With a casual raise of his hand, Li Chang'an popped a low-grade Soul Power Fruit into his mouth. Instantly, his strength jumped back up to Level 9!
Now with soul power restored, he quickly backed away while reaching into his Storage Soul Tool.
The next second, a long white metal tube—resembling a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher—was hefted onto his shoulder.
The spirit Hall's Research Institute's latest product: a Grade Three Fixed-Mount Soul Cannon!
Li Chang'an had long since supplied formulas for gunpowder. Over the past seven or eight years, the Research Institute had dismantled and studied countless soul tools. As a result, they developed this brand-new model: a third-grade fixed-mount cannon.
While it couldn't be guaranteed to kill a thousand-year beast, blowing apart a hundred-year beast was no problem at all!
"Little tiger—times have changed."
As his words fell, Li Chang'an poured soul power into the weapon. With a thunderous roar, a blazing rocket erupted, aimed straight at the miniaturized Dark Demon Evil God Tiger!
Danger!
Even though it was in its juvenile form, the beast's instincts remained. Its body twisted in an instant, narrowly avoiding the shell.
But a cannon fired by Li Chang'an was not so easy to dodge.
With a whoosh, the scorching blast-wave engulfed the tiger, tossing it across the ground. The shell only grazed it, yet even that left it lightly wounded.
"ROAR!!"
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger bellowed furiously, preparing to counterattack—but froze. Somehow, the human in front of it was now holding two more metal tubes, with a neat row of ten more lying on the ground.
"I told you—times have changed. I'm a pay-to-win player. You… aren't."
Grinning arrogantly, Li Chang'an braced the cannons under his feet.
From the beginning, his plan had never been to rely on soul power alone. As long as he recovered just a little, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was doomed!
His hands moved rapidly—boom, boom!—two rockets launched at once. The very next instant, he dropped them, scooped up two more from the pile, and fired again without hesitation.
"Boom! Boom!"
The bombardment was relentless. Waves of fire and shockwaves tore through the space, creating deafening explosions that echoed without pause.
One cannon? The tiger might have dodged that. But dozens, fired one after another? Even in its wildest dreams, it hadn't expected Li Chang'an's arsenal to be limitless.
In moments, under the unending rain of explosions, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's body was ripped apart.
The pay-to-win player had seized victory.
The surrounding world warped and cracked apart. The arena shattered, collapsing into endless darkness once again. Li Chang'an exhaled, relaxing his body as he calmly stored all the soul cannons back into his Storage Soul Tool. His heart, however, was still pounding wildly.
Light burst forth. His body felt weightless, then his feet touched the earth once more. He was back in the Star Dou Forest. His missing strength surged back into him—his full cultivation restored.
Not far away, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's massive corpse lay still. Above it floated a strange bead—pitch-black, yet shimmering faintly with cyan and azure light.
'What is this?'
Before Li Chang'an could examine it, the same black vortex that had sucked him in earlier reappeared. With a sudden pull, it tried to draw the bead into itself, as though summoning it home.
"You're not leaving."
With a low snort, Li Chang'an summoned the Donghuang bell. It ripped open space and enclosed the bead within its barrier.
The vortex strained to drag it away, but how could it possibly overcome the Donghuang Bell? With a wave of Li Chang'an's hand, the bell returned to him, bringing the bead safely along.
Only then did the black fissure slowly fade away, clearly giving up.
'So, even after death, the essence tries to return… could this be the inheritance method of their bloodline?'
Ignoring the thought, Li Chang'an studied the bead in his palm.
The instant it touched his skin, an overwhelming aura of pure evil surged forth, chilling him to the bone. This was clearly the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's condensed essence.
Unable to discern much, he stored it safely within his Storage Tool. After all, the system's soul tool was indestructible—what could this bead possibly do inside?
Only then did his gaze shift back to the tiger's corpse.
From its body rose a single soul ring—pitch-black, frigid, and brimming with malice.
"Doesn't matter what tricks you hide. If you think you can break the Time Dragon's soul bone, try me."
Li Chang'an chuckled indifferently.
Forget this little tiger—even if the Evil God itself appeared, it wasn't the Time Dragon's match. That ancient being was second only to the Dragon God itself.
From his storage, Li Chang'an retrieved the colossal million-year Time Dragon Soul Bone. At once, the sinister aura in the area was completely suppressed by its overwhelming draconic might. The soul ring was instantly drawn toward the bone, fusing into it in a flash of light.
The dragon bone, already crystal-clear, grew even more radiant, its missing fragments fully restored.
A moment later, it released a wave that swept across Li Chang'an. He felt as though his entire being had been scanned from head to toe.
'It's… testing my aptitude?'
After a brief moment, the probing ended. The soul bone disintegrated into countless glowing white motes that seeped gently into his body.
At that instant, realization struck him. Enlightenment filled his heart, as though he had touched upon the true essence of… time.
A voice echoed in his ears:
"Tell me—what is time?"
Time… what is it?
Li Chang'an's understanding of time was not profound, but he had his own perspective. From his past life, he recalled a line from The Legend of Qin:
Ten years show the cycle of seasons.
A hundred years witness life and death.
A thousand years see dynasties rise and fall.
Ten thousand years record the shifting of the stars.
Yes… time is eternal. Time is motionless, yet ever-flowing. Whether you exist or not, it is always there.
Right then, the system chimed in:
[Congratulations! From the million-year Time Dragon Soul Bone, you have grasped the basic insights of: Time Stagnation and Time Reversal. Forward progression awaits further enlightenment]
'Time… stagnation?'
Li Chang'an slowly opened his bright eyes. His mind felt full of new knowledge, though hard to fully comprehend.
Three meters away, a single leaf drifted toward the ground. With just a thought, the world froze.
The leaf hung suspended midair.
The sounds of insects ceased. The whisper of the wind vanished. Everything was locked in silence—frozen in place.
For five full seconds.
Then reality resumed. The leaf continued its descent, the insects chirped again, and the breeze brushed his face.
Five seconds—that was his current limit. But within a radius of ten meters, everything—whether living or nonliving—would be frozen in absolute stillness, so long as their strength was equal to or below his.
Against a Contra, he could hold them for four seconds.
A Titled Douluo—for about three.
Even an Ultimate Douluo—for one.
But in battle, a single second could change everything. And Li Chang'an's strength was still growing. In the future, he would surely unlock both Time Reversal and Forward Progression.
Perhaps because the ability was too heaven-defying, even after absorbing the million-year soul bone, his cultivation remained at Level 76.