Simultaneously traversing: traversing countless heavens

Chapter 98 Earth-shattering

Just as the portal opened completely, and the scenes of two completely different times and spaces were fully connected through this magical portal, Zuo Ruotong, who had been as still as if petrified, seemed to sense the faint but absolutely abnormal spatial fluctuations beside her.

He slowly opened his eyes.

In an instant, it was as if the immortal in the painting had been infused with a soul.

Those were eyes that defied precise description.

Clear as the water of an ancient, pristine pool, it reflects the world's affairs yet remains unmoved; deep as the boundless starry sky, it contains wisdom and serenity refined by countless ages.

The strangest thing is that such a long period of time does not seem to have left any turbidity or vicissitudes, but instead has refined a kind of primordial clarity and purity.

His gaze calmly swept over the side of the portal—several young people covered in blood, dressed in tattered clothes, barely breathing, their faces filled with despair and astonishment.

His brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Who are you?" A clear, melodious voice, like a mountain stream, yet carrying a faint sense of detachment born from a long period of silence, passed clearly through the light gate and reached Zhang Chulan and the others.

"Senior!! Help!!! There's no time to explain!!!" Zhang Chulan's survival instinct and critical judgment soared to their peak at this moment!

Almost the instant Zuo Ruotong opened her eyes and her gaze swept over him, he deduced from those unfathomable eyes and the natural air of authority that this was an unimaginable master!

Forget all formalities and doubts; with all his might, he pointed to the sky, his voice distorted by extreme anxiety and scream: "Missile!!! It's about to fall!!! People will die!!! Save us!!!"

His words hadn't even completely faded from his lips.

On the other side of the light gate.

Zuo Ruotong had already stood up.

His movements didn't seem swift, even carrying a leisurely ease, but they gave people a strange illusion that time was stretched or compressed around him.

As he stood up, he casually flicked his left hand towards the stone platform beside him—

The Three Truths and Myriad Laws Sword, enshrined on the stone platform, emitted a barely audible murmur. Its blade trembled slightly before flying out on its own, tracing a smooth arc, and landing precisely and steadily in his waiting left hand.

He holds the sword in his left hand and casually places it behind his back.

Then, he stepped forward.

The hem of the white Taoist robe fluttered slightly.

Zuo Ruotong's figure had already passed through the blood-gold light gate, and from that ancient cave filled with spiritual energy, she stood solidly and without hindrance in the modern abandoned factory where Lu Linglong, Zhang Chulan and others were located, filled with the smell of gunpowder, blood and the threat of death!

The cool night breeze ruffled his unbound black hair and white Taoist robe, creating a striking and strange contrast with the dilapidated industrial environment around him.

In that extremely short instant of descending into the world, Zuo Ruotong's vast and meticulous divine sense had already silently swept across the entire area.

The state of the young people beneath her feet, especially the faint yet shared "Three Truths" magical energy emanating from Lu Linglong and the familiar pendant, along with the trajectory of the dozen or so guide orders rapidly approaching in the night sky—

And, the pendant tightly clutched by the pink-haired girl, now shimmering with light, still bore the familiar aura and arrangement of his now-ascended disciple, Zhou Yi.

So that's how it is—the words in the Book of Changes before his ascension, "The disciple is in the future," must be here. This girl is the successor he chose.

In an instant, Zuo Ruotong's mind became as clear as a mirror, and her past doubts were answered. A trace of realization and a faint, timeless sentiment flashed across the deepest part of her eyes.

But all these emotional fluctuations only lasted for a fleeting moment.

His face remained calm and still, like an unchanging deep pool, reflecting the crisis before him and the murderous intent in the distance, yet without causing the slightest ripple.

At the same time, in the night sky, the dozen or so death-like white lights entered their final dive phase, crashing down towards this area with a piercing shriek and a destructive force!

Lu Linglong and the others could even feel the scorching heat and the suffocating pressure; death was just around the corner!

However, the anticipated destruction did not occur.

A spherical light shield, as thin as a cicada's wing yet incredibly solid, shimmering with a faint golden glow, had quietly enveloped the five of them.

The light shield may seem fragile, but it is indestructible.

Those dozen or so tactical missiles, enough to repeatedly flatten this area, were like hitting the hardest barrier in the universe when they came into contact with the surface of the golden light shield. They didn't even cause a ripple. In the soft and absolute golden light, they silently decomposed, dissipated, and turned into the most primitive light points and basic particles, and were completely annihilated.

The night sky returned to silence, with only the faint echo of the lingering noise of missile thrusters in the distance.

Inside the light barrier, Lu Linglong, Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, Zhuge Qing, and Feng Baobao stared dumbfounded at this scene that defied all common sense in physics and supernatural phenomena. They then looked at the white figure standing in front of them, sword in hand, his Taoist robe fluttering slightly, as if he had merely brushed away a few specks of dust.

The disorientation of surviving the ordeal, intertwined with the shock of facing an incomprehensible existence, left them speechless for a moment.

Zuo Ruotong's gaze slowly swept over the several young faces inside the light barrier, still shaken and stained with blood, and finally settled on the pink-haired girl being steadily supported by Feng Baobao.

Although the girl's aura was weak, her eyes were clear and bright, and the familiar "Three Truths" magical power remained on her body, echoing the pendant.

"What's your name?" he asked, his voice clear and calm, devoid of any harshness, yet possessing a power to soothe the soul.

"Lu—Lu Linglong." Lu Linglong subconsciously straightened her back, as if facing the strictest teacher, her voice weak yet clear with respect.

She was no fool. The person before her was wearing the robes of the Three Truths School and carrying her master's sword—his identity was already obvious.

"A disciple of Zhou Yi," Zuo Ruotong nodded slightly, a faint, almost gratified ripple passing through her eyes, "you should call me Master."

"Master!" Lu Linglong called out without hesitation, her voice earnest.

"Mm." Zuo Ruotong responded, thus acknowledging this grand-disciple.

His gaze lingered on Lu Linglong for a moment, then swept over Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, and the others who were watching nervously beside him, as well as the sword marks left on the ground and the lingering smoke in the night sky in the distance. With a slight thought, he had already connected the causes and effects of the fierce battle, the strange interception, and the desperate pursuit that had occurred here not long ago, and he understood everything in his heart.

"I know the general outline of what happened." His gaze returned to Lu Linglong's pale face, his tone still calm, but with an almost imperceptible gentleness. "I'm sorry you had to suffer."

Before he finished speaking, he flicked his right sleeve, and a glittering golden light flew out from the sleeve and hovered in front of Lu Linglong.

It was a pill the size of a longan, perfectly round, with faint red patterns. As soon as it appeared, a refreshing and unique fragrance spread. Just smelling it was enough to invigorate one's spirit, and even the stagnant Qi in one's body seemed to become more lively.

"Take the pill. We'll discuss the rest when we get back." Zuo Ruotong's tone left no room for argument. "Now, come with me to seek justice for you."

"Master, isn't this too much trouble for you? The other party is probably—" Lu Linglong took the pill, feeling its smooth texture, and hesitated.

After all, the opponent is a powerful force capable of mobilizing orders and lurking in the shadows, far from an ordinary gangland feud.

"Trouble?" Upon hearing this, Zuo Ruotong's lips curved upwards slightly, but the smile did not reach her eyes. Instead, it revealed a detached indifference born of experience and shrewdness. "Not really. They're just some demons and monsters who have forgotten their pain or think I'm already dead."

He cast the light into the distant darkness, as if piercing through time and space, and saw some ancient but unfaded scenes.

"Back then, it's not like we hadn't killed people before."

A single, casually uttered sentence sent a chill down the spines of everyone present. The steely resolve and determination hidden beneath that calm tone far surpassed any impassioned declaration.

As he spoke, he subtly moved his left hand, which was carrying the sword behind his back.

Buzz—

Another "door" with flowing blood-gold light patterns silently opened before everyone. The scene inside the door was hazy and ever-changing, as if there were mountains, rivers and light flowing around.

"Come with me."

As Zuo Ruotong finished speaking, without any visible movement, a solid yet light auspicious cloud suddenly rose beneath the feet of Lu Linglong, Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, Zhuge Qing, and Feng Baobao, steadily supporting them. Zuo Ruotong himself took the lead and stepped into the portal of light.

The auspicious cloud carried the five people closely behind, as if drawn by an invisible force, and together they disappeared into that blood-gold light.

Light and shadow shifted before my eyes, and time and space seemed to be compressed.

The next moment, everyone appeared in another dimension.

Before me stood the summit of a desolate mountain, where the night wind howled.

Not far ahead, several cleverly camouflaged buildings were half-embedded in the mountain rocks, with antennas and various sensors faintly visible – one of the observation stations where missiles were launched earlier.

"Let's start here." Zuo Ruotong said in a calm tone, as if she were talking about a trivial matter.

He raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, and pressed it in the opposite direction of the observation station.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

But in the suddenly contracted pupils of Lu Linglong, Zhang Chulan and the others, they seemed to "see"—centered on Zuo Ruotong, the sky, the flowing clouds, the night wind, and even the invisible laws of heaven and earth within a radius of several miles were unified, compressed and controlled by some supreme will in the instant that hand was raised!

Then, as he pressed his palm down, this controlled "sky" image, like an invisible millstone or an inverted mountain, "overturned" down towards the observation station below in a casual yet irresistible manner!

It is the third realm of the Ascension Dao Bone - the first move of the Heaven and Earth Annihilation - Heaven and Earth Tremor!

"BOOM—!!!"

A deep, muffled roar, as if it came from the depths of the earth, erupted!

It was not an explosion, but a pure and ultimate annihilation and reshaping!

The light flashed and disappeared in an instant.

When everyone looked closely, the small hill where the observation station had stood had disappeared.

All that remains is a bowl-shaped crater with smooth, mirror-like edges and a depth of several thousand meters, its walls even exhibiting a glassy luster.

The buildings, equipment, and personnel—every trace of their existence—have been completely erased, leaving the place so clean that it seems as if it had never existed at all.

"hiss-!!!"

Wang Ye, Zhang Chulan, and Zhuge Qing all gasped in surprise, and even Feng Baobao slightly opened her mouth.

Although Lu Linglong had some expectations, she was still incredibly shocked by what she saw with her own eyes.

This—is this really the work of an extraordinary being?!

Could it be that my advisor has also ascended to immortality?!

Zuo Ruotong seemed oblivious to the astonishment behind her, and flicked her sleeves again.

The blood-gold door reappears.

"Next place."

In this way, the group followed him across space and appeared at two other hidden observation points or command nodes.

One of the observation stations was already deserted, but the equipment was still warm; the other was deathly silent. The people inside had obviously learned of the terrible fate of the first observation station through some means, and did not even dare to run away. They chose to hide completely and even cut off all external communication, like frightened moles burying themselves deep underground.

Zuo Ruotong swept his divine sense over them, but he seemed too lazy to bother to specifically target these ants who were hiding their heads and tails and didn't even dare to show their faces.

Pressing the same "earth-shattering" button will erase both locations, along with their foundations, from the map, transforming them into new "sinkhole" landscapes.

Decisive, efficient, almost indifferent.

The final door opened above the top-secret "bunker" of the All-Ton Company.

When Zuo Ruotong led everyone out of the portal and stood on the open-air platform at the highest point of the fortress, the place was already deserted.

All staff, guards, and equipment had been evacuated. Only at the edge of the platform, an elderly woman dressed in a simple Tang suit with meticulously styled silver hair stood with her back to them, quietly gazing up at the starless city night sky.

Hearing the noise behind her, the old woman slowly turned around.

Her face was aged, but her eyes remained as sharp as ever. However, at this moment, that sharpness was mixed with too many complex emotions: shock, understanding, resentment, and finally, a kind of almost liberated composure.

She saw Zuo Ruotong, saw the Taoist robe he was wearing, and saw the ancient sword in his hand that she had only glimpsed briefly in a yellowed photograph in the most confidential files.

Eyes facing each other.

There were no questions, no rebukes, and no pleas for mercy.

The old woman's lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end it only turned into a very soft sigh that almost dissipated in the wind.

She gave Zuo Ruotong a deep look, as if she were looking at a ghost that had emerged from the dust of history, or as if she were looking at a cause and effect that should have been resolved long ago.

Then, she turned back and continued to gaze at the night sky, as if everything behind her was no longer relevant to her, calmly awaiting the final outcome.

Zuo Ruotong looked at her hunched yet upright back, her eyes calm and unwavering. There was no reminiscing, no reprimand, not even a trace of unnecessary emotion.

We met when we were both nobody, and we fought side by side against the enemy. Later, our paths diverged, and we drifted apart until today.

The causes and effects of life are nothing more than this.

He didn't say much either, but simply raised his right hand again.

The starting stance remains the same.

Heaven and earth trembled violently.

Silent ripples of law spread out, enveloping the modern fortress below, built with countless resources and considered impregnable.

The old woman seemed to sense something, her body trembled almost imperceptibly, then relaxed again, still tilting her head back, her gaze seemingly trying to penetrate the light pollution of the city and see the clear starry sky in her memory.

next moment.

Its brilliance was restrained, and its resounding boom was deep.

The sprawling, modern bunker, along with its foundation structure dozens of meters deep, vanished instantly, as if erased from a drawing by a god with an eraser.

All that remains is a deep, well-defined, giant crater with edges shimmering with a faint, glassy luster, like a dark eye suddenly opened in the earth, silently witnessing a power and decisiveness that transcends time.

The blood-gold door opened for the last time before Zuo Ruotong.

The scene inside the door changed rapidly, finally settling on a densely forested mountain area shrouded in night.

Taking advantage of the complex terrain and the cover of night, a figure was fleeing desperately into the depths of the forest with astonishing speed and professional counter-tracking skills; it was Ren Fei.

Zuo Ruotong's gaze pierced through the door and landed on the disheveled yet still orderly figure.

He didn't step inside; instead, he raised his right hand, his index finger pointing lightly in the direction Ren Fei had fled through the void, across the mysterious door connecting the two places.

The movements were graceful and ethereal, devoid of any trace of worldly concerns.

More than a hundred miles away, in a dense forest.

As Ren Fei was running at full speed, she suddenly felt a chill between her brows, as if a cold dewdrop had fallen on her.

She stopped in shock, reached out to touch it, but found nothing.

But an indescribable, overwhelming terror, stemming from her very survival instincts, instantly seized her!

She turned around abruptly, only to see an endless, dark forest.

The next moment, everything went black before her eyes, and her consciousness vanished completely, like smoke dispersed by the wind. Her body swayed, then collapsed limply onto the ground covered with fallen leaves, utterly lifeless.

Between her eyebrows, a faint, almost invisible, blood-red finger mark slowly emerged.

It looks as if she accidentally bumped into a sharp branch while fleeing in panic, or that she died suddenly from a sudden stroke.

With a flick of her sleeve, Zuo Ruotong caused the blood-gold door to close and vanish as if it had never existed.

He turned around, his gaze returning to Lu Linglong, who had just taken the pill, her complexion had regained some color, and she was looking at him with a mixture of awe and complicated emotions.

The night breeze ruffled his unbound black hair and white Taoist robe, making it flutter as if he were about to ride the wind and return home at any moment.

Behind them lay the newly formed sinkhole and a desolate forest, telling the story of the brief yet intensely brutal act of "seeking justice."

"it's over."

His voice remained calm, as if what he had just done was no different from brushing off a speck of dust from his clothes.

"Linglong, come with me back to the Three Truths Dharma Gate."

"Formally included in the family tradition, to inherit the lineage."

As soon as he finished speaking, auspicious clouds appeared beneath his feet, gently drawing Lu Linglong to his side.

As for Zhang Chulan, Wang Ye, Zhuge Qing, and Feng Baobao, he nodded slightly: "You may also come along, make some arrangements, and then we'll discuss whether you stay or leave."

Having said that, without waiting for a response from the crowd, the auspicious clouds unfurled, lifting everyone up and transforming into a beam of clear light. In an instant, they disappeared into the clouds, speeding off in a direction they sensed in the darkness, and vanished into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

All that remains is this land that has experienced despair, shock, and divine punishment, slowly returning to deathly silence in the dissipating smoke and the deepest darkness before dawn.

Please vote with your monthly tickets and give me a reward!

Wow, writing this ending made me scream! It was so difficult, I racked my brains.

I will never write like this again.

Why not just stick to the cliché of showing off and getting slapped in the face? Why insist on being innovative like this? And there's still a plot hole left in the future storyline (Sword Comes, Li Liu) that hasn't been filled yet. It's a headache.

The series "Under One Person" will be temporarily suspended.

Next up is an even heavier title: Snowy Path of the Sword.

This is a book I've never read.

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