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Chapter 206: Visiting The Past For The Future
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Time is an illusion: our naive perception of its flow doesn't correspond to physical reality.
Reality is just a complex network of events onto which we project sequences of past, present, and future.
However, time is still a concept we humans defined and know off. That was all that's needed for the people with power to make use of it.
The concept of Nen which certainly exists allowed for other concepts to be within our reach, within every creature's reach.
Yasuo is one of those creatures. His control domain allowed for this to be possible.
He can vaguely sense time even with his normal domain, and as his sense gets stronger, so is his sense of time.
So naturally, he can control time but tend to avoid doing so. The reason being is the word efficiency.
If he can erase someone by the dark substance or his vision construct easily and with minimal consumption, then why would he use time with its massive consumption.
He has so many methods, abilities with better consumption and results, thus his rare usage of his time control, especially in offensive fields.
His Aura pool is getting larger and larger at an extreme speed, to the point even the mightiest of beings would be horrified catching even a glimpse of that speed.
As his genes evolved, so did every part of his body to the point he can confidentially say he surpassed Meruem by far.
Even then, he still finds time control to be severely consuming. However, that doesn't stop him from playing with it and train his proficiency for a future where that is a problem no more.
And so, Yasuo could be seen relaxing on the back of his dark and colossal pet, the black dragon, Darco.
That has been a routine of his since arriving at the dark continent and settling here.
A cycle of research, spending time with Morena, and Alluka, then a bit of exploration.
He's rarely in a hurry, so he usually takes his time and lets Darco leisurely fly around the continent.
He has plenty of time, and he could even be considered to be semi-immortal at the moment.
In contrast to the butterfly on his hand aging at an extreme rate. What seemed responsible for that is the purple sphere surrounding it, not granting mercy even after it died for even its body disintegrated into nothingness soon after.
Nitro rise, a commodity too rare even in the dark continent is common cabbage to him.
That with the addition of his negative rose allows for his body and soul to always be in perfect condition; unaging and eternal.
After numerous hours of research, Yasuo found that reproducing Nitro rice isn't actually that hard to do, well, to him at least.
To others, it would be an impossible job. However, Yasuo happened to have all the necessary means to do so. How could he not? By this point, his arsenal of abilities can be count on three fingers.
All he needed is a soil capable of nourishing it, and rich enough to accommodate it. He has a lot of that as when he teleported to the dark continent, he brought back massive amounts of it with him.
The soil he brought back is the one Nitro rice was growing on, so naturally, it's suitable.
In fact, it could even be said to be magical. Plant a seed of grain in it and nourish it enough, then it will turn it into a sacred plant.
Of course, that's an exaggeration but should provide an accurate description of the soil's distinctiveness.
Another thing he needs is a rich area, an area rich with something specific, energy.
He knows of such areas, he has been to a few of them, and something interesting about those areas is that they're all magical.
No matter the differences, there is always something miraculous in such areas, and in this case, Nitro rice is that miracle.
It wasn't long before he reached one of those areas. This is an area he has been to, a vast expanse of rice fields, Nitro rice fields.
This is the same area he's been to previously and just as one might predict, there is not even a speck of Nitro seeds anywhere in the field, he had already harvested them all.
He and Darco flew over the location silently as no one of the dangers in the area even noticed their existence, seemingly hidden within the void.
"Darco, go up and wait for me." Ordered Yasuo before merging with the void and instantly appear deep beneath the ground.
He was continuously teleporting through the ground deeper and deeper. The muddy and rocky ground was no obstacle for him.
It was as if he was moving in an alternate dimension, seemingly appearing in a higher dimension making his existence and the ground's in the same area obsolete.
That is a simple technique of his space control he calls space displacement representing a phenomenon that happens when one produces a precise type of vibration in space.
That fluctuation seems to affect space in a way that creates two space fields on top of one another; two sides of the same coin.
And to a certain extent, this is what space control is all about, producing that rhythm and controlling space in a way that produces the desired effect.
He went deep into the planet until he reached an interesting area where he didn't have to use space displacement anymore.
He appeared in a vast vacant area, strikingly familiar to him, not just because he's been to similar areas many times before, but also because he has been here before.
"It's good to be back and see the fruit of my labor." Remarked Yasuo, gazing at familiar spectacle.
Not too long ago, when he teleported to the dark continent in the middle of the Chimera Ants battle, his goal wasn't just Nitro rice.
The clue to eternality was merely a side dish for him, what he truly wanted is what's deep beneath the ground.
Back then, with the insane amount of power he had, he created six explosive spheres and traveled with them deep into the ground to achieve the spectacle before him.
The spectacle of the creature of the depth thoroughly painted in his color, a deep purple color, the numerous purple lines allowed for such a scene to be possible.
"However, there was something I couldn't do before, and it's necessary, so excuse me for a bit,"
Said Yasuo in satisfaction after looking at the work of art of his crafting before bringing a small test tube from the very depths of the void.
What's within the tube is something familiar because everything he comes across a limb of the creature of the depths, he does the same thing.
He brings out a test tube with a purple liquid in it, next, that liquid disappears into the inside of the creature's limb, mixing with the transparent liquid within.
That purple liquid seemed to act like a virus, continuously spreading and thoroughly painting the creature in its exquisite color.
Yasuo blinked while looking at the creature before saying, "After second thought, you're strikingly similar to a jellyfish as your limbs are basically tentacles.
You are also composed of three layers, as far as I know, an outer layer, called the epidermis; a middle layer made of a thick, elastic, jelly-like substance called mesoglea; and an inner layer called the gastrodermis."
Yasuo started stroking his earring, thinking of a more suitable name for the creature and its species if there are actually creatures similar to it.
"The only difference is that you're the greatest jellyfish of all, and the water you swim in is the vastness of space, and your fuel is your will.
Well, there are many differences. You don't have any venom in your tentacles, meaning you don't sting, but that's because you don't need to as touching your skin is the representation of death itself.
And even coming close to your core is but a death wish, I know for I have tried many times but never succeeded... In futures that didn't actually happen."
"So I will name you in the language of the ancients, and by your greatest achievement and will... Thávma Tis Epithymías."
His calm words echoed throughout the area for a long time after fading into the void with his next destination already predetermined.
Of course, he won't forget about one of the most interesting phenomena in the old granny's memories.
His next destination is none other than the closest forest to the world tree, what they called the forest of Esvania, a place where a great treasure lies, buried beneath the ground... A cursed artifact.
However, that's not Yasuo's only goal for he can see an even great treasure, the forest itself.
How can a place where humans stayed safe for centuries without any trouble or calamity be normal?
There must be more to it, that he knows. He also knows that it could potentially be something none can expect.
His theory regarding it dictates that for that to be possible, there either has to be a sacred power protecting the place, or an even bigger danger, lying dormant beneath their very feet.
Perhaps, all of their lives, the humans that once lived there were walking upon the ground which can devour and erase them at any moment, oblivious to that fact.