A Card In Hand

Chapter 1: Return to Fifteen!

Li Ao awoke.

He found himself no longer trapped in the timeless palace of the eternal void but lying in a damp cave.

Huh?

An illusion?

After coming to his senses, Li Ao first inspected his soul consciousness.

Everything that had once belonged in his soul had turned into nothingness.

It had been over eighteen hundred years since Li Ao had ignited the divine fire and stepped into the realm of gods, and he had never experienced such an anomaly.

What power had transformed him like this?

Was it the ancient gods slumbering in the eternal void?

Wait!

What is this?

In the deepest part of his soul, Li Ao discovered a dimly lit mysterious hourglass.

“The Hourglass of Time?”

Li Ao’s lips trembled.

Trapped in the palace of time for nearly a hundred years, he never expected the Hourglass of Time, which he had long dreamed of, to mysteriously merge into his own soul.

So, the palace of time truly held the Hourglass of Time!

The legend of the creation artifacts was real!

At this moment.

Li Ao hardly knew how to describe his feelings.

The Hourglass of Time, a supreme artifact that even the gods of heaven desperately sought, was one of the three legendary creation artifacts.

It was said to possess the supreme power to reverse time and traverse the realms at will, and its master could transcend the laws of heaven and earth, freely controlling time.

“With the Hourglass of Time, not only can I return to my original realm, but my divine power will be purer than before!”

Li Ao stood up, unable to suppress his excitement.

With the Hourglass of Time in hand, he finally had the strength to challenge the gods of heaven.

A flash of light.

The sound of thunder exploded.

It was only then that Li Ao realized that outside the cave, a chaotic storm was erupting due to the disturbance of primal forces.

He sensed briefly with his mind and was shocked: “The power fluctuations of this storm… are they not too weak? When did the storms of heaven become so feeble?”

He then looked at himself.

Li Ao found himself to be a frail young man, no different from when he was a weak and insignificant youngster in his teens.

What’s going on? Did my soul travel to someone else’s body?

Ah, no!

This body is clearly my own!

“Am I dreaming?”

Li Ao pondered miserably for a long time, and after regaining his memories and comparing them, he was startled by the unbelievable reality: “I’ve been reborn? I’ve returned to my inexperienced self at fifteen? And, coincidentally, right back to the beginning of the rookie assessment period—today is my first day as a rookie entering the trial grounds… Incredible, did the Hourglass of Time reverse time for me?”

Li Ao was stunned by this sudden rebirth.

He had done nothing, yet the Hourglass of Time had taken him back to his rookie days.

Something must have happened.

If there’s a chance to enter the palace of time again, he should investigate the true cause of his rebirth and see what went wrong there.

But for now, returning to the palace of time was far too remote a possibility, so Li Ao momentarily set aside those distant future thoughts.

As he gradually regained his composure, a surge of elation welled up within him: “Fifteen years old, my potential completely intact, I not only have all the experience from my past life but also the Hourglass of Time in hand—this time, if I don’t make those old fools at the Pantheon weep rhythmically, then consider me defeated! Fate is indeed fair; although my previous life was full of adversity, I finally have the chance to breathe easy this life!”

“Wait, I need to think carefully, what exactly was I doing at this time? How did I end up trapped in a cave?”

Li Ao activated memories that had lain dormant for a millennium, tracing back to the origin of his recollections.

Hmm…

During the rookie trial assessment period, he was still an especially innocent rookie.

Today, he was supposed to be on a hunting task for the rookie trials, but when he excitedly arrived at the trial site, he found that his original hunting target, a mere early-stage Black Iron-level demonic wild boar, had mysteriously transformed into a high-tier Black Iron-level stone giant.

In a situation where defeat was inevitable, Li Ao could only retreat awkwardly into a cave for a temporary reprieve.

“Alas!”

Reflecting on his rookie days, he really was a frightfully naïve young man!

If the elders at the Pantheon ever found out about this, would they collectively curse those ‘free educators’ who had nurtured his growth?

Li Ao recalled the various events of his trial period in his past life and laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.

The result of so many free lessons was that a young man, originally as innocent as a lamb, had become a thousand-year-old monster that made the entire underworld tremble and even the gods of the Pantheon gnash their teeth in hatred.

What an effective outcome, truly commendable.

“Ha ha!”

“No, I must preserve such a pure and kind soul; I’ve done too many evil deeds, and it’s starting to get tiresome. I need to try being a good person for a change!”

After his laughter, Li Ao, propping his chin, thought for a long while and then recalled another memory.

In his second year, when he returned after a failed rookie trial, by a stroke of fate, he encountered two bronze-tier Shadow Wolves.

A near-death experience.

But it was different from the scripted plans.

Indeed, it was that brush with death that awakened the rookie’s latent ability.

Moreover, it was a despairing talent, one that grew stronger through adversity, enabling him to rise again stronger after every trial – a ‘tempered steel’ talent.

Seeing such an unscripted self-awakening, those who had painstakingly arranged this must have been in agony, right?

Back then, the rookie, caught up in his joy, hadn’t given the masterminds any response.

What a waste!

Such a rare opportunity must be seized in this lifetime!

With that thought, Li Ao glanced at the stone giant outside the cave.

“A stone giant? A weakling with a combat strength of less than a hundred!”

Li Ao shook his head, hardly remembering how long it had been since he last slaughtered a foe as weak as a stone giant – perhaps eighteen hundred years, or maybe even longer.

Li Ao tried to touch the Hourglass of Time with his mind.

Inside, numerous powerful ancient seals kept it locked, preventing even its master, Li Ao, from probing too deeply.

However, the dim divine light on its exterior contained faint traces of the power of time, elusive and almost imperceptible.

If used against an enemy of silver-tier mid-level strength over three thousand, it would likely be insufficient.

But against a high-tier black iron level stone giant with a combat strength of less than a hundred?

It would be far too easy!

Having estimated this in his mind, Li Ao stepped out of the cave.

He waved at the stone giant not far away, which was quietly observing his movements: “Hey, look here!”

The stone giant immediately reacted.

Its arms swung.

It lumbered towards him, the over three-meter-tall figure stepping heavily, its fists swinging like battering rams, seemingly powerful.

But unfortunately for the giant, Li Ao was no longer the rookie who had once exerted all his effort without being able to affect it in the slightest.

With a thought, Li Ao connected with the Hourglass of Time.

He discovered that he had unknowingly mastered the manipulation of the power of time, without needing to learn or adapt, as if born to be the master of time.

The only regret was that the power of time he could manipulate was almost negligible.

From the weak divine light emitted by the Hourglass of Time, Li Ao gently guided a trace of the power of time.

The power of time was like an obedient dog.

It moved at the command, acting upon hearing.

Sizzling…

Sizzle…

Li Ao skillfully allowed the power of time to flow through the fingertips of his right hand.

The thread of temporal power attracted elemental energy, gradually forming countless tiny bolts of lightning that crackled explosively around Li Ao.

With his index finger, Li Ao gently traced in the air, drawing an immensely mysterious celestial formation with the power of time.

The celestial formation was empowered by the power of time.

It shone brightly.

Its mighty power was displayed.

As the formidable stone giant approached Li Ao, its two massive fists had not yet been raised when the core elemental energy within it was absorbed by the celestial formation driven by the power of time.

With a sizzle… when Li Ao grasped its core energy in his palm and squeezed forcefully, there was a loud boom.

The contract formation hidden within the giant exploded wildly, disintegrating in madness.

Its rocky body peeled away, turning into pieces of rock that clattered down.

Eventually.

It became a pile of rubble.

“I think, if the big bosses were sitting by a warm stove, holding fine wine in their hands, chatting and laughing, and right next to them, a loyal servant secretly issuing orders to the stone giant to block the cave entrance, causing the rookie to cry without tears, and suddenly his head goes ‘boom’ and explodes, this scene must be beautiful!”

Thinking this, Li Ao nodded in satisfaction: “Those who haven’t had their turn to perform yet, please don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future!”

The celestial formation driven by the power of time completely purified all the core energy of the stone giant.

Then it slowly dissipated into nothingness.

Only the power of time remained.

Still swirling around Li Ao’s fingertips.

“How many layers of seals are there inside the Hourglass of Time? They are densely packed; it’s hard to know when they can all be unlocked.”

Li Ao could not delve deep into the Hourglass of Time with his thoughts, so he shook his head, gave up on exploring, and once again used the power of time to draw another complex and mysterious celestial contract formation.

As the celestial contract formation gradually formed, Li Ao imprinted the significantly upgraded elemental energy from his palm onto it.

The two combined, and the elemental energy immediately emitted a strong light.

Illuminating the cave as bright as day.

After a long while.

The contract was completed.

The energy’s glow gradually diminished and faded.

Above Li Ao’s palm, there now hovered a palm-sized purple card emitting a faint, mysterious glow.

Stone Giant: Elemental type, humanoid close-combat war beast, high-tier bronze, pure elemental core, rocky body.

Talent – Rock Body: The Stone Giant possesses a rocky body, impervious to external forces until its energy core defense is breached. The Stone Giant can merge with the ground to move or heal its wounds. As a close-combat war beast, it is invincible on the battlefield. The only drawback of the Stone Giant is its lack of intelligence; indeed, one cannot expect a Stone Giant to follow overly complex tactics.

Li Ao glanced at the description.

Then looked up at the upper right corner of the purple card.

The upper right corner of the purple card featured a very noticeable number: 625.

This number.

Represented the maximum combat power of the Stone Giant.

According to the standards of the lower realm, the combat power of a black-iron tier war beast ranges from 10-100, while that of a bronze tier ranges from 100-1000.

“Returning from rebirth, my first contracted war beast is a trashy Stone Giant, am I losing the face of rebirth?”

Li Ao shook his head self-deprecatingly.

Initially, there was no choice, but later it seems necessary to find some powerful war beasts for contracts to avoid being ridiculed by the old ghosts of the Pantheon as a junk collector when returning to the heavenly realm.

The problem is, where to find powerful war beasts?

Li Ao searched his memory, in places like the Tianfeng Continent, where many ancient laws and prohibitions exist, top-tier war beasts are indeed rare…

Huh?

Wait!

There really are!