Many Moon-level Wizards also choose to avoid battle when facing Time Hounds."
"So, is there a way to truly defeat them?"
Ron asked directly, his eyes twinkling with a kind of thirst for knowledge.
Uther’s phantom paused in mid-air, as if weighing something.
"To truly kill a Time Hound, you need to meet three key conditions."
He extended a finger made of silver light:
"First, you must have spiritual power intensity above Moon-level, able to act on multiple points in time simultaneously.
This is a fundamental condition, without sufficient spiritual power, it is impossible to stably capture the true form of a Time Hound."
The second finger lit up:
"Secondly, you need to master at least one special magic that can ’solidify time’, such as ’Time Anchoring’.
These spells can temporarily imprison the time manipulation ability of Time Hounds, preventing them from resetting.
However, such spells are extremely rare. The exchange list of the school’s contribution points should have it, generally requiring thousands of contribution points."
The third finger followed and lit up:
"Finally, and most critically, you must be able to attack their ’past, present, and future’ states simultaneously.
This requires a special spiritual attack technique, which we call ’Three-Phase Shock Burst’, an advanced variant of ’Spiritual Shock’ that can trigger spiritual shockwaves at multiple points in time simultaneously."
Ron carefully noted down this information, beginning to construct possible cultivation paths in his mind.
"Time Anchoring" and "Three-Phase Shock Burst"... these are quite interesting advanced fields, although not something to try immediately, understanding more never hurts.
"Are there specific training methods to enhance abilities in this area?" he further inquired.
"Of course." Uther nodded, seeming satisfied with Ron’s thirst for knowledge,
"Regarding ’Time Anchoring’, it is too far from your current reach, and because of confidentiality agreements, I cannot just tell you."
Ron did not feel disappointed, preparing to thank politely, but Uther suddenly changed his tone:
"However, I can talk a bit about the training method for ’Three-Phase Shock Burst’, which may help improve your ’Spiritual Shock’."
"The training for ’Three-Phase Shock Burst’ is extremely complex." Uther continued,
"It requires a kind of mental fragmentation training method under the premise of mastering basic ’Spiritual Shock’.
This training demands dividing one’s consciousness into three parts, fixed at specific time points in the past, present, and future, and then launching a spiritual attack at these three time points simultaneously."
His tone became more cautious:
"I must warn you, this training is extremely dangerous.
Excessive fragmentation of consciousness may lead to permanent mental damage, or even personality disorder.
Never attempt it without sufficient spiritual power foundation and professional guidance."
Perhaps to change the topic, Uther’s tone suddenly became somewhat ethereal, as if lost in some memory:
"Speaking of Time Hounds, I can tell you the story of the ’Clock King’ and the ’King of Hounds’.
Ron sat up slightly, his eyes showing intense interest.
Uther rarely mentioned such historical anecdotes in solitary meetings with him, the sharing at this moment undoubtedly carried a special significance.
"Not all Time Hounds are solitary hunters." Uther’s voice carried a note of warning,
"They are divided into different levels. The weakest are the drifters, mainly wandering in the shallows of the river of time, preying on weak consciousnesses that accidentally touch the edges of time;
The middle ones are centralized hunters, possessing stronger space-time perception ability, capable of actively tracking targets;
And at the apex are the King of Hounds."
"Kings of Hounds are different from ordinary Time Hounds, they are the leaders of their respective clans, not only do they far surpass ordinary hounds in all-round qualities, they can also command ordinary hounds to form hunting squads."
Uther’s voice lowered:
"The scariest part is that Kings of Hounds can autonomously create ’dimensional angles’ in the ’hunting grounds’ of the consciousness realm for movement and attack.
This means they no longer rely on naturally formed space-time gaps but can actively create attack paths."
Ron couldn’t help but recall his thrilling confrontation with a Time Hound.
If the opponent had the ability to create "dimensional angles", the outcome of that battle would have been entirely different.
"A hunting squad led by a King of Hounds is enough to threaten most Great Wizards, and even some top Great Wizards with poor compatibility can only choose to flee when facing a King of Hounds squad."
"And ’Clock King’ Erica was the only Wizard to break this limitation..." Uther’s tone suddenly became somewhat mournful,
"She was one of the most remarkable Wizards of the middle Second Era.
And the only one to be honored as a ’King’ among top Great Wizards before becoming one.
It is said she could contend briefly with numerous true Witch Kings, her precision in time manipulation still unmatched."
Uther’s phantom dimmed slightly:
"And her most well-known feat was finding the fatal weakness of Time Hounds, then specializing in hunting these creatures.
This behavior quickly attracted the attention of the King of Hounds.
Without having become a Great Wizard, Erica designed the killing of a King of Hounds and integrated its core structure into her ’Soul Anchor’.
This caused a great sensation at the time and earned her the title ’Clock King’."
"Soul Anchor..." Ron gently repeated the term, his face full of thoughtful expressions.
This term was not unfamiliar to him; there was a detailed record of it in the "Abyssal Creatures Atlas", a special item created by Great Wizards to counter Abyssal Curses.
In fact, due to recent progress in ’Historical Research’ skills, he had already speculated much about the origins of his ’curio’.
And combining the powerful time capabilities his pocket watch exhibited, along with the convergence between the ’Clock King’ title and the pocket watch...