Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

With a light tap of her fingertips, a beam of chaotic light pierced the air like a sword, striking the core of the illusion.

With a "pop," the closed loop of time shattered like a glass mirror, cracks spreading from her fingertips across thousands of feet of void, burning the ever-repeating "image" inch by inch into nothingness.

The Ember Puppet Legion, trapped in the cycle, trembled violently. Crimson-gold light surged in their eyes, their battle spirits awakened from the illusion, and a monstrous aura soared into the sky, almost tearing this distorted void apart.

"kill!"

Before the thought even landed, the blade was already upon them.

One hundred thousand ash puppets surged forth from the broken breach like a flood bursting its banks, weapons raised in unison, their puppet patterns blazing in the sky. They were battle bodies bearing the will of the bright moon, each one branded with "the present," each strike aimed at "illusion."

The Guardian of Time stood silently before the temple, his ancient armor shimmering with nebulous light, his face shrouded in the mists of time, as silent as an ancient rock.

However, at this moment, those two deep eyes narrowed slightly, as if they were truly looking at the enemy for the first time.

"High-level erasure protocol... activated."

Thoughts, like a bell, reverberate throughout the river of time. Before the echoes had faded, the figures of the three guardians suddenly blurred, standing in different moments at the same instant—one a shadow of the "past," one a form of the "present," and one an image of the "future."

The three bodies appear simultaneously, and the three times stand side by side.

In an instant, the world changed color. Time ceased to flow, instead becoming a tangled mess, transforming into a "time strangulation array" spanning three lifetimes. The shadow of the past raised its hand, aggravating the old wounds that had long since healed within Mingyue's body; the image of the future whispered, foreshadowing her inevitable demise; the form of the present strode forward, its halberd like frozen time, piercing straight into her mind!

The three forces of time merged into one, transforming into the law of "absolute erasure," aiming to completely erase the existence of the bright moon from beginning to end.

Mingyue's golden eyes sharpened, and the chaotic Dao Seed in her sea of ​​consciousness began to spin violently, the power of her nightmare surging like an undercurrent. Instead of retreating, she advanced, facing the triple killing intent, and hurriedly raised her hand.

"You grasp the form of time, I grasp the reality of existence."

"You wish to erase me from three lifetimes, but I will use my 'one and only' true form to shatter your illusions of three lifetimes!"

Before she finished speaking, countless chaotic puppet patterns erupted around her, like a galaxy exploding, all converging into her right palm. That palm was no longer slender, but transformed into a colossal hand that blotted out the sky. The illusory image of the Dao Seed in the palm slowly rotated, and the Nightmare Patterns on it meandered like living creatures, swallowing time and suppressing reincarnation.

"Puppet Mastery of All Techniques, Universe in the Palm of My Hand—Suppress!"

The giant palm descended from the sky, neither attacking the enemy nor breaking the formation, but directly suppressing "time itself"!
Wherever the palm strike landed, the void collapsed, and the three layers of time-travel images trembled violently. The past image cracked like a mirror, the future image vanished like smoke, and the present image's halberd hadn't even reached the moon before its body began to weather away, as if it had been repelled by a higher level of "reality".

“Impossible…” A crack appeared in the Guardian’s mind for the first time: “You are not a child of time, how can you shake the foundations of time…”

Mingyue's gaze was as cold as a blade: "I do not control time, I am 'now'."

"What you cling to is merely a remnant of the law; what I hold is the anchor of existence."

Before the words were finished, Mingyue took a step forward, and the void beneath her feet solidified into a chaotic staircase, leading her step by step towards the temple.

Behind them, the Ember Legion was locked in fierce combat with the remaining guardians. Each puppet was bound to itself by a "time anchor," turning the turbulent flow of time into a deadly weapon. With a thrust of the spear, the tip bridged the time rift, leaving the enemy with no way to dodge; with a slash, the blade crushed fragments of time, annihilating the wailing ghosts.

On the battlefield, it is no longer a struggle between chaos and order, but rather the spear of order piercing through the core of chaos.

Mingyue's gaze passed beyond the battle, landing deep within the temple—a handful of floating golden sand trembled slightly, seemingly resonating with the Dao Seed in her sea of ​​consciousness. The Sands of Time, the source of all time, and also the eye of this world.

If you possess it, you can control the wheel of time; if you destroy it, the foundation of time will crumble.

"For my master..."

The moon whispered, its voice as resounding as a great bell, echoing in my mind.

"I shall be the one to write the final chapter of this time."

The chaotic power within Mingyue poured out like a river, completely infusing the Dao Seed. In an instant, her figure became both ethereal and solid, as if she existed simultaneously in countless timelines, yet was real and authentic only at this moment.

"With my very essence, I forge the anchor core—the time anchor!"

boom--!
An unprecedented wave of law erupted from her body, and a chaotic tide swept across the entire area, not only enveloping the Ember Puppet Legion, but also completely covering the time rifts surrounding the temple.

All the anchored puppets underwent a sudden transformation in their core puppet patterns, changing from dark gold to chaotic purple gold. Their existence was no longer dependent on the bright moon, but rather carried the authority of the "present," actively dragging the enemy into their own timeline, making it impossible for them to avoid or escape in the "present moment."

A guardian was about to traverse time and space when he suddenly froze, as if pulled back to the present by an invisible hand. In an instant, three dark gold ember puppets surrounded him, their blades clashing and cleaving his armor, causing nebula-like light to scatter.

“The guardian…can also anchor.”

The bright moon stands at the end of the chaotic staircase, its golden eyes surveying the unfinished situation.

The remaining guardians were all restrained, their time powers suppressed, and their movements sluggish as if trapped in a quagmire. For the first time, an ancient emotion called "crisis" surfaced in their minds.

"Activate... the ultimate protocol."

The last guardian slowly raised his hand, and a rune condensed from pure time laws appeared in his palm, with the words "Return to the Void" flowing on it.

"Temple of Time, Gate of the End... Open."

A deep rumble echoed from the depths of the temple, like an ancient beast awakening from its slumber. The handful of sands of time suddenly froze, and a ray of golden light shot out from within, piercing the heavens. A dark rift opened in the void, devoid of light and shadow, only absolute nothingness flowing slowly within.

That is the end of time, the final chapter of all things—the Gate of Time Ruins.

Once this gate is opened, this realm will be destroyed, and all will return to silence. The guardians would rather perish with the enemy than allow outsiders to lay a finger on the core of the temple.

Mingyue's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of cold mockery flashed across her lips.

"You intend to destroy this?"

"Then... take it before you make a move."

Without further hesitation, she transformed into a stream of chaotic light, shooting straight into the depths of the temple. Behind her, the Ember Legion surged forward, using their bodies as shields and their souls as blades, relentlessly entangled the last guardian.

The bright moon entered the temple, and the scene before them changed abruptly. Thousands of rivers of time intertwined in the void, past, present, and future like a dense spiderweb. On the central platform, the sands of time hung silently, each grain reflecting the birth and death of a realm.

The bright moon reached out its hand, its fingertips about to touch...
"stop."

A voice, not heard by the ear, resounded directly from the depths of her path, seemingly coming from the end of time.

"If you take it, this world will collapse, all time will be in chaos, and you will be forever trapped in a timeless realm, never to return."

Mingyue paused, her golden eyes narrowing slightly.

"who are you?"

"I am... the First Watcher."

His voice was low and deep, like a sigh.

"The Sands of Time are not treasures, but shackles, used to suppress the chaos of time and maintain the balance of all realms. If you take them, chaos will descend once more."

Mingyue remained silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled softly.

"balance?"

"The way of my Lord is to break down the old and establish the new, to restore order."

Golden light exploded, and the void collapsed.

Mingyue abruptly clenched her five fingers, ignoring the whisper from the end of time. The instant her fingertips touched the Sands of Time, the entire temple was struck as if by lightning. Ten thousand rivers of time surged backward, like angry dragons turning over, stirring up turbulent currents. The high platform collapsed, star trails shattered, and the handful of suspended golden sand trembled violently, as if billions of living beings were wailing, reincarnating, and perishing within it.

"You actually dared to break the taboo—"

The voice of the first Watcher abruptly ceased.

Mingyue's eyes flashed like knives. With a swift movement, she snatched a grain of sand and held it in her palm. In that instant, her consciousness was struck as if by a devastating hammer blow; a torrent of memories not belonging to her surged in—

In the beginning of the world, light and darkness were not yet distinguished;
At the end of an era, all spirits turned to dust;

Mingyue saw herself kneeling before the Throne of Time in ancient times, and she also saw her future self turn into ashes and scatter into the realm of no time.
The bright moon saw... the truth buried behind a thousand layers of cause and effect—

The sands of time are not the anchor that maintains balance.

It is the root that devours the very essence of time. The so-called Watchers are nothing more than servants kept by the will of this sand, using the name of "order" to carry out actual imprisonment. The so-called Realm of Time Ruins is nothing more than a corpse nailed to the end of time, allowing the things in this sand to continuously draw life from it and prolong their decaying existence.

"I see……"

The bright moon slowly raised its head, a trace of chaotic blood spilling from the corner of its lips, but its pupils shone even brighter, like starlight that had burned through eternity.

"You are not guardians."

"You are—parasitic tumors."

As soon as she finished speaking, the grain of sand in Mingyue's palm suddenly emitted a sharp, mournful cry, its golden light turning black, as if it were trying to break free from her control and devour her soul.

Mingyue sneered, and the Dao Seed spun violently. The Nightmare Pattern wrapped around it like chains, and the power of chaos forged iron like a furnace, forcibly refining that grain of sand into the depths of the Dao Seed.

"boom!"

The entire Void Realm trembled violently, as if a piece of its heart had been ripped out.

The temple collapsed, and the river of time shattered into countless fragments, falling like rain of glass. The guardians who had been circling the temple instantly cracked, their nebula armor peeling away inch by inch, and inhuman roars echoed from their minds, as if their connection with some unseen entity had been forcibly severed.

"No...you broke the contract...you attracted it..."

The last guardian knelt, his voice trembling: "It...is coming...the true liquidator..."

The moon remained silent, but slowly raised its hand and gazed at its palm.

There, a wisp of black-gold dust slowly spun, resonating with her Dao Seed, and began to reshape the timeline within her body.

The chaotic purple-gold patterns at the core of the Ember Puppet Legion surged, and each puppet's battle body began to evolve a faint "time resistance," allowing it to maintain its true self even amidst the turbulent fault lines.

But in that very instant—

A crack slowly opened above the temple ruins, and black mist writhed like flesh and blood, from which something crawled out.

It is headless and faceless, shaped like a colossal beast, formed by countless broken timelines intertwined, each line reflecting an annihilated era, an erased existence. Its body constantly collapses and expands, as if repeatedly experiencing the cycle of life and death. With each opening and closing of its "mouth," it chews up time itself and spews out nothingness.

"The Time-Devouring Beast!"

Mingyue's golden eyes narrowed sharply, her face filled with disbelief.
She finally understood why the guardians would rather die than open the Gate of the End—what they feared was never the enemy's attempt to seize them, but rather the awakening of this malignant tumor dormant in the rotting flesh of time*.

This beast is neither born nor dead, neither cause nor effect; it is the culmination of the resentment from the collapse of countless ages, a "fugitive" that self-purifies after the laws of time have gone out of control. It does not kill living beings; it kills "existence."

It moved.

Silently, a single step was taken.

Wherever it passed, the bodies of three recently fallen Ember Puppets suddenly flowed backward, as if they had never existed. Their broken armor, weapons, and even the scratches left by the battle all vanished into nothingness, as if history had been quietly rewritten.

Mingyue's pupils contracted, and she hurriedly activated the time anchor, but the light was trembling, as if it were being devoured by something invisible.

"Roar!"

The beast that devoured time raised its head and let out a silent roar.

In an instant, an old wound appeared in Mingyue's body, but the blood was the color of three hundred years ago, carrying a putrid smell.

It distorts cause and effect.

Mingyue swung her palm and severed her left arm. The power of chaos burned the severed part, but before the severed arm hit the ground, it had already turned to ashes, and even the trace of its existence was erased.

"It's...eating my past..."

Mingyue gritted her teeth, unleashing the full power of her Chaos Puppet Domain. Countless patterns spread out like a net, barely managing to keep the Time-Devouring Beast out. But the dark behemoth merely turned its head slowly, two points of eerie light locking onto her.

The next moment——

Mingyue's attack, a newly formed chaotic spear, flew out of her hand and pierced towards her three-hundred-year-old self.

Mingyue watched helplessly as the spear pierced through her chest, blood splattering everywhere. Now, she was unharmed, yet felt a piercing pain as if her soul had been torn apart.

It caused her power to backfire on her very essence.

The Chaos Puppet Domain was shrinking, swallowed up inch by inch by darkness. The Ember Puppet Legion was annihilated in large numbers, not killed in battle, but erased from time, leaving not even ashes behind.

The bright moon stood in the center of the ruined realm, the Dao Seed roared, and the sea of ​​consciousness churned.

Mingyue finally realized that this beast should not be killed, imprisoned, or chased away.

It is not an enemy.

It's a disease!
This is the decaying result of the Ruins Realm being corroded by the Sands of Time for ten thousand years.

Only by eradicating the source of the disease can we extinguish its life force.

But if the Sands of Time are destroyed... this world will collapse, the master has not yet returned, the legion will be without support, and she will also be forever trapped in the realm of no time.

"Owner……"

With her eyes closed, Mingyue felt the power of nightmares stirring up a storm in her mind.

She saw her master, Li Mu, meditating with his eyes closed deep within the chaotic sea of ​​qi; that was her only refuge.

"Bright moon... I await your return."

In the illusion, the master whispered.

Mingyue opened her eyes; her golden pupils had turned into chaos, and all the patterns of the Dao Seed Nightmare ignited, blooming like a blood lotus.

"For my master..."

Mingyue clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and the Dao Seed slowly emerged from her sea of ​​consciousness, hovering in her palms like a primordial sun in chaos.

"I offer the seed of the Dao as a sacrifice, my body as a guide, and the 'present' as my prison—"

"seal up!"

Mingyue's body exploded, her flesh and blood transforming into countless chaotic puppet patterns. Her Dao Seed burst open, forming a chaotic seal that spanned three lifetimes.

At the center of the seal lies the Time-Devouring Beast.

It roars, struggles, and tears at time itself, but each time it devours something, it is countered by the pure power of order surging from the seal, the fundamental law of existence—the authority of "this moment".

The remnant soul of the bright moon stood atop the seal, its body transparent, almost vanishing.

She gazed at the suppressed dark behemoth and whispered, "You consume time... and I will give you 'now'."

"Eat your fill of this moment, and you will be trapped in this moment forever."

"This seal has no beginning and no end, it only exists in the 'present'."

As soon as she finished speaking, her last wisp of soul transformed into a chaotic chain, binding and sealing it before vanishing.

The battlefield was dead silent.

The Time-Devouring Beast slowly sank into silence within the seal, its dark body no longer expanding, as if trapped by "this moment," unable to trace the past or glimpse the future.

Only a hundred members of the Ember Puppet Legion remain, standing atop the ruins. Their core purple-gold patterns have dimmed, yet they still burn with an undying fighting spirit.

The temple is destroyed, and the sands of time have scattered into the void, drifting like stardust.

And the voice of the original watchman never rang out again.

A wind rose, swirling the ashes of time across this desolate battlefield. The last vestige of the bright moon's will sank into the realm of timelessness with the chaos. (End of Chapter)