Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 866 - 130 The Last Obstacle

Chapter 866: Chapter 130 The Last Obstacle

"The following thirty years were the fastest progressing years in research and also the happiest thirty years of my life." Philarx leaned against the chair, staring out through the transparent crystal window as if lost in memories, "In those thirty years, I made myself a bit younger each year. The rest of the time I had gathered, I used for a multitude of experiments. With the time of those thirty years, I successfully completed two breakthroughs. Just as you saw, I can now have five selves appear in different locations simultaneously. However, it was then that I stopped my research for a while."

Pannis frowned, deliberately ignoring the source of the temporal resources Philarx consumed over those thirty years—avoiding the thought of how many lives were spent— and sighed softly, "Was it because the consumption was too great?"

"That was one of the reasons. By then, it had almost become a thousand-to-one consumption. But as long as you don’t use it often in everyday life, it’s manageable," Philarx shook his head, "The key is that I decided not to continue with more severance attempts. In terms of knowledge on this topic, I had reached the pinnacle. To go on would merely be repeating the same processes, which wasn’t very meaningful. So, starting approximately fifty years ago, I used the concept of temporal severance as a breakthrough point for deeper research."

"Deeper research?" Pannis inquired, "For example, like reversing time?"

"That’s currently the challenge and my final barrier," Philarx said, shaking his head. "Back then, I hadn’t gotten that far. My initial research was just on the applications concerning personal time. About fifty years ago, which was when I stopped my research work, after reaching the limits of research on myself, I began to study external influences."

"Like Victor?" asked Pannis, "Controlling the temporal flow of a specific area?"

"Right, what he learned from my notes is exactly that," Philarx nodded, "First, altering the temporal state of an object without changing one’s own flow of time, causing it to change. Once I could make a piece of meat rot in five seconds or remain as fresh as if just cut even a month later, I turned to researching how to apply such a technique to wider areas, to slow down or speed up the time flow of an entire region. By the end, I had managed to make an entire field of crops mature in a day, or a vast plains wither in the blink of an eye."

"A formidable method of application," Pannis commented with admiration, "If it could be really applied for civilian use, it would likely play a decisive role in advancing the development of the Yarran World; unfortunately, the cost is also very high."

"Indeed," Philarx said with a light chuckle, "Each attempt at altering the time flow of a large range would be enough to turn a middle-aged Mage into a dying old man. If he were already short on lifespan, he might well die of old age halfway through casting. Thus, this kind of magic could never be widely applied unless the caster, like the Deities, possessed an immortal life, allowing them to squander their time freely."

"Actually, this technique was also inspired by that Array you encountered, wasn’t it?" Pannis said somewhat awkwardly when it came to issues related to the Array, "It sounds quite similar, though one is aimed at areas, and the other at living beings."

"You could say that," Philarx, seemingly very enthusiastic when discussing knowledge related to Time magic, nodded, "But that Array was far too profound for me at the time, and I could only draw inspiration from its effects rather than truly understand it. Later, once I could do the things I just mentioned, I went back to study that Array and finally understood most of it. Heh, it was then that I realized why using the Array would only yield less than one-tenth of the rewards—aside from the loss due to different entities, most of the time was consumed to power the Array itself. No wonder not much of one’s own time is needed when using the Array; the sacrifices within the Array provide it."

"Sacrifices, huh, sacrifices," Pannis muttered the word, offering a bitter smile, "It seems you’re seriously intent on challenging the boundary between mortals and Deities."

"Of course," Philarx said with conviction, "There are no Deities associated with the rules of time in this world. Therefore, once I fully master the rules of time, the varied beliefs regarding time will naturally converge upon me, allowing me to utilize that energy to transform myself into a deity. Hence, I have no shortage of Pan-believers, and even now, I have many devout followers. What I lack as of now is only the last fortress in my understanding of the rules of time."

"Regarding the reversal of time?" asked Pannis, "Is that what you said you’re currently studying?"

"Yes, ten years ago, I found my research had once again stalled, with no further room for progress," Philarx spoke regretfully, "I had almost completely unraveled the normal rules of time, except for the inability to seize the time from living beings due to interference from life energy, which is why I could only use the Array to bypass it. However, I realized that even with this understanding, there were still vast secrets within time that remained closed to me. According to my conjecture, this area should not have become a point of difficulty; it ought to have been easily breached by me. But in these past ten years, I’ve stood on the edge of these secrets every day, only to be thwarted by a final barrier that prevents my exploration and excavation of these secrets. Once I break through this barrier, I’ll finally achieve complete success."

"So, in these last few years, you’ve changed your previously cautious style and are madly collecting time for this purpose?" Pannis’s smile faded, his eyes narrowing as he asked, "Amassing enough time reserves and then using this accumulation to break through this barrier in one go?"

"Approximately, time is a very abstract concept, and the barrier is also abstract, but if I were to translate this into a theory you could understand, it’s similar to what you’re suggesting," Philarx nodded, "But actually, to break through the final barrier, I have two hypotheses. This is only one of them and also the one with a relatively small chance of success—probably just a one in ten possibility."(To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)