Chapter 3: Time’s Mysteries and a Misunderstood Confession

What a predicament this was!

He, a venerable Transcendent Saint-tier expert, had once striven relentlessly to break free from the shackles of fate.

His diligent cultivation had not been in vain; it was how he had achieved the pinnacle of being the youngest Transcendent Saint-tier expert in merely a millennium, astounding countless individuals.

He had stood but a single step away from the supreme Emperor Realm, where he could have looked down upon all living beings, unbound by worldly constraints, and roamed freely between heaven and earth.

“Alas! The past is too painful to recall,” Ye Xingchen murmured, sighing at the marvels of destiny, a hint of disappointment clouding his features.

To him, these so-called spatiotemporal magic tomes were nothing more than superficial theoretical constructs, mere fantasies that would crumble in real combat.

It seemed that to acquire truly valuable spatiotemporal knowledge, he would have to forge a new path.

Ye Xingchen’s gaze soon fell upon Su Liyue, who was flipping through a book nearby.

Perhaps, it was time to visit the academy’s instructors in that other identity.

Although Ye Xingchen hadn’t made any substantial breakthroughs in time and space magic over the past three years, he had gleaned a useful piece of information from the books.

Upon reaching the Eternal Realm in magic, one could momentarily pluck the strings of time.

This discovery filled him with a strange thrill.

It was important to note.

Throughout the ten-thousand-year legacy of the cultivation world, those who reached realms beyond the Saint-tier found spatial laws as clear as lines on their palms.

Yet, the river of time remained an impenetrable mystery, akin to a heavenly taboo.

He had once witnessed a mighty expert attempting to forcibly reverse time, only for their Dao body to suffer severe injuries from the karmic backlash.

Now, however, these pages recounted how Eternal-tier cultivators from ancient times could use a specific array formation to rewind time by ten breaths.

Though he couldn’t verify its truth, a mere ten breaths could be enough to turn the tide in a life-or-death confrontation.

After all, if one’s strength was sufficient, deploying such an ability during exchanges between experts would be incredibly lethal, capable of instantly altering the course of battle with the slightest lapse in attention!

While he couldn’t immediately ascertain its veracity, if mages truly possessed such an ability, it would be immensely powerful, forcing a complete re-evaluation of his understanding of them.

“If it were true…”

The cultivators’ ability to shatter the void, combined with the mages’ art of manipulating time—two vastly different power systems intertwined—might truly break through spatiotemporal barriers.

Most remarkably, the magical talent displayed by Su Liyue’s body was truly astounding.

If cultivated, until one day she truly mastered time magic…

With the cultivator’s spatial control as the foundation and the mage’s time manipulation as the wings, perhaps the two of them could create an unprecedented spatiotemporal fusion technique.

Just as Ye Xingchen was deep in thought, a gentle and refined voice suddenly broke his concentration.

“Um… S-senior… are you busy right now?”

Ye Xingchen disliked being interrupted while thinking, but he still looked up in the direction of the voice.

He saw a petite, adorable schoolgirl gazing at him with a nervous expression.

Despite his slight displeasure, he replied politely.

“No, I’m not.”

“That’s wonderful, Senior! I have an academic question and was wondering if I could trouble you for some guidance.”

‘Academic question?’

Ye Xingchen’s brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of wariness passing through his eyes.

It was widely known that his male body was a notorious elemental insulator, possessing zero affinity with the four basic elements, rendering him incapable of even casting the most rudimentary flame spell.

For this very reason, he had long since redirected his efforts towards alchemy, a field with lower elemental demands.

As an elemental insulator, he was widely known as a slacker student at Starfall Academy.

After all, it was enough for his female body, Su Liyue, to learn magic.

Ye Xingchen, in his male form, was either secretly researching alchemy formulas during class or simply napping, eyes closed, sensing the energies of heaven and earth.

Over time, even the professors had grown accustomed to it, while privately, his classmates whispered amongst themselves, speculating that he had likely gotten in through connections, given his slacking.

Few were willing to even bother speaking to him.

Thus, when this junior schoolgirl suddenly approached him with an academic question, his first reaction wasn’t pleasure, but caution.

After all, his reputation as a top-tier slacker was well-known, so for her to still come to him with a question, despite knowing this, suggested there might be some ulterior motive at play.

“S-senior…” The girl held the gold-embossed cover of ‘Elemental Transmutation Theory’ against her chest like a shield.

“May I… ask you about an alchemy question?”

Her lapis eyes unconsciously flitted past the time and space magic books on Ye Xingchen’s desk.

Hearing it was alchemy-related, Ye Xingchen didn’t dwell on it, answering without hesitation, as this was precisely his area of specialized research.

The question was simple and uncomplicated for him; he clarified it in just a few words.

Just as he thought the conversation had concluded, the girl nervously spoke again.

“Th-that… Senior, do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” Ye Xingchen replied curtly.

Though Su Liyue was his female body, what kind of notion was it to ‘like himself’?

He wasn’t a pervert.

The girl’s shoulders visibly relaxed, but then she immediately posed an even more direct question:

“Then… Senior, what kind of girl do you like?”

“……?”

Only then did Ye Xingchen suddenly understand.

This seemingly bashful junior before him was either toying with him, a renowned good-for-nothing, or…

He discreetly activated his telepathy, yet unexpectedly caught the genuine thumping of her heart within her chest.

‘This girl, was she actually serious?’

What Ye Xingchen hadn’t anticipated was that despite his slacker reputation at the academy, he could still attract romantic interest.

He wondered if this junior was simply too naive, or if she was genuinely drawn to his appearance.

After all, Ye Xingchen was influenced by his female body, Su Liyue.

From a young age, Madam Su had often taught Su Liyue about proper grooming and other essential life skills and knowledge for girls.

Consequently, Ye Xingchen in his male form had unconsciously adopted the habit of maintaining his appearance.

Perhaps it was this, combined with his usual taciturn nature and disinclination to speak, that had given this junior schoolgirl a false impression.

‘It seems this decadent persona needs further adjustment,’ he mused.

‘Concealing an identity is proving harder than cultivation itself.’

“I don’t like them too young,” he replied casually, oblivious to the impact of his words.

Upon hearing this, the girl’s hand froze mid-air, then slowly fell to her flat chest, leaving her utterly stunned as if struck by lightning.

“I-I’ll work hard to grow up!” she cried with a choked sob, then clutching her books, she fled in disarray, leaving a trail of whispers in her wake.

Watching her stumbling figure, Ye Xingchen felt somewhat baffled.

He had indeed entertained the idea of pursuing a romance when he first enrolled, hoping to make up for the regret of never having had a partner before.

However, that thought was soon suppressed.

Not only did the students’ looks and appearances seem rather ordinary to him, but his thousand years of cultivation also made him feel as if he were an elder observing children, creating a generational gap in psychological age.

He recalled a beautiful Jade Pond Saintess who had once actively pursued him, asking about his ideal type.

Ye Xingchen remembered, in a moment of foolishness, he had blurted out, “State secret.”

His reply had left the Saintess so utterly bewildered that she went into seclusion for hundreds of years, cultivating a ‘Dumbfounded Tree’, until it bore ‘Dumbfounded Fruit’ (TL Note: The ‘fruit’ of profound confusion).

Only then did the matter finally conclude.