Hearing his elder brother’s miserable scream, Li Qing jolted awake from his sleep. A cold glint flashed across his eyes.
His body coiled like a drawn bow. In a single motion, he burst through the night and shot forward at blinding speed.
The mont he saw the shadow whose form and appearance were identical to Li Shun, his pupils shrank sharply. Yet his hands did not slow in the slightest.
His left foot stomped down violently, bringing his charge to an abrupt halt.
The bricks beneath his feet shattered inch by inch. Borrowing the force of that montum, he sank his waist, locked his hips, and threw a punch.
The edge of his fist seed to carry a sharp, sword-like intent, tearing through the air itself. A piercing explosion rang out midair as the blow struck squarely into the shadow’s chest.
The force of the punch surged forth. The shadow’s body rippled violently, like an ancient well struck by a falling boulder.
Yet its expression did not change in the slightest.
In that deathly stillness, a thin yet resilient black line cleaved downward from above.
“Clang!”
This very black thread, which had once sliced Li Shun’s head clean off, now landed upon Li Qing’s body. It rely tore through his clothes in an instant. But upon touching his seemingly soft skin, sparks actually burst forth, as though it had struck tempered steel!
Seeing that the strike had failed, the shadow’s assault grew even fiercer. Its hands danced wildly, instantly drawing out countless black crystalline threads that sliced through the void.
“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”
A dense barrage of collisions rang out without end.
Li Qing’s face was as cold as frost. He neither dodged nor retreated, allowing those threads, capable of splitting gold and cleaving stone, to slash across his seemingly frail body, leaving behind only faint white marks. With every step he took, the ground beneath him caved into a deep crater.
His fists continued to crash down upon the shadow like heavy hamrs, producing dull, thunderous booms.
With each blow it endured, the shadow dimd further.
After a storm-like clash, the shadow could no longer sustain itself and finally collapsed.
It scattered into wisps of black qi, vanishing without a trace.
As if sensing that the danger had passed, the yellow protective glow emitted by the sword branch in Li Shun’s hand gradually faded away.
Li Shun still looked shaken, his soul yet to settle. He swallowed hard and said, “Just now… who exactly was that shadow? Why did it try to kill ? And why did it look exactly like ?”
Faced with this string of questions, Li Qing rely frowned deeply, his gaze sweeping over Li Shun again and again.
At last, he spoke in a low voice,
“Brother… how much lifespan did you borrow?”
Li Shun had not expected such an unrelated question. He froze for a mont.
Instinctively, he wanted to conceal the truth, to fabricate a number.
But then he recalled that this was during the second cycle of reflection. In that instant, he changed his mind.
Li Shun opened his mouth, yet not a single word ca out.
At the sa ti, he cast wary glances around him, his face filled with unease.
He appeared even more terrified now than when he had just been hunted by the shadow.
Seeing this, Li Qing’s frown deepened further.
“Brother… have you co to distrust even ?”
Li Shun clenched his teeth at the words before speaking in a low voice, “Two hundred.”
“Hm?!”
“How much?” Li Qing thought he had misheard.
“Your brother… borrowed two hundred years of lifespan from the heavens…” Li Shun repeated quietly.
Li Qing felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his body trembling violently.
He stared at his brother, his eyes filled with disbelief.
“This… how is that possible?”
“Borrowing two hundred years of lifespan… two hundred years…”
For a mont, Li Qing stood there in a daze, murmuring to himself.
But he quickly snapped out of it and hurriedly glanced around.
After confirming there was no one nearby, he grabbed Li Shun’s shoulder and asked in a grave tone, “Brother, who else knows about you borrowing two hundred years of lifespan? Does the new garrison commander, Fang Xun, know?”
As he spoke, a trace of killing intent flickered in Li Qing’s eyes.
Li Shun shook his head repeatedly. “I know how serious this matter is. Other than you, Little Tuanzi, I haven’t told anyone.”
“I only reported borrowing fifty-five years.”
Only then did the killing intent in Li Qing’s eyes recede. He let out a sigh. “No wonder Lao Wei said he couldn’t teach you. To borrow two hundred years of lifespan… Brother, you must have obtained an extraordinary opportunity!”
A trace of hesitation flashed across Li Shun’s face.
Li Qing waved his hand. “You don’t have to tell . It’s enough that you know.”
Li Shun’s expression turned serious. “What are you saying? We are brothers, bound by blood. How could there be anything we cannot share?”
“When I was in Lengshan County, I happened upon a half-destroyed statue. It possesses a great divine ability called ‘Threefold Self-Reflection.’ Each ti it is activated, a single day can be rewound. The first two iterations are illusions, while only the third determines reality…” Li Shun said softly.
The shock in Li Qing’s eyes grew even harder to conceal.
He was forced to close his eyes, suppressing the storm raging within his heart.
Such a heaven-defying divine ability that could rewind ti was far beyond anything he had ever imagined.
A deathly silence lingered for a long ti before he finally digested this shocking secret.
Only then did Li Qing slowly ask, “Brother… which reflection is this now?”
Contrary to his seemingly reckless nature, his mind was sharp. He had grasped the key point in an instant.
Li Shun did not hide it. “This is already the second reflection. In the first, I died for no apparent reason. That’s why I was able to prepare in advance.”
Li Qing nodded slowly. “I see.”
“Then what exactly was that shadow? Not only did it appear without a sound, it even looked exactly like ?” Li Shun followed up.
Li Qing clearly knew the origin of the shadow and no longer concealed it. “That shadow just now… was the ‘Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan’!”
“Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan?”
The answer was completely beyond Li Shun’s expectations, and he hurriedly pressed further. “Isn’t it said that Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan only appears in the latter six stages of the Twelvefold Longevity thods? And usually in the form of tribulations.”
Li Qing nodded. “That is true within the normal territory of Great Qian. But this place… is the Imperial Mausoleum!”
Li Shun imdiately understood. “You an… Imperial Mausoleum Commandary exists as its own independent world?”
“Exactly. This small world is independent, yet still under Great Qian’s rule. When I borrow lifespan from the heavens, I am still borrowing from the heavens of Great Qian. However, because I am within the Imperial Mausoleum, the lifespan must pass through the heavens of this place first.”
“When I was in the Mortal Physique realm, I borrowed one hundred thirty-three years. In the end, only ninety-three years actually reached !” As Li Qing spoke, undisguised hatred surged in his eyes.
“A thirty percent cut?” Li Shun calculated quickly and drew in a sharp breath.
“The Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan Tribulation here is also different from the outside world. Outside, tribulations can sotis be diverted through various thods. But here, the tribulation manifests directly as a shadow that seizes lifespan, locking onto a person without end. Even if it is temporarily repelled, it will not disappear completely. After seven days, it will return again!” Li Qing continued.
“And each ti it is driven back, it grows stronger. Stronger and stronger, until there is no escape!”
“Then that’s practically a death sentence?”
“And besides, I borrowed two hundred years of lifespan. It shouldn’t even be ti for the Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan to manifest yet…” Li Shun said unwillingly.
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