Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 553 Hi, we meet again
The next instant, the Chinese Shenzhou appeared in the Yuanchen Suguang River.

A colorful torrent of time instantly engulfed the ship, and the space around it immediately began to distort. The Shenzhou was swept downstream like a withered leaf.

Zu Chongzhi's silver hair stood on end as he roared, "Fire!"

Xiao Heizi then pulled back the breechblock, and a thick, dark purple beam of energy shot out from the muzzle of the Void Annihilation Cannon. The Shenzhou instantly trembled violently, its keel groaning under the strain. This recoil, powerful enough to shatter stars, only managed to pause the Shenzhou briefly in the torrent of time.

"Sink the boat!" Zu Chongzhi immediately issued the second order.

Zu Geng frantically flapped his two pairs of Qiankun Wings, creating violent ripples in spacetime across the Su Guang River. However, the power of the torrent of time was beyond imagination, instantly smoothing out the ripples created by the wings, leaving the Chinese Divine Ship shaking violently in a dilemma.

If the hull hadn't undergone extensive upgrades at considerable cost, it would have disintegrated immediately.

Even at full speed, the Shenzhou spacecraft could only barely maintain its forward momentum.

They wanted to retreat on their own, but it was utterly impossible. And those on the ship were isolated from time itself; even Ren Yuan was powerless to do anything.

At the critical moment, the energy vortex at the bottom of the boat suddenly burst forth, emitting a seven-colored glow similar to the river of time!
That was the divine power that Xiao Yuhuan and the other two infused through the Light-Tracing Mirror, which the mirror then transformed into the power of time.

The three gods worked together to push the whirlpool and the divine ship on it upstream little by little!

However, going back in time is going against the will of Heaven, and every time one day is retraced, one will suffer a terrible backlash!

The artificial time vortex also had another function: to transfer the impact of the power of time onto the three of them...

The three men's divine power was being consumed like water bursting its banks. Their faces gradually turned pale, and their hair began to turn frost-white. Yet they still did their best to maintain the stability of the vortex and shield the Chinese Shenzhou from all impacts.

"Let's go!" Zu Chongzhi's roar pierced through time and space. With the help of the three gods burning their divine cores, the Qiankun Wings of the Chinese Divine Ship burst forth with brilliant light, flapping against the surging tides of time!
The next instant, the ship's hull transformed into a streak of light, like a comet, trailing a long tail of light, and disappeared into the river of time...

The three gods had completely exhausted their divine power and, like kites with broken strings, fell from a great height.

The lizard's agile figure slicing through the sky first caught Xiao Yuhuan on its back, then rushed over and bit the witch's belt. But it could only watch helplessly as Tao Hongjing fell.

Fortunately, Lan Jing flew with lightning speed on his sword and caught his weakened master!
"Sister..." As soon as the red leopard landed, Xiao Gang rushed forward to help Xiao Yuhuan.

Upon seeing her suddenly aged face, Xiao Gang choked up. His third sister, who had always seemed to never age in his memory, was finally no longer young.

Xiao Yuhuan remained calm, brushing the frost from her temples, her eyes filled with the composure of someone who had seen it all: "I was born two years before the founding of the nation, and I am now sixty-two years old. I should be an old woman by now."

She looked in the direction where the Shenzhou disappeared, feeling empty inside, not only because she would never see her friends again, but also because she could no longer feel her own divine core.

The divine cores of all three have been eroded by the power of time, and have aged to the point that they can no longer release divine power...

"We gave it our all, and we hope they will be worthy of our sacrifice," Wu Gu sighed, gazing at the fading starlight.

"It's definitely possible!" Tao Hongjing said confidently.

“That’s right.” Xiao Yuhuan agreed, a confident smile blooming on her aged face: “They will definitely rewrite history, save the people of the Southern Dynasty, and send Wu Yang to his death!”

The three watched as the river of time disappeared, their minds still filled with anticipation for the tumultuous events that would unfold thirty-two years prior—how magnificent they must have been…

"I really want to see the changed world..."

~~
Thirty-two years ago, in the ruins of Jiankang Taicheng...

The Shenzhou spacecraft twisted and deformed in an intense white light, eventually becoming transparent and ethereal along with the figures of everyone on board. When the light faded, the spaceship and its crew had vanished without a trace…

The witch calculated for a moment and then asked Xiao Yan, "Did you send them to the future?"

"Yes." Xiao Yan nodded wearily.

Wu Yang then personally used his divine sense to investigate further, and indeed could no longer sense any trace of Ren Yuan and the others in this realm. "Why did you do this?"

"How dare they question our Lord!" Xiao Yan exclaimed indignantly. "Facts speak louder than words. I will send them to the future so they can see for themselves how great, glorious, and righteous the divine kingdom our Lord has built on earth truly is!"

He paused, then said with fervor, "In the future, they will surely regret it deeply and kneel before the Lord, weeping and begging for forgiveness!"

"How far into the future is it?" Wu Yang asked, gazing at the empty sky.

"It's hard to say..." Just as Wu Gu was about to answer, she suddenly saw a point of light appear in the empty sky, which then began to flicker violently.

The intense fluctuations in time caused the world to lose its color once again.

"You're back so soon?" The three of them stared in surprise.

A crack appeared in the sky, and a large blue fireball shot out like a meteorite!
The people of Jiankang were stunned; they had never witnessed so many extraordinary sights in their lives. Their mouths gaped as two pairs of dazzling, starlight-filled wings unfurled from the fireball, followed by the billowing of a sail…

As its speed decreased sharply, the fireball revealed its true form: the 'Flying Divine Ship' that had disappeared earlier. But in the blink of an eye, it had transformed into a metal hull?
~~
Ren Yuan remained conscious throughout this journey, even the passage of time did not cause him to lose consciousness. He then quickly woke up Zu Chongzhi and the others.

As soon as Zu Chongzhi, his grandson, and Xiao Heizi woke up, they urgently took control of the Shenzhou and finally stabilized its position before crashing. At this time, they were less than five zhang away from the ruins of Taiji Palace.

After the Shenzhou spacecraft came to a stop, Ren Yuan and his friends jumped off the ship.

"Hi, we meet again." Chen Baxian greeted Wu Yang with a grin.

Wu Yang had been casually glancing at them, but was immediately stunned—he could clearly sense that Ren Yuan had reached the same level as him, or more accurately, as his true self.

As soon as Xiao Yan and Wu Gu saw them return, they knew what had happened. However, both of them were extremely shrewd and showed no sign of it.

"You guys really went to the future?" Wu Yang's question was completely pointless. Ren Yuan and his companions had all improved significantly, especially Ren Yuan, who had become an ancient god, a rare feat in the world. He must have had some extraordinary encounter in the future.

Ren Yuan remained silent and instead drew A Yao's Emperor Sword.

Wu Yang looked at the two swords in his hand; both were genuine. The one he was holding was clearly brought back from the future.

"How far into the future have you traveled to?" Wu Yang asked.

"Twenty years from now," Ren Yuan replied.

"Is my divine kingdom complete?" Wu Yang couldn't help but ask again.

"If it works out, will you let me come back?" Ren Yuan sneered.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Wu Yang was struck dumb.

(End of this chapter)