Swallowing the Stars: I'll Destroy the Universe with My Talent Attributes

The ascent lasted for about thirty seconds, and just as Yanshan began to doubt whether the passage had any end, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

The group was "spit out" of the pillar of light and landed in a completely new area.

Second floor: Time Corridor!

It's less a corridor and more a bizarre, fragmented space-time.

What came into view was an endless void, with no concept of up, down, left, or right.

Countless crystal fragments of varying sizes float within, some as vast as islands, others only the size of a house.

The fragments are connected by flowing ribbons of light, forming an intricate three-dimensional network.

The strangest thing is that the flow of time in this area is obviously abnormal.

Ten meters to Qin Yuan's left, a palm-sized crystal fragment was growing, splitting, and regenerating at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if it had undergone millions of years of geological evolution in just a few minutes.

Twenty meters to the right, the light patterns on another fragment moved as slowly as a snail's pace; it took a full three seconds for a speck of light to drift by, which would be nothing more than a blink of an eye in the outside world.

"A region of disordered time flow".

Qinghe's expression turned solemn as she took out a silver, compass-like instrument. The pointer on the instrument's surface spun wildly, the numbers changing rapidly and disorientingly.

"At least twelve different temporal velocity fields were detected, ranging from 0.1x to 8.5x, and... these velocity fields are moving randomly!"

As soon as the words were spoken, a crystal fragment beneath everyone's feet suddenly accelerated!

The normal flow of time instantly increased fivefold, and Qin Yuan felt his thought process speed up as well, but his physical movements became sluggish due to inertia. This disorienting feeling of disconnect between thought and body was extremely uncomfortable.

"Leave this fragment!"

Yan Feng was the first to react, unleashing a burst of flames and pulling everyone towards another fragment three meters away.

However, the new fragmented time flow rate was only 0.3 times, and the landing movements of everyone were like slow motion, taking a full five seconds to complete a simple jump.

"That won't work."

Shadow Gun's voice was drawn out, sounding extremely strange, "We must find the pattern, otherwise we won't be able to move normally, let alone get through the corridor."

Qin Yuan closed his eyes, and the [Battle Genius (Blue)] entry was activated at full power.

What appears to others as chaotic and disordered changes in the flow of time begins to be analyzed and modeled in his mind.

This is not about predicting the future, but rather about using ultra-high-speed extrapolation capabilities based on massive amounts of information. By observing the frequency of light flow patterns, energy fluctuation patterns, and changes in spatial curvature of fragments, the distribution and movement patterns of the time velocity field are calculated in reverse.

Three seconds later, he opened his eyes.

"Come with me."

Qin Yuan was the first to leap out, landing on a seemingly ordinary fragment to his left front.

The time flow rate of the fragment was 1.2 times, close to normal. Three seconds later, he moved laterally seven meters and landed on a fragment with spiral patterns on its surface, at which point the time flow rate was 0.8 times.

"Qin, have you found the pattern?"

Yan Feng followed closely behind.

"The time velocity field is not completely random."

Qin Yuan explained as he moved, his voice varying in speed as the flow of time changed:

“它们以七为周期循环，每七个不同的流速场组成一个‘时间环’，按照光系法则的彩虹序列移动：红、橙、黄、绿、青、蓝、紫，对应七种基础时间倍率：0.1、0.3、0.8、1.0、2.0、5.0、8.5倍。每个环的核心是那片流速1.0倍的正常区域，但核心位置每九十秒会按照北斗七星方位跳跃一次。”

He pointed to seven particularly bright fragments in the distance, which were arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper:

"That's the core of the current time loop. We must reach the Tianxuan Pillar of Light before the next core jump; the exit to the second level should be over there."

The crowd looked in the direction he pointed. The Tianxuan pillar of light was located several kilometers away, but it was separated by dozens of time fragments. The flow of time in each fragment was changing, and there were wide void rifts between some fragments.

How do we get there?

Yanshan swallowed hard, watching a fragment accelerate from 0.3x to 8.5x.

"If you jump to the wrong place and get stuck in the 8x speed zone... for every minute that happens outside, we have to endure eight minutes of physiological time, and the energy expenditure will increase dramatically."

"Moreover, high-speed time zones may conceal other dangers."

Qinghe added, "Under abnormal time flow rates, organisms will experience severe disruptions in their perception and response."

Qin Yuan has completed the entire path deduction:

“There is a safe route. Although the core movement of the time loop appears random, there are ‘breathing gaps’. In the last three seconds before each core jump, the time flow of all fragments will briefly synchronize to 1.0 times. We must take advantage of that gap to jump continuously.”

He quickly used the Force to draw a three-dimensional path in the air:

"It will take nineteen jumps to get from our current location to the Tianxuan pillar of light. I will predict the timing of each core jump, so you must follow my rhythm closely. Remember, you cannot stay on any fragment for more than five seconds, otherwise you will be caught up in the changes of the next time loop."

"understand!"

The four responded in unison.

The plan was formulated, and the execution began.

Qin Yuan charged ahead, the [Battle Genius (Blue)] entry acting like a highly sophisticated navigation system, calculating every change in the time flow field in real time.

Silver starlight swirled deep within his pupils, a perception pattern based on the laws of starlight. Light itself records information about time, and by interpreting the "historical traces" of light, he could predict changes in its flow rate in advance.

"First jump, now!"

The five people leaped up at the same time and landed on a blue fragment fifteen meters away.

The time flow was 2.0 times faster, but it only lasted for four seconds before returning to normal just as they were about to jump.

"Second jump, 20 meters to the left front, red patterned fragment!"

"The third jump, downwards at a 30-degree angle, to that diamond-shaped fragment!"

"The fourth jump..."

Qin Yuan's instructions were concise and precise, and the five of them danced on the edge of a knife, navigating through a chaotic labyrinth of time.

Several times they almost fell into a time trap: a seemingly stable fragment suddenly dropped from 1.0 times to 0.1 times. If Qin Yuan hadn't given an early warning and made everyone change direction in an emergency, Yanshan would have almost been "frozen" in the slow time field.

Ten minutes later, they had covered two-thirds of the distance and were only seven jumps away from the Tianxuan pillar of light.

However, just as they stepped onto the seventeenth fragment, a sudden change occurred.

The surface of this fragment is covered with honeycomb-like holes, and the originally stable flow of time suddenly began to fluctuate violently!

0.5x, 3x, 0.2x, 6x... switching wildly in just two seconds!

"Something's not right!" Qinghe exclaimed.

"This is not a natural change in the time cycle!"

Before the words were even finished, a silver-gray figure darted out like lightning from the largest hole in the center of the fragment!

It was a strangely shaped creature:

It is four meters long and resembles a pangolin magnified several times, but its body is not covered with scales, but rather with a layer of translucent, mercury-like flowing crystalline skin.

Beneath its skin, faint streams of iridescent light could be seen surging, like countless tiny clocks ticking within its body. The most bizarre thing was its head; it had no eyes or nose, only a constantly rotating grayish-white vortex, with a shadowy pointer-like figure flickering at the center of the vortex.

"Light Beast!"

The term flashed through Qin Yuan's mind instantly, and memories inherited from the Light-Eyed Clan were awakened: "Guardian creatures of the Time Flow Zone, born with the ability to control local time acceleration and deceleration, possess extraordinary combat power!"

Almost at the same moment Qin Yuan realized its identity, the Lighttime Beast launched an attack.

The vortex on its head suddenly accelerated its rotation, and an invisible force field spread out from it.

The time flow of the fragment where Qin Yuan and his group of five were located was forcibly locked at 0.2 times—extremely slow!

Everyone's movements slowed down instantly, but their thoughts remained normal.

This sense of contradiction is maddening. You can clearly see the Light Beast rushing towards you, but your body feels like it's stuck in sticky glue, and it takes three seconds to even lift your arm.

"Law Suppression!"

Yan Feng roared, unleashing the full power of his crimson flame law in an attempt to counter the time field. However, the burning speed of the flames was also slowed down, greatly reducing the power of the law.

The Time Beast had already pounced in front of them, its front paws raised, and silver-gray time turbulence flowing from the tips of its claws.

If this claw strikes solidly, the time flow of the hit area will become completely disconnected from other parts of the body, leading to cellular-level disintegration!

At the critical moment, Qin Yuan made his move.

The [Battle Genius (Blue)] entry was pushed to its limit, and at the level of consciousness, his thinking speed was forcibly increased to fifty times the normal speed!

Although his body is still limited by 0.2 times the time flow rate, supported by his ultra-high-speed thinking, he can make the most accurate judgments.

We cannot resist it head-on; we must break through the time force field.

The laws of time... time...

Qin Yuan's mind raced through all his knowledge about time: from the definition of time in geophysics, to the influence of black hole gravity on time in the universe, to the theory of "light recording time" in the Light-Eyed Clan's heritage, and finally to the "tiny clocks" flowing within the Light-Time Beast in front of him.

A flash of inspiration occurred when the keyword "[Fortune Favors (Blue)]" gained momentum!

"Qinghe, give me the detonation frequency parameters for the 'Energy Disruption Bomb'!"

Qin Yuan's Force transmission sounded like a strangely elongated sound wave at 0.2 times the time flow rate.

Although Qinghe was confused, her trust led her to immediately reply: "The fundamental frequency is 7.83 Hz, the adjustable range is 5-12 Hz, and the interference radius is fifteen meters!"

"Adjust to 11.27 Hz, detonate now, and throw it at the feet of the Light Beast!"

Without hesitation, Qinghe took out a purple sphere from her waist, quickly adjusted the parameters, and threw it with all her might.

In a slow-motion time field, the trajectory of the sphere's flight is clearly visible, like a falling feather.

The Time Beast seemed to sense something was wrong and tried to accelerate the time field to cause the sphere to explode prematurely. But this was exactly what Qin Yuan was waiting for!

"Yanfeng, use a flame shockwave, synchronized with the energy disruption missile!"

"Shadow Gun, aim at the 'second hand shadow' of its head vortex and fire with resonant bullets!"

"Rock Mountain, prepare for shield bash! The target isn't its body, it's the shards of ground beneath its feet!"

A series of instructions are completed instantly at the level of thought, but take a full two seconds to be transmitted in the actual flow of time. This is the cruelty of the time war: a severe disconnect between consciousness and action.

But the Spark Squad truly lived up to their reputation as a team of highly coordinated elites.

Yan Feng's fiery shockwave arrived first, accurately hitting the falling energy disruption missile.

The purple sphere detonated prematurely, unleashing energy ripples of a specific frequency. As the ripples swept across the Light Beast, the crystalline skin flowing across its body suddenly became disordered.

The rhythm of those "tiny clocks" has been disrupted!