Chapter 284: The Original Miracle Saintesses
Another three hundred and thirty years have passed.
Outside Yumen Pass more than eight hundred years ago, under a gloomy sky, a dim crescent moon’s light spilled through the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the Gobi Desert.
Countless grains of yellow sand were lifted toward the sky by the roaring wind, akin to struggling arms dancing wildly in the storm.
Urban legends hid in the storm, sharpening their teeth and sucking bl**d.
A grand and somber castle appeared amidst the sand and wind, dimly visible, as if it were a mirage appearing in the Gobi Desert under the moonlight.
Suddenly, after a blackened castle wall scorched by flames, birds flew over and, just as they flapped their wings to cross the wall, they were shattered by an invisible spiritual energy, turning to yellow sand, erasing all traces in the raging wind.
Amidst the roar of the howling wind, five emaciated figures stood silently atop the castle wall.
Like statues, they waited in silence.
These five young men were the last of the Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers.
More than two hundred years ago, the newly instituted King of Nanling, Long Bang, disbanded the majority of the Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers, leaving only more than thirty, who had to resort to threats of d*ath to remain by his side.
These thirty or so men had passed down through generations, enduring several upheavals within the city, and now only these five young men remained.
They had climbed the castle wall, untouched for a century, on the orders of King Long Bang of Nanling. At the moment the king progressed to Cataclysm Grade, using his powers, they sought to breach the blockade of God Realm Yumen and venture into the outside world in search of hope…
to carry a token to solicit aid from the Tang Dynasty, to reveal that the sage’s Longxiang Army still existed, to search for a stable spirit energy supply for Yumen Pass to prevent its demise from resource depletion, and to find the two legendary miracle saintesses, requesting them to bring salvation to Yumen Pass.
…
Before their departure, a young Longxiang Army Armor Soldier asked the King of Nanling in confusion, “Your Highness, clearly you could take this opportunity to personally leave God Realm Yumen, where the possibility of finding hope is greater, why…”
Three hundred years had passed, and within Yumen Pass, the distinction between king and commoner had long disappeared.
The King of Nanling was simply a respectful title for an elder who led everyone in searching for a way to survive in harsh conditions.
In fact, compared to being a king, in the eyes of everyone, he seemed more like a family elder. Though he preferred solitude, always staying alone in the empty County Prince’s Mansion, he was kind and amiable, so talking with him lacked some of the taboos, leading to more familiarity and recklessness.
“I’m staying right here,” the aging King of Nanling said, holding the Fengchi Spear as he sat upright in the empty hall of the County Prince’s Mansion.
He didn’t dare to leave. He worried that if he left at that moment, perhaps they would return, and he would miss them.
He wanted to wait for their return, and he wanted to guard the increasingly dilapidated Yumen.
He had promised to protect Yumen…
“Go, children!” After a long moment, the King of Nanling waved his hand, “Go find hope for Yumen. If there is none… then just leave on your own!”
“The world outside is vast and boundless, there must be a place for you to make something of yourselves; you are Yumen’s last hope.”
“No, we won’t abandon Yumen!” a young man stepped forward, somewhat emotionally stating.
Upon hearing this, the other four young men responded in unison.
“That’s right!”
“Well said!”
“Indeed! Although Yumen is fraught with peril, it is our homeland. How can we forget our roots?”
“…”
“I pledge my power and bl**d, swearing to the God Realm and to miracles, if we cannot find hope, I will still return to guard beyond Yumen with my body, continuing the lineage; father to son, unending through generations!”
A young man completed his declaration word by word, then the other four followed suit, pledging the same oath.
On the decaying and rotting throne, Long Bang gazed at the five young men, remaining silent for a long time before sighing without sound, waving his hand, “Go, all of you. Before advancing to Cataclysm, I want some time alone.”
After saying that, he used the Fengchi Spear for support, stood up, and slowly turned to leave, his figure gradually disappearing deep into the County Prince’s Mansion, resembling a vast tomb…
Faintly, muffled coughs echoed from deep within the County Prince’s Mansion.
He had grown old.
Though he had finally glimpsed the path to Cataclysm, after enduring a lifespan far exceeding that of ordinary people, his body inevitably showed signs of aging.
For a spiritual ability user, reaching this age was nearing their limit; by rights, he should have long since fallen.
However, he could not fall; the current state of Yumen did not allow him to.
————
“What do you think?”
Seeing Hunqiu Luxuming emerge from his flickering state, the man raised his somber face, his tone uncharacteristically impatient.
Hunqiu Luxuming stared at the man, remaining silent for a long time.
He had infiltrated the sealed God Realm Yumen, searching for a way to resolve the curse of the Yumen Sands Sea Branch.
During the search, he left behind a mark.
A significant composite spell mark, enabling him to retroactively glimpse over a thousand years of changes within God Realm Yumen.
Currently, the man brought news that the changes in God Realm Yumen had ceased. Hunqiu Luxuming once again activated that special mark to extrapolate over a thousand years of changes in God Realm Yumen but received results alarmingly similar to past findings.
God Realm Yumen was still inevitably meeting its decline.
The last Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers had firmly set their oaths, following the King of Nanling’s command, embarking with the last sliver of hope, leaving God Realm Yumen.
However, they could not find aid from the Tang Dynasty. Over the past three hundred years, dynasties had changed, and with the Jin people pressing down south, the Southern Song emperor was preoccupied with his own woes.
Likewise, they could not find a stable spirit energy supply; God Realm Yumen would not perish due to this, but it could only endure long nights that became increasingly cyclical, bearing the burden of the proliferating urban legends, barely clinging to life.
As the urban legends around Yumen Pass flourished and half-legendary tribes arose, they too would ultimately, as foretold in their oaths, return to the vast Gobi, bearing the surname of Nanling, guarding the region named after Yumen Sands Sea.
After those two girls left, everything seemed to remain unchanged.
It appeared that all they had done could not stop the relentless forward momentum of history, only to repeat the same mistakes.
“You were right; indeed, not much has changed…” Hunqiu Luxuming said, lacking interest.
“I told you so,” the man said wearily, his voice weak, “History, or the trajectory of this world, will not fundamentally change due to the disturbance of one or two spiritual ability users or one or two powerful urban legends. This is the rule; an unchangeable rule.”
“Mr. Yunshen, I believe your attempts at resistance should make you understand this better than I do, correct?”
After a few seconds of waiting, seeing Hunqiu Luxuming say nothing, the man stood up, adjusted his somewhat faded professional attire, and picked up the briefcase from the table.
“It’s about time; I must take my leave, Mr. Yunshen… If I stay here any longer, I’ll be late for work.”
As a qualified office worker, keeping perfect attendance every month was aligned with his life’s rules.
Hunqiu Luxuming still remained silent, until the man reached the dark storage room’s door, pushed it open, and stepped out halfway; he suddenly spoke, “However, it’s only the first three hundred years where not much has changed; I haven’t extrapolated the following eight hundred years yet!”
Upon hearing this, the man stiffened, slowly stepped back into the storage room, closed the door, and returned to sit beside Hunqiu Luxuming, quietly waiting.
Looking at him, as if waiting for food like a small animal, Hunqiu Luxuming asked, “What are you doing? Didn’t you say you were going to be late for work?”
“Naturally, I’m waiting for Mr. Yunshen to finish extrapolating the results for the remaining eight hundred years…” the man said weakly.
He had foreseen that he would indeed be late for work today, even potentially missing it, which would worsen his already limited salary.
So tiring!
“I can’t extrapolate any further,” Hunqiu Luxuming shrugged his luminous small hands, “You know I’m just a remnant soul right now; you can’t expect a remnant soul to have enough spirit energy to sustain high-intensity extrapolation, can you?”
He spoke the truth; extrapolating over three hundred years of changes in God Realm Yumen was already his limit. Continuing to extrapolate eight hundred years might cause him to dissipate on the spot.
“If you really want to know what happens next, how about this? Provide me with spirit energy, and I’ll help you extrapolate the results… it’s a fair trade!”
“…” The man looked at Hunqiu Luxuming, fell silent for a few seconds, then shook his head, “I think that’s unnecessary.”
With the spirit energy sufficient for extrapolating over three hundred years, Hunqiu Luxuming could easily dominate in this dim storage room. If given even a bit more spirit energy, trying to escape or incite a prison riot would not be out of the question.
“Well then, since you don’t want to know, I can’t do anything about it,” Hunqiu Luxuming said nonchalantly.
Even if he didn’t continue extrapolating, he had enough confidence to assert that subtle changes would certainly occur in God Realm Yumen.
In his past extrapolations, there was no mention of “searching for the two miracle saintesses”…
Although under the power of time, the five young Longxiang Army Armor Soldiers would probably encounter various accidents, making it impossible to carry out the task of searching for the miracle saintesses, and even relevant information would fade over time, this had already been an unprecedented change.
The traces left by their existence would become the greatest change.
And this change, while perhaps having little impact on the world beyond God Realm Yumen, would undoubtedly stir up a violent storm within the city, separated by the barrier of God Realm Yumen.
The existence of beings who should not exist inside God Realm Yumen would become a strong cornerstone, disrupting the trajectory of fate, much like a fateful red thread!
And this was just the beginning…
Hunqiu Luxuming thought excitedly and suddenly said to the man, “By the way, our wager from before still counts, right?”
“Of course.” The man nodded.
“That’s good!” Hunqiu Luxuming said, “Three days’ time, let me think. How about I first use two hours? Just let me out for two hours, and after two hours, I’ll come back and play you for a fool!”
“…” The man fell silent for two seconds before sitting down next to Hunqiu Luxuming, his face stern, “Mr. Yunshen, I believe we need to re-discuss the usage rules for those three days…”
Even though he had agreed to give Luxuming three days of freedom due to losing the bet, did that mean it could be broken down into hours or even minutes?
If he split the three days, wouldn’t that mean every time something significant happened outdoors or if the Solar Eclipse Society planned to do anything unfavorable to Luxuming, he could promptly appear to stop the destruction?
That simply wouldn’t do?!
“What rules? I don’t know, it was agreed upon for three days. You want to go back on your word?” Lu Ming said defiantly.
“Not at all,” the man shook his head, “However, Mr. Yunshen, it seems that when we agreed on the wager earlier, we did not specify where I would release you during those three days, correct?”
“You said that if I released you in this storage room and opened all defenses within the Lime Men’s domain, how many days do you think it would take for you to escape?”
Upon hearing this, Hunqiu Luxuming was momentarily speechless, and when he spoke again, his previously firm attitude softened.
“Hey, don’t make the atmosphere so tense! We’re buddies; is it necessary?”
“I’m only using two hours; it’s not like I’m going to find Xiao Bei—I’m just visiting an old friend.”
“Old friend?” the man frowned.
“That’s right! An old friend living in Free City, Parrot Hill…” Hunqiu Luxuming said.
“Free City?” the man furrowed his brow.
Located across the ocean, Free City, sounding nice in name, was once a truly pleasant place. However, now that night was gradually lengthening, that ghostly place had become “overly free.”
It had become free to the extent that even a terrifying entity like the Tethys Laboratory could be accommodated…
After a brief silence, the man nodded, “Alright. Do you need me to help you open the exit of the Lime Men in Free City?”
Mr. Yunshen was going to the Elders’ Council’s territory; he had no objections and even hoped to find an excuse for Mr. Yunshen to stay there a bit longer.
Two hours wouldn’t be enough; the longer, the better!
————
On another side, within God Realm Yumen.
“So, you guessed long ago that the power and dominion given to you by Hong Bian had problems?” After listening to Luxianbei’s explanation, Shen Baiwei asked furiously, “Since you were already aware there were issues with the Miracle Flower, why did you drag me into this? Don’t you have a conscience?!”
“Don’t rush; don’t rush!” Luxianbei patted Shen Baiwei on the shoulder, soothingly said, “I entrusted the Miracle Flower to you so we could return smoothly, right? I wasn’t certain if there would truly be a problem beforehand!”
He thought that if anything went wrong, it would be just her problem… Luxianbei secretly added in his heart.
“Now isn’t the time to push responsibility onto one another; our primary task is to find a way to fix this situation, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Do we even need to discuss responsibility? Isn’t it all your fault?” Shen Baiwei huffed.
Suddenly she felt that calamities were like irresponsible men, playing poker without proper safety measures, always claiming he would take the blame if something went wrong, yet when an accident occurred, insisting that happiness is shared by two, thus both parties bear responsibility.
“Yes, yes, yes, it’s all my fault!” Luxianbei said unamused, “But even if it’s my fault, can you escape it now? Don’t we have to carry it together?”
More like it! Shen Baiwei opened her mouth to say something, just then, a wave of spiritual energy surged into their spiritual senses.
The owner of that spiritual energy, though carefully masking his energy fluctuations, still emitted a dangerous aura beneath its concealment.
The enemy was strong!
Following that, the sound of chaotic footsteps accompanied by dragging chains came through.
Following the sound, they saw an old man with disheveled white hair and tattered clothes, gripping a rusty heavy iron rod in one hand while dragging a chain, charging toward the two from the dark corner.
The oppressive feeling surged, pressing down like a collapsing mountain.
In the distance, a group of unidentified figures followed closely behind the old man.
Seeing this, Luxianbei and Shen Baiwei tensed, readying themselves for battle, both of them tightly clenching their fists.
Then they heard the old man tremble, saying, “Lady Lilith, Lady Shen Baiwei, you, you’ve finally returned…”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei and Shen Baiwei exchanged puzzled glances.
Even without direct eye contact, they could read the unmistakable meaning in each other’s eyes—Who is this old guy? Why does he know your name/alias? Do you know him? Hurry and acknowledge him, don’t drag me down!
As they locked eyes, the crowd following closely behind the old man suddenly knelt down in unison, raising their voices in a chorus of cheers.
Those cheers were chaotic, seemingly calling out separately, but the two discerned the key content—The Original Miracle Saintess.
Still two of them!
Before the two could recover from the surprise of being suddenly labeled as miracle saintesses, they heard the old man cry out, tears streaming down his face.
“Long Bang, we’ve waited for you! It was so hard to wait!”
Shen Baiwei and Luxianbei, “???”
He? Long Bang? How could this be possible?!
Generally speaking, even a Cataclysm-Class urban legend, after a thousand years, would see their powers decay, ending up either completely vanishing or transforming into a new urban legend.
As for spiritual ability users, their existence was even shorter.
Currently known to still be alive, the oldest spiritual ability user had not surpassed two hundred years.
If this old man were truly Long Bang, wouldn’t he have lived for over a thousand years?
That’s™ logical, right?
Luxianbei had never thought Long Bang could live this long.
She had assumed he would live for a maximum of a hundred or two, which would count as long-lived.
A spiritual ability user over a thousand years old… if brought to the outside world beyond God Realm Yumen, he would definitely be the target of all major spirit energy organizations eager to study him thoroughly.
And just as Luxianbei and Shen Baiwei were in a daze, the residents of God Realm Yumen accompanying Long Bang had already gathered around.
They had prepared a welcome feast for the person they had waited a thousand years for…
