OUTSIDE OF TIME

842 Time Stands Still (1)

After Xu Qing studied the life lantern formed after the purple crystal light fused with his bloodline, he discovered that its ability was indeed related to time but it wasn’t absolute.

For example, the physical defense effect of the large black umbrella didn’t disappear because it was dissolved. It still existed.

Moreover, it was even stronger than before.

Also, the time difference between the Sundial and the time outside was about 14 hours.

Xu Qing didn’t know what secrets this time difference contained, and didn’t have an answer even after thinking about it for a while.

In the span of seven days, he attempted to accelerate the sundial, but the lantern fire transformed with the nascent soul seemed to be pulled, making it difficult to achieve.

Trying to make it reverse was also the same.

Trying to cause it to stop also gave the same result.

This Sundial clearly originated from him but it continued to spin on its own. Even though Xu Qing controlled the nascent soul to leave, the lantern fire still existed and continued to move in a fixed way.

This appearance was similar to when Xu Qing first obtained the purple crystal.

This lasted until Xu Qing thought of a solution.

He couldn’t change the rotation of the light, nor could he make the sundial rotate on its own. However, he could control the gnomon!

After all, the gnomon was the condensation of his bloodline.

He could control the gnomon to leave the sundial and fly it out.

During his attempt, he discovered that the moment the gnomon left it, the sundial seemed to have lost its direction and guidance. The lights also stopped moving.

Consequently, there was no longer any concept of time, regardless of how the lantern fire continued to illuminate—it was merely a state of transparency.

In fact, there were even faint signs of the sundial showing signs of decay.

After Xu Qing placed the gnomon back in, the sundial recovered. The light continued to move and the needle’s shadow returned to normal.

The time was still calculated from the moment the gnomon flew out.

From a certain perspective, the time between the departure of the gnomon and its return seemed to have disappeared.

“In that case, can it be understood that it was stopped?”

Xu Qing mumbled as a dark glint appeared in his eyes. He felt that his method might not be correct but no matter what, this was the first ability he had discovered from the life lantern.

The moment the sundial lost its needle, time seemed to have stopped. At the moment when Ling’er was about to peek out from the cuff of Xu Qing’s sleeve and climb towards his ear, Xu Qing lowered his head and looked over. Ling’er’s body paused instantly.

Motionless.

It was as though the time that belonged to her had stopped.

This process only lasted for an instant because Xu Qing discovered that the decay of the sundial was related to this.

This discovery caused a huge commotion in Xu Qing’s heart.

“The moment I pull out the gnomon, will the time in the surroundings stop under my gaze?”

Xu Qing hurriedly tried a few more times. Ling’er was still at a loss and didn’t know what had happened. She didn’t know that she had stopped many times.

She tried her best to crawl toward Xu Qing’s ears and her body paused. The distance that she could reach very quickly in the past seemed incomparably far to her now.

After a long time, she finally crawled to Xu Qing’s ear and looked at him shyly.

“Brother Xu Qing, why are you looking at me like that?”

Xu Qing found this sentence a little familiar. However, at that moment, his thoughts were churning, so he didn’t think too much about it. After nodding, he asked.

“Ling’er, did you feel anything amiss just now?”

Ling’er shook her head in surprise.

Xu Qing fell into deep thought and continued to study.

Ling’er was curious but she also knew that her Brother Xu Qing was busy at that moment. Hence, she found a comfortable posture and swayed there, playing by herself.

Xu Qing fell silent.

‘Ling’er didn’t sense that she had stopped. In that case, how large is the range of this ability…’

Xu Qing’s heart stirred. He walked out of the cave abode and looked at the dim sky and land. He sensed the wind in the surroundings and the heat contained in it and then looked in the direction of the sea of fire in the distance.

He thought about it but still didn’t dare to.

Xu Qing felt that with his current cultivation and the sundial that had just been formed, if he spread out the power of stillness on a large scale, such as looking at the circulation of the starry sky, the flow of the wind, and the trajectory of the world, there was a high chance that his body and soul would be destroyed instantly.

If the operation of the Wanggu Continent was compared to a surging behemoth, any law inside would be a part of the power of the behemoth. Right now, he was just an inconspicuous rope.

One could imagine the outcome if he tried to strangle the behemoth with such a rope.

“Forget it…”

Xu Qing fell silent. However, he felt that if this ability was used in battle, its might would be extremely astonishing.

“Let’s name this ability ‘Time Stasis!’”

Xu Qing mumbled. He had a feeling that there should be more abilities to the Sundial life lantern. He needed to slowly study and explore them.

“There’s no hurry. The most important thing now is to refine the other four life lanterns.”

His body had recovered in these seven days and was at its peak state. He could go to the Heavenly Fire Sea to continue cultivating. Moreover, after experiencing the envelopment of magma fire, his resistance to the heavenly fire had also increased.

Hence, Xu Qing didn’t waste any time. He sped through the darkness and gradually walked into the place of flames, stepping into the sea of fire.

This time around, Xu Qing had learned his lesson from the past. He went to even further places and paid attention to the appearance of his red crystals at all times. At the same time, he changed locations more frequently.

This was to ensure that his refinement could be carried out safely.

As for whether a ten thousand-foot-long vortex would appear in the end, Xu Qing wasn’t sure.

There was no way to hide this matter, so he chose a more remote location.

Just like that, 20 days passed.

It was unknown if it was because of the enhancement from the Sundial or because of the lantern itself, but the refining speed of the Rainbow Wind Song Lantern was slightly faster than the black umbrella life lantern.