287: Chapter 287 An Independent Time-Space Island

"Tributary timelines cleared..."

"Third parallel world confirmed dead..."

In a bizarre and surreal space, entities with twisted, indiscernible faces tore through the dimensional lines to arrive.

Vaguely, countless blurred images flashed and vanished within the space.

Each scene was different, but the only similarity was that in every image, a handsome man died accidentally.

Whether it was a mining accident, a starship voyage, or the aftermath of a battle between powerful experts...

They were dense and countless.

But without exception, they all died by coincidence.

If Zhang Huaiyuan were to see this, he would likely be terrified.

Apart from a slight difference in temperament, the man in all these images was almost identical to him!

"Master, all traces of the timelines and parallel worlds have been erased, leaving only the original body in the main world."

"Is that so..."

Amidst an ethereal voice, a creature with a transparent, mirror-like body appeared out of thin air.

Its body reflected colorful, distorted patches of color. Its eyes, the only part with a color of its own, exuded both rationality and madness, full of discordance.

It seemed not to trust its subordinate's report, reaching out to toss a prismatic crystal.

As it spun, one could clearly feel the traces of spacetime echoing within it.

"Hmm... The timelines have indeed been cleared. To be safe, let's check the causal lines as well..."

Like a rigorous Scholar, this being, addressed as Master by these terrifying creatures, possessed a caution disproportionate to its strength.

The prismatic crystal left its hand, traveling back and forth into the depths of the void.

"It seems it has indeed been cleaned up... Hmm?"

Just as the twisted creature was about to retrieve the prismatic crystal, a faint blue light suddenly glimmered on it, pointing towards an unknown spacetime.

"There is still a remnant?"

In an instant, countless pairs of different, strange eyes tore through the space and opened.

"Strange..."

The twisted being, reflecting colorful patches, recalled the prismatic crystal. Looking at the direction where the blue causal line spread, a flash of surprise crossed its eyes.

"It's actually in the future? An isolated island of spacetime that was hidden... Who has such great ability to detach an entire parallel spacetime from its original trajectory and send it to the future..."

It extended a mirror-like hand, touching the depths of the void.

The colorful patches reflected on it gradually turned into the chaotic color of nothingness.

As it stirred gently, it was like ripples spreading across a calm lake, with spatial waves constantly diffusing outward. Until it hit a certain spot, it was suddenly bounced back.

"Found it."

The strange being's eyes flashed slightly, and it reached out to grab. Suddenly, an entire fragment was stripped from the depths of the void.

"What a powerful method... Fortunately, it is mainly aimed at being one-way from the inside, otherwise even I would need a long time to crack it."

It extended another hand to dive into the fragment, beginning to decrypt it with full effort. Dozens of complex instruments appeared around it simultaneously, each projecting scanning waves to investigate its composition.

Ten days... a month...

"Done!"

Until thirty-one years later, the twisted being suddenly withdrew its hands.

The stripped fragment gradually unfolded, revealing a void tunnel that extended from the inside into the infinitely distant unknown.

"Going to such great lengths... to isolate a complete spacetime, what secret is hidden within..."

It quietly scanned the infinitely extending tunnel, the madness in its eyes growing hotter, but it ultimately chose not to step inside.

"Although the probability is extremely low... the possibility of a conspiracy cannot be ruled out, so there is no need to risk it personally. You two, go inside and investigate. Be careful, and prioritize transmitting the intelligence back."

Having seemingly suffered a great loss before, this powerful being appeared exceptionally cautious and gave orders to the side.

"Yes, Master."

Two figures walked out from the shadows.

One was a snake-like creature that seemed to hide most of its body in the darkness, revealing only a small part of its head, as if constantly spying on something.

The other looked like a giant cuttlefish, its eyeballs constantly looking around, as if ready to flee at the slightest sign of trouble.

After the two took a prismatic crystal, they simultaneously turned into streams of light and rushed into the depths of the tunnel.

I don't know how much time had passed.

After passing through a one-way spatial barrier, the surrounding scene finally changed from nothingness to openness.

"A small star system..."

After slightly adapting to the change in environment, the two sensed the state of this world.

"Something is wrong..."

Suddenly, the two looked at each other, both revealing a hint of solemnity.

"How can this be... Here... I actually don't feel any aura of life."

"It's a bit strange... My suggestion is to backtrack the spacetime here and take a look?"

"Agreed."

Soon, the two reached an agreement. They tossed the prismatic crystal again. As it turned, the surrounding void became blurry, and images of the past began to materialize.

The peaceful scene shattered, and endless flames of war reappeared in the backtracking.

More than a hundred towers, shimmering with the infinite charm of knowledge, shone simultaneously, and countless experts were fighting fiercely, relying on these towers.

"This is the Tower of Knowledge of the Time Traveler Association... and these top experts of the All Heavens and Myriad Realms, what is going on... This spacetime does not sense the existence of our race?"

The two recognized these formidable enemies from the main world at a glance.

What made it even more inconceivable to them was that as the images changed, these top experts fell one after another, and even the towers that represented truth collapsed one by one.

And their enemies were revealed at this moment—an endless army of intelligent lifeforms.

They were equipped with terrifying weapons, spreading like locusts to every world, destroying all traces of life.

"intelligent lifeforms? What is going on! What are those guys from the Time Traveler Association doing, letting these machines spiral out of control?"

Even these two powerful beings, who had seen their share of Wind and Waves, could not help but be stunned at this moment.

"Continue backtracking."

The two stared intently at the screen, finally managing to piece together the history of this spacetime.

A history that made even them feel incredulous: the target they were to eliminate, Zhang Huaiyuan, had long since died in this spacetime, and he died at the hands of a weak cultivation-side civilization.

But that wasn't the key. The key was that an intelligent lifeform left behind by that target had somehow grown up.

It not only destroyed the entire cultivation-side civilization but also took its anger out on the entire All Heavens and Myriad Realms, spending billions upon billions of years using various means to wipe out all life in this spacetime. Only some intelligent lifeforms remained.

"This is a lunatic... There are no traces of life here, and our power cannot be replenished. It is not suitable to stay long. Return immediately to report to the Master and then make a decision."

The cuttlefish-like creature flashed a trace of fear in its eyes, its body involuntarily tensing up and retreating.

"Fine... Anyway, that target Zhang Huaiyuan is already dead..."

The other companion also realized the severity of the matter and was just about to nod, but discovered that the entire dim starry sky suddenly lit up.

A figure appeared above them, though it was unclear when.

—It was a body in the image of a woman. It seemed like a precise fusion of aesthetics and calculation, every inch of proportion and line flawlessly perfect. Paired with a simple long dress that moved without wind, it added a touch of nobility. The most eye-catching thing was the long hair draped over her shoulders; it was not individual strands of hair, but silver like liquid light trails, appearing mysterious and unfathomable.

She slowly lowered her head, looking down at the two invading creatures, a ripple of emotion stirring in her hollow and indifferent eyes:

"Were you just talking about... Zhang Huaiyuan?"