Void Realm, Time Continent, the Eternal City.
The layout of the Eternal City was extraordinarily peculiar. If one could view its entirety from beyond its walls, one would find that any side profile formed a triangle: the outermost walls were the lowest, rising higher and higher toward the center, culminating in the city's tallest structure at its heart—the Tower of Time.
Moreover, the buildings did not stand in isolation. Bridges connected the upper floors in every direction, turning the entire Eternal City into a three-dimensional labyrinth.
What troubled sorcerers most was that the bridges, walls, and even the paved streets on the ground constantly shifted—every hour brought a different Eternal City!
This was precisely why, after an entire month, not only had no one managed to claim the Time Inheritance, but not even a complete walkthrough could be pieced together. The miniature-garden design made exploring it a far vaster endeavor than anyone had imagined.
Not to mention, running into other sorcerers in the Eternal City was an everyday occurrence. Battles, parties, alliances, betrayals... passionate clashes and ugly drama played out within these walls every single moment.
What powered the operation of the Eternal City was the ceaseless supply of energy from the Flowing Gold River. Tributaries of the Flowing Gold River branched throughout the city like blood vessels. Overflow and run-off transformed into a golden mist that seeped into every corner, breathed in by every adventurer who set foot inside.
This mist settled into the sorcerers' souls and weighed heavy on their hearts, making the kind-hearted suspicious, the suspicious ruthless, the ruthless greedy, and the greedy mad.
Yet owing to the immense allure of the inheritance, sorcerers willingly entered the fray even knowing the Eternal City was a bloody meat grinder.
Better still, the Eternal City did not ban sorcery spirits. Two-Wing sorcerers were precisely at the stage where their sorcery spirit systems had begun to take shape, yet they lacked Sanctuary defenses—a level of power that hit hard but could take little punishment. The Eternal City needed only to provide the stage, and they would naturally answer the King of Time's gaze with dances of death.
Elegant, brutal, sinister, indifferent.
The phantom of the King of Time stood perpetually atop the high tower, taking in the mad and hideous drama performed by the sorcerers.
The *Time Handbook* made no mention of whether the King of Time was proficient in the prophecy faction or the mind faction, but such hair-raising inheritance designs were ample proof of this demigod's profound insight into and disdain for human nature.
At this moment, his gaze fell upon an aerial platform not far away.
"Watch out, here it comes!"
A colossal alchemical golem stood on the platform. Besieged by three female sorcerers, it abruptly halted its attacks and slammed both arms violently downward, slotting them into grooves in the floor!
Beneath the grooves lay conduits connecting to the ground's Flowing Gold River tributaries—it was absorbing the flowing gold water to recharge!
*Hum!* Countless golden runes suddenly surfaced across the platform. At the same time, Annan, Xifulin, and Freya discovered lines extending from their bodies, each connecting to an identical phantom of herself!
They let out a collective sigh of relief. During their previous challenge against the alchemical golem, their inability to see their own phantoms had led to a crushing defeat; had they not fled in time, they might have been slaughtered. After careful exploration and research, they had learned that to clear this golem trial, they first had to obtain the crucial inheritance, 'Eye of the Future,' before having any hope of unraveling this miracle!
Freya saw a massive golden greatsword impaling her phantom while it was running!
Xifulin saw her phantom suddenly freeze, only to be ground to pieces by stationary gears!
Annan saw her phantom standing unharmed, but the surrounding space abruptly collapsed!
This was the divine miracle: Destined Death!
Having confirmed their respective fates, Annan immediately bolted to the farthest edge of the platform, while Xifulin and Freya dashed toward the edge diagonally opposite her. The Veela and the little bat stood two body-lengths apart; the Veela stood frozen like a statue, while the little bat fidgeted restlessly without pause.
Three seconds later, Destined Death descended. A massive expanse centered on Annan collapsed in space. Sorcerers without a Sanctuary would perish instantly if caught inside, but standing at the far end, the Veela and the little bat were safely beyond the collapse's area of effect.
A golden greatsword pierced through Freya, but because she remained completely still, it inflicted no damage whatsoever.
Countless stationary gears materialized around Xifulin, but because she kept moving constantly, the gears failed to harm her as well.
Were it a true Destined Death, there would naturally be no countermeasure. But this was merely an alchemical golem; that it could unleash such a divine miracle was already remarkable, and the King of Time had ultimately left behind an inheritance, not an inescapable death trap.
Destined Death was the hardest mechanic, and the three easily weathered the triple earthfire that followed. With a deafening boom of shattering cogs, the alchemical golem broke apart in a heap, and the seal on the aerial path leading to the high tower dissolved.
Panting for breath, the female sorcerers stared blankly at the fallen golem.
Only after a good while did Xifulin collapse onto her backside, letting out a long sigh. "We beat it!"
With an excited whoop, the Veela leaped up and threw her arms around the purple moth beside her. The purple moth spun the Veela around in delight. Soon enough, however, Freya broke free from Annan's embrace, crossed her arms with a cold huff, and turned her face away, refusing to look at Annan.
Annan exchanged a glance with Xifulin, shrugging with a wry smile.
"Is there a reward?"
"None. It just opened the way to the tower."
"The Time Inheritance is far too stingy. Nothing at all for defeating an elite enemy?"
While the purple moth and the little bat discussed the matter, the Veela had already stepped onto the skyway, saying calmly, "Let's go. Time for the next stage."
"Aren't you going to take a rest?" Xifulin asked.
"What's there to rest for?" Freya pouted, her voice dripping with sourness. "It's not like I have a man to fool around with."
Xifulin shot Annan a sidelong glance. Annan sighed, walked over, and tugged at the Veela's hand. When Freya refused to budge, Annan nestled close and looped an arm through hers. "Are you still mad at me?"
"As if!" Freya shot back crossly. "Back then I had nothing to do with you, and nothing to do with him either! What right do I have to be mad at you?"
Seeing the Veela throw a childish tantrum, Annan hardly knew whether to laugh or cry. A few days ago, Yaxiu had finally updated his diary up to the Nabistin arc—more bluntly, the night he was almost eaten by Annan.
Ever since, the Veela had been giving Annan the cold shoulder. Although they continued their nightly explorations of the Eternal City as usual, she was no longer affectionate like before, and if Annan spoke to her, she barely deigned to respond.
Weren't people from the Blood Moon supposed to be mature? Weren't Veela supposed to be worldly and shrewd? Annan had assumed all Blood Moon Veela would be like Igola. Instead, Freya had taught her a lesson—she had to look after little Lisi in reality, and now had to coax little Freya in the Void Realm!
"It really wasn't like what he wrote in the diary," Annan said. "You've misunderstood!"
"Yaxiu wrote it himself, so it must be true! You definitely used a slave Contract to control Yaxiu and forced him to kiss you!"
"Listen to my explanation."
"Fine, explain!"
"Actually, we didn't just kiss. We did plenty more afterward—Yaxiu just didn't write it down."
The Veela froze, staring at her blankly.
Annan smacked the Veela's backside. The crisp *smack* felt quite satisfying. Stunned, the Veela clutched her behind and spun around, gazing at Annan with an aggrieved pout.
The purple moth strode past her toward the high tower, speaking leisurely, "Didn't you say we should keep exploring? Hurry up and follow."
Dealing with a girl like Freya, who acted like she hadn't even graduated from kindergarten, meant one couldn't indulge her every whim. The more you catered to her, the bolder she grew; sometimes, you had to assert dominance to take back the initiative.
Xifulin patted her rear and caught up. Freya trailed behind Annan, asking nervously, "You're lying to me, aren't you? Annan, you big fibber!"
"Maybe~"
"How far did you two go? How did it feel? Is... is he amazing?"
"Who knows~"
As they talked, the three entered the interior of the high tower, only to find themselves stepping into a grand, magnificent study—one that could easily pass for a library were it not for the prominent desk.
"This trial takes place in a study?" Xifulin deduced. "Then it won't be a combat stage. The Time Inheritance wouldn't want us ruining anything in the Eternal City."
"This is not a trial."
Behind the desk, a golden phantom materialized upon a throne. It possessed five silver void wings and an additional grafted golden void wing. It had no pupils, yet the female sorcerers felt distinctly watched.
"This is your destination," it spoke. "Your adventure within the Time Inheritance ends here."
Freya instantly tensed, dropping into a combat stance. "Are you going to kill us!?"
"Idiot!"
Xifulin pinched and yanked the Veela's cheek. "The King of Time means we've earned the ultimate inheritance—we get to inherit the King of Time's entire legacy!"
"What?" The Veela blinked. "It's over already?"
With a gentle flick of the King of Time's hand, three red-leather chairs slid over before the sorcerers. "Please, be seated, Inheritors."
The three looked at one another. Understanding that if the King of Time truly harbored ill intent they would be powerless to resist, they sat down obediently, their rounded hips sinking into the soft cushions.
"This place was originally named the Nether Chamber, the office of the Eternal City's lord." The King of Time lifted his head, gazing at the splendid, embroidered canopy above. "It is said to represent the origin of the world revered by the ancient elves. Though no one remembers what the word means anymore, using it to name the lord's office was meant to urge every lord of the Eternal City to remain ever steadfast on the path of seeking truth and knowledge.
"After I became lord, I renamed it the Windmill Chamber. Do you know why?"
Annan and Xifulin held their tongues, but Freya pondered aloud, "Windmill? I remember there's a huge windmill tower beside the Garden Main City—"
"That was supposed to be our elven city!"
The King of Time's aura erupted without warning. A fierce surge stirred their hair, and the entire Eternal City trembled faintly!
Even with the King of Time so agitated, Freya dared to talk back: "Well, not only does nobody know it was your city now, nobody even knew about the Eternal City either! If the Time Inheritance hadn't appeared, no one would have known that ancient elves ever lived on the Time Continent!"
Annan stared wide-eyed at Xifulin, who nodded grimly—the moment they logged off, she was going to rush to Freya's house and give this Veela a thorough lesson so the fool would learn when not to shoot her mouth off.
Assuming they still had a chance to log off...
Yet rather than taking offense, the King of Time reined in his aura, hanging his head dejectedly. "Indeed. We are already... history."
Seeing him like this, Freya felt a twinge of embarrassment and pulled her head back. "S-Sorry... But even though your race is extinct, the emergence of the Time Inheritance and the Eternal City will surely draw many modern elves to follow in your footsteps. You're gone, but not completely gone—you can definitely rise from the ashes!"
"Freya!" Xifulin pinched the Veela's plump thigh in exasperation. "Will you please shut up!?"
"Can the great Eternal City only serve as embers, then...?" The King of Time chuckled self-deprecatingly. "When I was young, a war broke out between our elves and the sorcerers in that windmill region, known to history as the Windmill Battle. Our high-ranking elven sorcerers were nearly wiped out in that battle, and the Eternal City began its decline.
"I renamed this place the Windmill Chamber to remind myself to never forget that defeat, to restore elven glory, and to wipe clean the disgrace of the windmill!
"Yet the outcome..." The King of Time looked up at the three of them. "You have seen it."
With that, the King of Time lapsed into a protracted silence, and none of the sorcerers dared to speak. Even the dullest of them, Freya, realized that whatever decision the King of Time made next would likely determine the course of their lives.
After an indeterminate time, the King of Time continued, "Originally, I intended to choose a true-blooded elf as my inheritor and imprint into their mind the conviction to 'restore elven glory,' so that while inheriting the Eternal City, they would also shoulder our millennium-long mission.
"Yet you..."
The King of Time cast a glance over the three of them. "Not only are you not elves, you even speak with such insolence."
Freya sat bolt upright, acting as though he weren't talking about her.
"And so, I have a new thought."
The King of Time said, "Just as you said, we are already the embers of history, and at best we would merely rise from the ashes... Heh, haha, rise from the ashes!
"How can dead ashes rise again?!
"Rather than letting the Eternal City linger on like a slum, allowing elven glory to be humiliated once more by the bastards of the Blood Moon and the Starlight, it is far better that it march grandly toward destruction! If even the elves are extinct, what meaning does the Eternal City hold?
"I could not guide the Eternal City to magnificent prosperity, but at the very least, I can grant it a magnificent demise!
"I want those who occupy elven cities to understand." The King of Time turned his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls toward the far distance. "What belongs to the elves, you cannot take unless I give it!
"Therefore, I have changed my mind." He turned back to the sorcerers. "The Eternal City is not for you to inherit. But no one else will inherit it either, for the Eternal City will soon host a grand funeral that will make the earth wail and the gods rage!
"I will make you sorcerers remember well that while the Eternal City may not be eternal," the King of Time stated proudly, "the glory of the elves shall never fade!"
What else could Freya and the others say? They could only nod repeatedly.
"Of course, you did not come all this way for nothing." The King of Time looked at them. "I shall grant you your due rewards."
"Wait!" Freya interjected suddenly. "What about the blank concept? That's all I want—I need to make a wish!"
"You do not need to make a wish," the King of Time replied. "The moment I recognized you as victors, the blank concept had already read your desires and formed the embryonic foundation of the new law."
"How could that be!" The Veela was dumbfounded. "B-But everyone agreed to let me have the blank concept! What if it read someone else? What if I was thinking about something else when it read me—"
"I do not fully understand the workings of the blank concept either," the King of Time said candidly. "And proportionally, the blank concept of the Time Inheritance accounts for merely two-tenths of the total share. Even if you received it, it would have little impact on the final outcome."
The Veela instantly wilted, burying herself dispiritedly into Xifulin's embrace. Xifulin ruffled her hair and asked, "Then what rewards do you intend to give us?"
"A Blood Moon whelp, reeking of that disgusting stench..." The King of Time was far less polite to Xifulin, stating coldly, "We elves excelled particularly in harnessing the Flowing Gold River's waters, which encompasses many advanced miracles of the water sorcery faction. Among the Peerless Inheritances of the Eternal City, there is a water sorcery inheritance that suits someone like you perfectly."
With a light wave of his hand, a translucent, glassy book flew from the bookshelf behind him and settled into Xifulin's hands.
Xifulin's expression darkened, but she still responded, "Thank you."
"As for you." The King of Time looked at Annan. "You possess a faint trace of elven blood, along with a certain talent for souls and time. Though you specialize in a unique weapon unfamiliar to me, this Flowing Gold Inheritance compiled by generations of elves is more than enough to guide you all the way to Ruby Mountain."
A golden tome leapt from the desk into Annan's hands. Annan felt its heavy weight and nodded solemnly. "I will not fail the King of Time's expectations."
"And you, insolent one..."
The King of Time looked toward Freya. "Your affinity for both soul and time is mediocre, and you appear to have been a sorcerer for less than a year. I never expected someone like you to make it here...
"However, the concentration of elven blood in you is the highest among all the adventurers."
"Huh?" Annan, Xifulin, and Freya all froze.
"Are your eyes failing you in your old age?" Freya asked bluntly. "I'm a Veela!"
The King of Time did not answer. The play of light around him blurred, gradually resolving into a handsome figure: a pair of long, pointed ears, flowing black hair that resembled serpents, a pair of golden slit pupils, and... a band of light purple down along his arms!
Soon, he reverted to a golden phantom, but his meaning was unmistakably clear: pointed ears, snake-like hair, slit pupils, and downy fur were all hallmarks of ancient elves!
"Though you possess little talent for time, your affinity for the mind is quite decent," the King of Time said. "As it happens, I was a demigod who primarily cultivated the mind faction."
"Wait!" Even Annan could not help cutting in. "Weren't you a demigod of time?"
"Everyone assumed so, but I realized early on that a time demigod suffers from a fatal flaw—an overreliance on the Flowing Gold River," the King of Time explained. "Away from the Flowing Gold River, the power of time miracles plummets to less than a fifth. To resolve this problem, I ultimately switched to cultivating the mind faction.
"In places devoid of the Flowing Gold River, time miracles can only consume the flowing gold water produced by the caster's own body; it is that scarcity of production that weakens the miracles. But what if I could harness the flowing gold water produced by my enemies?
"Thus, I needed to bewitch the enemy, tricking their body into believing that time was flying by, thereby generating vast quantities of flowing gold water to amplify my miracles. If I had no Flowing Gold River, then I would make everyone into my Flowing Gold River!
"After stepping into the divine realm, I even bewitched all things in creation, bending the flowing gold water they produced to my will, allowing me to summon a torrent of flowing gold anywhere, anytime!
"To govern the thoughts of all living beings is to govern their time! To bewitch all things in creation is to bewitch the great Flowing Gold River!
"When you can bewitch yourself to stop your spiritual body from producing flowing gold water, you will not be far from immortality."
The King of Time opened a drawer in the desk and drew out a book enshrouded in pink mist. He caressed the cover wistfully, then gently extended his hand, sending it over as a plume of mist into Freya's grasp.
"This is the Mind Bewitchment Inheritance, compiled by my own hand during my lifetime."
Chapter 683