"I really didn't expect this development..."

Gu Mo lowered the sleeve blocking in front of him and said with a subtle expression.

"I really didn't expect it."

The light engulfed everything, including his perception of the surroundings, but it both came and went quickly. It dissipated in an instant without bringing any danger. However, after the light wave faded and perception was restored, he found the surroundings had changed.

In the black night, leaden clouds gathered, and harsh winds blew fiercely.

The desolate sky and the vast sea had waves crashing against the rocks, splashing white and sparkling water droplets.

In this silent dark night, there were broken warships stranded on the shore in the distance, masts broken, hulls damaged, and corpses of soldiers everywhere. It seemed a fierce war had taken place here, and it was still a battlefield, with the earth-shattering sounds of battle cries coming from afar.

"This place is..."

Miss Saito opened her small mouth, full of confusion and puzzlement.

Beside her, Hidechika also furrowed his brows tightly, totally unable to comprehend why it turned out this way, what this place was, and why they were transported here?

"The Genpei War... This should be Yashima."

Gu Mo said softly, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu at this scene and almost instantly confirming where they were.

Entering this period directly, isn't it a bit too early? According to the original circumstances, it should at least happen after the seventeenth century. After all, in the original fate trajectory, it was in 1597 that the foreign warrior was first stripped of his Guardian Spirit and fell into the sea from the Tower of London.

And the following year, Ah Xiu walked into Byodoin, sealing Ootakemaru alone, and then she also fell into a long sleep in the Sealed Demon Spirit Hall...

Two years after her slumber, the protagonist William embarked on Japanese soil seeking his Guardian Spirit.

Then another eighteen years passed, the foreign warrior, following Maria's clues and together with "Wuming," came to the Sealed Demon Spirit Hall in Byodoin, unveiling the self-seal of the Warring States' greatest demon... Thus everything came to a close, and Ah Xiu began traveling around, removing seeds of strife from the world.

Logically, the plot of time travel should occur after that, precisely sixty years later.

Gu Mo couldn't have anticipated that an event sixty years away would happen so soon.

And so unexpectedly, occurring in a different form. Who would have thought that the tool triggering the phenomenon of time travel would be located in Chuye Yashou's village, which was indeed somewhat unreasonable... Hmm, or perhaps not necessarily, as the legacy of Chuye Shiwan might be a line.

How this sword ended up being the legacy treasure blade of Chuye Village from the hands of Minamoto no Yoshiie and others, there's a narrative to be explored here. Perhaps the organization of Demon Exterminators may appear and have some relation with the former?

"The Genpei War... Yashima..."

After mumbling a few times, Miss Saito's expression finally shifted from confusion to realization but immediately turned into disbelief.

"No way, are you saying we've arrived at that battle? When did this happen... That was more than 300 years ago, right?"

"Nothing is impossible. Such powers indeed exist in this world. At least, to my knowledge, some Guardian Spirits can do it..." Gu Mo replied calmly, unable to stop himself from marveling at the bug-like nature of this world's Guardian Spirits.

Even though he had now achieved an Immortal Body, he didn't dare claim he could exhaust their fundamental mysteries.

Time travel, immortality...

Manipulating destiny, foresight of the future...

Different Guardian Spirits have different supernatural aspects, ranging from divine powers imaginable by ordinary people to bizarre wonders even Cultivators marvel at and find hard to understand. If there were a way to harness the divine powers of the many Guardian Spirits in this world, reaching a god-like realm wouldn't be far off.

This thought arose in Gu Mo's mind—

If this great achievement could be completed...

"Guardian Spirits..." Miss Saito paused, seemingly persuaded.

She herself possessed the "True God" and "Celestial Divine Bird" Guardian Spirits, so she naturally understood the miraculous nature of Guardian Spirits. Although her Guardian Spirits did not involve conceptual abilities, it didn't hinder her from realizing there existed special instances.

"It doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, we can just go and take a look directly—"

Gu Mo pointed to the distant sea battlefield, where fierce fighting continued: "Just directly ask someone about it."

The two sisters turned to look, discovering ongoing battles between ships at sea. Amidst the harsh weather, a particularly agile figure leaped across warships, brandishing a peculiar weapon radiating a golden full-moon-like glow, charging into the enemy ranks, advancing and retreating effortlessly, playing the enemy in his grasp.

Despite being at least several miles away, the three of them were not ordinary people, all possessing excellent vision, thus they could see clearly.

"That Half-Demon..."

Miss Saito raised her eyebrows, keenly sensing the faint demon qi emanating from that figure.

And this demon qi... was just like the one she and the others had felt in that deserted village earlier. If she were to say there was no connection, she definitely wouldn't believe it. Subconsciously exchanging glances with her sister, the two nodded in unison, seemingly reaching a mutual understanding.

No sooner said than done, the three quickly arrived at the coastline.

Since they were going to participate in the naval battle, naturally, they needed a warship. Gu Mo lightly pointed his finger, and a damaged, stranded warship was enveloped in a magical glow. In just a few seconds, as the light faded, the entire ship had become as good as new.

The cracked deck, shattered cabin, and broken mast...

All these suddenly, without any warning, were restored as if they had never been damaged.

He waved his hand, summoning a local whirlwind with magic, and the sails billowed, gradually moving backward, driven by the unusually strong wind, until the entire damaged stranded sail warship returned to the sea. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Then, the young man in the cyan daoist robe threw out a stack of cut talisman paper, which transformed into paper dolls catching the wind, becoming three-dimensional in the blink of an eye.

They looked no different from normal humans, yet, like paperman puppets from the same mold, each performed their duty, replacing sailors, helmsmen, and so on; some picked up bows and arrows, swords, and quickly assumed their respective roles.

In almost the blink of an eye, this warship was reborn—

Driven by mysterious power, it sailed into the sea, charging toward the fierce battlefield several miles away.

"Truly magical spell..."

The sparkling eyes of Miss Saito glimmered with surprise. Witnessing this scene firsthand, she couldn't help but exclaim in awe at this profound level of magic. Cutting paper to create people, casting beans to form soldiers; one person could constitute an entire army on the battlefield, which would surely be a nightmare.

Hidechika also wore a subtle expression, understanding the reason behind it, yet still found it remarkably astonishing, considering from her perspective, it seemed as if this person had only left for half a month.

The contrast was surprisingly striking—

From a frail youth needing constant protection, who could spar evenly with small hungry ghosts, he had transformed into this being, possessing such strong magical skills even in a clone. The disparity was truly enormous.

"It's alright, it's nothing really..."

Gu Mo humbly replied, almost prepared to habitually perform a little trick but refrained just in time upon noticing the two girls.

Standing at the bow, he gazed at the blazing fire ahead, carefully experiencing his peculiar feeling at this moment. Maybe the "Single Appearance" equipped in skill slot 1 was still effective, as he could still sense the vast anchorage from other temporal dimensions.

It's a very wonderful feeling, especially, as he was currently learning the nesting doll strategy from Merlin—

The Chaldea group had always acted with that flower magician, but later discovered that the Merlin accompanying them was just a shadow; the dream demon's entity was maintaining a slumber in Tiamat God's dream...

When the dream demon was casually crushed in the god's dream, before anyone could mourn for too long, they discovered it was just another clone, and Merlin's true body had rushed over from Avalon...

Gu Mo was like that at present, as this version of him was merely a projected shadow; the true entity clone still presided over the situation within the Warring States Era's Inaba mountain castle. Beyond his self in the real world, he could also sense a subtle connection from another segment of historical time.

For the first time...

He clearly felt the flow of time...

So lucidly perceiving, he found himself within a long river of time...

"This is... quite interesting." Gently closing his eyes for a moment before slowly reopening them, he uttered this sentiment, his face adorned with a peculiar smile.

......

The sail warship rode the waves, heading straight for the distant battlefield.

The Seto Inland Sea was not calm this night, with flags billowing, arrows flying; both sides fought with red eyes.

The Heike clan's forces stood strong, while the Minamoto clan's forces appeared to be at a clear disadvantage, understandably plunging the battlefield into a one-sided situation. However, the latter was overwhelmed by the former, mainly because of the agile figure leaping across ships from above.

So powerful, so valiant, that no one could match a single move.

When charging at enemy ranks, like a tiger in a flock of sheep, neither arrows nor blades could harm him, while the enemy ranks suffered increasingly extravagant losses. If not for the Minamoto clan's others inhibiting that figure's pace, needing its help in times of crisis, this battle might have concluded long ago.

It wouldn't have become this deadlocked, as it is for now... though only temporarily.

At this moment, the tumultuous sea suddenly fell silent for an instant, as if sensing something, as the soldiers on both sides eerily ceased simultaneously.

The drumbeats and battle cries vanished, achieving a silence akin to a rowdy classroom suddenly quieting down.

——Something terrifying is coming...