The seasons in the Land of Four Seasons shifted unpredictably — a single step from Yang Kai could take him from one season into another. Under normal circumstances, he would have been ecstatic at such a sight, for this sort of marvel was not something one encountered every day. Quieting his mind to observe and comprehend it would surely yield some insight.
But right now, he had urgent matters to attend to. How could he have the frame of mind to contemplate anything? He simply kept his head down and hurtled toward the Chronos Temple.
As time passed, Yang Kai's expression grew increasingly grave.
He was detecting his own lifespan draining away! Since he had first set foot on the path of Cultivation, barely a century had passed. Those who cultivated seized the creations of heaven and earth, harnessed the fortunes of the world, and possessed the skill to preserve their youthful appearance. Yang Kai looked no different from a young man in his twenties or thirties, and even after another hundred or thousand years, his appearance would likely remain largely unchanged.
Under normal circumstances, no one could ever perceive their own lifespan slipping away — unless the rate of loss was extraordinarily swift.
That was precisely Yang Kai's situation now.
With every step through a new season, with every stretch of ground he flew across, he could clearly feel time flowing over his body.
After covering merely a few dozen li, he felt as though he had lived several decades. This was no illusion — Yang Kai was certain that time had truly ground across him for decades. In other words, he had flown just a few dozen li through the Land of Four Seasons and aged several decades for no reason at all!
This realization settled like a stone in his heart. He couldn't tell whether it was caused by the anomalous conditions currently afflicting the Land of Four Seasons, or whether he had truly been racing through the decades without realizing it.
But regardless of the cause, he could not afford to stop. So even as he felt the years slipping past, he continued forward at full speed.
He steadied his mind and focused his spirit, refusing to be shaken by external forces.
He didn't know how long had passed when a massive palace suddenly appeared before him. Yang Kai came to a halt.
He raised his head to gaze upon the palace, and an aura of antiquity and age washed over him. His mind wavered for a moment — in that instant, he nearly forgot why he had come here in the first place, and could barely even recall who he was.
A thousand li of terrain, a thousand years of time — both had rushed past in the blur of his flight. Regardless of what the outside world held, in Yang Kai's perception, a full millennium had truly elapsed. A thousand years without a single thought, moving purely on instinct, and upon reaching the end, it was only natural to feel lost.
But once the four great characters "Chronos Temple" seared themselves into his vision, the haze gradually cleared from Yang Kai's eyes, and his muddled thoughts rapidly sharpened!
He remembered who he was, and he remembered why he had come.
The great doors of the temple stood wide open. Yang Kai stepped forward.
The instant he crossed the threshold, he was inside the Chronos Temple.
Before he had time to survey the temple's interior, a figure came hurtling toward him. Yang Kai's expression hardened as he secretly circulated his Demon Qi, ready to strike at any moment. But when he made out the appearance of the person rushing toward him, his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
The reason was simple — from the clothing to the features to the bearing, that person was identical to himself. If there had been a mirror in front of him, he would have assumed he was looking at his own reflection.
On closer inspection, however, there were some differences. The other's face appeared a few years older than his own, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth — clearly, he had been injured.
Yang Kai had seen him, and naturally, the other had seen Yang Kai as well.
Their eyes met. Before Yang Kai could say a word, the other blurted out: "Don't dawdle — go find your son!"
With those words, he shot past Yang Kai like a gust of wind and plunged into a spatial rift, vanishing without a trace.
Only then did Yang Kai discover that the great hall was filled with spatial rifts. Rifts of varying lengths crisscrossed the space, resembling the gaping maws of invisible beasts, ready to devour anyone who drew near — a hideous and terrifying sight.
Yang Kai was thoroughly bewildered by the other's words. He did have several wives, but he had no children so far. What son was there to find?
Well, he did have one adoptive son, and he happened to be a member of the Dragon Clan. Yang Kai had assumed that entering the temple would let him run into that brat, but instead he had encountered this baffling scene.
Regardless, the sudden appearance of someone who looked exactly like him was something Yang Kai could not simply ignore. Without hesitation, he followed the figure into the spatial rift.
In the next instant, the world turned inside out, reality shifted, and he found himself back in the great hall.
The hall looked nearly identical to the one he had just been in, as though he hadn't moved at all. Countless spatial rifts still lined the surroundings, and the person who had gone ahead of him had vanished. Yang Kai frowned — they had entered one right after the other, so how had the other disappeared?
While he was still puzzling over this, a spatial rift nearby suddenly rippled with energy. Yang Kai turned to look and saw a figure burst out from the rift — and it was, once again, himself.
This version of "himself" appeared to be in even worse condition. Golden blood stained his entire body from head to toe, his robes were torn to shreds, and his face was as pale as paper. He was rushing toward Yang Kai's position in evident desperation.