CHAPTER 44: AN ON-DEMAND DAD-MAKING OPERATION.

Lu Chen frowned as he sensed the flow of spirit qi within his body. "What's going on? Something doesn't feel right."

The stone tablet was indeed absorbing his spirit qi, but something about it felt... off. Despite the strong pull, it felt more like charging an already full battery.

"Wind Dragon, didn't you say this thing would devour an enormous amount of spirit qi? Right now, it's using even less than what my Heaven-Splitting Six Yang Palms consumes."

Wind Dragon narrowed his eyes at the tablet. "This definitely isn't normal."

As the pull from the stone tablet gradually weakened, Wind Dragon circled it a few times. After a brief thought, he said, "Try channeling more qi into it. I think we are almost there."

Just as the words left his mouth, the sound of gears grinding echoed from deep within the stone tablet.

Click-click-click...

A shadowy projection of the Innate Bagua Diagram appeared in the sky and rotated slowly like a cosmic wheel.

The projection gradually descended and merged with the Tower of Time.

Lu Chen frowned as he stared at the Bagua Diagram in front of him. "It's already activated? But I've only used up less than a tenth of my spirit qi."

Wind Dragon looked at the floating image with equal surprise. He had heard of the Tower of Time before and knew just how difficult it was to activate.

"Logically, it should be open now. But this feels far too easy. And back then... I don't recall any mention of an Innate Bagua Diagram appearing."

Lu Chen's curiosity grew as he studied the projection. "If it didn't exist before, how was the tower activated in the past?"

Wind Dragon shook his head. "There was no Innate Bagua Diagram back then. The cultivation world has developed too quickly in recent years. I also learnt about it only recently."

"Well, since the Tower of Time is already open, we might as well go in. It'd be a waste not to. Who knows? Maybe we'll even come across some treasures."

***

Lu Chen slung the Hunyuan Greatsword onto his back and cautiously approached the Innate Bagua Diagram. He placed both hands on the wall and slowly rotated it.

Creak... creak... bang.

A familiar pull surged from the diagram.

"Huh? This feels like a teleportation portal... Oh no, not this dizzy sensation again."

As soon as Lu Chen finished saying that, the pull intensified and sucked him into the Tower of Time.

***

About ten seconds later, Lu Chen came crashing out of the teleportation portal and landed hard on the ground.

He cursed under his breath as he scrambled up from the floor, quickly brushing the dust off his clothes. "Damn it, not this kind of teleportation again. Every time I run into one of these, it's never good."

"It's pitch-black in here. Wind Dragon, where are you? I can't see a thing."

Wind Dragon's voice came through from above, sounding just as confused as Lu Chen. "Keep walking. I'm right ahead of you."

"Something's off. Time feels completely still... We're not inside the Tower of Time."

Lu Chen followed the direction of the voice until he reached Wind Dragon's side.

He raised his left hand and released a burst of spirit qi; as he did, glowing light illuminated the surroundings.

"No temporal flow? How is that possible? I'm sure I entered the Tower of Time."

Lu Chen kept looking around, holding up the glowing qi for better visibility. "And this layout... we're definitely inside the Tower of Time. But then, why isn't time flowing?"

Just as he was inspecting the surroundings, he turned a corner and came face to face with a wooden face. "Ah! A ghost!"

He instantly turned around and bolted in the opposite direction, his movements smooth and instinctive. But after just a few steps, he came to a halt.

"Wait... what am I doing? I'm a cultivator. Why would I be afraid of a ghost? And this is still my world."

From above, Wind Dragon burst out laughing, circling overhead. "Hahaha! Little Lu, you're killing me! A cultivator scared of a ghost! And it's not even a real ghost! It's just a wooden face!"

"Wind Dragon! You're mocking me again! Just you wait! I'll get you for this!"

"Slot and Strike!"

Lu Chen summoned the Hunyuan Greatsword and unleashed his latest technique.

In an instant, Wind Dragon transformed into the dragon-engraved disk and latched onto the sword. Feeling himself restrained, Wind Dragon quickly begged for mercy. "Alright, alright, Little Lu, let me go! I won't laugh anymore!"

However, the mischievous glint in his eyes said otherwise.

"Hmph. Scared now? Just you wait."

Lu Chen placed both hands on the dragon-engraved disk, preparing to release him. But before he could, a wave of mocking laughter burst from the greatsword. "A cultivator... afraid of a block of wood. Hahaha! Just kill me now, I can't hold it in anymore!"

Wind Dragon had completely let go, mocking Lu Chen without restraint.

Lu Chen's hands, still pressed against the disk, began to tremble. "You... you... Just wait! You're not getting out today!"

"Don't stop! If I'm going to die, let me die laughing!"

Wind Dragon's voice turned exaggerated and sarcastic, imitating Lu Chen's panic. "Ahahaha! A cultivator, a ghost, a block of wood! Oh no, I'm so scared!"

Lu Chen's face twitched violently, his expression turning a shade of purple from sheer anger. "You... you... Slot and Strike!"

Out of options, Lu Chen slammed the disk again, forcing Wind Dragon's image to cover the Greatsword once more.

He gripped the blade tightly and began spinning in place, sweeping it in wide arcs.

While twirling, he muttered, "I'm gonna spin you to death."

"Do you surrender?"

"I surrender! You win! Can't I even laugh anymore?"

Lu Chen was clearly on the verge of a breakdown. "I'll ask one last time! Do you yield, you hoarder dragon?"

"Come on then! Bring it on, you coward! Whoever backs down is a loser! Hahaha! I'm gonna die from laughter!"

Seizing the chance, Wind Dragon finally landed a solid round of counter-taunting.

***

Ten minutes later, both Lu Chen and Wind Dragon were dizzy from the spinning.

The Hunyuan Greatsword flew out of Lu Chen's hand, and Wind Dragon returned to his dragon form.

Lu Chen collapsed to the ground, vomiting while trying to come up with new ways to insult Wind Dragon. "Urgh... Hoarder dragon, do you admit defeat now?"

Wind Dragon lay sprawled across Lu Chen's head, retching between breaths, but never missing a chance to taunt. "Ugh... As if. I'm not like certain people who get scared of a rotting piece of wood... Ugh, I'm gonna pass out..."

Just then, a thin tree branch reached down and gently stroked the top of Wind Dragon's head.

Wind Dragon grumbled as he swatted it away with his tail. "Coward. Don't try to scare me with the Green Sovereign Divine Tree. I'm not like you, afraid of a block of wood."

The branch crawled up Lu Chen's shoulder again, inching steadily upward. "Urgh... That's not me... Put your tail away first."

A gentle breeze brushed past their ears.

"Heeheehee

, it's me. So? Have you made up your mind?"

Hearing the voice so close, both Lu Chen and Wind Dragon looked up, then leapt back at the same time.

Lu Chen shouted in alarm, "Who's there? I see you!"

"Hehehe... It's only been a few days, and you've already forgotten me?"

As the voice fell, a beam of light lit up the center of the room.

Wind Dragon narrowed his eyes at the wooden figure ahead. "Just a piece of wood? What's there to be afraid of?"

"No... it's not just a piece of wood. I know this feeling... Why are you here?"

Without hesitation, Lu Chen summoned the Hunyuan Greatsword again and pinned Wind Dragon onto it, raising his guard."Show yourself. I already know who you are. Stop playing these ghost games."

He lowered into a crouch, held the sword across his arms, and slowly approached the wooden figure.

A face appeared on the wooden surface, with the vines of the Green Sovereign Divine Tree on either side of it. "Hehehe... I'm not playing any tricks. I'm here to give you a gift."

Each word from the face struck Lu Chen like a blow. "What do you mean? What do you want from me? I don't have anything you need."

Every time he desperately needed something, that face would appear in the strangest and most unexpected ways.

"I don't want anything from you. On the contrary, I can give you everything you need. Like this Tower of Time. You'd love to use it, wouldn't you? So here I am."

A breeze swept through the chamber, and the face glowed, casting a white light that filled the vast space. The room stretched nearly a hundred zhang, but it was mostly empty, with only a massive stone monument at the center.

A tiny planet hovered above the monument. The planet was rapidly developing, and time within it flowed nearly a thousand times faster than in the area around Lu Chen.

Lu Chen stared at the little planet. "What exactly are you trying to do? You want me to say yes... is that it?"

"Hehehe... I told you, I am you. I show up when you need something."

The face blew a puff of air, and the time flow in the room gradually accelerated. "We call it... the 'Dad-Making Project.'"

Spherical miniature worlds began rising around Lu Chen, orbiting him. He could clearly see that people were living in each of those little worlds.

"So? Have you decided? Will you carry the burden of the myriad worlds for me? One word from you, and they'll all recognize you as their master."

The face blew again, and a small world appeared right in front of Lu Chen. "You won't need to spend a single drop of spirit qi. You'll become the ruler of time itself. Just like me, able to manipulate the flow of time across entire worlds at will."

"Go ahead. Try it. I'm giving this one to you as a gift."

Lu Chen stared at the floating sphere before him. His heart pounded with excitement, and his eyes started to glaze over."A gift? A whole planet?"

Wind Dragon watched everything unfold from the Hunyuan Greatsword. He quickly saw through the face's intentions. It was trying to lure Lu Chen in.

"Little Lu! Snap out of it! No one gives away benefits for free!" Wind Dragon kept shouting as Lu Chen, guided by the face, drifted closer to the planet. "Wake up! It's trying to tempt you!"

"Tch, such a noisy mouth. You were just as annoying when you were young."

The face blew toward the Hunyuan Greatsword, knocking it away in an instant.

Lu Chen's mind jolted awake. "Are you trying to tempt me?"

He immediately took a step back, retreating cautiously.