Chapter 933

「What?」

「Time manipulation?」

Upon hearing He Pingsheng’s words, Jin Ku’s voice changed pitch in shock.

「How is that possible?」

「Time manipulation is the most profound and inscrutable ability in this world!」

「Even those who master space manipulation—how could time manipulation possibly exist in the Spirit Realm?」

「Merely harnessing a fraction of time’s laws is already extraordinary!」

「Time manipulation? That’s an ability only found in the Immortal Realm!」

Jin Ku rattled off several impossibilities in one breath.

But He Pingsheng did not argue with him; instead, he flickered out of the cave dwelling and moments later landed beside a small stream in the valley.

Though the stream was narrow—barely more than ten zhang wide—the water rushed with fierce speed.

The turbulent current surged through countless jagged rocks, spraying white spray into the air.

He Pingsheng stood in midair, extended a finger toward the stream, and murmured: 「Time Paralysis…」

The next instant, a thread of temporal power shot from his fingertip.

Half of the rushing stream far downstream suddenly froze solid.

It was locked in a single moment, utterly motionless.

Water flowing from upstream could not penetrate this temporal barrier—it surged past along the other half of the stream.

「This…」 Jin Ku stared, speechless with shock: 「Holy shit… holy shit holy shit… This… this is time freezing!」

「Or is it time stasis?」

He Pingsheng took a deep breath and released the technique; the stream resumed its roaring flow: 「They’re essentially the same—same effect. But I call this technique 【Time Paralysis】.」

Time itself had been paralyzed in that instant.

「Time is far harder to grasp than space!」 Jin Ku sighed. 「In my youth, I once glimpsed a similar law—studied for a thousand years and gained nothing. You… truly have extraordinary talent!」

「Time freezing isn’t the ultimate state of time manipulation. If you could master the ultimate time technique, you could reverse time with a single thought!」

「Think about it—if time could flow backward, wouldn’t the sealed exit in that space open instantly?」

He Pingsheng nodded. Indeed.

His time manipulation was localized.

It could only affect a very small, specific area.

If Jin Ku’s words were true—if he could one day master time reversal—he might indeed open the exit.

But right now, at this moment, He Pingsheng was still ten thousand miles away from time reversal!

「What rank is your technique?」 Jin Ku asked.

He Pingsheng thought for a moment. 「Probably Heavenly Grade Mid- or Upper-tier.」

It could be strengthened—but its potential was limited!

He Pingsheng pulled out a white jade slip and inscribed the technique upon it, then clinked it into the Treasure Basin.

Suddenly, Jin Ku’s soul within He Pingsheng let out another shriek: 「Y-you—you broke through another bottleneck?」

「Twelfth layer!」

Jin Ku’s astonishment reached its peak.

He Pingsheng merely nodded calmly. 「Yes.」

While comprehending this time law, he had unintentionally shattered his own bottleneck.

This was the first time He Pingsheng had broken through a bottleneck by comprehending the laws of heaven and earth.

But upon reflection, it made sense.

To create a Heavenly Grade technique—what a profound transformation in Dao for any cultivator?

Breaking through a single layer was almost inevitable.

The next morning, He Pingsheng took out the Treasure Basin.

One white jade slip had been strengthened into golden-yellow.

And there were two of them.

He Pingsheng casually picked up one to examine.

Name: Time Paralysis!

Rank: Heavenly Grade Supreme!

Effect: Once perfected, this technique can freeze time within a hundred zhang radius with a single thought!

He Pingsheng nodded.

The effect had not changed. The name had not changed.

Only the range had expanded.

Previously, his technique could only paralyze time within roughly ten zhang; now it extended to a hundred zhang.

Excellent!

He picked up the other jade slip.

Looked at it—identical!

Still Time Paralysis, still a hundred-zhang range.

「Huh…」 He Pingsheng took a deep breath.

This had never happened before.

No matter what technique or scripture he placed inside, one would emerge as two—and always two different ones. Why, when I put in my time technique, did two identical copies come out?

Impossible to understand!

But there was nothing he could do.

During this retreat, He Pingsheng had spent one hundred and eighty-four years within the 【Momentary Time Array】.

The time flow inside was ten times that of the outside world.

Thus, only about eighteen years had passed in the outside world.

「How are you?」 He Pingsheng asked Jin Ku. 「How much of the curse remains?」

Jin Ku laughed heartily. 「Thank you, younger brother. Another two-tenths of the curse has lifted—I now have roughly seven-tenths left!」

「Almost there… almost there… hahaha…」

「Once this curse is fully gone, we won’t need to share one body anymore!」

He Pingsheng asked: 「But even then, will you still try to possess me?」

「No!」 Jin Ku said. 「I am an Immortal!」

「I possessed you before to use your fortune to break my heavenly chains!」

「Not merely for possession!」

「Without the chains, I can manifest a true body at any moment!」

「Good.」 He Pingsheng nodded.

Jin Ku asked: 「What are your plans next?」

He Pingsheng said: 「Next, I intend to break through to Mahayana Emperor Realm—then my spiritual sense will grow dramatically, and I can proceed to decipher and draw the eighth-rank Interdimensional Talisman without hindrance.」

「Good!」 Jin Ku said. 「May your breakthrough go smoothly!」

…

Boom…

Crack…

Several days later!

On a peak of the Jin Ku Immortal Ruins, waves of tribulation lightning gathered.

In an instant, the entire sky darkened like night.

Streams of light flew from all directions and landed around the empty space where He Pingsheng stood.

After all, heavenly tribulation lightning was too vast, its aura too potent—every Mahayana Emperor in the small world sensed it.

And so they all came.

「He Pingsheng?」

「I wondered who was undergoing the Mahayana tribulation—it’s you!」

「It’s really you!」

Gu Ye Di stood outside the void, his expression displeased.

He knew He Pingsheng’s strength.

Previously, at Body Integration eighth layer, He Pingsheng had slain two of their Wu Clan’s Emperor-tier experts. Now, if he reached Mahayana Emperor Realm—what then?

Who could stop him?

But preventing another’s heavenly tribulation seemed impossible.