Zhang Mingyuan could no longer spare a thought for anyone else. Grabbing his wife, he plunged straight into the void.
Inside the void tunnel, bizarre fragments of laws receded past them like shooting stars.
The boundaries of space were torn apart, and the flow of time swirled chaotically like a turbulent vortex.
Surged by the immortal energy surrounding his body, he gripped Su Jinxue's hand and pushed his speed to the absolute limit without regard for anything else.
He was like an aurora piercing through the endless darkness, carving a brilliant path through space and time.
Su Jinxue let him pull her along.
She could clearly feel that Zhang Mingyuan's palm was completely drenched in sweat.
In their five thousand years together, she had seen him in high spirits, seen him on the brink of death, and seen him behave like a shameless rogue.
But she had never seen him so anxious—so anxious that his fingers were trembling uncontrollably, as if he feared that arriving even a breath too late would mean losing something incredibly precious forever.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Up ahead, in the deep and vast universe, a blue planet floated quietly amidst the sea of stars.
Zhang Mingyuan came to an abrupt halt.
His entire body went rigid as he stared fixedly at the planet.
“We're here...”
His voice trembled, carrying a trace of disbelief, as if he were in a dream.
Su Jinxue followed his gaze.
It was a star completely devoid of any spiritual energy fluctuations.
Forget about cultivating to become an immortal; it would probably be difficult for even the lowest-level Qi Refining Stage cultivator to achieve anything here.
Yet, at this moment, this dim star in Zhang Mingyuan's eyes surpassed all the grotto-heavens and blessed lands in the world.
Zhang Mingyuan's pupils dilated as divine light erupted from their depths, his gaze instantly piercing through the atmosphere and the layers of clouds.
Skyscrapers rose from the ground, and traffic flowed in an endless stream.
Giant steel birds roared and glided through the sky, while countless iron boxes sped along grey roads.
Su Jinxue's eyes also flickered with light. Seeing this scene, a trace of surprise flashed in her eyes.
Was this the “technology” that Big Brother Heavenly Dao had spoken of earlier?
Mortals without a single shred of spiritual energy could actually build such marvelous things that flew in the sky and ran on the ground.
Zhang Mingyuan's gaze swept over everything.
He frantically searched for the coordinates deep within his memory.
Dragon Country, Xin City, a certain ordinary residential community.
His vision continuously zoomed in, penetrating walls. He searched for a long time...
Finally, his gaze locked onto Room 606, Unit 2, Building 8.
A standard-issue champagne-colored security door, a common-style grey fabric sofa in the living room, and a very clean rock-slab coffee table.
This should have been an ordinary, warm home.
The evening news was playing on the television, the volume turned down very low.
A middle-aged man sat on the sofa, smoking one cigarette after another.
His face was haggard to the extreme, and his hair had turned mostly white in just these few days...
With messy stubble and sunken eyes, he looked as if he had aged ten years.
The ashtray was already stuffed full of cigarette butts, and the entire living room was filled with a choking smell.
From the kitchen, a middle-aged woman walked out carrying a plate of food that was on the verge of spoiling.
Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were red and swollen, clearly having just wept not long ago.
“Yuan'er has been missing for five days without a single word! What else can you do besides smoke?!”
The woman set the plate down heavily on the table, her voice hoarse.
The man stubbed out his cigarette, his fists clenched tightly against his knees.
“What can I do?”
“I've already reported it to the police, and I've searched everywhere I could. The police also said they don't have any leads!”
“Do you think I'm not worried?!”
The woman's eyes welled with tears, and she instantly broke down, covering her face as she sobbed.
The man clenched his teeth hard, yet tears still silently dripped onto the floor.
In the starry sky.
Zhang Mingyuan's vision blurred completely.
Five days!
Five thousand years in the Xuanling Realm, yet only five days had passed on Blue Star!
His parents hadn't aged a bit, and they were still searching for him, waiting for him to come home!
Tears floated in the deep space of the universe, condensing into crystal-clear beads that reflected his blue home planet.
Standing in space, his tears overflowed. The lost child... had finally found his way home.
Seeing Zhang Mingyuan like this, Su Jinxue gently pulled him into her arms.
She gently pressed his head against the crook of her neck, wanting to transfer some of her warmth to him.
“Zhang Mingyuan, welcome home...”
Her voice, enveloped in immortal energy, reached Zhang Mingyuan's ears across the lonely void of space.
Zhang Mingyuan's voice was hoarse. “It's been five thousand years, yet they haven't changed at all. The time flow really is different...”
He raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, crying and laughing at the same time like a madman.
“Little Xuexue, I'm taking you to meet your parents-in-law!”
He messily wiped the tears from his face, holding her hand tightly, his excitement making him speak incoherently. “I'm going to take you to eat hotpot, barbecue, and drink ice-cold beer! I'll take you to ride roller coasters and play claw machines!”
“We also have to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau!”
“We'll get married again on Blue Star, witnessed by our friends and family here!”
“This time we'll have a Western-style wedding and take wedding photos. You'll wear a white wedding dress, and you'll definitely look beautiful!”
Su Jinxue listened quietly to these unfamiliar terms.
She didn't know what any of these things were, but as long as Zhang Mingyuan liked them, she would too. If Zhang Mingyuan said he wanted to do them, she would accompany him to do every single one of them.
“Okay,” she nodded earnestly.
Zhang Mingyuan took a deep breath, forcing his turbulent emotions to settle.
He let go of Su Jinxue, hastily wiped away his tears, and then clasped her hand again, their fingers tightly intertwined.
The majestic immortal energy within his body surged violently as he faced the blue planet.
“Let's go home!”
The two of them transformed into two brilliant streams of light, heading straight for the blue planet.
How terrifying was the speed of a Red Dust Immortal? A distance of ten thousand miles was covered in a mere instant.
However, just as they were about to touch Blue Star's atmosphere, a sudden change occurred!
Buzz—!
A violent tremor rippled through the atmosphere.
A transparent ripple spread out of thin air, enveloping the entire Blue Star.
Zhang Mingyuan was rushing in front.
Bang!
He felt as if he were a mortal who had crashed head-on into an unshakeable wall of steel.
His protective immortal energy shattered!
An overwhelming counterforce crashed into him like a mountain-toppling wave.
This force carried no killing intent, yet it exuded a lofty, absolute rejection!
“Retreat!” An aura that reigned supreme over all things and was pure to the absolute limit exploded outward!
Zhang Mingyuan's expression changed drastically.
He quickly wrapped an arm around Su Jinxue's slender waist, forcibly warping space to retreat tens of thousands of feet.
The two of them barely managed to stabilize themselves in space.
The blood within Zhang Mingyuan's body surged wildly. With a sweet taste in his throat, blood spilled from his lips.
Su Jinxue's eyes grew ice-cold, and her Xiyue Sword unsheathed with a resounding ring.
The Frost Law froze space, the tip of her sword pointing directly at the invisible barrier ahead.
“Who goes there?!”
As the four words left her lips, her murderous intent filled the boundaries.
Even the starlight dimmed because of it.
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