Marrying Wives and Attaining Immortality in a Chaotic World

Chapter 290: Time Flies Like a Blade

“Scatter.”

The voice of the Goddess of Time was cold and detached, as if her words were law. The four eerie bodies quickly withered, decayed, and turned to ashes. Clearly, her mastery over the laws of time had taken effect.

Yet the eerie laughter continued to echo. “You are us and we are you. As long as you exist, we exist. You can never escape us. Temporarily erasing us is nothing but self-deception!”

Even more entangled than quantum particles… Xu Lian felt a chill run down his spine. “O, what exactly are these four eerie bodies? What effect will they have on you in the future?”

The Goddess of Time calmly replied, “I cultivate the path of time. They are the sinister forms that have emerged from the river of time – versions of me from my childhood, my middle age, my twilight years, and my decayed state after death. They are trying to replace me.

However, the core mysteries of the laws of time are firmly within my grasp. They will never be able to replace me. The most serious consequence in the future would be their materialization, with their cultivation and strength infinitely approaching mine.”

Perhaps because Xu Lian’s cultivation level was not high enough, he couldn’t fully comprehend her words. 

“If in the future, the cultivation and strength of these four eerie bodies infinitely approach yours, becoming almost identical to yours, wouldn’t you be in great danger if they joined forces against you? Or if you were to subdue them, wouldn’t your cultivation and strength increase severalfold?”

The Goddess of Time looked at him with calm eyes. “That’s why I told you earlier that eerie transformations are stumbling blocks on the path to immortality. Either you trip over them and fall on the path, or you use them as whetstones to sharpen yourself. Once you overcome them, your cultivation and strength will greatly increase”.

Xu Lian knew that she was downplaying the severity of the situation to keep him from worrying. 

The supreme beings of the top powers had all undergone eerie transformations, and none of them had ever overcome them. If it were that easy, eerie transformations wouldn’t be called eerie transformations. It must be extremely difficult.

Xu Lian said, “O, I once promised to protect you on your path, but my cultivation is now stuck at the Origin Tracing Realm. I’m afraid I won’t be much help to you. You’ve already started experiencing weird transformations and touched the realm of the supreme. How much longer will it take for you to fully ascend to the rank of Supreme?”

The Goddess of Time pondered for a moment before answering, “A hundred years at the most, and I will become a Supreme.”

“So soon?”

Xu Lian felt the urgency of time.

Once the Goddess of Time ascended to the Supreme rank, her eerie transformations would no longer be so “gentle”.

He had to catch up to her cultivation level within a hundred years in order to protect her on her path. Unfortunately, he was still far from gathering enough Origin Tracing Light.

“O, please slow down your cultivation a bit. Wait for me to catch up with you so that I can protect you and help you suppress the eerie transformations, allowing you to safely pass through the most dangerous phase of the Supreme Realm’s eerie transformations.

I know you’re eager to free your clan from the painting and regain their freedom, but the members of the Divine Clan have been trapped in the painting for a very long time. There’s no need to rush.”

Seeing the Goddess of Time close her eyes and enter a meditative state, Xu Lian sighed inwardly, unsure if she had taken his words to heart.

After a moment of thought, Xu Lian reached up and removed the skull of the Divine Clan’s most powerful expert from his head, placing it beside her. The Divine Bone might help slow down her eerie transformation.

As for himself, Xu Lian wasn’t worried. With the laws of the Divine Kingdom protecting him and the Divine Bone from the legendary ancient sacred land, he could protect himself well enough when venturing out. Even if a Sage Realm expert tried to stop him, it wouldn’t be easy for them to succeed.

When he emerged from the fog, Xu Lian saw the women who were still cultivating. He felt even more pressed for time.

Thirty-seven years had passed since his last journey. Those with good talents, such as Huo Xin’er, Jiang Yunyan, Jiang Xianyu, and Jing Se, still looked young, their cultivation had progressed significantly, and their lifespan was long. They hadn’t changed much.

However, those with average talents, such as Xiao Mei, Caixia, Yu Qingning, Miao Yueyue, and Chuntao, had visibly aged. They had all reached middle age. Although they still had their beauty and well-preserved curvaceous figures, they were no longer the youthful maidens they once were.

Despite the excellent cultivation methods of the Divine Clan and the meticulous guidance of the people in the painting, their innate talent was simply too low, and their life span couldn’t keep up.

“Father.”

“Grandfather.”

“Great Ancestor.”

Upon hearing of Xu Lian’s return, his descendants came to visit him.

Xu Lian felt a surge of emotion. After just one journey, he had become a great ancestor. Even his grandchildren had married and had children of their own.

Lin Bufeng, Fang Shaoze, and Qin Liu had also become great ancestors with large families of their own.

With his exceptional talent, Lin Bufeng had advanced quickly in cultivation and had an abundant lifespan. He still looked young.

Fang Shaoze and Qin Liu, on the other hand, had reached middle age and no longer looked young.

Following tradition, Xu Lian had Pei Zhaoxi organize a family banquet to gather everyone together.

Nearly two hundred tables were set up, and the atmosphere was lively.

Looking at his thousand or so descendants, Xu Lian couldn’t feel the warmth of his family.

Some of his descendants were spoiled and unruly, their attitude irritating.

Others were scheming, every word they spoke was meant to belittle others and elevate themselves, hoping to gain the favor of the “Supreme Great Ancestor”.

Some seemed filial, but it was hard to tell whether their filial piety was genuine or not.

He really envied Lin Bufeng, Fang Shaoze, and Qin Liu.

After the family banquet, Xu Lian spent time with each of the women to maintain their affection.

Then, he announced his seclusion.

Every day he was surrounded by his descendants and great-grandchildren, all subtly trying to extract treasures from the “top-tier great ancestor”. It was exhausting, and he simply wanted to escape from it all.

Claiming to be in seclusion, Xu Lian instead went to the Elder Hall of the Heavenly Mystic Sacred Land to apply for cultivation resources.

“It’s been thirty-seven years since the Nine Heavenly Holy Sons last came to apply for cultivation resources. I was starting to miss it,” the elder on duty said with a chuckle.

Xu Lian replied, “Since I haven’t come to apply for so long, you should approve a bit more Origin Tracing Light for me this time.”

The elder on duty said, “I don’t have the final say. We’ll need to gather the elders together to discuss it.”

So the on-duty elder summoned the other elders.

Xu Lian made a bold statement, “This time, you must approve at least twenty strands of Origin Tracing Light for me. Otherwise, I’ll just stay here in the Elder Hall.

The Grand Elder laughed, “No need to bother. This time, we’ll give you all eighty-one remaining strands of Origin Tracing Light at once.”

“Really?”

Xu Lian was truly shocked.

He hadn’t expected the usually stingy Elder Hall to suddenly become so generous.

The Grand Elder smiled warmly, “Of course it’s true. I’ll go to the secret vault now and fetch them for you.”

Xu Lian was still skeptical, “But doesn’t the Sacred Land have a limited supply of Origin Tracing Light? If you give it all to me, what will the elders in the Origin Tracing Realm do?”

The Grand Elder explained, “Do you remember the ancient ruins at the border between our Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands and the Divine Thunder Sect from fifty or sixty years ago? We’ve now developed part of those ruins and found some regulated cultivation resources, including a significant amount of Origin Tracing Light. Currently, our Nine Heavenly Sacred Lands have a relatively abundant supply, so we can afford to give you so much at once.”