A wisp of dawn light — bright and fresh, perpetually swirling like something from a dream — hovered in the palm of Fang Yuan's Time Path avatar.
Around him, Shadow No Evil and the others were already in position.
"Let's begin," Fang Yuan called out. The aura of Gu Insects flared up around his body, and in an instant, immortal essence burned away rapidly. The Eight-Transformation immortal material — Vortex Dawn Light — in his hand detonated in a violent burst, spreading across a hundred-li radius.
Almost simultaneously, Shadow No Evil and the others moved, stabilizing the Vortex Dawn Light and preventing it from spreading further.
The Vortex Dawn Light had excellent extensibility. Expanded across a hundred li, its luster had faded — it now resembled transparent ripples of water — but in the central zone occupied by Fang Yuan's Time Path avatar, one could still feel the gentle breeze emanating from the vortex.
Fang Yuan inspected the scene and, seeing that the immortals of Shadow Sect had already stabilized the situation, took out a second clump of Vortex Dawn Light and repeated the process.
Clump after clump of Vortex Dawn Light detonated, bathing the hundred-li expanse in a dreamscape of shifting light and shadow, flickering between brightness and dimness.
At this point, Fang Yuan took out Seven Treasures Water.
This liquid was grey-white and thoroughly unassuming, but naturally forming clumps gathered within it, resembling gold, silver, jade, and carnelian. However, if one tried to scoop out these clumps, the moment they left the surface of the Seven Treasures Water, they would instantly dissolve back into it and spill down again.
The Time Path avatar raised both hands, lifting a mass of Seven Treasures Water above its head.
For the next step, the avatar could only play a supporting role. It would have to rely on Fang Yuan's main body to act. This was because the Time Path avatar's cultivation was only at the Sixth Transformation — insufficient to shoulder this responsibility.
Fang Yuan's main body's divine sense had long since blanketed this location. Any slightest anomaly could be perceived by him in an instant.
Now, Fang Yuan activated his methods, consuming immortal essence at a rapid clip.
A spray of white light descended upon the Seven Treasures Water. With a series of gurgling sounds, the water began to boil, countless bubbles rising to the surface.
The clumps within the Seven Treasures Water dissolved rapidly — like snow meeting the fierce sun — at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The volume of the Seven Treasures Water expanded continuously until, before long, every last clump within had been completely eliminated.
After purifying the Seven Treasures Water, a strange beam of light shot forth like lightning, instantly striking the water.
The Seven Treasures Water immediately transformed into a block of ice. Cold energy radiated outward, spreading in all directions, swiftly engulfing Fang Yuan's Time Path avatar before sweeping across the surroundings, blanketing the entire hundred-li area with precision.
Shadow No Evil and the others, upon seeing this, hurriedly cast the Eight-Part Jade into the impenetrable fog of dense cold.
Everything proceeded smoothly…
Inside the Supreme Immortal Aperture, several days later, amid a deafening rumble that shook heaven and earth, a massive pool spanning a hundred li in area took final shape.
"This is a Flowing Time Pool at the Eight-Transformation level!"
Thanks to thorough preparation and favorable circumstances, Fang Yuan's first attempt at constructing this Flowing Time Pool ended in success.
Fang Yuan inspected it three times over, and once he had confirmed there were no errors whatsoever, he began employing Time Path methods to draw in a branch stream of the River of Time.
Every immortal aperture world, so long as time continued to flow within it, would possess a branch stream of the River of Time.
These branch streams were normally hidden from view. Only by using special Time Path methods could one target and guide them.
Whoosh—
The branch stream within the Supreme Immortal Aperture was far wider and more turbulent than those of ordinary immortal apertures.
The branch stream poured smoothly into the Flowing Time Pool, and from its other end, continued to flow outward.
However, the branch stream that emerged was weak as a mere brook, trickling along gently, its former torrential momentum entirely gone.
Inside the Flowing Time Pool, the water level was rising steadily.
For the next stretch of time, the overall flow of time within the Supreme Immortal Aperture would slow down. Once the water level in the Flowing Time Pool filled to capacity and the flowing branch stream returned to its original state, the flow of time in the Supreme Immortal Aperture would restore itself as well.
The successful construction of the Flowing Time Pool had completely exhausted Fang Yuan's Time Path avatar and the immortals of Shadow Sect. They had gone without sleep for days on end, maintaining full concentration throughout, and their immortal essence expenditure had been enormous.
Fang Yuan's main body continued to observe with his divine sense as everyone else departed to rest.
Fang Yuan's Time Path methods gradually faded. The Flowing Time Pool and the branch stream of the River of Time grew increasingly faint, and after a short while, they vanished entirely, sinking deep into concealment within the Supreme Immortal Aperture.
The Flowing Time Pool was rather unique — connected as it was to the branch stream of the River of Time, it did not manifest a visible form.