The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

The moment the gray-clad man stepped out of the spatial rift, the entire Green Bamboo Peak seemed to freeze.

The air became thick and heavy, the terrifying pressure almost tangible, making it difficult for Liu Ruyan, Luo Feng, and the others to breathe. Lin Xue, whose cultivation was the weakest, even groaned, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. This was a true peak Golden Immortal, and no ordinary peak Golden Immortal. Its aura contained an ancient and strange sense of spatial distortion, completely different from the gray-robed lackeys they had encountered before.

Han Mu also felt immense pressure; his internal injuries throbbed, and even the flow of his immortal energy became somewhat sluggish. However, his gaze remained calm. He stepped forward, shielding the others behind him, while discreetly checking the system panel.

[True Realm: Early Golden Immortal (Injuries worsened, Dao Foundation repair stalled, combat power severely damaged)]

[Surface Realm: Mid-True Immortal (Disguise successful, but cannot escape detection by higher realms)]

[Status: Severely injured, unfit for combat.]

[Hint: The gray ancient mirror is being analyzed... A fragmented spacetime marker has been discovered, seemingly pointing to the "Spacetime Maze".]

A spatial labyrinth? Han Mu's heart skipped a beat, his gaze sweeping over the vortex passage beside him, which had stabilized and was emitting a strong suction force. Could this passage lead there?

"Insect, hand over the fragments of the Source Coffin, and you may be spared your whole body." The gray-robed man's voice was icy, his gaze fixed on Han Mu's waist, where the gray-white fragments of the ancient coffin were slightly warm. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to make a move, as if he was enjoying the prey's last struggle, or perhaps observing the vortex passage.

Han Mu's mind raced. A direct confrontation? Absolutely no chance of victory. Escape? The enemy had sealed off the space, and in his current state, leading so many people, escape was impossible. Moreover, there were likely even more members of the "Reverse Time Alliance" on their way.

The only way out seems to be...

He looked towards the vortex passage. The unknown meant danger, but it also meant uncertainty. Han Li's warning also mentioned spacetime beacons, which might be related to this.

"Senior..." Liu Ruyan said in a voice transmission, her face pale. She could also see the despair in the situation.

Han Mu didn't answer. Instead, he looked at Zhou Meng, who still seemed a little confused, and quickly asked, "Old Zhou, what do you mean by 'guidance'? Where does this passage lead?"

Zhou Meng scratched his head, the gray mark between his brows flashing slightly. He said uncertainly, "I...I don't know either, but I felt...something inside was calling to me, it felt familiar, and a little...scared." He paused, then added, "When I was feeling dizzy just now, I think I heard a voice say...'The Land of Return to Nothingness, Fragments of Time and Space'?"

The Ruins of Return? A Fragment of Time and Space? Han Mu's eyes narrowed. The Ruins of Return are the legendary place where all things end and return to nothingness, while a fragment of time and space might refer to a fragment of the "Coffin of Origin," or something similar. Risk and opportunity coexist.

At this moment, the gray-clad man outside seemed to be getting impatient. He slowly raised one hand, his five fingers loosely clenched. In an instant, Han Mu felt the space around him begin to solidify and compress, as if it were about to crush him.

We can't hesitate any longer!

"Everyone, get into the passage!" Han Mu shouted, simultaneously hurling the newly acquired, cracked, ancient gray mirror from his robes at the gray-clad man. He frantically poured his remaining immortal power into it, yelling, "Explode!"

He didn't expect the broken mirror to hurt the other party at all; he only hoped to cause a momentary disturbance.

The gray ancient mirror shone brightly, then exploded with a bang! A violent spatial turbulence accompanied by countless fragments of the mirror flying in all directions. Although it didn't have much destructive power, the chaotic spatial fluctuations did make the gray-clad man frown slightly and pause for a moment.

It's now!

With a flick of his sleeve, Han Mu unleashed a gentle yet irresistible force that enveloped Liu Ruyan, Luo Feng, Zhou Meng, Yun Li, and everyone else, transforming them into a streak of light that rushed headlong into the vortex passage! He himself followed closely behind.

"Trying to leave?" the gray-clad man sneered, his paused hand suddenly clenching.

Click!

The space behind Han Mu and the others shattered like glass, and a huge gray hand formed from frozen spacetime appeared out of thin air and grabbed them hard! Its speed far exceeded the speed at which they flew towards the passage.

They were about to be caught.

"I'll do it!" Zhou Meng suddenly roared, his courage seemingly drawn from nowhere, perhaps driven by the mark between his eyebrows. He whirled around, facing the giant gray hand reaching out to grab him, his eyes wide, the gray mark between his eyebrows radiating an unprecedented light, and he uttered a few difficult syllables.

hum!

A strange wave emanated from Zhou Meng and made contact with the giant gray hand. The giant hand's movement paused slightly, as if it had sunk into a quagmire, and the gray light flowing across its surface became disordered for a moment. Although it was only for a brief instant, and Zhou Meng's face immediately turned deathly pale, with blood seeping from his seven orifices, he had indeed bought everyone the most crucial second!

Taking advantage of this brief delay, Han Mu and the others finally rushed into the vortex passage.

"The aura of the Time Guardians? No, it's a mark..." The gray-clad man seemed somewhat surprised, then his eyes grew colder. "Interesting. Chase them in. The Time Labyrinth, they can't escape."

He didn't follow immediately, but instead raised his hand and cast a gray talisman that disappeared into the void, seemingly as a message. After doing this, he stepped into the gradually shrinking vortex passage. After he entered, the passage fluctuated violently a few times before finally disappearing completely, leaving only a slowly healing spatial ripple and a wrecked Green Bamboo Peak.

……

The passage was filled with bizarre and chaotic spatial currents, with streams of light of various colors rushing backward. Occasionally, shattered stars and ancient architectural phantoms could be seen flashing by. A powerful tearing force and a sense of spatial distortion washed over them. If Han Mu hadn't summoned the Immortal Coffin in time and lowered a gray-white light barrier to protect everyone, everyone except him and Liu Ruyan would probably have been torn apart or swept into unknown spacetime.

"Old Zhou, how are you?" Luo Feng asked anxiously, supporting the swaying Zhou Meng.

Zhou Meng forced a smile, a smile that looked more like a grimace: "No...it's nothing, I'm just a little dizzy and seeing stars." The mark between his eyebrows had faded considerably, but it hadn't disappeared.

Han Mu glanced at Zhou Meng, said nothing, but channeled a wisp of pure immortal energy into his body to stabilize his injuries. Zhou Meng's attack just now was definitely not just the power of the mark; it seemed to have triggered some deep-seated source. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to affect a peak Golden Immortal's strike, even for just a moment. Zhou Meng's origins are probably more complex than imagined.

"Is this the Time-Space Labyrinth?" Liu Ruyan warily surveyed the scene rushing past outside the passage, the shattered fragments of time and space sending chills down her spine.

"Uncertain, but it should be related," Han Mu said in a deep voice, resisting the pressure of the passage while trying to sense the fragment of the ancient coffin in his arms. The fragment was slightly warm and pointed in a certain direction deep within the passage.

He brought up the system panel and quickly scanned it.

[Prompt: Entering an unstable spacetime passage, destination analysis in progress... Analysis complete, confirmed as the outer perimeter of the "Spacetime Maze". Warning: The passage is nearing its end; the exit spacetime is disordered. Please prepare accordingly.]

[New Quest Triggered: Explore the Time-Space Labyrinth. Quest Objective: Survive within the Time-Space Labyrinth and explore at least three "Time-Space Nodes". Quest Reward: Depends on exploration completion. Penalty for Failure: None (but may result in permanent loss of identity).]

As expected! Han Mu felt a sense of relief; at least the direction was correct. The Time-Space Maze, the Netherworld Abyss that Han Li mentioned had a time-space beacon; could it also point to this place? Perhaps this place hides secrets about the "Coffin of Origin" and the "Reverse Time Alliance," and it might even be the opportunity for him to recover from his injuries or even break through.

"Get ready, we're about to leave!" Han Mu shouted, and the light screen of the Immortal Coffin blazed brightly.

The next moment, a blinding spot of light appeared ahead, and a powerful suction force came, throwing everyone out against their will.

The moment their feet touched solid ground (or perhaps some kind of ground-like structure), everyone felt a dizzying sensation, as if the world was spinning. The surrounding light was dim, a thin gray mist hung in the air, and visibility was extremely low. The sky was an eerie dark purple, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, only flickering, shifting patches of colored light. Beneath their feet lay a gray-black rocky ground, seemingly eroded by countless years of time, riddled with cracks. In the distance, the outlines of some distorted, illogical buildings were vaguely visible; some hung upside down in the air, some were half-buried in the ground, and others looked like haphazardly pieced together remnants of buildings from different eras.

The air was thick with a chaotic, pervasive force of spacetime, even more so than inside the passage. Here, the flow of time seemed unstable, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

"This is the Time-Space Labyrinth?" Yun Li's voice trembled slightly; the environment here was too eerie.

Just as Han Mu was about to speak, suddenly, the fragments of the ancient coffin in his arms and the mark between Zhou Meng's eyebrows lit up at the same time, pointing in the same direction—the depths of the thick fog.

Almost simultaneously, the space behind them rippled, and a figure draped in a gray cloak stepped out—it was the gray-clad man at the peak of the Golden Immortal realm! He had actually followed them in so quickly, and he appeared to be completely unharmed.

The gray-clad man's cold gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Han Mu: "You ran fast. But here, you have nowhere to escape. Hand over the fragment, or remain forever in this space-time rift."

Han Mu clenched his fist, his injuries throbbing, but his eyes were sharp as knives. He couldn't escape, so he could only try to find a way to maneuver, or… take advantage of the unique environment here.

"Split up! According to Plan C7, each of you go into hiding and meet up in three days at... that direction, at the third spacetime anomaly!" Han Mu quickly transmitted his voice, pointing simultaneously to the direction where the ancient coffin fragment and Zhou Meng's mark were both sensing something. Facing a peak Golden Immortal, gathering together would make them easy targets; dispersing might offer a glimmer of hope. Plan C7 was one of the emergency plans they had prepared long ago, involving dispersal, concealment, and a designated rendezvous point.

"My lord!" Liu Ruyan exclaimed urgently.

"Go!" Han Mu said without hesitation. At the same time, he poured the last bit of immortal power into the Immortal Coffin. The coffin lid was slightly lifted, and a time power that was even more concentrated than before, carrying the aura of decay and rebirth, spread out, temporarily obscuring everyone's aura and figures.

"A mere trick." The man in gray sneered, seemingly unconcerned that the crowd had dispersed. His gaze remained fixed on Han Mu, or rather, on the fragment of the ancient coffin in Han Mu's arms. He took a step forward, seemingly slowly, but instantly traversed dozens of feet, and a large hand reached out to grab Han Mu.

Without hesitation, Han Mu turned and rushed towards the direction sensed by the ancient coffin fragments, which was the deepest part of the dense fog! He increased his speed to the limit and at the same time threw the feather fan magic weapon he had obtained from the middle-aged cultivator of the Tianyan Sect behind him, causing it to self-destruct instantly!

Boom! The power of the magic weapon's self-destruction was not enough to deal with a peak Golden Immortal, but it could still interfere with vision and divine sense to some extent.

The man in gray waved away the aftershocks of the explosion, his eyes growing colder, and he chased after them like a ghost. His goal was clear: capture Han Mu first, obtain the fragment of the Source Coffin, and the others were nothing but ants who wouldn't survive long in this spacetime labyrinth.

The thick fog quickly swallowed the two figures.

Liu Ruyan gritted her teeth: "Do as the master says, let's go!" She took the lead and chose a direction, disappearing into the thick fog. Luo Feng carried the weakened Zhou Meng on his back, while Bai Ling, Li Qingzhu, and the others also chose different directions and quickly dispersed and hid.

They had barely left when the space around them rippled again, and two more gray figures appeared, their auras slightly weaker, but still at the Golden Immortal level. They glanced in the direction the gray-clad man had gone, and then sensed the faint fluctuations scattered in various places. One of them said coldly, "Chase after the one with the fragments. The rest of you, split up and clean them up."

The two gray figures quickly disappeared into the thick fog.

In the dimly lit and eerie time-space maze, a chase and hunt unfolds. As Han Mu flees for his life, the fragments of the ancient coffin in his arms grow increasingly hot, and from the mist ahead, a strange, ancient, mournful, yet seemingly summoning energy emanates…