[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-guarding-the-river-of-time":3,"chapter-guarding-the-river-of-time-guarding-the-river-of-time-chapter-402":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Guarding the River of Time",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},302927,569,"Chapter 402 - 392: The Reincarnation Tree, Transparent Fruit, and the First of the Crippled","guarding-the-river-of-time-chapter-402",402,"\u003Cp>As I approached, I discovered it was a tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Standing before this tree, I realized how small I truly was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The trunk emitted specks of Immortal Light, resembling veins that covered the entire tree. Looking up, the crown blocked the sky and sun, and the leaves were small and varied—diamond-shaped, maple-shaped, needle-shaped... all kinds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thumb-sized fruits grew on the leaves, somewhat resembling Lantern Fruits. Su Mu had seen such fruits before when he helped an old man build a bridge and saw similar-looking fruits in the man’s yard, but only in appearance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but the essence of these Lantern Fruits was remarkably like the floating points of light in the void.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The difference was, these Lantern Fruits were fixed to the tree, while the points of light were ethereal, drifting and floating in the void, rootless and aimless, like wandering spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon closer inspection, one could see besides the main trunk, there were nine branches, each bearing a single Transparent Fruit at its tip, as if carved from White Jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thunk—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next second, a Transparent Fruit suddenly fell, landing in front of Su Mu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Mu lowered his head, picked up the Transparent Fruit, and as he stared at it, his consciousness began to blur. Driven by an inexplicable urge, he swallowed the Transparent Fruit whole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the Transparent Fruit entered his stomach,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Mu’s consciousness grew hazy and indistinct; his whole body emitted a white light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, his body transformed into a Transparent Fruit, floated to the treetop, and became one of the tree’s Transparent Fruits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one knew how much time had passed; consciousness and memories vanished, as if it all turned into a dream.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hey, hey, hey! Wake up.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Mu felt someone shaking him awake. Slowly opening his eyes, he was met with an ugly face full of disgust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Old Mu, it’s ten copper coins in total.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Waiter yelled at the middle-aged man, who was plastered like a soggy mess on the wooden table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Su Mu rubbed his eyes, began searching his pockets, and after a long while, managed to pull out three copper coins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Three coins?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Someone come! Another freeloader, drag him out and beat him!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, several burly men rushed out from behind the curtain, lifting Su Mu into the backyard, and stuffed him in a sack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The men grabbed thick rods, ready to beat him dead and toss him into the river. After all, he had no background, just a wanderer who freeloaded all the time; nobody would care if he was killed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as they were about to start, the tavern manager emerged and said, \"There’s an important guest at the tavern; don’t cause any trouble. Just throw him outside.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He’s a Household Slave at the City Lord’s Mansion; it wouldn’t be good to kill him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the men reluctantly complied and tossed Su Mu outside the walls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since he hadn’t sobered up, Su Mu was too lazy to move, so he just lay there in the sack and fell asleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Night fell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A chill swept through, waking Su Mu abruptly. He opened his eyes, broke free from the sack, and found himself discarded amidst a heap of garbage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sitting atop the garbage pile, Su Mu slapped his temples, feeling foggy and unable to recall what he seemed to have forgotten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He staggered to his feet, suddenly realizing his right hand felt empty. Reaching out to touch, he discovered his right hand was missing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Organizing his thoughts, his memories began to flood back; it seemed he had truly drunk too much, nearly forgetting who he was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since birth, he had had no right hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps because he was crippled, his parents abandoned him, leaving him to wander from childhood. With an incomplete body, it was difficult to find work to make a living. He had wanted to try seeking a master for Cultivation, but upon seeing his congenital deficiency, the Taoist priest in the temple also shook his head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so, drifting aimlessly for decades, he was now forty-four years old, still a frail wanderer, surviving amidst the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, this year, he had a stroke of luck and entered the City Lord’s Mansion, becoming a Household Slave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city he lived in was called \"Changxun City,\" and in the whole Dongyuan Continent, it was considered a large city, ranking among the top ten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several hundred years ago, \"Changxun City\" was just an obscure little town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Five hundred years ago, Changxun City produced a Child of Fortune. This Child of Fortune was promoted by the Upper Realm, reportedly having joined the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the Child of Fortune’s name was \"Liu Changxun,\" it was renamed \"Changxun City\" from that day forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dongyuan Continent is one of the Great Worlds under the Heaven Shepherd Alliance, and it has a rather low presence because there are thousands of such Great Worlds under the alliance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be promoted to the Upper Realm and become a formal soldier in the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army is considered an utmost honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Su Mu, he lived from childhood in this bottom-tier Changxun City, where even a tavern manager could easily decide his life or death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reeking of alcohol, he certainly dared not return to the City Lord’s Mansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was a Household Slave there, his status was extremely low due to having no Cultivation, and he typically did errands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From his trouser pocket, he took out his last five copper coins, bought a clean set of clothes, changed into them, and hurried back to the City Lord’s Mansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>.....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, the City Lord’s Mansion held a grand feast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was to celebrate the legendary City Lord Liu returning home from the Upper Realm for a family visit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, only one table was set up in the City Lord’s Mansion, a family banquet, because Liu Changxun insisted on keeping things low-key, not wanting to attract attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Uncle, I toast to you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A young man, raising a full bowl of wine, toasted the middle-aged man in the cyan robe seated at the head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After speaking, he drained the bowl in one gulp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All those present at the banquet were high-level members of the City Lord’s Mansion, with Cultivation at the Golden Core Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The strongest was the cyan-robed man at the head, who had reached the Mahayana Stage, two large realms higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Little Lu, you must take your uncle as your role model!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the men advised the young man who was toasting, smiling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In response to the crowd’s praises, Liu Changxun just smiled slightly, not saying much, appearing very modest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because, before he went to the Upper Realm, he was confident, aiming to achieve great things, to rise step by step to success and fame.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After arriving at the Upper Realm’s Immortal Domain, he realized his own insignificance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite striving for centuries, he was merely a humble soldier under the 984th backup squad of the 784th external regiment in the Heaven Shepherd Alliance army!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"External,\" meaning he was not yet qualified to be part of the \"formal regiment.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, during his one-month family visit, he kept a low profile, feeling he had no achievements worth boasting about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The higher he climbed, the more he realized his smallness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ps: Deep apologies, only one update today; a family member is undergoing surgery at the hospital, and I have to stay overnight. Updates will return to normal tomorrow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The side stories won’t be dragged out; they’ll conclude shortly. These side stories are very important.\u003C\u002Fp>",1265,"2026-05-29T18:57:15.942Z","2026-06-01T04:30:00.195Z",1,"novelbin.me","8bd7aec22bc681b569834fc9de577b7354fb56cd337737e0583cefa7bb700e9e","guarding-the-river-of-time-chapter-403","guarding-the-river-of-time-chapter-401",583,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fguarding-the-river-of-time-cover.jpg"]