Chapter 664: The Metamorphosis of the Time Sense
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 664: The Metamorphosis of the Time Sense
"Xiao Han, did something happen just now?" Sister Bai finally asked as we stepped off the train and walked out of the station.
After all... what had happened on the high-speed rail was far too bizarre. I had seemed frozen in time, my eyes fixed on my phone screen for the longest time while doing absolutely nothing—even after the battery had died.
"I... my Time Sense went a bit out of control..." I shook my head, still adjusting to the missing interval.
With Sister Bai, I chose to be almost entirely transparent. I had previously told her about possessing the prototype of a Time Sense.
"Is it serious?" Hearing that it had gone out of control, Sister Bai’s expression turned solemn. A Time Sense... that was a perception even she had yet to master.
Currently, she only possessed Heart Sense and a Heart State Domain, but her domain was not a mere prototype.
"Mm... it’s fine," I said, shaking my head. "Don't worry. It was mainly a matter of mindset. After experiencing all that, I’ve come to understand a few things. You could say it was a blessing in disguise."
"Alright then. I’ll take your word for it."
"Of course. You should trust me, Sister Bai," I said firmly.
This accident had indeed yielded great rewards, though not on the level described by the Knowledge Shadow—where the Time Sense would be perfected into a bidirectional control.
In the past, I lacked time, so my Time Sense worked to gain it for me. My perception of time was stretched thin, and I could only "slow down time" to utilize it. Back then, I thought this limitation was why it remained a "prototype."
But now, I had achieved the compression of time—a "fast-forward." Regardless of the price paid for doing so, I at least knew the utility of it. Yet, the Time Sense remained a "prototype."
If even mastering the bidirectional regulation of time couldn't break past the prototype stage, then a complete Time Sense had to exist on a much higher plane.
My gain this time wasn't just the experience and ability to reverse the regulation of time; it was the realization of a single truth.
Whether it was what I experienced or what I controlled, my perception actually originated from... "Heart Sense."
Heart Sense is the sixth sense that sits above the five senses; it represents perception and understanding.
The five senses plus Heart Sense—all non-intuitive information perceived is understood through the pivot of Heart Sense.
This includes... the perception of time.
Because the temporal shifts I experienced weren't objective changes in time, but my own subjective slowing of it. Heart Sense served as the vital hub of comprehension. Only by understanding time can one perceive it.
The most important aspect of Heart Sense is understanding, which is why it has no staged divisions—it has no prototype.
So, what about the Time Sense?
If perceiving time as slow or fast is the work of Heart Sense, then what exactly is the Time Sense?
I had guessed the answer long ago: it is "control," or rather, "manipulation."
The Time Sense is simply the most standardized form of the ability to manipulate perception, and it manifests most clearly in the perception of time. Only absolute control—the regulation of perception itself—counts as a perfect mastery of the Time Sense.
Furthermore... the Time Sense can be compatible with the five senses, just like Heart Sense.
This meant that the ability of the Time Sense to manipulate the perception of time could also be applied to the manipulation of the five senses.
Take a basic application as an example.
The Time Sense could take the specific feedback of "pain" within the sense of touch and weaken it, or stretch the sensation out. It could selectively block out auditory noise—which would be far more convenient than a Soundproofing Spell. It could control the sense of smell to ignore foul odors, or even rewrite a stench into a fragrance.
Thinking of it this way, the power of the Time Sense was truly terrifying, and its derivative control abilities were even more so!
In that moment, I understood why being a Self-Awakened Body Cultivation was such an exceptional talent for a Body Cultivation. Absolute control and dominance over the body meant achieving a dual level of control over both the physical form and perception!
Or perhaps, the ability mastered by a Self-Awakened Body Cultivation was a form of revelation regarding the perceptions above the five senses.
At this moment, I felt I had grown, yet it seemed as if nothing had changed, as if something was still missing.
Even though I understood what the Time Sense represented, it remained a prototype.
I hope no more accidents happen...
After following Sister Bai out of the station, we chose to take a car the rest of the way.
As the scenery outside the window grew familiar, the streets became filled with memories...
With a sudden brake from the driver, Sister Bai led me to the starting point where my fate had turned.
"Xiao Han, let's go..."
Sister Bai pulled me toward a nearby cluster of houses. The buildings here were similar to single-family homes. Generally, the people who lived here were at least somewhat well-off, though I didn't care to analyze why this world's development had taken this specific form.
"Xiao Han, our destination is over here." Seeing me about to walk straight past, Sister Bai grabbed my arm and pointed to a house on the side. This one was... where Sister Bai used to live.
That’s right... didn't Sister Bai live right next door back then?
Returning here once more, Sister Bai opened the long-sealed door and cast a Cleaning Spell to sweep away all the dust.
The interior of the house wasn't particularly large. Looking at the familiar layout, I even felt a trace of warmth.
I had taken almost everything with me when I left, but seeing the sofa in the living room and those familiar decorations... I couldn't help but recall old memories.
This was the harbor where I had once stayed to escape reality...
Sister Bai flopped onto the sofa, her expression turning lazy. "Xiao Han, remember this place? This is where you were when you told me you were applying to the Witch Academy."
"Yeah, I remember..." I nodded and sat in my usual spot. Looking at the distance between myself and Sister Bai, I could almost feel the gap I had unintentionally maintained back then, restricted by the boundaries between a boy and a girl.
"So, Xiao Han, do you have a plan? Now that you're here, how do you want to say goodbye to your past regrets?"
"I... I haven't thought about it..." I shook my head. I hadn't made any plans; I had just... come here. I thought the path would reveal itself once I arrived, but it seemed I still had to figure it out myself.
They say that aside from experience, all that remains of life is death. On this journey, I had experienced so much, yet I realized that aside from magnifying my inner emotions, I hadn't actually done anything.
"It's okay. I'll help you think."
Sister Bai stood up and sat down next to me. Perhaps she had noticed that while the previous distance was just right for who they used to be, for who they were now, it felt a bit too distant.
"Okay."
"Since we're already back, why don't we... follow your heart's desire and go take a look at your old home? What do you think?"
"Just go over there?!"
"What? Wasn't that your plan when we got off the train? Besides... I can sense that there's no one in that house right now."
"No one..." I fell silent for a moment, quickly realizing why.
At this time of day, they should be at work. My cheap brother was about to face the College Entrance Exam, so he should be at school. I didn't know if he was a boarder or a commuter.
But I figured he was likely boarding; commuting was too much of a hassle.
However... I remembered that "mother." She had been pregnant, hadn't she?
It had been nearly a year. I didn't know if she had given birth to another cheap brother or a sister.
But shouldn't there be a recovery period after childbirth?
"Alright." I nodded, agreeing to the idea.
* * *
"Is this your old home, Xiao Han?" Sister Bai led me into the house.
The plot of land wasn't large, and the interior decor clashed violently with my memories.
"Are they actually followers of the Holy Light Holy See?" Sister Bai walked to the side and picked up a book of Holy Light Maxims lying slanted on the counter. This was something found only in Holy Light Churches, and there were many different versions, but they were all books meant to praise and glorify Holy Light and Faith—and they carried strong hints of brainwashing.
"No, they aren't believers. They're gamblers." I shook my head and picked up a Holy Light cross pendant from the side. It was a glittering metal ornament with no practical use; I could only sense a faint trace of residual light element energy.
It wasn't even of the Holy Light attribute. Light and Holy Light were two different concepts. Pure light element energy was no different from the light of a lightbulb, used only for illumination, whereas Holy Light possessed a divine attribute with a natural dispelling effect on things like curses and filth.
"Then why are there so many Holy Light Church items in this house? And you can tell they're trying to imitate the decor style of an Ascetic family, but it looks shoddy—neither fish nor fowl," Sister Bai asked, puzzled.
She had never been inside this house before. Not once. Back then, Sister Bai had escorted me back or tried to persuade them more than once, but they wouldn't even invite her in for a cup of tea to thank her...
"Maybe they converted to Holy Light halfway through?" I shook my head, still unable to imagine them as believers.
"Wait... is this really still where they live?" I toyed with the low-quality cross as the question suddenly occurred to me.
But after using the Ley Line Identification Art to check, I breathed a sigh of relief. They had lived here all along; we hadn't come to the wrong place.
"So it's the right place, then?" Seeing my reaction, Sister Bai also used the Ley Line Identification Art to glean the past she hadn't known.
"Yeah... so it's very strange." I looked at the cross pendant in my hand. The information displayed by the Ley Line Identification Art included even visual images.
This pendant was something they had sought from the Holy Light Church, and they had spent quite a bit of money to buy it.
The Holy Light Church... a faith spread across the entire world. Although this wasn't an area under the direct influence of the Holy Angel Academy, that didn't stop people from building churches here.
After all, the academies didn't interfere with matters outside their jurisdiction, so the establishment of a church here was likely the result of family negotiations.
Furthermore, that church wasn't presided over by a Preaching Angel from the Holy Angel Academy. The academy didn't have enough Preaching Angels to cover the whole world; only the cathedrals in territories directly under the academy's influence would have a true Preaching Angel.
Such an orthodox Preaching Angel was equivalent to the level of a Teaching Assistant at the Witch Academy.
As for the other churches, most were run by academy students who had mastered a few Divine Arts, using transcendent means to manifest "miracles" and the like. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why the pendant in my hand had traces of the light element.
"Xiao Han, what do you want to do next?" Sister Bai put down the Holy Light Maxims and straightened it. The fact that something used for prayer was left lying slanted was enough to show the owner's lack of piety.
"I want to understand why..." I said.
Mainly, I wanted to know how they had survived their crisis after that phone call I received at the Witch Academy regarding the breach in the curtain wall.
Back then, the Lesser Demon recruiters had come knocking. Given the nature of the Lesser Demon Academy, since I had left, would they have snatched Yang Yunhan to make up the numbers?
I didn't know, but the Ley Lines would provide the answer.
This time, I utilized the Tree of Great Knowledge, using the entire house as an anchor to perform a large-scale regression of Ley Line information. I desperately wanted to know what had happened after that.
This process took a long time. After all, this was nearly a year's worth of information. Sifting through the vast amount of meaningless data, only the significant events would tell me what had occurred.
Finally, I anchored the information, shifting from the house itself to the Holy Light Church items within it.
And just as I was tracing forward along the timeline, inexplicably, the images before my eyes began to "flicker." Several illusory figures moved at a speed the naked eye couldn't track!
Even the light outside the window began to pulse between brightness and shadow...
"This is..." I looked at everything before me in disbelief. Am I reversing time?!
How was that possible!
"Why is it impossible? Isn't it happening right now?" At that moment, the Knowledge Shadow emerged once again, just when I needed it most.
"Happening... but how? I shouldn't have this kind of power..."
"Isn't this the Time Sense?" the Knowledge Shadow prompted.
"The Time Sense... how could it be? The Time Sense can't make objective time move backward!"
"What if everything you're seeing is a hallucination produced by the synergy of Ley Line data and your Time Sense? The Ley Line Identification Art is a power under the system of the Tree of Great Knowledge. Its ability to process data far exceeds yours as its controller. The art merely translates understandable data into information for display, but the vast majority of data within the Ley Lines exists in a form that normal cognition cannot comprehend."
"A hallucination? The Ley Line Identification Art... and the Time Sense... they can be used like this?" I asked in shock.
"Ever since you realized the role of 'control' within your own cognition, your Time Sense has been undergoing a continuous metamorphosis. The resulting power of control has surpassed even the Tree of Great Knowledge, so even the Tree must serve it. Don't forget that your Heart State Domain prototype is integrated with two Great Spellbooks."
"The current situation is that your own conscious control is far inferior to the power expressed by the strength you wield. Thus, you unintentionally produce manifestations of power that exceed your control, to some extent defying your subjective will and aligning more closely with your subconscious intuition."
"So..." For a moment, I couldn't quite grasp it, but since it was already happening, I forced myself to stay calm.
"Stop with the 'so's. You should focus on the past right now. This is a rare experience, and it will help you see the details you missed before more intuitively. Do you trust me? If you do, then listen to me."
"Of course... how could I not trust my own intuition and subconscious..." I looked at the Knowledge Shadow, a flash of complexity in my eyes. Finally, I couldn't help but say, "Thank you."
"Why thank me? When you can sincerely say 'thank you' to yourself, that is when you will have truly grown."