Chapter 964: The Power of the Time Law (Requesting Monthly Votes)

“Shh!”

In an instant, he shot forward like lightning.

“Boom!!”

In the moment he surged forward, he felt the space twist violently.

The entire space grew abnormally heavy, filled with invisible resistance, but it barely affected him.

At his speed, he needed less than a second to reach the finish.

But the air seemed to possess some force devouring his source energy.

All the source energy he released was completely consumed.

An invisible black legal wave began to emerge.

“Huff huff~”

Lin Qi felt his entire body boil, burning furiously.

This sensation was excruciating—it burned too fiercely, even draining his life force.

His source energy was also being consumed wildly in the burning.

“Huff huff!!”

His body grew scorching hot; his skin turned crimson and steamed with white vapor.

An invisible pressure was spreading.

Lin Qi didn’t care—he charged forward under the crushing weight, shooting out like lightning.

But his speed had slowed drastically.

Otherwise, the ten-kilometer distance would have taken him less than 0.1 seconds to cross.

Now, his speed dropped instantly—he took ten seconds to cover just one kilometer.

“Huff huff~”

Lin Qi gasped for breath; a wave of intense fatigue surged through him.

Energy from hundreds of billions of his cells, along with his source energy, was being consumed wildly.

Fatigue, long absent, had returned.

Invisible time-law power enveloped his body.

Lin Qi felt an unprecedented weakness wash over him.

It was as if he had exercised nonstop all day, utterly drained of strength.

His body began to tremble; his speed visibly slowed.

He had no choice but to slow down.

“Huff huff!!”

His chest heaved violently; his breathing grew ragged.

The energy in his cells was being consumed wildly.

He felt that if he pushed any harder, he would collapse and die mid-run.

The flow of his blood slowed; his bone marrow was peeling away; his muscle strength vanished rapidly.

His vision darkened; his body lost its luster; his breath grew fainter.

What drained away was not only his power, but his years.

Like an old man whose age kept climbing.

His constitution grew weaker; his speed slowed further.

Lin Qi’s mind even formed the thought: “I just want to rest.”

He hadn’t had such a thought in a thousand years.

He had always been brimming with energy, with endless strength.

Even when exhaustion came from cultivation, he recovered quickly.

But now, he couldn’t recover at all.

He grew weaker and weaker, like an elderly man with osteoporosis.

Unprecedented weakness gripped his heart—he wanted to lie down right where he stood and sleep.

So tired!

He looked at his hands—once glowing with power, now shrinking.

Through his skin, the flow of blood in his veins slowed, like a dried-up stream.

His skin grew dry and brittle.

His body involuntarily began to hunch.

“Is this the power of the time law?”

Lin Qi guessed it was the power of the time law, but never imagined it could be so terrifying.

Merely enveloping him caused his lifespan and strength to burn away like firewood.

The ten-kilometer finish line lay right before him.

Yet it felt impossibly distant.

“Huff huff~”

Lin Qi adjusted his breathing, controlled his muscles, and began jogging slowly.

He could no longer sprint as before.

This weakness was more agonizing than any physical or mental shock he’d ever endured.

Losing power—this despair—few could remain calm.

Worse, he began to feel drowsy; his body instinctively begged him to stop and rest.

And this urge grew stronger by the moment.

Lin Qi’s expression remained resolute.

He jogged slowly, inching closer to the finish.

Finally, he stopped running altogether and walked step by step.

With iron will, he suppressed his body’s instincts and moved forward, slowly.

Two kilometers, three kilometers, four kilometers…

Unconsciously, he reached the seven-kilometer mark.

His vision blurred; his awareness grew dim.

He only felt the finish line was still far away.

“Bang!”

With a heavy crash, he lost consciousness completely.

…

“Huh~”

When Lin Qi opened his eyes, he looked around and realized he had somehow returned to the finish line.

【Lin Qi, unfortunately, you failed to pass Dream Bridge Level 91!】

【Rank (Xingyan): 398 → 388】

【Yes/No to retry the trial?】

…

Lin Qi exhaled a long breath and shook his head.

He felt the endless power surging within him—what he’d just endured was unbearable.

He felt like a centenarian, struggling even to walk.

His strength was gone; every organ seemed at the end of its lifespan.

His source energy was completely depleted.

“No wonder the difficulty is so high—so few geniuses pass.”

“This is only Level 91—there are still nine levels ahead.”

Lin Qi tapped the screen to review the replay.

He’d never needed to watch replays before—he just charged through, since he always cleared levels quickly.

But this time was different.

He had to review the replay—the screen showed he was less than three kilometers from the finish.

If he’d held on just a little longer, he might have passed.

Still, he had no intention of trying again.

He needed to rest, to recover.

Pushing through ten levels in one go drained his spirit too severely.

He now felt as if his head would split open.

His rank had risen by ten places.

Honestly, it was higher than he expected.

Many above him had cultivated for tens of thousands of years.

So he chose to exit.

…

On the Dream Bridge Square, Lin Qi stepped out.

“Shhh~”

He transformed into a streak of light and shot into the sky, returning to Tianhai Residence.

Moments later, he descended onto the training ground.

He took five vials of Phosphor Soul Elixir from the Source Core World and drank them all at once.

He felt his mental energy slowly recovering.

Lin Qi immediately felt much better.

He walked straight into the villa and prepared to sleep.

He needed to relax thoroughly before thinking about how to further strengthen his willpower.

……

In the core zone, within a central estate.

The entire estate resembled a garden, with the villa seamlessly fused with countless plants.

Vast, massive vines curled around the villa, while a colossal, towering tree rose to an astonishing height of a thousand meters.

The giant tree radiated extraordinary vitality and possessed its own consciousness.

It was a magnificent sight throughout the entire core zone.

On a thick branch of the tree, Lord Kongming, clad in a dark green robe, surveyed the entire core zone.

From above, countless estates seemed to lie within his view.

Before him, a large blue screen projected into the air.

On the screen appeared Lin Qi’s data and ranking from the Dream Gate Bridge.

A thick, green, resilient vine appeared beside him and wrapped around Lord Kongming.

He stroked the vine and smiled.

“Truly unexpected.”

“Lin Qi’s willpower is stronger than we imagined.”

“Even top-tier geniuses must rigorously train their willpower to break through the Five Cosmic Realms.”

“Most require thousands, even tens of thousands of years, to gradually strengthen their willpower through time.”

“Aside from understanding cosmic laws, enhancing willpower is the most difficult.”

“I never expected that after only a thousand years of cultivation, Lin Qi would already possess such immense willpower.”

“He is a natural-born powerhouse.”

“With his current willpower, breaking through the Five Cosmic Realms is entirely within reach.”