Time raced forward. The Immortal Realm crumbled a double-speed. The Immortals fled, hiding at last in Heart Lotus City as the last scraps of the Immortal Realm crumbled away. Heart Lotus City floated in the void for a time, then began to fall apart itself. Soon nothing remained, except Hui’s cardinal beasts, the white-robed Hui, and the Golden Immortal.
The white-robed Hui looked at the Golden Immortal. “Now I possess the Immortal Realm,” he declared, patting the garbage realm. “And you possess nothing.”
The Golden Immortal threw back his head and laughed. “Ah! I did make the right choice. How amusing. No, you’ve never tried this before. Destroying the Immortal Realm… incredible. It has weakened me. Do you think you can destroy me, now?”
“From Senior’s confidence? No,” Hui said.
“That’s correct. No. You are still nothing but an usurper, and me, the absolute,” the Golden Immortal declared. He threw his hand out. Loss flowed through the white-robed Hui, an intense, cold feeling, as time rolled backward. The Immortal Realm reformed, the cardinal beasts retreating, until the Golden Immortal froze it once more at the moment when the cardinal beasts stood at their directions, ready to send energy into the dragon veins. “It was a quaint idea, a myopic guess at the extent of my power. But if that’s all the more you have, then I’m afraid this is yet another loss for you.”
Hui grit his teeth. “I’m not giving up yet.” He threw his hands out, clutching the power of time once more. I only have a limited understanding of time, based on what little I could glean from the Golden Immortal’s understanding of time by watching the loops from outside… but even so! Yanking with all his might, he sent the power of time flowing backward, focusing it on the Golden Immortal.
The Golden Immortal frowned. He squinted at Hui. “What are you doing?”
Without a word, Hui sent more of the power of time hurtling at the Golden Immortal. The Golden Immortal raised his hand, deflecting it. Hui twisted his hand, and the power of time whipped around and shot at the Golden Immortal from behind. He jerked out of the way, narrowly dodging the beam.
Interesting. That’s the first time he’s defended or dodged an attack. Hui quickly spawned a mental clone and handed over control of the first attack to it. He grabbed more of the power of time and sent it flying at the Golden Immortal, then more, then more, until all the mental clones were busy sending beams of time at the Golden Immortal. Gripping one himself, Hui joined the clones, relentlessly pursuing the Golden Immortal.
The Golden Immortal dodged, deflecting another three attacks with quick palm strikes, then slammed his foot down. A shockwave spread through the air, disrupting the power of time. Time fell into chaos, shattering all around them.
Hui stepped forward and found himself three steps back, twenty seconds ago. The Golden Immortal loomed, only to reappear past him, his blow already completed. Everything stopped, and Hui helplessly watched the Golden Immortal approach, drawing his sword, only to suddenly teleport backward, hemmed in by Hui’s beams of the power of time.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Below them, the Immortal Realm ran smoothly backward, progressing rapidly toward the very beginning of the Immortal Realm.
Time is going wild. In that case, the counter move… is to have more pawns to move! Hui closed his eyes for a moment, focusing on the birds and quickly passing them power, then threw out his hand. All the birds in his dantian flew forth, charging toward the Golden Immortal’s various spawn points.
The Golden Immortal appeared, and instantly found himself surrounded by red ducks. The ducks closed in on him, biting down on his robes. Confused more than scared, he frowned at the ducks.
Now! Hui flicked his hand. The power of time flowed out from the ducks, targeting the Golden Immortal.
The Golden Immortal scoffed. He slashed his sword around him, cutting the ducks in half. They dissipated with a sad quack, vanishing into the air.
Hui felt a sudden loss. He stumbled back, flashing forward mid-stumble. Despite the shift in time, the loss didn’t vanish. Touching his dantian, he frowned. Even in chaotic time, if I lose something, it remains gone. That… if we were truly in chaotic time, that wouldn’t happen.
No. My, and more importantly, the Golden Immortal’s, comprehension of time is lacking.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at the Golden Immortal, even as time flickered him up and down, left and right. If only I could pass this on to the next version of me.
I wonder how many times I’ve faced him? How many versions of me have died, truly, beyond any ability to recover? How many times have I realized this, and still been unable to counter it?
It’s hard. The power of time is hard. If I could stay conscious this whole time, maybe I could comprehend it enough to overcome the Golden Immortal, but the reset, the constant loss and beginning again…
I can’t call on Ying Lin or Master. Not now. If I lose here, the Golden Immortal will not kill me. He still needs me. I need to save my true, truly expendable trump cards for the very last moment, when I have victory well in hand.
But maybe… He went to form a clone, then stopped himself. Even if I make something now, it’ll get destroyed by the chaotic time. I can lose things within myself, and gain them, I suspect, but outside of my body… Just to check, he rubbed his hands together and threw out a seed, but the second it left his hand, it vanished, reappeared, then appeared once more, withered to death.
Mmm. This is almost certainly a loss, and it’s a loss I don’t know how to recover from. What do I need to do?
What if I could make it an absolute loss? A loss even the Golden Immortal couldn’t bear? If I can defuse the situation right now, and get outside of the chaotic time, then I have a chance of sending myself a message or somehow securing my memories for future me. Or rather… it isn’t possible to defuse this situation. No! I’m going to blow it up directly.
And by it, I mean me.
Hui paused. He put a hand to the top of his head. “Golden Immortal! I’ll destroy myself!”
The Golden Immortal squinted skeptically at him. “Yes?”
“Completely and fully. I’ll completely erase myself from time,” Hui threatened him.
The Golden Immortal’s look turned even more skeptical.
Hui coughed. Dammit, he knows me too well. “Well, okay. I’ll be reasonable about it. I’m not going to kill myself. But! I will, absolutely, fully and truly, destroy all my memories of my first world. I will make myself completely useless to you!”
“No.”
“Unless you—”
The Golden Immortal’s hand appeared in Hui’s vision and clamped down on his head. Dragging him, the Golden Immortal flew directly through the chaotic time. Circling, he closed in on the Immortal Realm, even as the Immortal Realm continued to fly backward in time. This far back in time, the Immortal Realm was barely as large as the mortal realm, and rapidly diminishing in size.
Hui grappled at his hand, startled. Er, did I accidentally, maybe… proc Senior’s aggro a little too hard?