The dense canopy above filtered sunlight into pale green shafts, casting a dim glow across the moss-covered ground. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and the quiet tension of predators lurking unseen.
Yan Xiu stood still, sword in hand, his calm eyes locked on the creature before him—a Black Spirit Spider. Its carapace gleamed like obsidian, legs twitching with eerie precision. The 1st Order Beast had noticed him too.
'Let's see if this works…' Yan Xiu thought, drawing in a steady breath.
In the next instant, his sword moved.
"Flowing Sword Art: Three Wave Slashes."
His blade cut through the air with a rhythmic, crashing cadence—one, two, three—each strike echoing like waves pounding against a cliff.
Shockwaves burst from the edge of his sword, invisible blades of force riding alongside his cuts. The Black Spirit Spider screeched—but too late.
All eight of its legs were severed in the blink of an eye.
The beast collapsed with a grotesque crunch, twitching once before lying still. Dead.
Yan Xiu lowered his blade, exhaling.
"Yeah," he muttered with a small nod. "It worked."
Melding the Three Wave Fist martial skill into his Flowing Sword Art had taken some late-night theorycrafting—but clearly, it had been worth it.
'Maybe I should try to implement even the other martial skills,' he thought. 'The Flowing Steps... the Serpent Fang Thrush... the Bursting Qi Strike... maybe even the Earth Splitting Palm?'
He approached the spider's corpse, its slick black body now steaming in the morning air. Kneeling down, he placed a hand on it.
"Absorb its Temporal Energy."
At his command, golden light bloomed around the corpse like wildfire.
[Absorbing the Black Spirit Spider's Temporal Energy...]
The light pulsed as the spider's body began to decay rapidly, time visibly eating through it. Its armored shell cracked, legs withered, and its glossy black surface dulled to dust and bone. A foul stench hit him like a hammer.
Yan Xiu winced, pulling his robe over his nose.
"I forgot how gross it was…"
[Temporal Energy absorbed.]
[You have gained: 0.1 Years of Life Simulation Time]
Yan Xiu's eyes widened.
"Only 0.1 years?" he said aloud, blinking in disbelief.
The last time he had used this ability—on the Verdant Serpent, also a 1st Order beast—he had received five entire years of Life Simulation Time. Why had this spider only given him a fraction of that?
'Why? Why did it only give me 0.1 years?' he thought, frustration creeping in. 'What even is Temporal Energy? Last time, I assumed it was their remaining time... so does that mean this spider was about to die?'
His gaze flicked back to the withered carcass. It hadn't looked sickly or frail. It had fought with full strength, just like the serpent had.
'But it seemed pretty healthy to me… Was it going to be killed by some other beast? Was I just faster?'
His mind spun with questions—and then something clicked.
'Wait… Life Simulator...'
His eyes shifted down to the ground, landing on a lone, unassuming strand of grass swaying near his foot. He pointed at it.
"Analyze that strand of grass's Temporal Energy!"
[Analyzing…]
A tense moment passed, and Yan Xiu's breath hitched.
'Yes, it can do it!' His heart pounded, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
[The grass strand's Temporal Energy equals: 2 months of Life Simulation Time.]
Yan Xiu's jaw slackened.
'That's... amazing... So their Temporal Energy really is the time they have left before anything happens to them—not their natural lifespan, but their destined timeline before an external event alters their existence...'
He stared at the grass, the gears in his mind turning rapidly.
'This grass should naturally last five or six years more before withering or reproducing... but right now, it only has two months left. Which means something will happen to it…'
Then a dangerous thought surged through him.
'But... can I absorb it? Can I absorb this strand of grass's Temporal Energy?'
His breath caught in his throat, excitement flaring. If it was truly possible—
'I'd become an Immortal Ascension Realm master in a day... I'd just need to drain the energy from trees, grass, plants... and I'd have limitless Life Simulation Time without fighting a single beast!'
He swallowed the rush of elation, then asked aloud, "Life Simulator, can I absorb the Temporal Energy of the grass?"
The response came swiftly.
[While absorbing the Temporal Energy of living, conscious organisms is allowed, absorbing energy from non-conscious lifeforms is forbidden due to the principles of the Time Dao.]
[Attempting to absorb from non-conscious entities—such as plants, fungi, or inert life—would invoke the Black Tortoise Effect.]
[This effect refers to the severe disruptions in the timeline caused by prematurely erasing foundational lifeforms. Removing a single blade of grass could ripple across cause-and-effect, preventing future ecosystems, species evolution, or survival chains from forming properly. It could lead to mass extinctions or alternate timelines in disarray.]
Yan Xiu's mind raced.
"But... wouldn't this be the same with animals?" he muttered aloud. "They reproduce too. So because of this strange Black Tortoise Effect, erasing them could also lead to their species' extinction, or halt their evolution… right?"
The Life Simulator responded instantly, as if anticipating the question.
[That is a logical thought. However, the distinction lies in the consciousness threshold.]
[Conscious organisms possess what the Time Dao defines as individual narrative threads—paths of self-guided decision-making, karma, and fate. These threads are allowed to be severed or redirected without destabilizing the timeline, as their impacts are limited in scope.]
[In contrast, unconscious lifeforms—such as plants, fungi, and simple microorganisms—are treated as core timeline anchors. Their existence provides the environmental constants upon which countless fates rely.]
[In simpler terms: animals make choices. Grass does not. But remove the grass, and the creatures that depend on it begin to disappear. Eventually, entire branches of possibility collapse.]
[Additionally, conscious beings possess something unique: Temporal Weight. The more decisions they make, the more karma they accumulate. That karma serves as a counterbalance to the absorption process.]
[Unconscious lifeforms generate no karma. Thus, absorbing them directly is akin to tearing pages from the base of the book of time itself.]
Yan Xiu's lips parted slightly in awe. The explanation was far beyond what he expected—but it made sense.
"So in short," he said slowly, "I'm allowed to absorb things that have choices and fates… but not the ones that are the foundation of those fates."
[Correct.]
Yan Xiu fell silent, staring once more at the swaying blade of grass.
"I guess that means I'll have to earn my way forward, one beast at a time," he said quietly, sheathing his sword.
To be continued...
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How was this chapter? Liked it?
Sorry for having given you a pretty much theorical chapter, but it was necessary. Also, the Black Tortoise Effect is just the Butterfly Effect, I just renamed it.
Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!