The next second after being observed by the world, a strange woman came uninvited

The ceremony of the Ten-Direction Light-Reflecting Dharma Realm) was held in the deepest hall of the Yuque Divination Commission's Grand Divination Office.

The floor tiles beneath His Highness were carved into a huge circle, with star patterns embedded in its center and twelve trigram pillars standing around it. Fu Xuan stood at the center, holding the Heavenly Wisdom Jade Knot in her hands. Jingxing stood beside her, looking down at his own hands. Usually, they were only used to hold a brush and mix colors, but today they were going to seize a moment of time that did not belong to him.

The corridor outside the palace was crowded with people. The Mingke Guards stood in two wings, their jade ornaments on their armor motionless; the officials of the Divination Commission stood along the pillars, each holding a scroll of divination slips. Several Jade Abacus hung higher up, their light curtains casting the figures of the generals into the air.

"Hold my hand," Fu Xuan whispered. "Don't let go after the Dharma Realm is activated."

What would happen if I let go?

"Then we'll each be thrown into different times," Fu Xuan said. "We'll just wander at different points in time. At worst, I'll endure until I reach the Mara-Struck and then find the Abominations of Abundance to die, while you..."

"Okay, I won't let go." Jingxing wiped his hands on his clothes and then handed them over.

Fu Xuan lowered his eyes, pointed his fingertip, and the Jade Knot lit up. Immediately afterwards, the star patterns throughout the entire hall lit up, climbing upwards in circles, and dense characters appeared on the divination pillars until all the pillars lit up, and the Dharma Realm converged above their heads.

Fu Xuan grabbed Jingxing's hand. "Close your eyes."

"Aren't we just wasting time?" Huaiyan suddenly spoke from the light screen outside the hall.

"So what?" the marshal's voice followed. "To rescue General Rongtao, we will risk the wrath of the Heavenly Emperors."

After the words were spoken, the two people inside the hall disappeared together in full view of everyone.

After merging into the Dharma realm, the first feeling I experienced was cold.

It felt as cold as if I had suddenly fallen into a pool.

Jingxing opened his eyes and saw a vast expanse of flowing light—countless rays of light, transformed into rivers, passed by him, each carrying a shadow: some were training troops, some were drinking together, and some were standing on the city wall watching the torches.

He tried to reach out and touch it, but it was as if he were passing through a thin mist; he touched nothing.

"Don't touch them," Fu Xuan's voice rang out beside him. "This is a time gap. We haven't landed yet."

The next second, the river woven by time suddenly dried up, and Jingxing felt a sense of solid ground beneath his feet, with the scent of everyday life carried on the wind.

Arrive.

Jingxing looked up and saw a familiar street. Jade streetlights stretched along the alley, and bells on the eaves jingled in the wind—but the lights were much colder than they were now, and the bells jingled much more urgently.

The streets were bustling with people: mounted Cloud Knights running around, porters carrying supplies, and civilians gathered around the bulletin board reading military newspapers. A large red paper was pasted on the bulletin board, bearing a recruitment notice written in rapid handwriting, as if the writer himself was in a hurry.

"This is..." Jingxing walked up to the military newspaper and looked at it, "The Third War of the Denizens of Abundance?"

"Yes." Fu Xuan stood beside him, having also seen the Yuque's recruitment notice. "This is the Jade Abacus Xianzhou, which was preparing to participate in the Third War of the Denizens of Abundance more than twenty years ago."

Jingxing tried taking two steps toward the center of the street. A porter carrying a box ran towards him. He wanted to move aside, but found that he didn't need to at all—the man passed right through him like through a fog, without even glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.

"They can neither see nor touch us," Fu Xuan said. "After all, we come from the future, and we don't belong to the 'present' as observers."

Jingxing tried to push a lamppost next to him, but his hand landed lightly and didn't touch anything.

He then tried calling out to a Cloud Knights running past him, "Brother, can I ask for directions—"

The man ran off without even turning his head. He shouted again at the top of his lungs, but no one on the entire street glanced in his direction.

Fu Xuan took out three copper coins from his sleeve, held them in his palm, closed his eyes, and tossed them. The coins landed on the ground and disappeared instantly.

"They won't even let you have your fortune told anymore." Her expression was rather unpleasant.

Jingxing's initial anxiety subsided. "Then how do we find her? Even if she's here, we can't see her, and she can't see us—"

"Indeed..." Fu Xuan frowned, "Senior Sister is a 'misplaced' person, so no matter which point in time she falls into, she will truly exist in that world at that moment."

She paused for a moment. "But we are different, so we need the world to acknowledge our existence."

Before he could finish speaking, everything went black before Jingxing's eyes.

Suddenly, the "Light-Severing Sea" lens became extremely hot, with tiny streaks of light on the lens shining like red-hot lines, causing him so much pain that he could barely stand.

He covered his eyes, and a "boom" resounded deep in his mind, as if someone had lit a lamp in his pupils—a lamp that was earlier and colder than the sun.

In a daze, Jingxing heard someone turning pages in a book far away, one page after another, slowly and deliberately, as if checking something for him.

Only one thought remained in his mind, "What is the Herta up to now?"

"Jingxing?! What's wrong?!" He heard Fu Xuan's voice through a layer of water.

He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes—the world had changed.

The barrier between him and the world disappeared. The wind gained weight and fell on his face; his breath made a sound; pebbles were pushed and rolled by the night wind until they reached his feet.

A little girl who had run past suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at him and Fu Xuan: "Mom, those two people are standing under the lamp, lost in thought."

"Don't point randomly." Her mother pulled her away.

Jingxing stood still, slowly lowering his hand. He had only inexplicably paid a price in a sharp pain, yet the world had already acknowledged their existence.

It's like someone flipping through an old painting and adding two people who shouldn't be in it.

Fu Xuan stared at him for a long time, his gaze finally settling on his eyes. "Who gave you those eyes, after all?"

"It's a long story." Jingxing shook his head and took Fu Xuan's hand. "Now that we have the approval for this point in time, let's find the person first."

But before they had taken more than a few steps, Fu Xuan grabbed him. "Something's not right. Can you smell it?"

Jingxing wrinkled his nose and sniffed. "I thought it was your perfume."

After all, the sweet aroma that's wafting out easily reminds one of the Lord Diviner loves taro boba.

But the next second, a woman wearing a candy-colored evening gown appeared in front of them.

Her face was concealed, making it impossible to tell her age, but her smile was very sweet.

Just as Jingxing was about to greet her, the woman raised her hand and stabbed him.