The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

This is a chaotic and hazy void.

"You've arrived!" A voice echoed through the vast space.

"Senior." A young man in black robes stood in the void and bowed respectfully.

Wow~~~
Just then, in this chaotic and hazy void, spacetime fluctuations suddenly appeared.

Then, droplets of water appeared out of thin air, emanating a chilling aura, like solidified frost.

Gradually, these frost-covered water droplets began to condense, eventually forming a frost-covered figure.

The frost receded, revealing a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in white.

The stunningly beautiful woman in white was surrounded by an icy aura, with ripples spreading through spacetime, making her seem like a beautiful fairy who had descended from the moon palace to the mortal world.

“Senior.” Lei Zhan looked at the woman in white.

"Mm." The woman in white nodded gently.

"My return to the Earth's core this time is to complete the test left by Senior Ruosang," Lei said.

Although Daoist Ruosang has perished for countless eons, among the various treasures she left behind before her death were still treasures.

Among those vast amounts of inheritance and countless treasures, the most precious thing is the white-clad woman herself before them—a treasure of the universe.

Lei Zhan returned to the Three Realms from Mangya Kingdom with the ultimate goal of completing the test and obtaining this cosmic treasure.

Therefore, after the original eighteen clones merged into one, Lei Zhan went directly to the Endless Ice Sea and arrived at this void space.

"Alright." The woman in white looked at Lei Zhan: "I told you about this test a long time ago."

"Yeah." Leizhan nodded.

The woman in white continued, "The treasures of the universe are the most powerful magical artifacts in the endless realms, possessing unfathomable power, and they generally recognize the Eternal Emperor as their master."

"Therefore, my master left this test behind, and I am only giving you this one chance."

“I understand,” Lei Zhan nodded.

Lei Zhan was well aware of Ruosang Daojun's strength.

After all, for a Dao Lord on the verge of achieving Dao Integration, being able to kill dozens of Eternal Emperors in the Qingyang Realm is something that many powerful beings who are also Eternal Emperors would find difficult to do.

The only condition set by Daoist Ruosang for obtaining the treasure of the universe in this trial was that Lei Zhan must defeat Daoist Ruosang's avatar, who possessed the cultivation of an ancestral god.

This test is incredibly difficult to achieve naturally.

However, if Lei Zhan can complete the test, he will receive a cosmic treasure that even countless Dao Lords of Life and Death covet.

After all, in this era, the only Dao Lord in the entire Flame Dragon Realm who could obtain the recognition of a cosmic treasure as their master was probably the Wine Saint, who ranked first among countless Dao Lords.

But the Wine Saint is a Heaven-defying Dao Lord who has cultivated for many years, nearly 100,000 Chaos Eras!

"Then let's begin," the woman in white said, and then said no more.

Wow~~~
With a wave of her hand, the woman in white caused the space to shift, and Lei Zhan vanished into the void.

……

"call."

Ripples spread through the space, and Lei Zhan appeared out of thin air, standing gracefully in mid-air, looking down below.

"Hua Hua Hua~~"

This is a vast lake, its surface shimmering like jade, and in the center of this lake lies an island.

At first glance, the islands in the middle of the lake are covered with countless flowers and plants, and elegant pavilions and towers can be seen everywhere. It is natural and harmonious, yet has a unique Taoist charm.

"An island in the middle of the lake, pavilions and towers, flowers and plants everywhere, what a paradise on earth."

Looking at each building, one could still see remnants of time, space, formations, and mental energy.

"This is where my master lived before her death. After she failed to achieve enlightenment, this lake and island became the place where she passed away."

A voice rang out from behind Lei Zhan, and then the woman in white appeared in the sky above the island in the middle of the lake.

"The place of passing away..." Lei Zhan's gaze was complicated. The Dao Lord of Life and Death was already facing life and death at every step, and it was extremely difficult to reach the edge of the Dao Integration.

Once you reach the edge of the Dao, achieving eternal union with the Dao becomes as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Even a powerful Dao Lord like Ruosang, who cultivated both divine and demonic body refinement and qi refinement, was also a heaven-defying Dao Lord who was extremely skilled in mental power. Furthermore, when he became the Dao Lord of Life and Death, he fused the Dao of Time and Space with the four strongest Daos!
Even so, Daoist Ruosang still fell before achieving eternal union with the Dao.

suddenly.

"She's here." The woman in white gazed leisurely at the courtyard below.

"Hmm?" Lei Zhan also looked over.

"Squeak~~~"

The courtyard gate opened, and a woman with her hair tied up walked out of the courtyard. The woman was extremely beautiful, and the heroic spirit between her brows gave her a very unique temperament.

She stood there quietly, wearing a crystal-clear silver glove on her left hand. She looked up at Lei Zhan, as if a galaxy was reflected in her eyes.

The woman in white gazed at the figure with long hair tied up, who looked just like her owner, a hint of reminiscence in her eyes.

"Senior Ruosang?" Lei Zhan also looked at the woman with her hair tied up, feeling a sense of familiarity with her appearance.

“She is me, but I am not him.” The woman with her hair tied up turned to look at Lei Zhan, but gently shook her head.

“I… am merely an avatar left behind by her using a secret technique before her death. Although we look alike, the real Daoist Ruosang… perished and vanished countless years ago.”

Lei Zhan looked at the woman with her hair tied up, who seemed a little sad, and sighed inwardly.

The methods he left behind before his death...

As this incarnation of Daojun Ruosang said, after Daojun Ruosang died and her Dao dissipated, they were actually two different people.

Although they look exactly the same, they may even retain some of Ruosang Daojun's memories.

But the woman with her hair tied up in front of us is more like the spirit of a magical artifact or a puppet.

"Alright. My purpose in being is to select a suitable successor for my master. So that after she dies, there won't be no suitable heir left."

The woman with her hair tied up looked around at the familiar scenery from her memory, her eyes filled with a calm indifference.

"Yes." A light appeared in Lei Zhan's eyes: "Lei Zhan will definitely not let you and Senior Ruosang down."

"Okay, let's get started!"

"The only condition for obtaining my master's most precious treasure is to defeat me," the woman with her hair tied up said calmly, looking at Lei Zhan.
“I possess all of my master’s insights into the Dao, but my own strength will only be able to maintain the level of Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal.” “Good.” Lei Zhan nodded. “I have been waiting and looking forward to this day for a long time, to fight against a senior.”

"Then defeat me, so as not to waste this opportunity." The woman with her hair tied up pointed her eyes and walked directly toward Lei Zhan. Her aura was completely unrestrained, and her imposing presence was overwhelming.

The overwhelming murderous aura and the terrifying sense of oppression made Lei Zhan feel secretly frightened.

"Hmm? Is this the strength of the strongest Dao Lord?"

Lei Zhan's heart tightened. "Even the slightest bit, even an avatar, even the oppressive feeling that Brother Xingyun and Senior Brother Lanzhou bring me is far less than this."

Sensing the overwhelming killing intent emanating from the woman with her hair tied up, Lei Zhan's fighting spirit burned fiercely like a raging fire.

"Come on, let me see your strength." The woman with her hair tied up glanced around, raised her left hand wearing a silver glove, and the glove began to glow softly.

"Then let's go!" Lei Zhan flipped his hand, and a black spear appeared in his hand. The spear was like a dragon, and he immediately thrust it straight out.

Chi chi chi~~~
The black spear ripped through the sky, creating a huge crack, as if it had cut the entire sky apart.

Almost instantly, the vast distance seemed to shrink to within reach. The black spear traversed time and space, arriving right in front of the woman with her hair tied up.

"This is... an assassination technique?" The woman with her hair tied up looked at the black gun shadow in front of her, but her eyes didn't even flicker.

She casually raised her left hand, and the silver glove, gleaming with a hazy light, plunged directly into the myriad of gun shadows.

"Hmm?" Lei Zhan's pupils contracted.

call.

A small, beautiful hand grasped the black spear, and water seemed to flow from that hand, completely dissipating the power of the spear.

"Hmph!" Lei Zhan flicked his spear, and countless spatial and temporal forces appeared in the air.

Rumble~~~
Rumble~~~
The roar resounded through the sky, and black holes of varying sizes appeared around the spear.

The edges of each black hole shattered the void, spinning and carrying endless annihilating power that seemed capable of destroying everything.

"The strongest attack method? Annihilation Style?" The woman with her hair tied up finally smiled. "This spacetime annihilation technique is quite useful. However, it's still a bit lacking."

Whoosh! The woman with her hair tied up casually released the black spear, and her left hand, gloved with silver, struck out in an instant.

Rumble~~~
With a slight movement of the hand clad in a silver glove, a strange ripple of spacetime was naturally created. The ripple expanded continuously and instantly evolved into a massive black hole.

The moment this enormous black hole appeared, it was as if a vast world had descended, instantly crushing all the black holes of varying sizes surrounding the spear.

She walked forward, as if reality and illusion intertwined, like a dream, yet the overwhelming killing intent was like a vast ocean of blood.

"Is spacetime annihilated?" As black holes of all sizes continued to crumble, Lei Zhan's eyes shone even brighter.

Before the spacetime annihilation that the woman with her hair tied up casually unleashed, he sensed some profound mysteries contained within it.

bang bang bang! ! !
The palm kept slapping Lei Zhan, and the mysterious palm technique alone made Lei Zhan feel a little overwhelmed. The dreamlike palm technique contained a deadly killing intent.

“This, this, this…” Lei Zhan looked at each move in front of him very clearly.

He could also sense that the other party's power was very ordinary, at least far inferior to his own, who was comparable to the Dao Lord of Life and Death.

Even if they knew it and saw it clearly, the other party's level was too high.

Even if one's own strength is insufficient, one can directly overwhelm the bases and spread the bat by relying on one's understanding and perception of the Dao.

This is the frustration of having such a large gap in understanding.

I have power, but I can't use it.

The enemy's strength, though only a fraction, has a thousandfold effect.

"That's it! That's exactly it!"

"The way of time and space... should be like this!"

"Annihilation, shattered stars, reincarnation, a thousand worlds..."

The opponent's power level was very weak, which was within Lei Zhan's expectations, after all, it was only at the level of Ancestral God and Ancestral Immortal.

However, the opponent's realm was ridiculously high, comparable to some Eternal Emperors.

If this test involves a power level close to his own, then Lei Zhan won't even have the ability to fight back!

Although he was weaker, in the face of the huge gap in their levels of cultivation, Lei Zhan always felt like he was punching empty air.

"Time and space..."

"The ultimate end of time and space..."

Lei Zhan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. In the past, he had always fought against cultivators of the same level.

He had also fought to the death with some second-step and third-step Dao Lords, but most of them were skilled in other Daos, and those skilled in spacetime were very few.

The woman with her hair tied up in front of them, this incarnation left behind by Daoist Ruosang countless eons ago, inherited all of Daoist Ruosang's methods and insights into the Dao of Time and Space.

As Lei Zhan fought against his opponent, his understanding and insights into the concept of time and space flowed like a spring.

"A bit weak..." The woman with her hair tied up shook her head as she looked at Lei Zhan. "Although you have comprehended the five strongest paths and combined them perfectly, you are already considered to have extremely strong talent among countless cultivators. But you are still in a cage."

"At the beginning of your cultivation, at the very beginning of your journey on the path of time and space, do you understand what time and space are?"

What is spacetime?

Lei Zhan was stunned. Spacetime... isn't it just the perfect combination of time and space?

Time and space...

Lei Zhan felt as if lightning was flashing through his mind, and countless thoughts arose and vanished in an instant.

"If this is all you've got, even if you gain the recognition of that cosmic treasure now, you'll never reach the level of a Dao Lord of Life and Death..."

The woman with her hair tied up said calmly, "What is life and death? It's just a matter of life and death with every step! One wrong step and you're dead!"

"If you don't understand what time and space are, even if you embark on the path of the Dao Lord of Life and Death in the future, it will be difficult for you to reach the end."

"It's also very difficult; to achieve eternal union with the Dao..."

"This..." Lei Zhan tried his best to resist the constant slapping of the hand, but he had already heard the words of the woman with her hair tied up completely in his heart.

"What is... spacetime?" Lei Zhan murmured to himself.

……

(End of this chapter)