Chapter 866: Suzuka Gozen
In that instant, Qi Xuansu felt an invisible barrier shatter like an avalanche and dissolve into nothingness.
Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto’s divine power was beginning to dissipate.
Everything suddenly felt vibrant again, like a window opening in a sealed room, letting fresh air circulate once more.
It was clear that Master Yin’s strike had exceeded the protective threshold of the divine power. After all, this was only a remnant of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto’s might, not his true self or incarnation. Master Yin, a paragon among Pseudo-Immortals, was clearly stronger.
Qi Xuansu let out a breath of relief. Thankfully, he had enough methods at his disposal. Otherwise, he truly might have died trapped in this place.
He understood that while the final solution was not complicated, without the Longevity Stone Heart, he would not have been able to retain any memories and would have been stuck in this time loop.
In other words, without past memories, Qi Xuansu would have kept walking up to Tsuchimikado Tadataka, asking who he was and why he was here, only for Tsuchimikado to go mad and get cut in half by Qi Xuansu again and again. Then everything would simply repeat in endless cycles.
Without memory, the first and hundredth loops would be identical. Qi Xuansu would not have changed his questions or sought out the truth. He also would not think of summoning Master Yin. After all, requesting help from the Three Yin Beings came at the cost of a big favor. The gifts of fate always came with hidden price tags, and debts of gratitude were the most expensive of all. Qi Xuansu would not casually call upon them for every problem.
Thus, the final outcome would have been Qi Xuansu being utterly lost in an endless loop until the divine power was exhausted or his own lifespan ran out.
Or perhaps he could only hope that the Daoist Order conquered Ise Province, entered Mount Suzuka, noticed the abnormality, and rescued him.
This reminded Qi Xuansu of the tale of the man who watched chess and forgot time. Wang Zhi went into the mountains to chop wood and saw two youths playing Go. Entranced by their skills, he stayed to watch. As they played, the boys ate dates and occasionally offered some to Wang. After one game, the boys told him it was time to go home. When Wang reached for his axe, the handle had rotted away, leaving only the metal head. When he returned to his village, he recognized no one, and upon inquiry, he learned that over 100 years had passed.
In a sense, Wang Zhi might have been trapped in a kind of time loop, endlessly repeating the act of watching the game. Each time the loop began, he forgot everything, unaware of the passing years and never growing tired. The dates extended his lifespan, and only during the final game did something change, breaking the loop and revealing that a century had passed.