Chapter 508 - 507: Time Trace Hourglass Obtained; Six-Winged Black Mosquito Breaks Free
Chu Sheng immediately understood. He cast aside all his worries, pushed his speed to its absolute limit, and continued to charge forward.
Soon, he had completely caught up to Qin Wudao ahead.
At the same time, he finally got a clear view of the scene at the very core of this Inner Hall.
It was a massive shrine carved from white jade, like an altar table that had been magnified several times over.
On the altar, there were no offerings and no incense burner, only a huge, quietly burning candle that was about a meter tall.
And behind that candle, right in the center, a palm-sized, somewhat dilapidated-looking hourglass-shaped object was floating.
’That must be it!’
Chu Sheng thought, looking at the hourglass with a hint of disdain.
’This is it? It doesn’t look special at all. It’s so worn and tattered, like some cheap trinket you’d find at an antique stall.’
The massive candle, however, did make him look a few more times.
The candle’s surface was covered in countless peculiar patterns. These patterns were somewhat similar to the ones on the Demon Beasts he had encountered in the Still Forest, but they were ten thousand times more complex and exquisite.
’Whatever, I’ll just grab the thing first!’
Chu Sheng thought as he gave a powerful flap of his wings, his speed increasing once more—an increase relative to Qin Wudao, not in his absolute speed.
Finally, under Qin Wudao’s incredulous gaze, Chu Sheng’s tiny figure flew past him, bit by bit.
He’d overtaken him!
And not long after, another figure shot past Qin Wudao from behind.
It was Gu Yuexi!
She had actually caught up too.
Qin Wudao’s face instantly turned livid. He clenched his fists, his body trembling with rage.
However, the moment Gu Yuexi’s figure truly passed him, the furious expression on his face suddenly vanished... replaced by a triumphant, somewhat sinister smile.
All his previous emotions had been an act. No, not an act—he had intentionally released the emotions of "Qin Wudao" himself!
And now, watching the person and the mosquito ahead of him, he quietly gave up on advancing!
...
Ahead, Chu Sheng and Gu Yuexi soon reached the final ten meters before the Divine Platform.
But these last ten meters were the most difficult to cross.
Every inch of space here seemed to be frozen solid.
When Chu Sheng, giving it his all, finally flew to within one meter of the Divine Platform, he discovered that it took him dozens of seconds to flap his wings, even just to advance a single millimeter!
At this point, only the last two of the Wood Spirit Beads hanging around his neck remained!
In a place like this, the propagation of sound was infinitely delayed, making it impossible for him to communicate with Gu Yuexi, who was not far behind him.
When he painstakingly moved to a position just twenty centimeters from the shrine, he felt he was almost completely unable to move...
With great effort, he turned his head back, communicating with Gu Yuexi with his eyes.
’I can’t do it, Little Empress! I’m at my limit!’
’What do we do? We’re so close!’
Meanwhile, Gu Yuexi had also given her all to reach a spot one meter from the Divine Platform.
This was her current limit.
After all, her strength in this life was still far inferior to when she had come here in her previous life.
But Gu Yuexi’s face showed no sign of discouragement.
She had long since anticipated everything and had already prepared a way to break the deadlock.
With her current strength, the only thing that could break the present stalemate was that Divine Sword from Lin Daosheng!
Her plan was simple, similar to what they did in the Still Forest:
Use the power of this Divine Realm Sword to forcibly shake loose the Power of Time in this core area, then have Chu Sheng seize the fleeting opportunity to take the treasure from the Divine Platform—the Time Trace Hourglass!
The opportunity would only last an instant!
She looked at Chu Sheng, and the simple, ancient longsword appeared in her hand.
The tacit understanding between them allowed Chu Sheng to instantly grasp Gu Yuexi’s intentions. His huge compound eyes gave an incredibly firm response!
’Bring it on!’
The next second, Gu Yuexi no longer hesitated!
She drew the sword!
This time, shaking loose the Power of Time at the very core of the Divine Hall would be a hundred times more difficult than clearing a path in the Still Forest!
But Gu Yuexi didn’t waver in the slightest!
She trusted this sword!
As the blade emerged from its sheath inch by inch, the frozen Power of Time around her did indeed begin to churn violently.
This time, Gu Yuexi gritted her teeth and drew the blade to her absolute limit—a full thirty centimeters!
SHING!
A clear, resonant sword hum ignored the delay from the Power of Time, instantly reverberating throughout the entire great hall!
An invisible, ultimate slash of Sword Qi shot violently toward the Divine Platform.
But after drawing the sword for this one strike, a trickle of fresh blood flowed from the corner of Gu Yuexi’s mouth. No longer able to support herself, she collapsed limply to the ground.
’Now, it’s all up to that damned mosquito!’
Just as Gu Yuexi had expected, under the reverberation of the Sword Qi, the indestructible Power of Time around the Divine Platform did indeed recede!
But this opening didn’t even last for an instant!
And in that very instant, Chu Sheng was completely freed from the influence of the Power of Time. He moved!
His figure appeared directly on the Divine Platform. He got a clear look at the hourglass. It was made of some material that was neither gold nor jade, and its surface was even slightly damaged.
He discovered that there was, surprisingly, only a single grain of sand inside the hourglass.
No, it wasn’t sand, but a speck of light flickering with a faint glow.
Chu Sheng had no time for a closer look. He extended one of his mosquito legs and pressed it directly onto the hourglass.
’Store!’
’Store!’
’What the—it won’t go in???’
’What’s going on?’ Chu Sheng was a little dumbfounded. His ever-successful Lifebound Space was actually unable to store this tiny hourglass.
That wisp of Sword Qi had already dissipated! The formless Power of Time all around was coalescing again. If it did, he would be frozen here for eternity!
Chu Sheng steeled his heart, refusing to accept this.
This time, he directly used that special five-cubic-meter space within his Lifebound Space... the "Little Universe" space!
HUM!
This time, the hourglass finally reacted. It vanished in an instant, obediently stored away.
’Success!’
A jolt of joy went through Chu Sheng.
「At the same time.」
With the disappearance of the Time Trace Hourglass, the Power of Time throughout the entire second floor began to slowly dissipate like a receding tide.
The massive candle standing on the Divine Platform, its flame having burned for who knows how many millennia, also began to flicker violently as if it had lost its fuel, before finally, slowly, going out.
No one noticed that just below where the flame went out, in the viscous wax, a strange, jet-black, six-winged mosquito was finally, bit by bit, crawling out.
At this moment, its huge compound eyes were filled with a human-like emotion!
It was the... ecstasy of regained freedom!
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