Although the stone palace was truly vast, Lan An, relying on the Eight Desolation Heaven-Defying Flame and his ability to use Spiritual Force, moved at a terrifying speed. In no time at all, he had explored nearly every nook and cranny inside the stone palace…
He rushed to this spot just in time to witness the scene of his master battling the brocade-robed youth. Everything happened in the blink of an eye — words are slow, but reality struck like lightning.
From the moment Wu San Niang activated the Death Gate until her body exploded in a shower of blood, only a few dozen breaths had passed. Yet that brief span was enough to create a tragedy Lan An would never want to recall for the rest of his life.
To witness one of the people closest to him explode into droplets of blood — what kind of feeling was that?
Lan An didn't know how to describe it. His heart felt torn into countless pieces. His entire body grew heavy; even breathing became difficult. His body swayed, and the world around him seemed to collapse.
His black-and-white eyes turned blood-red. The five great cauldrons in his dantian roared in fury, as if they wanted to break out of his body. His mind became hazy, everything turning into a blank white void.
Pain — pain like the world was falling apart… This kind of pain, he had never experienced before… Not even when his adoptive father from his previous life was killed, and the two of them set off together, had he ever felt such agony…
"Save her… at all costs, she must live… at all costs!"
The last remaining thread of rationality clung desperately to this one unyielding thought, refusing to let him collapse.
Lan An frantically forced his mind to stay clear. His body surged forward madly. In his bloodshot eyes appeared a glimmer of hope. His lips murmured:
"It has to be… there must be a miracle! She won't die. My master… my San Niang won't die…"
Taking a deep breath and gathering all his courage, a certain object suddenly appeared in Lan An's hand…
It was a shard of broken glass-like mirror, no bigger than a small leaf. It emitted no aura whatsoever, yet faint scenes of shifting eras, countless dynasties rising and falling, flickered across its surface — profoundly mysterious.
Pouring all of his boundless Soul Force into the shard, as if trying to awaken something within it… until he felt his Soul Force was nearly exhausted…
Lan An's arm trembled. Suddenly, he hurled the broken mirror shard with all his strength toward the spot where Wu San Niang had just exploded.
"Huh? What is that thing!" The scene was instantly noticed by the brocade-robed youth. He reached out to grab the shard, but the object passed through his hand as if it were illusory.
"Impossible?!" The brocade-robed youth cried out in shock. From that broken mirror shard, he sensed an extremely sacred aura — one that even surpassed the aura of his mighty father.
In that instant, a transparent force burst forth from the broken mirror shard, enveloping the area around the pool of blood still remaining on the ground…
Then, a calm yet dignified female voice — as if coming from the farthest reaches of the endless river of time — sighed softly, yet carried an indescribable authority. It emerged lightly from the broken mirror:
"A fragment of the Reincarnation Mirror! Whoever awakens this Emperor's remnant soul within it, this Emperor shall grant you one request within my power!"
"It's me! I beg the Female Emperor to save my master! This grace… I will never forget it in this lifetime!" Lan An's heart surged with ecstatic joy. Suppressing the wild excitement within, he hurriedly clasped his hands respectfully. As long as a miracle occurred, he was willing to kneel and beg without hesitation.
"As you wish!"
The woman's voice remained utterly calm. Then it grew filled with supreme authority. Though she did not appear, her leisurely tone echoed through the space:
"This Emperor decrees: Time Reversal!"
Her words seemed capable of suppressing reincarnation, pacifying eternity, and ruling over time and space…
Under the brocade-robed youth's extreme horror and Lan An's boundless anticipation, time around Wu San Niang's pool of blood suddenly began to reverse. The scene played out like a vivid, slow-motion film in reverse…
Drop by drop, tiny fragments of flesh and blood — invisible to the naked eye — gathered back together. Slowly… slowly… the scene of her body exploding reversed… reversed… until a female body lay flat on the ground, skin cracked, covered in blood, on the verge of death… reappeared…
It didn't stop there. Time continued reversing… reversing… until the exact moment when Wu San Niang and the Manhuang Saintess had just successfully activated the Death Gate, and then it halted.
The miracle… truly happened.
Lan An's eyes widened. A tear rolled down his cheek. Ignoring everything, he rushed forward like a madman, cradling her soft, bloodstained body in his arms. His mouth kept cursing:
"Stupid woman, quickly deactivate the Death Gate! I'm here now. You don't need to risk your life anymore!"
Wu San Niang and the Manhuang Saintess were stunned. They… hadn't died?
Moreover, their bodies had returned to the exact moment they had just activated the Death Gate — not even a trace of power had been used yet? Was this a dream?
"Deactivate the Death Gate now!" Lan An shouted sternly, his face twisted in extreme ferocity.
Wu San Niang and the Saintess jolted. Though they still didn't understand what had just happened, the softness in their hearts was touched by Lan An. Obediently, they followed his words and deactivated the Death Gate.
PUFF…
She spat out a large mouthful of blood that soaked Lan An's clothes. Her entire body went limp in his embrace, weakened to the extreme…
Once the Death Gate had been activated, even if one didn't use its power, the body would still explode.
Fortunately, Wu San Niang had only cultivated four gates, and the Manhuang Saintess had only just activated the Bone Gate. The Blood Gate and Void Gate had never been touched. Thus, the current backlash was still within the body's tolerance limit — barely preserving their lives.
Even so, they were now hanging on by a mere thread.
"Reversing Time requires an enormous amount of power. This remnant soul of this Emperor could only do this much!" The cold, slightly weakened voice from the broken mirror shard rang out, interrupting Lan An's surging emotions.
That was her limit. If she had reversed Wu San Niang back to the moment before activating the Death Gate, this remnant soul of hers would have completely dissipated.
"Thank you, Female Emperor! This junior will never forget this grace!" Lan An held Wu San Niang tightly, sincerely looking at the floating broken mirror shard.
This object was an incomplete treasure shard that Lan An had summoned after completing the mission to help Ju Aman win at the Martial Power Platform, along with three drops of Warm Blood Liquid.
According to Jin'er's information, the shard sealed the remnant soul of an absolute peerless female powerhouse…
She was the master of an extremely rare dual-element spiritual root: Time and Space…
She was also the previous owner of the Spirit World Pearl that now belonged to him…
Her name was Suiyue… Suiyue Female Emperor…
Though he didn't know why a trace of Suiyue Female Emperor's remnant soul had been sealed in this broken shard, nor why whoever awakened her would receive one request within her power…
These were secrets far too advanced for Lan An to access right now. Jin'er also refused to explain… He only needed to know that he had made the right choice…
Suiyue Female Emperor truly could reverse time and save his San Niang…
Whoosh…
The broken mirror shard did not linger. After fulfilling Lan An's request, it easily pierced through the layers of solid space within the stone palace and vanished in an instant, taking with it the remnant soul of that legendary Female Emperor.
Lan An let out a long breath. Though he felt a slight disappointment at how cold the Female Emperor had been — unsure if he would ever have the chance to meet her again in this lifetime — the grace she bestowed today would be forever etched in his heart.
In the future, when the opportunity arose, he would repay her a hundred thousand times over…
Wu San Niang leaned weakly against the man's chest, feeling his heart pounding wildly out of worry for her. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth as she smiled contentedly…
This feeling… was truly wonderful…
Before death, her mind had been filled only with his figure.
"Time spiritual root? How… how is this possible…?" The brocade-robed youth stood as if his soul had left his body, witnessing the entire event. Even with his exalted background, everything before him felt like a dream.
Even in his homeland, the Time spiritual root was something that existed only in legends — appearing once in tens of thousands of eras. The number of people who had ever possessed the Time spiritual root throughout countless ages could be counted on one hand. After all, the heaven-defying nature of the Time spiritual root was simply too terrifying. It could directly interfere with the rules of reincarnation, throwing the laws of the world into chaos.
Those who possessed this spiritual root usually met tragic ends, because the trials the heavens imposed on Time spiritual root cultivators were horrifying.
For example, ordinary people underwent Tribulation with regular lightning, but Time spiritual root possessors would face Three-Colored, or even Five-Colored and Seven-Colored Thunder Tribulations and above.
Their luck was also abysmal — they were constantly suppressed by the heavens, every step a struggle. Even when using the power of Time, most left behind dangerous backlash.
But if a Time spiritual root cultivator managed to grow to maturity, they were an absolute terror — invincible at the same level, easily fighting across realms as if eating and drinking…
Yet today, on this low-level planet that the brocade-robed youth looked down upon — a place inhabited only by ignorant natives — an event related to the Time spiritual root had occurred.
Though the one who acted never showed her face, with just a single dignified command she reversed time and saved a woman who had completely exploded. It was simply too terrifying…
Even the brocade-robed youth was left doubting whether he was dreaming.
Lan An looked at the brocade-robed youth's expression. The killing intent in his heart had never been thicker — not even when facing Lan Polei or Lan Yu had he ever wanted to kill someone this badly.
As he had always said: Touching him personally didn't matter much… but touching his loved ones turned Lan An into a mad beast.
"You want to kill me?" The brocade-robed youth sensed Lan An's killing intent. Looking at him like he was looking at a fool, he said:
"Though I don't know how you were lucky enough to obtain an item related to a Time user, that person has already left! And in my eyes, you're just an ant. Do you understand?"
From beginning to end, the brocade-robed youth had seen everything clearly. He knew Lan An had no deep connection with the terrifying figure inside the mirror shard.
Jealousy filled the brocade-robed youth's heart. The woman he had taken a liking to was now leaning contentedly against another man's chest, and this bastard had even been lucky enough to possess such a heaven-defying mirror shard.
Why? Why did a mere native have such fortune? The brocade-robed youth couldn't accept it. He knew that if the mirror shard had belonged to him, he could have used it far better to gain countless massive benefits — instead of wasting it just to save one woman.
"Rest for a bit. I'll get rid of this fly first!" Lan An gently wiped the blood from Wu San Niang's lips and carefully set her down beside a stone pillar.
Wu San Niang wanted to warn him to be careful of the Immortal Force, but she no longer even had the strength to speak. She could only look at him with eyes full of caution, signaling him to be careful.
"He's also your Little Nam?" The Manhuang Saintess silently thought. Lan An's tenderness toward Wu San Niang was, in truth, tenderness toward both of them at once.
It had been countless years since she last felt this kind of care — this feeling of being protected by someone.
Ding! Epic Mission Activated – Suppress Immortal Force: Success will grant one Physique Summon and one Weapon Summon. Failure will cause Wu San Niang to develop a Heart Demon.
At that moment, the System's mechanical voice rang in Lan An's ears, forcing him to open and check the mission details.
Mission note "Suppress Immortal Force": The host's first encounter with an enemy possessing Immortal Force. As long as the enemy is defeated or killed while still within the Manhuang Star domain, the mission will be completed. Mission failure occurs if the enemy leaves the Manhuang Star domain.
After listening, Lan An took a deep breath. His grave gaze turned toward the brocade-robed youth.
From the mission information, he had already guessed a few things…
An Epic-grade mission, yet it didn't require him to immediately determine victory or defeat against the brocade-robed youth. The mission only failed if the youth left Manhuang Star. That meant the System judged that he might not be able to defeat this man right away…
Just how terrifying was this so-called Immortal Force?
Just how strong were geniuses from the Immortal Realm?