While Fang Yuan stood still, a voice similar to the marble giant's echoed through the Colosseum.
"Today, we have too amazing fighters! A cultivator vying for the inheritance of the hourglass, verses, one of the strangest creatures in the land, a Child of Fate!"
The announcer continued, "From the unknown lands beyond the sky, in a place far away, these beasts are born to their parent, Fate! With their many eyes they see all but hear not, they say nothing but silently pull the strings around them. They are like their parent, controlling from behind a curtain, A creature hard to find and harder to catch, a creature with a cold and unmoving heart, a being with the strongest ability in the world, manipulation of all!"
Creaking to a stop, the rusted gate was fully open, from below it, the eyes slowly came out, entering the light of the marble battlefield.
Its body was nonexistent, the creature was an amalgamation of pupils and blackish-purple veins.
The Child of Fate coldly stared at Fang Yuan.
"This..." Fang Yuan pulled out his sword. He pulled it to his throat and was about to lop off his head.
'Wait!' Fang Yuan noticed what he was doing and ducked, dodging his own attack and narrowly escaping death.
A Child of Fate had a portion of its parent's right, they were masters of manipulation and hid in the dark. It was amazing the Time Lord could find and capture one, mind-boggling even. World Bane's were an interesting bunch.
Fang Yuan steeled his mind, blitzing the group of eyes with precision.
"Heavenly Sword, second move, cleave!"
The power of heaven manifested, the sword cleaved with unrivaled might!
Fang Yuan was in the Enlightenment Stage, he was an expert who could contend with even the Beast Master Sect's Sect Leader, if only for a second. He was a powerhouse who walked his path, a path made of swords!
The attacks neared the Child of Fate. However, the sword's energy slowed to a stop before reaching the beast.
"What?!"
Slowly, the blade moved back and turned, picking up speed towards Fang Yuan!
Crash!
Fang Yuan dodged by a hair, letting go of his sword and jumping to the side.
The group of pupils narrowed on him and controlled his sword, attacking with vicious strength. The wind moved, space shuddered and time quickened its pace for the sword to reach its target.
'Oh no!'
The sword went straight for Fang Yuan's face!
Changing his footwork, he moved with the movement of the sword, nullifying the attack by going with the flow.
This child of fate was extremely young, not even 10 millennia old.
A child of fate took eons for their minds to grow to reach a new point. At 9 millennia, the child could manipulate natural forces within a certain area, at 12 millennia, they could control a nearly unlimited amount of inanimate objects, at 20 millennia, they could control a Vessel of thought, more accurately, humans!
It's said if a child could live long enough, it could even steal from its parent, becoming the new concept of Fate!
Fang Yuan was lucky! Edward Chambers was lucky! To face a grown child of fate, one would need to be a Ruler of a territory in the Middle Zone at the bare minimum. Even Cain at his full strength could only run, and he might even get caught!
Backing up to the center of the colosseum, Fang Yuan racked his brains on what to do.
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'I can't attack it, it has my sword. Do I go around it? That might work!'
With a plan made, Fang Yuan lowered his body, getting ready to run.
Beep!
The announcer's voice ruptured, "Analysis complete. Challenger is worthy."
Suddenly, chains came from the walls! They didn't go for Fang Yuan but the Child of Fate! Binding it in thick black chains!
"Sacrifice it." The announcer's voice returned, in a low and eerie tone.
Fang Yuan raised a brow, he found himself in a strange position. Was this fight supposed to be a test in the first place?
His sword was on the ground, the Child of Fate lost its powers and could only shake rigorously as it tried to escape. To no avail, it shuddered, revealing its fear.
The poor creature had been pitted against inheritor after inheritor. Through the millennia, it grew and didn't die, becoming stronger. But now, it was time for the sheep to be slaughtered, the creature was indignant.
Fang Yuan could sense this, he felt a tinge of guilt, but this creature was dangerous. He made his decision and plunged his sword into it.
Shree!
The beast cried as translucent blood leaked onto the floor.
Clink!
The colosseum changed. The ground shifted into a mechanism that collected blood from every corner. A single stream broke off from the rest to the place the Child of Fate came from.
"Go forward." The announcer lifelessly demanded.
'So it seems the Lord of Time had plans of his own....' Fang Yuan followed the stream of clear blood, his figure lost in the shadows of the hallways. The rusted gate closed behind him, leaving the Child of Fate to die.
...
Lights illuminated a grand room with many different devices used for research. The ceiling was circular with depictions of hourglasses and sand.
The stream of blood was collected into a tub. It was then sent above into a dropper which would drip the blood at set intervals. The drippings landed into an hourglass, staining the sand inside.
"What kind of setup is this?" Fang Yuan got closer but two giant knights of red marble stepped forward.
"Stop, Halt!"
Fang Yuan paused, he was blocked. No matter what he did the marble soldiers didn't let him pass.
Tapping his foot, he thought for a moment, deciding to wait. He needed to find a way to save his disciple, he would compromise no matter what to achieve that!
The blood gathered and drop by drop, went into the hourglass. Soon, the sand covered in blood trickled through to the bottom and gathered. Strangely enough, the sand was no longer yellow but gray, like the essence of it was taken.
In truth, the sand was Immemorial Golden Essence, a type of sand found in the void from the outer cosmos. It was a rare treasure that came from the Law of Time. The Concept of Time would use this material in creating its children, one of the many materials needed to create a lifeform of time.
Not all Concepts had children, but most did for the extra help.
'To be turned gray.... This crazed World Bane must've done thousands of experiments and used mountains of precious resources to complete whatever he was doing.' Fang Yuan waited, and the sand eventually all gathered at the bottom. At that moment, the hourglass broke, and a wormhole was created.
Seeing this strange portal, Fang Yuan became concerned. On the other side, he could see something.
'Is that...is that a person?!'
Stepping out of the wormhole, a young man wearing a green and blue robe came into view. Their eyes were pupilless, instead layered in a dark blue. Their hair was white with golden sand ridden throughout as if they had journeyed through a desert.
It was a young handsome man, his aura of mystery giving him charm. It was none other than the Lord of the Hourglass, the man who sacrificed countless for his research. The Celestial of Time and Space, Edward Chambers.
"Hahaha! It worked! I created a paradox! An actual paradox! Now I can continue my research!" The timelord yelled with joy, his mysteriousness dissipating quickly.
Looking over at Fang Yuan, Edward grinned.
"You, since you've helped me I shall reciprocate it." He waved his hand and an array formed next to Fang Yuan, he then tossed him a green stone. "The array will speed up time by the thousands, it will help you quickly breakthrough in cultivation and gain enlightenment, it will last for an hour, that should translate to 10 years give or take so crush the stone, it has 10 years lifespan I took from someone. Once you're done, go through the door behind me, there will be a vault filled with different souls, pick whichever you'd like. Also, feel free to command these remaining Marble puppets of mine."
The Lord of Everchanging Sands was blunt, after he finished speaking he took a step forward to leave, but Fang Yuan quickly stopped him.
"Please wait, sir! I came here to find an answer. My disciple has been taken over by an evil influence, I wish to use the power of time to revert him before he was taken over!"
Edward paused, tilting his head back to look at Fang Yuan. He chuckled, "Interesting, hmm, well if you're possessed disciple is in this city, I can help. First, cultivate, this place is unforgiving to the weak. I will go scope out the outside, find me when you're done."
With that, Edward vanished without a trace.
Fang Yuan was left in awe, 'So that is an Ancient Cultivator, a powerhouse of the Fusion Stage who went through a metamorphosis.'
In all of the Fusion Stages in history, the majority could be found in the period during the Ancient City of Marble. Out of all of these experts, Edward Chambers could be said to be in the top 100, but due to his personality and low profile, he wasn't well known.
And now, such a person reached the future from the past, messing with the laws of time and space to continue his mission to return home.