The moment the first grain of sand fell, the entire hall erupted into chaos.
The prisoners who had survived multiple trials knew what was coming—their faces twisted in fear as they scrambled away from the transforming figures.
Some ran in circles, their movements frantic, while others formed tight defensive formations, their weapons gleaming under the eerie light of the hall.
Yun Lintian, however, did not move.
His gaze remained fixed on the hourglass as the sands continued their slow, inevitable descent.
Behind him, Long Qingxuan, Long Chen, Qian Jinglei, Yue Zhihe, and Tang Wei stood in a loose semicircle, their expressions wary but unshaken. They trusted Yun Lintian implicitly—if he was calm, they had no reason to panic.
"Senior Yun," Tang Wei said quietly, his voice tense. "The Temporal Phantoms—they're not just mindless beasts. They retain fragments of their past selves. Some of them… were once powerful experts."
