Chapter 271: Chapter 251: The Disappeared Ten Years
Translator: 549690339
Every time Li Fan wakes up from seclusion, he would glance at the [Real] panel, and calculate the time based on his physiological age.
If one year corresponds to him being 20 years old, then he would extrapolate from there.
In the twelfth cycle, he also frequently checked the Real panel.
But, when the time suddenly jumped from age 29 to age 39, according to his calculation,
Li Fan did not notice anything abnormal.
Even when he repeatedly recalled the events of the twelfth cycle, he failed to notice the [missing decade] in his life.
Part of it was due to a conditioned mentality.
After all, in the perception of most people, time is continuous and indivisible.
How could it be 29 years old in one second and 39 years old in the next?
Another more important reason was that there seemed to be something that distorted his perception,
Leading him to inadvertently overlook this.
This concept could be classified as “unaware of the abnormal”.
What exactly is going on?
Who stole my time?
Li Fan inevitably fell into a deep fear.
Fear arises from the unknown.
The power of the Celestial Doctor is indeed great.
But at least he has a concrete presence.
In this life, Li Fan is not his match.
But after ten, a hundred cycles…
With infinite reincarnation, one day I will grow to the same height as him.
And eventually defeat him.
But this unknown existence filled Li Fan with a sense of powerlessness for the first time.
What is it and how did it steal the time that originally belonged to him? He didn’t even know.
What frightened Li Fan even more was that the various influences it exerted could not be rid of even with the [Real] panel.
This means that it is very likely to come from the same position as [Real].
At the very least, the strength of the unknown existence was already approaching that of [Real].
This was the real root of Li Fan’s fear.
All along, [Real] had been Li Fan’s reliance for his hope of achieving longevity.
Like how, no matter how powerful the enemy he met, he could confront them calmly because of the confidence derived from [Real].
No matter how big a crisis he ran into, merely chanting [Real] in his heart would,
Transform the illusion into reality and everything would return to the starting point.
Crisis will be naturally nullified.
But now, the absolute reign of [Real] had been threatened…
He Zhenghao and his daughter He XinXin, who were standing nearby, also noticed that something was wrong with Li Fan.
Just as He XinXin was about to ask, she was held back by He Zhenghao, who shook his head.
The fear reverberated in his heart for a long time.
Fortunately, Li Fan was mentally resilient after all.
Having gone through many life-and-death situations, this unremarkably fatal threat in the timeline was eventually accepted and the fear was slowly pacified.
He started to carefully analyze the situation.
Very soon, he noticed the inconsistencies in the phenomenon that had occurred.
Regaining his composure, Li Fan asked He Zhenghao: “Daoist He, I am curious about the origin of XinXin’s Art of Deduction, would you mind sharing?” While he asked this, his eyes radiated an unrefusable intention.
After some hesitation, He Zhenghao had to explain: “My daughter’s deducing method is named [Taoist Sky Net].”
“It was custom-designed according to her inherent miraculous object, the [Taoist Script Compass].”
“Its specific quality ranks it up there as half a Heaven’s Oddity.” Upon saying this, a look of pride appeared on He Zhenghao’s face.
“Inherent miraculous object?” A thought struck Li Fan.
There was a related record in the “Theory of Miraculous Objects”.
Some cultivators have had natural treasures within them from birth.
These treasures are all extraordinary and are in perfect harmony with the cultivator themselves.
However, this situation is extremely rare, and the book only briefly touches upon it without delving too much into detail.
Those who possess an inherent miraculous object are nurtured by its laws from the womb.
Their cultivation speeds are extremely fast, and each one of them who manage to survive and grow up is a prodigy.
Unexpectedly, this He XinXin fell into this category.
No wonder she was at the Foundation Establishment Stage at such a young age.
Li Fan looked at the young girl, mulling over this in his mind.
He XinXin felt a sudden wave of tension when Li Fan was staring at her.
“Xin-xin, why don’t you explain the deductive principle of [Taoist Sky Net] to Uncle Li.” He Zhenghao spoke.
He XinXin nodded when she heard this, not feeling much apprehension due to her trust in her father.
Then she started to explain softly to Li Fan.
“Living between Heaven and Earth is like living in a giant web.”
“Every move we make influences the people, events, and objects around us.”
“Those who cannot transcend are inevitably influenced by other people and events.”
“The intersection and interaction of these influences create everything in the world.”
“Every happening in the world leaves traces.”
“By observing these traces left on the giant web, one can understand everything.”
As the young girl explained, Li Fan’s doubts were also being solved.
The theft of ten years of his time in Dao Origin State had occurred in the twelfth cycle.
He XinXin was only a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Even if her talent was extraordinary, she absolutely could not peek into [Real] and predict events from hundreds of cycles ago.
Even the unknown existence that had stolen his years, with its high position, should not have been something He XinXin could deduce.
Yet, she had seen a hint of it.
It was because…
An apple that had been bitten…
Was different from a whole apple.
Similarly, a lifeform that had its lifespan stolen by this strange existence would definitely differ from normal lifeforms.
It would be imbued with a unique aura.
Although he had returned to the time before the theft using the [Real] panel,
He hadn’t managed to entirely rid himself of its influence.
The fact that Li Fan had been oblivious to this was evidence.
He XinXin’s [Taoist Sky Net] had not directly detected [Real] or the unknown entity that stole time.
But by deducing from Li Fan, it spotted the influence of [it], which was how it reconstructed the events that happened to Li Fan.
Li Fan even speculated that if he let He XinXin deduce any cultivator in the Dao Origin State, she would not be able to predict the same result as with him.
That was something a Foundation Establishment Cultivator couldn’t perceive.
Even having a [Taoist Script Compass], considered half a Heaven’s Oddity, as a background, it’s still impossible.
If he had to make an analogy…
The unknown existence that had stolen time was like a black hole.
It quietly hovered above the Dao Origin State.
Every once in a while, it devoured ten years of time from the entire state.
Normally, it was impossible to directly discover its existence through regular observation or deduction.
But because of [Real], Li Fan had escaped from the black hole.
Yet, the influence of the black hole remained.
Just like the distorted rays of light around a black hole, deducing from him enabled the true situation of [it] stealing time in Dao Origin State to be inferred..