The silver-robed woman smiled, her eyes gleaming with sothing akin to pride. "I wish you success in finding the remaining Fragnts, Yun Lintian." She paused aningfully. "But rember—sotis, you shouldn't look too far. So of them might already be by your side."
Yun Lintian's gaze flickered toward Linlin and Qingqing, then Yue Zhihe. His mind raced—could one of them unknowingly hold a Fragnt? Or was it sothing else entirely?
He stored the thought away and asked the more pressing question. "How do I fight the Chasm of Uncreation? Yin's strength is beyond anything I've faced. Even now, I don't see a way to resist him."
The woman laughed mockingly. "Even after all this, you still doubt yourself? Truly laughable."
Yun Lintian's jaw tightened.
But then her expression softened. A rare gentleness entered her voice. "Though... I suppose it's understandable. Your journey has been too short. A re hundred years, if we exclude the ti you spent in accelerated realms. In the grand sche of things, you're still a child."
She stepped closer, her silver robes shimring like moonlight. "But ti does not determine strength. The woman you saw in the dream realm told you the truth—you must accept that you might lose everything, and fight anyway. That is the only way."
Yun Lintian exhaled. "And if it's not enough?"
The woman's form began to dissolve, silver mist rising from her body. "Then you will join the rest of your failed selves. But I don't think that will happen."
"Wait!" Yun Lintian reached out, but his hand passed through her fading figure.
She smiled one last ti. "Before I go... there is sothing extrely precious to you in this place. Find it. Otherwise, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
And with that, she vanished—leaving only a whisper on the wind.
"Trust in those beside you."
Silence filled the ruins.
Linlin tugged at Yun Lintian's sleeve. "Big Brother Yun... what did she an?"
Yun Lintian scanned the area, his mismatched eyes pulsing with temporal energy. "I'm not sure. But we're not leaving until we find it."
Yue Zhihe frowned. "This place is vast. Where do we even start?"
A mory flashed in Yun Lintian's mind—the woman's words. "So Fragnts might already be by your side."
His gaze landed on Qingqing.
The little girl blinked innocently. "Huh? Why are you looking at like that?"
Yun Lintian knelt before her. "Qingqing, do you rember where you ca from?"
Qingqing tilted her head and shook her head slightly. "I don't know."
Yun Lintian recalled the first ti he t Qingqing. She was a True Spirit born from one of the Beyond Heaven relics, the Storm. What made her special was that she was the only one so far among all the relics. This made him curious on why only the Storm gave birth to Qingqing but not the others.
He shook his head and dismissed the doubt. There was no way for Qingqing to be one of the fragnts.
Yun Lintian picked Qingqing and Linlin up and placed them on his shoulders while turning to look at Zhou Xuan, Feng Yang, and the others.
"I can take all of you out of this place." he said calmly.
Zhou Xuan's eyes widened in disbelief. Feng Yang's hands trembled. i Ling and Bai Xue clutched each other, tears streaming down their faces.
"Senior... you an it?" Zhou Xuan's voice cracked. "We can truly leave?"
Yun Lintian nodded. "But first, there's sothing I must do."
Feng Yang stepped forward eagerly. "What is it, Senior? We'll assist however we can!"
A cold smile touched Yun Lintian's lips.
"The Ti Eater." His mismatched eyes glead with temporal energy. "I'm going to hunt him first."
A stunned silence fell.
Zhou Xuan paled. "B-But Senior, he's—"
"Still hiding in the temporal distortions," Yun Lintian interrupted. He raised his hand, and silver light swirled around his fingers. "But not for long."
The Seed of Ti pulsed in his Divine Core, its power resonating with the ruins themselves. The air around them shimred as Yun Lintian's divine sense expanded, piercing through layers of fractured ti.
Qingqing clung to his hair. "Big Brother Yun... that bad skeleton is running away!"
Linlin's golden eyes narrowed. "He's scared!"
Yun Lintian's smile deepened. "Oh, he should be."
The forest trembled as Yun Lintian took a step forward—and the world bent.
Trees blurred. Space folded. In an instant, they stood in a decaying clearing where the air itself seed to rot.
Zhou Xuan gasped. "This... this is his lair!"
Bones littered the ground—so fresh, so ancient. At the center stood a grotesque throne woven from temporal energy and the remains of countless cultivators.
And upon it sat the Ti Eater.
His skeletal form flickered between past and present, golden armor reforming and crumbling in cycles. When he spoke, his voice echoed from a thousand directions at once.
"You... dare co to ?"
Yun Lintian didn't answer. He simply raised a hand—
And clenched his fist.
CRACK!
The temporal distortions surrounding the Ti Eater shattered like glass. His throne collapsed, his stolen energy scattering.
The Ti Eater shrieked—a sound that made the very air bleed. "IMPOSSIBLE!"
Yun Lintian stepped forward, his silver-streaked hair flaring with power. "You've fed on trapped cultivators for millennia. Today, you answer for it."
The Ti Eater lunged, his skeletal fingers elongating into temporal blades. "DIE!"
Yun Lintian didn't dodge.
The blades struck—
And passed through him as if he were a ghost.
The Ti Eater froze. "What...?"
Yun Lintian's form flickered. "You manipulate ti?" He smiled coldly. "I am ti now."
His palm slamd into the Ti Eater's chest.
BOOM!
Golden light erupted. The Ti Eater's screams turned to silence as his body disintegrated, his stolen temporal energy unraveling like a snapped thread.
A final whisper echoed.
"Nian Shi... will devour you..."
Then nothing.
Yun Lintian raised his brow slightly. Surprisingly, Ti Eater knew Nian Shi and perhaps worked for him.
Yun Lintian didn't think about it further and waved his hand, the temporal energy rippled out.
Gradually, those who were trapped for ages regained their freedom. The distorted ti quickly dispersed and the original Garden of the Lost Souls had beco an ordinary garden.
Yun Lintian retracted his hand and said. "Let's leave."
He waved his hand and stepped forward, followed by Yue Zhihe.
Zhou Xuan and the others were excited and quickly followed Yun Lintian out…
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