The Endless Hourglass held within it ten thousand and eight grains of Time Divine Sand, each one personally refined by the Grand Emperor of Years and brimming with the power of time. A single grain could accelerate the passage of one month; ten thousand and eight grains together constituted the force of over eight hundred years.
Such power within the Dao of Time was unparalleled. Though the Legion Commander's Order contained a sealed Grand Emperor's divine ability of unfathomable might, it proved powerless against the erosion of time's force, dissolving on contact. This was the trump card that allowed Wind Lord to withstand a Grand Emperor's divine ability. In the span of a heartbeat, Yang Kai grasped everything.
"Want to try it?" Wind Lord smiled at Yang Kai. Though framed as a question, it left him no choice. As he channelled his Emperor Yuan, the hourglass in his hand flipped over once more. Fine grains of sand trickled through its narrow passage, and an aura visible to the naked eye rippled outward, enveloping Yang Kai in an instant, leaving him no chance to react whatsoever.
The moment that aura enfolded him, Yang Kai distinctly felt an intimate connection form between himself and something else. Tracing it to its source, his gaze snapped to the Endless Hourglass in Wind Lord's hand.
At this very moment, the hourglass emanated a aura that had firmly locked onto him. Somewhere in the void, it felt as though an invisible pair of eyes was watching his every move — an inescapable sensation that defied all effort to shake.
Without a moment's hesitation, Yang Kai dove headlong into the nearest spatial rift. The Endless Hourglass could counter even a Grand Emperor's divine ability — he had no intention of testing its full power against himself. Escape was the only priority.
Moreover, though the hourglass was formidable, Wind Lord could not wield it without limit. There would eventually come a moment when its power reached its threshold, and that would be the time to strike back.
Bursting through the rift, the experience mirrored his very first passage — he arrived in yet another great hall, back at the starting point once more. The fabric of time and space here had become mangled, the disruption caused by the collision between the Endless Hourglass and the Grand Emperor's divine ability.
But Yang Kai quickly realized that the aura locked onto his body had not been severed by his escape. It remained firmly attached. And in the very next instant, Wind Lord emerged from the rift right behind him, cradling the Endless Hourglass with that same maddening smile on his face. He had tracked Yang Kai with perfect precision. "Futile, futile," Wind Lord said with a smirk. "Before this treasure, it matters not if you flee to the ends of the earth. Surrender quietly, and you can spare yourself the suffering."
"Catch me first!" Yang Kai snarled through gritted teeth, darting several steps and plunging into another rift.
Wind Lord shook his head slowly, the corners of his mouth curling into a look of mockery, as though laughing at Yang Kai's futile resistance. His pace was unhurried, trailing Yang Kai like a shadow that could never be shaken. His voice pierced through the fabric of time and space, sounding right beside Yang Kai's ears: "Why bother? You're not bad, but how can you escape the lock of this treasure's aura? Have you truly noticed nothing? Give up this struggle already."
Had Wind Lord kept silent, Yang Kai might not have realized. But hearing those words, he did notice — or rather, confirmed — something. He had sensed it before but hadn't dared to be certain.
When the Endless Hourglass was flipped, when its aura locked onto him, when the Time Divine Sand began its slow descent through the glass — Yang Kai had felt time itself rolling across his body, a sensation remarkably similar to what he had experienced travelling from the Mountain of Two Seasons to the Temple of Years.
As if noticing the shift in Yang Kai's expression, Wind Lord laughed aloud. "Did you think the time power channelled through the Time Divine Sand was being applied to someone else? Foolish junior — what flows through the Endless Hourglass right now is not the Time Divine Sand. It is your lifespan!"
Yang Kai's expression darkened — not because Wind Lord was trying to frighten him, but because he could confirm it was true.
The moment the hourglass locked onto him and the sand began to flow, his lifespan had been draining at an alarming rate. Each grain of Time Divine Sand represented one month of life. After only a brief chase, Yang Kai had already lost decades — perhaps over a century — of his lifespan, snatched away by the Endless Hourglass without a trace. This invisible, life-stealing treasure sent a chill running through his body. If this continued, would he simply wither and die right here?
Death, he could face. Though his cultivation journey had been brief by grand standards, his life had been extraordinary — he had witnessed wonders beyond imagining and experienced beauty beyond measure. Even if he fell in battle now, he would have no regrets. But to die without fighting, to have his lifespan drained dry by someone else's hand — that was something he could not accept.
So Yang Kai turned, planted his feet, clasped his fists, and fixated on the rift he had just exited. Then, with the crushing force of a mountain descending from the heavens, he struck.
This blow gathered every ounce of power from his thirty-zhang dragon body. Even a Grand Emperor standing before him would bleed from it.
In the next instant, Wind Lord emerged from the rift in pursuit, completely unsurprised. He merely glanced at Yang Kai with an indifferent look.
When his fists landed, Yang Kai's heart sank — there was no contact at all. That thunderous strike had hit nothing but empty air. In that split second, he had clearly seen Wind Lord's speed surge, dodging his attack with impossible precision.
Before he could recover, a tremendous force struck him from behind, as though a mountain had slammed into his back. Yang Kai's entire body went flying, blood spraying from his mouth as he hurtled toward the rift before him.
Through the rift. Back in the hall.
Someone was there.
An unscathed version of "himself" stood there, staring blankly at him with undisguised shock and wariness — exactly as Yang Kai himself had felt upon entering this hall before!
Was he encountering a past version of himself? Yang Kai's face twitched. He wasn't sure what expression to make. Almost without thinking, he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and blurted: "Save the chatter — hurry up and find your son!"