Myth Beyond Heaven

The eastern region of the ruins was eerily silent. The ground beneath Yun Lintian’s feet alternated between solid stone and patches of quicksand-like temporal energy. The air itself seemed to ripple, distorting the surroundings unpredictably.

Linlin clung to Yun Lintian’s shoulder, her ears twitching nervously. “Big Brother Yun, this place feels… wrong.”

Qingqing nodded, unusually quiet. “Yeah. Like we’re being watched.”

Yun Lintian’s expression remained calm. “Stay close.”

He continued forward, his divine sense scanning the environment. The so-called Garden of Lost Souls should be nearby.

Suddenly, the space in front of him twisted violently. A figure emerged—a man in tattered robes, his face frozen in eternal horror. He was caught in a time loop, repeating the same motion over and over: running, stumbling, screaming soundlessly before resetting.

Qingqing shivered. “That guy… he’s stuck?”

Yun Lintian examined the anomaly. “A time fracture. He’s been trapped here for who knows how long.”

He stepped around the distortion, uninterested in interfering.

As they ventured deeper, the vegetation grew denser—twisted trees with bark that shimmered like liquid, flowers that bloomed and withered in seconds. The Garden of Lost Souls lived up to its name.

Yue Zhihe walked silently beside Yun Lintian, her sharp eyes scanning their surroundings. After a long silence, she finally spoke.

“Senior Yun… what exactly are we looking for here?”

Yun Lintian didn’t stop walking. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

Yue Zhihe blinked.

“As you know, this is my first time here,” Yun Lintian continued casually. “I just want to see how mysterious this place is.”

Qingqing, perched on his shoulder, giggled. “Big Brother Yun is just exploring for fun!”

Linlin nodded sagely. “Yeah! Like an adventure!”

Yun Lintian didn’t deny it.

As they wandered deeper into the forest, the trees grew denser, their branches twisting unnaturally. The air hummed with distorted time, making the surroundings flicker like an illusion.

Suddenly—

Rustling.

Three figures stumbled out from behind a massive, gnarled tree.

A man and two women, their robes tattered, their faces haggard. Their eyes were sunken, their skin pale from prolonged exhaustion. The moment they saw Yun Lintian and Yue Zhihe—pristine and unharmed—their expressions brightened with desperate hope.

The man, clearly the leader, stepped forward and cupped his fists. “Esteemed cultivators… have you just arrived here? Has the entrance opened?”

Yun Lintian studied them briefly before answering truthfully. “Yes. We just entered.”

The three strangers’ faces lit up with joy.

“Praise the heavens!” one of the women gasped.

The man bowed deeply. “Might we trouble you to guide us back the way you came? We’ve been trapped here for…” His voice cracked. “For too long.”

Yun Lintian didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he turned to glance at the path behind him.

Qingqing’s tiny hands clutched his sleeve. “Uh-oh…”

The path was gone.

Where there had once been a clear trail, now stood an impenetrable wall of thorned vines and shifting mist. The landscape had changed completely.

Linlin frowned. “Big Brother Yun, we can’t go back the same way.”

The man and the two women paled.

One of the women, her face twisted in frustration, snapped, “You—you didn’t leave any markers? You just wandered in blindly?”

Yun Lintian remained silent, but Linlin’s golden eyes flashed coldly.

“Whether we left markers or not has nothing to do with you,” she said sharply.

The woman recoiled, her anger fading into shame.

The man quickly intervened, bowing again. “Please forgive her, Senior. We’ve been trapped here for a hundred years. Our minds… aren’t what they used to be.”

A hundred years?

Yun Lintian’s gaze sharpened slightly.

The man took a deep breath and composed himself. “Allow us to introduce ourselves. I am Zhou Xuan, elder disciple of the Flying Sword Sect. These are my junior sisters, Mei Ling and Bai Xue.”

Mei Ling—the woman who had spoken out—lowered her head in apology. Bai Xue, the quieter of the two, simply nodded weakly.

Zhou Xuan continued, voice heavy. “We entered the ruins with our master and fellow disciples a century ago. But we got separated in this forest… and never found our way out.”

Yue Zhihe frowned. “A hundred years? How have you survived?”

Zhou Xuan smiled bitterly. “Time flows differently here. Some days feel like years, others like minutes. We’ve survived by eating the strange fruits of this forest, though…” He touched his wrinkled face. “I suspect they’ve aged us prematurely.”

Qingqing tilted her head. “If you’ve been here so long, do you know anything about this place?”

Zhou Xuan’s expression darkened. “Only that it’s a prison. The trees move. The paths shift. And there are… things in the shadows.”

As if on cue, a low growl echoed through the forest.

Mei Ling shuddered. “They’re coming.”

Bai Xue’s hands trembled. “We should run.”

Yun Lintian, however, didn’t move. His gaze fixed on the deepening shadows between the trees.

“Senior Yun?” Yue Zhihe gripped her sword.

Zhou Xuan grabbed Yun Lintian’s arm in panic. “Please, we must flee! Those creatures—they hunt in packs! Even True Gods have fallen to them!”

Yun Lintian glanced at Zhou Xuan’s hand, then back at the shadows.

“No need to run.”

A dozen pairs of glowing red eyes emerged from the darkness.

Time-warped beasts—their bodies twisted, their forms flickering between past and future versions of themselves. Saliva dripped from their fangs as they stalked closer.

Zhou Xuan and his companions backed away, their faces ashen.

Yun Lintian raised his brow slightly as he studied the strange beasts.

“ROAR!”

Suddenly, the group of strange beasts immediately lunged toward Yun Lintian hungrily.

“Let’s fight!” Zhou Xuan gritted his teeth and prepared to fight.

Mei Ling and Bai Xue were no exception. They knew that it was too late to run now.

At this moment, Yun Lintian raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

BOOM!

A wave of invisible force erupted outward, obliterating the beasts instantly. Their remains disintegrated before they even hit the ground.

Silence.

Zhou Xuan, Mei Ling, and Bai Xue stood frozen, their mouths agape.

Yun Lintian stepped forward, examining the dissipating remains of the time-warped beasts. A faint temporal energy lingered in the air—these creatures had somehow adapted to absorb the distortions in this realm.

Zhou Xuan and his companions finally snapped out of their shock and immediately dropped to their knees, kowtowing deeply.

“Senior! Please allow us to follow you!” Zhou Xuan begged, his voice trembling.

Mei Ling and Bai Xue echoed his plea, their faces filled with desperation.

They had never seen anyone as powerful as Yun Lintian before. Even a True God would struggle against those beasts, yet Yun Lintian had erased them with a mere snap of his fingers.

Yun Lintian glanced at them. “What else do you know about this place?”

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