Time Turbulence

A violent tearing sensation instantly swept through his entire body.

It wasn't the physical pain of flesh being torn apart, but the dizzying disorientation of his soul and consciousness being forcibly extracted, crushed, and then pieced back together.

Ye Chuan felt the world spinning around him. In his ears were countless chaotic and indistinct whispers, sounding like billions of people speaking at the same time, or perhaps like time itself letting out a whimpering cry.

"Holy shit?" Ye Chuan struggled to maintain his balance within the turbulent flow of time, only to discover that the power of time far exceeded his imagination.

He subconsciously tried to channel his chaotic power to steady himself, but found that the power he usually wielded with ease had become incredibly sluggish here.

There was absolutely no concept of space around him, only boundless chaos and distortion. Shattered lights and shadows flashed by like sharp blades, each piece carrying a complete fragment of time.

He saw the future of the Aether Continent, where the Demon King stood at the pinnacle of the demonic palace, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood at his feet.

He saw a pasture from the past, where young human children were herded like livestock by demons.

He even saw himself in countless parallel timelines, experiencing all sorts of different futures.

These lights and shadows carried a powerful assimilating force, constantly pulling at his consciousness, trying to drag him into a timeline that did not belong to him.

Ye Chuan's eyes gradually began to lose focus, and even his body started to turn transparent, as if he would dissipate into the turbulence of space and time at any moment.

Just as his consciousness was about to be completely swallowed, a warm blue light suddenly emanated from his chest.

"..."

"Hum—"

Irena's pendant erupted with a dazzling light at this moment. The purple magic mark left by Lilith flowed rapidly across the surface of the pendant, forming a small, transparent shield that kept Ye Chuan firmly protected inside.

The moment those time fragments that were frantically tearing at him touched the shield, they melted away like snow under the sun, and the chaotic whispers in his ears vanished instantly.

"?!"

Ye Chuan abruptly snapped back to reality, gasping heavily for air, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

"Good lord, I almost capsized in a ditch." He wiped the sweat from his forehead and touched the pendant on his chest with lingering fear.

No wonder Lilith had repeatedly emphasized that time magic was not to be trifled with. The dangers of this space-time turbulence were indeed far more terrifying than he had imagined.

If Lilith hadn't added protection in advance, he would probably have become just another fragment in the turbulence by now.

Having an elder at home is like having a treasure.

The pendant's light did not extinguish; instead, it grew brighter and brighter. A slender blue beam shot out from the top of the pendant, pointing toward a certain direction deep within the chaos.

Wherever the beam passed, the distorted space-time automatically parted to create a path, and those dangerous time fragments scattered out of the way.

"Is this the guidance of the anchor point?" Ye Chuan roughly understood the anchor's function now. His body flickered, and after fully regaining his balance, he flew directly in the direction guided by the blue beam.

The deeper he flew, the clearer and more ancient the surrounding fragments of light and shadow became.

"Are these my memories?"

"No... what are these?" Ye Chuan muttered as he looked at the streaks of light and shadow, his gaze finally settling on the path ahead.

He didn't know how long he had been flying before a massive white gate of light finally appeared in front of him.

The pendant's light reached its peak at this moment, shining in harmony with the glow of the light gate.

Ye Chuan didn't hesitate. He took a leap and passed through the gate of light.

...

Warm sunlight spilled across his face, carrying the faint scent of wheat and flowers.

Beneath his feet was an uneven bluestone path. In his ears were the crisp chirping of birds and the shouts of street vendors, along with the aroma of freshly baked whole wheat bread drifting from a bakery.

Ye Chuan landed steadily in the corner of a small alley, looking at the scene before him in a daze.

There was no dark purple sky, no pungent smell of sulfur, no scorched earth, and no ruined buildings.

Neat wooden houses lined both sides of the street, their walls covered in blooming roses. Women in linen dresses carried baskets and bargained at the market, children chased each other down the street holding pinwheels, and knights riding tall horses smiled and nodded to passersby.

It was a scene of total peace and prosperity.

"Mmm..."

"My head hurts so much..."

"..." Ye Chuan muttered to himself.

It took him quite a while of looking around before he finally snapped back to reality.

He walked out and stepped onto the street.

One step, two steps.

Until a passing woman noticed Ye Chuan's staggering, devil-like gait and suddenly said, "Hey young man, are you alright? You look terrible."

"Huh?" Ye Chuan snapped to attention and looked at the woman beside him. "Do I? I..."

Ye Chuan narrowed his eyes, looked at the woman in front of him, and suddenly asked a very strange question,

"Who am I?"

The woman froze for a moment, seemingly completely unprepared for Ye Chuan to ask such a thing.

This...

Could there be something wrong with his mind?

"My head hurts." Ye Chuan shook his head, feeling nothing but chaos in his brain.

"Um, if you need it, should I help you find a healer?" the woman asked.

"I..." Ye Chuan fell silent for a good while before finally declining. "Sorry, I might just be a little tired. I'll be fine if I rest for a bit."

"Alright then..." the woman said. She gave Ye Chuan one last look before walking away.

After Ye Chuan silently watched the woman leave, he withdrew his gaze, looked around, and finally found a step to sit on.

"So strange, why can't I remember anything all of a sudden..."

"I am..."

"My name is..." Ye Chuan tried hard to recall everything, but a stinging pain washed over him. He vaguely remembered a name, one that seemed to be his own.

"I..."

"My name is Huang Haotian."

But soon, Ye Chuan shook his head. No.

"No, no..."

Taking a deep breath, Ye Chuan forced himself to calm down and sorted through his memory fragments.

"I... am called Ye Chuan. I am a modern person..."

"I..." Ye Chuan looked at his surroundings, especially after spotting some animal-eared girls. He frowned, and finally, it dawned on him.

"Did I just cross over to another world?"

Ye Chuan remained silent for a moment, seemingly unable to accept this outcome.

He was clearly just an ordinary person.

Could he have been hit by a massive truck, leaving his brain addled?

Just as Ye Chuan was agonizing over this, he heard a burst of shouting and cursing.

"Damn it, that Holkin ran away from his debts! The house is cleaner than my face, leaving nothing but a girl behind!"

"What's the use of keeping that girl? She's filthy all over and stinks to death!"

"Hey boss, her face actually looks pretty good. What do you say we sell her to a slave merchant? We could at least make some of our money back."

Ye Chuan glanced over and saw a few burly men cursing loudly while dragging a little girl out of a house by her hair.