Chapter 281: The Clock Emperor’s Ruins

Kael and Cassian stood at the base of the Shattered Tower.

"Did you already know about the Nine Court Heads?" Kael asked.

Cassian frowned. He had known about the Clock Emperor—his father had mentioned the figure multiple times and there were archieves of him in the family’s library. He had even tried using his future sight to peer into the Inheritance Ground, hoping to locate the ruins directly. But every attempt to see the Void Realm’s future had been blocked. Everything about this place was foggy, obscured by a force that rejected temporal manipulation.

But the Nine Court Heads? That title was entirely new to him.

"I’ve never heard of them," Cassian admitted.

"They were like the generals of the Void Realm," Kael explained. "The nine most powerful figures beneath the Sky Emperor. The Clock Emperor was one of them."

Cassian looked at him, genuine surprise flickering in his usually composed eyes. "It seems you’ve already learned quite a lot in the short time since we separated."

They soon left the Shattered Tower heading northeast. The Void Realm’s landscape stretched endlessly—dense forests giving way to rocky plains, then to marshes that glowed with eerie phosphorescent light. They traveled on foot. Flying attracted attention from the beasts that roamed the skies, and neither of them wanted to deal with aerial predators while crossing unfamiliar territory.

A week passed.

They crossed what felt like an entire continent. The Void Realm’s geography was absurd in scale—mountain ranges that took days to circumnavigate and forests so dense that even sunlight couldn’t penetrate the canopy.

Beasts attacked them regularly. Most were Foundation Establishment to Mana Heart Rank 3—easy prey for two cultivators of their caliber. Kael used the encounters to test the Netherworld Soul Locking Flag. The flag absorbed souls instinctively when a creature died, but ordinary beasts’ souls dissipated too quickly to be worth the effort.

Out of dozens of kills, Kael only found two beasts whose souls lingered long enough to be captured—a Mana Heart Rank 5 Shadow Panther and a Mana Heart Rank 6 Crystal Boar. Their souls were pulled into the flag’s pocket dimension the moment they died.

Kael thought. I need powerful souls. These lesser creatures are barely worth the slot.

On the eighth day, they arrived at a massive ruin.

It had once been a city—that much was clear. Crumbling buildings stretched for kilometers, half-buried in vegetation and earth. Broken pillars lined what had once been streets. The remains of a fountain sat at a collapsed intersection, dry and cracked.

People were everywhere.

Dozens of cultivators moved through the ruins, digging through rubble, scanning walls with mana sense, searching for hidden compartments and buried treasures. They moved in small groups—twos and threes—watching each other warily.

Kael and Cassian’s arrival drew glances but nothing more. The unspoken rule of the ruins was simple: whoever found something valuable would be attacked by everyone else. Until then, there was no reason to fight.

Kael turned to Cassian. "This is the place?"

Cassian shrugged. "The Clock Emperor’s influence extends beneath this entire area. But the specific location of his fallen holy ground is underground. That’s where you come in."

Kael sighed. "Lazy bastard."

"You have soul sense. I don’t," Cassian said simply.

Kael then asked, "What exactly are we looking for?

Cassian replied unsure, "A structure—likely deep underground. A building, a chamber. Even I’m not sure."

Kael looked out over the ruined city. Kilometers of rubble. Dozens of scavengers. And somewhere beneath all of it, a structure hidden by temporal wards.

He closed his eyes and activated his soul sense.

His 55 meters of perception swept downward through the earth.

Two days passed.

Kael was growing frustrated. Soul sense consumed soul power steadily, and while the Void Realm’s ambient density helped with mana regeneration, soul power recovered much slower. His supply of Soul Nourishing Pills was limited—maybe fifteen left—and he’d already used six.

He sat on a broken pillar, eyes closed, soul sense extended to its maximum range. Cassian sat nearby, flipping his pocket watch open and closed.

Nothing. Nothing. More nothing. Just rock and dirt and old foundations.

He shifted his search area again. Southeast this time, toward the edge of the ruined city where the buildings gave way to bare earth.

His soul sense pressed deeper until he reached a 45 meters depth.

A structure. And at the end of the corridor, a staircase descending even further into darkness. The structure sat at the very edge of his range, forty meters underground.

Kael opened his eyes.

"Found it."

Cassian stood immediately. "Where?"

"Southeast. 40 meters down. There’s a corridor leading to a staircase."

Cassian nodded, a flash of satisfaction crossing his features. "That’s it."

Kael looked at him. "This thing seems more valuable than the flame manual you’re offering."

"Much more," Cassian agreed without hesitation. "To me, at least. The Clock Emperor’s legacy is priceless. But we had a deal."

They moved toward the location carefully, keeping their presence suppressed. The scavengers in the area were preoccupied with their own searches, but there was no reason to draw attention.

The spot Kael identified was bare earth with no visible entrance. He knelt and placed his palm on the ground. Gravity manipulation activated—whuum—lifting stones and dirt away in slow, silent layers. A small tunnel appeared, descending at an angle.

They entered the tunnel. It was narrow—barely wide enough for one person—and dark. Kael’s Spirit Eyes illuminated the path ahead. The walls were covered in dense and complex runes even he could not understand.

The tunnel opened into a small chamber. At the center of the chamber was a staircase descending into absolute darkness. The runes on the walls intensified here, covering every inch of the stairway’s surface.

Kael stepped forward.

His foot touched the first stair.

FREEZE.

Every molecule in his body locked. Time energy wrapped around him like amber. His muscles wouldn’t respond. His mana wouldn’t circulate. His thoughts slowed to a crawl.

Instinct took over. His soul power and slaughter intent erupted from his soul core flooding his consciousness and pushing against the foreign temporal energy with sheer malice.

The time energy cracked. Crack.

Kael threw himself backward stumbling off the staircase and crashing onto the chamber floor.

He lay there, breathing heavily. Hhhh. Hhhh.

Cold sweat covered his forehead. His heart hammered against his ribs. Another second on that stair and he would have been frozen in time permanently—trapped mid-step for eternity.

Cassian hadn’t moved. He stood at the edge of the staircase, watching. A faint green energy of temporal manipulation covered his body like a second skin.

He looked at Kael with mild surprise, then understanding.

"It seems only those with temporal abilities can descend," Cassian said. He observed the runes on the stairway. "Anyone without temporal affinity would be frozen in time mid-step. Trapped forever."

Kael stood up slowly, still catching his breath. "You could have mentioned that."

"I didn’t know until you stepped on it," Cassian replied honestly. "My System analyzed the runes when you triggered the trap."

Kael sighed. If he had hesitated even a moment longer before unleashing his soul power and Slaughter Intent, he would have been frozen. The thought was deeply unpleasant.

"I guess you’re the only one going down," Kael said.

Cassian reached into his storage ring and pulled out a manual. He tossed it to Kael, who caught it one-handed.

The cover read: Nirvana Devouring Script.

"That will help you tame the Heavenly Flame when the time comes," Cassian said. "Based on my calculations, the flame will likely appear in eleven months."

Kael looked at him with a smug expression. "Something like that appearing will probably cause quite a lot of commotion. It’ll draw attention from everyone in the Void Realm."

Cassian smiled. "I’m sure you’ll obtain it."

Kael studied the manual briefly, then stored it in his system storage. He turned his back to Cassian and raised one hand in a lazy wave.

"Whatever."

Cassian watched him go, then turned back to the staircase. The green temporal energy around his body intensified—vvvvm—and he descended.