RE: LORD OF TIME

William wasn’t surprised to see Vivian still waiting outside, as he had already expected this.

Especially after what had happened just before he entered the Astral Rift.

”Senior, you are still here,” He said with a smile as he walked over to her.

The way he spoke to her was completely different from how he had spoken to her when they first met.

There was something he wanted to confirm, and he couldn’t do that while speaking to her the way he had before.

The corners of Vivian’s lips arched upward slightly when she noticed the change in William’s attitude, and she stood up from the boulder.

”It seems your trip to the Astral Rift went smoothly.” She said as she jumped down.

”Indeed, it went even better than I had imagined,” William replied as he stopped in front of her.

Vivian looked him over and noticed that other than a few superficial wounds on his hands that he had received while fighting the Iron Pig, he had no other injuries.

What surprised her the most, however, was the amount of Aether Energy within William’s incomplete core.

With her current level of strength, she could easily sense that the amount of Aether Energy he possessed had increased dozens of times compared to before.

If his Aether Energy had been nothing more than a single drop when he entered the rift, it had now become a blob of water at least the size of a fist.

What was even more surprising was that this amount of Aether Energy was already enough to condense an Aether Core.

Yet in William’s case, he was still far from doing so, indicating that the cultivation technique he was practicing was of an extremely high level.

However, she didn’t dwell on those matters and calmly asked.

”What are you planning to do now?”

William thought for a moment before replying.

”I will first break through to the Star Warrior level and wait for the Aether Affinity Test next month. Once that’s over, I will come to the Sun and Moon Academy as soon as possible.”

Vivian raised an eyebrow when she heard that.

”Why wait until next month? If you want, I can take you with me right now.”

William shook his head.

”There are still a few things that I need to take care of. I can’t leave just yet.”

Vivian looked at William for a few seconds before nodding.

”I see. Then I will see you at the academy, Junior.”

After saying that, Vivian turned around, preparing to leave.

Seeing that she was about to leave, William immediately stopped her, as he still hadn’t gotten the answers he was looking for.

”Wait a moment, Senior. There is something I need your help with.”

Vivian, who was about to leave, stopped and looked at him in confusion.

Without saying anything, William touched the storage earring he had put on inside the rift, and a cube-shaped metal box appeared in his hand.

The instant Vivian saw the cube-shaped box, she froze in surprise as she immediately recognized it.

”You...” She turned to look at the Astral Rift, and the corner of her eye twitched.

”You stole the rift’s core.”

William immediately shook his head and denied the accusation.

”Senior, it wasn’t me,” He said with a serious expression.

”This Astral Rift is connected to the Abyss Realm. It was the people from the Abyss who were planning to steal the rift’s core. In order to stop the core from falling into their despicable hands, I fought desperately against them and finally managed to secure it.”

Vivian looked at William’s almost completely unharmed body and couldn’t find any traces of a desperate battle.

However, she didn’t doubt his words about the people from the Abyss trying to steal the core.

She was certain that when William had entered the rift, he hadn’t possessed either the storage earring or the special container used to seal the Astral Rift Core.

Then it was certain that these things came from the people of Abyss.

She looked at the cube-shaped box in his hand for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

”You need my help to... forge something using this core?”

William didn’t deny it and simply nodded.

”Ordinary blacksmiths can’t bring out the true potential of something like this, and I am merely the son of a humble farmer. There is no way someone like me can come into contact with those high-level master blacksmiths. So I want to ask Senior to help me forge a sword.”

Vivian smiled faintly after hearing William’s words and spoke in a calm voice.

”You know the true value of this core, don’t you? Aren’t you afraid that I will simply steal it? Not to mention that secretly taking away the core of an Astral Rift is a crime. As a noble, I could kill you right now for daring to keep something like this for yourself.”

William shook his head and answered calmly.

”Senior, when we came to the rift together, didn’t you say that, as a senior, it was your responsibility to help your junior? I don’t think you would go back on your own words now and harm your junior, would you?”

Vivian looked at William with amusement after hearing his answer and suddenly burst into laughter.

”Junior...” She stepped forward and gently poked his forehead with her finger.

”Let me give you a piece of advice.” She leaned forward slightly.

”Never trust a woman’s words. Especially the words of a woman you have only met for the first time.”

William looked directly into Vivian’s crimson eyes and asked in a quiet voice.

”Then, Senior... is this really our first meeting?”

Vivian didn’t answer his question and simply stared back into his eyes.

After a long moment of silence, she finally opened her mouth.

”What do you think?”

William sighed softly when he heard her answer because, from the look in Vivian’s eyes, he was now completely certain that his guess had been correct.

”Viv—”

He was just about to speak when Vivian gently placed a finger against his lips.

The faint smile was still present on her lips, but her crimson eyes had become incomparably serious.

”Don’t speak...” She said in an unusually solemn voice.

”Sometimes, it’s better not to say certain things. After all, you don’t know what might happen if you speak about things that don’t belong to this era.”