As for Listen to Tomorrow, That's Even More Impressive

"Ha... ha..." The moment Yaxiu broke free of the golden fog, he collapsed to his knees on the grass, gasping for breath. Watching his withered arms gradually regain their healthy, fleshed-out hue, feeling his ragged, bellows-like breathing smooth out, and sensing his sluggish mind sharpen once more as if scraping away rust, a wave of relief washed over him at having narrowly escaped death. Only now did he realize what a sheer blessing it was to have a brain capable of sustaining a single, coherent line of thought. When the soul grew old, thinking became an unaffordable luxury. The mind turned into a severely frozen computer—forget running a new program; even if you tried to bring up the Task Manager to sort out your thoughts, you would only find the Task Manager was frozen too. Having experienced it once, even Yaxiu could not help but feel a lingering sense of terror. Old age truly was an unspeakable horror. Footsteps suddenly approached from behind. Just as Yaxiu was about to turn around, a raspy, aged voice shrieked, "Don't look back!" Yaxiu obediently complied, keeping his eyes glued to the grass for several seconds until he heard the Sword Princess's voice: "All right, you can look." He turned around, and what met his eyes was, of course, the still young and beautiful Sword Princess and Witch. "Actually, I wouldn't have minded seeing what you looked like old," Yaxiu said with a shrug. "On the contrary, I was quite curious." "Well, I mind!" Sonia snapped through gritted teeth. "I'm never going back in there again! The books are all lies. Whoever claimed you could strike it rich picking up scrap on the Time Continent can go dig for that money themselves!" Just moments ago, the three of them had stepped into the Time Continent's most famous encounter zone: the Flowing Gold River. The riverbanks were teeming with wild time sorcery spirits, including rare varieties such as 'Reverse Year,' 'Fix Month,' and 'Listen to Tomorrow.' 'Reverse Year' had been mentioned before: it could rewind a person's physical age by one year, acting as a life extension without any side effects—a priceless treasure that could never be bought on the open market. 'Fix Month' froze the body's physical state in that exact moment for an entire month. While you could still get hurt, your skin, appearance, hair quality, and the like would remain completely impervious to external conditions. Combined with cosmetic miracles like 'Barefaced Glamour,' 'Radiant Glow,' and 'Glazed Hair,' one could effortlessly maintain an immaculate, top-tier look for a whole month. It stood unaffected by wind and sun, completely undisturbed even while bathing or diving, earning it the reputation of the ultimate cosmetic luxury. As for the 'Listen to Tomorrow' line of sorcery spirits, they were even more extraordinary, though that is a story for another time. In short, the Flowing Gold River was an encounter zone tailored specifically to bestow blessings on the Time Continent. Moreover, the sorcery spirits near the river never fled. When faced with an invasive species like sorcerers, they would even proactively nuzzle up and beg for affection—their wariness was lower than that of newborn kittens. By all rights, whenever sorcerers stumbled upon such a paradise, they would never leave without turning the earth upside down to strip it bare. Yet Yaxiu and his companions had scrambled out in sheer panic after less than ten seconds inside. Even a fearless country girl and killing machine like Sonia now looked back toward the golden fog shrouding the river with genuine terror in her eyes. For had they run even a fraction slower, they would likely be lying dead by the riverbanks right now, having literally died of old age. The reason the Flowing Gold River could gather and nurture so many time sorcery spirits was that the area surrounding it possessed the property of accelerated time. To time sorcery spirits, the Flowing Gold River was an all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-play hot spring buffet, and the accelerated time was akin to a soothing Thai spa massage. Linger here, and not only could they enjoy supreme indulgence, but with enough time, they could even evolve into two-winged sorcery spirits. It was practically a luxury wellness resort for time spirits. For sorcerers, however, the Flowing Gold River was nothing less than Hell opening a trial workshop on the Time Continent. Just as the areas devoid of the Flowing Gold River were called the 'Domain of Stillness,' where motionless time would freeze a sorcerer into a static painting, the areas near the river were known as the 'Domain of Motion.' Any sorcerer daring to set foot inside would wither and age under time accelerated anywhere from ten thousand to a hundred million times, as rampant time dissolved them into dust. And unlike the quiet, graceful death found in the Domain of Stillness, death in the Domain of Motion was stark and cruel. If the normal passage of time was like a urine test, then the accelerated time around the Flowing Gold River was like a dam releasing a flood. Sorcerers' souls were battered nearly to the point of collapse by this torrential onslaught of time, giving rise to the visible signs of aging—decaying flesh, labored breathing, and frozen thoughts—much like iron corroding into rust when exposed to air. That was why Yaxiu and the others felt such dread. Because this time, they had genuinely caught the scent of death. They had encountered many forms of death before: being torn apart by knowledge creatures, struck down by sorcerer projections, drowning in the sea, freezing in the Domain of Stillness... but those were all unnatural deaths that would never occur in reality. And even if they did, sorcerers believed they possessed the power to evade them. Old age alone was different. All things decayed; even the stars would one day burn out. That was the law governing all existence. Even long-lived races like the Blood Saints and Moon Shadows only enjoyed physical longevity; their souls would inevitably reach the end of their span. Yaxiu looked at his fair, robust arms, yet in his mind lingered the image of the withered, branch-like hands he had possessed just moments earlier. He knew that if he was fortunate enough to live long enough, he would inevitably see those hands again one day. Old age represented death against which there was no fight. They were like ants before chariot wheels, helpless to do anything but watch the great grinding wheel of time roll over them. This utter powerlessness in the face of inevitability was the true root of their fear. "Feeling better?" A pair of soft, warm hands took Yaxiu's and Sonia's hands. Looking back, they saw Diya watching them with a faint smile. Feeling the warmth in their palms, the terror gripping both of them rapidly melted away. They had merely been frightened by the sudden phantom of old age, much like a primary school child on summer break having a nightmare about being caught with unfinished homework by the teacher. Diya's gentleness was like a childhood friend calling early in the morning, inviting them out to play, reminding them that they still had plenty of wonderful days ahead of them. That gentle nudge pulled them right out of the quagmire of fear. Even if the day of being scolded by the teacher would come eventually, that was not something they needed to worry about now—better to enjoy their youth while it lasted. Yaxiu asked, "Witch, have you been to the Flowing Gold River before?" "This is already my third time," Diya nodded. "The first time I fled the Flowing Gold River, my face looked even worse than yours do now. Old age is indeed terrifying, and one must always revere time, but there's no need to feel inferior because of it, and even less reason to admit defeat." "We are sorcerers. We were born to conquer everything. Besides, it's not as though sorcerers who conquered time have never existed." A god! The concept flashed through Yaxiu's and Sonia's minds simultaneously. As supreme beings who ruled over the destinies of hundreds of millions, turned their own will into the mandate of heaven, and created and governed entire nations, a god's lifespan must surely surpass the history of the realms themselves. They had perhaps lived for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. If any sorcerers had truly conquered time in this world, a god was undoubtedly one of them. A desire bordering on wild ambition quietly sprouted in both their hearts. Not only Sonia, who was already an ambitious, greedy country girl chasing fame and fortune, but even Yaxiu—a seasoned corporate drone worn down into a soft marshmallow by society—felt as if he had been transported back to his college graduation, harboring the unrealistic dream of buying a home and carving out a place for himself in the big city on his own.