As Lin Xiao drifted forward, Lin Xiao squinted into the distance. Far ahead, he noticed something strange—gigantic figures standing like sentinels in the middle of the river.
They were so massive that their bodies stretched up to the sky, their silhouettes towering high above the golden flow. The river split and flowed around them as if they were immovable objects, unaffected by the current.
The humanoid figures appeared to be carved from some otherworldly material, their skin a deep, metallic sheen. Some were in poses of contemplation, while others stood with their arms outstretched as though they were holding something unseen.
Lin Xiao couldn't make out any details of their faces from where he was, but their sheer size and presence made him feel like an insect in comparison.
"What are those things?" Lin Xiao murmured, his mind racing. "They're not gods, are they?"
The river seemed to carry him closer to the colossal beings, but despite their intimidating size, they didn't move.
They just stood there, blocking the river's flow with their immense forms. The river itself continued to flow around them without resistance, like water parting around stones.
Lin Xiao's pulse quickened as he wondered what he was witnessing. "These beings must have something to do with the river of time, he thought. Are they guardians? Or something more?"
A sudden surge of energy rippled through the river, causing the current to pick up speed. Lin Xiao struggled to keep his balance as he was pulled closer to one of the enormous figures.
His heart raced—what would happen if he got too close? He had no idea what these beings were capable of.
As he floated closer, he felt a strange sensation, like an invisible force was trying to pull him toward the nearest figure.
His skin tingled, and a low hum filled the air, vibrating through his bones. Lin Xiao instinctively reached out, trying to resist the pull, but his body kept drifting toward the massive being.
Suddenly, a voice boomed in his mind, so loud and ancient that it nearly knocked him off his feet.
"You should not be here, mortal. The flow of time is not for you to control."
Lin Xiao gasped, his body tensing as the words reverberated through him. He glanced up at the nearest figure, realizing that the voice was coming from the giant itself. Its eyes, which had been closed before, were now glowing faintly, locking onto him.
Before he could react, the figure raised its arm slowly, the movement creating a massive ripple in the golden river.
The force of it knocked Lin Xiao backward, sending him tumbling through the glowing current. He struggled to regain control, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of the situation.
He shouted into the void, "I don't know how I got here! I'm just trying to survive!"
The giant's gaze didn't waver, but its voice softened slightly, though still filled with immense power. "The river flows through all time and space. You are but a fragment of it. Yet you risk unraveling the threads."
Lin Xiao gritted his teeth. "Unraveling the threads of time? Was this what the shadowy figure had warned him about?"
"What do I do?" Lin Xiao asked, desperate for guidance. "I don't want to destroy anything—I just want to get back home!"
The giant's glowing eyes flickered, and for a moment, Lin Xiao thought he saw something almost like pity in its gaze.
"You seek to return. But the path you walk is fraught with consequence."
The figure's words hung in the air as Lin Xiao was pushed further down the river, away from the colossal beings. The current was moving faster now, carrying him away from the towering figures and deeper into the golden expanse.
As he floated away, Lin Xiao couldn't shake the feeling that the warning from the giant was more than just a vague threat. "The choices he made here, in this river, could ripple through time itself."
But he had no choice but to move forward. The river was carrying him along, and all he could do was hope that wherever it was taking him, he'd find the answers he needed.
As Lin Xiao drifted further, carried in the opposite direction by the force of the wave, the enormous figure that had spoken before turned its gaze back to him. A sigh escaped the figure, and its low, ancient voice whispered softly, "Pitiful guy."
The second figure, towering nearby, shifted slightly and spoke with curiosity. "Why do you say that? I have glimpsed his future—he has the potential to become a 9th-level powerhouse."
The first figure's eyes widened ever so slightly, a rare flicker of surprise passing over its normally stoic face. "9th level? But the future I saw... he dies after reaching the 5th level. How can this be?"
For a brief moment, the two figures stood in silence, their massive forms towering over the river as it continued to flow around them.
Though they had both lived for trillions of years and witnessed countless timelines, the divergence of their visions was still notable. A mystery even they could not fully comprehend.
But just as quickly as the moment had come, it passed. Both figures closed their eyes again, the weight of eternity pressing upon them.
To beings like them, the fluctuation of fate was something they had seen before, and no one mortal's fate—no matter how curious—was enough to disturb their calm for long.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiao, still disoriented, continued to drift against the current, pushed backward by the immense ripple the figure had created earlier. He felt the golden river swirl around him, pulling him in directions he didn't understand.
The sight of those colossal figures loomed in his mind, but they were now far in the distance, fading from view as the current carried him further.
"Am I going backwards?" Lin Xiao muttered, confused as to why he was moving in the opposite direction. "What is this place?!"