Chapter 296: Unexpected Passage of Time

Perhaps even Chu Fan himself never imagined that comprehending the Time Law would be so… time-consuming.

No, to be precise, he had long forgotten the passage of time while lost in his epiphany. Or rather, as he was comprehending the Time Law, his inability to control the time rate at will had thrown the flow of time in this small world into disarray.

The Time Law was the most profound and complex of the nine Great Laws.

Time is an energy that always moves forward. It cannot be reversed, nor can it be redone.

Even a Great Power who claimed to have mastered the Time Law could, at most, only alter the speed at which time moved forward. They could never make it flow backward.

Chu Fan, lost in his epiphany, didn’t actually know if time could truly be reversed.

He was currently analyzing the meaning between the lines of that book, word by word, trying to alter the flow of time with his will alone.

Spring turned to autumn, and winter gave way to summer.

Finally, Chu Fan grasped the first layer of insight from the *Sword of Time*—a hundredth of a *zi* in a flash.

What did this mean? A *zi* was a unit of time. One *hour* was divided into eight equal parts, each part a quarter-hour. Each quarter-hour was then divided into three equal parts, with each part being one *zi*.

Therefore, “a hundredth of a *zi* in a flash” meant that the time rate Chu Fan could alter was to make time flow by one-hundredth of a *zi* within a single flash, which was equivalent to making time pass by three seconds in that instant.

Do not underestimate the difference between a flash and three seconds. A single flash is typically equivalent to 0.3 seconds.

This was a tenfold increase in the time rate.

In other words, within this altered time rate, he could execute two moves of the Dream-Breaking Meteor Sword while only a single flash had passed for his opponent.

Chu Fan had originally planned to continue his comprehension, but he figured this result would already be a great boon to him in battle, so he decided to stop for the time being.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a clever and well-behaved little girl in a white fox fur coat looking at him.

“Brother, you’re finally awake!” Seeing Chu Fan awaken, the little girl skipped over to him and threw herself into his arms.

He was curious who this little girl was, but the moment he heard her voice, he realized she was the White Fox.

“You’re the White Fox?”

“That’s right! I refined the Seven-Colored Glazed Treasure Tree, so I can take human form now!”

Chu Fan hadn’t expected that this girl, who looked to be about the same age as Cailing, was actually the White Fox. The whole thing felt like a dream.

“Do you have a name?” Chu Fan asked.

The White Fox shook her head.

“Then let me give you one!”

“Okay, okay! Brother, you have to give me a really nice name!”

“You were transformed from a white fox, and you’re wearing a white fur coat now, so let’s use Bai as your surname. How about Bai Yun?”

“Bai Yun? Brother, you’re so casual with names. Are you thinking of Sister Yun Xi? No way, pick another one.” The White Fox pouted and turned her head away, feigning anger.

“Hahaha, you misunderstood. It’s ‘Yun’ as in ‘bamboo,’ not ‘yun’ as in ‘cloud’ from Yun Xi’s name. It’s the character with the bamboo radical. The Three Friends of Winter are pine, bamboo, and plum, while the Four Gentlemen among flowers are plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. What I like most about bamboo is its spirit of being unyielding, its integrity, and its upright, elegant quality.”

Hearing this, the White Fox’s eyes lit up. “Oh, so that’s what it means! Then I’ll be Bai Yun from now on. Thank you, Brother!”

As she spoke, she gave Chu Fan a big smooch on the cheek.

Being kissed by such a small, adorable girl, Chu Fan naturally didn’t feel the least bit awkward.

After all, the current Bai Yun was about the same as Ni Cailing. Although she called him “Brother,” it was no different than being with a junior.

“Brother, you’ve been sleeping here for a long, long time. Shouldn’t we get out of here? Oh, right, while you were asleep, some big guy called out for you many times!”

“A long time? How long?”

“Well, the spring flowers have bloomed three times, and the fruits have ripened three times.”

“Ah!”

Chu Fan cried out in alarm.

‘Holy crap, three years have passed just like that?’

‘I’m screwed. I promised Yun Xi I’d visit her once every year. I haven’t gone in three years. I wonder how she’s doing!’

‘As for the big guy who called for me so many times, that must be Long Yinwen. Oh, he should be called Gui Fan now.’

With a single thought, he located Gui Fan, only to find that he had somehow ended up with Hui Ke.

At that very moment, Hui Ke was chanting scriptures to Gui Fan. Judging by the utterly hopeless expression on Gui Fan’s face, if he could actually beat Hui Ke, he probably would have knocked all his teeth out long ago.

Seeing Chu Fan appear, Gui Fan fled to his side as if he’d just seen his savior.

“Brother Chu, I’ve already reached the Void Realm! When are you going to let me out?!”

Gui Fan’s Cultivation speed had also exceeded Chu Fan’s expectations. He hadn’t thought that by training alone in this Secret Realm for three years, Gui Fan would advance from the Early Stage of the Divine Separation Realm to the Void Realm.

It had to be said, Gui Fan’s talent surpassed that of countless other Cultivators.

Hui Ke also chimed in with a complaint, “Benefactor Chu, you’re really unreliable. You said you’d let this humble monk stroll around this Secret Realm, and that ‘stroll’ ended up being three and a half years.”

“Three and a half years? Wasn’t it just three?”

“A full three and a half years,” Hui Ke said with certainty.

Gui Fan nodded vigorously beside him.

Chu Fan felt a headache coming on. ‘Three and a half years… this epiphany has really messed things up. Not only have I broken my promise to Yun Xi, but by my count, I’ve been away from the Eastern Domain for four years now. I have no idea what the situation there is like.’

‘Moreover, he and Gui Fan had staged a fake death. If the people who cared about him were to find out, who knew what would happen!’

There was no time to waste. He had to get out of here immediately.

Only then did Hui Ke and Gui Fan notice the little girl, Bai Yun, standing next to Chu Fan.

“Brother Chu, don’t tell me you’ve been away for so many years that your kid is already this big?” Gui Fan said, pointing at Bai Yun.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Her name is Bai Yun. She’s the White Fox that was always with me.”

“What did you say? She’s the White Fox?” Gui Fan said in shock.

“Demon Beasts that cultivate to a certain Realm can take human form. In the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, Demon Beasts that can transform are a dime a dozen. What’s so strange about it?” Chu Fan said.

Looking at Gui Fan’s stunned expression, Bai Yun gave him a sweet smile, then stuck out her little tongue and made a face.

An expression like that could truly melt anyone’s heart.

“Let’s go. I didn’t expect to be delayed for so long. I’ll take you out of the Secret Realm first, but don’t leave the Space-Time Shuttle for now.”

With just a thought from Chu Fan, the group appeared inside the Space-Time Shuttle.

Outside the Space-Time Shuttle, the number of vigilant Imperial Forest Guards had decreased significantly, but there was still a squad of Guards with lit torches standing watch on the shore.

Chu Fan stretched out his hand, and a miniature Space-Time Shuttle appeared in his palm. He gently stroked it with his left hand, and the shuttle they were in immediately shot up into the sky.

Before the Guards could even react, the Space-Time Shuttle transformed into a streak of light and vanished a thousand *li* away.

The sudden departure of the Space-Time Shuttle was a major event for the Hua Xu Empire. The Guards didn’t dare to delay and rushed to report to the Emperor and the Carefree Monarch respectively.

Three years had passed. The current Emperor of the Hua Xu Empire was none other than Yan Ying, who had changed his name to Long Yintian, while the Carefree Monarch was the former Crown Prince, Long Jingyao.