The blooming doll.

"Alright, kid. I don't know exactly what the snowfield taught you, other than how to scream and scrape the world. But what I'll teach you is simple, it's the simplest yet hardest thing in the world, I'll teach you how to fight. So clutch your weapons and focus, a second lost is a life lost."

10 seconds, the Swordman of the Broken Clock would only buy Yin Long's group 10 seconds. To learn how a Worldheart Swordsman wielded their blade in just 10 seconds? Yin Long wasn't so arrogant as to think that he could do that, and the Broken Clock clearly didn't think he was either. Besides, Yin Long was a Woehowl Swordsman, the way he used his blade was fundamentally different from a Worldheart.

But that did not mean that there was nothing he could learn from this exchange. So he sharpened his senses, his world crumbling again as he stretched out each second as much as he could. And the Broken Clock matched his tune, his voice almost sounding as if his lips had curved up.

"Yes, that's a good focus. Do you know what a battle is, kid? A battle is a fight for time. You and your opponent both live in the same time. You attack, you block, you evade, you kill, all in the same time. So to win a battle, you must dominate that time, you must rob your opponent of their time. A second can't be a second, a strike can't last a second, a heartbeat can't last a second."

Thump. Yin Long heard his own heartbeat. It rumbled in his chest like lightning, a drawn-out vibration as it pumped blood throughout his body. He understood the sensation and the concept, he had just dabbled in it due to his desperation. But he was only managing it thanks to the nigh-on divine pills he had gobbled down like they were candy, once their effect faded he would lose the sensation. So he listened, for the sake of that drawn-out heartbeat, for that second that surpassed a second.

"It's coming, kid. Raise your swords and turn your gaze inward, look at yourself the way you would look at a cut of meat on the butcher's table."

It entered his crumbled world just as the Broken Clock spoke, several tens of strands of energy. He recognized the energy as Starblood's, but it was severely weakened. If his guess was correct then the swordsman had probably cut up the incoming attack and pushed it towards Yin Long, it would serve as a good replacement for a living opponent.

Yin Long let out the breath that felt like it clogged his chest, both his black swords vanishing. A new sword formed in his grasp, his soul surging out to pluck up a bit of air. It was a weak sword, possibly one of the weakest he had ever made, it was barely able to maintain its shape. But that was precisely why he made it. If his sword was too good then he wouldn't be able to understand things properly, the quality of the weapon would do everything.

And then he gazed upon himself. The energy coursing through his veins, the light motions of his nerves, the quiet vibrations produced by his muscles every time he moved. A man was made up of thousands of parts he would never even see or understand, parts he didn't even know existed, much less what they did. But he observed them, how they moved in tune with him.

"Bring the sword down. You can see it, can't you? Where to strike."

His arm lowered in tune with the voice. The attacks that entered his world agitated the countless drops that hung around him, the stronger parts of the attacks caused a greater reaction. So he could see where the attacks were at their weakest, where he could produce the greatest effect with a strike. The sword landed on the closest attack, cleaving clean through it without pausing a beat.

"And then right back up again. Don't disconnect your swings. One flows into the other."

His elbow moved, his wrist twisted slightly. And the sword rose again in a clean arch, slicing through another attack from below.

"Down again. Then sideways, then up again, then sideways, then down. Left, right, up, down, left, up, right, down. Again. Again. And again. The hand of the clock never stops moving, the seconds pass on without a care for the world, and so too must your sword."

One slice, two slices, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. His arm kept moving, his blade kept slicing, and the attacks kept falling. He saw his own arm, from the tip of his fingers to the base of his shoulders. Muscles were moving without pause, some so small that they seemed negligible. But none of them were negligible, they were all necessary. They seemed negligible so they were weaker than his other muscles, and because they were weaker they didn't work at full capacity.

Time was lost. Each time one of those small muscles failed to move properly, time was lost. And it didn't stop at his arms. From the shoulder and down through the muscles along his spine, from his spine to his waist, from his waist to his thighs, and from his thighs all the way to his feet. When you swung the blade, you put your body into it, muscles all across your body moved to accomplish even the smallest movement.

Covered in them, he was truly covered in them. Wherever he looked he saw muscles that didn't do their part, muscles that failed to hold the load, muscles that couldn't transmit the proper power. He was marred with weaknesses, covered in holes that stole his time.

"Do you see them now? Time thieves, every last one of them. Look at them, engrave them in your mind, and then repair them one by one. That is how you protect your own time. And by swinging your blade relentlessly as you do right now, you can siphon away your opponent's time. The second he had to attack, steal it by swinging your sword upwards the moment you finished your attack. The second he had to block, steal it by swinging your blade downwards the moment you stole his attack, steal his dodge by swinging the blade again, and then steal his life by swinging once more."

Attack after attack poured into Yin Long's broken world, attack after attack was cut down by his sword. His arm hurt. There was something about the way he swung his blade, the ceaseless nature of it. He had dabbled in things like this before thanks to the times he delved into greatswords, but it had never been to this level.

But he didn't stop. He kept swinging his weapon, he kept moving his arm. He located the muscles that hurt, they were the weakness that marred him, each one stole his time.

"That's the physical aspect of fighting for time. When you swing your sword in an unending rhythm like this, one second will feel like two to you. Your blade is the clock of the hand, and time will only pass as you swing your sword. And as you fix those holes, the seconds will grow longer, the clock will grow larger. When the muscles in your legs are fixed, one second will feel like three. If your opponent unleashes one swing in a second, you will unleash three in that same time, and in doing so you will steal that second from him. Then the waist, then the back, then the arm. And in the end, you'll have all the time in the world, your sword will be the clock."

Physical. There was something in the way the Broken Clock said that word that caught Yin Long's attention. Yes, physical. What they were doing right now was physical, swing the blade, cut down the attack. But was that all there was to a fight? If Yin Long fought someone in a battle to the death, would they only use their bodies like this?

"Quick-witted, I like it. Yes, there are preciously few fights in this world that are purely physical, once you add in Qi and laws then the fight for time becomes all the more perilous. When it came to my own disciple, I had plenty of time to get her used to the feeling of it, of stealing time and having it stolen through Qi. You, you don't have that luxury."

The difference between 10 seconds and a disciple was ridiculous. With the disciple, the Broken Clock could slowly teach her what he had understood over the years, allowing her to form her own understanding. Yin Long had 10 seconds, just the fact that he could get the physical aspect out of the way was already amazing.

"But while you don't have the luxury, you have the luck. You can already feel the sensation thanks to those pills. A second longer than a second, a swing shorter than a second. What takes others years to delve into, you got a glimpse of just like that. Remember it, kid, always think about it when you have a spare moment. You don't need time to influence time, you just need power and understanding. When you use the law of time to influence the flow of time, you're using Qi to do so. So who's to say that you can't use other Qi to do the same? Colour the surroundings in your Qi, subdue it and force it to obey. A thousand threads to tie the world to your blade, in that moment, the world will only move when you swing your blade. And if the world only moves when you swing your blade, then time will only move when you swing your sword."

Sensation, a glimpse at the truth, sometimes that was the hardest thing to come by. But Yin Long had already touched upon it thanks to the pills, he knew what he had to search for, all he needed to do was find a way to reach it with his own laws. Yin Long hadn't kept track of time, he had been too focused on the Broken Clock's words and his own body. But the Broken Clock had kept close track of time.

"10 seconds, Kid. Well, 15 actually, let's just say that you managed to steal a sliver of my time. The favour's done, you're on your own now, Kid. But don't go dying, I still want to hear your moniker when next we meet, maybe you can even spar with my disciple."

15 seconds had passed, but to Yin Long it all felt like just a single second, it was almost as if time had frozen to allow him this moment. But time never froze for mortals, it continued on without mercy as it moved to the next parting. And just as abruptly as he had come, the Swordsman of the Broken Clock left, leaving Yin Long with some of his teachings and understanding.

Yin Long slowly expanded his broken world again after the voice in his head left, he needed to take in the outside world again. The Broken Clock said that he was only going to stop Starblood from hampering his group, but it looked like he had gone a bit above doing just that.

Starblood had already lost half his arm to Yin Long's attack, and the Broken Clock's first move had left a gash on his other arm. But now, his manifestation body was covered in copious amounts of cuts, each one leaking energy. Looking at his state, he probably lost close to 70% of all the energy he tried to put into his manifestation body, his threat level had gone down significantly.

But even though that should be the case, Yin Long could not shake the sense of unease gnawing at the back of his mind. He was forgetting something, something crucial. He locked eyes with Starblood, who looked to be fuming with rage after not only having failed to kill some children so publicly but also ended up being stopped by a Swordsman. In those eyes, Yin Long saw something sinister, something that made his heart drop.

"Yin Long. I will admit, I was wrong about you. You are more dangerous than I initially gave you credit for, you have strange connections and strength that doesn't befit a pretender. I will kill you, I must kill you. The pieces you stole from my lord, I will have them all return to their rightful place. And if I have to abandon my name and my home to do so, then I will gladly make that sacrifice for my lord. Because in the end, only he can make a world for us."

A sinister air rose from Starblood's manifestation body as a new stream of energy was supplied. Yin Long recognized that energy very well, he wielded it as they spoke after all. Netherworld energy. Initially, Starblood could be forgiven for intruding and trying to kill some competitors, he was a Province emperor after all. But the moment he displayed his Netherworld energy, he would lose everything he had built up over the years.

His position, his title, his home, everything would slip away from him. He would be hunted wherever he went, that was how the greater universe saw the Netherworld after all. And that was especially the case for the stronger beings tied to the Netherworld, the stronger you were the harder you would be hunted.

Why had he brought it out now? He was losing most of the energy he poured in, he had the quality but he lacked the quantity. So why did he do it, the best he could do was pressure them with this energy, they were still strong enough to properly block him. But then it struck him. A somewhat old memory, a conversation held at night. And his heart stopped in his chest. Why, just why did he have to have Netherworld energy?

The second that was longer than a second was drawn out a thousand times further due to fear. He couldn't tell if it was because of how much time had been drawn out or if it had really stopped, but he couldn't even feel his own heartbeat, nor could he feel the rushing of his own blood. His head turned so fast that his neck felt like it would snap. Where were the others?

"I warned you, Yin Long, you will die. I told you, when you do, it will be because of yourself."

Starblood's hateful voice crept into his crumbled world. 15 seconds had passed since the Broken Clock's arrival, 7 seconds had passed since Fang Yau's arrival, and 9 seconds had passed before he arrived. They had spent two extra seconds to meet up with Lang Huo so they would only need a further 31 seconds to escape, and with how weakened Starblood was now it should be perfectly doable. 31 seconds, it was just a pitiful 31 seconds. Surely, the world would offer him at least that, right?

Starblood's Netherworld energy rushed forward as Yin Long's gaze landed on the people he was searching for. Yin Yu, Fang Yau, Lang Ru, Lang Huo, Lan Yun, Jin Wang. Lan Yun was still tied down and struggling to escape, her unnaturally green eyes locked on Yin Long. Lang Ru was the weakest so she was carrying her, and the others were huddled around them right now to support them, to help them move faster while the unknown swordsman protected them.

Close. They were all so close. They had moved a bit away to give him space since he was training, but he could reach them by just taking a measly three steps.

He took the first one, Yin Yu locking eyes with him and noticing the sheer desperation that gathered in them. He took the second one, his Qi rushing out to reach before Starblood's did. Sealing, if he could use his law of sealing to lock it away then things may still work out, he just had to be faster.

But Starblood's Netherworld energy didn't need to reach its target, it just needed to get close, it just needed to trigger that last resort mechanism embedded in it. As such, before he could take the third step, Lan Yun's body stiffened.

Crack. Her eye cracked like porcelain, verdant green light pouring out from within. Crack. Her skin followed suit, cracks spreading across her body as more green light rushed out. The green light burned, it felt like fire. Energy condensed to a deadly extreme, an artificial soul and body burning away for a final attack, one final purpose.

Compared to Lan Yun's blank stare as she looked at Yin Long, Yin Yu's was far more extreme. She didn't know exactly what was going on, but she could smell the danger, the shadow of death that loomed over them. She had less than a second to react, less than a second to decide. And she made her choice, kicking the ground with all her might and rushing forward.

She arrived in front of Yin Long as his leg rose for that third step, his sword digging into her thigh since he wasn't thinking about where he held it. But she ignored that pain and grit her teeth, putting herself between Yin Long and Lan Yun as she used all her might to push him as far away as possible, tightly clutching his shoulders before he could resist.

Crack. Next was the skull, splitting open down the middle to reveal a brilliant mass of green light that flooded the world. Light like fire poured out, swallowing even the surrounding sound as it spread like a tidal wave.

Heavenly Doll, one of the few ways the Celestial World could interact with the mortal world. They were the ones who tracked down those who either came from the Netherworld or interacted with the Netherworld, their sole goal being to eradicate them. And should it prove impossible, like, say that their target is much too strong for them? Well, then they had their final resort, a self-detonation of flesh and soul. They were just artificial beings, what did it matter if they died while taking down their target?

Starblood had been the one who told Yin Long this, had warned him of this. That was why he said Yin Long was weak, he was the one who dragged around the weapon that would kill him. And now, now that weapon erupted. Now, Lan Yun bloomed.