Chapter 243: The Arrow That Flies Backward

Chapter 243: The Reversing Arrow

Yi Fengchu gazed at the transparent arrow, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

He remembered; he had briefly held it—

used to reverse and reset the time and fate of the entire third dimension.

At that time, Yi Fengchu finally eliminated all his rivals, climbing to the top by treading on the spines of the old gods, and gained initial control over the domain of fate.

But when he returned home, he faced the lair of the Mother of Tides and her followers:

The air was thick with high concentrations of moisture and fishy odors, no longer suitable for ordinary creatures to survive; most common people had already died, their swollen bodies harboring flowing fish eggs; the remnants of civilization were forced to migrate and scatter across various small worlds, leaving behind a planet that was unrecognizable and scarred.

Serpents descended in a rain of blood, driving out the ocean's followers, and they themselves were wounded.

One of the serpent’s eyes had been gouged out by the Mother of Tides, leaving only a bloody cavity from which warm liquid trickled, indistinguishable as either blood or tears.

Here… only It remained.

Yi Fengchu arrived at the ruins of City A, searching through the debris of familiar buildings with his snake tail for a long time, but could not find his home, ultimately realizing this fact with crystal clarity.

He had become a deity, but where was His homeland?

If His homeland no longer existed at this point in time—then He would return to the distant past to seek it.

Soon, a legend spread through the mystical realm:

The newly crowned Lord of Fate was frantically searching for high-ranking beings or advanced artifacts within the domain of "time."

All the time domain ability users who existed at that time were almost all found by Yi Fengchu.

One of them sighed, "How to control time? I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I cannot answer this question... If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be facing the predicament of being expelled by time."

Another was already being pulled into the seams of time, mumbling incoherently, "Time? It's right there..."

"Its speed is not fast, yet it cannot be avoided; it is not sharp, yet it can pierce through everything; it is everywhere, yet it cannot be touched..."

Yi Fengchu could not find the answers he sought.

Thus, He returned to Earth, designating it as His "egg" for future true transformation.

Infinite snake bodies coiled across the planet's surface, winding through the edges of various cities. Beneath the scales, countless golden snake eyes gazed at the sky, bored and lost.

The descriptions from those ability users varied, their concepts vague and abstract...

What exactly did "time" look like? Where was it?

Was it because He belonged to the domain of fate that He was destined to remain blind to it?

Suddenly losing His goal, Yi Fengchu spent year after year gazing at the sky, pondering these questions.

The brilliant and complex starry sky changed beneath His gaze, even centuries and millennia passing without a trace for this lonely and mad deity.

One day, Yi Fengchu's vision caught a hint of distorted light, like invisible ripples spreading through the air.

Following this occasionally refracted light, He slowly sketched and completed it in His heart, ultimately outlining the symbol of time—

An intangible arrow.

Not swift, yet impossible to evade; not sharp, yet piercing all things; omnipresent, yet intangible...

Yi Fengchu suddenly realized that "time" should be an arrow that always exists, advancing at a constant speed.

From the very beginning of all things, it has been present, until each thing reaches its end, when it fully approaches and penetrates the vanishing object.

In itself, "time" is formless, perhaps its symbol changes constantly, but when observed and comprehended by Yi Fengchu, its shape solidifies in his perception.

—Thereafter, it became such an arrow.

Yi Fengchu had ample time to observe it, trying to understand the laws of "time."

Gradually, He could clearly outline the contour of the arrow, slender and straight like the hands of a clock;

He saw these arrows hovering before all things, near or far, foretelling a silent countdown;

He saw...

The arrow that pierced through all of human civilization, standing at the horizon's edge.

To reverse time and turn everything back, one must trace the path of the arrow backward, sending it back to its origin.

On this day, Yi Fengchu extended his hand, grasped the arrow, its tip piercing his palm, soaked in the deity’s silvery blood, gradually taking on a metallic hue.

The arrow trembled in His palm, as if propelled by two opposing forces.

After a long struggle, the arrow that pierced through civilization hummed and flew against its normal trajectory.

In an instant, all the arrows aimed at things within the third dimension began to reverse their course—

They streaked past like invisible meteors, rewinding all the way back to the beginning of Yi Fengchu's birth.

The memories of all dimensional beings were rewritten, known only to the gods... but They did not care, remaining silent with closed eyes.

...

Walking through the curtain woven of shadows, Yi Fengchu lifted the arrow of "Time," his expression somewhat dazed.

The Goddess of Misfortune watched him quietly, undisturbed.

To her, whether this so-called divine son was truly born of gods or simply a vessel fate had prepared anew... remained uncertain.

Just as the myriad thoughts and memories he was now immersed in might not be his own, but those of the "benevolent father" influencing him.

But did it matter?

For many divine beings, the concepts of "you" and "I" were inherently vague. Sometimes an entire race shared a collective will, sometimes their method of reproduction involved cloning countless copies of themselves—both kin and the same entity... there was no need for such clear distinctions.

As the Goddess of Misfortune had said, at Her age, She had already grown accustomed to too many things and no longer harbored any untimely curiosity.

The old woman, bent with age, slowly retreated into the shadows, which surged like a dark tide over the hem of Her robe.

By the time Yi Fengchu had firmly grasped the arrow, he found that the Goddess of Misfortune had already departed, and the sky was devoid of the swirling shadows of crows.

Yi Fengchu left the palace, first sensing the positions of his followers, safely escorting them out of the Shadow Realm, bestowing upon them divine favor and realm-specific items as rewards, before returning to the apartment where his main body resided.

Upon landing, the clone transformed into a small snake, merging seamlessly with the main body.

Yi Fengchu returned to Earth because he sensed that he was about to achieve his ultimate ascension.

And this is his hometown, the place he chose long ago for his transformation and rebirth.

The layers of silver-white hearts in his chest are melting faster, one after another, resonating with the frequency of the "time" arrow's vibration.

But Yi Fengchu knows that this arrow is not entirely harmless.

Compared to "fate," which he has gradually mastered from a low level to a high one, "time" is more unfamiliar to him. If he fails to break out of the egg, the arrow will pierce his heart, expelling him into the cracks of time.

After all, the laws of time have mechanisms for constancy and self-correction, instinctively rejecting all "errors."

But Yi Fengchu, who reverses time, is the greatest source of chaos.

—Either time will expel him, or he will truly tame it.

Like two fierce beasts locked in combat, there is no other outcome.

Yi Fengchu suddenly chuckled and said to the arrow, "Often, it’s not just about who makes the first move to have the greater chance of winning."

He calmly watched the "time" arrow vibrate continuously, an invisible yet omnipresent force tugging at him, trying to trap him in a labyrinth of chaotic space-time.

As countless high-ranking figures in the temporal domain have experienced, Yi Fengchu's palm gradually became transparent, followed by his arm, legs, torso... like a fading mirage, soon to cease existing in the material world.

But unlike his predecessors, he did not resist; instead, he willingly entered "time’s" field of vision.

To master the rules of a domain, one must thoroughly understand and analyze them.

Therefore, Yi Fengchu must see with his own eyes the finite or infinite, tangible or intangible, existent or non-existent aspects of time.

...

In the hallway of the apartment building.

Luo Shengyue ascended the stairs, instinctively lightening her steps as she passed the opposite door, as if afraid to disturb some presence. At the same time, an inexplicable urge to praise something welled up within her.

However, she soon stopped, a puzzled look crossing her face, muttering to herself, “What was I just thinking about?”

“I remember the opposite door… has never had any residents; it’s always been an empty room.”

...

At the entrance of the Anomalous Affairs Bureau.

Meng Siyou stood in a daze for a moment, extinguishing his phone screen, and frowned as he massaged his temples.

For some reason, he felt as though he had been about to send a message to someone, but he couldn’t find the person in his contacts.

He turned and walked toward the Anomalous Affairs Bureau, and all the noise around him instantly fell silent, as if the entire world had been enveloped by a harsh winter, with thick snow muffling the sounds and creating a realm of utter stillness.

‘To choose to conquer the domain of “time” simultaneously and complete the most vulnerable hatching period…’

Following the trail left by the scent, the Silent Singer projected its consciousness into Meng Siyou’s mind, using his eyes to gaze at the chaotic and shifting celestial phenomena beyond the sky.

‘A bold choice, one only He would make.’

‘May His coronation go smoothly.’

Even the projection of a true deity’s consciousness could not remain on Earth for long.

The silence was fleeting, and the street quickly returned to its usual bustling activity.

...

Somewhere abroad.

Yi Meishan, after having a drink, enthusiastically boasted to her travel companion she had met on the journey: "My son has been sensible and adorable since he was little, and he looks so handsome—"

Halfway through her words, she opened her phone’s photo album, about to show off, but suddenly paused, staring blankly at an empty landscape photo.

Flipping back, there were even more ambiguous scenic pictures, of gardens from her residence in China, streets near her home, parks... all devoid of human figures.

What had she just said?

She had a son...?

"What's wrong?" Her companion, seeing Yi Meishan suddenly burst into tears, was startled and quickly put down her glass to offer comfort.

"I should have a family member," perhaps under the influence of alcohol, Yi Meishan tearfully murmured, "but now, it seems I've forgotten him..."