But this time it was not noisy, only two calm and plain voices were communicating.
"... ..."
"It seems that we are completely trapped here."
"How's Xiaomian doing?"
"She should be fine."
"Are you really Mian? But you're the only one who can see her... How weird."
"Wait, there seems to be someone beside Xiaomian..."
"... ..."
Luo Xue woke up instantly, breathing slightly.
What's going on
The memory of the two voices in her mind quickly disappeared in an instant. Luo Xue quickly used her spiritual power to outline her arm, trying to record the content of the conversation as much as possible.
Soon, Luo Xue could no longer remember the content of the conversation, but the traces of spiritual power recorded on her arm were already quite clear, but unfortunately not complete.
Apart from the content that Luo Xue paid special attention to because of the mention of Nangong Mian, there were only some scattered words.
"Ancestral land, holy soul... what are you talking about? I know this sea of blood..."
Luo Xue scratched the back of her head.
At this time, Nangong Mian, who had just woken up from a nap, yawned and stretched.
When she saw Luo Xue, she greeted her sleepily.
"Morning, Your Highness."
"morning."
Luo Xue nodded subconsciously, not realizing that there was something wrong with the title.
"Wait a minute, Your Highness?" Nangong Mian widened his eyes and looked at Luo Xue, "No, you are... Ancestor, oh no, you are Sister Jiao..."
"What sister Jiao? I may not be older than you."
Luo Xue said unhappily that she was sixteen years old now, and Nangong Mian was a little older than her.
Nangong Mian's expression twisted. Old Ancestor, you should only say this to yourself. Whoever believes it is... a little fool.
"How long have I slept?"
Nangong Mian rubbed his eyes and propped himself up to stand up.
"I don't know. I slept for a while too." Luo Xue shook her head and looked out the window.
There is still endless fog, and I can't see the situation outside at all, so I have no way of judging the current time.
"By the way, where did your sister go?" Luo Xue asked.
The traces of spiritual power on her arm mentioned the identity of the person she was talking to, and it seemed to be Nangong Mian's sister.
"Which sister?" Nangong Mian asked blankly, "I have many cousins... If you count the collateral relatives, there are even more."
"My dear sister." Luo Xue said.
From the vague impression I have, the person I'm talking to is very caring towards Nangong Mian. If she wasn't her biological sister, it would be difficult for her to be treated like this.
"I don't have any biological sister..."
Nangong Mian began to murmur a little.
"No?"
Luo Xue frowned slightly, she felt that her judgment should be correct.
"Maybe my father has other illegitimate daughters?" Nangong Mian asked seriously, "You have to ask my father about this, but before asking, you have to tell me..."
"... No need."
Luo Xue rubbed her brows. What on earth was going on... It felt like déjà vu.
Wait, Nangong Mian seemed to have mentioned before that he had the impression that no Nangong disciples came in. Could there be a connection between the two
Could it be that Nangong Mian really has such a biological sister, and this biological sister, like the other Nangong disciples who died in the Blood Sea Secret Realm, is in a state of "loss"
"Have you heard of the ancestral land?" Luo Xue raised her head and asked seriously.
"The ancestral land of the Nangong clan?" Nangong Mian nodded slightly, "Of course I know this, but I have never been there. I heard that it is full of burning flames because of some accidents, and it is impossible to get close to it.
"It is said that this is where the Nangong family obtained the True Phoenix inheritance!"
"Where is the Holy Soul?" Luo Xue asked again.
"I've heard of it, but... I don't have much impression of it." Nangong Mian showed a thoughtful expression, "It should be related to the ancestral land... Why did you suddenly mention this?"
Luo Xue told Nangong Mian everything she heard in a trance, and asked Nangong Mian if he had dreamed about anything while sleeping.
"No, everything you said is too unbelievable." Nangong Mian said, shrinking his neck again, "Besides, how dare I dream when sleeping in this place..."
Dreams can be said to be the weakness of all cultivators. If one does not specialize in the realm of spirit or consciousness, one can say that they have almost no ability to fight back after their dreams are invaded.
"We have to go to the Blood Sea again." Luo Xue whispered, "Perhaps, I have some guesses about the secret realm of the Blood Sea..."
"Hmm? Tell me about it?" Nangong Mian raised his eyebrows.
Luo Xue shook her head and said,
"Don't worry, we need to verify it again."
"But... how do we get to the Sea of Blood?" Nangong Mian showed a distressed expression, "There are immortal zombies outside..."
"Don't worry, the immortal zombies outside have dispersed after we came in." Luo Xue said, "The reason why we were blocked outside the main house is because we wandered around in the courtyard for too long, giving them time to gather together."
Hearing this, Nangong Mian couldn't help but reveal an embarrassed expression. The blame was indeed hers. If she hadn't been lost, she wouldn't have encountered such a crisis.
"The immortal zombies also have no spiritual consciousness. They cannot sense our location. As long as we leave quickly... there will be no problem." Luo Xue whispered.
"Um."
Nangong Mian nodded.
After a brief rest, they walked out of the main door of the courtyard.
The scattered immortal zombies around seemed to "see" them, and a few flames flickered in the mist.
But... there is not enough evidence.
Luo Xue and Nangong Mian acted quickly and soon killed them all, leaving the mysterious courtyard without a moment's delay.
When she finally left, Luo Xue couldn't help but look back.
At this glance, it seemed that I saw two figures coming from the courtyard, but when I looked away, the figures disappeared.
"Hurry up, Grandpa... Sister Jiao, if we run into another large wave of zombies..."
"First of all, I'm not the ancestor, and secondly, I'm younger than you... Forget it, let's go."
Luo Xue let out a light breath, turned around and followed Nangong Mian.
... ... .
"Twelve years." Nangong Ling stood up, his expression solemn, "For every minute they spend, we have to spend a year waiting."
"We... live in their past."
Chapter 187: Solidified Space and Time, Shadow of Withering
Twelve years.
Nangong Ling recited silently again.
In her world, she has witnessed her sister Nangong Mian sleeping for twelve years.
When Nangong Mian saw Nangong Mian's shadow in her field of vision, she realized that the flow of time in the ancestral land had been greatly slowed down.
Because... Nangong Mian's shadow still retains its original appearance.
Since entering the ancestral land, Nangong Ling has been trapped here for who knows how many years, completely cut off from the outside world. The only person he can contact is Nangong Wan'er by his side.
Who would have thought that a seemingly ordinary mission would put her in such a crisis.
When investigating the unusual movements in the ancestral land, a time and space rupture was inexplicably caused. Nangong Ling and Nangong Wan'er were caught off guard and fell into the crack of time and space.
It is rumored that the evil demons from outside the domain emerged from such a gap in time and space. Fortunately, no such terrible monster was born this time, only a mirror image of the Nangong ancestral land.
There was an eternal flame burning all around, even the courtyard where their ancestors had lived. The firelight accompanied them through the long years.
After being trapped for so many years, Nangong Ling was very worried about his sister in the outside world. He couldn't help but wonder whether Nangong Mian's life had run out because he could not break through the foundation-building stage for the rest of his life.
If one day they could escape from the alien space of their ancestral land, Nangong Ling would not want to see Nangong Mian, who was left with only a handful of earth.
So... at least when Nangong Ling saw Nangong Mian's shadow, his first feeling was relief.
However, Nangong Mian’s appearance was only for a brief moment, as she leaned against a burning wall of fire in the ancestral land and pushed hard.
After being stunned at first, Nangong Ling raised his hand and extinguished the wall of fire.
The next moment, Nangong Mian’s shadow disappeared.
Nangong Ling looked around but couldn't see Nangong Mian again.
But Nangong Wan'er said that she saw nothing.
After so many years, Nangong Wan'er has become disheartened. She returned to the Nangong Holy Land hoping to meet Princess Snow again one day.
But... after such a long time, Princess Snow, who did not have much aptitude for cultivation, might have turned into a handful of dirt, and she had no way of letting go of her obsession.
Not many years later, Nangong Ling saw Nangong Mian again. This time, she leaned against the wall and slowly fell asleep, and her appearance was very clear.
Nangong Ling didn't dare to disturb her, for fear that her actions would make Nangong Mian disappear. She just quietly looked at the sleeping Nangong Mian.
This time the phantom lasted for a minute and disappeared again after a minute.
But Nangong Ling, who finally got hope, was no longer anxious, but waited for the appearance of Nangong Mian's shadow again.
A year later, Nangong Mian's shadow appeared again, with the same posture and the same duration, and it remained like this for the next twelve years.
By observing some phenomena, such as the speed at which Nangong Mian's saliva drips, Nangong Ling determined the flow rate ratio between the alien space-time and the real space-time.
One minute is one year.
But... it doesn't mean that when you observe the outside world in the alien space of the ancestral land, the outside world passes by at an extremely slow speed.
It is more like that most of the time, the ancestral space and the timeline of the present world have no intersection, and the only synchronization takes place within the one minute of this intersection.
The rest of the time, the outside world is frozen for them.
Therefore, Nangong Ling would say that they were living in the past of Nangong Mian and Luo Xue.
"What's the situation with the Holy Soul?" Nangong Ling asked.
"I'm afraid... she's not at rest yet, just temporarily at peace."
Nangong Wan'er shook her head. She was good at the way of space and used some means to trap the "Holy Soul" in the space crack, but it could not last long.
The Holy Soul is transformed from the immortal will, and it is an immortal existence until the other side of time. The most it can be restricted is not to be erased.
The unusual movement in the ancestral land was due to the appearance of this holy soul. Even the great ancestor was not clear where this white shadow came from and why it had been lingering in the ancestral land, causing all kinds of strange phenomena.
The ancestral land that was always burning was actually extinguished in many places. At the same time, a strange fog emerged everywhere, which could block spiritual consciousness to a certain extent.
Even weirder...
Nangong Ling stood up and looked into the distance.
—It is a boundless sea of blood.
Within the alien space of the ancestral land, an endless sea of blood fills the entire world. It seems to be very similar to the secret realm of the sea of blood, but it is more powerful and terrifying.
Even Nangong Ling who was in the Jie Fairyland did not dare to go deeper. She could resist the erosion of the Immortal Will, but it did not mean that she could face the Immortal Will itself.
The Immortal Will and the Withering Will are the only two ultimate paths to death. They are the ultimate paths that can lead to the realm of the Great Emperor that only exists in legends and are not something that mere humans can control.
All humans who attempt to get involved in these two avenues, even if they possess special physiques, cannot escape the fate of being assimilated and will completely become immortal or wither.
"The Holy Spirit is sometimes active and sometimes dormant. I'm not sure how long this seal can last." Nangong Wan'er shook her head and sighed, "So many years have passed. If it weren't for our realm... I'm afraid our fate would be no different from theirs."
She looked at the coffins in the square with pity. These were all members of the Nangong family. Without exception, all of them were at the peak of the foundation-building stage.