Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 445 Time Misalignment? (Second Update!)

After a brief introduction, everyone's eyes turned to Zheng Que.

Zheng Que glanced at them a few times and said calmly, "I am Zheng Que, an examinee from Qingrao Prefecture, Tuzhou."

"Before you all came in, did you encounter any ghost tides outside?"

Ghost tide?

The three cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining, along with Le Jingxuan and Liao Zhanbo, all looked at Zheng Que with puzzled expressions, seemingly waiting for his further explanation.

Yin Congyi of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion nodded slightly and immediately said, "My group of people discovered something was wrong when the ghost tide just started, so we took refuge in this 'strange' place nearby."

“However, we did not see you around when we entered the ‘weird’.”

"Around what time did you come in?"

When the ghost tide had just begun?
The timing doesn't quite match up...

While pondering, Zheng Que replied, "After the ghost tide began, I discovered that the ghosts were coming on strong and on a massive scale. The great formation in the stronghold simply couldn't hold them up, so I abandoned the newly built stronghold and came here to take refuge."

Upon hearing this, Le Jingxuan frowned slightly and immediately said, "Those three fellow cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining, as well as myself and this fellow Daoist Liao, did not see any ghost tide."

"So it seems that we entered this 'strange' place before the ghost tide began."

"Young Master and his party entered this 'strange' place just as the ghost tide was beginning."

"But you, Fellow Daoist Zheng, are an 'oddity' who entered the ghost tide midway."

"In other words, we entered the strange place at different times, but now we are all in this 'strange place' at the same time."

"Could the 'strange' rules here be related to time?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que remained silent and pondered for a moment.

Strange things related to "time"...

When he entered this "strange" place, he did not see anyone else around the wasteland.

Now, based on everyone's descriptions, it is very clear that these eleven people entered the "strange" group in five separate batches.

The five groups of people entered the "strange" place at different times, but after entering, they all appeared at the same point in time.

He had encountered this kind of "strange" thing related to time before.

That elegant gathering in Baozhen Valley of Yaotai Mountain—the flow of time in the world depicted in the painting was completely different from that in the outside world…

Just as he was thinking this, Yin Congyi suddenly sneered and said disdainfully, "Strange things related to 'time'?"

"You are a member of the Yue family of Tuzhou, so you have a decent background. Moreover, you are a cultivator who participated in the imperial examination for immortality. How come you are just like those ignorant and foolish rogue cultivators who don't know any common sense?"

"This is just a mere 'anomaly' of the [Scissors Prison]. Even if time rules are truly incorporated into it, can this 'anomaly' withstand it?" "If this is considered related to time, then the vast majority of 'anomalies' possess rules related to 'time'!"

Ok?
Zheng Que was taken aback. The rules in this "strange" thing had nothing to do with "time"?
Moreover, it's common sense?
Upon hearing this, Le Jingxuan showed a hint of guilt, as if he lacked confidence in his background. His guilt was also clearly mixed with surprise, indicating that he was not familiar with this so-called "common sense".

The three candidates at the ninth level of Qi Refining showed even greater surprise, clearly unaware of the situation. However, despite their astonishment, they remained silent, not daring to utter a word, let alone ask any questions.

At this moment, Liao Zhanbo, the rogue cultivator who claimed to have come to seek the opportunity to form his core, seemed to have not heard Yin Congyi's contempt for rogue cultivators at all. He coughed lightly and calmly said, "The rules within this 'strange' thing have absolutely nothing to do with 'time'."

"Our cultivation has not yet reached the Core Formation stage, and we do not have divine sense. All our perceptions of the outside world come from the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch."

"The current situation is not a matter of time, but rather that when we entered this 'strange' place, our five senses were clouded, causing a problem with our perception of time!"

"Among the eleven of us, those who came in first should have been waiting here long ago."

"The same applies to those who come in later."

"Until a certain time, or rather, a certain opportunity, the suppression of our five senses by the 'strangeness' suddenly disappeared, and we all woke up at the same time. That's why we felt that we were all in this 'strangeness' together."

Upon hearing this detailed explanation, Zheng Que paused for a moment to ponder.

Liao Zhanbo's point is that they feel there's a problem with time here, not because there are rules about "time" here, but because their perception of time is flawed.
Moreover, it seems from Yin Congyi's words that there are quite a few of these "strange" things that can affect a cultivator's perception!

So the elegant gathering he experienced in Baozhen Valley of Yaotai Mountain last time was for this reason?
The true effect of the world within the painting is actually to slow down the movement speed, thought speed, and all spells of the people within it.

But because their perception was disturbed at the time, they thought that time in the world in the painting had slowed down?
Just then, Yin Congyi nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with Liao Zhanbo's words, and bluntly criticized Le Jingxuan: "Even rogue cultivators know more than you!"

He then turned to look at Liao Zhanbo and said calmly, "Although you are just a rogue cultivator, your cultivation level is still at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage."

"The ability to suppress the five senses of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator is at a level that should also be at the peak of the [Scissors Prison]."

"Of course, there's another possibility: you might actually be the last one to come in out of the eleven of us!"

"This 'strangeness' might be that it couldn't suppress your five senses, which is why all of us were able to wake up together after you came in..."

At this point, Yin Congyi glanced at the four Foundation Establishment followers behind him and then asked, "What's the situation now?"

One of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, dressed in coarse cloth robes and with a scar on his left cheek, was making hand gestures as if he were performing some kind of incantation. Upon hearing this, he immediately shook his head and replied in a deep voice, "Young Master, I did not sense anything."

Yin Congyi remained calm, showing no surprise. Since this "strangeness" could suppress their senses, it would naturally not be so easy to pinpoint the location of "Law" within this place.

In the blink of an eye, his gaze swept across the crowd, passing over the three Qi Refining Level 9 cultivators from Chongzhou and Le Jingxuan without lingering. However, when he saw Zheng Que, his brows furrowed slightly.

Yin Congyi couldn't see through Zheng Que's cultivation level, but the beautiful yet fierce ghost servant beside Zheng Que was clearly no ordinary person.

Then, Yin Congyi pointed at Zheng Que and Liao Zhanbo and said, "I'm going to start exploring this 'strange' thing now. Do you two want to come with me?"

(End of this chapter)