Yesterday Once More

High atop the wall, the burly, stubble-faced figure made no attempt to conceal his hostility, his weapon aimed steadily at their vehicle from afar. It looked like an ordinary rifle, but the moment the muzzle locked on, Ji Jue felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. *What kind of good stuff is that?!* His eyes lit up, unable to suppress his curiosity. Ji Liu rolled down the window, slowly reached his hand out, waved it, and finally showed his face toward the searchlight. "Old Tian, it's me, Da Liu!" "Who gives a damn who you are!" Old Tian snapped, his bearded face deadpan. "Where's the verification? Hurry the hell up, or my bullets won't give a damn about any Big Liu or Little Zhang..." Tong Shan removed his glove and held out his palm toward the outpost ahead. Intricate spiritus circuits manifested across his skin, thousands of delicate threads intertwining before linking into the spiritus circuits extending from within the base. Triple-key verification complete. Identity, soul, and imprint: confirmed without error. "...It really is the advance team from Yacheng?" The rifle barrel dipped slightly. After lingering for a moment, Old Tian finally walked out from the high wall. He circled their vehicle several times before waving his hand behind him, signaling the gate to open. The outpost was not large, having temporarily occupied the ruins of a sports stadium. After their refortification, the interior spanned roughly the size of a few large soccer fields. It was crowded with tents, wire mesh, spiritus traps, and various other defenses. In less than two months, the permanent advance team had taken root in the heart of Quancheng, erecting a semi-permanent defensive fortification. The camp bustled with noise and activity as people hurried back and forth. Upon seeing that reinforcements had arrived, a crowd quickly gathered nearby, watching with eager curiosity. Yet their condition looked far from good. Almost every single person bore wounds. Old Tian, who was leading the way, had bandages wrapped around his neck, exuding a pungent stench of antiseptic and dried blood. His eyes were bloodshot, showing signs of severe sleep deprivation. He grumbled discontentedly, "We sent that signal so long ago. Why are you only showing up now? Was high command waiting until we all kicked the bucket so they could just come sweep our graves?" "There was a temporal discrepancy between the inside and outside. The front outpost only received your message yesterday." Tong Shan accepted the resentment built up over their long wait calmly, choosing not to retort. Instead, he asked, "Is Commander Lou here?" "Commander Lou?!" Before Old Tian could answer, Lou Feng, who had been hanging his head in the back playing dead, suddenly jolted as if struck by lightning, his voice trembling in shock. "Which Commander Lou?!" "Which one?" Tong Shan glanced back, puzzled. "Didn't you know? Chaocheng's Security Bureau has only one commander—Lou Yanyue. Is there another? You hesitated so much when joining the squad, I assumed you already knew..." *I knew jack shit!* Lou Feng's eyelids twitched violently, his complexion shifting between pale and green. He reflexively took a step back, trying to position Ji Jue directly in front of him. "If I'd known, I wouldn't have come!" "Someone you know?" Ji Jue asked curiously. It was truly hard to imagine that Young Master Lou—who usually acted like he was above the entire world—would look like a mouse cornered by a cat just from hearing a name, sporting a terrified expression that practically screamed he wished he were wearing diapers. "Who else could it be!" Lou Feng glared at him irritably, suspecting that this bastard Ji Jue was doing it on purpose. And in truth, he was! Lou was not a common surname. Commander Lou, Lou Feng—they were clearly from the same clan. Asking such a thing was like pointing at an air conditioner technician and asking what he did for a living... Ji Jue simply wanted to savor that magnificent expression a little longer. After shooting him a venomous glare, Lou Feng struggled to maintain his composure, though his trembling voice betrayed him. "Aunt... where is that Commander Lou?" "She had a scrap with those bastards from the Evil Transmutation Cult last night and took some injuries. She's resting right now. If you want to see her, wait until dinner." Old Tian asked, "Did you bring medicine? We ran out of ours long ago." Tong Shan pointed toward the towering pile of crates in the truck. "It's all here. Enough for two resupply quotas. If that's not enough, we can spare part of our own share." "I have some here too." Hearing that, Lou Feng's restless look turned into nervous anxiety. He hurriedly rummaged through his bag. It was plain to see that despite being terrified out of his wits, he was genuinely worried. It had the distinct filial charm of a student who scored fifty-nine on their final exam rushing to pour tea the moment they heard their parent cough. Ji Jue watched on with mounting amusement. As they walked past a signal tower, Ji Jue casually brushed his hand against it. Old Tian turned his head with instant alertness. Detecting the faint fluctuation of spiritus, he locked his bloodshot eyes on Ji Jue, cold hostility laid bare. "What do you think you're doing?" Ji Jue froze, immediately pulling his hand back in embarrassment. "Sorry, I've never seen equipment like this before..." "A permanent investigation base isn't like other places. We have strict rules. Keep your hands to yourself!" Old Tian glared coldly at Ji Jue before turning his gaze to Tong Shan, warning, "Control your people!" "I will," Tong Shan replied, patting Ji Jue on the shoulder. "Working long-term in high-risk environments puts everyone on edge. Don't fool around." "Alright, alright, clear out, everyone." Old Tian waved his hand, signaling the gathered crowd to disperse. The tense atmosphere gradually eased. After giving them one last look, he said, "Follow me." Ji Jue maintained his awkward smile, nodding placatingly toward the cold stares. He carefully concealed his tension and trembling fingers. Just like any terrified Ember craftsman would. Yet deep inside, his heart silently sank to the bottom of an abyss, without even an echo to be heard... Only an endless torrent of curses threatened to erupt from him like a geyser. In that single instant of contact, two entirely distinct system echoes had resonated from that same signal tower. One was completely silent, having ceased operation long ago without a trace of response. The other was heavily protected, categorically refusing all unauthorized access—except to Deus Ex Machina. In that fleeting interaction, Ji Jue had only managed to browse the most recent communication logs. *[What the hell are you doing? They didn't lose a single hair! Wasting all that time eating shit?]* *[Impossible! I personally laid markers along their route. At least several Fierce-grade remnant abominations went after them! Even that Lü guy would've had his hands full!]* *[Why don't you say that even Tao would've died? Save your breath and go whine to the Priest!]* *[Instead of farting around here, you'd better hurry up and do your job. If I go down, you won't get off easy either, understand?]* *[Fuck your mother! They're here! Tell the people inside to get ready—hurry up!]* *[Stall for time first!]* ... Ji Jue held his breath, his stride faltering for a fraction of a second. The entire outpost was a trap! A grave prepared specifically for the reinforcements! Yet beneath this false scroll, how long until the dagger was drawn? "Brother Shan, we need to be careful with the cargo in the truck," Ji Jue said, glancing toward the transport to offer a reminder. "The instruments require extreme precision. Don't damage them while unloading. Last time, Sister Wen threw such a massive fit that she nearly put me in the hospital." Tong Shan frowned, not grasping his meaning at first. He glanced back at him, but when his telekinesis detected the abnormal rhythm of Ji Jue's racing pulse, his heart stirred. *Wen Wen, hospital, Ji Jue, North Mountain...* He asked, "Is it the same stuff as last time?" "Yes, all of it," Ji Jue nodded firmly. "Explosive goods. They need careful handling. If there's a leak, it'll be a massive problem." "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Tong Shan put on a displeased front and ordered, "Xiaoxue, you and Da Liu go lend a hand. Don't let Ah Xuan carry it all alone." The two nodded and turned toward the unloading area. In the shuffle, Xu Guan stepped forward without a sound, brushing past Ji Jue to fall in right behind Tong Shan. Tong Shan reached out and clapped Old Tian on the shoulder. "Brother, there's quite a bit to move. Could you send a few—" *BOOM!!!* A thunderous crack shattered the sky. Without the slightest warning, before Old Tian could even react, the explosive burst of telekinesis sent him hurtling backward. From absolute stillness to extreme velocity took less than a heartbeat. In that split second, the entire area around him was instantly sealed, solidified, and then repelled by telekinesis, accelerating to a horrific speed of over ten kilometers per second. Hurled! Just like an artillery shell firing from a cannon. Under an acceleration violent enough to instantly scramble anyone's brains into froth, he had no time to react, let alone resist. He kicked up a tempest, tearing through tents and shattering railings. His body tumbled through midair, plowing a deep trench into the earth and smashing through layer after layer of walls, traversing the entire outpost before slamming into the ruins. The earth shook, and gale winds howled. Moments before that, the instant the telekinetic signal was given, Ji Jue had already ducked, sweeping his leg to trip the absentminded Lou Feng and pinning him to the ground, leaving him with a mouthful of dirt. "You bastard Ji, what the hell are you—" Lou Feng's furious shout was cut short as raging winds and a hail of gravel shrieked past the back of his head. Then the gale dissipated, the deafening roar ceased, and even the gravel pelting his back seemed to lose its weight, breaking free from gravity to drift upward alongside countless motes of dust. If Ji Jue had reacted a fraction of a second later, Lou Feng would have been swept away and torn apart by a storm of shrapnel comparable to a grenade blast. Cold sweat drenched Lou Feng's back. "Unfurl—!" Directly ahead of everyone, a bundled flag suddenly appeared in Tong Shan's grip. He raised it and drove it into the ground, wedging it deep into the iron and stone. Boundless power surged from it, transforming into visible ripples that instantly expanded in all directions, enveloping the entire outpost. The massive outpost flickered like a phantom for a fleeting instant. The reality revealed in that blink caused Tong Shan's pupils to constrict—devastation everywhere, bathed in crimson, devoid of any aura of the living. He did not even spare time for a sigh. Closing his eyes, he went all out, holding nothing back! At the top of the pole, the tightly wound banner instantly unfurled. Across the blank fabric, countless patterns and insignias shifted and flashed, overlapping and intersecting. In a flash, an abstract, circular emblem took shape on the flag. Like a colossal star burning relentlessly! As recorded phenomena of endless astronomical events flowed and manifested from within, blinding radiance engulfed everything. Aether records streamed forth, loaded, and merged. With that vast, heaven-quaking telekinesis as the foundation, myriad phenomena were brought to life! Across the somber firmament, it was as if blood-red ink had been splashed, and beneath the fluid strokes of an invisible brush, the silhouette of a burning star sprang into being! Crimson flames expanded, swallowing most of the sky. Amidst continuous, thunderous rumbles, boundless telekinesis wove together, giving substance to the void and granting distant history and the past a brand-new expression. A colossal star that covered half the night sky materialized through the interwoven telekinesis. Even after stepping away from the Path of Aether to commit to Tianyuan, Tong Shan had never betrayed his family's heritage. In fact, with the guidance and support of his elders, he had used himself as the nexus to overlap Tianyuan and Aether as one! This was the technique Tong Shan had recreated through the Path of Tianyuan: Yesterday Once More! In a single instant, boundless crushing weight plummeted from the heavens, thoroughly blanketing the entire illusion-shrouded base, suppressing all resistance and crushing every phantom to dust! The sound of shattering echoed incessantly. As the illusions broke apart one after another, a hazy silhouette emerged silently from the shadows behind Tong Shan. Right at his back! No one knew when he had managed to get so close, or how he had bypassed layer upon layer of telekinetic detection and observation... The moment the disguise fell away, what remained was a murderous chill that made every soul and living being shudder. The repulsive force surged like a tide, yet with a casual sweep of that figure's hand, the immense pressure and torrent split open before a blade less than three inches long, allowing him to glide forward with effortless grace. It did not matter that the disguise had been pierced. A falling star was terrifying, but it still required an instant to descend. And a distance of ten paces was more than enough to deliver a lethal strike! Silver light soared against the current, nimble and weightless. Wherever it passed, every barrier and defense of telekinesis burst like bubbles, collapsing entirely. Behind Tong Shan, Xu Guan had frozen, entirely unable to react. Under the advance of that chilling silver light, his soul was paralyzed by overwhelming murderous intent. He sluggishly tried to reach out and intervene, but it was already too late. The eerie silhouette slipped past him with effortless ease. The blade lunged forward! And then... it was ground into powder! It was as if some fool had suddenly leaped into a roaring wood chipper. *BOOM!* Metal disintegrated into dust; flesh and bone were crushed into pulp. Amidst the sudden, violent shockwave, a silhouette resembling a broken ragdoll screamed as it was blasted backward. More than half of its body had been pulverized, torn apart, and vaporized by the terrifying weight akin to a falling star! The mangled form dissolved into shadows repeatedly, tumbling back again and again, its shattered face unable to conceal its sheer bewilderment and terror. Tong Shan finally turned his head, casting a cold glance in that direction before offering a single comment: "Clown." The phenomenon of the falling star was merely a shadow of yesterday recreated through telekinetic manipulation—Void Shaping. Why would it ever need to actually fall? The moment it manifested, all destruction had already been wrought. At this very moment, such wretched scum were already standing in the shadow of annihilation! In that instant, the flag embedded in the earth was slowly drawn out and swept forward. Tong Shan tilted the staff down, letting the spear-sharp finial tap gently against the ground. *Crack.* A faint fracturing sound rang out. A hairline fissure appeared where it struck, snaking forward and spreading hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, branching endlessly until it encompassed everything. Then came a cascading roar of catastrophic ruin. The earth split, and the heavens crumbled!