# 1059
Chapter 1060: Goodbye Somersault Cloud
"We are still here... It seems the Queen Mother brought the temporal shadow of the Kunlun Mirror out with her."
Yang Jian lowered his head to look at his own hands, saying thoughtfully.
"What does that mean?" Nezha asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"Let me put it this way." Lin Qiye contemplated briefly before explaining, "You, and the Peach Banquet before that, are temporal shadows projected by the Queen Mother using the Kunlun Mirror onto the real Kunlun Ruins—like a vivid illusion.
Originally, the temporal shadow's coverage was limited to within the Kunlun Ruins. But when the Queen Mother left the Kunlun Ruins' pocket dimension and returned to the Pamir Plateau, the temporal shadow spread along with her.
This is still the real Pamir Plateau, but we can see everything that happened here a hundred years ago, as if someone used 3D projection to reflect the past history here... Never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway.
You just need to know that the current Pamir Plateau is an overlapping space where the real world and the past shadow coexist."
"Are you saying that we can meet people from the future here, and people from the future can see us existing in the past?" Nezha finally caught on.
"That's right."
"That's truly miraculous..."
"This is not the time for admiration." Yang Jian narrowed his eyes, gazing toward where the Queen Mother of the West and Ziwei Star Lord had departed, worry flickering in his gaze. "We should still follow and see what's happening at the border..."
As Yang Jian was about to follow, Lin Qiye stepped in front of him first.
Lin Qiye looked at him with a complex expression. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke:
"A Jin... no, Yang Jian. Perhaps you don't need to get involved anymore."
Yang Jian frowned in confusion.
"Everything happening here is merely a historical shadow. Whatever you do won't change the course of history... Some things don't need to happen a second time."
Yang Jian and Nezha didn't know what would happen next, but Lin Qiye was very clear in his heart.
On the Day of Survival, the reason Great Xia safely survived the mist was because the Gods of Great Xia shattered their own cultivation, sacrificed their physical bodies, and transformed into nine Guardian Steles to guard the borders... Whether the man before him was his brother A Jin or Great Xia's Erlang God Yang Jian, he didn't want to see the tragedy happen again.
Sensing something, Yang Jian frowned and asked,
"Does what happens next... relate to my falling into the cycle of rebirth?"
"...Yes."
After receiving confirmation, Yang Jian fell silent for a long moment. He turned slightly, looking toward where the Queen Mother of the West and the others had departed.
In the drifting snow and wind, the sky beyond Great Xia's western borders was gradually consumed by eerie shadows. Endless mist like a colossal beast slowly crept toward Great Xia, baring its ferocious fangs... In the distance, several golden divine silhouettes could be seen racing frantically ahead of the mist.
Yang Jian slowly closed his eyes and said calmly: "Great Xia faces catastrophe, the immortals face doom. Whether real or illusory, if we cower and retreat now, what difference is that from cowards?
If this is my fate—whether falling into the cycle of rebirth, bodily death, or destruction of my Dao... even if it repeats a thousand times, I shall go."
As his words fell, Yang Jian erupted with dazzling silver divine light, his entire person transforming into a streaming light, flying toward the advancing mist beyond the western border.
Nezha sighed and flew after him.
Lin Qiye stood frozen in place for a long while, a bitter smile appearing on his lips. He wanted to follow, but thinking it through, he changed direction instead, heading toward Mount Gonggar.
Though he didn't know how extensive this temporal shadow's coverage was, given the current situation, Mount Gonggar nearby should also be within the shadow's projection range. Those new recruits were there in large numbers.
Even though the shadow itself wouldn't affect reality, he still needed to go there first to stabilize the situation. Otherwise, once things turned chaotic, no one knew what might happen.
...
Mount Gonggar.
The edge of the temporal shadow rapidly swept across the peak, covering the entire mountain and surrounding plateau.
An Qingyu, who had just trimmed his nails, suddenly seemed to sense something. His brow furrowed as he looked out at the vast snowy mountains beyond the tent, a shadow of unease flickering in his eyes.
"What's wrong, Qingyu?"
Jiang Er noticed An Qingyu's unusual expression and asked curiously.
"Something's wrong..." An Qingyu's brow furrowed even tighter. He stood up, pushed aside the tent curtain, and walked outside.
The moment he stepped out, two screaming beams of divine light flew past him, racing urgently toward the western border. Faintly, he could make out two figures clad in golden armor.
Seeing this, An Qingyu suddenly froze in place.
Those were... Great Xia gods? Two Great Xia gods just flew past like that?
Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan紧接着从帐篷中钻出，与此同时，东方的天空中，接连数道各色长虹飞驰而过。
Those rainbows all emanated terrifying spiritual energy fluctuations. Some were white-bearded elders riding on cranes, others were sword-wielding Daoist priests standing on auspicious clouds. They streaked across the sky like meteor showers, leaving all three people staring in stunned silence.
"G-Great Xia gods? So many Great Xia gods?" Baili Pangpang exclaimed. "Has the divine war fully broken out? Where's the battlefield?"
"Look!"
Cao Yuan stretched out his hand, pointing westward.
The others turned, their pupils constricting sharply.
The mist that had been blocked outside the invisible barrier was gone. Dozens of kilometers away, a fog dozens of times denser than what they had seen before was slowly approaching Great Xia's borders. An unprecedented sense of oppression enveloped everyone.
"When did the mist become so dense? What happened to the invisible barrier?"
An Qingyu's brow was tightly knit. He stared at the thick snow beneath his feet, bent down, pinched a handful of snowflakes, and thought carefully.
"That's wrong... everything here is fake."
"Fake?"
Baili Pangpang was stunned. Just as he was about to say something, nightfall descended upon the temporary base.
"Qiye!" When Baili Pangpang saw Lin Qiye arrive, his eyes lit up. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
"Did you see those Great Xia gods? And the mist..."
"Don't worry." Lin Qiye patted his shoulder. "Everything we see is a temporal shadow..."
Lin Qiye explained the situation to the four of them. Everyone exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief in the others' eyes.
"So such miraculous things exist." Cao Yuan sighed.
"In any case, the most important thing right now is to protect the new recruits, and also—"
Before Lin Qiye could finish, something caught his eye. His voice cut off abruptly.
He turned to look at the distant sky. In the wind and snow, a golden figure draped in a monk's robe was standing on a Somersault Cloud, rapidly flying toward the mist.