Above Zhao Mausoleum, the winds and clouds churned backwards.
Li Shimin held the ancient Modao that had once accompanied him on his conquests in all directions. The blade hummed, seemingly resonating with time and space.
His consciousness sank into the blade, crossing the long river of centuries.
In an instant, he "saw" another version of himself.
It was during the Zhenguan years—spirited, ruling over the world, at the absolute peak of his life and the Great Tang empire: Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin.
The telepathic exchange across time and space was silent yet struck like thunder.
When the peak-era Li Shimin learned from his "self" hundreds of years in the future that the glorious Great Tang he had forged with his own hands had long since fallen...
When he learned that his people were now trapped in a living hell of warlord factions, endless war, and cannibalism...
A monstrous fury instantly filled the chest of this eternal emperor.
"Outrageous!"
"My empire, my people, reduced to this state!"
"How incompetent are my descendants!"
The furious roar traversed time and space, shaking even the present-day Li Shimin slightly.
He offered no excuses, merely transmitting his compassion for the common people and his bitter hatred for this chaotic world.
The peak-era Li Shimin agreed to his "future self's" unimaginable request with almost zero hesitation.
"My people will not be bullied by outsiders, nor will they be trampled by this chaotic age!"
"I am willing to lend you my troops to pacify this wretched future!"
At the end of the conversation, the present-day Li Shimin looked at the pool of clear spring water in his hand, thinking of the woman he could never forget in his entire life.
He carefully sent a handful of the spring water to the past through the Modao's connection.
"Give this water to Guanyinbi for me."
"Tell her to live well."
Having done all this, he withdrew his consciousness and slowly opened his eyes.
Three days later, the space in front of him suddenly began to twist violently, like a lake struck by a massive boulder.
A colossal space-time gate slowly opened above Zhao Mausoleum.
From the other side of the gate, the earth-shattering sounds of armored cavalry and an endless aura of iron and blood rushed forth.
An army marched out of the gate in perfect unison.
They wore shining armor and wielded incomparably sharp Modao. Their vitality surged like dragons, and their eyes were as sharp as eagles.
Every step they took made the earth of Guanzhong tremble.
This was the Great Tang's most elite force—the Xuanjia Army.
Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and the others had been waiting for a long time. They carried the spring water that had been transformed by the immortal wine, distributing it to every Great Tang soldier who crossed over.
The soldiers did not hesitate in the slightest, taking the spring water and downing it in one gulp.
In an instant, the auras of the hundred-thousand-strong army began to climb steadily.
Pillars of formidable energy shot into the sky, shredding the clouds on the horizon.
Everyone's cultivation base skyrocketed madly, eventually coming to a steady halt at the peak of the Great Heavenly Position.
One hundred thousand peak Great Heavenly Position experts.
This was a force capable of making the entire world tremble.
Li Shimin shed his remnant soul form and donned a brand-new suit of radiant golden dragon armor, standing before the hundred-thousand-strong army.
At this moment, Ian's indifferent voice suddenly echoed in his ears from thousands of miles away.
"The time has come."
"Go. Make this era remember the majesty of the Great Tang once more."
Li Shimin raised the Modao high in his hand, pointing it straight toward Miaojiang in the southwest.
"All forces, hear my command!"
"March to Miaojiang!"
"Our objective: Pacify the chaotic world and save the common people!"
"Yes, sir!"
The furious roar of a hundred thousand men converged into a massive soundwave that shook the heavens.
The army set out, rolling toward Miaojiang with an unstoppable momentum.
Wherever they passed, the colors of the world changed.
...
At the exact same moment.
Deep underground in Miaojiang.
The Witch King let out a sinister laugh and detonated the explosives he had pre-planted throughout Miaojiang's leylines.
BOOM—RUMBLE—
An indescribably massive explosion echoed from the depths of the earth's core.
Immediately after, the ground beneath their feet was violently torn apart as if by an invisible giant hand.
Mountains collapsed, and rivers flowed backward.
Boiling magma, like blood-red dragons, erupted from bottomless rifts and shot straight into the sky.
Countless toxic miasmas and foul gases that had been buried for thousands of years frantically spewed from the fissures, dyeing the entire sky an eerie black-purple.
In that instant, this canyon was transformed into a true living hell.
The fake Li Xingyun, Shuliduo, and the envoy from the Western Regions were all stunned.
They never expected the Witch King to be so insane as to pull something this ruthless in his own territory.
Elsewhere, Li Xingyun's group was also sent flying by the sudden upheaval.
Scorching magma and highly toxic miasma closed in on them from all directions.
In this moment of despair, Hou Qing's figure stepped in front of the group. His sword transformed into a curtain of light, barely fending off the flying debris and raging flames.
But even so, their space to survive was rapidly shrinking.
Death seemed to be the only outcome.
Right then, an old and gentle voice echoed in their ears.
"Everyone, follow me."
The group only felt the surrounding air pull their bodies backward, drawing them onto a small path that extended deep into an unknown mist.
With no time to overthink, the group followed the Miaojiang elder who had suddenly appeared, stepping onto this path of survival.
The scene shifted. When Li Xingyun was blinded by the sunlight ahead and opened his eyes again, the apocalyptic scenery outside had completely vanished.
In its place was a peaceful and tranquil valley, like a paradise isolated from the rest of the world.
Ancient trees towered into the sky, and the spiritual energy was overwhelming.
The one who saved them was none other than the Second Dong Master of the Twelve Dong of Miaojiang.
After the group rested, the Second Dong Master sought out Li Xingyun again. He offered no lengthy explanations, simply handing an ancient animal skin scroll to Li Xingyun.
"This is the *Qi Sutra*."
"Since you possess the Tiangang Art and have obtained the Longquan Treasure, if you wish to break through the final layer of obstruction, this sutra may lend you a helping hand."
Li Xingyun was already exceptionally talented, and now that his state of mind had drastically changed and he had a clear goal, he accepted the *Qi Sutra* and immediately immersed himself in cultivation.
Within his body, the overbearing internal energy of the Tiangang Art and the profound, all-encompassing methods of the *Qi Sutra* began to verify and fuse with one another.
His cultivation advanced a thousand miles a day.
While he cultivated, Zhang Zifan and Lu Linxuan were not idle either. Under the Second Dong Master's guidance, their cultivation also advanced by leaps and bounds.
On this day, however, Hou Qing sought out Li Xingyun to bid him farewell.
"I have sensed the auras of a few 'old friends'."
"It seems they have also been drawn out by this great chaos. I need to go handle some private matters."
Li Xingyun opened his eyes from his cultivation and nodded.
He could vaguely guess that the "old friends" Hou Qing spoke of were definitely the other three of the Four Great Corpse Progenitors of the Xuanming Cult.
Hanba, Yinggou, and Jiangchen.
It seemed this world was truly about to descend into complete chaos.