The One Left in the Crevice of Time

“Your existence will be completely erased. Whether in the past, present, or future, the River of Time will never leave another mark on you.”

“All memories related to you will be replaced, and everything you once possessed will also vanish.”

“All hatred and vengeance will also dissipate like smoke. It will be as if you never came, and never even appeared. But this is not the end.”

“Nor does it represent your death. On the contrary—your life will be prolonged.”

Li Yuan spoke unhurriedly, as if talking to himself, yet also as if pronouncing a final verdict, fulfilling his duty of notification like an inquisitor.

At this moment, Gorman was like a child, looking at Li Yuan in confusion, trying to comprehend his words.

Yet she would repeatedly grimace from the pain in her chest, caught in a cycle of confusion and agony. However, Li Yuan's sentencing was not yet finished.

“You will survive in the Land Forgotten by Time, in the crevice between reality and illusion, in a blank space untouched even by karma.”

“Everything in the world will no longer have any connection to you. The only thing you can do... is live. There, even death is not permitted.”

“You will be unable to eat, and you will not sleep. Yet you will still be able to see everything in the world, whether you wish to or not. You will see things once familiar or strange, and you will see people you know or do not know.”

“But no matter what, you will never appear in this world again. They will completely forget you, just as I said before... In their world, you never came, and never existed for even a single moment.”

“The world from now on will be a new world where you never existed. You will become a ghost wandering the world, continuing to survive all alone with your past memories.”

“The only thing that will keep you company... is the pain I have gifted you, until your life completely ends.”

At this point, Gorman's name—Gorman Greenster Falowell—was written in its entirety into the 【Record of Return to the Void】.

Li Yuan cast a final glance at her and pronounced the final term of this punishment: “And your life will begin from this moment and end three hundred and sixty-seven years from now.”

This was Gorman's true time of death in this world, and also her prison term as a ghost of time.

As his voice fell, the River of Time gradually receded into hiding.

Gorman's body began to turn translucent. A few seconds later, she vanished between heaven and earth like drifting smoke.

Everyone's memories of this former princess of a fallen nation dissipated along with her, and all related records were erased at the same time.

From then on, in this world, the only one who could remember and see Gorman was Li Yuan alone.

Li Yuan's karma with her ended here. He then dispersed the Daoist charm around him and returned to his normal state.

The ordinary teahouse owner returned once more. Letting out a long breath, he rubbed his temples with one hand.

This matter had drained more of his energy than he had anticipated. He had originally thought it would just be a matter of a few slaps or casting a few minor spells at most.

Who would have thought it would become so complicated? If there had been any other better option, he certainly would not have used his lifebound magic treasure. After all, the repercussions were too great...

Just writing a single name had almost damaged the source of this world. Fortunately, there was only one Gorman. If there were a few more... writing them all in would probably be too much to bear.

Even so, his actions this time had still caused some damage to this world, which would take at least eighty to a hundred years to recover.

The good news, however, was that it had no impact on the living beings of this world... At most, their cultivation speed would slow down slightly.

But looking at it from another perspective, cultivating too quickly could easily lead to unstable foundations, a restless mind, arrogance, and so on.

Now that the speed had slowed down, it would give them a good opportunity to build solid foundations and temper their temperaments in the process. Once their cultivation reached higher levels, they would understand the benefits of taking things slow.

After finding a perfectly suitable justification for his actions in his heart, Li Yuan nodded with deep conviction, instantly casting aside his slight trace of guilt.

Ultimately, the main thing was that as long as he didn't say anything, the people here would never know the reason.

Still, he felt a bit like a thief with a guilty conscience. Just as he turned around, he happened to see Hogg and Venus flying toward him.

As soon as the two arrived before him, Hogg bowed deeply to Li Yuan. His sincerity was so genuine and his movements so swift that before Li Yuan could even react, Hogg had already bent ninety degrees. “Thank you, Mr. Li, for saving us once again. If not for you, I'm afraid the entire royal capital would have...”

Li Yuan quickly waved his hand, raising Hogg with a gentle gust of spiritual energy before speaking honestly, “I only came to handle my own business. Saving you all was just incidental... There is no need for such a grand gesture.”

If he were to truly calculate it, he might even owe the two before him an apology...

After his meddling, it would be difficult for their cultivation to make any progress for nearly a hundred years. But then again, they could use this period to temper their minds and accumulate strength to unleash later.

Apologizing was out of the question. At most, the next time they visited the teahouse, he would let them drink a few cups on the house.

Completely oblivious to the truth, Hogg expressed his gratitude and appreciation to Li Yuan repeatedly, stopping just short of kneeling down to kowtow to him.

Venus, standing beside him, was not much better. Having witnessed with her own eyes the various miracles Li Yuan had displayed, she no longer harbored any hope for her so-called mission.

If he was unwilling, the only thing she could do was turn around, leave, and completely abandon the idea.

However, as she watched his interaction with Hogg, he did not seem to be the cold and unapproachable type. Moreover, based on their previous two encounters...

Perhaps he was actually quite easy to talk to? Once this thought surfaced in her mind, the more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Thus, she summoned her courage and approached Li Yuan. Having just calmed Hogg down, Li Yuan turned around to find another one approaching. Furthermore, the way she was looking at him seemed a bit off.

But he did not think much of it, assuming it was just the aftereffects of witnessing power beyond imagination, which would fade after some time.

So he paid it no heed. With a wave of his hand, a knight's longsword flew up from below, hovering in front of Venus. It could now be considered returned to its rightful owner.

Everything had returned to the right track, and it was time for him to go back.

Venus accepted the longsword. Seeing that Li Yuan was about to leave, she hurriedly said, “P-Please wait, Mr... Mr. Li?”

“Yes?”

Li Yuan paused. He did not wish to have too much interaction with this somewhat reckless lady.

After all, his impression of her fell somewhere between a 'spoiled brat' and 'extremely conceited.' Simply put, she was trouble.

However, after this incident, his view of her had improved slightly. Moreover, following his actions today, the thread of karmic ties between them had gradually begun to take shape, so he granted her a bit more patience.