Chapter 40 - The Second Time-Travel

Even if the higher-ups of the Wind Elephant Sect didn’t worship Cassius with the same fervor they did their ancestors, they'd, at the very least, give him a substantial reward once he revealed the existence of the Lanxin Grass cultivation field.

It wouldn't make sense to leave someone to freeze out in the snow after they had just gathered firewood for people, just like how it wouldn't make sense to abandon someone trapped in the thorns after they had cleared the path to freedom.

Of course, he needed to think carefully about how he was going to reveal it, through what means, and through whose mouth. Cassius wasn't stupid enough to go up himself and speak directly to the higher-ups of the Wind Elephant Sect. Once the time came, he'd assess the situation before he made any kind of decision.

His eyes caught on the address: Black Sand City, Jianmu Town, Beierna Mountain. He was hit with an inexplicable sense of familiarity and his eyes lit up.

What a coincidence! Isn't this Li Wei's hometown? Flower Road Village in Jianmu Town, Black Sand City!

He sprang to his feet, muttering to himself, "What day is it today? The twenty-eighth."

Cassius nodded slightly. "The shadow manifestation is going to happen at six o'clock in the evening on July 4. There's enough time. I need to go to Black Sand City and see for myself... If all goes well, I might even find a reason to explain how I discovered the Lanxin Grass cultivation field. It's the perfect time to go back home!"

Four days later, Cassius stood at the train station platform in Baichuan City.

A travel-worn and weary young man in a coat stepped down from the platform. Despite the exhaustion in his face, his eyes were bright and sharp. He left the train station, hailed a carriage, and returned to his apartment.

It was July 2. He still had one more day left to prepare.

The items Cassius borrowed from Matthew arrived on the morning of July 3. A young man handed him a bulging bag and reminded Cassius to use it carefully. Or better yet, not at all.

In the afternoon of July 3, at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Baichuan City.

The light was dim in this vast and secured space. A rotting smell from a pile of junk at the edge of the warehouse pervaded the air. On the far side of the warehouse door, a young man sat on a redwood chair, playing with a black pistol in his hand.

After checking that the magazine was fully loaded and ready to fire, Cassius tucked the pistol back into his waist holster.

He was no fool. And he wasn't foolish enough to sit around and wait for death to come knocking.

The time-travel ability was useful, but there was no guarantee that he could resolve the original owner's attachment each and every time. If he failed to do so, Cassius would have to return to reality and fight the shadow with his original ability.

While the time-travel ability was a fairly stable trump card, the more safeguards he had, the better. He planned to run some tests to figure out the rules of the shadow and thereby find some loopholes.

For example, would Cassius face a weakened duplicate if he ingested a poison that would weaken him the day before and then take the antidote when the shadow manifested?

What if he weakened himself by fasting for two days? Or chose not to sleep for two days to make himself neurotic? Or how about now, where he was carrying an extra modern weapon? Surely, the shadow couldn't possibly duplicate weapons...could it?

Maybe, if he was lucky, he could shoot the shadow in the head as soon as it manifested and it would die instantly, but there were too many uncertain variables...

With this vague expectation in mind, time slowly ticked to 6 p.m. on July 3. At this point, Cassius himself was the shadow he would face a day later. As convoluted as it was now, it would become more clear once he actually experienced it.

Click.

The minute hand on the watch pointed straight at 6 p.m.

Cassius did not move. He continued waiting.

The best time to time travel was 7 p.m. This way, not only would Cassius have enough time to deal with the shadow duplicate, it would also minimize the chances of someone bearing witness to Cassius killing Cassius.

Hopefully, everything goes smoothly.

He exhaled and continued to wait.

Finally, just as the sky outside the warehouse turned completely dark, the black hand on the silver watch pointed to seven.

Cassius squeezed the Wind Elephant Tusk Pendant on his neck tightly.

It's starting

.

The familiar bitter taste filled his mouth, and streams of icy air invaded his mind, making his head tingle and swell. In the upper right corner of his vision, the stored lingering attachment decreased a little at a time, and the icy feeling throughout his body gradually subsided.

[Lingering Attachment: 2.3 → 0.8]

Buzz

...

Cassius's head roared as if he had a a diesel engine running at high speed inside. He slowly scanned around his surroundings as a vague sensation gradually spread throughout his consciousness. It was like vast swathes of mysterious and unknown gray mist were billowing around him.

The rotting smell in the warehouse gradually dissipated. The whole world started spinning. Faster...and even faster! He felt like he was being flung to the ceiling. Just as his vision started to clear...

Bang!!!

A bandaged fist slammed into the sandbag. The bag swung back, and the metal stand fixed to the ground creaked. The sandbag eventually stopped swaying wildly.

"

Phew...

"

Cassius exhaled and looked around.

It was a sunlit room with a gray floor, white walls, and a few windows that faced the sun. In the corner, several brown sandbags hung on fire iron rods and all varied in size and weight from left to right. A white towel hung in the empty space on the far right of the rods.

"This is...the Wind Elephant Sect's training room?"

Puff, puff

.

Cassius could faintly hear the sound of fists hitting the sandbag in the next room. It seemed like two or three people were chatting. In the upper part of his vision, a Wind Elephant Tusk Pendant symbol floated in midair, with a thermometer-like progress bar next to it.

It looked exactly the same as the first time-travel.

With a single thought, a flood of information rushed into Cassius's mind. He closed his eyes and stood in a corner of the training room.

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows at the top of the wall. Cassius stood bare-chested, his strong bronze muscles rising and falling with his breathing. Beads of sweat trickled down the ridges of his muscles, gradually soaking his gray training pants. It was unclear how much time had passed.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes, a mix of frustration and anger flashing through them.

"Damn it!" Cassius couldn't help but curse.

He knew that humans were highly adaptable beings and could possess a high level of endurance. Some heroes were even able to watch their entire family die without batting an eye.

But a sharp blade hung suspended above their heads and once they reached the limits of what they could tolerate, they would draw that blade for the kill. Heroes were like venomous snakes, coiled tightly so that when the time came, they could deliver a devastating strike.

But Li Wei was different; he had endured too much. The blade inside him had rotted and rusted, turning him into someone who passively accepted everything. He became submissive, his heart filled with futile rage.

"Li Wei, you don't deserve any sympathy..." Cassius grabbed the white towel hanging on the nearby railing.

The training room door crashed open with a bang.

A man and a woman, both wearing gray combat attire, came in. The man immediately frowned upon seeing Cassius and, in a loud and presumptuous voice, said, "Li Wei, where is the training equipment I asked you to get from the warehouse?"