From Fanwu to Xinghai

A purple beam of light tore through the sky.

The light rose from the heart of the desolate land, shooting straight into the clouds and illuminating the night for miles around. Lin Chen stood on the open field, watching the light, his heart skipped a beat.

The dimensional rift has been completely opened.

"Retreat!" Lin Yuan had already moved to Lin Chen's side, his voice heavy like a stone pressing on his chest. "We can still retreat now."

But Lin Chen did not move.

He stared at the pillar of light, his mind racing. The Time Eclipses' retreat to the northeast meant their offensive forces would regroup there, and Yanhuang Pass was right in their path.

"Where to retreat to?" he asked. "We don't know what the garrison at Yanhuang Pass is going to face."

That's their business...

"Lin Yuan." Lin Chen turned around, looking directly at his future self. "What is your purpose in coming back? Is it to let me live, or to let this civilization live?"

Lin Yuan fell silent.

The purple pillar of light still stood tall in the darkness, and in the distance, one could faintly hear hissing sounds—not three, not thirty, but hundreds upon hundreds of Time Eclipses surging in the same direction, like a tide, like an earthquake, like the end of the world.

"If Yanhuang Pass falls," Lin Chen continued, "behind it lies Cloud City, the capital, and all the people still alive on this entire land."

He paused for a moment, then uttered the words Lin Yuan had never taught him, yet which flowed naturally from his lips at that moment:

"The advancement of civilization is not a matter for one person, but for everyone."

Lin Yuan looked at him for a long time, then said softly, "You grew up much faster than I did in that timeline."

He turned his head to look at Xiao Yan—the latter was still lying on the ground, enveloped in that layer of light purple light, his breath weak but steady.

"Can he move?"

Qin Mo crouched down to examine him, then shook his head: "He won't be able to move for a while. He just forcibly absorbed a large amount of dimensional energy, and his internal organs are damaged."

"Then let's take him with us back to Yanhuang Pass." Lin Chen bent down and hoisted Xiao Yan onto his back. "Let's go."

Yanhuang Pass was lit by a dense array of torches in the darkness of night.

The defending general was named Zhao Fengchun, about fifty years old. He was a veteran of the Thunder Legion, and it was said that the iron spear under his command had seen three real battles. At this moment, he stood on the city wall, looking at the purple light in the distance, tapping his fingers on the edge of the city wall again and again, making a series of low, muffled sounds.

He currently has only three thousand men under his command.

Two days ago, the main force was ordered to be transferred north to support another border area. What was left behind was a group of young soldiers, averaging just over twenty years old, with their beards not yet fully grown.

The messenger ran up the city wall in one breath, panting, "General, to the northeast, there's... there's a large number of aliens!"

"How many?"

"Countless...uncountable, like dark clouds, absolutely everything!"

Zhao Fengchun closed his eyes.

The next moment, shouts came from the city gate. He looked down and saw four people, three of whom were young men, carrying a pale-faced boy on their backs.

"We are disciples of the Qingyun Sect!" Lin Chen shouted from below the city gate, "Open the city gate! Open the city gate now!"

Zhao Fengchun squinted, looked for a long time, and then said, "Open the door."

Lin Chen handed Xiao Yan over to Qin Mo and, in front of Zhao Fengchun, told him everything he knew.

The number of Time Eclipses, their weaknesses, the location of the dimensional rifts, and most importantly—

"They are gathering and will launch their final attack no later than dawn," he said. "Once they break through the Flame Wasteland Pass, there will be no defensible defenses behind us."

Zhao Fengchun listened in silence, then asked, "How many people from your Qingyun Sect came?"

"Including myself, there are three capable fighters."

"Three," the old general repeated, giving a wry smile, "plus my three thousand men, is that enough?"

Lin Chen did not answer immediately.

He looked up at the sky, where the purple pillar of light still stood tall, like a nail driven into the night sky, forcibly tearing a gap between darkness and light.

"Whether it's enough or not, we'll only know after we fight," he said. "But if we don't fight, it definitely won't be enough."

Zhao Fengchun looked at the young man and suddenly smiled. There was something complicated in that smile, like admiration and also like pity.

"Very well." He stood up, turned to the messenger, and shouted, "All troops, prepare for battle! Tell everyone that tonight, at Yanhuang Pass, we will not retreat a single step!"

That night, no one slept.

On the city wall, torches cast long, thin shadows. Soldiers passed leather pouches among themselves, filled with aged, bitter wine—not for celebration, but to bolster their courage. Lin Chen stood in the center of the wall, sensing the message emanating from the mark between his brows—the tendrils of time perception silently spreading out, outlining the flowing darkness of the wilderness.

They are getting closer and closer.

"The time between arrival and departure is the hardest to bear," Qin Mo said softly as he walked to his side. "My master said that the anticipation of going to the battlefield is always more terrifying than the battle itself."

"Did your master teach you how to deal with this?"

"I taught him." Qin Mo looked into the darkness in the distance. "He said, 'Think about why you wanted to fight.'"

Lin Chen didn't say anything more, but simply clenched his fist slightly.

He remembered that sentence in his father's manuscript. He remembered Su Wan's words, "I'll wait for you," spoken in the dimensional rift. He remembered Lin Yuan's arms, weathered by time and covered with gray lines. He remembered the indescribable lump in his throat when he first read his father's letter.

Nothing is more real than those.

"They're here." Lin Yuan's voice came from behind him, low and calm, as if he were reporting something very ordinary.

A deep hum suddenly resounded between heaven and earth, as if something was awakening underground.

Then, darkness began to flow across the wilderness.

It was neither wind nor fog, but thousands upon thousands of Time Eclipses, their gray-white bodies coalescing into a black wave, silently surging towards the Fiery Wasteland Pass.

"Shoot!" Zhao Fengchun's voice rang out from the city wall.

Arrows rained down like a storm, piercing the black waves, yet they seemed to have been thrown into the deep sea, creating no ripples. Ordinary arrows were almost ineffective against the Time Eclipse.

"Archers, retreat! Spirit cultivators, advance!" Lin Chen turned to face the young Qingyun Sect disciples behind him—a total of seventeen people accompanied him tonight, nine of whom were at least at the Spirit Cultivation Realm. "Form a defensive line around me, and don't let them enter the city in droves!"

"yes!"

The city walls suddenly became bustling with activity, and spiritual energy flickered in the darkness, like a row of candles that could be blown out by the wind at any moment.

The first wave of impact has arrived.

The Time Eclipses crashed into the city walls, emitting a tooth-grinding screech. Their bodies split into wisps of gray mist that seeped in through the gaps in the crenellations, reforming on the city walls and spreading their scythe-like forelimbs.

"Maintain formation!"

Lin Chen rushed out first, and the mark between his eyebrows ignited.

That pale golden light shone brighter than any torch in the darkness. When the gray mist touched it, it was like hitting a scorching hot iron plate, emitting a piercing shriek. Lin Chen no longer needed to think; his body's instincts took over everything—his time perception spread precisely within a hundred-foot radius. He already knew which Time Eclipse would attack and from which angle it would strike, even a split second before they launched their attack.

Step aside.

Then, he turned sideways, passing right between the two Time Eclipses, allowing their attacks to strike each other.

"Brilliant." Qin Mo moved like a ghost to the flank. He was extremely fast and targeted the weakest points of the Time Eclipse. Every strike was precise and efficient.

But there are only two people, while there are a thousand eclipses.

Breaches began to appear on the walls of Yanhuang Pass.

"The right wing is in dire need of attention!"

Zhao Fengchun personally led five hundred cavalrymen out of the city to meet the enemy. At that moment, Lin Chen stood on the city wall, watching the old general raise his iron spear and lead his army into the black tide. He felt something in his chest being suddenly clenched.

Those ordinary soldiers carried ordinary weapons and wore ordinary armor. Faced with a species they could neither understand nor resist, they did not flee.

They just rushed in.

Lin Chen couldn't say how long the fight lasted that night.

He only remembered running back and forth on the city wall, the heat from the mark between his eyebrows constantly increasing, his sense of time becoming increasingly fatigued, and eventually, intermittent blind spots began to appear. His spiritual energy was also being consumed quickly; his early Foundation Establishment foundation could not sustain high-intensity combat for too long.

Lin Yuan used three large-scale time fluctuations, each leaving behind several new gray lines.

Qin Mo's movements became slower and slower.

The number of people on the city wall is decreasing.

But the number of those affected by the eclipse remains the same.

"Lin Chen." During a brief lull in the third wave of attacks, Zhao Fengchun walked to Lin Chen's side and shoved a leather pouch into his hand. "Drink."

Lin Chen took a sip; it was bitter wine, so spicy that he frowned.

"There's something I need to tell you," Zhao Fengchun said calmly, looking out of the city. "Reinforcements aren't coming."

"What?"

"Yesterday's intelligence reports indicate there's also anomaly in the north; the royal family and all the major sects are preoccupied with their own problems," he said. "Tonight, Yanhuang Pass is all alone."

Lin Chen stared at him without saying a word.

"So," the old general turned to look at the incredibly young boy, "do you have a better way to end this war quickly?"

Lin Chen looked down at the leather pouch in his hand, his thoughts racing.

The fighting never ends.

We waited, but it never came.

He needs to solve the problem at its root—not by killing all the Time Eclipses, but by closing that dimensional rift.

Once the rift closes, the Time Eclipse will lose its source and eventually dissipate due to energy depletion.

"Yes," he said slowly, "but I need time, and I need someone to help me hold the city walls."

Zhao Fengchun looked at him, and after a moment, nodded emphatically: "Tell me how long you need."

"One hour." Lin Chen looked up at the purple pillar of light. "I need to get to the rift."

"One hour!" Zhao Fengchun turned and shouted to the messenger, "Order the entire army to hold out for one hour, no matter what, without retreating a single step! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

Inside the city, Xiao Yan, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened his eyes.

He stared at the thatched roof above him, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly sat up.

My body was still very weak, but the pale purple light gathered in my chest like a beating heart, carrying a rhythm belonging to another dimension.

The shouts and howls outside seeped through the thin walls, sounding like a tide or thunder.

Xiao Yan looked down at his palm.

Purple light danced within the lines of my palm, unfamiliar yet undeniably real.

He remembered what Lin Chen had said in the darkness.

"Shen Qingluan is still alive. She's waiting for you to come back."

Shen Qingluan.

He closed his eyes, and the figure that would forever stand atop the mountain appeared in his mind. He had hated her, looked up to her, and loathed the sense of distance that he could never overcome no matter how hard he tried. But now, that once intense, almost obsessive emotion had strangely calmed down, settling into something heavier.

She is waiting for him.

Why should he make her wait?

Xiao Yan slowly stood up, grabbed his coat from the bedside table, and walked towards the door.

Qin Mo, who was guarding outside the door, turned around and saw him, then paused for a moment: "You can leave now?"

"Not bad." Xiao Yan pushed open the door and looked at the chaotic lights on the city wall. "Where's Lin Chen?"

"He's going to close the dimensional rift," Qin Mo said. "He just set off; hurry and catch up."

Xiao Yan didn't say anything, but strode towards the city gate.

The night wind lifted the hem of his clothes, and the purple light danced on his chest, growing brighter and brighter.