Only now did Yaxiu fully realize that he was no longer an ordinary living being.
An ordinary being could never swim in the Flowing Gold River, let alone take a sip of this golden liquid. It had virtually no taste, resembling ice-cold well water. He wondered what custard Lalafell steamed in Flowing Gold River water would taste like.
His earlier "sensory foresight" had simply been his body sensing the flow of the Flowing Gold River. Because the river originated from the passage of all things in the world, reality was naturally its source. The reason everything aged and decayed was that it was constantly being poisoned and eroded by the invisible waters of the Flowing Gold River—at least, that was how the sorcerer world defined aging.
Neither ordinary people nor normal sorcerers could feel the river's flow. But because the time talent of Yaxiu and the other trial-takers had been stacked to an absurd degree, they could vaguely sense its currents and even alter its direction to a certain extent, giving rise to an instinct resembling precognition.
In a sense, it was now impossible for Yaxiu to die of old age. He was already swimming in the Flowing Gold River, so he would naturally no longer be affected by time. If you could drink molten magma, would you still fear eating spicy hotpot?
Judging by the reactions of Sijiadi and the others, however, this "ultimate time talent" likely came with limitations. Perhaps it could only last for a certain number of days, or perhaps it would vanish the moment they left this underground palace.
If one wanted to maintain this state or take it a step further—turning the water of the Flowing Gold River into a wellspring of life—one had to accommodate a true creature of time: the Square-Round Cicada!
Immortality!
It would be a lie to say Yaxiu did not desire it. Although people talked about how "immortality is a curse," looking at how the various gods had ruled the world for countless years, none of them had ever hanged themselves. Instead, they constantly schemed and tinkered, crafting diverse societal realms in reality and orchestrating the Grand Investiture of the Six Nations in the Void Realm. Clearly, the joys of immortality were beyond an ordinary mortal's imagination.
Besides, attaining eternal life with just a single bite was far too good an opportunity to pass up. Yaxiu even wondered if the bargain was too generous—shouldn't there be some curse attached, like being pursued by an immortal snail, just to make obtaining it feel a bit more reassuring?
Before long, a colossal golden cicada appeared at the end of the passage. Clinging to the wall, it measured roughly three meters long, its two pairs of membranous wings trembling faintly. Massive compound eyes sat on either side of its head, and when Yaxiu looked toward it, he realized one of the pupils within the compound eyes was staring straight at him.
Its head and abdominal tip were nearly perfect spheres, while its body and wings formed sharp, angular rectangular prisms. At first glance, it looked like something drawn by a child; no wonder it was named the Square-Round Cicada.
It was positioned right where the cicada mural Yaxiu and Weise had seen earlier had been. Now that the mural was gone and the Square-Round Cicada had appeared, it had likely been barely clinging to life on that wall all along, reviving only after being nourished by an ample deluge of Flowing Gold River water.
Right then, the orc legend in the lead swam to the end. He leaped out of the water and grabbed the Square-Round Cicada. A flicker of hesitation crossed his face—how was he supposed to eat such a massive insect?
Yet he did not pause. Grabbing one of the membranous wings, he clamped his jaws down!
*Crack!*
The orc legend had teeth strong enough to crush marble. Yet against that paper-thin cicada wing, his teeth shattered, and an incisor snapped right off!
At that moment, the excited legendary sorcerers finally cooled down, and Yaxiu and Weise quickly checked their momentum.
They realized a grave problem.
"Don't tell me your original plan was to carve up the Square-Round Cicada yourselves?" Yaxiu asked. "As far as I know, even an ordinary grand law cannot be killed through normal means. You either have to wipe out all its believers first or exhaust the energy of the god-hosts under its command..."
"In the original plan, we were supposed to wake up seated at a dining table, partaking of a Square-Round Cicada that had already been butchered and prepared," Sijiadi murmured ahead of them. "If the experiment succeeded, a small portion of the Square-Round Cicada would be preserved and nurtured back to life with Flowing Gold River water, and the feast would continue, granting immortality to all, never to die or perish..."
"Well, the Square-Round Cicada Sect is long gone," Yaxiu said. "Did you trial-takers not prepare any backup plan?"
Just then, Weise suddenly asked, "Did you say the Square-Round Cicada feeds on Flowing Gold River water?"
"If it likes drinking Flowing Gold River water, then what do trial-takers like us look like to it—people whose Gates of Truth connect directly to the Flowing Gold River, who can swim freely in its depths, and who are practically creatures of time ourselves?"
Everyone noticed that as the Square-Round Cicada continued its steady drone, the orc legend holding onto it was slowly dissolving.
It looked as though a straw had been driven into his body, sucking him dry as swiftly as a cup of yogurt. Not only was his interior emptied, but even his outer hide dissolved into the Square-Round Cicada's body like yogurt clinging to a lid, leaving not a single drop behind. Within moments, the orc legend had vanished entirely, while the Square-Round Cicada appeared to have grown just a fraction larger.
As if savoring the lingering aftertaste, the Square-Round Cicada drifted gently down into the Flowing Gold River, its compound eyes fixing squarely on the little treats floating in the water.
At this moment, Yaxiu suddenly understood how Lalafells felt.
Without a single word needed, everyone spun around and began swimming against the current of the Flowing Gold River. Yaxiu and Weise had originally been trailing at the rear, which should have put them in the lead once they turned back. However, these legendary sorcerers were not only higher in realm, but their swimming technique was far superior as well. Before long, every single one of them had overtaken the pair.
Weise was relatively fine, managing second to last, because Yaxiu was dead last.
Though Yaxiu knew all too well that "the classes you skip will always come back to haunt you," he had never imagined the swimming lessons he skipped back in the Sea of Knowledge would turn out to be his fatal flaw at such a life-and-death crossroads!
He glanced over his shoulder. Fortunately, the Square-Round Cicada was moving very slowly; even at his pace, he should easily shake it off—huh?!
Yaxiu's body abruptly hitched. He was nearly washed straight into the Square-Round Cicada's mouth by the current.
He forced his posture steady, struggling against the flow, only to feel the resistance mounting exponentially. An indescribable desolation, despair, and bleakness began gnawing at his mind.
Insignificance.
Every single droplet of Flowing Gold River water was a mortal's entire lifetime. With every stroke of his arms, he parted the pasts of countless millions. Advancing a mere inch meant traversing the rise and fall of whole cities. Everything he held dear, everything he detested, amounted to less than a single drop.
Only now did Yaxiu recall what he, Sword Princess, and Witch had endured when diving into the Flowing Gold River. With the lifespan of a mere mortal, resisting the scour of the river was nearly impossible. Drifting with the current or floating motionless was manageable, but pushing upstream against the Flowing Gold River was like a single droplet attempting to turn back millions of others.
When swimming upstream back then, he, Sword Princess, and Witch had supported one another. By joining their three lifespans together, they had barely managed to preserve their sense of self amidst the vast, mighty river.
How could one person alone endure the scouring of endless time?
He looked up and saw Silver Lantern still ahead of him. Though her pace had slowed, she continued creeping forward inch by inch, her resolve and confidence unstripped by the river.
Ahead of her, the legendary sorcerers were also struggling. Although their lifespans far exceeded those of Yaxiu and Weise, they had never experienced swimming upstream in the Flowing Gold River before. Braving this level of mental scouring unprepared, they inevitably required substantial time to adapt.
Suddenly, Silver Lantern came to a halt. No matter how hard she tried to swim, she could not advance another inch. Every time she pushed forward slightly, her strength gave out naturally, and she was swept back.
Yet Yaxiu had reached his limit even sooner. He bobbed up and down in the river, neither swept away by the waves nor able to break through them. This was no longer a question of willpower; it was purely a lack of lifespan. No matter how sharp a blade was, it still required a sufficiently durable spine.
Both of them knew what needed to be done, yet both hesitated.
After a brief pause, the Square-Round Cicada suddenly let out a cry. In an instant, Yaxiu reached forward and Weise reached back. Their movements clicked into seamless alignment, and paddling hard against the current, they swiftly caught up to the legendary sorcerers struggling ahead!
Just then, water splashed violently before them as a brawl broke out.
Someone roared, "Meisi, are you out of your mind?! Two hundred years have passed outside—is this the time to settle old scores?!"
"I'm not crazy!" Meisi replied. "Our only way out is to swim out of the Flowing Gold River, and its flow rate depends on the number of tributaries! Even though we're all Divine Fire Seeds whose resonating Gates of Truth cannot be shut, once someone dies, their gate will have to close no matter what!
"Besides, it takes time for the Square-Round Cicada to eat someone!"
With a furious shout, a middle-aged sorcerer was kicked into the air. Yaxiu and Weise scrambled out of the way, watching him get washed toward the mouth of the Square-Round Cicada. The cicada indeed stopped. Although the middle-aged sorcerer tried frantically to swim back, the creature's three pairs of legs had already bound him fast.
There were no screams, no wails—only a merry cicada song expressing its owner's delight.
The current of the Flowing Gold River seemed to slow slightly. The trial-takers pushed forward a good distance before encountering another bottleneck.
This time, as the legends faced off against each other, two of them turned their gazes toward the two weakest members among them.
Even Weise silently released Yaxiu's hand, the eyes beneath her fox mask brimming with vigilance.
*Splash!*
Spray burst forth as a merfolk legend lunged at Yaxiu. A Sanctuary Sorcerer and a Legendary Sorcerer clashed in an unadorned, miracle-free brawl inside the Flowing Gold River.
The moment they traded blows, Yaxiu felt crushing pressure. Because all his senses were preoccupied with resisting the river's temporal erosion, his sensory foresight had almost completely failed—and the same went for everyone else.
However, in addition to having superior underwater combat skills, the merfolk legend possessed a physical constitution far superior to Yaxiu's natural body. Even Silver Lantern had enhanced her body with Silver Dragon Blood; how could these orthodox legendary sorcerers from the Grey Fox Divine Era not have used phantasm creations to bolster their physical forms?
Overwhelmed in both technique and raw attributes, Yaxiu quickly fell into a disadvantage, forced to rely on constant evasion to buy time.
Noticing that Weise was also locked in a bitter struggle, an idea struck him. He suddenly broke into her skirmish, coordinating with Weise to attack the bearfolk legend!
Caught completely off guard, the bearfolk was knocked back instantly. But the merfolk quickly pursued. Yaxiu retreated and swung his sword, yet swinging a blade underwater was far too sluggish, completely exposing his unguarded left side to the merfolk's vicious lunge!
Fortunately, Weise covered his blind spot just in time. Her chained gauntlet seized the merfolk's arm, and Yaxiu brought his sword down, nearly slitting the merfolk's throat!
The merfolk and bearfolk fell back to either side, warily reorganizing their stance. Yaxiu and Weise stood shoulder to shoulder, though both looked away from each other.
Now that sensory foresight was rendered useless, they realized their only viable ally was the person they had spent the past four days locked in mortal combat with. It was not merely because they were the primary targets among these legends; more importantly, having fought each other for days on end, they understood each other's tactical mindset down to the finest detail. They knew every subtle twitch before it even began, requiring zero adjustment to fight as a unit.
"The Spectator has only been dead an hour, and you're already sticking this close to me," Weise said, never missing a chance to needle him. "Won't he be jealous?"
"The moment we get out, I'm mincing you and feeding you to a Lalafell," Yaxiu replied.
Chapter 593