Martial Peak

Chapter 5979: Final Gift

[The Space-Time River is my path forward!]

Yang Kai pondered, “Senior means to say…”

“The reason why I have placed a barrier outside of my Space-Time River is because I knew no one other than those who have also condensed their own Space-Time River have the power to save the Universe. For those who do not have that ability, it would not benefit them in any way even if they found my Space-Time River. Since that is so, it would be better to cut off the hope for those who approach sooner to avoid them having to go through even greater despair later.”

Mu had hidden her Space-Time River in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and when Yang Kai was brought to it under Wu Kuang’s lead, he felt something blocking him when he tried to enter; however, he was able to pass through easily. He thought at first that it was because of his identity as a Human, but it was only later that he discovered this was because he had also condensed his Space-Time River.

If not for that, no other Human would have been able to enter this place, not even if they were in the Ninth Order.

To the Humans of the Primordial World, the so-called Holy Son was the saviour of this World, but the saviour that Mu spoke of was someone who could save the 3,000 Worlds.

“To defeat Mo, the strength of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm alone is not enough. Mo can only be defeated when someone who can break through the shackles of the Ninth Order and reach the next realm, a realm which I was only a step away from reaching!”

Yang Kai hurriedly asked, “So what is the next Realm? Why was Senior unable to make that breakthrough?”

Mu laughed bitterly before looking at him, “As for what exactly the next realm is, even I am not sure. But as for why I did not manage to reach it… It is because my Space-Time River is incomplete.”

Yang Kai could not help but become lost in thought, recalling the wide and beautiful river that he saw before.

[Even that massive river is incomplete? Then what should a complete Space-Time River look like? In the first place, what makes hers incomplete? And what sort of problem did she encounter for her Space-Time River to remain incomplete?]

“Is there no way to fix it?” Yang Kai asked.

Logically speaking, the Space-Time River was a condensation and manifestation of one’s comprehension of 10,000 Dao Strengths. Even if it were to be damaged in the midst of an intense battle, there should be a chance for it to recover as long as the foundations of one’s Grand Daos remained.

The only possibility that would lead to the complete inability for the Space-Time River to be recovered was if the foundation of one’s Grand Daos got destroyed…

Mu shook her head, “It is not possible to fix.” 

Long past memories tumbled around in her mind, leading her to recall the events of that day, and the corners of her mouth could not help but lift up into a smile.

When the Profound Source Gate cut off a section of her Space-Time River, she did not think much of it then. She was immersed in her joy of finally rescuing Mo from behind that closed gate.

She originally thought that she only needed to open the door again to retrieve that part of her Space-Time River…

Who could have expected that when she did open the Profound Source Gate, that there would be nothing behind it, only an endless pool of desolation and darkness.

But even then, she had not realised the severity of the problem.

Not until her Space-Time River continued to grow and her cultivation became more robust. When she tried to break through to the next Realm, it was then that she helplessly realised that the damage to her Space-Time River had cut off all her hopes of taking that final step.

If that incident had not happened back then, she should have already broken through the confines of the Open Heaven Realm and reached that mysterious realm.

Did she regret it?

Not once!

She only blamed herself for not teaching Mo properly when she saved him from the Profound Source Gate. By the time she found out about what happened later, the situation was already too far gone to be salvaged.

And compared to that, it was not as if she was completely without any harvests. If the Profound Source Gate had not devoured a part of her Space-Time River, she would not have been able to refine it so easily. It was one of the most profound Innate Supreme Treasures, after all.

As she dispelled the memories from her mind, Mu withdrew her smile and looked seriously at Yang Kai, “You have already set foot on the path, and you will reach the end point sooner or later where you will have to open up the new way forward, but not much time is left for you now. I hope that you can achieve what I failed to back then.”

At once, the pressure that Yang Kai felt weighing on him was like a mountain, but he still gave a firm answer, “Junior will try his best!”

Mu smiled and walked up to him. Just like the other shadows that Yang Kai encountered in the many Universe Worlds, she gently pressed her hand to his chest, “Go, put an end to it all. The Human Race has suffered since the Late Ancient Era until now. As the favoured children of Heaven, it is time for us to have our own peaceful world to live in.”

The reason why Yang Kai came back here was because the previous shadow had sent him here, but after talking for so long, Yang Kai still did not get a clear answer from Mu.

What did he have to do in order to defeat the current Mo?

Mu did tell him that he had to make a breakthrough to the next realm, but he had not even reached the door to the next realm yet. How could he make a quick breakthrough at such an urgent time?

Mu continued to smile at him as her figure gradually started to fade, “I left you something. You will find out what to do soon enough.”

As she disappeared, Yang Kai’s body rose involuntarily into the sky and soon plunged into the vast and beautiful Space-Time River.

This time, however, he did not feel anything pulling him. He had travelled across about 90% of the 3,000 Universe Worlds in order to suppress and seal the pieces of Mo’s Source, and he had succeeded in sealing more than 1,000 of them.

Right now, Mo had already awoken. The Source pieces that Yang Kai was not able to suppress and seal had returned to Mo, so there was no longer any point in visiting those Universe Worlds.

Yang Kai’s body bobbed up and down in the river as the currents inside of it stirred.

Then, a strange feeling suddenly arose in him. That was, he felt an indescribable sense of affinity and recognition by the Space-Time River that should belong to Mu. What’s more, it seemed as if he was able to mobilise its power!

Yang Kai was astonished by this discovery. This was, after all, Mu’s Space-Time River, the culmination of her lifelong cultivation. Even if Mu had departed from the world of the living long ago, even if he himself had his own Space-Time River, it did not make sense for him to feel this affinity and recognition from it.

Scenes flashed before his eyes, scenes of him in each Universe World at the moment when he parted with Mu.

Whether Yang Kai managed to seal the Source pieces or not in each Universe World, as long as Mu’s shadow still existed, he had not failed to find her and bring her away with him because he was unwilling to see this Senior who had fought alone for countless years continue to wait and suffer endlessly.

The way he brought her away was through taking the last shreds of energy from her shadows into his own body.

Each one was a moment in Mu’s lifetime.

Mu had divided Mo’s Source into 3,000 pieces, suppressing and sealing them in different Universe Worlds, and she had also separated herself into the same number of shadows in order to remain by the Source pieces’ side.

Every person had their own Space-Time River from the moment that they were born, and it ended at their last breath…

Each shadow injected the last of their strength into Yang Kai’s body, which was equivalent to granting Mu’s existence, during the time used to conceive the shadow, to Yang Kai.

During this long journey, the number of shadows that Yang Kai had encountered was over 2,000…

In other words, out of Mu’s many shadows, he had gained the recognition of at least 70% of them.

Yang Kai finally understood what it was that Mu had left him.

She had left him her own Space-Time River!

With the approval and acknowledgement of most of its owner, Yang Kai could now refine her Space-Time River and use it for himself!

This was Mu’s last resort, as well as her final gift.

A tidal wave of grief crashed over Yang Kai, overwhelming his entire being.

However, he had no time for sorrow. Mo had awakened and escaped, so the Human Race was in danger of being annihilated at any moment. He had to receive Mu’s gift as soon as possible and strengthen himself.

However, Yang Kai was acutely aware that despite all of the hidden hands that Mu left behind, it was still not inexhaustible. She must not have thought about the problems with her own cultivation.

Mu had gained enlightenment about her own Space-Time River at a point when she was no longer improving in her cultivation back then.

But Yang Kai was different. He was merely at the peak of the Eighth Order when he trained inside of the Universe Furnace, before he even took the risk to use the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to break through to the Ninth Order.

It was there where Yang Kai had condensed his own Space-Time River, long before reaching the peak of the Ninth Order.

When the final war between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan broke out at the No-Return Pass, the time left for Yang Kai to cultivate was cut short, and even if he did borrow the power of the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles and diligently cultivated with the help of his Space-Time River at every opportunity, there was still a considerable distance left between his current cultivation and the peak of the Ninth-Order.

The reason Mu gifted Yang Kai with her Space-Time River was most likely in hopes that Yang Kai could borrow its power in order to break through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm Method and reach the mysterious next realm in one step.

As long as he could reach that realm, defeating Mo would not be an issue.

But right now, the situation was that Yang Kai’s cultivation was still a great distance from the peak of the Ninth Order, and even if he did receive Mu’s gift, it was impossible for him to make a breakthrough in such a short amount of time.

Mu’s gift would undoubtedly help boost the power of his Dao Strengths greatly, but it could not help to grow his cultivation.

Mu might have considered that, or she might not have; regardless, she had already done all that she could. As one of the 10 Martial Ancestors, she had left absolutely everything she had behind for her Juniors of the Human Race.

After working out Mu’s plans, Yang Kai calmed his mind and summoned his own Space-Time River directly inside of Mu’s.

If Mu’s Space-Time River was like a coiling Grand Dragon, then Yang Kai’s Space-Time River was like a little snake… At the very best, it would be a big python. There was simply no contest.

However, when Yang Kai’s Space-Time River appeared, the waters stirring fiercely around him began to gather around it and merged into it, increasing the size and volume of Yang Kai’s Space-Time River.

Yang Kai could not help but grunt as his mind felt dizzy from the phenomenon. He was almost overwhelmed by all of the mysterious sensations that were crashing down on him, as if to drown out his very being.

The Space-Time River was a condensation of many Dao Strengths with Space-Time Dao Strength as its foundation, and the river’s water was all a manifestation of those Dao Strengths.

With the recognition of Mu’s many shadows, Yang Kai did not feel any resistance when he was refining her Space-Time River, but its mass was simply too great, a manifestation of Mu’s great attainments and insights into all the Grand Daos, and all of it was being stuffed into Yang Kai.

A sense of crisis came over him at that instant. Yang Kai realized that if he failed to withstand the impact of these Dao Strengths, something terrible would happen to him.

Silavin: So, overall, for Mu and Mo’s story:

Mu and Mo met beforehand. A piece of Mu’s Space-Time River got caught behind the gate. 

Mo met the other 9 through Mu and they became close enough to be called Little Eleventh or Xiao Shi Yi.

While fighting the war, Mo tried to help out and corrupted his allies and enemies. 

The 10 found out that they fucked up and planned to seal it. 

Mu made a plan on how to do it. 

After the war, she would take Mo around and sightsee. Meanwhile, the other 9 would build the Grand Restriction. Once it was time, she led Mo inside and they trapped it. 

Mo, unhappy, started the great war of that era in an attempt to free itself. 

I guess, during that time, the 10 agreed on this lie to say that they met Mo instead of Mu freeing Mo. Else, the other Humans would target Mu in anger. 

Sometime later, war got pushed back to create the Spiritless Land. Mu went into the Grand Restriction. I believe she was trying to find the missing part of her Space-Time River. There, she found out that a part of Mo was still inside the gate. Doubt she was able to open the gate fully. But she found a better way to seal away its strength in hopes of defeating Mo.

Anyways, she found out that she can’t go above the Open Heaven Realm. Since the Space-Time River is connected to one’s life and death, she made the preparations to help the next guy get stronger. She had to kill herself. Else, the Space-Time River would not be able to split from her and be left behind.

Well, that’s how I made sense of the story so far.