Chapter 928: Broken Watch
With Lilith and Bai s.h.i.+lin beside him, Bai Zemin paused standing in the middle of a large clearing and carefully surveyed the world around him.
As far as the eye could see, all Bai Zemin could see was gra.s.sland.
The land was covered by a thin layer of light green gra.s.s, there were a few elevations here and there but nothing close to being called a mountain or even a valley.
The sky was as blue as the Earth"s and the white clouds that seemed to hang in the air moved slowly in sync with the movement of the spa.r.s.e number of trees there.
Bai s.h.i.+lin tugged on Bai Zemin"s sleeve, and when the girl finally received his attention she said in a gentle voice, "Father, s.h.i.+lin feels heavy."
"Heavy?" Bai Zemin was surprised before he finally noticed what was happening.
He looked at the surroundings and muttered under his breath, "The gravity of this place seems to be comparable to Eventide World"s so it is at least four to five times more powerful than the current Earth"s gravity."
Because he had been in Eventide World for so many months and thanks to his strong physical body, Bai Zemin simply hadn"t noticed the gravitational difference between Earth and the Collector"s Pocket World.
"s.h.i.+lin, are you okay? Can you withstand this pressure?" he asked hurriedly.
"It"s fine, Father. It"s just a little uncomfortable but s.h.i.+lin thinks she can adjust to it soon." Bai s.h.i.+lin replied after a brief consideration.
"I see, that"s great." Bai Zemin patted the top of the girl"s head and didn"t forget to praise her, "My little s.h.i.+lin is the best."
"Hehe!"
Bai s.h.i.+lin was a level 87 soul evolver. Not only was she a Second Order existence but as a future queen of weaver ants her physical body was terrifyingly durable and powerful to the point where when it came to toughness her bones were comparable to Bai Zemin"s with the pa.s.sive skill Golden Bones.
"This kind of gravity definitely cannot be handled by a human below level 20 unless they are fed with meat or other foods rich in mana and Soul Power as is the case with the humans of Eventide World." Lilith commented as she took a few steps around the area, "If you were to bring a survivor of your faction to this place their bones would turn to dust in a matter of seconds and their internal organs to pulp."
Bai Zemin nodded silently in agreement.
After a brief pause, he suddenly activated Shadow Blink and appeared behind Bai s.h.i.+lin.
"Father?" the girl looked at him in confusion with her big black eyes.
Bai Zemin simply smiled and stroked the little girl"s hair causing her to close her eyes and enjoy the warmth of his hand. Meanwhile, he paid attention to the rune engraved in his soul that represented the skill Shadow Blink.
10... 20... 30 seconds...
The seconds pa.s.sed one after another, and by the time 60 seconds had pa.s.sed after he activated Shadow Blink, Bai Zemin finally saw the opaque rune light up once again as an indicator that it was now available.
"It seems that the cooldown time of the skills doesn"t change within this world." Bai Zemin rubbed his chin as he muttered to himself, "Even though it was only 60 seconds in this world, outside of the Collector"s Pocket World the time that really pa.s.sed through were 600 seconds, ten times more."
"Lilith, I"ll be right back." Bai Zemin said and without waiting for a reply from her he simply disappeared without a trace with such speed that even Lilith didn"t see him.
"Looks like s.p.a.ce law is working well." She chuckled.
Bai s.h.i.+lin reached over and took her hand as she asked softly, "Father?"
"He"ll be right back." Lilith replied and not even a moment later noticed how s.p.a.ce twisted, "Look. He is here."
Bai Zemin"s body was only in sight of the two for 6 seconds before he disappeared again.
"He"s gone." Bai s.h.i.+lin said as she stared at the place where her father had just disappeared. Two seconds later, Bai Zemin reappeared and she said with fun, "He"s here."
Lilith laughed softly at Bai s.h.i.+lin"s tenderness before focusing on Bai Zemin and asking with genuine curiosity, "How did it go? Did you find out anything?"
"Mmmm..." Bai Zemin looked at the Shadow Blink skill rune and a hint of regret seeped into his voice as he slowly said, "What a pity.... It seems that this world"s time difference doesn"t affect skills."
Bai Zemin had activated Shadow Blink in the outside world and had then immediately returned to the Collector"s Pocket World. However, even though Bai Zemin spent 6 seconds in the Collector"s Pocket World and immediately returned to the outside world where 60 seconds had already pa.s.sed, the skill Shadow Blink was still on cooldown as if he had just used the skill in the outside world even though one minute had actually pa.s.sed in Earth time.
Lilith couldn"t help but feel that it was a pity but at the same time she couldn"t help but sigh in relief: "Zemin, although it"s indeed a pity, I think it"s normal for the skills to be unaffected by the time difference between this world and the outside world... Besides, I think it"s better this way."
"Better?" He looked at her puzzled. "Lilith, if the skills were affected the cooldown time of my skills would charge ten times faster whenever I entered the Collector"s Pocket World."
"Well, that"s true but while that has advantages there is also a big disadvantage that you are ignoring." Lilith pointed out.
"Oh?" He frowned slightly and asked in confusion, "What is that disadvantage you are talking about?"
"Zemin, if your skills were affected by the time difference then that would mean that your soul would also be getting affected. At the end of the day, skills are part of our souls." Lilith continued in a serious voice, "This means that your soul would be aging 10 times faster than normal by spending time in this world, so your life expectancy would always be running out 10 times faster than normal in the eyes of others."
What was it that allowed soul evolvers to evolve? It was Soul Power, the absorption of records or part of the souls of other living beings and the subsequent strengthening of one"s own soul which in turn strengthened the body.
If Bai Zemin spent 500 years in the Collector"s Pocket World, the time for all other living beings in the universe would have run only 50 years. However, if his soul was affected by the time difference Bai Zemin would emerge as a middle-aged man or even a man in his old age when he returned to Earth while everyone else would still look young since only half a century would have pa.s.sed for them.
Bai Zemin"s eyes flashed with a hint of fear at this important fact that he had inadvertently overlooked.
Lilith seemed to be able to notice what he was thinking so she added with a slight smile: "Well, that"s why every universal law is so powerful and hard to manipulate or even learn. Being the most lethal law of all, the law of time is terrifying to the point where no one can really manipulate it and the most some Higher Existences can do is build areas where the flow of time moves slower or faster but that"s about it."
Bai Zemin nodded and was about to say something when his eyes suddenly lit up.
"... Although the skill thing turned out to be a failure, that doesn"t mean there aren"t other ways to take advantage of this world to strengthen myself or my faction."
"Of course." Lilith chuckled and pointed at the surroundings as she said happily, "Zemin, you have a whole world full of laws you can study. You can have your subordinates practice combat and become much more adept at using their skills or weapons. This is a treasure for which for the sake of obtaining it b.l.o.o.d.y wars between the most powerful factions in the universe would break out again and again!"
"That"s not all." Bai Zemin smiled and while looking at the vast world around him remarked, "Lilith, if I plant something in this place, every harvest will be ten times more effective... Given enough time, the food problem will no longer be a problem! I can even bring the tigers we found in the Sky Destroyer to nurture them here so that they will grow ten times faster compared to Earth!"
Bai Zemin"s eyes shone brightly, and the more he spoke and explored the seemingly endless opportunities this empty world held for him the harder his heart thumped.
Lilith was genuinely happy too. This was a treasure that was not only of use to Bai Zemin but even she would benefit from it as in this world she could practice her skills whether learned from skill scrolls or learned on her own.
"Mmmm... It should be another hour and a half before the clock strikes 9pm in the outside world... so, Kali will stay immersed in her work until then." Bai Zemin clapped his hands and said with a faint smile, "That means I have about 15 hours of time!"
"What will you do? Train with the whip?" Lilith folded her arms and smiled in response.
"Nope." Bai Zemin shook his head and looked at the surroundings as he calmly said, "For better or worse, this world belongs to me and will probably be my home from now on. Therefore, I need to build a house where I can sleep, eat, rest, and hang out."
"Mmmm... I guess you"re right." Lilith nodded as she realized that she had pa.s.sed on this fact. "Since this is a world of its own, I suppose it will also experience weather changes so building a shelter isn"t a bad idea."
With the Collector"s Pocket World, Bai Zemin would no longer have sleep problems. He only needed to sleep comfortably here so that even if he slept 10 hours it would only have been one hour on Earth.
There was no need to waste such a valuable resource as was time. Bai Zemin would make the most of the Collector"s Pocket Watch.
Regarding the bronze watch.... Bai Zemin frowned as he looked at the DemiG.o.d grade treasure.
He pressed the b.u.t.ton at the top and the lid opened revealing the inside, but unlike a clock or a s.p.a.ce to put a photograph as was usually the case with normal pocket watches, this watch had twelve empty holes where the numbers were supposed to be.
The hands of the clock were broken, or rather, they were incomplete since both the smallest and the largest were only half the original size and currently both were pointing towards the empty hole where in traditional clocks the number 12 would be.
"... I wonder if this has something to do with the second skill currently sealed of the Collector"s Pocket Watch." Bai Zemin muttered as he stared at the bronze watch with a slight frown.
The first skill was already this powerful, Bai Zemin couldn"t even imagine how strong the second skill was that could only be contained by the power of a G.o.d grade treasure.
Lilith approached him and looked at the inside of the watch out of pure curiosity as well. However, her expression changed slightly when she saw the twelve empty holes and broken hands.
"I... I"m sure I"ve seen something very similar if not identical to this before..."
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3