Chapter 53: Hitching a Ride on the Wind, the Shattered Void

Kunlun Mountain.

One of the Nine Provinces' ancestral veins, it once contained the legends of countless immortals and gods, drawing countless cultivators to come seek immortality and the Dao.

But as the world underwent great change, the vital essence of the Nine Provinces continent dried up, the immortals and gods on Kunlun Mountain vanished without trace, and no one knows their final fate.

Time is most ruthless; in the present age, even immortal legends are gradually worn away in the river of history.

And as one of the Nine Provinces' ancestral veins, Kunlun Mountain was also gradually forgotten by the world; those immortal gods were turned into mere rumors in storytellers' mouths, their truth unknown.

However, after eons of silence, today's Kunlun Mountain has once again attracted the world's attention.

All of this is merely because of one person, a legend of the Nine Provinces.

Goddess Lan Nuo.

On the night of the fifteenth full moon, Goddess Lan Nuo will shatter the Void, enter the legendary Longevity Realm, and attain the immortality of the ancient sages.

Immortality!

How many emperors, generals, nobles, aristocrats, and martial heroes' dreams now seem poised to truly appear before the world.

This news, once released, instantly exploded across the Nine Provinces.

In an instant, Kunlun Mountain, which had lain silent for many years, re-entered the world's view.

From nobles and aristocrats down to merchants and laborers, whether court officials or martial heroes, all gathered at Kunlun Mountain, wishing to witness this rare divine miracle.

Night of the full moon.

Kunlun Red Dust Peak.

The once desolate peak now bustles extraordinarily, people filling every slope.

However, although the crowd is large, the peak is very quiet; everyone focuses intently on the summit, gazing at that ethereal, holy white‑clad figure—Goddess Lan Nuo.

At a somewhat secluded spot on Red Dust Peak, a tall figure in a dark robe stands here, likewise silently gazing at the white‑clad figure on the peak.

However, unlike those around, this robed figure holds an elegant brush in one hand and an ancient tome in the other, as if continually writing something.

If anyone could see the contents of the book held by the robed figure, they would find the brush tracing a snow‑white holy figure—exactly the Goddess Lan Nuo about to shatter the Void on the summit.

As the brush tip of that robed figure continually falls, an unknown force seems to gather from heaven and earth onto the book, causing many shifting images to appear, like an ever‑evolving illusory world.

Finally, as the brush tip lands completely, all the images merge into a single exquisite scene: a pure, ethereal white‑clad figure shattering the Void and departing.

And at the exact moment the brush tip finally lands, atop the summit Goddess Lan Nuo finally cuts through her last hesitation and draws her sword.

Clang!

One sword shatters the Void; sword light blazes over Kunlun!

As Lan Nuo draws her sword, a clear sword‑ring rings out; the world falls silent, all color seems to fade, and that sword light is the sole thing in heaven and earth.

The sword light cuts through the Void, directly slicing the spatial barrier between the Human Realm and the Longevity Realm.

In the next instant, blazing divine light appears, bathing the entire summit in a holy radiance, making Lan Nuo's figure resemble a banished immortal ascending to the Immortal Realm.

At this moment, Red Dust Peak falls utterly silent; Lan Nuo's figure, like a Guanghan Immortal Maiden, dreamlike and illusory, is completely frozen in the eyes of the world.

Meanwhile, the image on the book held by the robed figure seems to overlap with the scene high above, becoming one.

The next moment, the elegant brush falls again, writing eight large characters on the book:

"The curtain rises, the beginning of fate!"

The eight characters seem to turn into a special rule, containing the power to turn the illusory into the real, causing the book's images to fully coalesce.

At the top of this page of the book are written three ancient characters: Longevity Realm!

Hum

Heaven and earth seem to have a special, illusory yet timeless power stirred by the book, constantly gathering, disturbing some constant trajectory, vaguely causing the surrounding Void to undergo unknown changes.

However, in the next moment, an illusory yin‑yang bagua diagram appears on the book, covering everything.

This robed figure is naturally Feng Yi; what he holds is the manifestation of the 'Writer' extraordinary trait, after being baptized by Fuxi's status and the River of Fate and returning to the origin, able to use words or language as a medium to guide the development of fate, turning the words beneath the pen into true reality.

However, Feng Yi himself already knows the future's development; going with the flow, he uses the authority and rules of the 'Writer' to gather the great trends and fate of heaven and earth, causing the book in his hand at this moment to undergo some changes he himself had never imagined.

Pop

Seeing Lan Nuo's figure about to truly shatter the Void, Feng Yi casually closes the already‑partially completed book; his heart moves, the brush and book turn into a certain rule and merge directly into his body.

At the same time, the silver‑white ring on his finger flickers faintly; his form instantly turns illusory, appearing directly in the Void not far from Lan Nuo.

He intends to hitch a ride, using her chance to shatter the Void as an opportunity to slip into the Longevity Realm as well.

Elsewhere, high above, as Lan Nuo's sword shatters the Void and cuts the barrier between the Human Realm and the Longevity Realm, at the moment she is about to truly shatter the Void, she cannot help but glance back toward the mortal world.

She knows that once she steps forward, even if she completely severs her ties with the Human Realm, all mortal bonds will utterly leave her.

But at that instant of looking back at the mortal world, Lan Nuo's heart stirs and her gaze unconsciously falls upon that robed figure.

It is a tall young man, his aura not especially strong—at least not compared to her now.

Yet for some reason, despite her far‑superior realm and perception, she cannot truly see through him, as if a mist veils his body.

Such a special existence ought to have caught her attention long ago, yet she has no memory of it at all.

That robed figure simply stands there, yet seems not to exist between heaven and earth, like one who has hidden beneath the Heavenly Dao, giving a feeling that makes one unconsciously overlook him.

Were it not for her present state—on the verge of shattering the Void—she might not have noticed him at all.

'Who is this person? When did such an existence appear in the Nine Provinces?'

Her thoughts turning, Lan Nuo's gaze is directly drawn to the book in the robed figure's hand; her sight pierces space and she sees the image upon it.

What is drawn there is exactly her own present scene of shattering the Void and departing.

And the moment she sees the image on the book, her mind blurs, as if she is seeing another self.

At this moment, she only feels the images in the book continually shifting, as if the whole volume has become an ever‑evolving illusory world.

As she watches this ever‑changing illusory world, her eyes reflect one different scene after another, as if she is seeing a particular future timeline.

As one who has mastered one of the most mysterious laws of heaven and earth, the existence of the Time Deity, Lan Nuo instantly understands what the images on the book contain.

It is the trace of fate.

【Is there truly some kind of power that determines the fate of all beings in heaven and earth?】

At the moment this thought arose in the mind, Lan Nuo completely came to her senses.

Lan Nuo's gaze once again fixed on the past, and she saw that the figure in the dark robe had already put away the scrolls, and, as if teleporting, directly appeared not far away from herself in the void, smiling at herself.

「Thank you, Daoist friend Lan Nuo; this time I count myself as owing you a favor! 」

The gentle and leisurely voice sounded in her ears; this was also Lan Nuo's final consciousness in the mortal realm.

The next moment, her figure completely stepped into some kind of barrier, entering another world.

And at the moment Lan Nuo's figure entered the Longevity Realm, the silver-white ring on Feng Yi's finger flickered slightly, and beside him seemed to have layers of illusory door phantoms opening, guarding himself.

At the same time, his figure also became blurred, following the void torn open by Lan Nuo, he smoothly entered the Longevity Realm.

However, at the moment he entered the Longevity Realm, Feng Yi instinctively looked toward the mortal realm and saw two figures running swiftly, one of which was Xiao Chen.

On the other side, while running, Xiao Chen seemed to have discovered something, looking at that familiar figure with an expression of shock and delight, he couldn't help but shout: 'Brother Feng!'

Before his words even faded, his figure was directly enveloped by the divine light produced from Lan Nuo's shattering of the void, losing consciousness and thus also entering the Longevity Realm.

(End of chapter)