From Fanwu to Xinghai

Chapter 1 Nightmare and Golden Light

Qingshi Town, the darkest hour before dawn.

Lin Chen woke up from the nightmare that had been repeating itself for seven days once again.

Cold sweat soaked through his coarse clothes, and his heart pounded wildly, as if it would burst out of his chest. He gasped for breath in the darkness, reaching for the old kettle on the bedside table. The icy coldness he felt mirrored his current state of mind.

"It's still that dream..." he murmured to himself, his voice unusually clear in the deathly silent room.

In the darkness, a raging horde of monsters completely engulfed the entire town, blood and flesh flying everywhere, flames raging in the sky. He stood frozen at the town entrance, holding only a rusty woodcutter's knife. Facing the ferocious beasts that were as big as houses, his legs went weak, and he didn't even have the strength to run away.

It's been seven days.

Every morning, I have the same nightmare, without fail.

At first, he thought it was due to overwork during the day or accidentally ingesting something unclean. But for it to happen for seven consecutive days, it could not possibly be a coincidence.

Lin Chen sat up and, by the faint moonlight streaming through the window, looked at his hands. The sixteen-year-old boy, who had worked as a laborer for years, had calloused palms and a strong, muscular physique. His third-level Body Tempering cultivation wasn't considered weak in Qing Shi Town, but in that nightmare, it wouldn't even be enough to fill the teeth of a demonic beast.

He rolled out of bed and walked to the window.

In the dim light before dawn, the outline of Qing Shi Town was faintly visible. This border town, like an inconspicuous pebble in the corner of a dynastic map, had more than three hundred households who relied on the mountains and mines for their livelihood. Lin Chen lived in the only old house left behind by his parents, who had passed away early, at the west end of the town.

"Today is a little different."

Lin Chen frowned.

For the first time in seven days, the content of my dream changed.

The scene was still one of rampage by monsters and destruction of the town, but amidst the flames and screams, he clearly caught a glimpse of an unusual light—a faint yet incredibly striking golden light was slowly flickering from deep underground in the mountains behind the town.

Like a tiny spark ignited in the darkness, faint yet dazzling.

He subconsciously raised his hand and touched his forehead.

Three days ago, this place started to feel faintly hot, as if something was about to burst out from under the skin. Old Li, the only doctor in town, examined the patient for a long time, only to say it was due to internal heat, and prescribed some herbal tea to get rid of the problem.

But Lin Chen knew that wasn't the case at all.

It was a stirring from the depths of the soul, as if a door sealed for eternity was being slowly pushed open by some mysterious force.

"The back mountain...the mine..."

He repeated the two words in a low voice.

Behind Qingshi Town, there is an iron mine that has been abandoned for over a decade and whose ore reserves have long been exhausted. The old folks in town all say that something unclean lurks deep within the mine, and it is absolutely forbidden to approach it after nightfall.

But the golden light in my dream came from the direction of the mine.

Outside the window, the sky was gradually brightening.

As dawn broke and the town gradually awoke, the sound of roosters crowing drifted from afar. Next door, Aunt Wang had already started her fire and was cooking, wisps of smoke rising gently from her chimney.

Lin Chen made a decision.

He quickly put on a faded coarse cloth shirt and picked up his father's heirloom from the corner of the wall—a slightly worn long knife. Although the blade was rusty, he had carefully sharpened it every week, and the edge could still easily cut through tree trunks as thick as a bowl.

"Hey Chen, where are you going so early?"

As soon as he stepped outside, he bumped into Uncle Chen, the blacksmith who was up early to fetch water. Uncle Chen was one of the few people in town who were friendly to Lin Chen, and he often asked him to help out at the blacksmith shop and gave him some pocket money and food.

"Good morning, Uncle Chen." Lin Chen tried to keep his tone calm. "Go chop some firewood in the back mountain; we're almost out."

Uncle Chen narrowed his wrinkled eyes, his gaze deep and penetrating, as if he could see into people's hearts: "The back mountain? It's been rather unsettled these past few days. I've heard there have been wild animals roaming around. Be extra careful."

"Understood, thank you Uncle Chen."

Lin Chen nodded in agreement and quickly left.

He didn't turn around, so he naturally didn't see the complex look that flashed across Uncle Chen's eyes as he watched his back.

The air behind the mountain was filled with the scent of earth and decaying leaves.

Lin Chen walked up the familiar path, gripping his long sword tightly, ready to strike at any moment. His third-level Body Tempering cultivation was showing its full advantage at this moment; he was full of energy and his senses were sharp, able to clearly hear the rustling of grass ten feet away.

The abandoned mine shaft is located halfway up the mountain, and the entrance is covered with weeds and vines. If you are not a local, you would never know that this place was once a mine.

Lin Chen stopped at the cave entrance.

My brow started burning again.

This time it was more intense than ever before, as if a raging fire was burning beneath his skin. He couldn't help but raise his hand to press it, but the sensation was still that of normal body temperature.

"Let's go in and take a look."

Taking a deep breath, Lin Chen swung his knife to cut through the vines and bent down to crawl into the mine.

The cave was much more spacious than I had imagined. The abandoned minecart tracks were rusty, the wooden supports were mostly rotten, and the air was filled with the smell of musty mold.

Lin Chen lit the torch he was carrying.

The flickering discs dispelled the darkness, illuminating the old pickaxe marks on the cave walls, a testament to the town's former vitality.

He walked along the main alleyway, his footsteps making a soft rustling sound as he stepped on the gravel.

The deeper you go, the stronger the burning sensation between your eyebrows becomes.

After walking about 100 feet, the alleyway came to an end, and there was only an ordinary rock wall in front of you, no different from anywhere else.

But Lin Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He saw the golden light from his dream.

In the lower right corner of the rock face, a faint golden light shone through a crack in the stone, almost imperceptible without close inspection. The light alternated between light and shadow like breathing, carrying a strange and ancient rhythm.

He crouched down and gently touched the crack in the stone with his fingertips.

The instant my fingertips touched the stone wall—

boom!

It felt as if an ancient thunderclap had exploded in my mind.

Countless images, sounds, and information flooded in, so fast that he couldn't react at all. He saw a completely unfamiliar world: towering metal behemoths reaching into the clouds, strange flying ships traversing the air, and humanoid beings surrounded by various colored lights...

Then, the image became clearer—a colossal golden compass floated in the air, its surface covered with dense markings, the pointer slowly turning. With each turn, the surrounding scenery changed: spring, summer, autumn, winter; birth, aging, sickness, and death; the rise of civilizations, the fall of dynasties…

"The river of time...the observer...the imprint..."

A few fragmented words flashed through the depths of his consciousness.

Lin Chen abruptly withdrew his hand, panting heavily; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The crack in the rock that he touched quietly underwent a change—the originally tightly sealed rock wall silently slid open to both sides, revealing an entrance that could only accommodate one person at a time.

Beyond the entrance was a staircase leading downwards, its destination unknown. A faint golden light shone from below, illuminating the years of accumulated dust on the steps.

Lin Chen gripped the long sword in his hand tightly.

At that moment, a strong premonition rose in his heart: stepping in would completely rewrite his life; if he didn't go in, he would be trapped in that recurring nightmare forever.

The burning sensation between my brows reached its peak.

"Anyway... there's nothing left to lose."

He muttered to himself, then took a step and stepped onto the first step.

Meanwhile, thirty miles away from Qingshi Town, lies Heifeng Ridge.

A group of men in black were moving swiftly through the dense forest. The leader was a one-eyed giant with a hideous scar on his face.

"Boss, is the information accurate? Is there really an ancient ruin in a remote and impoverished place like Qing Shi Town?" a thin man in black asked in a low voice.

The one-eyed giant sneered, "The intelligence was bought from the Bloodthorn Organization at a high price, it can't be wrong. That ruin is an outer node of the 'Temple of Time,' and there is at least one Level 1 civilization artifact inside."

"The Temple of Time?" Someone gasped. "The legendary sacred site that records the secrets of the River of Time?"

"Excellent." A greedy glint flashed in the one-eyed man's eyes. "As long as we obtain the relics and present them to the young master, we can advance from outer members to core members. Speed ​​things up! We must reach Qing Shi Town before dawn; we can't let anyone beat us to it!"

"yes!"

The men in black responded in unison, their figures flashing swiftly through the dense forest, heading straight for Qing Shi Town.

Unbeknownst to them, at that very moment, in the mine behind Qing Shi Town, a sixteen-year-old boy had already stepped into the ancient ruins they had been dreaming of.

Unbeknownst to Lin Chen, from the moment he stepped into the ruins, the first ripple in the river of time had already quietly spread.