Mage Manual-Chapter 257 - 221 As for Ting Ri thats even more awesome

Chapter 257: Chapter 221 As for Ting Ri, that’s even more awesome

Chapter 257 -221 As for Ting Ri, that’s even more awesome

“Ha, ha…”

Ash had just left the Golden Mist Area when he immediately knelt on the grass, gasping for air.

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He watched as his withered arm slowly regained its flesh tone and his breathing, like a broken bellows, smoothed out. His sluggish thoughts sharpened as if rust had been scraped away, filling him with a sense of miraculous escape.

Only now did he realize how blissful a sustained, serious thought could be.

When a soul aged, thought itself became a luxury, the mind like a severely stuttering machine. Forget about executing a task process, even trying to bring up the task manager to organize your thoughts would reveal that the task manager was stuck too.

After one experience, even Ash couldn’t help but feel a touch of fear.

Aging was truly an indescribable terror.

Suddenly, footsteps came from behind. Ash was about to look back when he heard a hoarse and old voice scream, “Don’t look back!”

Ash obediently stared at the grass for a few seconds, until he heard the voice of the Sword Maiden, “It’s okay now.”

He turned his head, and what met his eyes was, of course, the still young and beautiful Sword Maiden and Witch.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind seeing your aged selves,” Ash shrugged, “on the contrary, I’m quite curious.”

“But! I! Mind!” Sonia said through clenched teeth, “I’m never going back there! Books are full of lies; who says you can get rich picking up trash on the Time Continent? Whoever wants that money can have it!”

Ash and his companions had just entered the most famous adventure zone of the Time Continent—the Flowing Gold River. Around the river, there were wild Technique Spirits, including rare species such as ‘Reverse Year’, ‘Fixed Month’, and ‘Listen to Day’.

‘Reverse Year’, as mentioned before, could reverse a person’s bodily time by one year, acting like a side-effect-free extension of life, a treasure that was priceless and unmarketable.

‘Fixed Month’ would lock the current state of one’s body for a month. Even though one could still get hurt, details like skin, appearance, and hair quality would remain unaffected by external factors. Combined with ‘Bare-faced Beauty’, ‘Radiant’, and ‘Crystal Hair’ beauty Miracles, one could easily achieve a month-long top appearance that was not afraid of wind, sun, or even swimming, revered as the top-tier makeup product.

As for ‘Listen to Day’ and other such Technique Spirits, they were even more formidable, but let’s not get into that right now.

In short, Flowing Gold River was a place of fortunate encounters specially designed for the Time Continent. Furthermore, the Technique Spirits near the river wouldn’t run away. Facing Mages, these foreign invaders, they would even come closer to be petted, with a lower sense of caution than that of a kitten.

Logically speaking, when Mages encountered such a place, they wouldn’t leave even if they had to dig three feet into the ground or extend three inches into the sky. However, Ash and his party had fled in less than ten seconds, and Sonia, normally fearless like a Village Girl and a Divine Lord, now looked back at the Golden Mist surrounding Flowing Gold River with a hint of fear in her eyes.

Because if they had been any slower, they might have collapsed by the river, literally aging to death.

The reason Flowing Gold River could gather and nurture so many Technique Spirits was that the area around the river featured Time Acceleration properties.

For Technique Spirits, Flowing Gold River was like an all-inclusive hot spring buffet area, and Time Acceleration was akin to a Thai spa massage. Staying there, they not only enjoyed top-tier indulgences, but with time, they could even evolve into Two-winged Technique Spirits, making it akin to a Water Therapy resort for Technique Spirits.

But for Mages, Flowing Gold River was essentially Hell’s experiential shop opened on the Time Continent.

Just like areas without the Flowing Gold River are called ‘Static Domains,’ where still time freezes Mages into a painting; thus, regions near the Flowing Gold River are called ‘Dynamic Domains.’ Those Mages who dare to step into the Dynamic Domain would age and wither at a pace of ten thousand to a billion times normal due to accelerated time, and the tumultuous passage of time would dissolve Mages into dust.

And unlike the silent and elegant death of the Static Domain, death in the Dynamic Domain is clear and brutal.

If normal Time Passage is like a urine test, then the accelerated time near the Flowing Gold River is like a dam releasing floodwaters; the souls of the Mages are nearly shattered by the frenzied flow of time, resulting in physical decay, difficulty breathing, and sluggish thoughts—signs of aging, like steel rusting from exposure to air.

So Ash and the others were truly afraid.

Because this time, they really smelled the scent of Death.

They had understood many forms of death: being killed by a creature of knowledge, slain by a Mage’s projection, drowning at sea, freezing in the Static Domain… but these were all abnormal deaths that wouldn’t occur in reality, and if they did, the Mages believed they had the ability to avoid them.

Only aging was different, for all things decay, and stars too have days when they extinguish. It is the Law of all things. Even the Longevity Species like Blood Saint Moon Shadow only have physical immortality, but their souls, too, will eventually reach their end.

Ash looked at his tender, strong arm but thought of those decayed, twig-like hands he had just seen. He knew if he was lucky enough, lived long enough, then one day he would see those hands again.

Aging represents an unstoppable Death. They were like ants before a rolling wheel, only able to watch helplessly as the wheel of time rolled towards them.

This powerless struggle was the true source of their inner fear.

“Feeling any better?”

Ash and Sonia’s hands were taken up by another pair of soft hands. Turning around, they saw Diya smiling gently at them.

Feeling the warmth in their hands, their fear also quickly dissipated.

They had just been frightened by the illusion of aging, like elementary school students freshly on summer vacation, dreaming they’d been caught by their teacher for not doing their homework. Diya’s tenderness was like a friend calling them out to play early in the morning, making them realize they still had wonderful days ahead and thus naturally extracting them from the mire of fear. Even if they would eventually face the teacher’s scolding, that was not for their present selves to worry about; the important thing was to enjoy their youth first.

Ash asked, “Witch, have you been to the Flowing Gold River before?”

“This is already my third time,” Diya nodded. “The first time I escaped from the Flowing Gold River, I looked even worse than you two. Aging is indeed terrifying, and we must have a respectful awe of time, but there’s no need to feel inferior, and definitely not to admit defeat.”

“We are Mages, born to conquer everything. And there are Mages who have successfully conquered time.”

Divine Lord!

The term popped into Ash and Sonia’s minds simultaneously—as the Supreme beings who ruled the Fate of countless souls, transforming their own will into divine will, creating and overseeing various nations, the Divine Lords undoubtedly had lives extending beyond the existence of nations, perhaps living for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

If there were Mages in the world who had conquered time, then the Divine Lords were certainly among them.

A desire that could be labeled as wishful thinking quietly sprouted in their hearts.

It wasn’t just Sonia, the greedy Village Girl who longed for fame and fortune. Even Ash, a man softened by society to the point of being cotton candy, was now fluttering with the impractical goal he had upon graduating college, hoping to stand his ground in the City by buying a house with his own efforts.