Super God Academy: Kabuto

Time in the Winter Cherry Blossom World takes on a different form at this moment.

Cherry blossoms hang suspended in mid-air, their swirling arcs clearly discernible, yet they no longer fall. The stream freezes into translucent glass, its ripples retaining the fleeting moment of its rushing flow. The wind ceases, the light lingers—not frozen, but rather the entire microcosm has been "salvaged" from the river of time by a higher law, gently placed on the shore of reality. It continues to move, only its rhythm is infinitely stretched and diluted, like an insect fallen into amber, each moment extended into eternity.

He Xi's thoughts were still flowing, and the energy model that her fingertips had not yet touched flickered like a star map. She could even sense the steady and powerful throbbing of the new life in her womb—but everything else, including Lin Yu beside her, was in absolute "sluggishness".

Just then, a crack was smoothly cut open in the space.

There was no radiance, no leakage of energy, only pure nothingness. It was as if someone had erased a corner of reality, revealing the unfathomable depths beneath. A figure stepped out from this nothingness.

His robes were dark, his eyes as still as an ancient well. The aura surrounding him was no longer merely oppressive, but more like a "result," the destination reached after a journey through all possibilities. His gaze first fell on He Xi, lingering for a moment on her slightly protruding belly—there he felt the familiar life force, and a faint glimmer of light, a final gift from the End's Edge. A complex, indescribable emotion, like an undercurrent at the bottom of a deep pool, flashed across his eyes.

Then, he looked at Lin Yu in the present world.

Lin Yu's consciousness in the present world is struggling. He tries to speak, tries to move, but even the slightest nerve signal cannot be transmitted to his limbs. He can only "watch," watching that older, more silent version of himself.

Lin Yu, dressed in black, remained silent, but simply raised his hand slightly in his direction.

A gentle yet undeniable force enveloped Lin Yu in the present world. It wasn't a physical pull, but rather a kind of "displacement" on an existential level. He felt himself being gently "peeled" from his current timeline, like a slide being pulled from a stack of slides, drifting towards that pure "black" and Lin Yu in black.

Just as he was being pulled a few feet away from He Xi, about to touch the edge of the rift—

The amber, weathered by time, developed a barely perceptible crack.

Perhaps it was the pulse within He Xi's womb, a fusion of unique origin and new life force; perhaps it was her profound intuition honed from tens of thousands of years of research into the essence of spacetime; or perhaps it was the faint light remaining in the End's Core that resonated with her will to protect it... In the depths of absolute stillness, her frozen will pried open a crack!

Her eyelashes trembled very slightly.

Deep within the silver eyes, a torrent of data, like a frozen galaxy attempting to thaw, struggled to break through the stagnant rules and cast a gaze—containing astonishment, sudden worry, and a profound inquiry that pierced through time—to Lin Yu, who was being led away.

That single glance seemed to carry the power of the entire stagnant world, traversing the infinitely stretched moment, and was clearly and heavily imprinted on the core of Lin Yu's perception in the present world.

Lin Yu, dressed in black, furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly, seemingly slightly surprised that He Xi could react to such a degree of temporal isolation. But this did not change his actions. He did not linger, and taking his present self with him, he took a step back and completely disappeared into the spatial rift.

As time goes by, the rules return to their proper place.

The suspended cherry petals suddenly fell, the stream resumed its gentle murmur, and light and shadow began to flow again. The amber of time melted, and the little world of winter cherry blossoms once more merged into the rhythm of the universe.

He Xi abruptly broke free from that profound sense of stagnation, like a drowning person surfacing. Everything that had just happened was faster than the laws of physics, yet slower than anything etched into her soul. She clearly remembered every detail: the absolute stillness, the pure darkness, the ancient and silent figure, and the fleeting glimpse of herself breaking free when Lin Yu was taken away.

"Lin Yu?!"

She called out urgently, her voice sounding exceptionally clear in the suddenly revitalized courtyard, yet also exceptionally empty.

Before him, only emptiness remained. In the air lingered a faint, cold, ancient, and seemingly timeless aftertaste, like the last wisp of mist dissipating over a deep winter pool.