Chapter Sixty-Four: The Wallbreaker

Inside the carriage, a profound silence suddenly descended. The sound of horses’ hooves and birdsong mingled with the heavy breathing of the old man, swirling and echoing within the cramped space, finally settling into stillness.

Ning Xiaoyu withdrew something from her sleeve and held it in her palm. “According to the terms from your original world, the process by which you arrived here is called ‘transmigration.’ Currently, the Tang Dynasty has three hundred and forty-seven transmigrators, scattered across the land, quietly accumulating their strength.”

Yu Lang’s brows furrowed deeply. Coming from the twenty-first century, this was his greatest secret in this era. Hearing Ning Xiaoyu speak of it so calmly made him uneasy.

“How do you know such an exact number?” Yu Lang voiced his doubt.

Ning Xiaoyu slowly opened her hand, revealing a delicate ancient coin resting quietly in her palm. “As long as you hold this, you can sense the number of surviving transmigrators. Those who know the truth often call transmigrators ‘Barrier Breakers.’”

“All of this seems like a game, or perhaps an experiment. I only know that, in the end, only one among the three hundred and forty-seven transmigrators will survive. That survivor is the victor, who can reopen the passage of time and space, returning to their origin with supreme power.” Pity flickered across Ning Xiaoyu’s face. “I don’t know exactly what the victor will gain, only that the mutual slaughter is extremely brutal. In your father Yu Jia’ao’s era, there were more than fifteen hundred transmigrators. In twenty years, most perished violently, never to return.”

Yu Lang grew angry. “Why was I chosen?”

“I can’t answer that precisely. I am merely your guide. Every Barrier Breaker has their own guide; their destinies are intertwined—sharing glory and suffering alike. Your mother was your father’s guide, and the two fell in love, giving birth to you in the modern world before coming to the Tang Dynasty. I can only suggest one possibility: this game cannot be exited voluntarily. You understand what I mean—others may kill you, but you cannot take your own life. Your father Yu Jia’ao chose suicide. As his only son, you were then brought to the Tang Dynasty by unseen hands, and I was appointed your guide.”

Yu Jia’ao’s death at the hands of the Old Demon of Kunlun had actually been suicide? The matter grew ever more tangled and mysterious.

Yu Lang wished to ask more, but Ning Xiaoyu could not offer further answers.

“You should be content. I grew up in the Temple of Celestial Masters, learning many secrets, which is why I can explain so much to you. If it were another guide, you’d likely be left staring blankly at each other.”

“Here, this ancient coin of Xiao Yun is the exclusive token of a Barrier Breaker. Keep it safe. It should have more functions, but as a guide, I can’t activate them. In your hands, it should prove more useful.”

Yu Lang accepted the Xiao Yun ancient coin, which still retained Ning Xiaoyu’s warmth. He feared neither this deadly game set in the Tang Dynasty nor felt any overwhelming desire to return to the modern world. All his twists and turns had been for the sake of finding Ning Xiaoyu.

Ning Xiaoyu seemed to perceive Yu Lang’s thoughts. “There’s no possibility for us. You don’t understand what the Temple of Celestial Masters really is. My mother would never consent to us being together. If not for my great-grandfather sitting here, cutting off any connection, every word I spoke to you would reach my mother’s ears. I’ve given you the Xiao Yun ancient coin. Our fate together ends here.”

She lifted the carriage curtain, making a gentle gesture of invitation. Her gaze was lively, her smile tender. “If it were possible, I’d truly hope one day you could kick open the Temple’s Divine Cauldron, sweep aside its countless masters, and marry me.”

The old man, who had remained silent, let out a raspy laugh, more an extra breath passing through his throat than a clear sound—uncertain whether it was mockery or encouragement.

Yu Lang accepted the medicine box Ning Xiaoyu handed him, guessing it contained pills to restore his cultivation. He thanked her and bid farewell sincerely, “When I storm the Temple of Celestial Masters to propose by force, hide your great-grandfather well, lest my strength injure him.”

Watching the dark green carriage of the Temple of Celestial Masters vanish into the distance, Yu Lang’s heart was a jumble of emotions. The old man on the carriage, though close to Ning Xiaoyu, would certainly not sit idly by if Yu Lang insisted on taking her away. Yu Lang felt deeply his own weakness. He had thought himself a peerless figure among the youth of Yangzhou with his cultivation at the peak of Void-breaking, but this journey had shown him he was merely a frog in a well.

Perhaps it was time to leave Yangzhou and try his luck in Chang’an.

First, he needed to find a secluded place to restore his cultivation, then return to the Moon-washing Academy. Having been away so long, Qingqing must be worried.

Thinking of Qingqing, Yu Lang felt a sharp pang in his heart. He had always known her feelings for him—more dependence than love, he believed. Yet how could a woman of the Tang Dynasty truly distinguish between the two? Moreover, in moments of vulnerability, Yu Lang had doubted whether he’d ever see Ning Xiaoyu again, and had indeed developed feelings for Qingqing that crossed the line.

Calming himself, Yu Lang found the city odd. There were no city walls in sight; upon closer inspection, he realized this was not a city at all, but an oasis in the desert.

The oasis was sizable, with hundreds of tents pitched in neat order. Strangely, though it was broad daylight, all tents were tightly shut, and not a soul moved outside. Yet, outside each tent, fruits and meats were arranged in orderly fashion, as if part of some mysterious ritual.

Yu Lang found a relatively clean hillside and sat down to regulate his breathing.

His sea of qi was empty, and though he could draw energy into his body, he could not transform the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into internal essence. This was a problem he had never encountered before. Even his first attempt to draw energy three years ago had gone smoothly; his difficulty then lay in storing internal essence, not in its transformation. Now he had a vast sea of qi, but could not convert essence—a most vexing situation.

Yu Lang opened the medicine box Ning Xiaoyu had left him. At the bottom lay a layer of red velvet, atop which rested three white porcelain bottles with long necks. Each bottle bore a label: “Hundred Refinements,” “Sea Roaming,” and “Void-breaking,” clearly arranged with care by Xiaoyu.

He poured out a pill from the “Hundred Refinements” bottle and sniffed it, frowning. It seemed to be merely a restorative pill for internal essence; Xiaoyu evidently had not anticipated his current predicament.

Unable to think of a solution, Yu Lang took out the Xiao Yun ancient coin and examined it closely. He was intensely curious about this small coin. Its outer rim was wrapped in a strange restriction, which seemed only breakable with internal essence. Thus, Yu Lang was stuck, unable to proceed.

Suddenly, a fierce wind swept up a storm of yellow sand.

Yu Lang crouched low. He saw the swirling sand coalesce into a human shape, patrolling the tents like a sentry.

Though the sand man was burly, his manner was rather playful, like a monkey scratching its head. He reached into the air and grabbed, and a strange fruit flew toward him. At that moment, a little girl’s hand stretched from a tent, drawn by the same force to the sand man.

The girl burst into tears. An old man with a long beard, leaning on a cane, hurried out, clutching the frightened child and soothing her, “Don’t be afraid, little one. Grandpa is here to protect you.”

Though Yu Lang had lost his cultivation, he could not bear to see the grandfather and granddaughter in danger and was ready to act.

The sand man, however, meant no harm. He returned the fruit to the girl, took some food from other tents, and drifted away.

The aura of the sand man was strikingly similar to that of Yu Dan, stirring Yu Lang’s curiosity. He approached the old man, hoping to learn more about the sand man.