Chapter 549 The long river of time
After Wang Yansheng gathered himself together and went out with a bunch of food, drinks, toys and other sundries, the courtyard returned to peace. Only Gu Qingyuan was left sitting alone, sighing.

"Sir, do you really have to do this? You're not going to be unable to come back after you leave. You can just come back when you have time. Why make it seem like a life-and-death separation?"

Zhang Wuji had been there for an unknown amount of time when he suddenly jumped out. He grinned and said, "I'm sure Wang Yansheng must have thought that you've been gone for thousands of years and that he's going to turn into stone and wait for you to come back."

Gu Qingyuan sighed softly, his face distressed: "How do you know it won't take thousands of years?" Seeing Zhang Wuji froze for a moment, he smiled and said: "Not that long, but not as fast as you think. It takes some time to gain a firm foothold."

Zhang Wuji relaxed his expression and complained, "Master, you still have such a bad taste."

Gu Qingyuan shook his head: "If I hadn't given Yansheng that hint, he wouldn't have worked hard to be independent. In his life, he would just go with the flow. When he encountered difficulties, he would subconsciously come to me. Over time, it would be detrimental to his spirit and character."

"Only in this way can you arouse his obsession. After all, you should know best what kind of power he can unleash when he is unwilling to go with the flow."

Zhang Wuji also agreed with this. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Is there any risk in your trip, sir? When can you come back?"

Gu Qingyuan motioned Zhang Wuji to sit down, brewed some tea, and served some snacks. "It's not that risky. At most there will be some setbacks at the beginning, but it's all within the plan. At worst I can call for help. Someone will rescue your master."

"As for when I will be back, it could be the next second, or it could be hundreds of years. In my estimation, if everything goes well, at least time won't be an obstacle for me."

Hundreds of years? That doesn't seem that long.

Zhang Wuji thought to himself, and then spoke again: "Then I will definitely let you see the prosperity under my rule. It will be unprecedentedly prosperous."

Gu Qingyuan nodded: "I believe this, I have seen all your abilities." He picked up the teacup, "I originally planned to divide this world into Yin and Yang, you are the Lord of Yang, and Yansheng is the Emperor of Yin, but this method is quite inappropriate, which is why we have the Republic today."

With a flick of his hand, three tokens were placed on the table. "You've read Journey to the West, right? These tokens are the three life-saving hairs I gave you. I have refined this world into a map of mountains, rivers, and the state, but I can only bring the Kunlun mirror with me on this trip. The map of mountains, rivers, and the state needs to be used as an anchor coordinate to guide my direction."

"If anything goes wrong, you can crush the talisman and I will know. After crushing it, you will be empowered and you will be the master of a world and a land. Your life will be safe. Yansheng has a heart as pure as a child, but you have the demeanor of a veteran. So it is most appropriate to give these three talismans to you for safekeeping."

Zhang Wuji's pupils slightly dilated when he heard these words that sounded like instructions for his last wishes. Gu Qingyuan tapped his forehead and said, "What are you thinking about? I just want to give you a way to protect yourself, so that you don't get beaten to death before I get to you."

Zhang Wuji chuckled, "That's impossible. If I really can't beat him, I'll just knock him down. Face is useless to me. Then I'll wait for you to come and rescue me, sir."

"Your shameless appearance is quite similar to mine," Gu Qingyuan nodded, then stood up and shouted, "Alright, if you have nothing else, let's go. I have almost refined the Kunlun Mirror, so I will set off now."

Zhang Wuji rubbed his hands and said, "Okay, then I wish you a safe journey and may you get what you wish for."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door with big strides. As he passed the threshold, he seemed to remember something.

"gentlemen……"

Looking back, Gu Qingyuan was nowhere to be seen. Zhang Wuji touched the three talismans in his hand and muttered, "Walking so fast." Then he walked out of the courtyard without looking back.

There were already people waiting outside the door. Zhang Wuji no longer had a smile on his face. He said to the people outside in a cold voice: "I am going to exercise my ruling order. From today on, this place is a forbidden area of ​​the Republic. Anyone who offends or breaks the rules will be killed without mercy, regardless of their identity or cultivation level. The fight will not stop until they die."

A cold murderous intent filled the air. The man had no idea why Zhang Wuji wanted to exercise the ruling order that could only be used three times in a lifetime and could not be reset during term change or election. But he knew that if someone was really blind, he would be skinned, his tendons pulled out, and his corpse would be beaten into powder even after death.

At this time, Gu Qingyuan was holding a bronze mirror, quietly watching Zhang Wuji leave. Memories surged in his mind, reflecting on all the experiences he had after entering this world. He raised his head slightly, and wherever his eyes went, he knew everything.

The magic mirror in his hand emitted light, and the light was distorted at this moment. Gu Qingyuan's figure changed, seeming real and unpredictable. Then the sound of water gradually rose, and a long river was pulled by the Kunlun mirror, constantly refracting and reflecting. A wave came, and Gu Qingyuan's figure disappeared in the long river of time.

His last glance fell on Wang Yansheng who had just returned home. Without taking the time to dress, Wang Yansheng hurriedly took out something from his arms and laid it out in a row. There were three talismans, exactly the same in style as the ones Zhang Wuji held.

"I hope you don't need to use these tricks, and I hope you don't find out that Monkey King actually has six life-saving hairs."

Gu Qingyuan smiled secretly in his heart. There are usually five of the Four Heavenly Kings, so it should be reasonable for the three life-saving hairs to have six.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already in the middle of a turbid current. What he saw was a big river. The river was not a river, but the confluence of many timelines. The water was not water, but the precipitation of the years and the light of the universe. The waves were surging, and the flow was endless, moving forward.

This is the long river of time, a river that flows forever. It has been born since the beginning of the world, rushing forward without looking back, flowing all the way to the end of all things, the end of time.

Time is endless and years are irreversible, but in this endless river of time, some people are swimming upstream and tracing its source.

Such a rebellious act is intolerable and goes against the will of heaven. The long river of time begins to become turbulent with the movement of the figure.

Gu Qingyuan is like a small boat in the raging sea, rising and falling with the waves, not knowing the direction, but there is always a silk thread connecting him, guiding him forward. The light of time confuses his eyes, and the magic mirror in his hand distorts them. The river of time is turbulent, but his body is the treasure boat for salvation. No matter how many difficulties and dangers there are, he never stops and goes upstream!

He passed a figure, a cultivator holding a set of magical weapons, with the Taoist name Duobao Fanren. He was Gu Qingyuan's false roots, but also a mark and anchor left in the long river of time.

Time keeps passing, or rather, time keeps going backwards. Gu Qingyuan is getting closer and closer to the gray-robed figure standing upstream of time, but at the same time, the resistance of the long river of time is also increasing.

As the times continued to change, some things that had not yet been born and originated from later generations began to break into pieces. The clothes on Gu Qingyuan's body were restored to cloth and fiber. If it weren't for the magical power to create clothes, he would have been in a mess.

The memories still exist, but some of the techniques have faded. This is because the foundation of their existence no longer exists, and their power naturally fades. The time is too long and too long. In the beginning of the ancient times, the immortal path had not yet been opened up.

Of all the magical powers of Gu Qingyuan, only the 108 Heavenly Gang and Earthly Evil Techniques were left. These magical powers were condensed by him using the knowledge from outside the world and pointed directly to the origin. As for the others, they were originally discarded.

Finally, when everything began to become chaotic and the magic power began to disintegrate, he looked at the gray-robed figure that was close at hand, but there was still a thin line of separation. He sighed and threw himself into the long river of time. Before leaving, he left a glance and swam downstream, as if to see through the ultimate of time and reach the upstream of the timeline.

(End of this chapter)