Return to Reality

"Forget it. We'll talk about it later."

After putting away the two guns, Xu Tianming did not fuss around any further. He turned to look beside him. Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Ye Guyi stirred their eyelids, close to waking up.

At that moment, the entire Rift Realm began to shake violently.

The dark purple clouds in the sky churned fiercely, while the Star Crystals on the ground began to crack. Large pieces of spatial fragments peeled away, revealing the outline of the Jingyang Mountain Range outside.

The Rift Realm was collapsing.

Having lost the Rift Realm Core—the Radiant Flame Dragon—this Reflection Space no longer had an anchor to sustain its existence.

Two streaks of light flew over from afar. Jing Hongchen and Shangguan Weier landed nearby.

When they saw the devastation covering the ground, the three unconscious children, Xu Tianming as the only one still standing, and the pile of Star Crystal debris left behind by the Radiant Flame Dragon, both of their expressions changed drastically.

"What happened?"

Jing Hongchen walked over to Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, checking their pulses. Only after confirming that they were merely unconscious did his tense shoulders relax slightly.

Shangguan Weier also rushed over and picked up Ye Guyi, carefully examining her.

Xu Tianming opened his mouth to explain, but Jing Hongchen suddenly looked up at the collapsing sky.

"Leave first!"

"The Rift Realm Lord has already been killed by us. This Rift Realm is about to collapse!"

He did not give Xu Tianming a chance to speak. Grabbing Xu Tianming by the shoulder, the soul power of a rank ninety-four Titled Douluo erupted, and metallic flying wings unfolded behind him.

Shangguan Weier picked up Ye Guyi as well. With a beat of her silver-white wings, she turned into a streak of light and shot toward the crack in the sky.

Looking out through the fissure, they could see the dense forests of the Jingyang Mountain Range and normal sunlight. Held in Jing Hongchen's grasp, Xu Tianming turned back to watch the collapsing Rift Realm, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

The timing of the Radiant Flame Dragon's sacrifice coincided with the time Jing Hongchen and Shangguan Weier had killed the Rift Realm Creations, so they mistook the Rift Realm Creation they had killed for the Rift Realm Lord.

That was fine. It saved him a great deal of trouble.

High above the Jingyang Mountain Range.

A silver-white streak of light shot out from the fissure. Jing Hongchen, carrying Xu Tianming and the Hongchen siblings, landed steadily in an open space halfway up the mountain.

Shangguan Weier followed close behind, carrying the unconscious Ye Guyi in her arms.

The moment the two of them found their footing, the spatial fissure behind them abruptly shrank. Dark purple light peeled away along the edges of the crack, turning into countless specks of starlight that scattered across the surroundings.

Immediately afterward, a muffled boom came from within the Rift Realm. The entire space collapsed along with it, finally becoming a thin line before vanishing from the air.

The mountain wind blew again.

It carried the fresh scent of grass and trees, along with the faint scorched smell of burned earth. The land that had been eroded by the Rift Realm was recovering at a visible rate.

The gray-black Star Crystals fell away from the ground and turned into purple mist that drifted into the sky. Twisted branches straightened once more, and withered leaves regained their green color.

Even the stream that had been contaminated by the Rift Realm became clear again. Moreover, the natural energy in the air was far denser than before the Rift Realm had appeared. Spiritual energy flowed into their bodies with the mountain wind, and their soul power circulated more smoothly as well.

Everything indicated that the Rift Realm had been completely destroyed.

"We did it!"

Shangguan Weier let out a breath of relief, then lowered her head to look at Ye Guyi in her arms.

"They still haven't woken up."

"Soon."

Jing Hongchen put away his flying soul guidance device. As soon as he spoke, a groan came from beside him.

"Mm..."

Meng Hongchen's fingers trembled slightly.

She first frowned, then suddenly sat upright. Her aqua-blue eyes opened wide, and her hands flailed instinctively in front of her.

"Where's the dragon?"

Xiao Hongchen's voice came from nearby. Meng Hongchen turned her head and saw her brother lying on the ground, several dead leaves still caught in his silver-white hair. He looked even more bedraggled than she did.

Xiao Hongchen propped himself up with both hands and sat up, though his mind was still not entirely clear.

"This is... Jingyang Mountain?"

He looked around. Familiar trees, familiar mountain winds, and smoke and dust in the distance that had yet to fully disperse. Yet according to his memories, they should still have been inside that dark purple Rift Realm, with a massive dragon standing before them.

The giant dragon let out a roar, and dragon might descended.

Then...

He remembered nothing else.

"Did I just have a dream?"

Meng Hongchen rubbed her head, her expression growing increasingly unpleasant.

"I dreamed about a dragon."

"It wasn't a dream."

Xiao Hongchen spoke quietly. Recalling what he had seen before losing consciousness, his face immediately turned grim.

"That dragon was real."

At this time, Ye Guyi woke up as well.

Shangguan Weier set her down. Ye Guyi supported herself as she sat up, her pale golden hair falling over her shoulders. She first looked at Shangguan Weier, then at Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, her emerald eyes filled with confusion.

"Did we get out?"

"We did."

Shangguan Weier nodded.

"The Rift Realm has been destroyed."

Ye Guyi lowered her head to look at her hands, as if recalling what had happened before she lost consciousness.

She only remembered how terrifying that dragon might had been, and she also remembered Xu Tianming standing in front of her without falling.

As for what happened afterward, she had no idea.

Jing Hongchen looked at Xiao Hongchen.

"What happened before you lost consciousness?"

Xiao Hongchen organized his thoughts and recounted what had happened.

"At the time, we were inside the soul guidance barrier. We were first attacked by a group of Rift Realm Creations. After the Soul Guidance Cannons wiped them all out, we heard the sounds of your battle in the distance."

"Not long afterward, the ground near us began shaking. We saw a dragon-shaped Rift Realm Creation walk over from afar. Then it released its dragon might, and we lost consciousness."

As Xiao Hongchen said this, he reached up and touched his forehead.

"We don't know what happened after that."

Then Jing Hongchen and Shangguan Weier both turned their gazes toward Xu Tianming, because he had been the only one who had not passed out.

Xu Tianming said calmly:

"I had a protective soul guidance device prepared by my teacher, so I didn't lose consciousness. At the time, the Soul Guidance Cannons my senior brother had arranged were already locked onto that Rift Realm Creation. After a sustained barrage, they left it half-dead."

"But the Soul Guidance Cannons had also reached their limit."

"That Rift Realm Creation charged through the artillery fire and reached the vicinity of the barrier. It first destroyed the Soul Guidance Array, then smashed through the barrier."

Meng Hongchen immediately asked, "Then how did we survive?"

Xu Tianming pointed at himself. "The protective soul guidance device on me activated on its own and killed that injured dragon-shaped Rift Realm Creation."

"Luckily, my teacher had left me a protective soul guidance device. It activated when I was in danger. Otherwise, all of us would have been in danger."

The explanation was very reasonable.

After hearing it, Jing Hongchen showed no surprise. Xu Tianming was, after all, of imperial blood and personally accepted as Kong Deming's disciple. It was perfectly normal for him to possess a protective soul guidance device.

As for just how exceptional that protective soul guidance device was, Jing Hongchen did not ask. Everyone had their own secrets, especially children of the imperial family.