Ren abandoned his city. He abandoned his people. He traveled to the Great Canyon.
It was a scar in the world, miles deep. Ren climbed down. He climbed past the fossilized bones of chaos beasts. He climbed past the layers of history.
At the bottom, he found it. The River of Time.
It was not water. It was liquid Sand. It flowed silently, glowing with a pale, sickly light. Ren watched a rock fall into the river. The rock weathered, crumbled, and turned to dust in a blink.
"It is too fast," Ren realized. "If I touch it, I will age a million years."
But Ren was the First Cultivator. He was the genius of binding.
He took out his Aspect of Anchors. He took out his Aspect of Iron. He took out his Aspect of Ambition.
"I will not just drink it," Ren said. "I will Enslave it."