How to find another way, Fang You had some ideas.
The comprehension of laws depended firstly on one's own悟性 (wùxìng, comprehension/aptitude), and secondly on the aid of treasures—red-level supreme treasures often had law patterns inscribed on them, and users observing these treasures could help them comprehend a certain type of law. However, their effect was far inferior to that of a law stele.
Thirdly, it depended on one's own abilities.
Abilities were like steps; the higher the steps, the easier it was to reach the laws.
"Creating a legendary-level skill of the time element is unlikely, as there are too few suitable materials. But creating an epic-level skill with a trace of time power is entirely possible."
He didn't care if the power was weak or not; he just wanted to use this skill as a stepping stone to see the patterns of time laws.
Therefore, this skill had to focus entirely on the time element and discard other effects to reduce interference.
Fang You still sat before the Time Stele, but his mind had already immersed itself in the skill pool, where skill light clusters appeared like stardust.
In the blink of an eye, a sky full of starlight bloomed in the sea of his divine soul.
With his own strength alone, he mastered over 95% of all the skills in the entire薪火 (xīnhuǒ, literally 'pilot light', here referring to the accumulated skills).
"Fortunately, I usually learn a bit of everything, so I won't lack materials when needed. However, I need to carefully consider how to use those materials."
Fang You observed the inscriptions on the Time Stele, pondered, and made some rudimentary attempts.
Fusion! Fusion! Fusion!
Half a day later, he performed 26 skill fusions, with 21 successful and 5 failures. The materials he chose were mostly green-level and blue-level, and the consumption of Destiny Points was not large, as he had ample resources for trial and error.
He savored each of the over twenty newly formed skills, finally focusing his gaze on one of them, a blue-level skill.
Skill: Bullet Time.
This skill's name contained the word 'time,' but originally its ability did not involve time. It merely greatly increased the user's thinking speed, making it seem as if the surrounding flow of time slowed down.
Merely *seemed* to.
No matter how fast one's thoughts were, time could not be changed. Seeing an attack did not mean one could dodge it.
But now…
"I've integrated three materials, and this Bullet Time skill is still blue-tier, but its effect… seems to have gained an unbelievable subtlety?"
Thinking this, Fang You's consciousness descended into a dedicated training ground, and he constructed a more realistic divine avatar, rather than just using his divine sense.
During the research and testing phase, why be stingy?
A divine descent avatar only consumed a little more divine crystals.
He, Tutor Fang, was not short of money.
After the avatar descended, Fang You quickly experimented, practiced, and analyzed this blue-level skill.
He did not use a skill card, but he still quickly cultivated the skill to a proficient level. It was as easy as drinking water and eating to practice more and enter the master level.
He didn't care about these things; he just carefully felt it, a look of joy on his face.
"As expected, this mere blue-tier skill carries a trace of time's subtlety!"
"It has slightly, *slightly* stretched its own duration!"
The change was extremely minuscule, perhaps stretching 1.00 second of Bullet Time to 1.00001 seconds.
Useless.
Most users themselves wouldn't even notice.
Tutor Fang, with his vast experience and high-level perspective, was able to accurately gauge the change.
In combat, this sliver of time dilation was completely useless.
But it was a key.
"Next, I will use this skill as the main body and continue to fuse materials, strengthening its time-related subtlety."
Tutor Fang continued to grind.
This grind lasted for three days and three nights.
During this period, he fused in different directions, upgrading Bullet Time to epic-tier. After comparing their respective focuses, he chose one of them and continued to experiment, fine-tune, and fuse again.
He performed a total of 16 epic-level fusions, consuming over a million Destiny Points, before he finally stopped.
Fang You wiped away his nonexistent sweat.
"The epic-tier Bullet Time now possesses several traces of time's subtlety."
"The time scale has lengthened a bit more, and the acceleration of thought speed now also touches upon the domain of time."
Although this skill still contributed zero to his combat power, it perfectly met his requirements.
It was just that its proficiency was too low at the moment.
With the fusion and advancement, the skill's proficiency had dropped back to the beginner level.
Tutor Fang began to cultivate.
Soon, with 99% of his effort and a little help from skill cards, he broke through stages.
Proficient, Expert, Master.
The physical and soul burden of cultivating epic-tier skills was but a drizzle to the high-level existence that was Tutor Fang.
In one day, he cultivated the skill to Master level.
Three days later, he entered the Pinnacle realm.
To cultivate to the Transcendent level would take more time and energy.
He paused his cultivation and instead practiced and experienced the subtleties of this skill, comparing it with the Time Stele before his true self.
"Time is like flowing water, it can be fast or slow."
"We are all drops of water, specks of dust on this vast river, carried by the waves. But if one can grasp the laws of time, it is equivalent to possessing the power to paddle, to slightly influence the flow of the waves."
Accelerate time! Delay time!
Of course, the paddler in the river of time was merely a small boat, very insignificant. It was impossible for humans to resist the great tide of time, and they could only influence a negligible corner around their own water droplet.
"The laws of time are easiest to act upon oneself, but if time power is used in combat, it is bound to spread outwards. How much influence can be achieved depends on how turbulent the surrounding waves are and how heavy the water droplets are."
"Furthermore, the power of time is very dangerous to use. Once the scope of distortion is too large, one might not be able to withstand the backlash of the river of time."
Fang You had personally entered the river of time, drifting with time, and even flowing against it.
At that time, he had only experienced the vastness, mystery, and inexplicability of time, but could not discern even a trace of it. But now, combined with the time-element skill and the Time Stele, he recalled his past experience and vaguely began to understand.
The experience of flowing against the river of time was extremely precious!
Tutor Fang suddenly understood.
More than ten days later, he finally touched upon and entered the beginner level of one of the laws under the Way of Time—the Law of Flow!
The manipulation of the power of time's flow!
Of course, the Way of Time was too profound and dangerous. Tutor Fang had only just knocked on the door, his attainments were shallow. He dared not use it recklessly.
He could only cautiously apply the law's power to the Bullet Time skill, tasting it lightly.
"The effect is good."
"However, my control over the Way of Time is still too limited. I might have to wait until I comprehend the Law of Flow to the Proficient and Master levels before I can truly apply it in combat."
This was not easy.
Even with Bullet Time and the experience of flowing against the river of time, his efficiency in comprehending time laws was still low, though no longer as difficult. He also couldn't spend all his time cultivating the Way of Time; he had to balance it. Roughly estimating, it would take a considerable amount of time to reach the Master level.
"Alas, there are no shortcuts in cultivation. I will comprehend it slowly."
His heart was as calm as water, as if an old monk in meditation.
Even if the heavens and earth collapsed before him, he would not bat an eyelid.
Suddenly, the supreme treasure Time Pavilion, bound to his soul, let out an unprecedented hum.
Its radiance pulsed, and its second ability, sealed for many years, slowly unlocked at this moment.
Fang You: "!"
He opened his eyes instantly and vanished from before the Time Stele.
...
Around the Time Stele, there were few visitors. Only two or three myths occasionally sat down to comprehend it, but soon their faces grew dull, and they left with wry smiles.
Many myths and demigods had come with the mindset of "giving it a try," but none could glimpse even a trace of insight.
Only Qian Qiu could be considered half-qualified.
He stubbornly persisted, grappling with the Time Stele.
Several days later, An Jianyou came here again, but the mentor was nowhere to be seen. The girl sighed, gazed at the time inscriptions not far away, and wore a troubled expression.
She had been a top student since childhood. The knowledge and abilities she encountered after joining the organization were learned quickly.
But facing the Time Stele, she was helpless.
... Not entirely helpless, though. After comprehending for so long, An Jianyou vaguely saw the door, but it was unclear. She was still far from it.
She had originally wanted to ask the mentor, but seeing him meditating with closed eyes, she dismissed the idea.
Upon arriving today, she couldn't find the mentor's trace at all.
"The mentor is too busy. I'll just keep learning on my own. At least I need to get a grasp of one time law before bothering the mentor!"
"An Jianyou, keep it up!"
She slapped her cheeks, contemplating whether she should change her approach to comprehension—sometimes, if a problem cannot be solved, it might be that the initial approach was wrong. She thought, and suddenly noticed a skill on the exchange platform that was prominently displayed on the homepage, marked with 'Recommended'.
"Epic-tier skill Bullet Time?"
"Wait, time?"
"This skill is..."
Her eyes widened, and she gradually understood everything.
It must be that the mentor, seeing that they had been unable to enter the realm for a long time, had created a skill with time-related subtleties to aid in comprehending the Way of Time.
The mentor is too kind, An Jianyou sobbed.
...
In the Time Pavilion, a meticulously ornate pagoda, Tutor Fang was observing the murals, but his gaze was fixed on the panel before him.
Supreme Treasure—Time Pavilion. Since obtaining it, he had only been able to use its first ability, 'Years and Time Secret Realm.' Abilities two and three were marked as 'Sealed,' with no clues for unlocking.
Even when he guided it with the power of Destiny, he could not pierce the mist surrounding the Time Pavilion.
But today, the Time Pavilion had changed.
"It's clear that this is related to my initiation into time-element laws."
"The power of laws is the key to unlocking the Time Pavilion's second ability."
He looked intently.
Ability Two: Temporal Domain.
Description: Create a temporal domain under your control. The flow of time within the domain is not affected by the river of time.
Its specific power and manifestation were still unknown to Fang You. However, the mere fact of being 'unaffected by the river of time' symbolized supreme, unparalleled authority.
It was as if it transcended the river of time itself.
"As my attainments in time-element laws increase, the third ability will eventually be unlocked. This key might be my condensation of the first authority fragment, or it might be when I officially enter the Grand Law of Time."
"The change not only unlocked Ability Two, but Ability One, the Time Secret Realm, has also undergone significant changes."
The Years and Time Secret Realm has given birth to a realm within a realm!
The rules of the first layer of the world are the same as before: one day outside equals one year in the secret realm.
The time difference in the second layer of the world has widened further: one day outside equals nine years in the secret realm! One can enter at most 9 times in a normal year, but only one person can enter at a time, and the cost of opening the second layer is far greater than the first.
One year can be used as 82 years.
There is much more time available, but the divine source is not as abundant.
"I haven't used my quota for the Years and Time Secret Realm this year yet. Now, with a full 82 years, it's enough for my strength to undergo a transformation, but… it will be rather lonely."
Cultivating alone for nine years is by no means easy.
How old is he, Tutor Fang?
Fortunately, counting the years within the Time Secret Realm, he is now in his sixties. Otherwise, if his mindset were not sufficient, cultivating in the secret realm would be a waste of time.
He did not enter for now, and continued to study the power of the Temporal Domain.
After Ability Two was unlocked, many ancient murals sealed within the Time Pavilion also gradually revealed their brilliance. These were clearly profound time patterns.
Of course, unlike the Time Stele, the patterns here were more profound, representing the power of the Time Pavilion.
His true self practiced and utilized the Temporal Domain within the Time Pavilion.
A divine descent avatar went to the Stele Plaza to continue comprehending the Time Stele inscriptions.
"The Temporal Domain has many powers, but with my current shallow attainments in the time element, I can only perform the simplest actions of opening, closing, expanding, or shrinking."
The larger the range, the greater the consumption. Beyond a certain point, he quickly became unable to supply it, and had to consume divine crystals to barely maintain it.
And this was merely the most rudimentary attempt at the Temporal Domain.
After consuming over ten divine crystals and barely mastering the Temporal Domain, Fang You scaled it down so that it only affected himself.
This way, the consumption was minimized.
His own energy alone was enough to sustain it for three days and three nights.
It also allowed him to best appreciate the subtlety of temporal changes.
Outside, the divine descent avatar, which was comprehending laws, began to synchronize with the power of the Temporal Domain.
He seemed to instantly be immersed in the sea of time laws. The distant, cold, and aloof time patterns instantly became passionate and alluring, as if they were flocking to him.
Before Fang You could think further, his soul let out a roar, as if he had heard the resonance of the Great Dao of Time.
A deep radiance of time flowed in his pupils.
The time around him also gradually distorted.
Day and night alternated!
Seasons revolved!
The changes of mountains and seas seemed to occur in mere moments.
An Jianyou and Qian Qiu were startled by the temporal changes.
They did not understand time laws, but they could sense the strangeness around them, the core of which was the white-robed figure sitting not far away.
With one thought, one realization, all phenomena are born.
As expected of our Mentor!
At the center of the temporal vortex, Fang You was learning time laws like a starving man. In the places he could not attend to, his mastery of the Law of Flow and other laws was rapidly advancing.
He couldn't stop.