From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 2 The Power of the Observer

Lin Chen's footsteps echoed on the steps, each step feeling like stepping on the back of time.

Golden light surged up from below, casting his figure long and thin on the cave wall. The burning sensation between his brows did not subside; instead, it grew stronger as he descended deeper, like a flame suppressed for millennia finally finding an outlet.

He didn't know how long he had been walking.

At the end of the stairs stood a massive stone door, its surface covered in densely packed runes. He didn't recognize a single one of them, but strangely, the moment his eyes fell upon them, their meanings would automatically appear in his mind—

The Temple of the Observer.

The four words struck like a thunderbolt.

boom!

Before he could react, the stone gate burst open, and a vast, ocean-like aura rushed towards him.

Lin Chen saw the light.

Endless, flowing, and dazzling golden ribbons of light weaved and intertwined in the vast space, forming a dense network. These ribbons of light were not static, but constantly flowing, converging, and splitting, like countless rivers surging through the void.

The river of time.

These three words automatically came to mind.

In the center of this sea of ​​light, a giant golden compass floats.

The compass was a full three zhang in diameter, cast entirely from some metal he didn't recognize, and its surface was inlaid with countless gems. Each gem emitted a faint light, echoing the surrounding river of time.

The most striking feature is the pointer in the center of the compass.

It was a crystal pointer, its surface gleaming, slowly turning. With each rotation, the light around the compass changed—sometimes the breaking dawn, sometimes the blood-red sunset, sometimes the first cry of a baby, sometimes the last breath of a dying old man…

Birth, aging, sickness, and death; the changing of seasons.

The rise and fall of civilizations.

The birth and destruction of stars.

Countless images flashed by as the pointer turned, so fast that they were impossible to capture, yet so clear that they seemed to be seen with one's own eyes.

Lin Chen's heart was pounding.

The rhythm of the pointer's rotation perfectly matched the frequency of the burning sensation between his brows.

"You've arrived."

A voice suddenly rang out.

Lin Chen turned around abruptly, his long sword already held horizontally in front of him.

A phantom figure appeared before him.

He was a boy who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old, dressed in a strange robe. His face was handsome, yet he carried an indescribable sense of vicissitude. His body was translucent, as if formed from condensed light, and could dissipate at any moment.

"Who are you?" Lin Chen asked warily.

"I am Shiying." The boy smiled slightly. "An observer of the river of time, and also the guardian of this temple."

His gaze fell on Lin Chen's brow, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes: "You actually have fragments of the River of Time's mark on you... Interesting, very interesting."

"What mark?" Lin Chen subconsciously reached out and touched his brow.

Shi Ying's figure floated in front of him, extended an illusory finger, and gently touched Lin Chen's brow.

In an instant—

boom!

Lin Chen's mind exploded.

Countless images flooded his consciousness like a burst dam, too fast for him to bear. He saw the entirety of Bluestone Town, every single person in the town, every single moment of their lives from birth to death…

He saw the sunset today.

I saw a group of dark figures surging in from the north, so numerous that they blotted out the sky.

I saw flames, screams, and blood; I saw familiar neighbors fall one after another.

They saw the one-eyed giant standing on the ruins, laughing wildly, holding a black token in his hand.

I saw Xiao Cui being pinned to the ground by two men in black, struggling desperately.

They saw Uncle Chen covered in blood, protecting Xiao Cui.

I saw it—

I saw myself.

Standing at the entrance to the town, holding the rusty longsword in his hand, he faced a giant beast that was at least three zhang tall.

The behemoth was entirely black, with blood-red eyes, and spewed a foul stench from its mouth. With a single swipe of its claws, it could smash a house to pieces.

And I, in its presence, am not even an ant.

"Do you want to save them?"

Shi Ying's voice rang in his mind.

"Yes!" Lin Chen roared, "Tell me how to save them!"

"It's very simple." Shi Ying's figure solidified before him once more. "Accept the Temple's legacy and become a formal observer of the River of Time. Only in this way can you gain the power to change your destiny."

"How can I accept this?"

Shi Ying pointed to the enormous compass suspended in the center of the sea of ​​light: "Walk up to the compass and place your hand on the pointer. If you are qualified, the pointer will turn for you. If you are not qualified..."

He paused for a moment: "You will be torn to pieces by the backlash of the river of time."

Lin Chen looked at the huge compass.

The hands continued to turn slowly, each turn creating a faint ripple in time.

That was a power he had never encountered before.

That is a power that can change one's destiny.

He took a deep breath and walked step by step toward the compass.

Thirty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

When Lin Chen stood before the compass, the vast, ocean-like aura of time almost overwhelmed him. His brow was no longer just burning, but a sharp, stabbing pain, as if something was breaking out of its shell.

He raised his hand.

The instant the fingertip touches the pointer—

boom!

The world spun around.

Lin Chen felt his consciousness being pulled into a completely unfamiliar space.

There is no up, down, left, or right here, no heaven or earth above or below, only an endless void and golden bands of light flowing through it.

He saw a door.

It was a door made of pure light, its surface flowing with countless intricate patterns, as if recording all the secrets of the universe.

"Push it away."

Shi Ying's voice rang in my ears.

Lin Chen reached out and placed his hand on the light gate.

The door was heavy, as heavy as pushing a mountain. He used all his strength, his arm muscles tense, veins bulging.

But the door remained completely still.

"Your strength is insufficient," Shi Ying said. "You are merely a mortal at the third level of Body Tempering; you cannot possibly push this door open."

Lin Chen gritted his teeth: "Then what should we do?"

"You can choose to retreat. Leave the temple, return to your town, and quietly await your fate." Shi Ying's voice carried a hint of amusement. "With your current strength, you can save at most a few people. As for the town... it will only be reduced to ruins."

"No!"

Lin Chen roared, "I refuse to accept this fate! Xiao Cui, Uncle Chen, everyone in town... they shouldn't die! I won't allow them to die!"

He exerted his strength again, pressing his hands against the light gate.

A sudden, sharp pain shot through my forehead.

That power, which had been suppressed for who knows how long, erupted completely at this moment.

boom!

A dazzling golden light emanated from between Lin Chen's brows, and a phantom compass mark emerged from his brow, hovering above his head. The mark was almost identical to the compass in the temple, only much smaller, about the size of a palm.

At the same time, his blood seemed to be burning, and his veins bulged under his skin like countless earthworms wriggling.

Click!

A crack appeared in the portal.

Then came the second course, the third course...

With a deafening roar, the light gate shattered completely, turning into countless points of light that vanished.

Lin Chen found himself back in the temple.

His right hand had already touched the pointer.

The pointer trembled violently.

Instead of continuing to spin as Lin Chen had expected, it began to accelerate wildly, faster and faster, until it turned into a blurry blur of light and shadow.

Then--

Click!

The pointer stopped spinning and pointed to a position it had never been before.

Shi Ying's figure suddenly appeared in front of Lin Chen, and for the first time, a look of shock appeared on his handsome face.

"This is impossible..." he murmured. "The pointer is pointing to... the moment of dimensional ascension? This kind of record has only appeared three times since the birth of civilization, and each time it means..."

"What does that mean?" Lin Chen asked.

Shi Ying remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking: "This means that a new dimensional civilization is about to rise. And you will become the guide of that civilization."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire temple began to shake violently.

The river of time, suspended in the air, suddenly surged toward Lin Chen, and the golden ribbons of light entered his brow one after another, gathering, condensing, and transforming within his body.

Lin Chen looked up and let out a painful roar.

It felt like someone was piercing his brain with a red-hot iron bar, or like countless ants were gnawing at his soul.

But he did not fall.

He gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and let the power rage within him.

Because he knew this was his only chance to change his fate.

If he misses out, he can only watch helplessly as the town is destroyed, as Xiao Cui dies, and as he becomes that powerless boy.

He doesn't want that kind of fate!

I don't know how much time passed.

It may be a moment, or it may be forever.

When Lin Chen opened his eyes again, everything had changed.

A faint golden hue appeared in his pupils, casting a soft halo around everything he looked at. It was a projection of the river of time, allowing him to vaguely perceive the past and future of things.

And the space between the eyebrows—

A golden mark appeared between his eyebrows.

The mark was only the size of a fingernail, shaped like a miniature compass, and was slowly rotating. With each rotation, he could feel a faint warm current emanating from the mark and flowing throughout his body.

The imprint of time.

He officially became an observer of the river of time.

"You did it." Shi Ying's figure floated in front of him. "From today onwards, you will be blessed by the river of time. You will be able to see the fleeting future, sense the flow of time, and access powers you could never have imagined before."

He paused, a complex look flashing in his eyes: "But at the same time, you will also bear the responsibility of guiding civilization to a higher dimension. This is the price that the river of time has chosen you for."

Lin Chen did not answer.

Because he saw a scene.

A scene that only he could see.

In the scene, the group of men in black are rushing along Black Wind Ridge. The one-eyed giant has a ferocious grin on his face.

"Hurry up! We must reach Qing Shi Town before nightfall! Kill everyone in town first, then enter the ruins to seize the relics!"

"yes!"

The image disappeared.

Lin Chen suddenly turned around and rushed towards the exit.

"Wait!" Shi Ying shouted, "You've only just awakened; you don't have enough strength to fight those assassins! You need time, you need to train—"

"It's too late!" Lin Chen's voice came from afar. "If I don't go now, the town will be slaughtered tonight! By the time I cultivate to be powerful enough, the town will already be ruins!"

Shi Ying was stunned.

Then he smiled.

That smile carried a hint of relief, a hint of appreciation, and a hint of... anticipation.

"An interesting lad," he muttered to himself. "To die trying to save someone? No... you're the type who'll unleash your full potential in dire situations. The river of time chose you, and it certainly didn't make a mistake."

He waved.

A golden light flew out from the temple and entered Lin Chen's brow.

"That's a projection of the Time Compass," Shi Ying's voice rang in Lin Chen's ears. "It can save your life in a critical moment. But you only have one chance; whether you can use it or not depends on your own fate."

Lin Chen did not turn around.

He had already rushed out of the stone gate and stepped onto the upward stairs.

Behind him, the golden light of the temple gradually dimmed, and the sea of ​​light in the river of time slowly dissipated.

"Go, Observer." Shi Ying's voice echoed in the void, "Let me see how far you can go on this path..."

Lin Chen rushed out of the mine at top speed.

The sunlight was so bright he could barely open his eyes, but he didn't care. The time mark between his brows was spinning wildly, and one image after another flashed through his mind.

He saw himself running wildly back to town.

He saw himself shouting loudly at the entrance of town, but no one believed him.

As dusk fell, dark shadows surged in from the north.

The men in black launched the first attack, plunging the town into chaos.

I saw the number of those men in black; there were about twenty of them.

The leader was a one-eyed giant whose strength was at least at the seventh level of Body Tempering.

They were accompanied by a tamed demon beast, which was enormous and at least equivalent to the ninth level of Body Tempering.

The men in black would sneak into the town at dusk, first controlling the town entrance, and then releasing monsters to create panic.

In the chaos, they would appear under the guise of "rescue," gain the townspeople's trust, and then kill them one by one.

Finally, they will open the back gate of the town, letting the real monster horde flood in and complete the massacre of the town.

The entire plan was meticulous and cruel.

But Lin Chen already knew.

What he needs to do now is to stop all of this from happening.

Even if he is just a newly awakened observer.

Even if he had to face an assassin at the seventh level of Body Tempering and a demonic beast at the ninth level of Body Tempering.

For Xiao Cui, for Uncle Chen, for everyone in the town—he must win!