in detail and rapidly.

Qiu Changtian listened in silence and then said,

“So, time has reversed?”

“I suspect that the mirror on the Jade Pond Mirror Stand is actually a fragment of my true form,” sighed the Kunlun Mirror, “which is why it has the power to reverse time and space.”

“Fragment? When did you die, Ah Jing?” Qiu Changtian asked in surprise.

“After descending to the Lower Realm from the Western Mother’s Divine Palace,” the Kunlun Mirror replied nonchalantly, “My true form shattered… into many pieces, scattered everywhere, leaving only the Artifact Spirit.”

“Condolences. If I get a chance, I’ll see if I can help you retrieve the fragments and make the mirror whole again.”

While Qiu Changtian was talking to the Kunlun Mirror, Junior Sister Xu, who had been watching for a while, recognized that the armored warrior was a follower of the Divine Flame Path, so they planned to return to the cave and leave the Secret Realm.

Xu Yinglian was about to follow them out but noticed her senior brother standing still, and turned her head to look at him in confusion.

Qiu Changtian took Junior Sister Xu’s hand and walked a few steps towards the edge of the Cloud Platform.

Before long, they saw the armored warrior suddenly open his eyes and walk towards the cave with his saber.

Qiu Changtian immediately grabbed Junior Sister Xu’s hand and dashed across the Iron Chain Long Bridge to the Cloud Platform on the other side.

As soon as they reached the Cloud Platform, celestial music rang out, as if right beside their ears.

“The music is louder than last time,” said the Kunlun Mirror suddenly.

“Maybe it’s hinting that time has already been reversed once,” speculated Qiu Changtian, “If the music keeps getting louder, could it mean that some kind of change is happening in the Secret Realm?”

“And it’s definitely not a good change,” the Kunlun Mirror said gravely, “This isn’t the Pavilion Secret Realm of the Clarify Cult; it may not welcome outsiders like you.”

“That’s true,” Qiu Changtian agreed, looking warily towards the Jade Pond and then said, “Ah, Ah Jing!”

“Do you think if I went to the Jade Pond and picked the Golden Lotus Seeds again, I could eat them a second time?”

The Kunlun Mirror: ?

“It should be possible,” it said hesitantly.

“After time reverses, would the effects of the previously eaten seeds remain?” Qiu Changtian cautiously asked.

“The time reversal here doesn’t mean time is going backward,” replied the Kunlun Mirror, “but rather your and Junior Sister Xu’s bodies are being sent to the past, with the Mirror Flower Water Moon Illusion Technique casting a mental suggestion on you both, causing you to forget the previous events.”

“For example, if your Junior Sister dies next, after time reverses, all you’ll see is her Illusion… just like those two Kunlun Disciples just now.”

“After all, it’s one thing for the flesh to travel backward, but to make the dead come to life requires too great a causal effect, something even I can’t do, let alone a fragment of my true form.”

“So the two of them were Illusions just now?” Qiu Changtian realized, sighing.

Jiang and Hu had invited him to help because they trusted him, and he never expected they would be killed… It was out of his hands.

He mourned in silence for a few seconds, then unrolled a Sword Light and scooped up the withered lotus pod from the Jade Pond into his hands.

Xu Yinglian was startled, but when she saw that no formation had been triggered in the Jade Pond, she slowly let out a sigh of relief.

Qiu Changtian peeled open the lotus pod and indeed extracted two more seeds from it.

That’s strange, doesn’t that mean these lotus seeds can be repeatedly harvested?

“Ah Jing,” he couldn’t help but ask, “I remember you once said that history that has already happened cannot be changed.”

“Yes,” the Kunlun Mirror sighed, “so this is a ‘false history.’”

“What do you mean by ‘false history’?” Qiu Changtian asked in surprise.

The Kunlun Mirror fell silent for a moment, then said:

“You’re walking down the road and suddenly you encounter yourself from tomorrow, who gives you a lotus seed.”

“To ensure that history isn’t changed, the next day you travel back in time to yesterday and pass the lotus seed you got earlier to your past self.”

“So, where does this lotus seed, which must be sent back to yesterday every other day, actually come from?”

“The answer is: this lotus seed comes from a ‘false history,’ a temporary timeline created by the pathways of time to ensure a linear loop that doesn’t exist on the main timeline.”

Qiu Changtian fell silent for a moment, then said:

“Ah Jing, can you put it in layman’s terms?”

“Oh, I forgot you’re not Luo Yan now, without the added comprehension,” the Kunlun Mirror said with a sheepish laugh, “It’s quite complicated to explain. First, you need to know that time is a ray; it has a starting point but no endpoint…”

“All right, stop there,” Qiu Changtian sighed, “in the end, the lotus seed is edible, right?”

“Right.”

“Then can it be harvested infinitely?”

“I don’t think so,” said the Kunlun Mirror, “Even as a fragment of myself, I cannot create an infinite number of temporary timelines, that would provoke a backlash from the pathways of time.”

“I see.” Qiu Changtian then ate a lotus seed and handed the other one to Xu Yinglian, “Be careful not to choke.”

Xu Yinglian: ?

“What is this?”

“Jade Pond Golden Lotus Seed, consuming it can enhance the efficiency of breathing and Qi Refinement.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yinglian was momentarily taken aback, hastily ate the lotus seed, and then turned her eyes to the remaining lotus pods.

“Don’t bother looking, there’s nothing left in there,” said Qiu Changtian as he abruptly formed a sword technique with his hand, and the Yu Long Sword transformed into a streak of light, heading straight for the mirror on the Jade Pond Mirror Stand.

……

The view suddenly brightened up.

Qiu Changtian stepped out of the cave and looked at the armored guards at the bridge, about to whisper something, when he suddenly heard the Kunlun Mirror say with resignation:

“Let me show you a little video…”

Qiu Changtian watched the video with astonishment and then his eye twitched:

“So you’re telling me that I’ve been through two reincarnations already?”

“Yes,” the Kunlun Mirror replied.

“And you have no idea why I fell for it?”

“Not a clue. As it stands, it’s best to avoid getting close to my main body fragment, that mirror.”

“So that means,” Qiu Changtian pondered, “considering I might very well revert back this time too, even if I sneak a kiss from Junior Sister Xu now, she won’t remember it after the reversal.”

“Indeed,” the Kunlun Mirror said dully, “as long as you can survive until the third reversal after kissing her.”

Just imagining it for a moment, the scene of Xu Yinglian wielding a sword and chasing him on the Iron Chain Long Bridge, Qiu Changtian quickly shook his head, throwing the impractical thoughts out of his mind.

I am a gentleman of integrity, how could I possibly do such despicable deeds!