The wind swept through the ruins, carrying ashes, and Lin Yi's steps abruptly stopped three inches off the ground.
He raised his hand to press his throbbing temples, and the starry river flowing in his pupils suddenly rippled with fine waves—that hoarse voice mixed with static was like a red-hot silver needle, precisely piercing the deepest wound in his memory.
"Li Mu?" he called out softly, his Adam's apple bobbing violently.
Three years ago, the torrential rain outside the starting village suddenly flashed before his eyes: when the Shadow Beast's claws tore open his teammate's chest, that blood-stained smile was still on the young man's face, and the shout of "Captain, go first, I'll cover your retreat" was shattered by the sound of the rain, leaving only half a blood-stained identity tag rolling to his feet.
"Is that you?" Lin Yi turned around, creating a gust of wind as his military boots crunched over the charred gravel.
There was no one behind the broken wall, only sunlight filtering through the clouds, casting long, narrow patches of light on his shoulders and back.
But that mental fluctuation still trembled deep within the sea of consciousness, carrying a frequency only comrades who had shared life and death could possess.
"Chu Yao!" He suddenly raised his voice, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists, "Locate this mental signal!"
The frequency range has been expanded to interdimensional communication bands, fast!
The AI projection floating beside him suddenly shrank into a ball of blue light, and the data stream changed from pale silver to a dazzling golden red.
Chu Yao's voice held a rare hint of urgency: "Adjusting the resonance frequency... Non-standard mental residual wave detected, source at the fold of the Mother Nest space!"
The dragon scales on Long Wu's arm shimmered faintly as he silently took half a step forward, shielding Lin Yi to his side.
The warrior who had awakened the bloodline of the true dragon did not speak, but simply placed his palm on the unsheathed Tang sword at his waist—the soft sound of the blade rubbing against the scabbard became the most powerful declaration of protection at this moment.
"Lin...Yi..." The voice rang out again, clearer than before, yet like an ancient bell submerged in deep water, each syllable carrying a broken echo. "Be...careful...Aizen...is just a decoy...the real...key...is hidden..."
"Li Mu!"
"I'm listening!" Lin Yi's breathing suddenly quickened. He raised his left hand, and the unique star trail pattern of the Time and Space Ruler appeared on his palm, trying to stabilize the fluctuations with his ability.
The moment the star trails lit up, the voice suddenly became shrill, like an alarm, "Hidden...hidden..."
"Signal attenuation 97%!" Chu Yao's projection began to flicker. "Detection indicates the Mother Nest space barrier is closing; residual consciousness is being forcibly stripped away!"
"Don't break it!" Lin Yi roared, veins bulging on his forehead.
He could clearly feel that wisp of consciousness dissipating, like sand slipping through his fingers; the harder he tried, the faster it slipped away.
The last syllable of "hidden in...time...gap..." was torn into fragments, and the mental fluctuations completely subsided.
A deathly silence fell over the ruins.
Long Wu's Tang sword was half-drawn, its blade reflecting Lin Yi's taut jawline; Chu Yao's data stream slowly faded back to silver, the projection reforming into the image of a young girl, a rare hint of annoyance flashing in her eyes; Xuan Mingzi had somehow appeared by the broken wall, the golden flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp flickering in his palm, making the wrinkles between his brows appear even deeper.
"It was Li Mu." Lin Yi's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping. He looked down at his palm, where the faint glow of star trail patterns still lingered. "Three years ago, he was torn apart by the Shadow Beast while saving me."
Long Wu placed his hand on his shoulder, the warmth of his dragon scales seeping through his tactical uniform: "I remember, you knelt in the rain all night, clutching his ID tag."
Xuanmingzi stroked his white beard and stepped forward. The golden flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp suddenly surged three inches: "A fragment of consciousness can traverse three years of time, even penetrating the spatial barrier of the Mother Nest... This defies common sense." His gaze swept over Lin Yi's trembling fingertips. "Aizen said the Mother Nest was erasing the failed timeline, but if even the consciousness of the dead can remain..."
"This shows that the Mother Nest doesn't dare to completely eliminate certain things," Lin Yi interjected, his eyes suddenly gleaming. "Just like Aizen hid fragments of the boy's faith—they were afraid of destroying it completely, so they left flaws instead."
Chu Yao's projection suddenly vibrated, and she traced a stream of data across the virtual screen with her fingertips: "Abnormal spatial fluctuations detected, with a 0.3% overlap with the communication frequency of the remnant will of Whitebeard from three months ago."
"Whitebeard..." Lin Yi repeated the name, his memory suddenly stirred.
Three months ago, deep within the spacetime rift, the old man who called himself the "Guardian of the Old Era" left a message in his sea of consciousness, which was not fully received due to interference from the Mother Nest at the time.
As he stared at the fluctuating data stream in Chu Yao's projection, a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck—perhaps, the mysterious old man had already been giving him some hints.
"Captain." Long Wu's voice interrupted his thoughts. His Tang sword clicked as it was sheathed. "No matter where the key is hidden, we're going to raid the Mother Nest now."
Lin Yi took a deep breath and reached out to press down on Long Wu's shoulder.
He looked up at the sky beyond the gap in the clouds, where new dark clouds had gathered, resembling the enormous shadow of the Mother Nest.
But this time, there was no fear in his eyes, only an almost burning fighting spirit: "Go."
"Go to the spacetime rift." He turned and walked towards the tactical vehicle outside the ruins, his military boots crushing a patch of charred rubble. "Since the Mother Nest dares not touch it, then we'll do it for it."
Chu Yao's projection transformed into a stream of light and entered his tactical bracelet. Xuan Mingzi extinguished the soul-guiding lamp and followed.
Long Wu walked at the back, his gaze sweeping over Lin Yi's back—the tactical badge there gleamed coldly in the sunlight, the symbol of their time-traveling legion.
The wind whipped up a cloud of ash, blurring the patterns on the badge, but it couldn't obscure the sharpness in the young man's eyes.
In the shadows of the broken wall, unnoticed by everyone, a tiny speck of light suddenly shone.
The outline of a young man could be vaguely discerned within the ball of light. He smiled as he gazed at Lin Yi's retreating figure, his lips moving silently: "Hidden within... the Seed of Time..."
Before the words were finished, the ball of light was enveloped by a sudden black and red mist and completely dissipated.
As the roar of the tactical vehicle's engine echoed outside the ruins, Lin Yi's fingertips suddenly dug fiercely into his palm.
The "overlap of whitebeard's communication frequencies" that Chu Yao just mentioned was like a steel needle, precisely piercing through the dusty curtain of memory—three months ago, the will wrapped in a purple halo deep in the spacetime rift did say something: "The Well of Oblivion seals up the erased fragments of time."
"Captain?" Long Wu's voice was filled with worry. He was bending down to fasten the buckles on Lin Yi's tactical boots, his dragon-scale-covered hands gleaming pearly white in the sunlight. "You don't look well."
Lin Yi took a deep breath, the air thick with the smell of burnt earth making his nose sting.
He gazed at the churning clouds outside the car window, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Whitebeard... three months ago in the rift, he mentioned a 'Well of Oblivion.'" His tactical bracelet suddenly heated up, and Chu Yao's projection floated from his wrist. The data stream automatically retrieved communication records from three months prior—on the holographic screen, the old man in the purple halo did indeed open his mouth. The sound waves, which had been garbled by the Mother Nest at the time, now clearly emanated: "...Hidden within the well are erased...fragments of time..."
"The Well of Oblivion?" Xuan Mingzi twirled the Soul-Guiding Lamp between his fingers, the golden flames reflecting in his eyes. "I've seen snippets of information in ancient texts, saying it was built by ancient gods to seal a chaotic timeline, its walls inscribed with the laws of spacetime... but no one has ever found its exact location."
Long Wu's Tang sword gleamed as it was drawn half an inch from its sheath, the blade reflecting the reddened corners of his eyes: "Who cares where he is, I'll break the seal right now!" He flicked the sword with his finger, the dragon-like roar making the tactical vehicle's windows rattle. "That voice belongs to Li Mu, we can't keep him waiting any longer!"
Lin Yi raised his hand and pressed it against the back of Long Wu's blade. The star trail patterns on his palm resonated and vibrated slightly with the dragon scales.
He could feel Long Wu's arm trembling—this warrior, who was always as steady as a mountain, now had even his knuckles turning bluish-white: "Don't rush." His voice was like bronze immersed in ice water, "Whitebeard said that what is sealed in the well is not only fragments of time, but also the chaotic flow of consciousness of those who have been erased."
Without a stable link to faith, entering would mean being torn to shreds by countless fragmented souls.
Long Wu instantly sheathed his sword. He wiped his face forcefully, his Adam's apple bobbing as he suppressed his urgency: "What do we do then?"
Lin Yi turned around and took out a small bronze bell from his tactical backpack.
The bell was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, yet it shimmered with starlight in his palm, as if the Milky Way had been crushed and embedded within it. "The Soul Resonance Bell." He traced the engravings on the bell with his fingertips; it was a star map Li Mu had drawn on his palm with his last breath during the battle in the beginner's village three years ago. "It can awaken the will of heroes who resonate with it, using their faith to build a shield for us."
Xuan Mingzi's Soul-Guiding Lamp suddenly swelled into a wall of fire half a person's height, and blurry figures emerged from the golden flames—they were Lin Yi's teammates from years past: Old Zhou, who held up his shield to protect him; Xia, who took the poisoned arrow for him; and Li Mu, who was torn apart by the Shadow Beast in the end. "These are..." His voice suddenly trembled, "...the remnants of heroic spirits you nurtured for three years with the power of your faith?"
"They never left." Lin Yi's thumb gently traced the bell's clasp, and the clear, melodious sound, like a spring stream breaking through ice, reverberated through everyone's consciousness.
White fog condensed on the tactical vehicle's windows, reflecting seven semi-transparent figures: Old Zhou's military boots were still covered in mud, Xia's hair was still dripping with blood, and Li Mu's chest was still pierced by the Shadow Beast's claws—but they were all laughing, laughing like they used to when they shared compressed biscuits by the campfire.
Long Wu's eyes instantly reddened.
He reached out to touch Lao Zhou's shoulder, but his hand passed right through the light and shadow, only to feel a warm sensation coming from his palm—it was Lao Zhou patting the back of his hand. "You brat," Lao Zhou's voice was hoarse with the smoky quality of alcohol, "protect your captain."
Chu Yao's projection suddenly froze, and a string of golden codes flashed in her pupils: "Faith resonance detected at 92%, shield strength meets requirements." Her voice, unusually warm, said, "The remnants of these heroic spirits... are purer than the 'battle souls' recorded in the mainframe database."
"Let's go." Lin Yi put the Soul Resonance Bell into the silver chain around his neck, which was an eighteenth birthday gift from Li Mu.
He pushed open the car door; the wind from the ruins whipped ash against his face, but couldn't dispel the burning intensity in his eyes. "To the Well of Oblivion."
Long Wu leaped onto the roof of the tactical vehicle first, and with a wave of his dragon-scale-covered arm, a dark blue spatial rift opened in the air.
Xuanmingzi made a hand seal to ignite the Soul-Guiding Lamp, and the golden flames transformed into flying butterflies that burrowed into the rift to explore; Chu Yao's projection merged into Lin Yi's pupils, transmitting the spatial parameters within the rift in real time.
Just as everyone was about to step into the crevice, the sky suddenly emitted a crisp sound like shattering glass.
The dark clouds seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand, revealing a dazzling golden-red expanse.
A thousand-meter-long rift stretched across the sky, and from the depths of the rift emerged a translucent hand—the hand was composed of countless points of light, each radiating a warm power of faith, and a six-pointed star totem was clearly engraved in the palm, exactly the same as the mark on the silver chain around Lin Yi's neck.
"That's... Li Mu's totem." Long Wu drew his Tang sword again, but the blade trembled. "He said he wanted to carve it on his palm, so that even if he died, the light from his palm could guide us..."
Lin Yi looked up at the hand, a metallic taste rising in his throat.
He could clearly feel that every grain of light in that palm was calling his name, just like Li Mu's blood-stained smile in the rainstorm three years ago.
"Captain!" Long Wu suddenly grabbed his tactical vest. "This might be a trap!"
Xuanmingzi's soul-guiding lamp shook violently, and the remnants of heroic spirits within the golden flames suddenly turned towards the sky. Old Zhou's shadow suddenly spoke: "It's him, it's Amu." Xia's figure floated to Lin Yi's side, her fingertips gently touching his earlobe—a habitual gesture she used to use to comfort him in life. "Don't be afraid, he's here to deliver the keys."
Chu Yao's projection flashed wildly in her pupils: "The faith frequency of the palm was detected to be completely consistent with Li Mu's!"
The energy nature... is the positive faith force erased by the Mother Nest!
The hand slowly descended and stopped three feet above Lin Yi's head.
The six-pointed star totem in his palm suddenly lit up, and countless points of light fell like a drizzle, clinging to Lin Yi's eyelashes and tactical badges before finally disappearing into his sea of consciousness.
Lin Yi's temples throbbed, and a scene suddenly surfaced in the depths of his consciousness: a pitch-black well, its walls covered with glowing runes, and at the bottom of the well, a ball of light, within which was half a bloodstained identity tag—the very one that had rolled to his feet three years ago.
"A seed hidden in the cracks of time..."
The moment the indistinct voice echoed in the sea of consciousness, the crack in the sky abruptly closed.
The hand trembled slightly at the last moment, as if stroking the top of his head, before disappearing completely into the dark clouds.
Long Wu's Tang sword clattered to the ground.
He gazed at the sky, now shrouded in dark clouds, then turned to look at Lin Yi—the young man's eyes were swirling with starlight, the power of the master of time and space boiling within him.
"Captain?" he called softly.
Lin Yi looked down and found tiny, rice-grain-sized seeds of light lying in his palm.
The surface of the light seed was adorned with patterns of the laws of space and time, perfectly matching the fluctuations of the light at the bottom of the well in my memory.
"It's the Seed of Time Rift." He looked up, a sharper smile than he'd had in three years. "The key Li Mu spoke of has been found."
The spatial rift reopened at their feet, and this time, everyone could see clearly into the depths of the rift—it was no longer a chaotic darkness, but a faint blue light guiding their way, much like the night before when Li Mu held up a glow stick to lead the way outside the newbie village.
"Let's go." Lin Yi stepped into the rift first, the seed of light burning in his palm. "To the Well of Oblivion."
Long Wu bent down to pick up the Tang sword. A speck of light had somehow landed on the scabbard—the same temperature as the light from the palm in the sky.
He wiped his face and strode after him, the dragon scales gleaming with a fighting spirit in the blue light from the cracks.
Xuanmingzi stroked his beard and smiled, and the golden flame of the Soul-Guiding Lamp suddenly turned into a warm yellow—the color of cooking smoke in the human world.
He closed the rift with a hand seal, and as he turned around, the hem of his robe brushed against the speck of light on the ground. The speck of light trembled slightly and then slipped into his Taoist robe.
Deep within the unseen rift, the pitch-black well is awakening.
As the runes on the well wall lit up, the light at the bottom of the well suddenly moved—the name on half of the identity plaque clearly appeared in the light: Li Mu.
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