Chapter 977: Time Reversal

Lu Yang frowned, recalling the events of yesterday: the seclusion ended, the foundation was consolidated, and upon stepping out, he encountered Yun Mengmeng and Gan Tian...

"What happened? Why does it feel like I have just broken through but haven't consolidated my cultivation yet?"

Lu Yang was certain there was no lapse in his memory, yet his own cultivation realm could not lie.

"Fairy, wake up." Lu Yang entered his mental space and nudged the fairy, which was another discrepancy.

According to his memory, after he broke through to the mid-Soul Transformation stage, the Immortal Fairy should have been awake.

"Yawn... what are you calling this Immortal for so early in the morning? This Immortal hasn't slept enough. Without enough sleep, how can I defeat that Yun girl..." The Immortal Fairy got up groggily, muttering a whole string of nonsense before falling right back asleep.

"Fairy, I've encountered something sinister. What happened yesterday has happened all over again today." Lu Yang persevered in waking the Immortal Fairy.

"What sinister encounter? You haven't fully woken up either, come sleep with this Immortal." The Immortal Fairy suddenly pulled Lu Yang into her arms, using him as a bolster, and continued to sleep.

With the Immortal Fairy's cultivation, there was absolutely no chance for Lu Yang to break free. Seeing that he couldn't count on the fairy for the moment, he could only go outside to investigate the problem on his own.

Lu Yang opened his cave dwelling, but the Yun Mengmeng and Gan Tian from his memory did not appear.

"What's going on? Right, yesterday after I broke through, I consolidated my realm for another hour before I ran into Sister Mengmeng and Third Senior Sister playing chess. They were playing the first game, which means they haven't arrived yet."

Now was not the time to consolidate his realm either. Lu Yang released his divine sense, located Yun Mengmeng who was currently on a swing at Maple Ridge, and hurriedly flew over.

Yun Mengmeng was quite surprised to see Lu Yang. Giving the swing a powerful push, she leapt off just as it reached its highest point: "Second Chief, you're out of seclusion so soon?"

"Sister Mengmeng, are you planning to play Gomoku with Third Senior Sister at the entrance of my cave dwelling, and did you want to borrow my luck to win the game?"

"Ah, how did you know? Have you mastered the Telepathy technique?"

Even Yun Mengmeng doesn't have yesterday's memory, Lu Yang thought to himself.

"It's nothing, just a guess." Lu Yang had formed a few hypotheses, so he bid farewell to Yun Mengmeng and turned to leave.

Yun Mengmeng called out to him: "Hey, Second Chief, since you've broken through, how about we go to the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion tonight to celebrate?"

"No, I have things to do tonight, I might not make it back."

Watching Lu Yang run further and further away left Yun Mengmeng thoroughly perplexed: "Strange, why is the Second Chief in such a hurry? It seems he didn't even have time to consolidate his realm."

Skipping the search for Old Meng and Man Gu, Lu Yang dashed toward Li Haoran's cave dwelling.

"Junior Brother Li, open up, I have something to discuss with you."

The door to the cave dwelling opened, and Lu Yang strode inside. He greeted Su Yiren first before going straight to Li Haoran: "Greetings, Senior Su."

Su Yiren froze for a moment. Why did Lu Yang show not the slightest hint of surprise upon seeing her? Could it be that he had detected her with his divine sense beforehand?

That didn't make sense; if she had been scanned by divine sense, how could she not have noticed?

"What is Senior Brother Lu looking for me for?" Li Haoran felt that Lu Yang was in a frantic rush.

Lu Yang pressed down on Li Haoran's shoulders, staring into his eyes: "Have you awakened the memories of your past lives?"

Li Haoran was completely baffled: "Haven't I always had the memories of my past life?"

"I mean, which life's memories have you remembered up to?"

"Still the fourth life."

"No memories of the first three lives?"

"No, I've never been able to remember anything about the first three lives."

Lu Yang frowned. This shouldn't be. Could it be that this wasn't a time regression, and the source wasn't with Junior Brother Li?

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Lu Yang asked again: "Then do you have any plans to break through recently?"

"I plan to enter seclusion to break through in a month," Li Haoran answered honestly, as there was nothing to hide about this.

The way Li Haoran looked at Lu Yang became rather odd. Could it be that Lu Yang had run over here again just to flaunt his cultivation?

"Then these blueprints covering your wall, are they drawing an automatic stir-fry pot?"

"You can even tell that?" Li Haoran was greatly shocked, looking at Lu Yang in a whole new light. Only those at the level of a Grandmaster Artificer could discern the meaning of these blueprints. How did Senior Brother Lu see through it at a glance?

"Strange, there's no error in the memory..." Lu Yang muttered under his breath.

Lu Yang couldn't figure it out, so he decided to shake the Immortal Fairy awake once more. He had been bustling about for ages, so the fairy should have had enough sleep.

"Fairy, wake up, we seem to be trapped in a time loop."

"A time loop?" The Immortal Fairy yawned. Noticing she was holding Lu Yang, she was instantly startled and kicked Lu Yang right off the bed.

"Why are you in this Immortal's bed?"

"...Didn't you just pull me into your arms a moment ago?" Lu Yang looked utterly aggrieved. That kick from the Immortal Fairy carried quite a bit of force.

"Let's not talk about that, I've encountered a strange thing."

Lu Yang meticulously described the events of yesterday and today.

At the end, Lu Yang added with uncertainty: "I shouldn't have cultivated any divine ability to predict the future, right?"

After the commotion just now, the Immortal Fairy had sobered up. She rolled her eyes: "What beautiful dreams are you having? This Immortal also has an impression of yesterday's events."

"Hearing this description, it truly resembles a time loop, rewinding time by one day. This is something only the Dao Fruit of Time can achieve; a proto-Dao Fruit wouldn't have such vast capability."

"With this Immortal protecting you, you weren't affected. The Third Chief and Fourth Chief haven't reached far enough in their cultivation, so they're completely trapped in the time loop."

"Has the Immortal of Time come back to life?"

"Fairy, take a look at Junior Brother Li, could it be caused by his side?"

"Let this Immortal take a look."

The Immortal Fairy released her immortal sense, inspecting Li Haoran from the inside out, even checking magical treasures similar to pitch-black ancient rings, while Li Haoran and Su Yiren remained completely unaware.

"Strange, if the Immortal of Time were to awaken, there should be a reaction to this Immortal's immortal sense."

"Stay by this kid's side tonight, and this Immortal will observe him thoroughly."

"Alright."

In reality, Lu Yang said earnestly: "Junior Brother Li, we fellow disciples haven't had a good chat in a long time. Why don't we exchange some cultivation insights tonight? It just so happens Senior Su is here as well."

Li Haoran nodded hesitantly, feeling that Lu Yang was acting very strange today.

The three of them indeed began to discuss cultivation insights in Li Haoran's cave dwelling. They conversed until late into the night, all three of them radiant with energy, exceptionally alert, and each gaining something from the exchange.

Suddenly, Lu Yang's vision went black, and he unexpectedly found himself back in his own cave dwelling. He was still in that state where he had just broken through to the mid-Soul Transformation stage and hadn't had time to consolidate his cultivation.

"Fairy, did you discover anything?"

Steam billowed from Lu Yang, and the steam took the shape of the Immortal Fairy directly opposite him.

The Immortal Fairy crossed her arms, tilting her head and frowning in extreme perplexity: "It really is time flowing backward, and it isn't limited to our sect; it's worldwide."

"But it doesn't seem to be caused by the Li kid. Could it be that he is merely the reincarnation of the Immortal of Time, but the Dao Fruit of Time didn't reincarnate together with him?"

"Then where did the Dao Fruit of Time go?"