The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

"Want the fragments? You'll have to get past me first!"

Han Mu roared, facing the "Burial Time Demon" that was three zhang tall and whose bone claws tore through the void, he did not retreat but advanced. The three powers in his body, namely the "Origin Coffin Mark", the fragment of the "Seed of Reincarnation", and the "Netherworld Guardian Order", suddenly erupted and condensed into a condensed gray-white fist imprint in front of him. At the core of the fist imprint, a bit of "Origin" Dao rhyme and "Reincarnation" true meaning flowed, and it slammed hard into the demon's bone claws!

Boom! ...

Fists and claws collided, unleashing a deafening roar! The violent energy shockwave raged through the narrow stone chamber, causing the ancient sealing runes remaining on the surrounding walls to flake off, and the entire cave shook violently, with debris raining down.

The enormous bone claws of the "Burial Time Demon" were forcefully knocked away, with several fine cracks even appearing on them. Dark golden flames flickered violently, emitting angry and painful roars. Its power, which had reached the threshold of Taiyi, was actually at a disadvantage in a head-on collision! Although Han Mu's realm was stable at the early stage of Taiyi Jade Immortal, and his power had only recovered to 60%, the "Source Coffin Mark" and the "Seed of Reincarnation" were of too high a level, giving them a natural restraint against such ferocious creatures eroded by time and death energy.

"It's just a remnant controlled by resentment, yet it dares to act so violently?" Han Mu pressed his advantage, his figure flashing like lightning as he instantly appeared beside the demon's head. He pointed his fingers like a sword, the gray-white light flowing from his fingertips, and with a sword finger imbued with the meaning of "corruption of time" and "reincarnation stripping away," he pointed at the dark golden flames dancing in the demon's eye sockets.

"Roar!" The ferocious demon sensed a deadly threat. Its remaining fighting instincts drove it to frantically unleash the remaining ferocious divine power within its body. The dark gold bones on its body surface erupted with dazzling light, forming a thick shield on its body surface that was a mixture of ferocious energy and temporal turbulence. At the same time, its other bone claw swept across, attacking Han Mu's desperate attempt to save him.

However, Han Mu was faster, and his movements were even more exquisite, as if he had anticipated it. He twisted his body strangely, like a fish swimming through the gap in the sweeping bone claws, his sword finger trajectory unchanged, precisely pointing at the dark golden flame on the left side of the demon's eye socket.

"break!"

laugh--!

Like a red-hot iron rod piercing ice, the dark golden flame instantly dimmed and extinguished. The demon's head trembled violently, letting out a shrill scream, and its aura plummeted. Han Mu didn't hesitate. With his other hand, he made a grasping motion, transforming the sealing power of the "Netherworld Guardian Token" into a dark silver chain that instantly wrapped around the demon's neck, temporarily restricting its movements. At the same time, he pointed out a second finger, targeting another ball of flame.

Just then, the ordinary jade slip from the Netherworld Guardian's inheritance, which had been dormant in Han Mu's arms, suddenly flew out on its own, emitting a soft light that shone on an inconspicuous, seemingly naturally formed bone crack on the demon's chest. Deep within that crack, a dim, dark gold talisman engraved with the character "镇" (suppress) could be faintly seen!

"This is... a backup plan left behind by that ancient town guardian? The true core of the seal?" Han Mu's heart stirred, and he instantly changed his target. He turned his sword finger trajectory and pointed at the dim talisman, while injecting a pure sealing power from the "Netherworld Guardian Token".

Om-!

The talisman was activated, unleashing a powerful dark golden light that instantly spread to every bone in the demon's body! The demon let out a roar of defiance, its massive body struggling violently, but the dark golden light acted like the strongest chains, firmly binding it. The malevolent aura emanating from its body rapidly subsided and was suppressed. Finally, the last flame in the demon's eyes extinguished, and its massive skeleton shattered on the ground with a crash, transforming back into a seemingly ordinary pile of dark golden bones. Only the "Suppress" talisman on its chest continued to slowly glow.

"Done!" Han Mu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly checked the system panel to confirm the status.

Name: Han Mu

[True Realm: Taiyi Jade Immortal (Early Stage, nearly 70% recovered from injuries, realm stabilized)]

[Status: Minor injuries, approximately 20% power depleted. The fusion of the "Source Coffin Mark" and the "Seed of Reincarnation" fragments has deepened. Partial unlocking of "Netherworld Guardian Order" permissions.]

[New Addition: Obtained the core bone of the "Burial Time Demon" (containing divine and demonic energy and the power of chaotic time; can be used for weapon crafting or extracting its essence). Gained control of the "Suppress" seal (can temporarily draw upon a portion of its sealing power).]

[Warning: Forcibly activating high-level power may trigger an amplification of the "Time Lord" mark's fluctuations. An unknown entity is monitoring the core area of ​​the "Burial Land of Time."]

Fortunately, the consumption wasn't too great. Han Mu put away the system panel, no longer delaying, and turned to look at the stone platform. The fragment of the "Coffin of Origin" was still floating, but the dark red chains below had lost their activity as the ferocious demon was resealed, and hung limply.

Han Mu cautiously stepped forward, and after confirming there were no other restrictions, he reached out and grasped the grayish-white fragment. The fragment felt warm to the touch, emanating a familiar resonance of shared origins; the power of the primordial time contained within was purer than the two fragments he had previously obtained. The fragment transformed into a stream of light, actively entering Han Mu's brow and merging with the "Origin Coffin Mark" and the main fragment. Han Mu could clearly feel that his understanding of the laws of time had deepened, and his control over the "Coffin of Origin" had become stronger.

"Fourth fragment in hand." Han Mu felt relieved. He quickly collected the scattered core bones of the ferocious demon and the jade slip, and at the same time tried to communicate with the surrounding broken seals using the "Suppress" character seal. He discovered that this cave seemed to be connected to a huge sealing system deeper underground, and the ferocious demon was just one of the "nodes".

Just as Han Mu was about to leave to join Han Li and the others, the entire cave—no, the entire valley—suddenly began to shake violently, ten times more violently than during the battle! The ground cracked, rocks collapsed, as if some enormous creature was awakening underground!

"Not good! The sealing system is out of balance and about to collapse! Run!" Han Mu's expression changed, and his figure transformed into a stream of light as he rushed towards the cave entrance.

However, as soon as he rushed out of the cave and into the valley, he witnessed a shocking scene—the deep crater in the center of the valley, previously blasted open by the "Light of Burial," was now tearing and expanding outwards at an alarming speed! At the bottom of the crater, instead of magma, lay an indescribable, bizarre landscape composed of chaotic spacetime, ancient architectural ruins, and countless enormous chains! Deeper still, a corner of a majestic, dilapidated, dark golden palace, exuding an aura of endless antiquity and desolation, could be vaguely seen!

The style of that palace was completely different from the "Netherworld Guardian" underground palace; it was more magnificent and desolate, as if it came from an era far more ancient than the Heavenly Court. Countless thick chains, shimmering with various colored runes, were wrapped around the palace; some were broken, while others remained tightly bound. An indescribable, terrifying aura, seemingly capable of freezing time and burying eternity, slowly emanated from the cracks in the palace!

"That's... the true core of 'Burial Time'? An ancient palace sealing away some indescribable being?" Han Li's voice rang in Han Mu's ears, filled with disbelief and shock. It turned out that Han Li and the others, seeing the anomaly in the valley, had already risked approaching to provide support.

"Senior Han, look! There's light over there! It looks like... a teleportation array?" Luo Feng pointed to a corner of the palace that was exposed, where there was a relatively complete platform made of jade. The platform had complex array patterns and was emitting a faint, relatively stable spacetime fluctuation.

At the same time, everyone felt that from all directions, countless powerful auras filled with malice and greed were being drawn to the emergence of this underground ancient palace and were rapidly converging on this side! There were roars of "Time's Evil Spirits", shouts of "Reverse Time Alliance" cultivators, and even a few more subtle but chilling wills that seemed to belong to the ancient native beings of the "Burial Land of Time"!

"No time to hesitate! Get into the teleportation array! That's our only way out!" Han Mu made a decisive move, leading the group without hesitation towards the faintly visible teleportation platform. Staying here meant certain death! Although the teleportation array was unknown, it offered at least a glimmer of hope!

The group pushed their speed to the limit, weaving through the collapsing valley and swarming dangers, facing perilous situations at every turn. Han Mu continuously used his supernatural abilities such as "Time Freeze" and "Time Decay" to clear obstacles, while Han Li temporarily disrupted the pursuers with formations.

Finally, just before several Golden Immortal-level "Time-Binding Spirits" were about to strike them with their giant claws, the group rushed onto the jade platform that was suspended in the chaotic space-time.

"Activate the formation quickly!" Han Li immediately recognized it as an ancient one-way random teleportation array and cast several spells to activate the array patterns. Han Mu also placed the "Netherworld Guardian Token" at the core of the formation to provide stable spacetime coordinate guidance.

Om-!

The array shone brightly, enveloping everyone. Just as countless attacks were about to strike, their figures vanished from the platform.

The next moment, the jade platform shattered completely under the violent attack. The majestic ancient palace beneath the earth, with a sigh that seemed to come from eternity ago, slowly sank deeper into the ground. The cracks closed again, leaving behind only a larger, chaotic pit, and countless angry beings frantically searching for the intruder but finding nothing.

I don't know how much time passed; it might have been a moment, or it might have been a long time.

After recovering from the dizziness of the teleportation, Han Mu and the others found themselves in a completely unfamiliar valley, softly lit, rich in spiritual energy, and seemingly a fairyland. The valley was filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers, and babbling springs, a stark contrast to the terrifying scene of the "Burial Land" they had just witnessed.

"Where...where is this?" Liu Ruyan looked around blankly.

Han Mu frowned and immediately checked the system panel.

[Prompt: You have left the "Land of Burial" via an ancient teleportation array and entered the unknown secret realm "Remnant of Time (Fragment)". Stable and pure time power has been detected; the environment is safe and there is no immediate threat. A large quantity of rare spiritual herbs, ores, and faint traces of artificial structures have been discovered. Warning: An unknown spacetime restriction exists within the secret realm; the exit is unknown.]

The Lost Realm of Time? Han Mu's heart stirred slightly; the name seemed familiar.

Just then, deep in the valley, in a pavilion covered in vines, a figure in blue robes, who had been playing chess alone at a stone table with his back to the crowd, slowly turned around. It was a middle-aged Taoist priest with a refined face and otherworldly air. He looked at Han Mu and the others with gentle eyes, and when his gaze fell on Han Mu's brow, a complex and indescribable emotion flashed across his face. Then he smiled slightly, his voice clear and clear:

"I, Qingxuan, have been waiting here for a destined person for thirty thousand years. I never expected that what I would get is a young friend who carries the 'Origin' and 'Reincarnation'. It seems that the chess game of 'Time Venerable' has finally seen a real change."