“The Epoch Dao Fruit is not with Junior Brother Li?”

Lu Yang found this understandable. Reincarnation was unprecedented, and no one had ever experienced it, let alone understood how it worked. It was entirely possible that the Epoch Immortal had reincarnated as Li Haoran, but with the Epoch Dao Fruit missing.

“Then who is using the Epoch Dao Fruit? I recall Big Senior Sister saying that even if one obtains the Epoch Dao Fruit, they can’t use it as they please. It would require profound comprehension of the Dao Fruit.”

A subtle sense of foreboding rose in Lu Yang’s heart. Someone has obtained the Epoch Dao Fruit. Are they friend or foe? And why do they keep repeating this day?

Could the Midheaven Emperor-Lord have acquired it?

“That I do not know,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy admitted.

“Is there a way to find the user?”

“That’s impossible, unless you can observe every action of every being in this world. When the next loop occurs, whoever acts differently than in the previous loop will be the user.”

Lu Yang sighed. This is indeed an impossible task.

The two talked a while longer, concluding that there was no solution. Lu Yang decided to step out for a change of mood.

After all, I’ve broken through to the Intermediate Divine Transfiguration Stage. It is a cause for celebration.

Lu Yang pushed open the cave abode’s door to see Yun Mengmeng and Gan Tian setting up a board and snacks outside.

He greeted them, “Sister Mengmeng, Third Senior Sister, good morning. I—”

Lu Yang’s vision went black. Once again, he found himself back in his cave abode, just having concluded his seclusion.

He was rendered speechless.

Taking two deep breaths, he struggled to calm himself. “Less than two hours have passed. How is time flowing backward again?!”

Isn’t it supposed to reverse once per day?!

“Perhaps the user of the Epoch Dao Fruit encountered something that required rewinding to this particular point in time.”

Lu Yang covered his face. Any desire to celebrate his breakthrough had completely evaporated.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy chipped in. “We can’t say for sure. The user might simply have found it fun and rewound time a few times. I heard that when the Epoch Immortal first obtained the Epoch Dao Fruit, he was so excited that he often reversed time, then pretended to foresee the future.”

“Heard?”

“Yes. Back then, I hadn’t become an immortal yet, so I would be clueless even if time had reversed. I only heard about it later from the Nine-Layers Immortal.”

”Does reaching the immortal realm grant immunity to time reversal?”

“Not complete immunity. The body will still return to the original temporal node; only memories are preserved.”

Lu Yang knitted his brows. “Doesn’t that mean that all immortals have realized the Epoch Dao Fruit has appeared and will search for its user?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy shrugged. “So what? Do they think they’ll succeed?”

Lu Yang couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss. This user of the Epoch Dao Fruit is too brazen and conceited. Does their confidence stem from some kind of backing?

~~~

“The Epoch Dao Fruit has appeared?!” A middle-aged man on an immortal seat opened his eyes, a flash of light flickering within. He was overjoyed.

In the three hundred thousand years since he became an immortal, this was the first time he had detected a trace of the Epoch Dao Fruit.

“All of you shall locate the Epoch Dao Fruit at once!” the man declared in an authoritative tone, like an immortal king reigning over the nine heavens; his immortal might was not to be transgressed.

On either side of the immortal seat, rows of dark figures stirred. One of them stepped forward. “My Liege, may I ask how we are to find the Epoch Incipient Dao Fruit?”

The Midheaven Emperor-Lord pondered again. Indeed, why am I so elated? It’s true that the Epoch Dao Fruit has appeared, but who knows where it is?

“Take the immortal-searching tokens and travel around.”

“As you command.”

~~~

Inside the cave abode, Lu Yang and the Everlasting Immortal Fairy yawned listlessly. The joy of breaking through to the Intermediate Divine Transfiguration Stage had been eroded completely after repeated loops.

“Immortal Fairy, how many loops has it been?”

“This is the seventh, I believe.”

In these seven cycles, Lu Yang had explored nearly every corner around Heaven’s Gate Peak and done everything he could think of.

For example, before one loop ended, he asked Tao Yaoye how many spirit stones she had earned that quarter; when the next loop began, he went straight to her and told her the number.

In another loop, he learned that Bai Ye liked walnut cookies; in the next, he brought her a bag of them when he visited.

“Does this user never stop? Why hasn’t it ended? Wait, what time is it now?”

“Probably the hour of the rabbit, between 5 and 7 in the morning.”

Lu Yang sprang to his feet. All previous loops had occurred during the hour of the tiger, between three and five in the morning. Now, the hour of the rabbit had passed, and dawn had arrived, yet the next loop hadn’t started.

“Has time finally returned to normal?”

He pushed open the cave abode’s door. Outside lay a messy chessboard. Yun Mengmeng and Gan Tian had played Five in a Row all day and agreed to resume tomorrow, so they hadn’t stowed it away.

Lu Yang was certain he hadn’t entered a loop again.

Considering that a loop had occurred just two hours after his breakthrough, it was evident that its timing was not fixed. Lu Yang refrained from rejoicing prematurely.

Half a day passed, and still no loop happened. Yun Zhi had also returned to the Dao-Seeking Sect.

“Big Senior Sister, you’re finally back.”

“Mmhmm, I’m back. The matter of the time loop is not urgent. I’ll tell you what transpired these past few days later. First, stabilize your cultivation realm.” Yun Zhi noticed that Lu Yang hadn’t consolidated his cultivation realm since his breakthrough.

“Alright.”

Seeing Yun Zhi put his mind at ease. Regardless of whether another loop would occur, he focused on consolidating his cultivation realm without worry.

When Lu Yang opened his eyes again, Yun Zhi had already set up a table, chairs, and tea outside his cave abode. Yun Mengmeng’s chessboard had been moved somewhere.

“Drink some tea.” Yun Zhi gestured for Lu Yang to sit.

Lu Yang took a small sip. It was indeed fine Wudao Enlightenment Tea.

“To be honest, it’s partly my fault. When the loops occurred, Meng Junzi and I were engaged in a Dao discourse. Neither of us was affected by the time reversal, so we had no idea it was happening. It was only when Jiang Ping’an came to us that we realized something was wrong.

“At first, I suspected that Junior Brother Li was the cause and intended to return. But then Senior Immortal Fairy informed me via a puppet that he was not the source, so I didn’t return and went searching for the user of the Epoch Dao Fruit instead.”

“Puppet?” Lu Yang wondered which puppet it was.

Wait, could it be the same puppet that had tormented me since the beginning of my cultivation journey?

Big Senior Sister can be contacted through that puppet?

“The three of us suspected that the Epoch Dao Fruit’s user was fighting someone and had been forced to employ it. We split up and searched in three directions, but found no traces of an immortal battle.

“Now that they have stopped using the Epoch Dao Fruit, the trail has gone cold, so I returned.”

“So that’s how it is.” Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared that Yun Zhi had encountered some trouble and been unable to return.

It's fine as long as she’s safe.

“Little Junior Brother.”

“What is it?”

Lu Yang looked up and saw Yun Zhi raise her teacup.

“Congratulations on your advancement to the Intermediate Divine Transfiguration Stage.”