Genius Noble With System
Chapter 320: Time Rule

Chapter 320: Time Rule

Apollo, on the other hand, calmly and slowly went towards the path that led to the ninth floor. He didn’t know what he faced, as the eighth floor already pushed him to the limits, and even using fire and space rules, his strength wouldn’t increase much, so he had to be careful about it.

As Apollo walked the radiant path toward the final trial—the Ninth Floor—the very air seemed to shift around him. There was only silence. A silence so profound it felt like the universe itself was watching... and holding its breath.

The sky above the path turned darker with every step he took, not with shadow, but with depth. Stars flickered, not in patterns of constellations, but as drifting remnants of forgotten realms. The path under his feet gradually dissolved into strands of golden light, unravelling behind him—no retreat.

"What will the Ninth Floor be?" he wondered.

His instincts screamed at him—it wouldn’t just be another fight.

At last, the path ended. Before him was a massive gate, infinitely tall, made not of metal or stone but woven out of destiny itself. Each thread was a glimpse into a possible future, some glorious, some tragic, some so alien that his mind couldn’t comprehend them.

Then—

The gate began to open.

Boom!

He instantly felt mysterious power within, and suddenly a seed appeared in his mind, which seemed to stir the seed of destruction within his mind.

Apollo was shocked, as the seed was just like the seed of destruction he received from the system, but the aura and mystery it released seemed different and was more mysterious.

The seed seemed to awaken, and instantly he felt enlightenment. With this he seemed to start to understand the mysterious power within the seed.

It was something he never experienced, as it wasn’t some element or something, but shockingly, it was the power of time. The rules of time.

He stood frozen at the edge of the ninth gate, his breath shallow, heart steady, but mind ablaze.

Within his soul, the mysterious seed of time pulsed—subtle and ethereal—so ancient and profound that it made even the rules of destruction within him feel like newborn flames beside an eternal star. The moment it stirred, the destructive seed within his core trembled.

He saw—moments unravelling.Futures yet unwritten. Pasts never lived. Choices never made.

It was the first whisper of the Rules of Time.

No longer a mere elemental or conceptual rule, but the primal thread of all causality and existence.

"...So this is what it means to touch the flow of time."

His voice was low, reverent. The seed of time calmed down, but he was still shocked by the difficulty of time rules, as even with the help of the time seed, he still didn’t break through the barrier of the first layer rules of time.

He just reached the peak of the 99% law of time. However, even then he felt the mysterious power of time. Not only that, but this also gave him some hints for his future improvement of the Eternal Sword rule.

Even though he didn’t reach the first layer of rule, still just with the power of the rule of time, his strength increased. With its support, all his qualities improved many times.

As he was thinking about his increased strength and mysteries of time, the space around him changed, and he appeared in an empty hall.

Seeing this, he looked around in alertness, as he didn’t know what he was going to face on this last floor. But even after a few minutes, nothing happened, making him feel confused.

Just as he furrowed his eyebrows, the time seemed to stop, and a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. However, the person wasn’t someone unknown, as it was someone he had just met.

He was none other than the Lord Epoch whom he just defeated just now. However, the aura between before and now was different from heaven and earth. Currently he felt like an ant in front of Lord Epoch’s aura, clearly showing it was completely different.

The pressure was suffocating—like standing beneath a collapsing star or before the gaze of time itself. Apollo instinctively tensed, his instincts warning him that this version of the Epoch Lord wasn’t someone he could contend with. Not yet.

The Lord Epoch stood tall, expression unreadable, eyes reflecting countless ages, stars, and forgotten eras. He wasn’t smiling now. Not with amusement, at least.

"I must commend you," the being finally spoke, his voice quieter than before, yet every word echoed across the hall like a decree. "You’ve surpassed me."

"At least in the void god realm, I believe you are the strongest human ever."

Apollo remained silent, waiting.

"What you fought was only a memory," the true Epoch Lord said. "A sliver, bound into the Tower of Epoch to test Void Gods. It has more experience and an understanding of some rules. And yet... you still won."

So that was just... a fragment? A memory?

The difference between them now was like heaven and earth. And yet—even that memory of Epoch Lord, a phantom bound by time and space, had nearly forced Apollo to his limits.

"You have walked far, young one," he said. "Beyond what any Void God should be capable of."

He took a step forward, and reality trembled.

"But perhaps... you are proof that even the impossible can fracture."

Then, he raised a hand—not to attack, but to offer.

"You should have guessed there is no ninth floor; the eighth floor is meant to end, and frankly, I didn’t expect anyone to reach here. But with your appearance, this time it might be possible."

From his palm, a small light gathered. Not dazzling, not terrifying—just... serene.

"This is my reward to you," he said. And countless powers of time were pushed onto him.

"You already received the most important treasure I possessed, but it wasn’t enough to push your understanding of time to a ruling level. So, I can only push it forward forcefully."

Apollo narrowed his eyes as the light touched his chest. And then, everything changed.

His mind expanded.

Suddenly, time was no longer as mysterious as before as he observed—it was a river with constant flow yet could be interrupted.

The rules of time—once a mystery—now echoed inside him.

An ancient resonance merged with him. The world no longer moved around him; he moved the world with his will.

The perfection of law at 99% once again showed an increase as slowly his understanding continued to increase.

It quickly reached the stage where it was ready to break through that mysterious barrier and finally reach the first layer of time rule.

Boom!

Time itself froze—no, it bowed.

A ripple of pure chrono-essence erupted from Apollo’s body, like a sovereign announcing his arrival. The laws of the universe bent around him with joy and resistance both—anointing him and fearing him.

In that instant, Apollo stepped into the First Layer of the Time Rule.