The maiden watched Ye Ling frantically expend his own power, her brow furrowed. "What are you doing?" she asked.
At that moment, Ye Ling was single-handedly attempting to rectify the time within the hive. He lacked the energy to explain to the maiden, quickly saying, "Stop with the nonsense. Open a path out for me!"
"Wonderful! You've finally come to your senses!"
Seeing that Ye Ling intended to leave, the maiden didn't think twice. She immediately activated her power, opening a teleportation channel within the hive that connected to the outside.
"Alright! You can go from here..."
Before the maiden could finish speaking, Ye Ling directly manipulated the Unnamed Void to cover the teleportation channel the maiden had constructed, connecting it to the void outside and balancing the time within and without.
Having accomplished this, Ye Ling finally let out a long sigh of relief. "Fortunately, my reaction was quick enough to return. Otherwise, everything would have been lost."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, a flicker of confusion appeared in the maiden's eyes. "What are you talking about? I helped you construct an escape route, and you're not running, but messing with some domain?"
Up to this point, the maiden had been of great help to Ye Ling, and his attitude towards her had improved considerably.
He had no intention of concealing anything from her now. "I was just balancing the time inside and outside the hive. The flow of time is different on both sides. If we stay inside for too long, the void will change. So, I need to connect the inside and outside of the hive to make the flow of time the same."
"The flow of time inside and outside the hive is different?" The maiden's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about? The void doesn't even have the concept of time. How can the flow of time be different inside and outside the hive?"
"Even if the flow of time is different, so what? Different worlds inherently have different rules, and the flow of time varies from place to place. This isn't a big deal, is it? Must you make such a fuss?"
Ye Ling knew the maiden would respond this way and sighed slightly. He then said, "Although the flow of time varies in different parts of the void, the entire void has an absolute flow of time... Under that time, every world in the void possesses the same time."
Ye Ling had learned about absolute time from the Primordial Chaos Consciousness. He wasn't entirely clear on the specific calculations of this time, but he knew that the lifespan of every large-scale ordered world, including the Primordial Chaos, was measured according to absolute time.
To put it metaphorically, if the Primordial Chaos had a lifespan of one million absolute years, then after one million absolute years passed in the void, the Primordial Chaos would head towards decline.
Within these one million absolute years, it was possible for the Primordial Chaos itself to experience an extremely rapid flow of time, perhaps billions upon trillions of years.
Of course, the Primordial Chaos's lifespan was more than one million absolute years, and it had already existed for trillions of years.
As for how the void calculated time, Ye Ling, not having become the Primordial Chaos Consciousness, was not entirely clear.
Absolute time pertained to the entire void, much like the Void Origin Force, and was unrelated to independent entities.
The maiden, having stayed in the hive since the previous era, or even the era before that, had seen worlds perish. Yet, she only perceived that a few million years had passed for herself. This exaggerated time span led Ye Ling to believe that the discrepancy in the flow of time between the inside and outside of the hive was related to absolute time.
Perhaps, this entire hive was a causal technique related to time.
Upon hearing Ye Ling's words, the maiden remarked, "I have heard the Star Chaos Consciousness mention absolute time. However, that kind of time only relates to worlds and doesn't affect us as individuals. This hive couldn't possibly cause a discrepancy in absolute time."
Ye Ling: "Do you truly believe absolute time cannot change?"
Maiden: "Otherwise? Absolute time is called absolute time precisely because it cannot be changed. I've never heard of absolute time changing."
Ye Ling: "I thought so too before. Unfortunately, your existence is the proof."
The maiden's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Ye Ling: "The Star Chaos you hail from has long since vanished from the void."
The maiden exclaimed angrily, "What nonsense are you spouting? How can you claim the Star Chaos has vanished? The void is boundless, filled with countless large-scale worlds. You simply haven't heard of the Star Chaos, so how can you assert it has disappeared?"
Ye Ling replied, "If your Star Chaos had other potential rankings, I might not be able to assert this. But you happen to be the world ranked first in potential."
Maiden: "So what if it's ranked first in potential? The Star Chaos is the strongest world in the void. Although I am the ruler of the Star Chaos, there are countless beings stronger than me within it. It absolutely cannot have disappeared!"
Ye Ling was not surprised by the maiden's reaction and sighed slightly. He then said, "I haven't introduced myself yet, have I?"
"My name is Ye Ling, and I come from the Primordial Chaos, the current number one ranked large-scale ordered world in terms of potential."
"Impossible!"
The maiden roared, "Do you think it's funny to joke with me? I've only been here for six million years. For people like us, that's just a lunch break! You won't fool me!"
Ye Ling was not surprised by the maiden's current anger. He didn't want to provoke her further and said, "I don't want to argue with you about this matter, but you've been in this hive for six million years. Isn't it time to go out and see?"
"I have a suggestion. How about we join forces to deal with the Hive Mother? That way, you can also leave, and you can judge for yourself whether what I'm saying is true or false."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the maiden calmed down and fell silent.
After a long moment, the maiden looked at Ye Ling and asked seriously, "Are you truly going to join forces with me to deal with the Hive Mother? This could be fatal!"
Ye Ling: "I entered this hive prepared to take down the Hive Mother. That thing has already set its sights on my world. Even without your presence, I would still go and fight the Hive Mother. Your appearance is a great fortune for me."
"Alright, I agree to join forces with you."
After hearing Ye Ling's words, the maiden agreed to cooperate with him and then said, "My name is Chu Yun."
"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation." Ye Ling smiled slightly at Chu Yun and extended his hand to her.
Chu Yun glanced at Ye Ling's hand, seemingly not understanding his intention. She took a pill from her embrace and placed it in Ye Ling's hand. "A healing pill. I can only give you this one. It can save your life at a critical moment. Keep it well."
Ye Ling looked at the dark pill in his hand, his lips twitching. However, he didn't explain anything and put away Chu Yun's pill. He then asked Chu Yun, "You've been in the hive for so long, do you have any information about the Hive Mother to share?"
"Yes! I know a weakness of the Hive Mother. I can't break it alone, but with you, there might be a slim chance. Follow me!"
After speaking, Chu Yun immediately flew out of the "safe house" and plunged into a large mass of parasitic worms.
Seeing Chu Yun rush into the swarm of parasites without any protection, Ye Ling felt a pang of alarm. However, he wasn't as daring as Chu Yun. He immediately covered himself with the White Emperor Flame and pursued her.