Chapter 210: Jun Laoye's Persistence, the Space Collapsed

"My situation is different from the Ancestors'. They lost the inheritance of the Heavenly Dao Spear, but the spear's will remained intact and slumbered quietly in the alternate dimension."

"Second Uncle... we will never know if we don't try!"

"I'm willing to try," Jun Wudi said sternly, the silhouette of his face forming among the clouds of the alternate dimension, "but the deepest roots of my spear's will were severed by my own hand. Even if you were to pull out the spear's will, it cannot be reconnected without primordial lightning qi. Without it, there's no way to bring it out of this dimension."

He sighed helplessly at Jun Laoye. "I've come to terms with the past, but a severed spear's will isn't something that you can repair."

"Second Uncle, are you saying it requires primordial lightning qi?" Jun Laoye asked, stunned, lifting his gaze toward Jun Wudi's face in the sky. "So the key to reconnecting the spear's will... is primordial lightning qi? Could all of this be fate?"

"Yes. I only just discovered it myself," Jun Wudi replied with another deep sigh, his features gradually fading into the clouds. "A severed spear's will requires primordial lightning qi to reconnect. The primordial lightning qi in your body has not yet awakened, which is why I said you cannot help me at this time.

"However, the fact that you've reached this far and interacted with my spear's will proves that the Ancestor's experiment was fundamentally successful. Once I return from Western Mountain, I'll go back to the Central Continent with Ancestor Suitian to seek other ancestors whose primordial lightning qi has awakened. There's still hope for the spear's will to be restored."

Before Jun Wudi fully departed the alternate dimension, he sent a surge of spirit qi toward Jun Laoye, intending to pull him out as well. "There's only a quarter of an hour left. Leave this dimension quickly. I'll wait by your side. Once time runs out, unexpected things may happen."

Jun Wudi's face was almost gone when Jun Laoye dodged the surge and shouted skyward, "Second Uncle, I still want to try! I feel like I can do it!"

"You insolent brat! I haven't even left yet! Where do you get the audacity to disobey me?" Jun Wudi roared. "I told you, without primordial lightning qi, it's impossible to bring out the spear's will...

hmm

? What's this..."

Jun Laoye didn't explain any further. He formed a ball of lightning qi in his hand. Seeing it, Jun Wudi's anger vanished instantly. His fading face took form once more.

"Primordial lightning qi... Little Jun, when did you awaken it?" Jun Wudi asked in shock. "This is high-grade primordial lightning qi! Higher than any awakened in the Jun Clan in nearly a hundred thousand years."

"Second Uncle, you've always stood in front of me, shielding me. But don't forget—I am also a Jun Clan descendant. I, too, was born a king," Jun Laoye said, clenching his fist as the primordial lightning qi in his hand expanded further. "Since I am a king by birthright, I will give my utmost to live up to that name. I've grown now. Look closely. I am already walking the path you once took."

He spoke each word with precision, letting the primordial lightning qi flow from his palm to his forearm, then gradually to his upper arm. A thunderclap echoed through the alternate dimension, and the primordial lightning qi enveloped his entire body.

"Second Uncle, take a look at your nephew. He has already become the second Jun Wudi of the Jun Clan."

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The primordial lightning qi spiraled over every inch of Jun Laoye's body. Drawing on the power of the alternate dimension, it began to resonate with the severed spear, flashing at the same frequency.

"Second Uncle, rest assured and head to Western Mountain. Let me take on the Jun Clan's responsibilities. I will retrace your path and seek the traces of the Heavenly Dao for the clan."

"Little Jun... you..." Having witnessed grand spectacles before, Jun Wudi quickly regained his composure. "It seems I truly underestimated you. Your growth surpasses even mine at your age. In that case, go and do as you wish."

His voice carried a faint trace of sorrow, which he quickly buried as his face vanished into the sky.

Jun Laoye shouted, "Heavenly Dao Command!"

He grabbed the broken spear and gently pulled. With the support of his primordial lightning qi, only a slight force was needed before the severed spear came free.

The two halves of the spear let out a deafening cry, as if celebrating their rebirth. They left Jun Laoye's hands and swirled rapidly around the mountain range.

However, when the broken spears sensed that the one rescuing them was not Jun Wudi, their hissing deepened, eventually turning into low, sorrowful wails.

Jun Laoye laughed aloud as he successfully pulled out the broken spear. The spear, too, emitted a profoundly human-like cry. He released his spirit qi to hold the broken spear and said, "

Hey

, little fella, we're all family here. Why act so distant?

"Hold on a moment. I'll take you to see Second Uncle right away."

Jun Laoye was about to leave the alternate dimension with the broken spear when it suddenly erupted with immense force, dragging him steadily closer to Jun Wudi.

Seeing himself being pulled closer to the kneeling Jun Wudi, Jun Laoye quickly said, "What's happening? Don't tell me you don't want to go. That's not the real Second Uncle. He's still waiting for you outside."

Nevertheless, he still approached the copy of Jun Wudi in the alternate dimension. He carefully adjusted Jun Wudi's body so he could sit upright.

Having done so, Jun Laoye was about to stand when he noticed his hand passing through Jun Wudi's shoulder. "

Hmm

? Could it be that once the mission is complete and the spear's will leaves the body, the body will vanish?"

Hearing Jun Laoye's words, the broken spear instantly glowed red and tried to break free from his grasp, aiming to reinsert itself into its original location.

The friction generated from the spear's struggle burned Jun Laoye's hand, and he let go in a panic. He turned back just in time to see the alternate dimension's Jun Wudi gradually fading, and he felt something strange in his heart.

"Even if you're not the real Second Uncle, you were still a part of the past.

"I probably won't return to this dimension again. If you want to leave with me, attach yourself to my divine ability mark. I'll take you with me."

Time crept toward the three-quarter mark Ancestor Suitian had mentioned, yet Jun Wudi remained silent, dissolving ever faster with each passing second.

"It seems this Second Uncle truly has no thoughts. He is merely a manifestation of past events. Once the spear's will departs, he will vanish entirely."

A gentle breeze swept through. Corpses, flowers, and even mountains crumbled into fine dust, disappearing one after another.

Jun Laoye looked up at the surrounding space, feeling the particles slip through his fingers, and whispered, "Time is running out. If fate allows, we'll meet again. But for now, I must take the spear's will with me."

With that, he unleashed his primordial lightning qi, gripping the broken spear once more. Ignoring its struggles, he lifted the two spears from the ground and rode his spirit qi toward the mountain gate.

Just as he left the platform, a series of booming cracks erupted behind him. The flora in the alternate dimension vanished completely, and the mountains beneath his feet began to crumble and fracture. Countless fissures split the terrain, sending boulders tumbling down.

Jun Laoye glanced back just in time to see Jun Wudi's near-transparent form falling backward, eyes wide and brimming with unwillingness and solitude, piercing Jun Laoye's heart like a blade. Feeling the searing heat of the broken spear in his hand, a profound sorrow welled within him.

"This must be how Second Uncle felt back in Western Mountain. He must have been filled with unwillingness and desolation."

Seeing Jun Wudi fall, Jun Laoye turned back immediately. "Once this dimension collapses, the manifested Second Uncle will be gone forever, even if I return here in the future."

"If I die here, so be it. If no one could bring hope to Second Uncle back then, then here, in this repeating past, I will become his hope. This endless unwillingness and desolation should never again appear on his face."

He placed all three spears behind him, using swift footwork to dodge fissures and falling rocks, while rapidly forming complex hand seals. "My primordial lightning qi has awakened. That means I should be able to use that secret art. No matter what, I must bring him back.

"Second Uncle said this technique can bind a spirit body, but it can only be used once every thousand years. I really hope I'll be successful, even if it's my first try."

As Jun Laoye completed the final hand seal, the mountain platform beneath him split in two, a two-zhang-wide fissure appearing across its surface.

Scanning the surroundings, he realized the alternate dimension had been reduced to this final peak. "This is bad. I need to move faster."

With a roar, he hurled both the Heavenly Dao and the Suitian Spear into the split mountain, temporarily stabilizing the crumbling terrain.

He hastened his hand seals, but just as he was about to finish the final one, the mountain beneath him shattered into tens of thousands of fragments, plummeting rapidly downward.