804: Chapter 802 Forbidden Entry into Ancient History

"Is this... the River of Time Reversal?"

The moment he saw that dazzling galaxy, Lin Yang almost thought it was the River of Time Reversal.

This was because the brilliant galaxy looked remarkably like the River of Time Reversal, especially the scene with floating bronze fragments, which was practically identical.

Furthermore, the aura of the bronze fragments seemed to share the same source.

However, Lin Yang soon determined that the dazzling galaxy he was seeing now was not the River of Time Reversal. Although the two looked extremely similar, there were still significant differences.

In the River of Time Reversal, there were no such specks of starlight.

The aura of the dazzling galaxy also had slight, subtle differences from the River of Time Reversal.

Looking at this dazzling galaxy that had suddenly appeared before him, Lin Yang felt somewhat bewildered.

He was in the middle of breaking through to the Heng Realm; how had he inexplicably ended up above this galaxy?

He tried to calm his mind and focus, closing off his five senses to confirm if this was an abnormal phenomenon occurring during the breakthrough process.

It had no effect. No matter how he tried, he could not exit the bounds of this dazzling galaxy.

"Could this be an illusion that appears when breaking through to the Heng Realm? Can I only succeed by breaking through this illusion?"

Lin Yang thought reflectively.

He then followed the flow of this dazzling galaxy, walking toward the downstream to see what was going on with this river of stars.

However, the downstream direction was impassable.

It seemed as if a powerful force was preventing him from advancing downstream.

Lin Yang had no choice but to turn toward the upstream direction and take a tentative step.

This time, his steps were not hindered.

"It seems this river of stars can only be traversed upstream, not downstream."

Lin Yang muttered to himself and slowly walked toward the upstream of the galaxy.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go faster, but he simply couldn't pick up speed here.

An invisible force was suppressing him.

Lin Yang could only walk step by step.

As he walked upstream, he gradually began to see blurred scenes and images within the specks of starlight.

Each speck of starlight seemed to represent a world, with various scenes evolving within.

They were just very blurry, impossible to see clearly.

Only the combat scenes could be seen slightly more clearly, though the faces of the combatants remained indistinguishable.

Despite this, Lin Yang could still feel that the strength of the combatants in the images seemed far beyond that of normal people.

Even through the images, it made his scalp tingle.

He dared not look too long at some of the battle scenes; a single glance gave him the sensation that his mind was about to shatter.

Fortunately, there weren't many of these battle scenes, and Lin Yang continued walking upstream.

He didn't know how long he had been walking.

Another battle scene appeared before his eyes.

Lin Yang glanced at it casually, but then he froze instantly.

Because one of the two people in this battle scene was actually... "Senior Yue You?!"

Lin Yang was shocked to his core, even rubbing his eyes to see if he was hallucinating.

The person in the image looked at least seventy or eighty percent—no, eighty or ninety percent—similar to Yue You.

"Is it Senior Yue You? Or just a resemblance?"

Lin Yang felt a bit lost.

The faces of others in the images were unclear, but the face of this person who looked like Senior Yue You was somehow clear.

But he couldn't explain why he would see Yue You in this strange, dazzling galaxy.

"At least ninety percent similar... could it really be Senior Yue You?" Lin Yang whispered.

He then suppressed his shock and continued upward.

That image flashed by quickly, giving him no further chance to confirm.

"Perhaps I can ask Senior Yue You later," Lin Yang thought to himself.

As he continued upstream along the dazzling galaxy, the further he went, the blurrier the images became, and the aura emanating from some of them even gave Lin Yang a sense of great terror.

Moreover, as he approached the upper reaches, more resistance appeared, causing his speed to slow down significantly once again.

After an unknown amount of time passed.

Lin Yang was forced to stop.

An invisible power appeared, making it impossible for him to continue, while a will descended.

"Ancient History of Previous Eras; Descendants Forbidden!"

Lin Yang was stunned.

"Ancient History of Previous Eras; Descendants Forbidden?"

He repeated the phrase, his eyes suddenly narrowing as if he had understood something.

"Could this dazzling galaxy be the legendary River of Time?!"

Lin Yang was inexplicably shaken and couldn't help but look back.

If this dazzling galaxy really was the River of Time, then wouldn't the images he had seen earlier be scenes from different eras and periods?

This... Lin Yang was shocked.

Utterly shocked.

He had actually entered the River of Time!

This was incredible!

Of course, the most incredible part was that sentence!

Ancient history of previous eras, as the name implied, should refer to historical eras from much further back.

But an invisible force was actually preventing people from entering that period of time?

Was this man-made, or something else?

Lin Yang didn't know, but he was deeply shaken.

After standing in place for a long time, Lin Yang's emotions finally calmed down a bit.

What he had seen and heard today was truly unexpected.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Lin Yang turned back around.

He couldn't continue upstream now, but he could head back downstream.

However, it was foreseeable that he could only go as far as the position where he had first appeared.

At the same time, Lin Yang vaguely understood why he couldn't walk downstream when he first entered the dazzling river.

The reason he couldn't go downstream initially was likely because upstream represented the past, while downstream represented the future.

The past has already happened, so it can be observed; the future has not yet occurred, so he could not step into it.

Lin Yang turned back. He also wondered what would happen if he threw himself into a certain segment of the River of Time right now.

But in the end, he didn't dare to try lightly.

Since he already understood that this was the River of Time, if he wanted to go back, he would definitely have to return to the segment of time he currently belonged to.

So he returned to his original position.

One couldn't feel the passage of time here. After an unknown amount of time, Lin Yang returned to the spot where he had first entered.

He threw himself into the river, attempting to return to reality.

However... nothing happened.

"Huh? I can't return to reality?" Lin Yang was stunned.

He thought that by standing in the river, he could return to the time of reality.

But that wasn't the case.

This left him a bit bewildered.

If he couldn't even return this way, how could he leave this place?

His gaze unconsciously swept over the bronze fragments floating in the river.

He thought back to those bronze fragments in the River of Time Reversal.

So he reached out and fished some out.

With two bronze fragments in hand, Lin Yang also took out the bronze fragments he had fished out earlier from the River of Time Reversal, wanting to compare them.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

The bronze fragments in his hands simultaneously burst forth with a blinding light and then actually began to slowly merge.

Lin Yang was greatly surprised and simply took out all the bronze fragments he had previously fished from the River of Time Reversal.

After the fragments were taken out, the merging process became quite startling.

Not only did the light become more blinding, but an invisible force also began to vibrate.

Even the River of Time was shaken with visible ripples.

Lin Yang felt his head grow heavy and lost consciousness.

When his consciousness returned, he found himself back in the seclusion room of the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm.

In his hand was a partially merged bronze relic.

From its shape, he could vaguely tell that it seemed to be a small bronze tripod.

But half of it was still missing.

Lin Yang looked at the broken tripod with a complex expression.

This proved that everything in the River of Time earlier was not a phantom vision during his breakthrough to the Heng Realm, but something that truly existed.

He had indeed inexplicably entered the River of Time.

"What is the relationship between the River of Time and the River of Time Reversal? Why didn't the bronze fragments from the River of Time Reversal merge until they encountered the fragments from the River of Time?"

Lin Yang couldn't help but ponder.

He felt as if he had touched upon some kind of secret, but he was hampered by a lack of clues and couldn't piece together any useful information.

"It seems I need to find a chance to return to High-Level Spacetime and go to the River of Time Reversal again."

After thinking it over, Lin Yang temporarily suppressed his thoughts.

Returning to the Space-Time Tree from the Primal Ancient Continent was very difficult.

He would have to find an opportunity.

Only then did he realize that his cultivation had unknowingly reached the Heng Realm.

"This breakthrough felt like nothing at all," Lin Yang muttered to himself.

Then, as was his custom, he took out his communication jade slip to see if anyone had contacted him during his seclusion.

It seemed that because everyone knew he was in seclusion, neither Clear Source, the Zhao family, nor Sikong Ming and the others had sent him any messages.

There were only two messages, both from Xia Shuang.

After reading Xia Shuang's messages, Lin Yang's expression changed instantly.

"The Fierce Ancient Ruins inexplicably rioted? It shrouded over a hundred prefectures in an instant, with countless casualties?!"

Lin Yang stood up with a start and hurriedly sent a reply to Xia Shuang.

But he received no response.

He repeatedly read the last message Xia Shuang had sent, his heart sinking further and further.

Could it be that the girl Xia Shuang has already... He didn't want to think further.

Instead, he immediately left the Grotto-Heaven Secret Realm, returned to Xiwu City, found Zhao Yuan, and asked him about the Fierce Ancient Ruins.

Seeing Lin Yang's sudden appearance and solemn expression, Zhao Yuan didn't dare ask if the seclusion had gone well and immediately said:

"Guest Elder Lin, thirty thousand years after you went into seclusion, all the Fierce Ancient Ruins across the Primal Ancient Continent rioted within a few days. Many people were killed—not just our race, but other races and the other two domains as well."

"As for the Ancient Ruins in Baichi City, the power riot covered one hundred and eighty-six prefectures in just a few days. Over ninety-nine percent of the cultivators in those prefectures perished..."

At this point, he glanced at Lin Yang's grim face and cautiously added:

"Because the eruption was so sudden, the power essentially enveloped so many prefectures in an instant, leaving no time for people to escape, especially in Fuzhou Prefecture..."

"Fuzhou Prefecture was right next to those Fierce Ancient Ruins; it was the first place to suffer the disaster..."

Zhao Yuan didn't say any more.

He understood well that Lin Yang's inquiry about the Fierce Ancient Ruins was mainly for Xia Shuang.

But Xia Shuang was in Fuzhou Prefecture... she had likely fallen this time.

Sure enough, Lin Yang's face became even more unsightly, and he didn't say a word.

Zhao Yuan sighed and said, "Guest Elder Lin, please accept my condolences!"

Lin Yang took a deep breath and said slowly, "I'm fine. I'll go to the Human Ancestor Hall first."

He didn't linger any longer.

In his heart, he couldn't help but feel some regret.

If he had brought Xia Shuang to Fuzhou Prefecture back then, perhaps this wouldn't have happened.

He sent a message to Clear Source.

Clear Source was also at the Human Ancestor Hall now; the invasion of otherworldly creatures at the Dingbian Ancient Pass had returned to normal in recent years.

Seeing Lin Yang come out of seclusion, Clear Source was very excited: "Elder Lin Yang, have you broken through to the Heng Realm?"

Lin Yang nodded: "Fellow Daoist Clear Source, you should still just call me 'Fellow Daoist.' There's no need for the formality of 'Elder.'"

"That... wouldn't be appropriate, would it?" Clear Source hesitated.

"It's fine. Fellow Daoist Clear Source, do you know why those Fierce Ancient Ruins rioted all at once?" Lin Yang asked.

Zhao Yuan's status and strength were ultimately insufficient; he only knew some surface-level information.

Clear Source should know more.

He was very puzzled as to why all the Ancient Ruins would riot at the same time.

Clear Source pondered for a moment and said, "I know a little. It's said that there are some special existences slumbering within those Ancient Ruins. They partially awaken at certain times to harvest the flesh and vitality of cultivators. But as for why exactly, I'm not sure. Perhaps you could try asking the Hall Masters."

Lin Yang frowned: "Special existences slumbering in those Ancient Ruins? Specifically killing people to harvest flesh and vitality?"

To be honest, this answer was quite unexpected.

It was rather startling.

Clear Source nodded: "Yes. This information is confidential. Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, remember not to spread it, or you might be punished."

"Confidential information? No wonder I couldn't find any useful information despite my many inquiries before," Lin Yang said, enlightened.

"Yes, if certain information becomes public, it could have repercussions. Even we only know the basics. The true secrets are only known to the Hall Masters and their peers," Clear Source said.

"Understood. Thank you, Fellow Daoist Clear Source." Lin Yang cupped his hands and asked again, "Do you know roughly what the strength of those special existences in the Ancient Ruins is?"

Clear Source shook his head: "I don't know. Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, why do you ask? Do you intend to enter the Ancient Ruins to investigate?"

"To be honest, I have a relative who was trapped by the riot of the Ancient Ruins and may have perished. I do indeed have the idea of entering the Ancient Ruins to investigate," Lin Yang sighed.

"This..." Clear Source fell silent for a moment before saying, "Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, the special existences in the Ancient Ruins are very dangerous. I once heard the Hall Masters mention in passing that even for them, entering is a life-and-death gamble. Don't be impulsive."

"What? Even for the Hall Masters, it's a life-and-death gamble?!" Lin Yang was shocked.

"Yes, so the riots of the Ancient Ruins are almost impossible to stop." Clear Source also sighed.

"I see. Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist." Lin Yang cupped his hands.

"You're welcome. Fellow Daoist Lin Yang, since you've reached the Heng Realm, you are the first Heng Realm cultivator of our human race in this era. A Hall Master will likely summon you. Be prepared; if you have anything you want to ask then, you can take the opportunity. The Hall Masters are generally quite easy to talk to," Clear Source reminded him again.

"Good, I understand." Lin Yang noted this.

Then, just as he was about to return to Xiwu City.

He suddenly heard a voice ring in his ear:

"Lin Yang, come to my place for a moment."

It was the voice of Hall Master Yanhuo. (End of Chapter)