Chapter 525: Time Stops

Lu Yang gave Meng Jingzhou a strange look. "Your Meng family sure has a lot of tricks for making money."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Meng Jingzhou retorted. "I'm not the one who inflated the price of ten-thousand-year-old ice. It was the Meng family, tens of thousands of years ago." Although he frequently referred to them as "our Meng family," when his own reputation was on the line, he made sure to distance himself.

Although the Meng family indeed maliciously manipulated the price of ordinary ten-thousand-year-old ice, items like Profound Ice Marrow or Ice Embryos of that age remain incredibly useful. For example, ancient cultivators often used tens of thousands of years of Profound Ice Marrow to freeze their bodies, only to awaken in the present era and unwittingly fall into traps within Great Xia.

Even more unfortunately, some cultivators used Profound Ice Marrow that wasn't old enough, or was entirely fake, causing them to melt halfway through their freezing period and be forced to emerge prematurely. The ancient Integration stage cultivators Lu Yang encountered during the strange rules of Cloth-Clad Town were precisely those who faced such a predicament.

"Why bother with ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow?" the Immortal scoffed. "If it were up to me, a single Immortal Fruit of Immortality would ensure they sleep until the end of time, never to wake prematurely."

"But Immortal, isn't your Immortal Fruit of Immortality meant for the deceased, to prevent their bodies from decaying?"

"It's much the same," she replied. "Those who freeze themselves with Profound Ice Marrow are practically dead. Otherwise, how do you suppose they've managed to sleep until now, free from the constraints of lifespan? Isn't it precisely because they were in a state of suspended animation when they were frozen?"

"Hmm, 'suspended animation' isn't entirely accurate. The more precise term is 'nearly time-stopped'."

"Time stopped?"

The Immortal nodded seriously. In that moment, she recalled Yun Yatou's warning not to reveal too many extraordinary secrets to Lu Yang. Yet, she also remembered her own glorious past, roaming freely across the ancient world. A mere Yun Yatou was nothing to her!

"What I'm about to tell you is top secret. You absolutely must not tell Yun Yatou!"

Wise as the Immortal was, she quickly devised a plan that served both purposes.

"Please tell me, Immortal. You know I can keep a secret; I'm absolutely tight-lipped!" Lu Yang declared, patting his mouth to emphasize his reliability.

Although Lu Yang still remembered his senior sister's warning, he couldn't suppress his curiosity whenever the Immortal began discussing such topics. Of course, if the Immortal intended to recount ancient dark history, that would be a different story entirely.

The First Boss and Second Boss exchanged knowing smiles, displaying a tacit understanding that made it seem they had already forgotten their internal strife from three days ago.

"If you cultivate a Heavenly Eye and achieve extraordinary vision, you'll discover that all matter in the world is constantly in motion—be it people, objects, dust, or even the most minuscule particles that constitute matter, as seen through the Heavenly Eye."

"Everything is in motion."

"The Nine-Layer Immortal, who possesses the Yin-Yang Dao Fruit and controls extreme temperatures, discovered that motion is not absolute. If you lower the temperature to its absolute limit, even the most minuscule particles will be frozen and cease to move."

"The Nine-Layer Immortal consulted the Immortal of Time about this phenomenon. After studying it, the Immortal of Time stated that under conditions of extreme cold, the Nine-Layer Immortal could also achieve time stoppage by harnessing that intense chill."

"Also? The Immortal of Time can also achieve time stoppage?"

"Of course. The Immortal of Time can stop time for the entire world, a much broader scope than the Nine-Layer Immortal."

"Later, the Nine-Layer Immortal also discovered that at high temperatures, the smallest particles accelerate their movement. So, he adjusted the temperature to its absolute maximum, a heat far exceeding that of the sun."

"Under extreme heat, the movement speed of the smallest particles reached its limit, which is the speed of light. This, too, falls within the domain of the Dao Fruit of Time."

Lu Yang quietly mused over the story he had just heard, feeling he had gained a profound insight. "Immortal, are you implying that no matter the type of Dao Fruit, all paths ultimately lead to the same destination?"

The Immortal gazed into Lu Yang's eyes for a moment. In truth, she had merely recalled this fact upon seeing the ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow, with no deeper meaning.

"Precisely! This Immortal merely intended to convey that principle to you. I'm surprised you managed to comprehend it on your own!"

As they conversed, the group arrived at the Gold Vein.

The moment they stepped into the Gold Vein, everyone felt a tingling sensation on their skin. Their Golden Cores automatically activated, forming a thin film of spiritual energy over their bodies, which then made the tingling sensation disappear.

"This is the invisible gold qi unique to the Gold Vein. According to Elder Tong, who is the Gold Vein Elder, the Gold Vein is formed from countless precious essence stone lodes. These valuable essence stones possess a unique pride that prevents them from coexisting with other ores. The collisions between these essence stones result in the leakage of gold qi, thus creating this distinctive phenomenon of the Gold Vein."

Vegetation rarely grew in the Gold Vein's soil. Even the occasional spiritual plants that did appear had a metallic sheen, assimilated by the Gold Vein's influence. It went without saying that any spiritual plants capable of thriving in such a gold-qi-rich environment were exceptionally powerful. Lu Yang's Sword Spirit Root was a variant of the Metal Spirit Root, allowing him to perceive the active gold qi in the Gold Vein most keenly. If this gold qi were refined, it would transform into the most fundamental sword qi.

Mang Gu observed many Five Elements Sect disciples meditating cross-legged on the Gold Vein. Numerous magic treasures floated above their heads, rising and falling as if adrift on the surface of the sea. Others worked in pairs, controlling multiple magic treasures in competitive displays. These treasures could even coordinate with each other to form powerful arrays. Such exquisite control was a clear testament to the strength of their divine sense.

Bai Ming chuckled. "The Gold Vein specializes in manipulating metal, which can be likened to sword manipulation techniques."

"As for the most skilled in metal manipulation, that would be the First Gold Vein Elder. His cultivation was world-shaking, and every action he took was in harmony with natural laws, making him incredibly powerful. If it hadn't been for him moving several mineral veins here in the early days of the sect, the Gold Vein as it is today would not have formed."

"...So, the Five Elements Sect's Gold Vein was actually stolen from somewhere else?"

"You can't call it stealing," Bai Ming corrected. "It's called illegal mining."

"Moreover, the First Gold Vein Elder had studied law. At that time, Great Xia had just been established, and its legal system was still incomplete; there wasn't even a draft for criminal law. He took advantage of this loophole to quickly contribute to the sect by acquiring several mineral veins."

With no draft for criminal law in place, no crime could be formally defined.

Lu Yang was speechless.

"The First Gold Vein Elder stated that as cultivators, our every word and action should conform to natural laws. This implies that cultivators themselves are part of natural laws. Therefore, his act of moving the mineral veins to the Five Elements Sect wasn't illegal mining; rather, it was a natural migration of the veins, merely accelerated with his assistance, and thus not a crime."

"And then?"

"The imperial court didn't believe him."

"I thought as much."

"Later, he took out a loan from the Meng family and purchased these mineral veins."

Bai Ming glanced at Meng Jingzhou, then added, "As for the loan from the Meng family, it was fully repaid sixty thousand years ago."