They rubbed against him and purred gently like a bunch of kittens.

Mao Lu became frightened when smaller eel like creatures emerged from underneath his skin, they popped out seamlessly from his body and began dancing around with the other eels.

As they did this even more eels began emerging from him like a flood, and began happily flying around.

It was the strangest sight and gave him the strangest sensations. His skin began to feel hot and cold at the same time, his breath became crystallised and then turned to steam. He couldn't discern what exactly was changing but he knew that something drastic had transformed in his body.

"Do not be scared, the essence of time has always been with you. Those emerging from your flesh is your own time essence interacting with the external time essence of this realm."

As Mao Lu watched the eels swim about he suddenly became aware of other creatures. Some were like formless slime oozing out of the ground, others took the form of b.u.t.terflies or birds, some were like rain droplets falling from the sky.

In an instant Mao Lu realised he was surrounded by all kinds of creatures.

"Since you have awakened it is only natural that you see the other essences. All essences are pure energy but they have different types. There are common elements of water, fire, earth, and air. Then there are the special ones with rarer forms. The most common you will see are the life essences."

As Gates spoke Mao Lu began to notice very small ant like creatures that were crawling all over him. They were probably the size of one hair, they glowed blue and were walking across his entire body.

Mao Lu began to see them on his fingers, his arms. They were all over him.

Mao Lu wasn't normally the squeamish type but when he saw these things crawling on him he nearly screamed. He could only guess that these were the life essences that Gates was talking about.

Despite the way they crawled across him, Mao Lu didn't feel a thing. He expected to suddenly feel itchy but in contrast they gave him a gentle and refres.h.i.+ng feeling.

"As a Gatekeeper on the path of time you are limited to only using the time and life essences. If you attempt to embrace the other essences that is the same as violating the 2nd rule which is not to cultivate, practice magic or deviate onto another path.

This goes for other pract.i.tioners too, the essence of time, destruction and creation are exclusive only to Gatekeepers, if they tried to use them it is the same as courting death."

As Gates said this, without warning Mao Lu felt a sudden aching pain. His senses began overloading as more and more of these essence creatures continued popping into view.

Mao Lu was initially amazed that these things were around him in his everyday life yet he hadn't realised it. "To think that for most normal people living in this realm they would go their entire lives never seeing these things. Yet they are all around us."

But that initial amazement turned into growing horror as he saw more of them, it was like a huge amount of data was being forcibly uploaded to his brain.

It was like he was taking a weird trip on drugs, reality became distorted and his mind couldn't keep up with the sudden change in the scenery.

"Relax!" Gates voice echoed, "You are far too tense, at the moment all your senses are being heightened if you panic the sensory overload could send you into shock. You need to relax and accept the essence in front of you."

Mao Lu gritted his teeth, it was easier said than done. Relax? How could he relax when he felt all his faculties become warped.

The pleasant sensations from before had slowly transmogrified into intense pain. His eyes felt like they were being stabbed by thousands of needles. His nose felt like it was burning off as millions of different potent smells invaded him. He could taste blood in his mouth as he felt his bones and flesh being melted.

He could see the small life essences becoming bigger and brighter on him as they sunk their jagged teeth into his skin. How was he supposed to relax when this was happening?

Mao Lu had never felt such agony before. But he knew he shouldn't be overwhelmed by the pain, so he tried to calm himself down.

He began breathing in large gulps of air as he told himself again and again "bear with it, bear with it."

"Bear with it" was a phrase that Mao Lu had been saying most of his life. Every time something happened he'd tell himself to "bear with it". Bearing with the pain, the hards.h.i.+p and the heartbreak. He'd unknowingly become a master of bearing with things over the years.

He never let anyone ever see him at his most weakest, the last time he'd cried was in front of his mother's grave. Because of this Mao Lu's heart was tougher than the average person, his resolve was much stronger.

So when he told himself to bear with it, even when he felt like he was going to explode, he held on until the end.

Mao Lu had no idea how long he struggled for. All he knew was that when he next opened his eyes he was standing in front of that large black metallic door again.

An oozing smelly sweat permeated from Mao Lu's every orifice, and he was covered in a thick layer of grime that he could feel caked against him.

"Congratulations on successfully awakening Mao Lu, you are now officially a Gatekeeper of Time, the Gatekeeper of the mortal realm 145."

Mao Lu didn't know how to respond. The moment he opened his mouth it was filled with the flaking grime that was caked on his face. He nearly threw up.

At that moment he felt unsteady on his feet and a wave of exhaustion hit him like a truck. Just as he was about to collapse he felt Gates flinging him up again into the air.

This time when he landed he splashed into a warm shallow pool.

"Wash yourself in this spiritual water and you will be refreshed." Gates instructed.

Mao Lu obediently took off his clothes and began cleaning himself in the water. As the grime washed away from him he felt invigorating strength abruptly emerge.

As he clenched his fists he felt a breathtaking amount of force hidden behind them.

Before, Mao Lu had never been able to open his eyes while underwater, but now as he opened them it was almost the same as being on land. And when he bopped his head to the surface of the pool he could see the floating mountains flying in the distance as if they were right next to him.

His eyes felt like a high definition camera, and through them the world seemed to sparkle and glimmer in ways he'd never seen before. All the colours were so vibrant and bright.

As he looked at his own arm that he'd just washed from all that grime. His skin seemed paler and so clear it was almost translucent and he could see his s.h.i.+mmering veins underneath.

And when he focused his eyes on that patch of skin he was able to see all the essence surrounding his arm all at once. The life essences on his flesh were now the size of slugs and they were even brighter blue than before, the time essences happily swam in and out of his skin.

When he unfocused his gaze they disappeared from sight but when he refocused they reappeared again. He did it again and again. And even began playing with the time essences swimming around him like a school of fish.

"This really is incredible."

"When one awakens all the unnecessary impurities from one's body are expelled and your senses are heightened. As a Gatekeeper your awakening was harsher than others. This is because you can see the essence of time. Your senses are now far stronger than others at the same stage as you." Gates commented.

"So not everyone can see time?"

"Other pract.i.tioners are aware of time but their perception of it is much weaker and almost negligent when compared to yours." Gates replied.

"I see."

"As you train more you will be able to use time more effectively and efficiently. At the moment your powers are still irrelevant in the greater scheme of things. You have much to improve, but I must say your awakening process was very quick and smooth. You have much talent in this regard.

Usually mortals above the age of 20, have less than 0.001% chance at awakening due to the maturity of their minds and bodies. Someone of your age who has never cultivated before should have found it much more difficult than you did. But the fact that you did this so easily proves that you have a flexible yet strong mind and spirit as well as plenty of talent. These are things that are needed for a solid foundation for an impressive future.

I see more prospects in you then in any Gatekeeper this realm has ever had. I hope you work hard and do not disappoint me Mao Lu."

Mao Lu was momentarily taken aback by the praise. Especially when Gates said he had the most talented Gatekeeper of this realm. He was the 888th Gatekeeper, this was a huge compliment.

Mao Lu could only bow his head in sincerity. "I promise you that I will work my hardest so that I do not disappoint you."

Gates seemed to be happy with that response and gently said, "Good. For now you can go back. We will continue with your training tomorrow. Oh and If I were you I'd prepare yourself before you open the door. It seems there are many guests waiting to meet the new Gatekeeper."

"Guests????" Mao Lu didn't even have a chance to ask before he blinked and suddenly he was sitting naked on the floor of his apartment.

The Book of Gates was resting on the small coffee table where he'd left it. It's pages fluttered slightly and out came flying his putrid smelling, grimey and torn clothes.

He swiftly dodged them.

"s.h.i.+t my uniform has been completely ruined." He cried slightly as he looked at it. But then it slowly dawned on Mao Lu that it didn't matter. It didn't freaking matter.

A few seconds after his dirty clothes landed on the floor loud buzzing and ringing came from one of his trouser pockets.

Mao Lu gingerly peeled the pocket open with his nails as he took out his phone and gaped as he saw the front screen. Not only was it now 2:00 in the morning, but he had 50 missed calls from Fei Bing Bing, 99 from Zhao Detong, 20 from Tanaka Kato, 3 from Bei Lao, 1 call from Frank w.a.n.g and 5 from his manager at Roaring tiger. And there was just as many voicemails as there were missed calls.

"s.h.i.+t!" Mao Lu was speechless. He'd entered Gates when he'd gotten back to his apartment around six 'o'clock. To him it had only felt like less than 2 hours, how on earth was it so late? It was so late that this would be around the time that he'd be leaving Roaring Tiger after his s.h.i.+ft.

"d.a.m.n I'm so screwed and so many missed calls...s.h.i.+t... who do I call back first?"

As Mao Lu momentarily panicked someone knocked on his front door. It was just one knock but it reminded Mao Lu about what Gates had said about the guests waiting for him.

"Do I greet the guests first or do I call back my friends?"

Mao Lu knew that if he called his friends they'd talk to him for ages and might even come over to his place. There was no way Mao Lu could allow that. Firstly there were guests outside and they were probably not the type he could just casually introduce to his friends, and secondly he needed time to process all that had just happened.

It had only been one b.l.o.o.d.y day but Mao Lu had found out how the universe was created, found out about the 400 realms, gatekeepers, and about the existence of magic and cultivation. His body had even transformed and he stepped on a path that would change his destiny forever. It was all a lot to process, and he didn't need his friends breathing down his neck at the moment.

So instead Mao Lu switched his phone off and put it on his bed. Then he threw his ruined clothes in the bin and opened his wardrobe.

"What should I wear?"

Mao Lu felt a headache come a long as he looked at his small amount of clothes. During the years he hadn't invested in clothes for obvious reasons. He had a tracksuit but the rest were all his work uniforms. The only decent pair of trousers and s.h.i.+rt he'd had were from his Cafe e'clair uniform but that had just been ruined.

"What do I do?" he mumbled to himself. Was he allowed to meet these people in a tracksuit?

Gates seemed to hear his plea and said "Turn my pages if you'd like a suitable outfit to represent your status."

"There are clothes in there?"

"Yes. I was going to wait until the annual Gatekeeper meeting to show you, but you need to meet your people whilst looking your best, else they will disrespect you. So turn my pages."

Mao Lu crouched down to Gates and opened it. This time when he opened it there were various ill.u.s.trations on the pages. On the top of the first page was the t.i.tle "Attire for the Time Gatekeeper of the 145th realm."

"Since you are the first Time Gatekeeper this realm has ever had it will be the first time any of these outfits have been seen."

Mao Lu excitedly turned the pages, on each one was an ill.u.s.tration of a very traditional outfit for every occasion. There were outfits for battle, outfits for leisure, outfits for meetings, and even casual formal attire.

Each outfit seemed to be a fusion of all kinds of eras some looked rather traditional and western while others looked traditional and eastern. They all had beautiful embroidery designs of the eel-like time essence on them. They were silvery blue in colour.

Mao Lu had always liked beautiful things, especially beautiful clothes, but he had never been able to embrace that love. When he was younger he didn't want to give his parents a reason to question his s.e.xuality, and when he got older he just didn't have the money to invest in such things.

But now as Mao Lu looked at the rows of designs his eyes glowed in excitement. This was probably the most excited he'd been in a long time.

After a thoughtful five minutes he chose the outfit that looked similar to a shenyi Hanfu[1], it had everything except for the headgear.

"This one, I want this one." His eyes gleamed excitedly. As he pointed at it the design began to glow and transformed into light that wrapped around him. By the time Mao Lu blinked he was dressed in the clothes. They fit perfectly.

Mao Lu excitedly ran to the mirror in his small bathroom. He audibly gasped when he saw himself in the mirror. "Have I gotten a little younger?"

The slight bags he'd had under his eyes were gone, his skin was glowing and was so clear it was almost translucent. His eyelashes even felt a bit longer and his lips a bit pinker. Even his hair seemed to have grown a bit longer and appeared rejuvenated and glossy.

"I look amazing" he muttered as he poked his cheeks. And the outfit. He made a little twirl, definitely hanfu was the best. The time essence embroidered across the fabric seemed alive and was swimming across it as it glowed neon lights.

After a while he realised he was twirling around too much and calmed himself down. He had to go greet his guests.

As he walked to the door the book of Gates turned into a charm that attached itself to the belt of his Hanfu.

He opened the door with a smile.

[1] Shenyi Hanfu is an outfit worn by scholars during the Han Dynasty. The Han dynasty was a very prominent dynasty and the fas.h.i.+on of the Hanfu is said to have inspired the j.a.panese Kimono and the Korean Hanbok