The Power of Time and Space

By the second week after Barbara's enrollment, her classmates' enthusiasm hadn't died down in the slightest.

During one break, Lu Chen felt a tug on his arm. Snapping out of his system interface, he turned to see Barbara beside him, pouting helplessly as she opened her small school bag.

"What's this?"

Lu Chen took a closer look—and was stunned to find the bag stuffed full of love letters.

"So many!?" he blurted out.

"Yeah..."

Even with Lu Chen and Ei acting as her personal guards and warding off any classmates bold enough to flirt with her directly, there were always moments when the two weren't around...

Some letters were handed over openly; others were snuck into her desk or locker when they had PE. In short, Barbara had been receiving love letters non-stop over the past few days, and it was clearly driving her crazy.

"Being too popular isn't always a good thing..." Lu Chen muttered as he randomly picked out one of the letters.

Curious, he opened it—only to immediately cringe at the overly flowery tone inside.

Stuff like "Your eyes are like the ocean," "You're the only one in my heart," and "I've been trying to forget you"...

He grimaced and shoved the lovesick boy's heartfelt confession back into Barbara's bag.

"Just throw them out."

"Or drop them off at the recycling center..."

"Or give them to Miko for a good laugh…"

Barbara didn't say anything. She just propped her chin up, visibly distressed, pretending to read her book.

Lu Chen could tell her mind was anywhere but on the page. He shook his head with a grin—Barbara still hadn't learned how to say no.

"You should really learn from Miss Raiden."

"Huh?" Ei, seated just beyond Barbara and immersed in her studies, glanced over in confusion.

Lu Chen blinked. "Teach her how to reject those overly eager boys."

"Oh..." Ei looked at Barbara for a moment, as if seriously considering it.

But then she shook her head. "She can't."

Barbara turned her head, her little face tense in protest. "Why not?"

Seeing Barbara still speaking so softly and sweetly even while resisting, Ei sighed.

"It's about killing intent. Can you manage that?"

"Killing intent?" Barbara blinked in surprise.

"That's right. Use killing intent."

Zen Zhang, who had been eavesdropping from Lu Chen's right, leaned in curiously—his head nearly poking into Lu Chen's space.

Ei's indifferent gaze swept lazily in his direction, landing squarely on Zen Zhang.

In an instant, that invisible aura of murderous intent felt like it had materialized. The atmosphere shifted dramatically.

Zen Zhang's breath caught in his throat. Just being on the receiving end of that stare made it hard to breathe—as if his head might roll the next second!

"Ah—!"

Startled, several nearby students turned toward him in confusion.

After that brief demonstration, Ei calmly withdrew her gaze.

Zen Zhang let out a breath of relief and slumped obediently onto his desk, not daring to glance in their direction again...

"That's how you do it," Ei said quietly, eyes still on Barbara.

"So... that's how it works?" Barbara looked at Ei with newfound admiration. In that moment, it was like a whole new world had opened up before her.

...

After guiding Barbara through that revelation, Lu Chen turned his attention back to the system interface.

Following the Zhongyuan Festival's funeral rites and his battle with Anemo Hypostasis, his level had reached Lv80.

Only ten levels away from the cap.

But now that his former strength was slowly returning, the system levels in the Reality Teyvat System offered little actual improvement.

His true power had already outgrown the numbers on the screen.

Still, system level was tied directly to the Gate of Teyvat—and with the Archon Quest at 49%, Lu Chen could faintly sense the gate loosening.

Progress was accelerating, and he had a strong hunch: his return to the Teyvat continent wasn't far off.

The new skill pool had finally refreshed, and this time, the options were anything but underwhelming—some even took him by surprise.

[Available Skill Selection]

[1. Authority of Time: Slowed Flow]

[2. Authority of Space: Temporal Rift]

[3. Authority of Life: Rapid Recovery]

[4. Map Unlocked – Elemental Anomalies Marked]

[Note: Skills require minimum level 70 to unlock]

Now that he was nearing max level, the system's true nature—its defiance of time and space—was finally beginning to show.

[Authority of Time: Slowed Flow], as the name implied, would allow him to slow down time around him. If it worked as he imagined, he might even be able to pull off feats like the Flash.

[Authority of Space: Temporal Rift] would let him conceal himself within spatial folds, much like the secret realms that formed when two worlds overlapped. Though, this ability came with a time limit.

[Authority of Life] was self-explanatory—perfect for clutching survival with a comeback burst. But Lu Chen didn't need it just yet. The last option, [Map Unlocked], was exactly what he needed.

With it, he'd have a detailed map of the real world, with all elemental anomaly zones and potential secret realms clearly marked.

Whether it was helping Diluc collect ingredients for Teyvat's wine or investigating the Abyss Order, this skill was essential.

Without hesitation, Lu Chen used both skill tokens to unlock [Map Unlocked] and [Authority of Space: Temporal Rift].

As soon as the skills were activated, it felt like his mind ascended to another plane—he could now overlook the entire world.

All areas with elemental anomalies were clearly labeled, and the map operated just like the one in Genshin Impact—user-friendly and intuitive.

The nearest anomaly was in a coastal city, four hundred kilometers away in a neighboring province.

It worked perfectly. After a quick assessment, Lu Chen decided he'd head there to investigate once he wrapped things up here.

As for [Authority of Space], it wasn't convenient to test it out here. He'd try it later in a secluded spot after school.

With that thought, Lu Chen's mind was buzzing.

He still remembered that moment on the journey when the three Archons had debated theology. Back then, his view of the system had already begun to shift.

An ultimate bug that ignored time and space... it might just offer a sliver of hope where none existed.

Fueled by that possibility, Lu Chen spent the rest of class unusually energized.

When the bell rang, Ei glanced at him curiously.

"What were you thinking? You were zoned out the whole class."

Barbara, tidying up her desk, looked over too. "Yeah, and your expression was... really weird."

"Huh? Was it?" Lu Chen blinked back to reality and saw both of them standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"Did you forget?" Barbara said with a helpless smile. "We promised to go to the music club together!"

"Music club?" Lu Chen froze for a second.

Then he remembered—today was Venti's final class.

His beloved students had planned a special farewell party just for him.