Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Time flows still and serene.

On this day, Xiao Jingtian and other powerful figures were discussing the next batch of resources to be sent to the Immortal Dynasty at the City Lord's Mansion. Before they finished speaking, everyone's expressions changed and they all looked towards the city gate.

An indescribable Daoist aura quietly descended, like a spring breeze brushing across a lake, gentle yet containing the immense power to soothe all worlds.

A figure appeared, its back to all living beings, as if it had stood there since time immemorial, followed by the puppet spirit - Bright Moon.

"senior!"

"Master!"

Xiao Jingtian was met with the utmost respect from the assembled experts. They appeared before him in a flash and bowed in greeting.

Li Mu nodded slightly to Xiao Jingtian and the others, indicating, "You have done very well over the past three hundred years. You have transformed this desolate land into fertile soil in an orderly manner; this is a great achievement."

"It is all thanks to Master's divine might and Lord Mingyue's assistance. How dare this disciple take credit?" Xiao Jingtian's heart warmed, and his voice became even more respectful.

"The Xuan Yuan Jin Realm has been established, but in the grand scheme of the Three Thousand Worlds, it is but a drop in the ocean."

After speaking, Li Mu used his fingers as a brush and the principles of chaos as ink, making a light stroke in the void.

"Om-"

The void was torn apart like a painting, revealing a bizarre and surreal realm that shook the very soul.

That was a shattered world.

Countless enormous fragments of time, like shattered mirrors, float in the void, reflecting the afterimages of different eras. In some fragments, ancient gods and demons roar, tearing the sky apart; in others, future immortal cities stand tall, and the Dao flourishes; and in still others, countless fragments intersect, where the past, present, and future are mixed together, forming vortexes and storms of time.

Here, tributaries of the river of time break, converge, and flow backward, transforming into a vast and chaotic labyrinth. Even with only his divine sense, Xiao Jingtian felt as if his thoughts were being severed, thrown into countless time fragments, and almost lost his Dao heart.

Within the bright moon's golden eyes, the puppet patterns flowed rapidly, and layers of order barriers were constructed, barely resisting the chaotic impact from the eyes and soul.

“This realm is called ‘Time Ruins’.” Li Mu’s voice rang out leisurely, as if it came from the source of time. “It is a fragment abandoned by the Great Dao when the previous era collapsed. The Heavenly Dao is dead, but the laws of time, due to their special nature, remain despite being broken. Their chaos and disorder have become the foundation of this realm.”

“Ordinary beings who step inside will be instantly washed away by the torrent of time and reduced to ashes, or cast into the unknown past and future, to be forever lost. However—” Li Mu turned his gaze to the bright moon: “The shattered source of the laws of time within it is precisely what I need to perfect my ‘Time Dao Fruit’.”

Xiao Jingtian's heart trembled violently.

The Fruit of Time!

Legend has it that only supreme beings who have touched the very origin of the Great Dao can condense the supreme Dao Fruit. The Master's realm has actually reached such an unbelievable level!

"Mingyue."

"Your subordinate is here." Mingyue stepped forward, her posture as sharp as a spear.

"I appoint you as the vanguard, leading your Chaos Ember Puppet Legion to explore this realm and collect the Origin of Time." Li Mu's voice echoed in Mingyue's sea of ​​consciousness: "This battle is fraught with peril, are you willing to go?"

"To expand the territory for our lord, Mingyue would gladly die ten thousand deaths!"

Without hesitation, Mingyue's golden eyes blazed with fighting spirit. As the master of the Chaos Puppet Path, challenging and conquering were the very embodiment of his puppet path.

“Alright.” Li Mu flipped his palm, and a gray, simple and unadorned talisman appeared. The talisman had no complicated patterns, only a primitive engraving left at the beginning of chaos, but it exuded an eternal meaning that suppressed the passage of time.

"This is a 'Time-Tracking Talisman' that I crafted from the origin of chaos. It can create a temporarily stable spacetime for you in the Time Ruins Realm. Remember, it is only temporary. You will have to fight for your own true foothold."

With a flick of his finger, the talisman transformed into a stream of light, silently merging into Mingyue's brow and becoming a faint mark.

Mingyue felt her soul clear up, as if she were enveloped by an eternal Daoist aura, instantly isolating her from the terrifying corrosive power of the Time Ruins Realm.

"Xiao Jingtian".

"The disciple is here!"

"Your mission is to oversee the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm and make it the most secure rear base. You will be fully responsible for all resources and troop supplies needed for Mingyue's expedition. I want this Jin Realm to become an unbreakable nail in my Immortal Dynasty's descent into the unknown star field!"

"Disciple obeys!" Xiao Jingtian kowtowed heavily, his heart surging with emotion: "I will certainly live up to Master's expectations and devote all the power of this realm to support Lord Mingyue!"

Li Mu nodded slightly and said no more. The scroll of the Time Ruins in front of him closed, and his figure gradually became illusory. Finally, he merged with the shadow of the Chaos Dao Tree and quietly disappeared.

……

Chaos City of Ashes, Central Commander's Mansion.

Mingyue telepathically commanded the puppet army: "Summon the 'Jin' sequence puppet legion to assemble in the central square!"

The chilling command, transmitted through the puppet's central network, instantly spread throughout the entire Xuan Yuan Jin Realm.

"Buzz-buzz-buzz-"

One after another, military camps buried deep underground were activated, causing the earth to tremble slightly. War golems, hundreds of feet tall and forged entirely from Chaos Divine Gold and Ember Realm Fire Pattern Rock, awoke from their slumber. Their crimson-gold eyes lit up, and they silently stepped out of the hangar, marching in unison with earth-shaking steps toward Chaos Ember City.

This is the Chaos Ember Puppet, the core legion under Mingyue's command. Each one possesses the might of a Nascent Soul cultivator, and is fearless and obeys orders without question.

Standing atop the city wall, Xiao Jingtian gazed at the steel torrent converging from all directions, his heart filled with awe. He knew that this was only a portion of Mingyue's power.

Inside the secret chamber of the Marshal's Mansion, Mingyue sat cross-legged. Three thousand fist-sized orbs of light floated before him, each containing the core of an elite Ember Puppet whose body was covered with dark gold puppet Dao patterns.

He commands three thousand puppet guards, each of whom possesses combat strength comparable to a Mahayana realm cultivator.

"The Realm of Time Ruins is governed by unpredictable laws. Ordinary puppet bodies would likely find it difficult to withstand the erosion of time." Bright Moon's golden eyes flashed as she deduced the scene Li Mu was witnessing: "In that case, I will use my 'Dao' to reforge your battle spirits!"

"Chaotic Puppet Domain, open!"

With a soft whisper, the miniature puppet world behind Mingyue suddenly unfolded, quickly enveloping the secret room!

In an instant, reality was rewritten.

The secret chamber vanished, replaced by a realm of absolute order composed of endless gears, intricate components, and cold, rigid laws. Here, the bright moon is the sole creator, its will manifesting as an invisible giant hand that probes into the core of the three thousand ash puppets.

"By my command, reshape its bones!"

The core of the Chaos Puppet Domain—the Dao Seed fused with the origin of Nightmare—spinned at high speed, splitting into three thousand strands of primordial power containing the dual characteristics of "distortion" and "order," which were imprinted into each core.

"Kakaka..."

The three thousand cores trembled violently, their internal structures undergoing a cataclysmic upheaval. Layers of incredibly complex law-based runes were forcibly inscribed upon what were originally pure physical and energy circuits. These runes possessed the inclusiveness of chaos, the order of puppets, and were further imbued with the eerie aura of the Nightmare Origin—a aura that isolated all laws and distorted reality. This was not an upgrade, but a transformative "ascension"!
With her slender hands forming hand seals, she unleashed a series of incantations, drawing upon the origin of the Puppet Domain and infusing the newly formed Puppet Patterns with driving force.

"Congeal!"

The three thousand orbs of light shone brightly at the same time, then quickly subsided. Floating before the bright moon were still the three thousand cores, but their aura was completely different—cold and lifeless, yet seemingly possessing a steadfast Daoist essence that anchored their existence and resisted all external invasion!

Mingyue nodded slightly and put away the Puppet Domain.

Three days later, in the central square of Chaos City.

An unprecedented puppet army stood solemnly here.

The three thousand elite warriors at the head of the formation were entirely dark gold, with Dao patterns faintly visible on their bodies, as if they had merged with the void. As they stood silently, a heavy aura that suppressed time and space permeated the air. Behind them, one hundred thousand regular Ember Puppets formed a massive square formation, their killing intent soaring to the heavens.

The Rift Universe—a giant warship from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty—hovered silently above the plaza.

Clad in silver-white armor, Mingyue stood at the bow of the ship, her golden eyes flashing like lightning as she swept over the legion below.

"General Xiao, I entrust the affairs of the rear to you."

"Rest assured, Lord Mingyue, as long as the Ash Realm exists, our support will continue!" Xiao Jingtian solemnly clasped his hands on the city wall.

Mingyue nodded slightly, then turned and gave the order.

"Rending Universe, open a spacetime tunnel, destination—the Ruins of Time!"

"As ordered!"

On the hull of the Rift Universe, countless runes lit up layer by layer, and immense energy converged into the main cannon at the bow. This time, what was fired was not a beam of destruction, but a chaotic torrent that distorted light and space.

The torrent crashed into the void silently, yet the space itself twisted violently like the surface of water, eventually tearing open a massive, bottomless rift with edges shimmering with a mixture of seven colors and gray-white light.

Beyond the rift lies the bizarre and wondrous Realm of Time!
"All troops, march!"

At Mingyue's command, three thousand Dark Gold Ember Puppets transformed into streaks of light and charged into the spacetime tunnel without hesitation. Following closely behind, the army of one hundred thousand, like a torrent of steel, surged forth towards the unknown realm of death.

……

The feeling of traveling through a time tunnel is eerie and long.

The moment the first Ember Puppet stepped out of the passage, an indescribable, terrifying force rushed towards it.

That was a storm of time!
Here, time is not a calm river, but a raging ocean. One moment, it is a torrent of time accelerated trillions of times, enough to instantly corrode divine metal; the next moment, time is absolutely still, even thought is frozen; and countless fragments of time, like the sharpest blades, cut through all intruders.

As soon as a regular Ember Puppet stepped out, half of its body aged and corroded at a visible speed, turning into dust; the other half, however, strangely reverted to its original ore state before it was forged!
The boundary wall of the Time Ruins Realm is a natural, almost insurmountable chasm!
Just then, the bright moon descended.

Mingyue stood before the legion, facing the devastating temporal turbulence head-on, her expression unchanged.

"Certainly!"

At the center of his brow, the "Timed Dao Talisman" bestowed by Li Mu suddenly lit up, spreading out a hazy, chaotic radiance.

The radiance extended for miles, instantly calming and suppressing the raging temporal turbulence that crashed against the rocks like angry waves! An absolutely stable spacetime "bubble" was forcibly carved out amidst the temporal storm.

The rest of the army passed through safely and quickly gained a foothold inside the bubble.

However, everyone's hearts sank.

If the turbulent currents at the boundary are this terrifying, what must it be like inside the boundary?
After regaining her composure, Mingyue looked up and a hint of shock flashed in her golden eyes.

What comes into view is a bizarre and indescribable scene.

The sky is shattered—one piece is an eternal twilight, another is a midnight with two moons in the sky, and yet the third reflects the dazzling neon lights of a future city. The earth is fractured—on one side is an ancient rainforest overgrown with ferns, and not far away is a crystal desert blasted out by a future war. Between the two lies a bottomless canyon, through which flows a river of time that twinkles with starlight.

They even saw, in a distant fragment of time, an ancient god-demon the size of a mountain roaring to the sky, its movements frozen in an eternal moment; elsewhere, the afterimages of an army clad in futuristic armor were battling an invisible enemy, with artillery fire and supernatural powers flashing silently in the stillness.

Past and future, myth and technology, are interwoven here into a chaotic and bizarre symphony.

"All troops, prepare for battle, form ranks, and advance slowly!" Mingyue ordered.

The puppet army quickly changed formation, with three thousand dark gold ember puppets forming a giant circle on the outside to protect the 100,000-strong army, like a moving steel fortress, slowly penetrating into this unknown land.

However, the real danger lies not in the visible afterimage.

After traveling only a few dozen miles, a sudden change occurred!

Dozens of nearly transparent, distorted humanoid shadows appeared out of thin air without warning. They ignored the energy shield and penetrated directly through the outermost layer of the Dark Gold Ember Golem defense line.

"Is it a ghost?" a cultivator exclaimed from inside the Rift Universe.

"No!" Mingyue's golden eyes narrowed sharply: "They have no energy reaction, no physical existence! They are... a paradox of time!"

This is the most terrifying native "creature" in the Time Ruins Realm—the Time Ghost!
They are deformed beings born from the disordered cause and effect and logical contradictions in the long river of time. Their very existence is a paradox, thus they are immune to all physical and energy attacks.

A ghost floated lightly through the chest of a dark gold ember golem.

That war machine, comparable to the Divine Platform Realm, was not physically damaged, but the dark gold on its surface quickly faded, turning back into chaotic divine gold. Then it rusted and weathered, turning into a pile of metallic dust in a short breath, as if it had been washed away by millions of years!
This is the attack of the Time Ghosts—they do not harm the enemy, but only impose their own "time paradox" state on the target!
In an instant, dozens of elite Dark Gold Ember Puppets were silently wiped out!

"Chaotic Puppet Domain!"

In the critical moment, Mingyue made a decisive decision, and the miniature world behind her, composed of gears and legal codes, unfolded again, rapidly expanding with Mingyue at its center!
"boom--"

A domain with a diameter of ten miles descended with a thunderous roar!
Within this realm, the chaotic flow of time is forcibly reversed and reorganized, incorporated into a completely new "puppet time" order. The earth transforms into rotating gears, space is filled with intricate components, and everything operates according to cold, calculable laws.

As soon as the Time Ghost entered the domain, its form flickered violently. Its existence clashed fundamentally with this domain of absolute order! Although it could still not be hit by physical attacks, its bizarre ability to traverse was greatly suppressed.

"efficient!"

Xiao Jingtian clenched his fists inside the Lieyu.

However, Mingyue frowned deeply. She realized that even within the Puppet Domain, the omnipresent power of time erosion had only been weakened, not eradicated.

The bright moon clearly saw that the puppet patterns on some of the ordinary Ember Puppets in the army were slowly wearing away and dissipating—a sign of accelerated aging caused by time. In a short moment, hundreds of them had been paralyzed due to overload of their core circuits.

Her puppet domain can stabilize a localized area, but it cannot isolate this realm from the corrosive influence that penetrates deep into the very foundation of its laws! (End of Chapter)