novelraw Chapter 905 - 904 - Fixed Loop
Chapter 905 - 904 - Fixed Loop
Lind looked over Romana's condition but it took a few days for her to feel better. She tried to explain what happened but he only barely grasped it. What defied all their senses was plan as day to her.
It was kind of what he hoped for but not to have such a severe effect on her.
She could not cross the boundary nor look into the forest for very long before she had to get back to the ship to recover.
He only had a couple theories but no way to confirm them.
Since Romana had grasped the Laws of Time related to her reincarnation, it was not wrong to say she understood the Laws of Time on her personal existence. Something that contravened the natural flow of Time would be very sensitive for her.
He sat with her and contemplated his own Laws.
He had grasped the flow of Time in the sense that it can be altered to speed up or slow down. It had also become part of his teleportation weavings as well.
He despised the nausea lower realms felt and figured out it was more than just dislocation that affected them. The weaker cultivators were ripped instantly from one point in time to another and had to acclimate to recover when they arrived!
Higher realms had a better grasp of their own sense of time thus the nausea lessened.
His weavings compensated for that aspect and many powers were demanding the secret!
He still had several issues to resolve with other weavers making them but one of the requirements would be a 6 elemental with either a strong grasp of space or time. Both would be preferred but not required.
In any case, his understanding of the Laws of Time did not seem to apply to the current issue. He felt nothing wrong no matter how hard he looked at it.
Reviewing their previous scans compared to what things currently were, the forest had been a little over 500 years old when it reset.
It was not a round number but they could only estimate because when it came back it was not like everything was brand new but a decade old already.
There was also the inexplicable moment Lind lived through that the entire forest was just gone and everything was frozen around him.
After talking with Romana, she felt it was his own comprehension of Time that allowed him to be unaffected. He grasped Time in relation to Space very well thus something that froze time would not affect him unless he allowed it to.
A week passed but none of them were any closer to a clue but Romana was getting better able to tolerate looking at it. He also noticed she seemed to be at a bottleneck as her cultivation had hardly moved from the last time he met her.
Progress could be very slow, but given her previous speed, it was still more than it should be to have none at all.
"Uncle, they are back again." A vein throbbed on his forehead before he got up to greet their guests.
A man with a bald head but very young visage led a trio of other men in robes that looked like smoke. It was not a bad illusion and marked the Smoldering Flame Sect. They were a prominent support sect that were excellent artificers and refiners.
They also had some kind of delusion about their importance in the Celestial Fields.
"Sect Master Feald, I have not had any progress with my investigations as you can see so I would appreciate–" Lind started a very well practiced line but the men went right past him which actually surprised both Ilyria and himself.
"Great Maiden, my sect would invite you to join us for our upcoming Creation Festival! We would treat you very well and you can participate for the best items." Lind narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
The man was about to learn the hard way about dealing with Romana.
However, to the shock of all, Romana never moved. Feald was about to touch her when Ilyria stopped him.
"Wait, she is in enlightenment!" She made her voice a whisper and all 4 men backed off instantly. Lind did not agree.
There was something wrong.
He slowly walked around before seeing Romana's face. Her pale skin was actually ghost white and her eyes were unfocused.
The fluctuations in her body were not enlightenment but deviation!
His emerald flames immediately enveloped her and he covered her eyes. The reaction was immediate as she coughed up blood.
He summoned an elixir and had her drink it as he carried her into the ship. The group did not follow as they understood things were serious.
If those fools had not come they would have missed it! He actually owed them!
Her Qi was erratic and Laws were actually manifesting from her shard. It was bad, very bad! If they were not brought under control, she would likely shatter her shard back to a sliver if she was lucky or become crippled!
He studied the traces and nearly felt his own shard strain as the level of profound feeling from the traces shocked him. What were they?!
He stimulated all his elements to complement his aura as the traces tried to ravage Romana. He did not understand what she had tried to grasp but it was entirely contrary to her Dao it seemed.
The traces were not pleasant for him but he at least was not diametrically against whatever it was.
He was wading into unknown territory as no elixir could help at that point. He did not think any pill existed that could save her if he did not either.
Emerald glow came from his eyes as he assumed a lotus position and joined his aura to hers. Normally, this would be a simple diagnostic but now he was diving into her dantian.
The traces dancing around her shard were weakening it as each moment passed. He looked at them and slowly felt which of his own Laws resonated. It was indeed Laws of Time but they seemed wrong.
Time flowed forward. It could be stopped, slowed, sped, or even isolated but Romana grasped something else. She grasped the quantum aspect to time. Time was not fixed onto a single path.
It could split into many paths but only someone like him that came from a world where fantasy dominated could conceive of other ways for Time to work.
Time could be wound back. Time could be stuck in a loop or even be contingent on the future creating the past. The moment he thought of such things the traces became basic Laws.
The Laws of Paradox and Loop were what were attacking her! The strain left his own shard as he now helped the traces reconcile with her.
It was at that moment that the Laws of Rebirth and Reincarnation both became clear to Lind in the same instant. He had lived it so once he touched on them they snapped into his shard as well!
He guided the traces away from her and into his own dantian before carefully leaving her dantian. He administered a few more elixirs to stabilize her as color finally returned to her.
He felt a little woozy himself so downed a Recovery Elixir to restore his Qi and stamina.
He left the ship and found a small crowd waiting. Ilyria was guarding the hatch.
"How long?" Time had gotten away from him but even before the answer came he instinctively knew. It had been 5 days.
He found it interesting that he now knew the exact flow of time.
"Uncle, how is Romana?" Ilyria asked as the group outside all looked at him. He saw Sect Master Feald looking apologetic but he smiled and waved at them.
"The deviation has been prevented but she will need to rest for the night. I–" He was about to keep speaking when he froze as he looked up beyond the small crowd.
The once clear air was marred by a storm of broken sky. It was exactly where the forest was but unlike Romana, he understood what he was seeing!
Time was twisted! It was twisted into an artificial loop!
It was separated from the world as well by a razor thin barrier of Time to isolate it but only now could he detect it.
He shook himself before reassuring the crowd he was just tired. Feald apologized before leading the group away.
"What happened, Uncle?" Lind explained in part that Romana had grasped Laws that were incompatible with her Dao. He had been able to save her but she would remain in the ship. Still, he now had the tools he needed.
"Stay with her so I can try to examine this strange place once more." He did not know why he was so focused on it but his instincts told him there was something dangerous going on. People had vanished and he began to put together why.
He slowly examined the isolation ward and finally could see it was a peak mid grade 7 Law Array made up solely of Time Laws.
If one did not have similar Laws, they would never know it was there!
Such an expert was terrifying as Law Arrays were not easy to make! He only had a handful to compare it to but all of those looked like the doodling of a child in crayon compared to this!
He frowned as he confirmed a dark suspicion.
If anyone was inside when the loop reset, they would be wiped from existence. Whether it was malicious or negligence remained to be seen but that was not all that was concerning.
In the chaos inside the ward, he realized the forest was only 1 layer! There was a whole other existence inside that space! He could make out the outline of a lone tower at the very center of the forest!
He had not seen that at all before which told him it vanished with the rest but why? Why would anyone make a loop like this and isolate it from the rest of the world?
He only had more questions but the answers had to be inside. He carefully grazed his fingers across the ward and closed his eyes. His new comprehension told him just going in was not enough and the Laws inside his shard confirmed it.
He followed his instincts until he found a different place on the far side from their landing site. He flew over and found a new Law Array. He frowned but carefully infused his Qi and Laws before it lit up and a path opened to reveal a smooth stone pace of gray polished tiles.
At the end of it was a tower only 3 storeys tall but Lind felt a powerful aura inside he recognized as a demon. It felt odd though. It was like it existed one moment but not the next. He sighed and told Ilyria he would be back before heading in.
The opening vanished and only the forest remained.