The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

The wind stopped.

The air on the mountaintop seemed to be sucked out for a moment. Then, a tremendous force surged from inside the archway, and the passage fully opened.

The light shone brightly.

Chen Hao withdrew his hand and turned around.

He looked at Chen Siyao and Yang Wanqing.

Two girls stood before him. One was his sister, and the other was his apprentice.

Chen Hao's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Let's go."

Yang Wanqing was the first to step into the passage.

Her figure was enveloped by the light membrane, and she disappeared into the darkness inside the archway.

Chen Siyao walked to the archway and stopped.

She glanced back at Chen Hao. For some reason, she suddenly wanted to look at him one more time.

Chen Hao stood two steps behind her, his face calm.

He still looked the same as she knew... a face in his early twenties, with clear features, and a gentle and calm gaze.

"Hurry up," he said.

Chen Siyao withdrew her gaze and stepped into the passage.

The light slid past her side, like passing through a curtain of warm water. Her vision darkened, and the gray-yellow light from the outside world was cut off.

The inside of the passage was endless darkness.

It wasn't pitch black; there was a very faint flow of light surging beneath my feet, like ripples on the bottom of a river.

The space was provided with minimal lighting. But overhead, on both sides, and in front, it was completely dark.

Yang Wanqing stood a few steps ahead, waiting for her.

"Coming, coming," Yang Wanqing waved.

Chen Siyao walked to her side, and the two walked forward side by side. There was slight resistance when stepping on the light stream, like stepping on the surface of semi-solid jelly.

This wasn't their first time using the spatial passage.

The first time was when I went to the Realm of Return to Nothingness. Back then, the passage was very short; it only took a few steps to get there.

The second trip was to the moon. It was a bit longer, but much brighter, with blue-white space light filling the entire passageway.

The third trip was to Jupiter. There were patterns of laws flowing across the walls of the passageway; it looked quite beautiful.

But this time is different.

This passage was much longer. Much darker. Much wider.

The "walls" on both sides were almost invisible, or rather, there were no walls at all. Only the stream of light beneath their feet guided them in one direction.

Chen Siyao walked a few steps and felt she should say something to her brother.

"Brother, how long will it take us to get there this time?"

Her voice echoed through the corridor, carrying a slight resonance.

There was no response.

Chen Siyao thought he hadn't heard her.

"elder brother?"

There was still no sound.

She stopped in her tracks.

Yang Wanqing also stopped and turned to look at her.

Chen Siyao turned around.

The passageway behind me was empty.

nobody.

The light flowed from her feet into the darkness behind her, smooth, quiet, and empty.

My brother isn't here.

The archway-shaped light barrier at the entrance to the passage had vanished. The path we came from and the path we were going through were both shrouded in endless darkness.

Chen Siyao stood still.

Her mind went blank for two seconds.

Then she saw it.

Ten steps behind, something was floating above the stream of light.

A Qiankun bag.

It was dark green, the embroidery was old, and the jade clasp at the opening of the bag was worn at the corners.

It's my brother's magic bag.

Chen Siyao slowly raised her hand.

Her fingertips were trembling, not from cold—there was no concept of temperature in the passageway. It was her whole body that was trembling, from her fingertips all the way to her shoulders.

He reached his hand in front of the Qiankun Bag.

She didn't take it immediately.

They paused for a few breaths.

Then she took it in her hand.

The touch is real; the fabric has warmth—body temperature, as if it had just been pulled from someone else's arms.

Chen Siyao probed with her divine sense.

The divine sense lock on the Qiankun Bag... is gone.

The brother's spiritual imprint has been completely erased.

The divine sense lock on a Qiankun bag will only disappear when the object voluntarily relinquishes its ownership.

She gripped the bag tightly.

He delved into the space inside the bag with his divine sense.

The bag was extremely spacious. Ten thousand years' worth of accumulated items were neatly categorized and stacked: magical artifacts, elixirs, spiritual materials, jade slips, and manuscripts. There was so much, it was piled high.

But Chen Siyao didn't look at those things.

Because a jade slip was floating in the most conspicuous position at the opening of the bag.

Her name, "Yao Yao," was engraved on the jade slip.

Her consciousness touched it.

Her brother's voice came from the jade slip. It was calm and gentle, exactly the same tone he used when speaking to her.

"Yaoyao, only two people can go through the first time. You and Xiaoqing go first."

"The Qiankun Bag contains things I've collected over ten thousand years; they should be helpful to you. After you go there, remember not to rush your cultivation; a balance between work and rest is essential to building a solid foundation. Don't wait for me."

There was a pause.

"The second time we bring people from Earth over, the number will be too large, so it will take longer, about three to five hundred years."

Another meal.

"Live well. I'll cross the Milky Way to find you."

The sound disappeared.

The jade slip went dark.

Chen Siyao stood on the stream of light, holding the jade slip in both hands.

The first time you open it... only two people can participate.

Three hundred to five hundred years.

Wait for me to cross the Milky Way to find you.

She understood every single word he said.

But when they're combined, it's not right.

That's all wrong.

She knew her brother's strength; he was the strongest Dao Master on Earth since ancient times. Sending two people through the spatial passage shouldn't be a restriction for him.

unless...

What price did he pay to open this passage, leading to an unknown and distant other world? How could his brother be so carefree as to let her go like this?

unless...

He simply can't get here.

Tears fell onto the back of my hand.

Warm. One, two, then they formed a line.

She didn't know when she started crying. There was no warning. Her eyes suddenly filled up, and she couldn't hold them back; tears streamed down her face.

Chen Siyao's hands trembled so much that she could not hold the jade slip.

Her knees buckled, she steadied herself, then buckled again. She looked like a rag doll whose supporting frame had been removed.

"Brother, you're lying..."

The voice was squeezed out of his throat, dry and broken.

"You're lying!"

The second time, my throat cracked, the word was raised to a distorted pitch, bouncing back and forth in the empty corridor. Echoes overlapped, each layer duller than the last.

She rushed back.

A stream of light spread out beneath her feet, extending into the unseen depths behind her. The path she came from and the path she was going through were indistinguishable, equally dark and equally empty.

But there was something on the way here.

Extremely thin. Transparent. Stretching across the passageway, like a non-existent pane of glass.

It's a barrier.

Chen Siyao took a step forward.

First step, second step, third step... She was running. Running back. The stream of light splashed up tiny specks of light at her feet, but she didn't care.

Then she bumped into it.

It wasn't a "bump". It was when you rushed up at full speed and slammed your body hard against that invisible wall.

There was no pain... The barrier was very "soft"; it wouldn't hurt anyone. But it also wouldn't let anyone pass through. Chen Siyao pressed her palm against that invisible surface and pushed hard. She channeled her magic power into her palm and poured it through.

Not moving.

She took a half step back and punched him.

One punch. Two punches. Three punches.

The power of the Chaos Battle Body was all concentrated on his fist, pounding it against the surface of the barrier again and again.

With each punch, a faint halo of light would appear around the barrier. Then the halo would dissipate. Nothing had changed.

Chen Siyao's legs could no longer support her weight.

Her knees struck the stream of light, and she fell to her knees. Her hands remained pressed against the barrier's surface, her fingers curled, her nails scraping against the invisible wall without a sound. Not even a scratch.

Her forehead pressed against the barrier, her shoulders twitching and heaving.

"Brother, I don't want to go to another world..."

The sound broke into breathy sounds.

"I want to stand by you on Earth... How could you send me away alone..."

Tears dripped from her chin, hitting the stream of light, and were swallowed up without leaving a trace.

She curled up, hugged her shoulders, and huddled in front of the barrier.

The sobs were suppressed deep in her throat, gushing out one after another like a blocked water pipe, each sound accompanied by spasms.

The only sounds in the passage were her cries and their echoes.

Yang Wanqing stood a few steps away.

Her tears had already begun to flow. Silently. They streamed down her cheeks to her chin, dripping onto her clothes, leaving a damp patch.

She didn't cry out loud.

She looked at Chen Siyao, who was usually calm, reserved, and always shouldered everything on her own, but now she was curled up on the ground like a child abandoned by the roadside.

Yang Wanqing wiped her face.

I rubbed my hand against it; it was wet.

She walked over and squatted down.

He wrapped his arms around Chen Siyao's shoulders from behind, pulling her into his embrace.

"Yao Yao".

Chen Siyao didn't respond. Her body was still trembling.

Yang Wanqing hugged her even tighter.

"Master is so capable, he'll definitely find a way to get here."

When she said it, she felt that her words were light and weightless.

My master never breaks his word. But he never speaks without certainty.

The message mentioned "three hundred to five hundred years".

When did Master say it would take this long?

She dared not think about the answer.

Chen Siyao raised her head in her arms, her face covered in tears, her eyes swollen, and the tip of her nose bright red.

"Qingqing... why do you think this is...?"

His voice was so hoarse it was unrecognizable.

"Why... I've been training so hard... why can't I help my brother... why...?"

Yang Wanqing's lips trembled as she looked at the distraught Chen Siyao.

She wanted to say, "You've done a great job." She wanted to say, "It's not your fault." She wanted to say many comforting words.

But those words were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't utter a single one.

She just hugged Chen Siyao even tighter.

They were so close that their shoulders were pressed together, so close that they could feel each other's bodies trembling.

The light in the passage flowed silently beneath them, heading towards a distant, unknown direction.

They hugged each other and cried together.

No one came. No one answered.

Only a low-frequency hum emanating from the depths of the passage, like the breathing of a sleeping giant, gently propelled them forward.

At the summit of Kunlun Mountain.

Chen Hao sat cross-legged on the stone surface directly in front of the archway.