Your time is running out.

Ji Huo returned to his room, lay down on the bed, crossed his legs, and examined the bronze chime. It looked just like the ones displayed in the museums of his past life, radiating an aura of ancient antiquity.

Merely holding it in his hand made him feel the internal energy within his body flow a bit faster.

Even on a sultry summer night, holding this object brought a faint sense of refreshing coolness.

In fact, the moment he acquired this item, he could sense a natural affinity with it.

He glanced at the inscriptions inside the bronze chime; they looked like hieroglyphics, completely illegible to him anyway.

Regardless, the grade of this item was undoubtedly high—at the very least, it was not like that fine longsword worth five taels of silver that the Sword Saint usually used.

"Store in inventory," Ji Huo whispered inwardly.

The system remained silent for two seconds before suddenly prompting:

[Permission granted. Storage allowed.]

The bronze chime vanished instantly from his hand and appeared within his mind.

As expected, it was a spiritual item, but when did I obtain the permission?

Ji Huo felt a bit puzzled. With a thought, the bronze chime reappeared in his hand.

He tried channeling his internal energy into the bronze chime. He hadn't held out much hope, considering this thing had been in the Grand Preceptor's possession for who knows how long, and Teacher Wen had also studied it for a while. If it could be used simply by channeling power into it, they wouldn't be that incompetent.

True enough, the bronze chime showed no reaction whatsoever, save for a faint, shimmering light appearing on its surface.

Just as Ji Huo was about to give up, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

"Could it be that my posture is wrong?"

He scrambled off the bed, his bare feet touching the floor, and immediately, a surge of Earthly power poured into his body.

Without hesitation, he channeled this newly acquired power into the bronze chime.

Sure enough, the bronze color on the chime rapidly shifted to an earthy yellow, and the entire vessel grew much brighter.

"It seems... there's still no particular change..."

Ji Huo cautiously gave it a gentle shake.

"Clang!"

The clapperless chime emitted a crisp, melodious sound, clear like a copper bell. Hearing it instantly cleared one's mind, and Ji Huo felt as if an invisible force had swept over his entire body, leaving him refreshed and entirely free of the soreness and fatigue from his scuffle with Xia Ningshang earlier that day.

"What a great item, a buff-granting gadget."

Ji Huo's eyes lit up. Just as he was about to examine it more closely, he suddenly sensed something amiss. Looking up, he saw a bright moon hanging high in the night sky.

The moonlight was indeed quite pleasant tonight.

"..."

Ji Huo's mouth hung open slightly. He suddenly felt that it would be wiser to figure out its purpose before using it again—its destructive power was somewhat outrageously large.

It was already the middle of the night anyway, and judging by the clear night sky, it probably wouldn't rain. Too lazy to summon anyone to fix his ruined roof, he simply placed the bronze chime beside his bed and lay down to rest.

As the moonlight waned deeper into the night, he fell into a deep sleep.

The bronze chime, which had remained motionless all this time, twitched slightly and leaped directly into his hand. Ji Huo instinctively gripped it tightly.

...

"Roar!"

Countless shouts seemed to ring out simultaneously.

"Ha!"

The sound shook the heavens and the earth.

Across a dark, boundless horizon, as far as the eye could see, were dense throngs of bare-chested humans with robust muscles, covered in scars, clad in animal skins, possessing exceptionally towering statures, and wearing disheveled hair.

Their bodies radiated a primeval aura, their vitality surging; their spirit and vigor far exceeded those of Central Plains martial artists.

These people held torches high, arranged in profound formations. With every loud battle cry, the torches in their hands danced accordingly—to the left or right, up or down, twirling or sweeping.

In the very center of the crowd stood a tall, remarkably handsome middle-aged man. He was also bare-chested, though his loose hair was tied with a straw string.

With both hands, he reverently held the bronze chime high. The chime, which should have been covered in rust after countless years, had now lost every trace of oxidation. It emitted an archaic radiance, burning fiercely like a flame.

As the middle-aged man lifted his hands, the bronze chime abruptly shot out a beam of white light that soared straight into the firmament.

This beam instantly transformed into a barrier, expanding in all directions.

Immediately following, the field of vision expanded rapidly, revealing that the entire continent was filled with human tribesmen similarly holding torches and dancing ceaselessly.

The leaping flames resembled clusters of hearth fires, blazing across the entire continent.

Looking closely, one could see that the trajectory of these burning fires formed the very profound formations held by these people.

This esoteric formation was currently providing a continuous stream of power, causing the white barrier to expand rapidly.

"Hey!"

The crowd raised their torches high!

"Ha!"

The torches swept downward abruptly!

Chants full of primitive struggle and survival echoed from their lips. War drums beat, setting the blood ablaze.

The barrier expanding outward from the bronze chime quickly enveloped the entire continent entirely, resembling a dome of boundary protection.

It looked even like a burning sun.

Beyond the barrier lay endless darkness.

No sun, no moon, no starry sky.

As this sun blazed brilliantly, dispelling the darkness, faint movements could be sensed writhing within the shadows of the gloom.

"Boom!"

Abruptly, a tentacle larger than a city-state lashed against the barrier, yet it failed to stir even a single ripple upon the boundary.

Upon that tentacle, countless densely packed, blood-red eyes blinked rapidly, staring with malice at the middle-aged man standing at the center of the continent, surrounded by countless humans.

Under the shroud of the barrier, the continent resembled an isolated island exiled from the world.

The middle-aged man gazed solemnly at the high skies. Suddenly sensing something, he tightened his grip on the bronze chime and abruptly looked toward another direction.

His gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, looking straight ahead.

As if seeing something, a trace of understanding dawned in his eyes. Then, pressing his thumb and index finger together while keeping the remaining three fingers upright, he spoke:

"Your time is running out."

The bronze chime flashed brilliantly, unleashing a blinding white light that instantly blanketed the entire universe.

...

Ji Huo felt that the light of the bronze chime in his dream was far too dazzling, bathing his entire face in its glow. Right now, his face felt burning hot, and his eyes stung as if exposed directly to the sunlight.

Half-asleep, he opened his eyes and looked at the sun hanging high in the sky. The sunlight was beating straight down upon his face, which naturally explained the blinding glare.

It was already noon. He reckoned he had been basking in the sun all morning, which explained why he felt so stifled with heat.

Ji Huo instinctively reached out and grabbed—sure enough, the bronze chime was already tightly clutched in his hand.

At the same time, he sensed an influx of information in his mind: the diagram of an array formation, the incantation for casting it, and its name—"Cage."

"Use heaven and earth as a cage, or use us as a cage?"

Ji Huo muttered to himself, scratching his head in distress.

"I always feel like I've stumbled upon something extraordinary. Is this the price of being a time-traveler? Why won't you just let me lie flat in peace?"

"System, are you there?"

"What's your take on this?"

The system in his mind offered no response.

Ji Huo's eyes flickered. He rubbed his chin and dragged out a long, contemplative "Ah," lamenting:

"What a lovely day today. I wonder what date it is? What should I do now?"

[Ding!]

[Side Quest — Peak of "One".]

[Objective: Establish a temple to gather the faith of the human race, preparing in advance to activate the "Heaven and Earth Cage" grand array.]

[Reward: One day of supreme fortune (Effect equivalent to a destiny-chosen protagonist sleeping in a cave with his head resting on the lap of a favored-by-heaven maiden).]