The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

The suction force of "Yuanxin" grew stronger and stronger, as if an invisible hand was gripping Han Mu, trying to drag him into the depths of darkness. Behind him, the cold voice of the "Xuan" steward and the rapidly approaching terrifying aura only made matters worse.

In a flash, Han Mu's mind raced. Retreating meant a direct confrontation with the "Mysterious" steward, a near-certain death, and he would miss the secrets of the "Abyss Heart." Advancing, though equally dangerous, seemed to carry a powerful resonance from the fragments of the "Coffin of Origin" and that ancient call that wasn't purely malicious, but rather more like... a pull towards destiny? Fortune favors the bold!

"Fellow Daoist Han Li, you must leave!" Han Mu abruptly turned around and shouted at Han Li, simultaneously shoving a "Boundary-Breaking Pearl"—a temporary exchange from the system containing immense spatial power—into his hands. "This pearl can temporarily break the chaotic spacetime blockade here. You take your men and immediately leave the outer perimeter of Guixu, return to Kugu Slope, and reunite with Liu Ruyan and the others to discuss further!"

"Brother Han, you..." Han Li took the bead, his expression changing slightly.

"I'll go in and take a look!" Han Mu grinned, a hint of madness flashing in his eyes. "Don't worry, I'm protected by the ancient coffin fragments, I won't die! Let's go!"

Before he finished speaking, he stopped resisting the pull of "Abyss Heart" and instead activated the ancient coffin fragment in his arms, which burst out with a stronger gray-white light. He shot towards the core of the dark vortex deep in the "Abyss of Annihilation"—Abyss Heart!

"Want to enter the Abyss? Leave behind the fragments of the Source Coffin!" Deacon "Xuan" roared. He hadn't expected Han Mu to be so decisive, daring to charge into that forbidden land that even he feared. He struck out with a palm from afar, a huge gray handprint that blotted out the sky, containing the power to reverse spacetime, fiercely grabbing at Han Mu's back.

"Your opponent is me," Han Li's icy voice rang out. As Han Mu charged forward, he crushed the "Boundary-Breaking Pearl" in his hand. A violent spatial storm, guided by him, erupted instantly, not for escape, but transforming into countless sharp spatial blades. Combined with dozens of high-level talismans and several one-time-use self-destructing magic treasures he instantly threw out, they formed a destructive barrier, fiercely meeting the "Profound" Deacon's massive handprint!

Boom!!!

A terrifying explosion erupted at the edge of the Black Stone Forest, causing spatial turbulence to rage and temporarily halting the attack of the "Xuan" deacon, forcing the pursuing "Reverse Time Alliance" cultivators to take cover. Han Li used the force of the explosion to fly backward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes remained calm. With a flicker, he merged into the chaotic spatial turbulence and vanished instantly. He wasn't fleeing; rather, he was trying to restrain the enemy in his own way, buying time for Han Mu and preparing to meet up with Liu Ruyan and the others.

"Damn it! Chase him! We must catch that brat surnamed Han. Once he enters the Abyss, he's definitely not coming back, but we can't lose the Source Coffin fragments!" Deacon Xuan was furious. While sending men to hunt down Han Li, he personally led his men towards the entrance of the Abyss of Annihilation. But at this moment, the Abyss was in turbulent motion, and the spatial-temporal turbulence near the entrance had become extremely violent and dangerous. Even he dared not venture in easily, and could only lay a trap outside, waiting for the enemy to come to him.

……

Han Mu felt as if he were traversing a passage composed of pure darkness and turbulent time currents. All around him was an endless desolation and an aura of ending, yet the fragments of the ancient coffin in his arms grew increasingly hot, their light blazing fiercely, like a beacon in the darkness, guiding his way and resisting the terrifying corrosive forces around him.

I don't know how much time passed, maybe a moment, maybe eternity, but suddenly a glimmer of light appeared ahead.

He burst out of the passage and landed in an indescribable "space".

There is no concept of up, down, left, or right here; only a hazy, gray chaos, seemingly the beginning and the end of all things. At the center of this chaos, something floats suspended.

It was an enormous, illusory coffin, entirely grayish-white, neither gold nor jade, its design extremely ancient, yet seemingly containing the most profound truths of the universe. The coffin's surface was covered with countless cracks, many parts already dilapidated, as if it might collapse completely at any moment. Yet it still exuded an indescribable aura, a vast, ancient, and melancholic presence, as if it bore witness to all the myriad realms, past and future.

This was precisely the core fragment of the enormous coffin that Han Mu had glimpsed in the Time Illusion before—the one suspended deep within the River of Time! It was far larger, more complete, and more core than the one he had obtained from the "Time Guardian Ancient Temple"! This was one of the true main bodies of the "Coffin of Origin," or rather, its most important core fragment!

At this moment, the enormous phantom of the ancient core coffin was slowly rotating, constantly drawing wisps of faint grayish-white energy (scattered elements of time and the Dao of Annihilation) from the surrounding chaotic void to repair itself, but the pace was despairingly slow. Beneath the phantom of the coffin, however, lay a malevolent array phantom, composed of countless gray runes, in operation! The array continuously drained the power of the phantom coffin, even seemingly attempting to refine and devour this core fragment!

The core objective of the "Reversed Spacetime Array"! They are actually attempting to refine the core fragments of the "Coffin of Origin"!

Han Mu's appearance, and the approach of the fragment of the same origin in his arms, seemed to awaken a sleeping giant. The enormous phantom of the core ancient coffin trembled violently, stopping its slow rotation, and a vast yet gentle will surged towards Han Mu like a tide.

"Guardians...bloodline...finally...the last...fragment bearer..." The ancient, sorrowful thoughts echoed intermittently, "Timebreakers...thieves...desiring to seize the Source Coffin...to alter time...we must not...let them...succeed..."

"What should I do?" Han Mu suppressed the tremor in his soul and sent out his thoughts.

"Merge... my core... fragment... complete... inheritance... expel... thief..." A torrent of information came from the ancient coffin's mind. It was about how to use it as the core to merge with the fragment in Han Mu's hand, to initially control this part of the core power of the "Coffin of Origin", and to obtain a part of the complete inheritance. At the same time, it also included the key to completely shutting down and destroying the "Reversed Spacetime Array" below that was eroding this place.

However, the fusion carries enormous risks. His body, soul, and Dao foundation must withstand the immense power of the core fragments of the "Coffin of Origin." One wrong move and he would be annihilated, becoming nourishment for the ancient coffin. Moreover, the fusion takes time, and the "Mysterious" deacons and the "Reverse Time Alliance" outside will never give him that time.

"There's no time to hesitate!" A resolute glint flashed in Han Mu's eyes. If he didn't fuse, the core of the ancient coffin would be refined by the "Time-Reversing Alliance," the consequences unimaginable, and he would be doomed. Fusing offered a sliver of hope, and might even grant him an immense opportunity!

"Come on!" Han Mu roared, no longer suppressing the ancient coffin fragments in his arms. Instead, he took the initiative to summon them. At the same time, following the method transmitted by the core ancient coffin, he used all his immortal power, the law of time, and even the power of the immortal coffin to form a bridge, connecting to the huge phantom of the core ancient coffin.

Om-!

The phantom of the core ancient coffin erupted with unprecedented light, and the fragment in Han Mu's hand instantly merged into it, becoming part of the phantom and completing a small area. Immediately afterwards, a vast, pure gray torrent, seemingly containing the very essence of time, surged wildly into his body along the bridge Han Mu had constructed!

"Ah—!" Han Mu let out a painful roar, feeling every cell in his body being torn apart and reorganized. His soul seemed to be thrown into the furnace of time to be forged. His understanding of the laws of time surged and deepened at an unprecedented speed, and his cultivation bottlenecks were broken through one after another like thin paper!

He brought up the system panel, where the data was fluctuating wildly:

Name: Han Mu

[True Realm: Mid-stage Golden Immortal → Late-stage Golden Immortal (Breakthrough in progress!)]

[Surface Realm: Mid-True Immortal (Adjustable)]

[The Time Rule: 15% for beginners → 25% → 35% (and it keeps rising!)]

[Status: Merging with the "Coffin of Origin (Core Fragment)," the physical body, soul, and foundation of the Dao are undergoing transformation and sublimation, experiencing extreme pain but a leap in life level.]

[Celestial Aura: -15000 points (Deduction paused; system energy temporarily blocked by the power of the ancient coffin)]

[System Notification: The system has detected that the host is fusing with a higher-level spacetime primordial creation. Some system functions are being upgraded and adapted... Temporary status "Source Coffin Protection" has been granted (significantly reduces the damage of time-related attacks and slightly enhances the power of one's own time-related abilities).]

Just as Han Mu was undergoing a perilous fusion and breakthrough deep within the "Abyss Heart," outside the "Abyss of Annihilation," the "Mysterious" steward had already mobilized all available manpower. He even temporarily halted the "Reversed Spacetime Array's" erosion of other areas, concentrating most of his power at the entrance to the Abyss Heart and setting up layers of killing arrays, waiting for Han Mu to emerge, or... for the Abyss Heart to undergo an even greater transformation, so that he could seize the opportunity to do something.

Han Li's figure appeared on a scorched mountain peak in the distance. He had taken a pill, but his face was still pale. He frowned as he looked at the "Reverse Time Alliance" army that was on high alert in the distance and the heart-pounding fluctuations that kept coming from the entrance to the Abyss.

"Brother Han, you must hold on..." he muttered to himself, clutching a few of his most prized possessions tightly in his hands. He knew the real decisive battle was probably just around the corner. And Liu Ruyan, Zhou Meng, and the others had to arrive as soon as possible.