At the foot of Kunwu Mountain

“What exactly happened over there?”

“Why can’t we see anything once that Fish Eye Tomb closed?”

“Nothing dangerous happened, right?”

…

Various discussions arose one after another.

On the barrier projection in front, there was only that “Fish Eye Tomb” that had been spotted—what Fudao Shanren and Hengxu Zhenren had previously called the “Fish Bone Hall.”

At this moment, Fudao Shanren standing on the hillside stared intently at that great hall, his sharp gaze seemingly trying to penetrate the thick fish bones to reach inside.

The screen clearly showed nothing, yet he seemed to see everything.

Fudao Shanren spat out the chicken bone he had been chewing for ages that had long lost its flavor with a “ptui,” only coldly laughing: “Your Kunwu has really become increasingly lawless these past two years. Such a vicious junior—is this really what Gu Pingsheng raised?”

“He only has this one daughter, so he inevitably spoils her somewhat…”

Hengxu Zhenren spoke while sighing slightly, seemingly knowing his own explanation was quite forced.

“I will remind him.”

Fudao Shanren’s gaze toward him immediately became mocking: “First your junior brother Zichen Sword ‘accidentally injured’ that fool Qu Zhengfeng, today your Kunwu prodigy Gu Qingmei being spoiled enough to attack my chief disciple… Hengxu ah Hengxu, I’m someone who holds the Imperial Heaven Mirror!”

The last sentence suddenly rose in volume like thunder!

“…”

Hengxu Zhenren looked at his furiously angry eyes without saying a word.

No one around noticed this confrontational scene between them, nor did anyone hear Fudao Shanren’s angry roar just now.

After quite a while, Hengxu Zhenren finally said: “After the minor competition comes the Left Three Thousand Sect Assembly. Your position as enforcement elder is still uncertain… What about the Imperial Heaven Mirror? Brother Fudao, there’s no need to threaten me with this. We two should work together with one heart to enable Kunwu and Yashan to stand shoulder to shoulder in this world.”

“Shoulder to shoulder?”

Fudao Shanren threw back his head and laughed loudly.

“I thought your Kunwu wanted to reign supreme alone in the Nineteen Zhou!”

Hengxu Zhenren shook his head with a calm expression: “At least I have never had such intentions—you should know this better than anyone.”

“…”

This time, Fudao also said nothing.

His gaze returned to the projection cast by the barrier, with all the circumstances within that Fish Bone Hall clear in his mind.

The Misty Sky belonged to him after all—he knew everything like the back of his hand.

No one else knew what was happening here; only he was clearest.

Black and white light emanated from above the fish eye, seemingly representing something.

The moment they struck, Jian Chou entered a dazed state, falling into an indescribable chaos.

She closed her eyes and stood in place like a clay or wooden puppet, not moving at all.

In the Fish Eye Tomb, all the vines had disappeared, leaving only that fish eye and the hanging painting on the wall still emanating light.

All those who had fallen to the ground, after their initial shock, finally reacted one by one, either climbing up from the ground or tiredly sitting down.

Without those strange vine attacks, the entire Fish Eye Tomb suddenly became peaceful—so much so that it was somewhat uncomfortable.

Qian Que grimaced as he got up, only seeing that black and white light like a light shield covering Jian Chou. Spiritual sense couldn’t penetrate this layer of black and white radiance either—her entire person seemed to have lost all consciousness, standing rigidly in place.

It… it couldn’t be that something had happened, could it?

Qian Que became somewhat worried.

The others also noticed this scene and looked at each other somewhat uncertainly.

Gu Qingmei coughed once, supporting herself with that ice sword as she rose from the ground.

The Purple Extreme Mysterious Yin Pearl’s light retracted as she wiped away the blood stains from her lips, raised her head, and looked toward Jian Chou’s direction with flickering eyes.

Should this be called evil people receiving their comeuppance?

This was an excellent opportunity!

Earlier she had wanted to take advantage of Jian Chou being trapped among the vines to strike with her sword, repaying the grudge from that day in the Killing Red Minor Realm.

But unexpectedly Qian Que had interrupted. Now, who else could stop her?

She raised her sword and walked forward.

“Fairy Jian Chou, be careful!”

Seeing this, Qian Que was greatly alarmed and almost immediately cried out in shock!

Jian Chou was the strongest fighting force among their group. If Gu Qingmei took advantage of her predicament now, he, this remaining small character, would probably be kneaded and beaten by this young mistress until even his mother wouldn’t recognize him.

How could Qian Que sit by and watch Gu Qingmei attack Jian Chou?

But…

His cry didn’t elicit the slightest reaction from Jian Chou.

She stood there as if she hadn’t heard anything at all, not moving even once. Even her entire aura seemed covered by that black and white light.

“Ha…”

Gu Qingmei immediately laughed out loud.

She looked back at Qian Que, directly spreading both hands in a helpless expression: “Looks like heaven is on my side this time.”

Qian Que gritted his teeth but didn’t know what to say.

This Young Miss Gu truly hadn’t changed her temperament one bit.

But what could he do about it?

Having already been stabbed three times by Gu Qingmei, even if he could move, he couldn’t display much fighting power.

Seeing Qian Que shrink back and behave himself, Gu Qingmei snorted before turning her gaze back, raising her sword to strike at Jian Chou standing motionless!

The sharp sword tip flickered with cold light, becoming the brightest spot in this Fish Eye Tomb!

Ding!

An unexpected light sound!

Gu Qingmei’s sword actually struck that black and white light shield, almost seeming to spark—directly blocked by this seemingly ethereal yet actually solid light shield three chi outside Jian Chou’s body!

Gu Qingmei’s eyes immediately widened, unable to believe what was happening to her!

“How is this possible!”

Clearly everything was…

She couldn’t quite process this.

“…”

A pause.

Then: “Hahaha! Haha…”

Qian Que burst into laughter, clutching his belly. The wound that had just taken medicine and was rapidly healing split open again due to his series of hearty laughs!

Truly worthy of being Fairy Jian Chou, the number one ranked person in this Left Three Thousand Minor Competition. Whether in conduct, fighting power, or this kind of luck—one had to admire her!

She was now completely defenseless, just standing there, yet Gu Qingmei still couldn’t kill her!

“Infuriating, infuriating, so infuriating haha!”

Qian Que’s maniacal laughter echoed in the Fish Eye Tomb, making people’s hearts tremble with fear.

Gu Qingmei trembled with rage, almost unable to steady her sword.

How could this be possible…

This was clearly an excellent opportunity!

How could she be unable to move her?

She didn’t believe it!

Raising her sword, a battle disc one zhang and eight chi suddenly spun out beneath Gu Qingmei’s feet, with a fist-sized Golden Core phantom embedded at the center of Tianyuan.

Countless spiritual power flowed from her body into the battle disc as Kunxian lines rapidly lit up.

A Dao seal composed of thirteen dao components immediately blazed brilliantly!

Gu Qingmei’s ice sword suddenly rang out with a “clang,” and a faint sword shadow immediately spread from countless sword blades, enveloping the entire sword.

A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes.

When she was still at Foundation Establishment, she had already been utterly defeated by Jian Chou. But now she was already a Golden Core cultivator—how could she still lose to her?

This time, she would reclaim all the humiliation!

With the sword shadow risen, Gu Qingmei showed no hesitation when striking!

A thunderous sword blow!

It crashed onto the surface of that black and white light shield left by the fish eye, immediately causing violent trembling that made even the entire light shield shake slightly.

But ultimately…

The black and white light didn’t dissipate at all.

Gu Qingmei was dumbfounded.

The next moment, a sword light was reflected back, actually striking toward Gu Qingmei’s direction!

“What!”

Her previous sword thrust clearly had no counterattack!

Greatly shocked, she hastily raised her sword to block. That reflected sword light struck precisely on her ice sword, sending her entire person flying!

Bang!

The high and mighty Young Miss Gu finally crashed into the wall!

“Pff!”

Her internal blood and qi churned—she could no longer endure it and finally spat out a mouthful of blood.

“…”

This moment was extremely silent.

Why would Gu Qingmei, as a Kunwu disciple, attack Yashan’s eldest senior sister Jian Chou so ruthlessly? What deep hatred existed between them?

Kunwu and Yashan had always been the two pillars of the Central Domain, but the scene they were witnessing seemed completely contrary to this.

Had they…

Accidentally stumbled upon some secret?

Only Qian Que vaguely guessed at some of the reason.

After all, Gu Qingmei had been quite polite to Jian Chou before—why would she suddenly change face?

That person in the Killing Red Minor Realm…

It might really be Jian Chou.

After all, the kind of formidable power just displayed—among those participating in the Left Three Thousand Minor Competition, there probably wouldn’t be a second person. Nor would there be a second person who better fit his guess than Jian Chou.

Considering this, plus Gu Qingmei’s attitude…

Qian Que felt his little heart trembling.

Jian Chou was inexplicably trapped, and their group was basically stuck in this Fish Eye Tomb unable to get out…

Gu Qingmei swayed as she steadied herself again.

Her gloomy gaze swept over Jian Chou’s motionless figure—

So close, so very close…

Yet unable to harm even a hair on her head.

How frustrating was this?

Turning around, Gu Qingmei looked at the other six people around her.

Qin Lang, Zhou Qingyun, and several others weren’t faring much better. Zhao Bianzhou still held that iron hook, warily watching them.

And also…

Qian Que.

Gu Qingmei looked toward him.

Qian Que’s heart skipped a beat as he sensed trouble and shouted: “What do you want to do?”

“What do I want to do?”

Gu Qingmei coldly laughed: “I can’t kill her, but I can’t kill you? The humiliation from the Killing Red Minor Realm—this young miss still keeps it in mind!”

“What do you mean!”

Qian Que’s soul nearly left his body as he immediately struggled to stand up, thinking of how he had fought alongside Qin Lang and Zhou Qingyun, he instinctively moved toward them.

Gu Qingmei sneered and looked toward those two: “Yashan’s Jian Chou is trapped by the fish eye. Will you help Qian Que and obstruct me?”

Obstructing her, Gu Qingmei, meant obstructing Kunwu!

She wanted to see who had such guts!

Cold air rose from the soles of his feet as Qian Que looked back toward Qin Lang and Zhou Qingyun.

This Dao companion pair also glanced at him.

Then the two of them silently stepped back—just one small step.

Gu Qingmei immediately laughed.

But Qian Que looked toward the three people further right, led by Zhao Bianzhou—

The entire Fish Eye Tomb fell into deathly silence.

That fish eye suspended in mid-air emanated dim white light while that hanging painting exuded ink vapors—the two intertwining together, impossible to separate.

Jian Chou stood within this intertwined radiance, unable to hear outside sounds or perceive the outside world.

For her, the world at this moment had become a void.

The Fish Eye Tomb disappeared, the grim white bone spears covering the ground disappeared, the wildly dancing vines also disappeared.

Even that fish eye was gone, as was the painting hanging on the front wall.

Everything was gone.

She seemed to stand in a void of chaos, opening her eyes without feeling darkness—just feeling that nothing existed, not black yet surpassing black!

The fish eye’s owner had said: destroy his limbs, enter his world?

So what kind of world was this exactly?

Jian Chou frowned deeply.

In this void and chaos, she felt no trace of spiritual power nor any magical artifacts. It seemed that in this instant, she had lost all connection with her Liwai Mirror, Qiankun Bag, and even the Ghost Axe.

Or perhaps…

In this moment where she found herself, these things simply didn’t exist at all.

A thin, weak ray of light suddenly flew from the end of chaos and void.

Ancient, weathered, vast.

Carrying infinite mystery and inscrutability.

Jian Chou immediately looked up.

That thin ray of light suddenly approached, transformed into a torrential flood, surging toward her!

That was…

The vast river of time, flying out from chaos, immediately submerging her like carrying away a speck of dust!

Endless points of light flew past before her.

Jian Chou’s heart suddenly trembled inexplicably.

The moment the long river struck her, the world before her eyes suddenly changed!

Chaos remained chaos.

The vast universe, murky and unclear, heaven and earth indistinguishable, a unified whole.

But chaos was not empty.

In the eternal long night, this chaos gave birth to countless ancient deities who crossed the universe and dominated the primordial wilderness. Some were large, some small—their exact appearances were hard to distinguish, and it was unknown whether they truly existed or were merely void within chaos.

They all lived in this darkness without light, where heaven and earth were indistinct, battling in the eternal long night.

Endless…

They seemed never to know how to stop, never would stop.

This great war that had existed since the birth of the universe—no one knew how long it had lasted.

Only that at the end of this great war, even the largest and strongest deity fell thunderously to the ground.

Powerful chaotic force, accompanying His death, released endless power back into the universe, finally breaking some balance, so…

Endless explosion began.

In one direction of the universe, a thin ray of light suddenly appeared, piercing the darkness.

The universe’s ancient era ended.

A new age arrived.

This ray of light, born from endless chaos, was like a sharp sword breaking open the entire universe’s eggshell.

Ray after ray of light lit up from various directions in the universe.

They were massive spheres suspended in the universe, patches of blurred bright star clouds, and those enormous black whirlpools that devoured everything…

Clear and turbid finally separated. The universe had light, and all the deities who had survived this eternal night’s chaos were finally exposed under this brilliant illumination.

The moment she saw these deities clearly, Jian Chou’s eyes showed boundless shock.

That was infinite reverence for the mysterious power of the chaotic universe!

These deities were distributed in various directions of the universe. The largest had bodies as vast as star regions, soft and floating in endless void; others had wings, soaring across vast worlds…

All kinds, strange and bizarre.

There were even tiny mayflies, with bodies only grain-sized, flapping thin wings and flying in vast nebulae.

The universe began long and stable endless evolution.

On spheres the deities paid no attention to, all things grew.

In the snap of a finger, tens of millions of years passed. Humans finally appeared in the universe, following the will left by some deities, becoming their servants, receiving their teachings, revering them as gods, worshipping them with utmost respect.

But the universe’s environment was changing.

Invisible threads, starting from the appearance of light, began penetrating the universe.

Initially sparse, then dense.

These threads couldn’t affect weak humans but gradually bound the powerful deities.

The ancient deities who had once crossed the universe became weak in these increasingly dense and complete threads, even restricted in movement.

The remaining deities felt enormous threat from the universe’s depths.

After an unknown time, one day a massive road suddenly pierced through void, appearing in the starry sky.

The Starry Sky Ancient Road!

One powerful deity after another, after this ancient road appeared, began mysteriously disappearing.

The deities remaining in the world were mostly weak, even hunted by powerful cultivators who obtained endless Dao seals from their bodies…

When the last deity capable of crossing the universe disappeared, this old era finally reached its end, the curtain falling.

Ancient times ended.

On countless lands, weak cultivators became the rulers.

…

The river of time carried Jian Chou along.

All these scenes in the long river appeared rapidly before her eyes—swift yet vivid.

Jian Chou saw massive altars built by cultivators, saw great cultivators who could destroy entire continents with hand gestures, saw endless demon beasts haunting jungles, waves surging on angry seas…

A point of light suddenly approached.

Neither biased nor deflected, it struck precisely at Jian Chou’s brow!

So the scene before her suddenly changed.

Salty sea wind blew over—before her was actually an endless ocean.

The sky was azure blue.

A small fish swam by the seashore, its gray-black scales reflecting light from above with a translucent feeling.

Jian Chou recognized it—that was a small flatfish.

It swished its tail, paddling through water, but avoided small fish and shrimp passing by, swimming to the shore then back to deeper seabed.

Jian Chou’s gaze involuntarily followed it into the seabed too.

Reefs stood like black forests while deep blue seawater blocked seven-tenths of the skylight, leaving the entire seabed in a fluorescent dimness.

The small flatfish swam past bright-colored coral, past crystal-white transparent large shrimp, past several eight-armed octopi, and also past a large crab lying on the ground motionless for ages…

Finally, it stopped before a reef.

In front of the reef, a sea turtle fully two zhang long and wide remained motionless in the seawater’s movement, its shell covered with green water plants and seaweed.

“Little Flatfish has returned…”

An aged voice.

The flatfish paused, swimming several circles before the large sea turtle’s eyes: “Still didn’t see her today. Master Dongyuan, won’t she come anymore?”

“She will come.”

The old turtle’s words were extremely slow but carried a power that calmed the heart.

But the flatfish shook its head, unable to calm down at all.

“But she just hasn’t come! How can I see her?”

“Hehe,” the old turtle laughed, “If you want to see her soon, cultivate well. Flatfish’s dual eyes can glimpse heavenly secrets—the left eye is horizontal, connecting to space, observing all directions above and below; the right eye is vertical, connecting to time, perceiving past and future. When you master the heaven-glimpsing eyes and explore the universe, wouldn’t seeing her be simple?”

All these conversations naturally entered Jian Chou’s mind.

Her spirit suddenly shook violently!

The left eye is horizontal, connecting to space, observing all directions above and below;

The right eye is vertical, connecting to time, perceiving past and future!

Since ancient times, past and future are called time, all directions above and below are called space.

And she had previously stood before that vast river of time…