Being in a vast, ancient forest once more, Qin Hong was hit with nostalgia. Although the forests in the cultivation realm are much inferior, and less beautiful due to there being much less spiritual energy compared to the ancient times, he still enjoyed nature around him.
However, that nostalgia quickly faded away since the ethereal fog-like existence of the artifact spirit was right in front of him.
"I am the artifact spirit of the time artifact. Most of my predecessors refer to me as Ring for my name." Said the voice that was neither male or female in an indifferent tone.
"Why did you suddenly appear in my dantian?" He questioned with respect. The time artifact and Ring itself is a level way higher than him. If Ring wanted to, it would take little effort to destroy his soul.
"It is a random choice." It said indifferently.
"Random choice?"
"The sacrifice of the majority of the human cultivators around supplied me with sufficient blood energy (blood qi), awakening my being and allowing me to time jump. The choosing of you is completely random. However, I experienced interference upon arriving for a period of time, before finally reappearing." It explained indifferently.
"Interference?" He curiously questioned.
"Upon arriving to this parallel time period, I felt that all the spiritual energy, qi, and heavens have been completely suppressed outside the spiritual realm, which in turn makes space extremely strong. I've been in the void trying to breakthrough, until recently when a soul ripple created a weak point."
"The heaven and earth energies of the universe have been suppressed?!" He exclaimed in shock. Hong had never thought of that possibility, and was only making conjectures.
"An insurmountable power has created a barrier encasing the spiritual realm that has absorbed everything outside into the realm. I've never seen such power, but the unknown party's dao is way higher than mine. It might as well be the heavenly will itself!"
Ring's voice finally showed awe and fear upon mentioning that.
Hong couldn't help but suck in a deep breathe. Such an unknown power would have to be equivalent to the highest known cultivation ranks of the spiritual realm, before ascension, based on his estimations. Such a force hasn't existed in a long time since the depletion of the spiritual energies that can't be compared to ancient times.
At least, the reason why is now explained, even if Ring's answer sound's questionable. The only way for this to happen would be the heaven's itself or some powerful power equivalent to the heavens itself.
"How many years in the future are we?" He asked in an uneasy tone. This question suddenly appeared in his head, and it was a concerning matter to him. But based on his knowledge, he could already guess.
"About 2.5 million years." It said indifferently.
Hong's body shook, and his eyes dimmed severely.
'Most likely, my sect and everything is gone...'
The probability of all his stuff still existing 2.5 million years later is lower than the chances of the heaven's suddenly collapsing.
He always had a conjecture that this was true, but he had been hoping that it wasn't. Yet, reality suddenly smacked him in the face.
"Don't be upset kiddo. I have some good news! It seems the barrier established a long time ago has severely weakened due to time erosion and bombardment from cultivators. The barrier has loosened up enough that spiritual energy is leaking through in some places. In a year or two, the barrier should completely collapse based on it's current speed."
"More importantly, it seems as though humanity is prospering somehow without any of the three important items for cultivation. The many energy waves passing through the outside contain lots of information! It seems as though my travels are worth it!" Surprise and awe was in it's voice.
"Hey! You listening kiddo?!"
*kachonk!*
A powerful force hit his head, awakening him from his depression.
"There's always the hope of getting all your stuff back. All you need is lots of blood energy, qi, or spiritual energy to recharge me, and I can go back in time." It said with confidence.
"Really?!" His eyes lit up immediately as hope filled his heart.
"Of course! All you have to do is reach Minor God Dao to be able to fill my energy up in a heartbeat. Any less than that and you'll be taking months or years. Of course, if you can kill large amounts of high-level cultivators, I can use their blood energy to recharge."
Hong felt like he was punched in the gut after being helped. At his peak, he was a middle-level cultivator, and could only be a force in the outer regions of the cultivation realm. He would have to surpass his past cultivation realm by a lot in order to even have a chance!
'At least there's a chance.' He could only sigh in a poor mood.
"So I'm your master now?" He asked, changing the depressing topic.
"My oath requires me to get a new master every thousand years after the host dies. I'm here to continue my oath." It said indifferently, which is a yes.
"Is this a spatial dimension?" He asked.
"Yes, but since you're a mortal, you can only come in here with your existing divine sense. Once you have sufficient cultivation, you can put items inside and appear here physically."
His mood felt better upon hearing that.
"More importantly, you should worry about your powerful soul and divine sense."
"What about the two?" His nerves tensed up sub-consciously.
"A powerful soul in a mortal body is an imbalance that will gradually level out in accordance to the heavenly cycles. You soul will gradually dissipate until it has reached mortal levels while your divine sense will gradually vanish. While you don't feel it now, you'll feel it in two to three months."
"And if you keep using them, it'll accelerate the process. The heavenly cycle is temporarily gone, but the laws of the universe are still there, and they do just as a good job."
Hong's face turned slightly pale. It has only been a short while since he arrived, so he hadn't noticed. He quickly checked his soul and divine sense and found them slightly weaker.