After the time travel, my cheat program disappeared.

Compared to her current perfect and ideal body, the girl standing in the endless wind and snow is closer to the self she remembers—

My former self.

Or perhaps... the ruler of Loulan a thousand years ago.

I was "transmigrated" into this world—

Then he was all alone.

The whole world is our enemy.

Looking up at the snow falling in the sky, the girl's long, snow-white hair danced with her skirt.

Behind her... was a frost sword stuck diagonally in the ground, a cracked mask resembling a raging glacier beast, and a... a white jade zither with broken strings.

She gazed calmly at the sky, her face expressionless, her demeanor as serene as a lake nestled among the mountains in winter.

A feeling of extreme desolation suddenly welled up in Shi Yan's heart.

That feeling... it was as if there was nothing left in the world to hold you back, and the Grim Reaper's scythe was already swinging down towards your neck, and then, from the bottom of your heart... you felt unwilling to accept it.

That sense of desolation and resentment even affected Yun Susu, who was having a spiritual connection with Shi Yan.

Inside the shrine, the girl stared blankly at the ceiling, her eyes wide open, tears streaming down her face and wetting her temples.

With all her might, she struggled to get up.

"Teacher's words..."

"Sister Shiyan..."

"Master Shi Yan..."

She didn't know what Shi Yan had seen in that history book called "Years." But... Yun Susu knew that she absolutely couldn't let Shi Yan continue to be immersed in the long river of the past.

It will collapse...

Human beings, or rather, the spirit of cultivators, simply cannot withstand the test of billions of years.

If we can't pull Shi Yan out of that state in time, Shi Yan... will really break down.

and--

In fact, there are even more unpredictable things to come.

The "Seventeen-Year Cicada" is not simply a technique that alters the time scale.

As Yun Susu herself said, the "Seventeen-Year Cicada" is the key to escaping the scale of time.

Even if there is only a one in a billion chance.

Due to some opportunity, Shi Yan's younger sister was drawn into past events... Even Yun Susu herself didn't know what would happen if she fell into the vortex of time.

All she knew was... that was definitely bad.

A sense of desolation welled up in her heart. Biting her lip tightly, Yun Susu looked at Shi Yan and struggled to sit up.

"call--"

After exchanging a calm glance with Shi Yan, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth suddenly began to surge.

The strong wind whipped the ribbons of the girl's red dress, causing them to flutter and stretch towards the sky amidst the swirling snow.

The snow and wind raged wildly, but the girl's expression remained calm.

Beneath her skirt, which billowed like a vibrant butterfly, the girl Su Guo's small feet trod upon the barren land. Then... they were cut and bled by the snowflakes.

Shi Yan then realized... that the snow falling all over the sky was not snowflakes at all.

Instead, it was something else...something she was very familiar with.

After the snow fell heavily, the girl's eyes were cold and inorganic, yet they shone as brightly as molten gold, dazzling the vast sun.

"Slay Loulan".

What I saw was the death of Loulan.

"Teacher's words..."

"Sister Shiyan..."

"Master Shiyan..." A girl's voice, trembling with sobs, came from beyond the heavens.

Shi Yan knew that it was Yun Susu calling out to him.

I shouldn't continue to wallow in this.

But... that's what my heart wanted to do, but my body seemed completely unable to move.

She could only watch helplessly as countless snowflakes unleashed chilling sword energy, completely engulfing the girl's crimson figure.

hiss--

The whistling sword energy even grazed Shi Yan's face.

A sharp pain, as if the skin were being cut by the edge of paper, instantly shot through my face.

Shi Yan's pupils contracted.

Before that sword energy cut through, Shi Yan still thought that everything in front of him was an "illusion".

Is it something like "a mirage," or... just like the Loulan that appears beside you in "The Tomb of Loulan," merely an illusion?

But... the fierce sword energy that attacked seemed to be playing a cruel joke on Shi Yan.

It's like telling her—

"You have truly arrived at the battlefield of the decisive battle between immortals and demons a thousand years ago."

Standing before Shi Yan now is the immortal of the mortal world, the Fairy of Yaotai, who has been invincible with her sword for a thousand years and whose power even the Lord of Loulan could not defeat.

Just as Yun Susu said—

Time is a merciless yardstick.

And the "seventeen-year cicada"... is precisely the key to escaping that yardstick.

The girl wasn't exaggerating; in fact, she even underestimated the "seventeen-year cicada."

Shi Yan looked at the hand of the Fairy of Yaotai.

She held a sword blank in her hand.

Although it is still just a sword embryo, one can already vaguely see the appearance of Shi Jiuzhou.

He was merely holding the sword blank.

That soaring sword intent was so sharp that even Shi Yan found it difficult to withstand.

After the Lord of Loulan's life force completely disappeared, the Fairy of Yaotai's almost lifeless eyes twitched violently. Then... came an endless sorrow.

Shi Yan held his breath.

She watched as the Fairy of Yaotai walked towards her step by step. Then... she passed through her body and walked into the pool of blood behind her.

Shi Yan wanted to turn back, but... it was simply impossible.

Even the edges of the world began to turn pitch black, swallowed up by darkness.

"Sister Shiyan!!" Emerging from the darkness were a pair of dark eyes, filled with anxiety and tears welling up in their eyes.

Exhausted, Yun Susu forced herself to stay upright, risking damage to her soul, and forcibly separated her soul from Shi Yan's, which had become one with his. This interrupted the evolution of the "Seventeen-Year Cicada" and pulled Shi Yan back from the long river of time.

Yun Susu's breathing was so subtle that only when it was close to the girl's lips could one feel even a tiny breath... bypassing the hairs on her body.

In order to prevent Shi Yan from suffering even the slightest harm, she even chose to... actively cut herself open, one slice at a time, from her own soul.

That feeling... was no different from being suddenly subjected to extreme torture at the height of pleasure.

It wasn't until she saw a glimmer of life return to Shi Yan's eyes that Yun Susu, who had been struggling to hold on, finally gave in.

The girl, who was kneeling and curled up on the desk, fell directly into Shi Yan's arms.

In the last moments before losing consciousness... what was the girl's last thought?

"Down……"

"next time……"

"When setting up your own study, the desk must be large—"

"It's big enough for both me and my sister Shiyan to lie on."

Shi Yan gently embraced Yun Susu.

She felt the girl's pale, cold lips, and her consciousness slowly returned to "reality".

Shi Yan opened his character attribute panel.

In the cultivation level column, what shines brightly is... "Initial Opening Realm - Ninth Rank".

But the most crucial thing... is the little figure representing the cultivation technique on the side. Among the small balls rotating next to the little figure, there is now another small ball shaped like a nebula night sky.

Inside the small ball... is a girl sitting cross-legged in meditation, and behind her is the outline of a cicada.

"The Cicada That Lives for Seventeen Years".

Shi Yan can now sense that his character attribute panel is actually a kind of "Tao" and a kind of "law".

It is a "law" that is completely different from the three thousand great principles of this world, and was forcibly stuffed into this world by people.

The one who created it... Shi Yan already had the answer in his heart.

To put it in a slightly more negative light, Loulan had already "taken revenge" for itself.

The principles of Heaven have been stuffed with this abnormal "legal principle" for thousands of years, and even now, they probably feel quite uncomfortable about it.

If we consider the principles of nature as a girl.

It's practically all just for placing PIAY (a type of virtual object).

For some reason... Shi Yan suddenly pictured Yun Mengming's expressionless face.

Forget it... I can't think about this too much.

distance--

Inside Ghost Valley, Yun Mengming suddenly shuddered and sneezed loudly.