A cold mist embraced the three young cultivators as they stepped through the ancient doorway.
When Lin Mo opened his eyes, the palace had vanished.
Before them stretched an endless silver sea.
The water was perfectly still, reflecting a sky without a sun or moon. Countless fragments of broken clocks floated across its surface, drifting silently like fallen leaves.
No wind blew.
No birds sang.
Even their footsteps made no sound.
Chen Yu shivered.
"This place..."
"...it feels lonely."
Han Qiu slowly nodded.
"It feels like the world has forgotten it exists."
A narrow stone pier extended into the sea.
At its end was a single wooden boat.
There was no boatman.
Only an old lantern hanging from its bow.
As the three approached, the lantern ignited with pale blue flames.
A gentle voice echoed through the mist.
> **"Welcome to the Second Trial."**
> **"Cross the Sea of Forgotten Time."**
> **"But remember..."**
> **"The sea always demands a price."**
The voice faded.
The boat drifted toward them on its own.
The moment Lin Mo stepped aboard, the boat began to move.
No one rowed.
No current pushed it.
It simply glided across the silent water.
For a long while, none of them spoke.
Then...
The sea changed.
The calm surface began reflecting memories.
The first vision belonged to Chen Yu.
He saw a tiny fishing village battered by storms.
A young boy desperately trying to repair an old fishing net beside his sick mother.
"I promised her..."
Chen Yu whispered.
"I promised I'd become a cultivator and bring her to the Azure Cloud Sect."
The vision reached toward him like living water.
The boat rocked violently.
Lin Mo grabbed Chen Yu's arm.
"Don't jump!"
"I have to save her!"
"It's only a memory!"
Chen Yu struggled for several moments before the vision dissolved.
He collapsed to the deck, breathing heavily.
"...Thank you."
Moments later, Han Qiu's reflection appeared.
A battlefield.
A burning village.
A young boy hiding beneath a collapsed house while his father fought dozens of bandits alone.
His father looked toward the child and smiled.
> "Survive."
The smile vanished beneath a rain of arrows.
Han Qiu closed his eyes.
His hands trembled for the first time since Lin Mo had met him.
But he remained seated.
The memory slowly disappeared.
Finally...
The sea grew completely still.
Lin Mo knew his turn had come.
The water reflected Qinghe Village.
Grandmother Yun smiled as she prepared dinner.
The warm light from their tiny home spilled into the night.
Then...
The scene changed.
His parents stood waiting outside the house.
Alive.
His mother reached out toward him.
"Lin Mo..."
"We've been waiting."
His father's voice followed.
"Come home."
The boat stopped moving.
The village seemed so real.
So close.
Only a few steps away.
Lin Mo stood.
Chen Yu grabbed his sleeve.
"Lin Mo..."
He didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on his parents.
For years...
He had dreamed of seeing them again.
His mother smiled warmly.
"You've suffered enough."
"You don't have to keep fighting."
"Come with us."
His father nodded.
"We'll never leave you again."
A single tear rolled down Lin Mo's cheek.
His foot reached the edge of the boat.
The silver watch suddenly grew ice-cold.
**Tick...**
The sound was almost inaudible.
Then the Guardian's voice echoed in his mind.
> **"What is remembered... is not always real."**
Lin Mo froze.
He looked carefully.
Using the **First Hour**, he observed the flow of time.
The figures before him smiled.
But...
They cast no temporal rhythm.
No heartbeat.
No living thread.
Only empty echoes.
Lin Mo slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again...
His expression was calm.
"You are not my parents."
The smiling figures remained silent.
"My mother..."
"...would never ask me to abandon the people depending on me."
"My father..."
"...would never tell me to stop walking forward."
The village shattered like broken glass.
The sea returned.
The boat resumed its journey.
The mist suddenly parted.
Far ahead stood a tiny island.
At its center grew a single silver tree.
Beneath it waited a young girl wearing a simple white robe.
She appeared no older than fourteen.
Her long silver hair danced gently in the wind.
When she saw Lin Mo, she smiled.
"I've been waiting."
Chen Yu blinked.
"Who is she?"
The girl ignored him.
Instead, she looked directly at Lin Mo.
"You passed."
"The Second Trial was never about defeating memories."
"It was about accepting them."
She bowed gracefully.
"My name is **Lyra**."
"I am the Keeper of the Second Hour."
Before Lin Mo could reply—
The sky split open.
A violent explosion echoed across the Sea of Forgotten Time.
A massive crack appeared in the heavens themselves.
Dark energy poured through it.
The masked leader of the Eclipse Court stepped into the trial realm, his black spear resting upon his shoulder.
Behind him came dozens of elite cultivators.
He looked toward Lin Mo and smiled.
"I finally found you."
Lyra's gentle expression disappeared.
Her silver eyes turned cold.
"So..."
"They've entered the sanctuary."
The sea began to rage.
Waves rose hundreds of meters high.
The silver tree shone with blinding light.
The Second Keeper took one step forward.
For the first time, Lin Mo felt an aura even greater than the First Keeper's.
She raised a single finger toward the invaders.
"You are not welcome."
The entire sea answered her command.