Taboo Walking on the River of Time

Plop~

Like a drop of water falling into the ocean.

After squeezing through the crevice, Chen Yi felt an invisible pressure pressing in from all directions, as if trying to push him out. But the force was feeble—enough to shove around ordinary celestial immortals, perhaps, but against a four-star Chaos avatar with strength comparable to a Taiyi realm cultivator? Not a chance.

Squelch~

Following the landing point of the Celestial Robe Stele, Chen Yi set foot on the banks of the River of Time for the first time.

Hummm~

Contrary to his expectations of roaring waves, the River of Time flowed with serene calmness, like a silver ribbon embedded in its bed. The surface shimmered with ripples, exuding the weight of epochs.

A glance upstream revealed no end in sight. Radiant light formed an impenetrable curtain, veiling the ancient past and marking it as an insurmountable boundary.

Looking downstream, however, the river dissolved into a misty expanse of Chaos, where faint echoes of crashing waves could be heard. With each surge, droplets splashed into the River of Time, slowly elongating its course—though the process was painstakingly gradual.

"So this is the River of Time? And these banks..."

After a brief moment of adjustment—confirming that the connection between his true self and this avatar remained intact—Chen Yi threw caution to the wind. He crouched down, stretching out a mischievous hand toward the soft, yielding bank, eager to examine its composition.

Not only could it bear the weight of ages, but it also remained unmarred under the relentless erosion of time. Here, in this space straddling reality and nothingness, it stood as the sole tangible entity. It had to be something extraordinary!

Too bad it seemed like an indivisible whole. Could he pry off a chunk for study...?

The Celestial Robe Stele, now firmly planted on the riverbank, had just finished locking the temporal coordinates when it noticed Chen Yi’s reckless probing. Horrified, it immediately shouted, "Stop! Don’t mess with that!"

"This is no joke! If you carve out even a tiny breach and cause the River of Time to overflow, the backlash of karma would obliterate us both in an instant—leaving not even ashes behind!"

Cui Changsheng was at his wit's end. He’d known this guy was unpredictable, but this level of audacity? They’d barely arrived, and already he was tinkering with things he shouldn’t!

If it were his true self here, fine—he might withstand a bit of karmic retribution. But right now, one of them was a mere spiritual projection, the other an external avatar. Neither could afford such recklessness!

They only had one shot at this. Waste it, and there’d be no second chance!

"My bad, I didn’t know the rules." Chen Yi wiped his hands sheepishly and stood up straight.

Personally, he thought the riverbank was tall enough that prying off a small piece wouldn’t matter—let alone trigger a catastrophic collapse. But hey, he was a first-timer here, ignorant and inexperienced. Best to heed the advice of an old-timer like Cui Changsheng and not push his luck.

"Even though you’re usually cautious, I’ll lay down some ground rules!" The Celestial Robe Stele transmitted Cui Changsheng’s stern voice:

"First, do not tamper with the riverbanks. They’re a unified structure—tug one thread, and the whole fabric unravels. Don’t assume their height makes them safe to meddle with!"

"Second, you may observe the river’s reflections but never enter. The density of temporal energy would annihilate your avatar instantly!"

"Third, if you encounter unknown attacks while traversing the banks, ignore them. They’re illusions meant to provoke retaliation. Fight back, and you’ll suffer karmic backlash—playing right into the hands of malevolent entities lurking in ancient history!"

"Fourth, this is the Divine Realm’s River of Time. If you spot tributaries branching off, do not cross. The river has no concept of distance—a single step could span centuries. Stray, and you’ll lose your way forever."

"Fifth, use your concealment abilities wisely. The Immortal Realm, as the main artery of the River of Time, has Temporal Inspectors patrolling every tributary. Do not let them spot you!"

"Lastly, if you’re absolutely certain of your actions, disregard all five points above. Remember that!"

Chen Yi nodded obediently. "Got it, Elder! No problem, Elder! I’ll remember!"

"Good. Go now. I’ll anchor the temporal coordinates here and await your return."

"Many thanks, Elder!" Chen Yi clasped his hands in salute—then bolted like an unbridled stallion, brimming with excitement.

First, he took a few steps forward, passing through the dense curtain of temporal light and leaving the Celestial Robe Stele’s line of sight.

Then, with a nimble flip, he hooked his feet onto the riverbank and hung upside down like a bat, lowering his upper body until his face nearly touched the river’s surface, scrutinizing every drop of the River of Time.

The weight of ages brushed against his cheeks. Upon closer inspection, each droplet reflected a fragment of history from some corner of existence.

At a glance, the scenes flashed by too quickly—like a film sped up ten thousand times—leaving only vague impressions with no discernible details.

But by focusing his mind and syncing his thoughts with the flow, the images gradually slowed, becoming comprehensible. He could even pause to examine specifics.

After a few clumsy initial attempts, Chen Yi quickly got the hang of it.

He glimpsed a scene from roughly three years ago: Inside a dimly lit tattoo parlor, Dai Yuanshan stared with infatuation at the woman inking his skin—Elder Sister Xiangxiang, the incarnation of the Divine Realm’s Heavenly Key. Just as she focused on her work, her body suddenly tensed, as if sensing something. With a wave of her hand, the once-clear vision blurred into obscurity...

"Heh, fascinating!"

Chen Yi smirked. The experience felt thrillingly novel—like getting caught peeking at someone’s secrets, only for them to yank the curtains shut.

Not that he couldn’t force the curtains open again. The Heavenly Key’s incarnation probably couldn’t stop him. But invading someone’s privacy like that was just rude. He wasn’t some creep. If he was going to snoop, he’d aim for truly valuable secrets!

This stretch of the River of Time was tranquil, devoid of turbulence—proof that nothing major had transpired here.

Chen Yi straightened up and continued upstream.

Step by step, stride by stride, each movement carried him further into the annals of history.

One year, two years, two and a half...

A century, two centuries, two hundred and fifty...

Then, a swirling vortex appeared in the otherwise placid river.

Chen Yi flipped upside down again, leaning in for a closer look.

This time, he witnessed Cui Changsheng sneaking into the Divine Realm, scouring a shattered continent until—after half a month of searching—he finally located the hidden Divine Realm’s Heavenly Key. Activating it, he restored order to the land, reviving the broken world...

"Good thing Elder Cui handled the hardest part—finding the Heavenly Key—and earned its trust beforehand. Otherwise, I’d have no hope of locating it..."

Chen Yi wasn’t oblivious to his own limits. If the Heavenly Key chose to hide, he could turn the entire continent inside out and still come up empty-handed.

After all, the Divine Realm’s Heavenly Key was a high-tier existence. Even in its fractured state, its abilities remained formidable—especially since this was just one fragment of the Divine Realm. There were many more like it.

If one hiding spot was compromised, it could simply relocate to another.

Chen Yi frowned. This was going to be tricky.

Earlier, when I was inside a fragment of the Divine Realm, I hadn’t realized its vastness. But now, having stepped into the River of Time within the Divine Realm, I was struck by its sheer immensity!

Chen Yi made a rough estimate—the Divine Realm had shattered into at least tens of thousands of fragments, large and small. The smaller ones were comparable in size to the current Purple Star Continent, while the larger ones were several times, even dozens or hundreds of times bigger!

Truly, a starved camel is still larger than a horse!

To search for nine fragments of the Divine Realm’s Heavenly Dao Keys—each capable of running away on their own—among these tens of thousands of fragments…

What a nightmare!

Especially since the nine Heavenly Dao Keys were completely independent of each other, designed to avoid being captured all at once. Finding one didn’t provide any clues to the others…

Making it even more of a nightmare!

"Ah, what a pity that Senior Cui is still being pursued and can’t stay for long. Otherwise, with his abilities, he’d probably have gathered all nine Heavenly Dao Keys in no time…"

Chen Yi sighed softly.

But there was no helping it. Since he’d chosen to shoulder this burden, he had to see it through to the end!

Still, his luck wasn’t the best. If he had to brute-force the search, he’d probably have to flip over every last fragment of the Divine Realm and trigger some guaranteed drop mechanism to collect them all!

So, he needed to summon the God of Luck!

Just as he was thinking this, a shadowy figure suddenly burst out from the calm River of Time, leaping up to strike at Chen Yi’s knees!

Chen Yi: "…"