Jackie Chan Adventures: I, the Mirror God, Master of Fear

Chapter 112 The Power of Time

Thirty minutes ago, on Blue Star.

A scene of absurdity.

Dad was wearing sunglasses and lying in a rocking chair, basking in the distorted sun. Next to the parasol was a chilled orange juice and some sweets he hadn't eaten in over a decade.

Sheep hopped and skipped in the distance, occasionally stopping to graze.

Although it looks somewhat bizarre, it also appears peaceful.

"What's wrong? Were you bullied?"

Suddenly, a peaceful, aged voice broke the tranquility, startling some sheep away.

The pink sun shone on Dad, who waved his hand impatiently: "Hey~ I've told you so many times, don't bother me, I'm tired and need to rest."

"Tired? So you're really not going to care about the demons outside?"

The aged voice asked gently.

The old man felt someone sit on the armrest of his rocking chair, and a somewhat familiar scent entered his nostrils.

But the old man had no desire to think about that familiar taste. Instead, he became even more impatient: "Hey~ I already said I'm tired. Why are you still looking for me? That demon is so powerful. My sealing magic can't do anything to him."

"Dad can't beat the demon, you'd better find someone else!"

The old man turned around, his back to the figure, his voice muffled, and for some reason, he no longer referred to himself: "There's one more thing. Even Lü Dongbin couldn't defeat the demon. You can't blame me; I've done my best."

The voice behind her carried a hint of affection and heartache: "I know, I don't blame you. You've always been my pride."

The old man suddenly opened his eyes, his voice trembling slightly. He tried to make his tone harsh: "What pride? I'm tired. You can leave."

silence.

The old man seemed to have really left, but he also seemed to be still in the same place, just without making a sound.

Dad wanted to turn his head, but he held back. Instead, he closed his eyes, grabbed a chilled orange juice, and was about to drink it when he discovered that the orange juice had somehow turned into tea.

He took a sip of tea, his eyes behind his sunglasses revealing a complex mix of emotions, and remained silent.

a long time.

A rebuke filled with anger suddenly rang out.

"You brat, you're a master now, yet you're still so lazy. What? You've grown too big for your britches? You think this old man can't lift a stick anymore?"

The old man's expression instantly collapsed, and the tea in his hand turned back into orange juice.

He turned to look at the old man.

The old man was very stooped, and his height seemed to be less than 1.5 meters. He wore coarse linen clothes and looked simple yet stern.

Suppressing his longing and grievances, he took a big gulp of his favorite drink: "Master, are you leaving again?"

"Leave? Where am I supposed to go?" The old man asked suspiciously. "What, are you trying to get rid of me?"

The old man twitched the corners of his mouth and forced a smile: "But usually when I turn around, you disappear. I can't even give you a hug. And usually I wake up from my dream at this time. I haven't seen you for fifteen years."

The old man's stern expression softened slightly, but he still raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, and swung it sharply at his father's forehead.

slap~
Hey~
"We're over two hundred years old combined, and we're still hugging and cuddling. What kind of behavior is that?"

The old man rubbed his forehead, feeling a slight pain, and his eyes welled up with tears.

The familiar pain, the familiar tone, the stubbornly proud old man—it was definitely his master!

"Ok?"

Master Fang's tone grew increasingly stern: "You're going to talk to this old man like this while lying down? Is this how I've always taught you?"

It seems that those deep-seated memories, which are usually avoided, have been awakened.

The old man got up at a speed beyond his years and sat back down.

Everything around was changing; the combination of beach and grassland had transformed into towering mountains.

The unobstructed view of the mountains and the world unfolded before my eyes; magnificent and beautiful—only these two words could describe what I was seeing.

When Dad's buttocks touched the stool, he was already in a standard kneeling position, and the stool beneath him had become a prayer cushion.

He placed his hands on his thighs, stood ramrod straight, and gazed intently at the scenery.

Master Fang looked around and nodded in satisfaction.

Apart from the fact that the young disciple had become an old man, nothing had changed for the Grand Master Fang.

"Looks like you haven't forgotten."

"They're all feudal dregs."

"Traitor! What did you say?"

The old man's expression changed, but seeing that his teacher hadn't raised the stick, he breathed a slight sigh of relief: "Old... uh, I didn't say anything, teacher, you misheard."

Master Fang quietly observed his father for a while, then smiled. This rebellious disciple hadn't changed at all.
With a wave of his hand, the futon behind his father turned into a stool, and a tea set appeared before them. Master Fang sat opposite his father and brewed tea for both of them.

"Alright, don't be shy. You're someone's mentor now, so you should set a good example."

The old man nodded, somewhat proudly: "I know how to be a master, but my disciple is nothing like me... He doesn't have the quick wit I had when I was young. He's just a stubborn old man. You don't know how much I envy you for having such a perfect disciple like me."

Master Fang:
A 5-mark symbol appeared on his forehead.

Raise your hand, bring your index and middle fingers together, and flick it.

Bang~Ah!
"I'm worried about your disciple now, you rebellious disciple! If you dare to mislead others, I'll beat you to death!"

"How old am I? Why are you hitting me?"

"Your disciples are all useless! They're my worthless apprentices!" Grand Master Fang roared. "There's one more thing! You must go and destroy the demon!"

"But Master, I can't beat him. Zhou Lan is the strongest demon I've ever seen; even the gods can't defeat him."

Bang~Ah!
"There's one more thing, and don't interrupt me!" Grand Master Fang scolded. "There's one more thing! Since I said I'd send you, I'll definitely make sure you return safely. There's one more thing."

The old man didn't dare to talk back, looking at Master Fang with 'fear,' but deep in his eyes he was very relaxed, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He didn't dwell on why he still felt pain in his dreams; all he knew was that he had someone to rely on again.
Bang~Ah!
"How dare you daydream while I'm speaking? Repeat what I said!"

Master Fang was extremely impolite. This man was over seventy years old, yet he had no manners whatsoever. Although I knew he had done very well, I just couldn't control myself and have a proper conversation with him.
The old man's expression turned serious, and he immediately repeated, "There's one more thing. You said that Zhou Lan represents the power of the past, but the power of the present has not yet been achieved."

"besides."

"One more thing, you don't need to repeat yourself when speaking."

"Oh." The old man chuckled awkwardly, "To enter a true new era, all demons need to be sent to hell, or even all things related to demons need to be sent to hell or destroyed. Only then will the new era begin." "Therefore, Cursed Blue is the last vestige of the era. Among the demons, only this one can be recognized by the Old Ones and enter the coronation era. So, nothing that the current era can offer can subdue this demon."

“When all possibilities seem blocked, we must seek help from the future. We must use what we can borrow.” The old man paused, then continued, “The treasures of the future.”

He looked at Master Fang and sighed deeply: "Master, time is untouchable. Anyone who disrupts the order of time will suffer severe backlash."

"You think I don't know?" Grand Master Fang raised an eyebrow. "You've learned a little skill and now you're lecturing your master?"

"This disciple dares not."

"I think you've witnessed the age of demons, though that was just the tip of the iceberg."

"But," Master Fang said with some emotion, "the battle between the gods and demons was incredibly grand; they even shattered a portion of time."

The old man was taken aback; he had never heard of this rumor.

Ignoring his father's astonishment, Master Fang continued, "These times are mainly divided into three sections: time leading to the past, time leading to the future, and time leading to oneself."

"These fragments of time are attached to three items. Among them, the memory gem that leads to self-discovery seals a demon. Judging by the time, the demon should have been almost completely lost by now."

After a moment of reflection, he smiled and looked at his father: "The Reiwa Future Bead has always been in the hands of our lineage."

The old man frowned: "That sword dragon."

Master Fang smiled mysteriously, but said nothing. It's better not to involve the younger generation in some matters.

While those past events cannot be forgotten, a new era should have its own characteristics. They only need to act and develop according to their own preferences, and that is enough.

In many things, our predecessors will only support, not interfere with.
The old man could no longer contain himself: "Teacher, what exactly happened back then? Why were you killed by the Dragon Blade? Why are all the Saint Seiya warriors and heroes from my family? Why, even though you became a god, did you never meet me in my dreams? And why this time?"

Master Fang raised his hand, stopping his father's incessant chatter: "I know you have many questions, but you don't need to know any of them."

"What you need to know is that you're running out of time."

"Hmm?" The old man looked at Master Fang with some confusion: "What do you mean there's no time?"

Master Fang sighed: "Take a look at this."

Before his father appeared a scene: in that scene, the indifferent Lord of the Moon Palace raised his hand and clenched it.

Jackie Chan instantly exploded into a bloody mist that drifted above the Moon Palace.

Even on his deathbed, he was reinforcing the seal that protected them.
"Aaron!"

The old man suddenly stood up, his eyes fixed on the screen, his whole body trembling.

Jackie Chan lost his parents when he was very young, and his master raised him from childhood. It was because of this that he left his master and came to America.

At this moment, his mind was filled with memories of opening a cassette tape store twenty years ago, as well as Jackie Chan's mischievousness as a child, his composure as an adult, and his occasional stubbornness.

I never expected this. How could this be? How could this happen? How could this be?
He should have died first!
His body began to tremble, and grief caused his dream to crumble.

Master Fang patted him on the shoulder.

"This is your countdown."

A purple jade bead and a white jade token appeared in his hand.

He handed the five-centimeter-diameter bead to his father: "The Future Bead can temporarily grant you the peak magic power and spellcasting wisdom that you can theoretically achieve, allowing things that haven't happened yet to happen to happen sooner."

He then handed him the token: "The Past Token can command a region or a person to go back in time, thereby changing the present that has already happened."

The surrounding dreamscape began to collapse, and for some reason, Master Fang's eyes were filled with reluctance and longing, but even more so with composure.

"However, I told you before that any method of using time will have its own consequences, so..."

"Our ability to manipulate time has a time limit. The Future Bead can stabilize your peak performance for a day, while the Past Bead can change what happens within a day. Beyond a day, things can no longer be changed."

"Moreover, after one day, both treasures will return to the ancient history books, making the history books complete."

"You don't have a second chance, and you don't have much time left."

The surrounding dreamscape shattered, and Master Fang began his incessant chatter again.

"There's one more thing. You've always been my pride. From now on, you need to be more careful and composed, since you're going to be my mentor now."

"There's one more thing: stop worshipping me. From now on, the worship will be useless. Humanity depends on you."

"And one more thing"

Dad suddenly opened his eyes.

"Old Haha, you're awake."

Xuanjue's voice came.

This is a desolate Taoist temple. Beside me is a huddled-up girl, and before me is a close friend with a wrinkled face and a look of worry.

But the old man couldn't see any of this, nor could he hear his best friend's words.

Until her close friend said, "A meteorite just fell, and I couldn't stop it. The meteorite entered Xiaoyu's body. I checked, and there's nothing wrong."

The old man suddenly turned his head and grabbed Xiaoyu's body with one hand.

He could sense that a terrifying balance was slowly being restored within Xiaoyu's body, but this balance was not fully restored, which was why the girl was unable to wake up for a long time.

The old man breathed a slight sigh of relief, his cloudy eyes filled with anxiety and coldness.

Without saying a word, he raised his hand following his instincts, and a purple orb appeared in his palm.

Without hesitation, he poured his power into the Future Bead.

hum~
A golden aura shimmered, and a divine, ethereal feeling emerged in my hand.

Immediately afterwards, an incredibly mysterious aura appeared on the old man's body.

"Old Haha."

Xuanjue murmured.

The next moment, a pale green aura soared into the sky.

A mysterious aura, carrying boundless righteous magic, instantly filled the entire Blue Star, and then almost frantically enveloped the entire galaxy.

An overwhelming force of justice points directly at the moon.

The general trend of the times took shape in an instant, and all the righteous spirit and destiny were converging, gradually imbuing the era with its atmosphere.

After the New Year's bells ring, the future belongs to Zhou Lan.

And in the time leading up to the New Year's bell, the future still belongs to Dad!
　These two items were foreshadowed earlier; can anyone guess why? (Smug)

　
(End of this chapter)