While Lin Mu wondered about the strange tool, Ziran seemed to have a look of relaxation.

"Ah! I forgot clocks like these aren't used in this part of the world." Ziran replied. "A clock? This is a clock?" It was Lin Mu's first time seeing a clock like this. There were no energy fluctuations coming from it thus he didn't think it was a clock. Most cultivators either used a jade slip to keep time or simply used a part of their mind to keep track. Even if they wouldn't be able to tell the exact time of the day that way, they could at least tell how much time had passed.

"Yes." Ziran nodded. "Well to be accurate, it's a Magic Pocket Chronometer." He revealed.

"Magic… As in powered by Mana?" Lin Mu asked with great interest. Content © 2024.

The others too listened to this, finding it interesting. After all, they didn't get to see magical tools like this often either. In fact, among them it was only Lady Kang who had seen Magical tools before and knew of some people that used Magic.

"Indeed." Ziran nodded. "The magic powers this clock, and keeps it accurate…. Or so I thought." He added before pressing on a small button on its top, causing the transparent glass on its top to open.

~CLICK~

Ziran then pointed at it with his finger and released a thin string of blue energy from a ring he was wearing. The blue energy entered the central axis of the clock and caused the three smaller needles on its bottom to suddenly move.

"It really did become imbalanced." Ziran furrowed his brows. "What's the issue?" Lin Mu questioned.

"Well, I brought this Clock with me to keep track of time in the trials. Since normal Qi tools can get affected by such trials due to teleportation as well as the differences in different spaces, I opted for a Magic Chronometer since they are usually resistant to it.

But despite that this one managed to become slow." Ziran answered. "Instead of showing five months and five days like you said, it's only showing three months." He stated.

~gasp~

Hearing that, Daoist Chu seemed to let out a visible gasp.

"Are you sure?" he asked, showing visible worry on his face.

"Yes." Ziran nodded. "You can ask Elder Ho how much time he thinks passed." He suggested.

"Is that correct, Elder Ho?" Lady Kang asked herself.

"Indeed… To me it didn't seem longer than three months." Elder Ho replied. "We spent twenty two days in the First Trial and the rest of the time in the second trial." He explained.

"Wait… if even Elder Ho is saying this… doesn't that mean that only three months passed for you two?" Min Ju asked. "Elder Ho won't be wrong with his judgment." She added.

"I agree. In my personal opinion, I felt like three months passed too even if I hadn't seen the clock." Ziran nodded.

"That only means one thing… I was dreading it but it seems to be true." Daoist Chu said looking at everyone. "The passage of time is different here… and not just compared to the Rust Sky world… Even the time spent in different trials is different." He clarified.

Hearing that, Lin Mu's eyes went wide not having expected that.

'This is just like the Memoirs of the lost Immortal.' Lin Mu recalled having read about this before. There were many times where the Lost Immortal had been to different inheritance grounds, or lands of fortune. Such grounds often had a different time flow in them which meant that one could spend a disproportionate amount of time as compared to outside.

There were some grounds that made the time inside them flow faster where a single day outside could be two days inside.

Of course, this number varied too, and the opposite was possible too.

But in some rare cases, there could be inheritance grounds where there were multiple different timezones. Each section could have its own flow of time causing things to become quite chaotic for people to figure out.

While many experts could use their excellent abilities as well as great successor to change the flow of time, it was not an easy task to do this. And if one were to add multiple time zones, the complexity would multiply exponentially.

Most such inheritance grounds weren't manufactured and were made naturally due to mysterious factors before finally being obtained by the experts. As such, the flow of time was not something they had done and couldn't be controlled by them either.

They could only make use of it and adapt it into their inheritance grounds.

"Does this mean that we've been waiting here for a shorter time than we thought, or a longer time?" Monk Hushu questioned, having been silent since the start.

"Our experience seems to tell that time was slower for us inside the trial, but not for for all." Ziran answered.

"No… I think this is a multifaceted thing." Lin Mu replied as a few things started to click in his mind. "What if the time inside each trial zone is different? And the time inside this waiting area is also different? From all the illusory beasts we saw, it does feel like there is multiple time zones as they manage to recover too fast.

If the time flow is varying, it makes sense that the energy that controls them restores faster than we can handle it." He gave his hypothesis.

"The Illusory beasts? You mean the Yin Heart Puppets?" Ziran suddenly asked.

"Yin Heart Puppets? You know of them?" Lin Mu questioned. "Yeah, I have… But you seem to know of them too." Ziran replied.

"I do… with a different name though- Chasm Beasts." Lin Mu answered.

"Did you see them in the Rust Sky world too?" Ziran questioned, a complex expression on his face. "If so, where?" he narrowed his eyes.

"Yes… in the Land of Exile in the Sea of Muxuan." Lin Mu revealed.

"Sea of Muxuan? You mean in the center of the Eight Kingdom Alliance?"