Liora’s transformation was relatively slow.
Although each crash of the waves would let their transcendent nature be engraved upon her dragon form, the process was bound to take a lot of time.
It would take months, if not years, for the transformation to be completed.
Fortunately, Liora was in a strange position.
She could absolutely afford to waste this time.
Not because she faced no danger in the Cosmic Universe and had time to waste, but because of the River of Time’s peculiar nature.
While within it—or near it—the flow of time was different.
Even if she spent centuries near the River of Time, merely a moment would have passed in reality, much less a few years.
Therefore, Liora suppressed her urge to immediately leave the river.
Maintaining her majestic dragon form, she remained embedded within the River of Time, like an unmoving stone.
She closed her eyes, allowing the waves to wash over her.
Little by little, her scales became increasingly illusory.
Likewise, the patterns on them became ever more complicated, transforming into miniature dragons that curved along themselves.
The two Laws—of Time and Dragon—began to truly fuse into one. Not the momentary fusion she had forced due to her power, but a permanent state coexisting with her dragon form.
Liora soon lost track of time.
She did not know how much time had passed.
It could have been minutes, hours, years.
It was only a while later, when she felt a tremor run through her body, that she finally snapped out of her stupor.
Her eyes opened, a complicated pattern flashing across their colorful surface.
When she lowered her head and stared at her own body, she came to see that the patterns on her scales had long reached their complete form.
Her body had now turned completely illusory, as though she existed in a dimension higher than reality itself.
These were not the most noteworthy changes, however.
Liora sensed a deeper, more fundamental change.
A status—somewhat equivalent to the Human Emperor status she had managed to obtain in the Cosmic Universe.
"Dragon of Time!"
This name subconsciously flashed through her mind.
The moment she muttered these words, some kind of secret mechanism appeared to have been triggered.
"Roar!"
A thunderous growl came out of her mouth, her head raised toward the sky.
The world itself seemed to have heard her summons.
The River of Time surrounding her halted.
Not the momentary pause that had previously taken place, but a complete, abrupt halt.
With a flap of her wings, Liora instinctively dove deeper into the river and began flying through its body.
As she did, traces of her existence would slowly be painted upon it.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the figure of a colorful dragon started to spread throughout the Cosmic Sea’s timeline.
In the past. The future. The present.
If someone could observe the Cosmic Sea from a high-view point, able to see through its entire history, they would see a colorful dragon existing at every point in time, observing the world from the sky above.
Imprinting one’s traces into the timeline! The signature ability that every Ancient Devil possessed!
Such beings existed in both the present and the past.
This was exactly how they were able to manipulate time: by having their past selves take action and thus alter the present.
Such an ability was shocking.
If it were not for the fact that they would have to suffer backlash each time they interfered with the past, Ancient Devils would be considered omniscient and omnipotent beings—unless a creature of the same level stepped forward to stop them.
Of course, the Princes and Princesses of the Demon World were rumored not to face such restrictions.
For them, the timeline was something they could manipulate at will, just like Liora could select future timelines freely, without suffering any backlash.
Such thoughts raced through her mind while Liora continued engraving her imprints throughout the timeline.
Fortunately, the Cosmic Sea had not existed for a very long time.
Although Liora had sped up its time and it had thus existed for far longer than what she had experienced in reality, it had only been a few thousand years since its creation even in-universe.
It only took her a few seconds before she completed the engraving process.
Soon, the entire timeline had a Dragon of Time "perched" upon it. Her traces had spread throughout history.
As she returned to the River of Time’s present anchor and felt her connection with these other selves, Liora’s understanding of the power of time began to increase.
Her understanding of the Ancient Devils and the Devil power system as a whole became increasingly profound.
She sensed that she could use her other selves to interfere at any point in the past.
Given that the Cosmic Sea did not have any being at the same level as her, this meant that she could effectively do whatever she wanted.
If she wished, her self during the creation of the Cosmic Sea could take action and destroy the entire sea.
Similarly, it could take action to kill any being before it had become powerful enough to match her.
"No!", Liora suddenly thought of something and corrected herself.
"Killing someone is simple. If I want to, I can directly change the past so that this creature had never been born."
For example, killing its parents or ancestors.
The more Liora examined this ability, the more shocked she became.
In fact, her authority over the River of Time as the Cosmic Sea’s "owner" was of a far higher level.
However, that was something exclusive to Liora.
On the other hand, the imprints left on the timeline were something that every Ancient Devil possessed!
For a moment, Liora couldn’t help but shudder.
In the real world, she had not left any imprint on the River of Time.
That meant that if an Ancient Devil wanted to, they could directly return to her past and kill her while she was weak!
Before the Cosmic Sea’s creation! Before any of the backups she had left for her eventual rebirth!
Once someone did that, there would be nothing she could do to stop them!
She had no chance of resisting at all!
A trace of panic flashed through Liora’s heart.
She had always known that she was vulnerable in front of higher-level beings.
However, it was only now that she understood just how vulnerable she truly was!
If an Ancient Devil was determined to kill her, there would be nothing she could do.
Fortunately, Liora quickly recovered from the initial shock.
Since things had reached this point and she was still alive, it meant that no Ancient Devil had been willing to suffer the backlash required to kill her.
This made sense. No matter how special she had been in the past, she was but an ant in front of them.
They were simply unwilling to face the possible backlash from the River of Time.
As for the future...
Liora’s eyes narrowed.
They would have no chance!
With a bang, the Dragon of Time in the River of Time disappeared.
Meanwhile, Liora’s real body, seated in the Divine Emperor’s Kingdom of God, suddenly opened her eyes.
A brilliant golden light flashed through her crimson pupils, spreading throughout the Kingdom of God.
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