Chapter 88 Chapter 88 Closed Loop
Yun Miao took her first step very cautiously. She directly activated all the magic weapons and formations to improve her defense. However, when she took the second and third steps.
She hesitantly withdrew these magic weapons and formation plates, allowing herself to be submerged by the almost materialized immortal energy around her. There was no sign of the immortal energy drilling into her body, so her skin that was in direct contact with the immortal energy did not feel any stinging.
She raised her hand and scooped up a handful of thick mist like water. Could it be that Chu Beiliang's guess about this celestial energy was wrong? Or was she special?
She turned her head and looked back. She had only taken three steps when the area behind her was engulfed by a thick fog. Not only could she no longer see Chu Beiliang, but even the towering gate tower that stood much taller than the fog had disappeared. It was obvious that she couldn't go back even if she wanted to.
"You've finally arrived. Come, find the bronze sundial, and everything will be over."
A faint female voice suddenly reached Yun Miao's ears. She glanced around, unable to see the speaker. However, the voice struck her as familiar. The answer was surfacing within her, yet she couldn't articulate it.
Who is it?
Yun Miao looked up at the shadow of the bronze sundial that was also rising above the clouds. She could feel a strong pressure on her. Flying was prohibited here.
It was pitch dark in the thick fog, and she couldn't even see the road under her feet. No one knew what she would step on the next second, maybe a trap, maybe a mechanism, maybe a big pit leading directly to the eighteen levels of hell, but she still raised her foot and walked towards that direction.
As time passed, she could clearly feel the magic power in her body rapidly dissipating. Gradually, her magic power was completely leaked out, and she couldn't even drive the magic weapon. She became a complete mortal.
She still did not stop, but no matter how long she walked, until she was exhausted and could no longer lift her legs, the towering shadow was still not far away from her, as if she could reach out, yet seemed far away in the horizon.
Yun Miao finally stopped panting, realizing that she would never be able to get close to the shadow by just walking. Instead, her dantian became hotter and hotter, as if something wanted to pop out.
What was that? Found the bronze sundial?
She recalled the female voice again. As if it had heard her thoughts, the female voice appeared again: "Did you find it? Where is it?"
Yun Miao looked down at the thick fog around her. From another angle, it seemed that it was being isolated from her body by some invisible force.
She looked at her dantian again, and her consciousness looked inward as usual. However, this time, she saw the bronze sundial in her dantian. It was still rotating, as if it would never stop.
No one knows when it appeared there. Maybe it has always been there, but Yun Miao just can't see it.
"It's inside me."
The ethereal female voice continued to ask: "Who am I?"
The familiar feeling came to his lips. Yun Miao raised his head and touched his throat. His expression changed from surprise to certainty: "You are me."
"That's right, I'm really a genius!"
A humanoid figure identical to Yun Miao floated down from the giant bronze sundial and merged directly into Yun Miao's body. There was no rejection at all; their fusion was as natural as a drop of water returning to the embrace of a river.
Countless timelines and countless pasts of "her" unfolded before her eyes, and the answer she wanted most was hidden in them.
The bronze sundial is an ancient artifact, embodying the triple forces of time, space, and causality. It is inherently unstable, randomly traveling through time and space without regard for the effects of time and space. The spiritual energy tide is the result of this problem.
If spiritual energy is compared to swimming fish, then when the bronze sundial continues to travel through the river of time, the "vortex" it creates will attract the originally stable "school of fish" in the river to swim along with it.
When all the "fish schools" in a certain time period have swum away, the spiritual energy will recede, and the "fish schools" will appear in another time period, which is the revival of spiritual energy.
At the beginning of each timeline, the bronze sundial will drill into Yun Miao's body and actively recognize her as its master. Because Yun Miao's choices are different each time, the development of each timeline is different.
Although she gained many benefits from the bronze sundial in the beginning, being recognized as the master by an extremely unstable ancient artifact was not a good thing. The constant rewinding, traveling through time and space, and involving too many causes and effects were a huge burden on her fragile soul.
The bronze sundial is bound to the soul. Once the owner's soul dies, the binding relationship will naturally be released, and there will be no such thing as going back to the previous game and being resurrected.
Yun Miao felt like a man who had never ridden a horse but was forced to ride a wild horse. He could either completely control it and stop it, or fall off the out-of-control horse and be smashed to pieces.
Perhaps she was not the first person to be recognized as the master of the bronze sundial, and the masters before her had all died and were no longer dead.
Fortunately, she discovered this problem in the first timeline. She couldn't go back to the time before she obtained the bronze sundial, so she could only choose to go back to the moment she just obtained the bronze sundial and try to start over with her original intact soul. This is how the second timeline came about.
However, the impact of returning to the beginning was too great for her soul, and she would lose her memory each time. And because she always found herself in a dead end, she would always go back to the beginning and try to start over. Thus, there were the third, fourth, and fifth timelines...
Wherever you go, you will leave traces. That shadow is the reflection of countless "her" who are determined to save themselves in the long river of time. The shadow does not belong to this world, so it can only hide in the shadow of the bronze sundial.
This immortal tomb is actually the inner space of the bronze sundial, and the towering shadow is the embodiment of the core power of the bronze sundial.
Yun Miao closed her eyes and took a step forward. When she opened her eyes again, the shadow of the bronze sundial that she had been unable to approach before appeared in front of her.
The real Miaomiao Group, the bronze sundial trademark, and the holographic helmet given away in the lottery emerged in her mind, and she had an idea in her heart.
Although the previous method saved her life countless times and prevented her from dying of fright, it also forced her to swim upstream in the river of time like a migratory fish every once in a while, and be trapped in that period of time forever.
However, in this timeline, things seemed to have taken a different turn, and she finally had the possibility to fully control the bronze sundial.
It was no longer clear where the cycle began and ended. She only knew that she was in a cycle, and all she had to do was make the cycle continue so that she could get what she wanted.
Yun Miao took a deep breath, then slowly took a step forward, completely merging into the shadow.
In an instant, the entire space emitted a subtle humming sound, and the phantom disappeared. In its place, a solid bronze sundial appeared. Countless thick fogs poured into it like a rushing river, and the nested rings kept rotating, turning faster and faster, as if countless mysteries were hidden within.
The huge amount of immortal energy is enough for a mortal to ascend to immortality, but it is far from enough for Yun Miao.
She needs more strength to digest the power of time that she has intercepted. When she wakes up from her slumber, when this cycle of time is completely connected into a perfect circle, she will become the true owner of this ancient artifact!
Chu Beiliang, who was still waiting at the gatehouse, was the first to notice the space tremor. Before he could take a closer look, he suddenly heard Yun Miao's voice.
"Chu Beiliang, when I wake up, we will become Taoist companions."
Then a gust of wind swept him downwards. When he came to his senses, he found that his soul had returned to his body.
*
At the same time, the entire cultivation world heard a buzzing sound like the roar of a dragon and a tiger, followed by a huge shadow towering into the clouds that occupied most of the sky.
No matter where a cultivator is in the world of cultivation, he can see it as long as he looks up.
"What is that?"
"What a strange thing."
"Like a ball?"
"No, it's a set of rings nested together, and because they're constantly spinning they look like a ball."
"Could it be some powerful magic weapon? Judging from its aura, it must be a top-grade spiritual treasure!"
"Now that the spiritual energy is receding, we are like stranded fish and shrimp, not knowing when we will die. Why are you still thinking about magic weapons? You should think about finding a better burial site for yourself!"
On the other side, everyone in Xuantian Sect also looked up at the huge shadow with astonishment, and Sect Leader Chang and other insiders were unable to recover for a long time.
"That's... the bronze sundial that Xiao Miao mentioned earlier."
"Does this mean she succeeded?"
"She is indeed the one in the prophecy..."
Just as everyone was discussing this, red or white cause and effect lines appeared in front of the eyes of Sect Leader Chang, Granny Hua, Shui Furong, and all the other people who had ever had any interactions with Yun Miao and had never been enemies with her.
One end was connected to their hearts, and the other was connected to the shadow of the huge bronze sundial on the horizon.
Then more causal lines emerged from their hearts, connecting to other people who had interacted with them. Countless causal lines intertwined together, weaving a big web in the entire cultivation world.
Looking down from the sky, the entire world of cultivation seemed to be submerged in a chaotic ball of yarn.
But no one showed any panic, they just looked up at the huge shadow in a daze. The moment the cause and effect line connected, an idea that could not be expressed in words entered their minds.
Three days later, they would fall asleep with her. When she woke again, the spiritual energy tide would cease to exist, and all problems would be solved. All they needed to do now was to join her and believe in her wholeheartedly.
That thought was so huge and vast that people had no desire to resist.
Sect Leader Chang and others who were directly connected to Yun Miao also realized who sent this thought. Futu was very sure that this was the white-clothed female cultivator, Xiaohong, who had helped her in the past.
It turns out that the benefactor is the legendary savior immortal. This is really great!
Fu Tu, who had long had this intention, immediately knelt on the ground, his eyes shining as he said, "I am willing. I am willing to serve under the Dao Zun. Fu Tu greets the Dao Zun!"
Because the entire cultivation world was connected by a giant net, her words ignored space and exploded directly into the ears of all the cultivators. They could not resist, nor did they dare to resist.
Most of the cultivators knelt down towards the tall shadow to show their loyalty, and Yan Wuguang, Shui Furong, the little monk, Mo Aotian and others who had received help from Yun Miao surrendered willingly.
Many demon cultivators also cleverly chose to surrender. After all, whether they were human cultivators or demon cultivators, they needed spiritual energy to survive.
"Greetings to the Daozun!"
"Greetings to the Daozun!"
"Greetings to the Daozun!"
Because Fu Tu was the first to speak, they were inevitably led astray. The cries of "Greetings to the Daoist Master" resounded throughout the heavens and earth. Only a very few cultivators were unwilling to submit.
A new causal line then emerged in the hearts of those who had never interacted with Yun Miao. The other end of the line connected to the shadow of a bronze sundial. Invisible power flowed along this causal line into Yun Miao's body.
The people from Xuantian Sect and Granny Hua who was far away in Luohua Town were about to follow the crowd and kneel down, but the invisible wind stopped them.
The female cultivator in white appeared out of thin air in front of Sect Master Chang. She was an external incarnation, not an independent individual, so there was no causal line on her heart, but Sect Master Chang and others had already realized her identity.
"Master."
The white-robed female cultivator bowed to Sect Master Chang and said with a smile, "This clone was originally used to do bad things, so I never dared to let Master know. I am only telling you now. I hope Master will forgive me."
Sect Leader Chang said with a worried look on his face, "Don't worry about whether it's a crime or not, Xiao Miao, are you okay?"
"Of course I'm fine. There's only one thing I need to ask you, Master."
The female cultivator in white took out a brocade bag and stuffed it into the hands of Master Chang. Inside it was a plan and a holographic helmet that she had spent a lot of effort to make. When she put on this helmet in the future, she would travel back to the immortal transformation in the ruined temple.
Master and the others will wake up earlier than her, and she needs them to give this helmet to her future self.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine when I wake up."
The figure of the female cultivator in white disappeared and her voice dissipated with the wind.
The causal line disappeared once again, leaving only the gigantic shadow still dominating most of the sky. The entire cultivation world began to frantically frantically discuss this, causing chaos. Some were skeptical, some gradually distanced themselves, and some firmly believed it.
Three days later, the monks packed all their belongings into storage bags, packed up and were ready to go.
Some people started waiting before dawn. As time passed and the sky became brighter, some people began to get impatient when they saw that the huge shadow on the horizon had not responded.
Some people even began to suspect that this was a scam, but just as they were sharing their speculation with their friends, the shadowy figure on the horizon suddenly became real.
The huge bronze sundial stopped rotating, and the whole world seemed to stop. The birds in the sky, the fish in the water, and the animals and humans on the earth all froze in place.
When time resumed its flow and the birds and beasts began to move again, all the monks who were ready to go disappeared, and the Xuantian Sect seemed to have been completely dug out by the giant's hand, leaving only a terrifying huge pit in its place.
Only mortals and a handful of cultivators who hadn't surrendered remained on the land. The next moment, the spiritual energy plummeted, and the spiritual energy within the spiritual eyes and spiritual veins vanished. Spiritual plants began to wither and turn yellow, and demonic beasts swarmed around like headless flies.
The mortals were completely unaware of this, and had no idea that in the long period of time that followed, those legendary immortals and monsters would become extinct.
*
A long, long time later, in the modern era, it was the afternoon time for school and get off work to end, and there was a traffic jam on the road. A group of students were walking and talking on the sidewalk, and workers who had just got off work bought some food on the way, enjoying the rare time to relax after get off work.
A blood-red barrier suddenly appeared, quickly enveloping the intersection and the adjacent residential complex. Pedestrians and residents looked up in bewilderment at the sky, suddenly bathed in a crimson glow. They still couldn't understand what had happened.
At this moment, a scream broke the silence, and the greenery on the sidewalk on the road underwent terrible changes.
The flowers, plants and trees grew wildly, as if they had awakened their hunting habits and used their roots, vines, branches and leaves to wrap around pedestrians on the road. They even knew how to open car doors and drag people out!
"Help!"
"Is this a mutation?"
"The end of the world is coming?"
Everyone screamed in panic, their heads in their hands as they fled. A few men and women in the rushing crowd looked on with disdain. One of them snapped his fingers, and a gust of cold air immediately blew towards the fleeing passersby. Their calves quickly froze, and they were frozen in place, unable to run any further.
The surrounding surveillance cameras turned their cameras like living things, with red dots flashing, faithfully recording this chaotic scene.
"Hurry up, the Special Affairs Bureau will be here soon. This formation can only last for half an hour."
"Half an hour is enough. Catch them all and bring them to the altar."
"I heard that the Special Affairs Bureau is backed by an old monster who has practiced for thousands of years. Will we anger them by doing this? It would be bad if we attract that old monster."
"Don't listen to their nonsense. Spiritual energy has only been around for a few years. We were all able to absorb it right away, and we're already the strongest people in the world. How could there be an old monster who can live for a thousand years under such circumstances?"
"That makes sense. I also think that the Special Affairs Bureau is definitely bluffing to scare us. If we are really scared, then we have fallen into a trap."
"Anyway, I'm not afraid. Last time, our good fortune was ruined by the Special Affairs Bureau. This time, we must succeed. Once we refine the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner, what will the Special Affairs Bureau mean? The entire world will be rewritten for us!"
"I'm not afraid either. The spiritual energy finally appeared, and we were blessed by heaven to become cultivators. We should rise to prominence and become superior people. The people in the Special Affairs Bureau are also cultivators, but they are willing to obey the orders of a group of ordinary people. They turn around and oppress our kind. What a bunch of idiots!"
"That's right, we are monks. It's unreasonable to ask us to pay for killing ordinary people!"
"Today we must avenge our previous shame!"
"Yes, to avenge our previous shame!"
Several cars raced over and stopped outside the red barrier. A group of uniformed men quickly exited the vehicles with stern expressions, and passersby fleeing inside the barrier burst into tears of joy upon seeing this.
The expressions of those indignant men and women also changed.
"It's someone from the Special Affairs Bureau!"
"How come it's here so quickly?"
"They won't be able to break the formation for a while, so don't worry about them. We need to hurry."
Before the last person finished speaking, an angry dragon roar suddenly sounded, and then a four-clawed black dragon smashed through the red barrier and rushed into the intersection as if it were breaking through fragile glass.
The male and female monks felt a chill on their backs and realized the danger. They immediately turned around and fled backwards. However, no matter how fast they were, they were not as fast as the four-clawed dragon. The fastest one had only run three steps when a terrifying pressure swept towards them.
"Who allowed you to come near here?! You will die if you trespass in this forbidden area!"
Bang!
Several people vomited blood and fell to the ground with a thud. They felt as if they were being pressed down by Mount Tai, with every bone crushed and unable to move at all.
The Special Affairs Bureau staff who were trying to break the barrier and the passers-by who were running and struggling suddenly stopped and stared at the dark four-clawed dragon in the air in amazement.
A moment later, someone covered their face and screamed, "Dragon!"
"It's a dragon!"
"I told you there really are dragons in the world!"
Their minds were blank and they could only vent their disbelief through screaming.
A sweet and elegant floral fragrance filled the air, as if a mother's hand was caressing their frightened hearts, calming their boiling emotions all at once. They felt as if they were back in their mother's arms, filled with a sense of security.
The mutated flowers, plants and trees quickly retreated into the green belt and became harmless again.
A tall and thin woman dressed in ancient costume appeared out of nowhere on the street. She only used a wooden hairpin to tie her hair. On the top of the hairpin was a flower full of vitality, shaped like a white night-blooming cereus, but with golden veins.
"Is it really okay for us to act so directly? Will it affect Dao Zun? Especially Mo Aotian, why are you still so loud? What if you disturb Dao Zun?"
"Won't."
Shui Furong appeared beside Futu, the sword on her waist. "The Star-Picking Pavilion has calculated that today is the day the Daozun wakes up. Let's get ready to welcome him."
The four-clawed dragon in the sky fell to the ground and turned into an arrogant man wearing black armor: "Humph, flatterer."
The Buddha raised his chin high: "I am the Daozun's flatterer and I am proud."
The people from the Special Affairs Bureau looked at each other in confusion. Just when they didn't know how to deal with these masters who suddenly appeared, the leader received a call from the higher-ups.
After the brief conversation ended, the man looked at Shui Furong and the others with a look of awe.
Shui Furong ignored these young cultivators who were only at the Qi Refining stage and only looked at the sky in the distance: "They are coming."
The sky seemed to darken suddenly, and the passers-by who had escaped death looked up in panic, and saw countless figures either flying in the air, or flying on swords, or flying directly on other magic weapons.
They crossed the intersection and flew straight into the nearby residential area, like gods descending to earth.
In the bedroom, Yun Miao, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened her eyes. She took off her helmet, yawned, and stretched. She felt as if she had had a very long dream, but she knew it was definitely not a dream.
She walked to the window and opened the curtains. She saw that the open space outside her window, the rooftops of nearby buildings, and even the trees in the community were all crowded with people.
Master, senior brother, Tian Laokou, senior sister Ning, Chu Beiliang... those who knew her and those who didn't, they bowed to her with smiles on their faces, their voices resounding through the sky.
"Welcome back, Daozun!"
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The author has something to say: The main story ends here, and there will probably be a few more chapters later. Thank you to all the lovely little angels who have always supported me. I love you all, muah!
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