Chapter Fourteen: Evolution of Gears

After thinking it over, Mu Yin didn’t immediately recall the mosquito. She decided to wait until just before they left by car. Although they chatted a little more, it was all idle talk that didn’t interest Mu Yin, so she simply summoned the mosquito back to her side.

Another dozen hours on the road awaited her, but this time Mu Yin was prepared. She drew a purification charm for herself, ensuring that within a ten-centimeter radius the air remained fresh. As expected, she didn’t get carsick at all. Zhou Qi even praised Mu Yin for adapting so quickly, to which Mu Yin could only give a wry smile.

Upon returning home, the first thing she faced was a barrage of questions from her classmates: What was the big city like? Was the competition nerve-wracking? Were there lots of people? Were the buildings really tall? Mu Yin answered them all one by one.

The villagers, too, gathered at Mu Yin’s home after school the next day. After all, she’d been gone three days, and they missed her—mainly because they wanted to continue learning physical techniques from her.

They were full of curiosity, having only ever seen big cities on television.

“Ayin, what’s the city like? Do all the buildings really have dozens of floors?”

“Are there loads of cars in the city?”

“Is there a lot of delicious food?”

“Are people in the city all really rich?”

Everyone fired off their questions at once. Mu Yin, a bit exasperated, replied, “I only went for the competition, not as a tourist. The buildings are tall, but there aren’t that many with dozens of floors. There are a lot of cars and the roads are really complicated. There’s so much food—a whole street of it—but I only got to try a few things. As for whether people are rich, I really don’t know.”

Though weary, she answered each question. Satisfied, everyone began practicing their physical techniques. Compared to when they first started, they could now slowly work through the movements. While still imperfect, they were making progress.

After correcting them a few times, Mu Yin left them to it and began practicing the first tier of physical techniques herself. Unlike the initial movements, these now appeared more aggressive. Physical techniques were, after all, meant to strengthen the body—not just gentle stretches like yoga or calisthenics.

Three days later, Mu Yin received the news that she had made the shortlist. Though she had only placed fifth, it was a clear sign that, despite her special abilities, her artistic skills still needed work. Her style was comic-inspired, which paled in comparison with the ink paintings, watercolors, sketches, or even oil paintings of the others.

Mu Yin had little expectation for her trip to Yunjing. Still, being among the top ten in one of the four districts came with a cash prize—not much, just two thousand yuan, but it was something.

She made another trip to Yunjing, again accompanied by Zhou Qi. As expected, she only placed fourth. It was just enough to scrape by, earning her a five-thousand-yuan prize. Only the top five qualified for the international competition. The generous prize was thanks to sponsorship from the largest private enterprise in the country.

Mu Yin felt some regret, but the previous sense of urgency was gone. Her recent experiences had taught her that the world was not as safe as she’d thought. She still lacked the ability to protect herself—leaving the mountains would not guarantee her anything.

This thought brought her mind back to the gate between worlds. She knew that the passage of time differed between worlds, and, with enough power, one could even manipulate that flow. This was knowledge uncovered during the search for humanity’s last sparks of hope in the future.

Mu Yin wished to use this to buy herself time in another world to strengthen her abilities. But there was a problem: if she went to another world, her body would age according to the time there, and returning home would expose her secret. She wasn’t ready for her family to find out.

Some things could be spoken of, but not everything was appropriate to reveal now. Mu Yin was clear on this point.

So, once summer vacation began, she finished her homework quickly and prepared to explore the gate between worlds. Although there were many such gates on Blue Star, they seemed to connect one-to-one, but in reality, each gate led to a different world.

Mu Yin brought out the temporal gear. While still incomplete, it was sufficient to open the gateway. Back then, she’d been able to be reborn only because there had been a gate nearby.

As for whether these were parallel universes, after her rebirth, the world she returned to had diverged from its original trajectory, becoming a separate universe. The old world, having lost its source core, was nearing extinction and wouldn’t last much longer, so she didn’t feel she was changing anything there.

Events that had already occurred could only split the universe rather than truly change it, unless she could, before that universe’s end, achieve the strength to reverse not just space-time, but time itself—only then could two parallel worlds merge.

With each increase in her power, Mu Yin learned more about the laws of the universe and came to understand these things. But knowledge alone was not enough to change her fate.

Now, she planned to use the gate to buy herself more time to grow. She needed to reach her previous life’s level before 2006 if she was to stop the alien thefts.

She pressed the temporal gear to the gate, trying to extract more information. She learned that she could slip through the cracks of the gate, but since the gate was not fully open, she could not pass through in her own body.

Furthermore, the chaotic currents within the gate were too dangerous for her current physical form. Frowning, Mu Yin searched for another solution—and unexpectedly found one.

She could make a pact with the River of Time and Space, traveling to various planes to complete missions in exchange for energy to fuel her growth.

She could choose the form of travel—body or soul—with time limits, and the River of Time and Space would help her control her return.

Mu Yin had never heard of such a method, but after some thought, agreed. At first, she planned to travel in spirit form, unsure if a child’s body could handle the missions.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot from the gate, striking her temporal gear. She felt it: the once-imperfect gear had evolved into a true temporal key.

With this key, she could open the gate, enter other worlds to complete missions, and bring back energy to continue her cultivation.