The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

"Blood...sacrifice...can...open...the...coffin...for...a...moment..."

An ancient and desolate thought echoed in Han Mu's mind, carrying an undeniable resolve. Almost instantly, Han Mu understood the meaning of "blood sacrifice"—using his own essence blood containing the origin of the laws of time as a catalyst, and perhaps also his lifespan or even part of his Dao foundation, to forcibly activate the residual power of this fragment of the "Coffin of Origin" in exchange for a sliver of life.

The price would be devastating, perhaps even worse than the Blood Burning Escape technique. But right now, is there any other choice?

The gray vortexes in the palms of the three gray-robed figures had expanded to the size of washbasins. Terrifying forces of time stripping, freezing, and decay intertwined, slowly pressing down from three directions. The void groaned under the unbearable pressure, and time itself became chaotic and viscous. Yun Li's face turned deathly pale as she desperately channeled her immortal power to resist, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot; blood was already trickling from the corner of her mouth.

A hint of mockery seemed to flash in the cold, gray vortex eyes of the gray-clad man "B," as if he were enjoying the prey's final struggle.

There was no time to hesitate. A ruthless glint flashed in Han Mu's eyes. He no longer suppressed the tremors of the ancient coffin in his arms. Instead, he forced out the purest drop of his life essence blood, mixed it with the power of the Time Law he had just recovered, and slammed it fiercely onto the shrunken gray-white ancient coffin! At the same time, he ordered the system without hesitation: "Exchange for the 'Fleeting Beauty' talisman, lock onto me and Yun Li, target—randomly teleport within a hundred miles of the center of the ancient coffin's power eruption! All immortal spiritual energy will be deducted; if not enough, overdraft the future!"

[Exchange for the "Fleeting Beauty" talisman (one-time use, allows you to complete a specified action in the one ten-thousandth of a second before the absolute power erupts), consuming remaining Immortal Spirit Energy and overdrafting your earnings for the next year. Exchange successful.]

[Warning: Essence, lifespan, and Dao foundation are continuously burning, accelerating the decline in cultivation level. The individual has already fallen to the edge of the early Golden Immortal stage and is at risk of collapse.]

"Buzz—!"

Having absorbed Han Mu's life essence blood containing the laws of time, the gray-white ancient coffin suddenly erupted with a gray-white light more than ten times stronger than the previous two times! The cracks on the coffin seemed to come alive, spreading out more fine lines like a spider web, and an ancient, vast aura, seemingly originating from the source of time, yet also seemingly returning to the end of time, suddenly burst forth!

"Not good! Suppress him with all your might! He's trying to forcefully activate the Source Coffin!" The gray-clad man "B" exclaimed in shock and anger for the first time. The three of them simultaneously pushed the gray vortex in their palms toward Han Mu, attempting to stop him.

But it was too late.

Driven by Han Mu's essence blood, the lid of the gray-white ancient coffin suddenly slid back and opened a gap about one finger's width!

There was no earth-shattering roar, only the illusion that the entire chaotic sea had fallen silent instantly. Then, an indescribable grayish-white current, like a floodgate bursting, poured out from that finger-width gap!

This grayish-white current was hundreds of times thicker than the wisp that had annihilated "Hui" before! Wherever it passed, time, space, matter, energy—everything seemed to be "reset," "reset to zero," and "erased"! It wasn't destruction, but a higher level of complete "non-existence"!

The gray time vortexes unleashed by the three gray-clad men with all their might were instantly melted away by this gray-white airflow, like ice and snow under the blazing sun, without even causing a ripple. For the first time, horror and despair appeared in the eyes of gray-clad man "B". He retreated frantically, layers of gray time barriers erupting from his body, and he even burned his own source in an attempt to merge into the river of time and escape.

However, shrouded in the gray-white aura, even the illusory images of the river of time seemed to freeze and blur. The other two gray-clad figures didn't even let out a scream; their forms, like paintings erased by an eraser, vanished inch by inch from head to toe, turning into the most primal nothingness, less than dust.

The gray-clad man, "B," managed to hold on for another half a breath by burning his own life force and relying on a life-saving treasure, but that was all. He watched helplessly as his protective divine light, defensive immortal artifact, and even half of his body vanished silently in the irresistible gray-white aura. In his final moments, he glared venomously at Han Mu, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something, but before the sound could escape, he was completely reduced to nothingness. Only an inconspicuous gray rhombus-shaped crystal fell from his remains before annihilation, but it was instantly affected by the gray-white aura, its light dimmed, cracked, and sent flying to an unknown destination.

From the moment the coffin was opened to the complete annihilation of the three powerful gray-clad men, only a breath had passed.

Just as the ancient coffin unleashed its power and the gray-white aura swept across the area, the "Fleeting Beauty" talisman that Han Mu had exchanged took effect. In the instant before the gray-white aura was about to touch him and Yun Li, their figures were enveloped by a mysterious power and instantly disappeared from their original positions.

The next moment, the two appeared in a meteorite belt a hundred miles away, stumbling out in a sorry state. Han Mu was bleeding from all seven orifices, his aura extremely weak, barely able to fly, and was being supported by Yun Li. The gray-white ancient coffin in his arms had completely lost its light, returning to its ordinary appearance of being the size of a palm, covered with cracks. In fact, the cracks seemed to be more numerous and deeper, and its aura had become extremely weak, as if it would shatter completely at any moment.

"Senior...Senior!" Yun Li's voice trembled. She could feel Han Mu's life force rapidly declining, his life force flickering like a candle in the wind.

Han Mu barely opened his eyes, his vision blurry and shaky. He gritted his teeth and summoned the system panel again; the situation was worse than ever.

Name: Han Mu

[True Realm: Early Golden Immortal Stage (On the verge of collapse, possibly falling into the True Immortal Realm at any moment)]

[Surface Realm: Mid-True Immortal (Can no longer maintain, showing fluctuations of early-stage Golden Immortal and extremely unstable)]

[Time Law: 6% at the beginner level (severely damaged, fundamental loss)]

[Status: Foundation shattered, essence and blood depleted, lifespan shortened by 5,000 years, meridians completely destroyed, immortal infant on the verge of death, soul severely injured. Backlash from blood sacrifice + backlash from burning blood escape + backlash from time acceleration stacked.]

[Immortal Aura: -12000 points (Huge overdraft, must be replenished within ten years, otherwise some system functions will be permanently shut down)]

[Temporary Status: Temporarily recognized by the "Coffin of Origin" fragment, allowing initial activation of a small amount of the Coffin's power (high cost, use with caution). The "Reverse Time Mark" within the body has been removed.]

[Warning: Your life is in danger. You must rest immediately. Any slight disturbance could cause your cultivation level to plummet and your foundation to be permanently destroyed.]

Han Mu's vision blurred, but he forced himself to remain conscious. With trembling hands, he took out several of his most precious life-saving pills and put them in his mouth, then gave Yun Li a few recovery pills as well. "Quickly... leave here... the commotion is too great... it might attract... more..." he transmitted his voice intermittently, each word requiring immense effort.

Yun Li knew the situation was critical. The power unleashed by the ancient coffin was terrifying; even from a hundred miles away, it still shook her to her core, undoubtedly alerting powerful figures in a wider area. She helped Han Mu up, discerned a direction far from the battlefield and also far from Green Bamboo Peak, and increased her escape speed to the maximum, fleeing for her life.

Less than ten breaths after they left, several powerful divine senses swept across the area ravaged by the gray-white air currents. Only a massive, seemingly completely erased spherical void remained, its spatial structure unrestored, with only chaotic void currents surging at its edges. The divine senses, filled with astonishment, apprehension, and a hint of greed, carefully examined the area before quickly retreating, seemingly unwilling to be tainted by this bizarre cause and effect.

Yun Li fled with Han Mu for three full days before finally finding an inconspicuous fragment of a broken star floating on the edge of the Chaos Sea. They crawled into a naturally formed cavity at its core. She set up the strongest concealment barrier she could, and carefully laid Han Mu down.

Han Mu was already in a semi-comatose state, clinging to life only with the help of pills and his willpower. Yun Li was extremely anxious but helpless. Her cultivation of the Way of Music was not good at healing, and the pills she carried were only a drop in the bucket for Han Mu's current injuries.

Just then, the special communication ring on Han Mu's finger, which belonged to Han Li, became slightly warm, and an encrypted, intermittent message forcibly entered Han Mu's almost sealed soul.

"...Brother Han...the 'Reverse Time Alliance'...is tracking...the Spacetime Beacon...The Netherworld Abyss...something's happened...be careful...they can track...they can use...spacetime imprints...I've found...a temporary shielding method...in..."

The message abruptly ended there, seemingly due to an emergency on Han Li's end that forced it to be interrupted. However, a few keywords within the message jolted Han Mu, whose consciousness was in a daze.

Reverse Time Alliance! Time-Space Imprint! Shielding Technique!

He struggled to muster his last vestige of clarity, using his feeble divine sense to touch the communication ring, attempting to extract any information Han Li might have left behind regarding the shielding technique. Simultaneously, the "Immortal Coffin" within his body seemed to sense his critical condition and intense will to live, spontaneously and slowly releasing wisps of extremely faint, life-giving temporal energy, beginning to nourish his shattered foundation and physical body with chilling slowness. This pace was horribly slow, but at least it stabilized his last vestige of life, preventing his immediate demise.

Yun Li stood guard beside him, vigilantly sensing the outside world, while trying to use music to help Han Mu calm his mind. She didn't know if Han Mu could pull through, nor did she know if the so-called "Time-Reversing Alliance" would come after them. But at this moment, all she could do was wait and protect him.

Fragments of shattered stars drifted slowly along the edge of the chaotic sea, like rootless duckweed. Within Han Mu's body, destruction and rebirth were engaged in the most arduous tug-of-war on the edge of death.