Volume One, Chapter 48: The Comprehension of Time

Chapter Forty-Eight: Comprehending Time

From the moment Tu Zhe stepped into the Lotus Heart’s sacred pool, he noticed that within the mist-like crimson glow, though the air was thick with the pure fragrance of lotus rhizomes, the swirling blood-red light twisted oddly before his eyes and within his spiritual sense. It was as if smoke blown by the wind, or the surface of water disturbed by a breeze—some strange force seemed to warp both the scarlet radiance and his own perceptions.

Was this the power of time?

Heaven and earth above and below, past and future—these form the universe. Of all the mysteries of the cosmos, beyond the powers of the five elements, of light, darkness, wind, and thunder, the most enigmatic are time and space.

Ramo, what is force? In physics, is it not the interaction between objects that causes acceleration or deformation? How many types of force are there? Friction, repulsion, gravity, resultant force, impulse, pressure, resistance, thrust, tension, and so many more. Then what kind of force is this, that twists and distorts beyond recognition? Physics and mechanics—aren’t they just empty talk?

Tu Zhe was certain he had not maligned the science of his previous life. One question could stump all physicists and astrophysicists: Where did the universe’s primordial force originate? The Big Bang, perhaps? Then where did the force behind the Big Bang arise? What forces interacted to ignite the birth of the cosmos? Don’t know? No answer? Merely a hypothesis? Then go play in the mud like a child!

Tu Zhe felt that the science of his former world was truly naïve and unreliable, like two children arguing about the sun—who among them could truly be right? With such mocking thoughts about science, he continued to observe the depths of the Lotus Heart.

At the place where the crimson light blazed brightest, he halted, focusing his spirit to listen to the rhythm of the Lotus Heart. He sensed that the time had come to begin his cultivation.

He sat heavily upon the ground, which felt soft, warm, and fine as velvet. Was this what the fabled Kashaya robes were meant to evoke? Indeed, such a feeling was exquisite.

The rhythm of the Lotus Heart resonated wondrously with his soul and body. In the moment this resonance arose, Tu Zhe felt as if he had entered a river. This river was eternal and free-flowing, twisting as it pleased, moving with his will, capable of flowing forward or back. This utterly overturned all his previous understanding of time.

Could a river flow backward? Could it fork, bend, or linger in a great basin for an age? Who said time was a straight line? Confucius once lamented beside a river: "All things pass by as this, never ceasing day or night." Was that a question, or an affirmation? If a question, it marks a sage; if an affirmation, then a fool.

Those who claim time is a straight line clearly have never truly seen a river. Have you ever seen a river flow perfectly straight? It’s not even a simple curve, but an irregular, meandering thread. A river runs slow or fast depending on the terrain—placid on level ground, furious in gorges, and after a storm, the sea may even surge back upstream.

Time—how could it be as simple as people imagine? You say the future lies in the tomorrow after today? Fine, but if time takes a fancy to double back, the dragon’s head of the future might just crash into the present. Wouldn’t that scare you to death?

Time—is it really so easy to grasp, so simple to comprehend? Best I simply experience it in earnest.

Amid the pulsing rhythm of the Lotus Heart, Tu Zhe gradually merged with its resonance, until for a moment, he felt he had become time itself, flowing back and forth through space like a river.

In that instant, myriad spaces flashed through his consciousness: primeval and wild scenes from ancient ages; glimpses of alien worlds; even strange visions of the future returning in reverse. Some scenes were familiar—fragments from his previous life.

He saw ancient dragons in a savage wilderness, primordial forests, arcane sorcery, and mythic races; he saw silver-hued craft darting through the cosmos—civilizations of science and technology; he saw bizarre races born in liquid realms while ancient peoples faded away; he witnessed the birth and death of spaces, the formation and dissolution of worlds.

He beheld countless marvels and terrifying calamities: birth and annihilation, condensation and dispersal, earth, fire, water, and wind ceaselessly blowing, worlds flickering into being and passing away in endless cycles.

Were these circles upon circles, invisible yet all-encompassing? Countless circles interwove and intersected, forming the grand trajectories of immense spheres. Was this the Great Ritual Cycle?

Upon this grand cycle, what symbolized time? What signified space? Did time define space, or did space imprison time? Were time and space inextricably entwined, each the other's reflection? If so, which dominated, which was subject?

Within the Lotus Heart, Tu Zhe passed through and comprehended. Time slipped by him like water. Within this space, he had already meditated upon the nature of time for ten thousand days.

To guard against hunger and fatigue disrupting his cultivation, Tu Zhe had swallowed a supreme King Brahma Crystal, letting his body absorb and refine it at will. Unbeknownst to him, he had already absorbed a substantial portion of its energy, though it was but a millionth—or even a ten-millionth—of the crystal’s reserves. For the King Brahma Crystal, the loss was negligible.

Yet even this minute fraction contained more energy than an ordinary celestial could absorb in hundreds of thousands of years, for this was a King Brahma Crystal containing the power of a hundred and twenty minor worlds.

The energy, insignificant to the King Brahma Crystal, had already nourished Tu Zhe’s blood, body, and bones: his blood now glimmered with a precious luster; his veins flowed like great rivers; his muscles grew taut; his body possessed the suppleness of refined gold; his bones were like metal and iron; his marrow shimmered like liquid gold. Even the chaotic mist within the spiritual sea of his mind had taken on a faint golden hue. He was utterly transformed, though he remained unaware.

Outside his body, the blood-hued light suffusing the Lotus Heart—steeped in the power of time—continuously seeped into his skin and pores, merging with the thunderous flow of his blood, suffusing him inside and out. Unconsciously, he had acquired a faint but awe-inspiring aura of the god of time. Though this aura was still insignificant, it was nonetheless daunting.

For time is the domain of the gods. Even the mightiest—saints, great sages, emperors, exalted sovereigns—are helpless before time.

To wield the power of time, to command its flow—this is the aspiration of all the mighty beings across the heavens and the three realms. Were Tu Zhe’s current state to be seen by such figures, their envy and jealousy would be boundless; nothing short of his death could quell their covetous rage.

Even Mu Xiulou, Lord of the Turreted Heavens and master of certain temporal laws, could not have imagined that Tu Zhe, within this place, would receive such favor from the god of time, attaining an understanding and mastery beyond his own reach.