This was the reason why Yang Kai thanked Mo in the end.
“I’m afraid this is the end he wanted.”
Mu had protected the Human Race and the Universe for countless years, and even after her death, she had left behind many contingencies and hidden hands.
Although the world was in ruins and the Human Race were like ants to Mo, it was still what Mu wanted to protect. Under the premise that the world had someone else strong enough to protect it, Mo was willing to go along with Mu’s Will.
Of course, if Yang Kai didn’t have the necessary strength, Mo wouldn’t mind killing him. In that case, Mo would have still set aside a Great Territory for the Human Race to live and multiply after he dominated the entire Universe. This way, the Human Race wouldn’t be wiped out and he would have a reasonable explanation for Mu.
At the end of the day, Mo was not inherently evil. In the Late Ancient Era, he had even protected the Human Race and took it upon himself to help them gain their freedom. If it weren’t for him and the 10 Martial Ancestors working together, the Human Race of that era would not have been able to defeat the Early Ancient Era’s Great Monsters.
It was just that he was unable to control his gradually growing power and eventually lost his way, especially after Mu’s demise. When she died, no one was able to restrain him anymore.
Today’s ending was something Mo himself probably sought from the start.
Everyone sunk into silence after listening to Yang Kai’s explanation of what truly happened, as what Mu would want others to know. Their current feelings were tough to describe.
Mo’s life might have been filled with misery, but he was still the one who had brought about the pain and suffering of the Human Race for millions of years. Had there been no Mo, the Human Race would have ruled the world unchallenged after defeating the Early Ancient Era’s Great Monsters. There would not have been a war that lasted for so many eons.
The Black Ink disaster had caused unimaginable losses to the Human Race, with countless elites having sacrificed their lives to bring it to an end.
As far as the Human Race was concerned, no matter how miserable Mo’s life had been, it was an irrefutable fact that he was the Human Race’s greatest enemy.
As the adage goes, ‘The winner is the King, and the loser is the villain!’
*Kacha…*
Suddenly, it sounded as if something had cracked. Everyone promptly turned to look at the source, and was immediately shocked.
“Big Brother!” Yang Xue called out, staring at Yang Kai’s face in horror.
Everyone also looked serious as a crack appeared on Yang Kai’s face. It was not a normal wound, and neither was Yang Kai bleeding from it.
After the first crack, another one appeared soon after, and then another, and another…
They were not just on Yang Kai’s face, but on his hands as well.
The current Yang Kai looked like a piece of porcelain that was on the verge of shattering, and everyone could feel fearsome Daos Strengths seeping from these cracks.
Yang Kai looked down at his hands and muttered to himself, “It came faster than I expected!”
He seemed to have anticipated his current situation.
“What’s happening?” Su Yan asked from behind him, her tender body uncontrollably trembling.
After so many years of struggle, Mo was finally defeated and the Black Ink disaster was resolved. The future belonged to the Human Race, and it was foreseeable that the world would become a far better place.
Yang Kai was the biggest contributor in the final battle, but at this moment, his entire body was shrouded in an inexplicable crisis. Everyone could not help but be nervous.
What was even more disturbing was that no one had ever seen such injuries before.
Yang Kai gently patted the back of Su Yan’s hand, comforting her, “I won’t die, but I don’t have much time left.”
“What does that mean?” Xiao Xiao asked.
“How should I put it…” Everyone around him was worried to death, but Yang Kai, the main person involved, remained completely calm and composed, “The Shadow Technique was created by Mu with the Space-Time River as its foundation. I inherited her legacy and walked the same path as her, so naturally I can also use this Secret Technique.”
“However, Mu’s Space-Time River was incomplete, so her Shadow Technique was actually incomplete. She could only summon shadows from the past, and once those shadows dispersed, the memories of that period would also disappear. On the other hand, I have perfected this Secret Technique and can summon shadows from the future. Each shadow I summoned in the battle just now was from 1,000 years in my future. Now that the shadows have already been destroyed, I must pay the price.”
The more powerful a Secret Technique was, the harder it was to use it. The Shadow Technique was undoubtedly the most powerful Secret Technique that had ever appeared in this world, especially since Yang Kai had surpassed his predecessor and used it to defeat Mo. The price he had to pay would definitely not be small either.
“Once the shadows of the past are destroyed, the memories of the corresponding past will also disappear. So, what kind of price do you have to pay when your future shadow is destroyed?” Mi Jing Lun asked solemnly.
“I won’t exist in those periods in the future.”
“You won’t exist? What do you mean?”
“Although I can’t explain it clearly, you can think of it as a literal statement.”
Mi Jing Lun was silent for a moment, digesting this unbelievable news, “You summoned eight shadows, so does that mean 8,000 years of your future just… disappeared?”
“Indeed!”
“What happens after 8,000 years?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I have no idea.”
After all, this was the first time he had used the Shadow Technique, so although he knew that he would cease to exist for the next 8,000 years, all traces of his existence would be erased by the Space-Time Dao Strength of the Universe, he couldn’t say for certain what would happen after that.
“How could this be?” Yang Xue’s eyes turned red.
“It’s not a big problem, I should be able to return after 8,000 years,” Yang Kai comforted.
Despite his assurance, everyone could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
His back suddenly became lighter as Su Yan suddenly left.
She returned soon after, but this time she brought Yu Ru Meng and the others with her.
The eyes of all the women turned red as they tried to hold back their grief, preventing their tears from rolling down. Su Yan had already briefed everyone of the situation, so they knew the crisis Yang Kai was about to encounter.
In the short time Su Yan was not there though, further cracks had appeared on Yang Kai and the leakage of Dao Strengths had become more and more obvious.
Yang Kai really didn’t have much time left, and the backlash from the Shadow Technique was even stronger than he had imagined.
Mi Jing Lun shot a glance at the crowd, whereupon everyone apart from Yang Kai’s close relatives retreated to the side.
The women who had been brought here by Su Yan finally couldn’t hold it in any further and burst into tears.
In the end, it was Yu Ru Meng who acted like the Big Sister of the family and managed to compose herself first.
Before she could say anything more though, the skin on Yang Kai’s face began to peel off and disappear. Even though they were all Eighth and Ninth-Order Masters now, there was nothing they could do.
Everyone held back their grief as they helplessly watched Yang Kai’s figure gradually vanish.
At the very last moment, Yu Ru Meng shouted at Yang Kai, “You heartless bastard! Mark my words, if you don’t come back after 8,000 years, I’ll take my Sisters and marry someone else!”
Yang Kai gave her a smile, “This sounds so familiar…”
Yu Ru Meng’s Will finally shattered, and she broke into tears. She tightly grabbed Yang Kai’s hand, and begged, “You must come back! You must!”
Yang Kai swept his gaze over all of them one by one, as if he wanted to imprint their faces into the depths of his Soul, before gently nodding and assuring, “Of course!”
Right then, scattered specks of light emerged before an enormous river spanning across the void appeared, enveloping Yang Kai. Soon after, an enormous wave came crashing down on him, swallowing him into the river.
The river slowly disappeared, and so did Yang Kai along with it, leaving behind a group of women standing there in a daze, their endless sorrow flowing like a river.
“Something’s not right,” Mi Jing Lun, who was watching from afar, suddenly whispered before turning to Xiang Shan, “Do you feel it?”
Xiang Shan nodded his agreement, “There’s something wrong.”
The other Ninth-Order Masters more or less felt the same way. Although they couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong, Ninth-Order Masters were extremely perceptive. Their senses were so sharp that even just a slight disparity around them would arouse their suspicion.
Everyone made their respective probes, but none of them were able to find anything amiss.
Unable to find anything wrong, they had no choice but to put this matter aside, but they still maintained a certain degree of vigilance.
The curtain of the final battle had already fallen. The allied Army had finished off the Black Ink Clan Army, while Mo had been completely sealed by Yang Kai. Although the greatest contributor had suffered severe backlash from his Secret Technique and had his existence wiped out by Space and Time for the next 8,000 years, when all was said and done, the victory needed to be publicized.
When Mi Jing Lun and the others returned and spread the news that Mo had been ended, the Human Race Army of millions that had been waiting here all cheered and danced in joy.
The war that had been going on for millions of years had finally come to an end. Now, all under the Heavens belonged to the Human Race!
After the battle, the casualties were counted and the aftermath was dealt with in an orderly manner.
The Small Stone Race Army had already withdrawn and returned to the Chaotic Dead Territory through the Void Corridor. The Human Race also began their withdrawal half a month later.
The Void Corridor created by Zhang Ruo Xi saved the Human Race a lot of time.
Not everyone left however, headed by Su Yan and Yu Ru Meng, Yang Kai’s Wives, his Disciples, Yang Xue, Yang Xiao, and several others all stayed behind.
They remained in the place where Yang Kai had disappeared, quietly waiting for his return.
The next 8,000 years would definitely be very dull and long, but so long as they could see Yang Kai the moment he returned, any amount of waiting would be worth it.
A fleet of dilapidated Warships entered the Chaotic Dead Territory through the Void Corridor. The current Zhang Ruo Xi could still somehow maintain the balance of Yin and Yang in her body, so the Chaotic Dead Territory was now a safe place.
Be that as it may, she couldn’t maintain this state for much longer. In order to fight Mo and kill the Royal Lords, she had burned too much of her Heavens Order Bloodline.
Once the Human Race Army left the Chaotic Dead Territory, she would break the harmony with the two. At that time, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan would reappear, and Zhang Ruo Xi would lose her previous strength.
At the end of the day, if she didn’t have her Heavens Order Bloodline that could maintain the harmony of Yin and Yang, she would just be a Ninth-Order Master.
The fleet passed through the Chaotic Dead Territory and soon returned to the 3,000 Worlds.
Many years ago, when the Human Race Army first set off from the Star Boundary, they had some 30 million soldiers, but now, only slightly more than 10 million remained; around 60% of the soldiers had died in this final war.
Despite the terrible losses, compared to the solemn and miserable atmosphere they had when they first set out, everyone was high in spirits, and every Warship was buzzing with cheers and laughter, despite the sad state of the army.
On a certain Purifying Black Ink Warship that was so wrecked that it looked like it would fall apart at any moment, Mi Jing Lun was standing at the bow with Xiang Shan beside him.
The two calmly listened to the hustle and bustle on the other Warships and exchanged a knowing glance.
“The Human Race has won, but the greatest contributor is unable to celebrate with us, it’s quite regretful,” Mi Jing Lun couldn’t help but lament.
Xiang Shan nodded his agreement, “Now that I think about it, had he not forced those peace treaties with the Black Ink Clan, the Human Race wouldn’t have been able to accumulate enough strength.”
“That’s right,” Mi Jing Lun nodded, “By the looks of it, that treaty was an important turning point in the rise of the Human Race.”
“What was that treaty called?”
“What’s it called again?”
The two Ninth-Order Masters glanced at each other before the smiles on their faces slowly faded away, gradually replaced by solemn looks…
While the millions of Human Race Soldiers were making the trek back home, all the Ninth-Order Masters gathered aboard the only intact Purifying Black Ink Warship remaining.
Compared to their peak, the number of Ninth-Order Masters had undoubtedly decreased significantly, with many of the recently advanced Ninth-Order Masters having perished in the battle.
Only 20 or so had managed to survive.
Apart from the Ninth-Order Masters, Fu Guang was also invited.
Everyone took their seats. Most of them were still injured, their auras weak and unstable. The battle ended not that long ago, and even with the recuperative abilities of Ninth-Order Masters, it was impossible for them to fully recover in such a short time, especially since the Human Race was running low on supplies, especially recovery pills.
One by one, the Ninth-Order Masters noticed the heavy air. They might not have an idea as to why Supreme Commander Mi had gathered all of them together, but they could tell that bad news was in store for them from his expression.
After the last Ninth-Order Master took their seat, Mi Jing Lun finally started addressing the crowd, “I’ve summoned you here today to confirm something.”
He looked around, paused for a moment, then recounted his conversation with Xiang Shan.
When the Ninth-Order Masters heard this, some were confused, some were lost in thought, and a few who realized the issue right away furrowed their brow.
Ou Yang Lie casually asked, “What’s there to fret about with your conversation with Big Head Xiang?”
He did not find anything wrong, it sounded just a normal chat to him.
“There’s a big problem!” Mi Jing Lun stared at him with a solemn expression, causing Ou Yang Lie to realize the gravity of the situation, despite not understanding what was the problem.
Xiang Shan explained, “The peace treaty we signed with the Black Ink Clan back then was of paramount importance and could be said to be the turning point in the entire war. It is impossible for Brother Mi and I to forget the details of such an important matter. It would’ve been nothing if it was just one of us having a hard time recalling certain trivial points of the treaty, but the problem is that neither of us can remember them. When we were discussing the treaty, both of us were unable to immediately recall even some of the basic details of the agreement. That should be absolutely impossible.”
Ou Yang Lie speculated, frowning, “Maybe you’re too tired from the battle?”
Xiang Shan focused his gaze on him, “Do you remember the first time you met Yang Kai?”
“Of course I remember,” Ou Yang Lie replied readily, “How could I forget such a thing? At that time, he…”
He slowly stopped talking. Obviously, he too had noticed the problem as his expression changed and a furrow appeared on his brow.
Xiang Shan then turned to the other Ninth-Order Masters and asked, “Everyone, why don’t you try recalling your encounters with Yang Kai, or some common knowledge about him!”
The Ninth-Order Masters complied.
Soon, a bewildered look took over everyone’s face.
Observing everyone’s expressions, Ou Yang Lie immediately understood that they too had encountered the same situation as him. He could not help but mumble, “How is this possible?”
When Xiang Shan asked him to, Ou Yang Lie attempted to recall the first time he met Yang Kai, but he actually couldn’t immediately remember it. It was as if his memory was blocked by an invisible barrier. It was right on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t enunciate it for some reason.
After struggling for a few breaths, he finally remembered that the first time he met Yang Kai was outside Great Evolution Pass. At that time, Ou Yang Lie was on a scouting mission with his Disciples, and Yang Kai arrived to meet him under Xiang Shan’s orders.
At that time, Yang Kai was only a Seventh-Order Master!
Mi Jing Lun’s voice sounded in everyone’s ears, “It’s not just you. After Brother Xiang and I discovered this problem, we ordered our men to ask the soldiers the same questions, and they too encountered the same situation. Regardless of whether they personally met with Yang Kai or simply heard stories about him, they were unable to immediately recall the details.”
“What caused this phenomenon?” Wu Qing asked in a low voice. He had just tried to recall things about Yang Kai, and it was indeed as Mi Jing Lun had described.
“I don’t know the exact reason, but I’m certain it has something to do with his Shadow Technique,” Mi Jing Lun continued, “Everyone should remember that Yang Kai said that the eight shadows were summoned from the next 8,000 years. He also said that because those eight shadows were destroyed, it meant that he would not exist for the next 8,000 years.”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgement as all of them were present when Mi Jing Lun and Yang Kai were discussing this.
“Yang Kai said that it was the price he paid to use the Shadow Technique, but now it seems that Yang Kai himself had underestimated the severity of this price. He thought that the price he had to pay would be to disappear for the next 8,000 years, but in reality, some kind of invisible force is slowly erasing all traces of his existence from this world! So, anything related to him would slowly become blurred in the memories of others.”
“Is such a thing really possible?” Ou Yang Lie found it hard to believe
The most direct way one would think that removing the traces of a person’s existence in this world meant was to kill that person, but the elimination that everyone encountered now was no longer as simple as just killing Yang Kai, even their memories of him were being lost.
Mi Jing Lun added, “Before Yang Kai used the Shadow Technique, even I hadn’t expected for such a bizarre Secret Technique to exist.”
Ou Yang Lie immediately fell silent.
The mysteries of the Shadow Technique were beyond their comprehension, so the price for using it was also unfathomable. As such, no matter how unbelievable Mi Jing Lun’s speculations were, there was indeed a possibility they were true.
“This is just the beginning. What I’m worried about is we might even forget everything about Yang Kai with time.”
All of the Ninth-Order Masters were shocked.
As the greatest hero who led the Human Race to victory and defeated Mo, Yang Kai should be remembered for all generations, but if the Human Race were to completely forget about him, that would truly be a tragic misfortune.
“What will happen if we completely forget about Yang Kai?” Mi Jing Lun asked.
No one could answer.
He didn’t ask any more, and instead postulated, “Before disappearing, Yang Kai said that he would return after 8,000 years, but even he did not sound certain of that. So, he might be able to return, or he might completely disappear. Right now, the traces of his existence are slowly being erased, which is akin to him disappearing. If one day everyone completely forgets about him, perhaps he might never appear again!”
Fu Guang, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke, “Supreme Commander Mi, do you mean to say that if many people in this world remember him and his fame remains widespread, perhaps it can help him return?”
Mi Jing Lun shook his head, “I’m not sure, but it is possible.”
“Then, it’s worth a shot!” Fu Guang nodded.
“However, the most important thing right now is to investigate the speed at which his traces are being erased. Only by confirming this matter can we make appropriate arrangements.”
“Agreed!”
“Agreed!”
“We’ll do as Supreme Commander Mi says.”
…
After many days of investigation by Ninth-Order Masters and questioning thousands of randomly selected soldiers, everyone reached an unfortunate conclusion.
The speed at which Yang Kai’s traces were being erased was increasing; more and more things related to Yang Kai were being forgotten. At this rate, everything related to Yang Kai would be completely gone in short order. By then, no one in this world would remember that there was once a hero who had saved the entire Human Race.
Mi Jing Lun couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency. He immediately sent people back to the original location of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to inform Su Yan and the others who were staying there. Although Su Yan and the others would most likely notice this on their own, it was always better to be prepared.
An advanced team had already been sent back to relay the news of their victory to the Human Race forces in the rear, so a joyful mood was already spreading.
When the Army returned, they were naturally received with warmth and celebration.
The Human Race Army had suffered heavy casualties in this battle, losing more than 60% of its soldiers. Be that as it may, it was all worth it as in the future, the world would no longer face the threat of Black Ink Strength.
But contrary to the expectations of everyone who had remained behind, the Crusade Force showed no signs of celebrating after their return; instead, they quickly dispersed as if there was a new mission waiting for them.
Soon, great statues were erected in the Star Boundary, Myriad Monsters World, and everywhere else the Human Race lived, whether it was a village, a town, or a city.
The statue depicted a brave and heroic man wielding a long spear that seemed to have a Dragon coiling around it. This man seemed to be staring down an invisible enemy, confronting them in battle.
At the base of the statue was Yang Kai’s name.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun entered High Heaven Palace, and with the cooperation of Hua Qing Si and Xia Ning Chang, gathered all the people who had close relationships with Yang Kai. Afterwards, under Mi Jing Lun’s supervision, they jointly wrote a biography.
Naturally, it was Yang Kai’s biography, and it included all the big and small matters that had happened in his life.
There were no excessively embellished accounts in it, just the simple and factual descriptions. Nonetheless, anyone who read this biography would understand how magnificent Yang Kai’s life was.
Everyone would come to know that in the darkest era of the Human Race, it was he who tore through the darkness and brought a bright ray of hope to them.
They would also come to know that Yang Kai had ultimately paid a huge price to finally defeat the ancient being named Mo and end the war between the two Races that had lasted for millions of years!
Most importantly, they would know that the world could not forget him; otherwise, he would never be able to return!
After this biography was written, countless copies of it were made by High Heaven Palace disciples and distributed to all the places where the Human Race lived, especially the places where Yang Kai’s statue was erected. The Ninth-Order Masters even personally placed these jade slips containing Yang Kai’s biography into the statues.
This way, as long as someone examined the statue, they would be able to immediately perceive the contents of the jade slip and understand Yang Kai’s life experiences.
Many of the Human Race’s upper echelons were trying their best to prevent the Human Race from forgetting their greatest hero, Yang Kai.
On top of that, the Ninth Order Master once again convened a meeting after the Army had returned. Everyone felt that the world was vast and time was difficult to measure, so they decided that the year the Crusade Force returned to the Star Boundary would be designated as the first year of the Void Era!
Void was a title, the title of one of the greatest heroes that was slowly being forgotten.
As time passed away, new generations of Humans were born, matured, and aged. Everyone had already forgotten about Yang Kai, even the Ninth-Order Masters who had fought alongside him, but the statues that had been erected remained standing tall.
Void Era, year 7,999…
The Star Boundary, where High Heaven Cave Heaven, which was ranked first among the 36 Cave Heavens, was located, had its ban on entry lifted. Immediately, countless cultivators who were waiting outside the Star Boundary swarmed in and spread out.
The cultivators were entering the Star Boundary from every possible direction, and were in huge numbers. Although there were all sorts of people among the crowd, no one dared to act rashly on the Star Boundary; no matter what their temperament was, they had become kind and simple after setting foot onto this Universe World.
This wasn’t just because the Star Boundary was the domain of the strongest Cave Heaven, but also because Dao Temples of all the other Cave Heavens and Paradises were located here.
It could be said that one could find Seventh-Order Masters casually walking the streets in the Star Boundary, even Eighth-Order Masters were as common as dogs. Only the sighting of the legendary Ninth-Order Masters, who generally remained hidden, would cause some minor sensation.
If anyone acted irreverently here, not to mention the Sun tomorrow, he or she might not even see the Moon tonight.
The main reason why the Star Boundary was so lively was because the Void Festival that was celebrated once every millennia would be held here. Many of the younger generation didn’t know the origins of this festival, only that a ceremony was held at the turn of every millennium of the Void Era, and it had been celebrated seven times already. And if the one that was about to be held was also counted, this would be the eighth.
Rumour had it that 8,000 years ago, the living environment of the Human Race was extremely harsh. At that time, there was a species called the Black Ink Clan that nearly wiped out the Human Race and conquered the known Universe. Back then, the Human Race was truly on the verge of extinction.
However, thanks to its many great heroes and brave soldiers, the Human Race slowly regained their footing. In the end, the entire Human Race launched a grand crusade and completely eradicated the Black Ink Clan. From then on, the Human Race became the true rulers of this world.
As for the Void Festival, it was held to commemorate all the Humans who gave their lives in the war against the Black Ink Clan. It could be considered the biggest event in the entire Human Race.
The festival would be celebrated for an entire year, during which, anyone could freely enter the Star Boundary. It had to be known that as the territory of the strongest Cave Heaven, it was normally forbidden for outsiders to enter.
This wasn’t because High Heaven Cave Heaven was tyrannical, but because they had no other choice.
Since the end of the great war 8,000 years ago, although the Human Race had managed to quell the Black Ink disaster that had lasted for millions of years, they had paid an extremely heavy price.
Countless Masters had died in battle, while the entire 3,000 Worlds had been devastated by the Black Ink Clan. The only Universe Worlds suitable for the survival of the Human Race were the ones in High Heaven Territory and the Myriad Monsters Territory.
The number of habitable Universe Worlds had been significantly reduced, and as such, the living environment had also suffered. Cultivation resources were also in short supply.
As such, the birth of too many cultivators would inevitably lead to chaos. So, the current cultivators could no longer be as unrestrained as they were before the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds. Everything had to be done in a planned manner.
8,000 years ago, the Ninth-Order Masters had jointly held a discussion and reached a consensus, which was that anyone with the aptitude to cultivate would have to report to the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and their cultivation matters would be arranged by one of these top forces.
This decision was strictly enforced with the joint efforts of all the Human Race Forces. So, all cultivators of the Human Race, regardless of their background or cultivation, were duly noted and recorded.
This decision made the already special Star Boundary even more exclusive.
The Star Boundary had a World Tree Clone, and was the first Open Heaven Realm Cradle!
The second Open Heaven Realm Cradle was the Myriad Monsters World.
In the years when the Human Race was fighting the Black Ink Clan, the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Star Boundary and Myriad Monsters World, had given birth to many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. It could be said that these two Open Heaven Realm Cradles played a huge role in the Human Race’s victory in the final battle.
However, after the war ended, because of the limit in habitable areas, it was difficult for the Human Race to withstand the birth of so many new generation cultivators, which put the Star Boundary and Myriad Monster World in an extremely awkward position.
After returning from the crusade and realizing this problem, the Human Race’s higher-ups made another decision, which was to withdraw everyone from the Star Boundary and Myriad Monster World, especially the large number of ordinary people.
These ordinary people could not cultivate, but given their huge numbers, they could give birth to many children, some of which would have the aptitude for cultivation. If restrictions weren’t put in place, it wouldn’t be long before new generations of cultivators were born, which would inevitably lead to unnecessary unrest.
Even the people who remained in the Star Boundary and Myriad Monsters World were forbidden from having children. If they wanted to have children, they would have to leave these two Open Heaven Realm Cradles.
Of course, the Human Race’s upper echelons also knew that cutting off all avenues forward was not sustainable, so they left behind a glimmer of hope.
That hope lay in the Void Festival that was held every 1,000 years.
During this one-year-long grand festival, everyone was allowed to freely enter and exit the Star Boundary. If one could join one of the Dao Temples of the various Cave Heavens and Paradises, they would naturally be qualified to remain in the Star Boundary to cultivate.
It was difficult to calculate how many people had entered the Star Boundary every time the grand festival started, but the number who could truly worship the various Dao Temples was not that high.
This led to a strange phenomenon, which was that many pregnant women or young married couples would enter the Star Boundary during the festival. Those pregnant women would then find a place with excellent World Energy and live with their families, nourishing their fetus in peace, so that their unborn babies could enjoy the feedback from the World Tree Clone.
As for those young couples… They were only two when they arrived, but when they left, their wives’ stomachs would most likely be bulging.
…..
Jade Mountain Square, an extremely common market in the Star Boundary.
Because of the decisions made in the past, a large number of Humans were relocated away from the Star Boundary, leaving it quite sparsely populated. Owing to which, places like Jade Mountain Square were usually deserted.
In other words, this place was only bustling with Humans because the grand festival was approaching and countless people had poured into the Star Boundary.
A young couple was strolling around the market, holding hands. The man was suave and handsome, whereas the woman was as beautiful as a flower; they were a perfect match.
The woman’s belly happened to be slightly bulging; she was obviously pregnant.
At this moment, the Husband and Wife arrived before a tall statue and looked up.
The Wife kept reaching out to her Husband’s hand, who helplessly handed her the food in his hands and grumbled, “I told you not to eat so many sweets, why don’t you listen?”
His Wife didn’t even spare him a glance and bit down on the candied fruit in her hand, mumbling, “Who says I am the one who wants to eat it? Clearly it’s the child in my stomach who wants to eat!”
The Husband couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Every time she brought up the child in her womb, he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Dear, do you think this Yang Kai really exists?” The Wife quickly finished a stick of candied fruit and took another stick from her Husband’s hand, “Why are his statues everywhere?”
Wherever they went, wherever a Human settlement was present, they always found such statues. Rumour had it that these statues had been standing for nearly 8,000 years and had not been eroded by the passage of time at all. Obviously, they were protected by the power of an expert.
“How would I know?” The Husband brusquely replied.
His Wife muttered to herself, “His biographies are everywhere, and it seems that everyone has read it intensively. Moreover, according to his biography, he used some kind of profound Space-Time Secret Technique in order to defeat the ancient enemy, which caused all traces of him to be erased from people’s minds, and that he would never be able to return if everyone truly forgot about him. Counting the time, it just so happens that when this festival starts, it will be the time for him to return. Dear, why don’t we go take a look?”
The Husband’s face darkened, “Why are you looking for him?”
“He’s a hero! We Humans can have today thanks to his efforts and sacrifices. It’s only right that we pay respect to him.”
“His biography has been passed down for 8,000 years, who knows if it’s true or not…”
“I think he must be a wise and mighty man!”
*Crunch…Crunch…*
“Why are you eating my candied fruit?”
“So sour!”
“It’s obviously very sweet!”
“According to his biography, he had many Wives!”
“Hmph, you finally exposed your wild ambitions. My dear child, your Father doesn’t want us anymore, our lives are really miserable.”
“No, that’s not what I said, don’t be ridiculous!”
…
Everywhere where the Humans were gathered, similar conversations were happening between the young couples. Under the vigorous promotion and maintenance of various major Sects, the biography compiled by Mi Jing Lun had been widely circulated these past 8,000 years. It could be said that any Human older than 10 had read Yang Kai’s biography at least once.
As far as the later generation was concerned, this biography was just a storybook, allowing them to understand the magnificent life of a man named Yang Kai. As for whether the records in this biography were true or fabricated, no one could confirm.
This was something even the ancient cultivators of the Cave Heavens and Paradises were unable to determine, because in their memories, many of the things recorded in the biography had indeed happened, but none of them had the slightest impression of the man named Yang Kai being there.
If this was really the backlash of the so-called Shadow Secret Technique, it would be too terrifying.
Meanwhile, the Ninth-Order Masters had gathered at High Heaven Palace.
Compared to the crusade back then, the number of Ninth-Order Masters had undoubtedly increased.
There were more than 100 Ninth-Order Masters!
After all, all those rising stars, who possess the aptitude to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, had gradually advanced over the last 8,000 years.
In the main hall, everyone was talking in small groups. Unless there was something important, the Ninth-Order Masters seldom gathered together. The Ninth-Order Masters also rarely appeared in public. Only a grand event like the Void Festival could gather all the Ninth-Order Masters together.
With over 100 Ninth-Order Masters, the Human Race’s foundation had reached a peak that it had not seen in over 10,000 years. Whether it was the newly advanced Ninth-Order Masters, or the old veterans, all of them had participated in the war against the Black Ink Clan.
Now that they had gathered together, it was only natural for them to reminisce about the glorious past and as they watched the current generation compete against each other.
Ou Yang Lie was especially boisterous as he moved through the crowd. When he started talking about the great battles he had fought in the past, he unceasingly beamed with joy. When he got excited, he even pulled his Disciple, Gong Lian over, “In the past, when this Old Master was only an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, when I fought against a Pseudo-Royal Lord alone, that Pseudo-Royal Lord wet his pants in terror. This brat saw it with his own eyes. Hey, tell them!”
Gong Lian, who was still called brat by Ou Yang Lie, had already reached the Ninth Order. Basically, his cultivation was the same as Ou Yang Lie’s, but as there was still a Master and Disciple relationship between them. Even if he was a Ninth-Order Master, he could not go against Ou Yang Lie. So, he could not help but nod his confirmation after hearing this, “Honoured Master is telling the truth!”
Ou Yang Lie’s laughter became even more carefree.
A few of the newly advanced Ninth-Order Masters also started laughing, all of them knowing how Ou Yang Lie loved to brag and deciding to just go along with it.
All of them had witnessed or experienced the might of a Pseudo-Royal Lord first-hand, and it was definitely not something an Eighth-Order Master could contend with, unless they formed a Battle Formation.
Be that as it may, back when there weren’t many Eighth-Order Masters, Ou Yang Lie had indeed fought a Pseudo-Royal Lord alone, and it was him who was beaten to the point that he had wet his pants. Even so, fighting a Pseudo-Royal Lord alone was still an incredible feat in itself.
At that moment, the noisy hall suddenly fell silent, everyone stopped blowing their own trumpet and raised their eyes, looking directly above.
In that direction was a calm and composed, half-white-haired Ninth-Order Master with a smile on his lips. He swept his gaze over everyone before addressing them, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been 1,000 years since we last met, but it seems everyone’s noble bearing is still the same. Hmm, there are also a few new faces, very good.”
Everyone greeted with a bow, “Greetings, Supreme Commander Mi.”
The person who had arrived was none other than Mi Jing Lun. Although the Human Race’s Crusade Force and the various Armies had been disbanded, Mi Jing Lun’s title of Supreme Commander had remained. In terms of cultivation, Mi Jing Lun might not be the strongest Ninth-Order Master, but in every battle against the Black Ink Clan, he had played a far greater role than any other Ninth-Order Master. There was no battle in which he had not wracked his brain hard to map out a strategy for victory, and it was he who had ultimately coordinated and dispatched the various troops.
He was a cultivator of the same era as Ou Yang Lie, Xiang Shan, and Wei Jun Yang, but if they were to stand together, Mi Jing Lun would definitely look older because he had been under even greater stress and for a longer duration during the thousands of years of war.
Above the main hall, Mi Jing Lun returned the greeting before continuing, “It’s the day of the Void Festival. Counting the time, this is already the eighth celebration, and I’m sure everyone knows what this means.”
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions became solemn.
“For a long time, there have been gaps in our memories. There appears to be traces of a person’s existence in many key memories, but whether it’s us or others, none of us can remember this person. I don’t know what kind of mood I was in when I oversaw the compilation of this person’s biography, but now that I think about it, it was definitely the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. All the signs indicate that this person should’ve really existed, and that all the accounts in this person’s biography should indeed be true. This person is the greatest contributor to the Human Race’s victory over the Black Ink Clan!”
Unlike the cultivators with low cultivation, although the Ninth-Order Masters present here had some gaps in their memories, these missing memories could be perfectly filled in by Yang Kai’s biography; therefore, they could conclude that Yang Kai really did exist and the records in his biography were not fabricated.
The reason they had forgotten about Yang Kai was because of the mysteries of the Shadow Secret Technique.
“A Hero cannot be allowed to be forgotten; otherwise, the current Human Race does not deserve to live. 8,000 years have already passed, and it is time for him to return. The Void Ceremony has been conducted precisely for this moment. Everyone, the arrangements we had laid back then should be used, it’s time to witness the truth!”
The world only knew that the Void Festival’s ceremony was a grand event for the entire Human Race, but didn’t know that it was a hidden hand Mi Jing Lun and the other Ninth-Order Masters had arranged long ago.
When they had set up this contingency back then, perhaps they had still not completely forgotten about Yang Kai; but now, they really could not remember anything about him. It didn’t matter if they didn’t remember though, as long as the plan worked.
“Please instruct us, Supreme Commander Mi!” The Ninth-Order Masters cupped their fists.
Mi Jing Lun lightly smiled, “Then let us see if all of this is just an unrealistic conjecture on our part or if we really have forgotten something!”
One after another, the Ninth-Order Masters received their orders and flew out of the hall, quickly disappearing, leaving only one Ninth-Order Master behind.
This was a Titled Great Emperor recognized by the Star Boundary and the only surviving Great Emperor who had managed to break through to the Ninth Order. There had been other Ninth-Order Great Emperors from the Star Boundary, but they had all fallen during the crusade.
The hall sunk into complete silence as Mi Jing Lun and the Great Emperor patiently waited.
10 days later, Mi Jing Lun finally opened his eyes and glanced at the Ninth-Order Great Emperor, “It’s about time.”
The Ninth-Order Great Emperor slightly nodded before slowly closing his eyes and spreading his Divine Sense; the next instant, he had become one with the entire Star Boundary.
Right then, in every settlement across the Universe World, Yang Kai’s statues, which had stood tall for 8,000 years, suddenly started glowing, attracting the attention of countless people.
Soon after, a voice started to reverberate from the statue, chanting something. What the voice was reciting was the contents of Yang Kai’s biography.
The voice seemed to contain some kind of mysterious power, causing everyone who heard it to involuntarily stop in their tracks and quietly listen. As the chanting continued, an enormous picture scroll seemed to have filled everyone’s vision. The picture scroll was impressively portraying the life of a cultivator named Yang Kai and how he gradually grew to become the strongest, eventually leading the Human Race to defeat their enemies.
Not just in the Star Boundary, even in Myriad Monsters Territory, on every Universe World where the Humans lived, the set up in the statues was activated by the Ninth-Order Masters.
At this moment, that chanting was simultaneously ringing in the ears of trillions of Humans.
Once, twice, three times…
Gradually, people began to read along the voice coming from the statue. Almost everyone had read Yang Kai’s biography, and many scholars had even memorized it by heart. Only, the biography which in the past was only read to pass time was given heavy importance today.
Trillions of Humans were chanting the Void Great Emperor’s real name.
At the same time, in the distant void, on the battlefield where the final battle between Yang Kai and Mo was fought, a few people were gathered together inside a floating palace.
There weren’t many people, only a dozen or so, but apart from a middle-aged couple, the lowest cultivation of the others was the Eighth-Order, and there were actually quite a number of Ninth-Order Masters present.
Everyone gathered here was Yang Kai’s close relative.
His parents, his Wives, his Disciples, Yang Xiao, Yang Xue…
These people had been waiting here for 8,000 years. Xia Ning Chang had originally stayed behind to guard High Heaven Palace because, despite her high cultivation, she had very little experience in fighting; moreover, she was an Alchemy Great Grandmaster and was more useful stationed in the rear. However, for the final crusade, even she was roped in.
After their triumphant return, once Xia Ning Chang had helped compile Yang Kai’s biography with Mi Jing Lun, she immediately returned here.
Naturally, Mi Jing Lun immediately set out to fetch all those close to Yang Kai, bringing Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu here to meet up with Su Yan and the others to wait for Yang Kai’s return.
Their wait had now lasted for 8,000 years!
The Shadow Technique’s backlash struck without any notice, and was impossible to guard against. At first, Yang Kai’s relatives could still remember him, but gradually, all their memories of him began to fade away, and eventually disappeared.
One after another, gaps began to appear in everyone’s memories.
For a period of time, everyone had even forgotten why they had gathered here until they remembered that they were waiting for a very important person. As for who that person was, none of them had any impression of him.
The biography that Xia Ning Chang brought back with her had a great effect. The things recorded in the biography and the remaining memories in their minds perfectly complemented each other. This helped them know that a person named Yang Kai had appeared in their lives, and that person held quite a huge place in their hearts.
Not far from their location was a Void Corridor leading straight to Chaotic Dead Territory.
At this moment, a figure walked out from the Void Corridor. It was none other than Zhang Ruo Xi.
Ruo Xi’s cultivation was currently at the peak of the Ninth Order, though the wings on her back had disappeared due to separating from the power of Yin and Yang.
Her Heaven’s Order Bloodline had been almost completely burned out in the final battle, so she was no longer able to maintain the delicate balance between the two opposing powers. So, she had no choice but to return to Chaotic Dead Territory and strip away the power of Yin and Yang.
Although the loss of her Heaven’s Order Bloodline was a significant detriment to her, it didn’t have much of an impact on her personal strength. It was just that it would be difficult for her to regain the phenomenal power she had displayed that time in the future.
Walking out of the Void Corridor, and identifying her bearing, Ruo Xi quickly arrived at Su Yan and the others’ location.
Noticing her appearance, everyone looked at her.
“It’s starting,” Ruo Xi stated softly.
Everyone nodded as a solemn look took over their faces.
On the platform in front of the palace, everyone sat down cross-legged and calmly started reciting Yang Kai’s name.
At first, nothing out of the ordinary happened. Over the past 8,000 years, everyone had done similar things countless times just to remind themselves not to forget that name.
However, as time went by, a different feeling slowly began to rise in their hearts. Everyone felt suffocated, as if there was a mountain pressing down on them, one that was becoming heavier and heavier. As this suffocating feeling grew stronger and stronger, the forgotten emotions also began to awaken, and along with them, a painful longing gripped their hearts. No one knew who they were missing, and none of them had a clear picture of them in their heart, but they had this feeling that someone who had left a deep mark in their lives had been forgotten, and that person’s name was…
…
“Yang Kai!”
In a vivid and colourful mysterious void filled with chaos and distortions, a tall and stalwart man with a sword in his hands let out an angry roar before swinging it down.
This sword strike almost cut the Space-Time River in two, revealing Yang Kai’s flickering figure behind it. By the time the water rolled back after the strike, Yang Kai had already arrived before the sword-wielding man. He then raised his hand and pointed a finger towards the opponent, sending a wave of water towards the stalwart figure.
The stalwart man’s expression instantly changed. Having fought Yang Kai for thousands of years, he naturally understood the might of this seemingly unremarkable wave. This wave contained the might of 10,000 Grand Daos, so even he didn’t dare to let himself get swallowed by it.
The stalwart man raised his sword and slashed out, shattering the incoming wave and splashing droplets of water flying in all directions. At the same time, the stalwart man quickly withdrew as if he was avoiding snakes and scorpions.
Yang Kai didn’t chase after him and simply stood in place.
Yang Kai sighed in his heart. When he had used the Shadow Secret Technique to defeat Mo and was corroded by the Space-Time Dao Strength, he basically thought that he would fall into a deep slumber or something similar, but how could he have known he would appear in this mysterious place in the blink of an eye.
After arriving here, Yang Kai began exploring and to his astonishment, he discovered he was not alone here! There were actually many other Masters!
These Masters were no weaker than him, with some even being stronger.
This revelation left him in total shock, because in the entire world, whether it was his cultivation or his comprehension of his Grand Daos, no one could hold a candle to him. Even Mo, who had 30% of his Source sealed, had been killed by him, so who in this Universe could be his opponent?
But here, there were many Masters here who could exchange blows evenly with Yang Kai.
What left him even more speechless was that the people here were all extremely belligerent. It did not matter whether there were any grievances between them or not, once two parties met, a fight broke out at least 90% of the time. Battles seemed to become the prime motivation for the survival of the living beings here.
In the beginning, Yang Kai had suffered quite a bit.
But his situation gradually improved over time as his injuries healed and his comprehension of the 10,000 Grand Daos deepened.
He also made a friend.
That man’s name was Chong Jiu, and he was also very powerful. When Yang Kai was being hunted down after first arriving, the man acted out of righteousness and helped him out.
Through his conversation with Chong Jiu, Yang Kai finally understood that this was a place of exile for all Masters who had touched upon the taboo.
In other words, everyone who was here had touched upon the secrets of the Heavens at one time or another. Yang Kai had summoned shadows from the future, which was a taboo. Although he didn’t know what Chong Jiu had done, he was certain he had done something similar.
As such, this place was simply dubbed the Taboo Realm.
What’s more, anyone who entered this place would be quickly forgotten by the outside world.
All memories related to those who entered this place would be erased in short order.
In the 3,000 Worlds, there were definitely very few living beings who could compare to Yang Kai. Yang Kai then recalled the Universe Furnace and its process of creating new Universe Worlds, and immediately understood that the Masters here all came from different Worlds or even Universes, ones far beyond the boundaries of the 3,000 Worlds.
Each and every one of them had reached the pinnacle of their strength in their own realm and had even touched upon that which should not be touched.
Yang Kai had once asked Chong Jiu how to escape this place, and the latter hid nothing. He knew more things than Yang Kai as he had arrived a bit earlier than him.
According to him, it wasn’t impossible to escape from this place; in fact, there were two methods to escape from here. However, whether these two methods really worked or not was still open to debate, because there had never been a precedent of anyone leaving this place.
The first method was to continue fighting and kill the Masters from other Worlds. Perhaps if they killed enough of them, they might be able to leave.
No one knew who proposed this idea, but it sounded a bit unreliable because there was no basis for it.
The second method was much more plausible, and it was to have the people of your Universe still remember you and wish for your return.
“A person will die twice in their lifetime. The first time is when their life ends, and the second time is when the last person who remembers forgets them. As far as we are concerned, we may still be alive here, but the world we used to live in no longer remembers us, so we are dead to that world. If we want to rise from the dead, enough people must remember you for you to break through the restrictions here.”
These were the exact words of Chong Jiu, and Yang Kai remembered them very clearly. At that time, Chong Jiu had been drinking the spirit wine he had taken out from his Small Universe while saying these words.
Although this second method was much more reliable than the first, it was still impractical, because once someone entered this place, his or her respective Universe would be affected by the restrictions, wiping every single memory related to him or her in a very short time.
Once the memories were wiped out, everything was lost. Even if there were some written records left behind, they would just become dust in history over time.
Saying so, Chong Jiu patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “Little Brother, just stay here. Although there’s no way out of here, it’s still quite lively.”
It was indeed quite lively. Supreme Masters of many Worlds were gathered here, fighting non-stop every day. This kind of thing would be rarely seen in the outside world, but here it was a common occurrence.
At that time, Yang Kai just responded to Chong Jiu in one sentence, “I will be able to get out. My world will never forget me!”
Chong Jiu looked at him like he was looking at an idiot and threw a sentence, “I’ll be waiting for that day!”
Calculating the time, that day should be arriving soon.
While Yang Kai was lost in a daze, the tall and stalwart man had returned at some point, and sent a fearsome sword wave at him, forcing him to dodge.
From nearby, Chong Jiu’s playful laughter rang out, “Yang Kai, don’t die! If you die, I won’t be able to watch the good show!”
He had already arrived a few days ago as promised, wanting to see if Yang Kai could really leave this place. Although he felt that Yang Kai didn’t have much hope, since he made a deal, he naturally had to abide by it.
Unexpectedly, someone came to seek revenge on Yang Kai at this point.
Although it was called ‘seeking revenge’, the truth was that there was no great enmity between them. The sword-wielding man had fought with Yang Kai at least 100 times over the past few thousand years, and neither of them had been able to do anything to the other. But this time, he actually brought a companion, wanting to overwhelm Yang Kai with numbers.
But unbeknownst to them, Chong Jiu happened to be together with Yang Kai. A battle had broken out immediately afterwards. Yang Kai was up against the sword-wielding stalwart man while Chong Jiu dealt with his companion.
At this moment, a towering tree had emerged behind Chong Jiu. It was gently swaying, glittering and shining as if it was cast from gold. One after another, its leaves whizzed through the void, cutting space apart. Its every move carried endless power. Chong Jiu’s opponent was forced to retreat every time he tried to press forward.
After fighting for a while, the Master couldn’t help size up Chong Jiu before asking, “The Dao Tree lineage!?”
Chong Jiu raised his brow, “You’ve seen it?”
The Master continued, “The Dao Tree lineage is famous throughout the Heavens, and I had the honour of experiencing it first-hand once before.”
Saying so, he put away his weapon, “I won’t fight anymore.”
Chong Jiu smiled slightly, “I was thinking the same.”
Battles were common occurrences in the Taboo Realm, but there were many cases where a simple smile and greeting could wipe away all enmity; after all, everyone’s strength was about the same, so unless there was some kind of irreconcilable grudge between them, no one was willing to really fight to the death.
For example, someone like the sword-wielding stalwart man who repeatedly sought trouble with Yang Kai was actually quite rare. He kept attacking Yang Kai mainly because Yang Kai had only been here for a short time, and the sword-wielding man believed that he was an easy target.
Owing to repeated battles, Yang Kai’s strength had grown significantly over the past 8,000 years.
This wasn’t surprising though as Yang Kai did not get the time to consolidate his foundation and perfect it after swallowing and refining Mu’s Space-Time River before he was forced to fight Mo to the death.
It wasn’t until he had entered this place and fought battle after battle that Yang Kai finally digested the benefits he had obtained from Mu’s final gift.
Furthermore, his Small Universe’s foundation was constantly increasing. If he was allowed to go 8,000 years back in time to deal with Mo, he would definitely not end up as miserable as before.
The Masters in the Taboo Realm came from different Universes, so the cultivation systems were naturally different as well. For example, the World where Chong Jiu came from did not cultivate the Open Heaven Realm Method, the denizens of his world had their own way of dividing the Realms.
Be that as it may, the fundamental principles of cultivation were more or less the same. At Yang Kai’s and the others’ Realm, the prime focus of cultivation was the comprehension and application of the Grand Daos.
The shining golden tree behind Chong Jiu was his Dao, the Space-Time River was Yang Kai’s Dao, and the sword-wielding stalwart man fighting Yang Kai had a Dao of his own.
The sword in his hand was precisely his Dao!
Yang Kai had never seen a Master with such a pure Dao. Yang Kai had seen and fought many Masters over the past 8,000 years, but none could compare to the sword-wielding stalwart man in terms of pure offence and aggression.
In any battle, the stalwart man was constantly on the attack, essentially disregarding defence entirely. At most, he would dodge a little when necessary.
Fighting such a person was incredibly frustrating and it was extremely difficult to reach a conclusion as the only way to settle things with any sense of finality, was for someone to die.
“Jian Ba, there is no enmity between us, why must you insist on fighting?” After exchanging blows for a while longer, Yang Kai shouted as the waves under him swirled.
Jing Ba, who was standing right across from him, hideously grinned, “Why bring up enmity in this damned place? Since I’m here, one of us will die today, the question is whether it will be you or I!”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head. He was completely unable to reason with him.
If the Shadow Secret Technique could be used, Yang Kai was confident he could defeat Jian Ba, but he had already summoned shadows from 8,000 years of his future when he was fighting with Mo, which ultimately caused him to be trapped here. He was basically unable to use the Shadow Secret Technique.
Shadows of the same Space-Time could only be summoned once.
Helpless, Yang Kai could only use the power of his Space-Time River to fight ceaselessly with Jian Ba.
However, Yang Kai was feeling uneasy for some unknown reason today. He thought that he was feeling unnerved because the 8,000-year deadline was approaching, but later he realized that wasn’t the case.
He could not afford to get distracted when fighting someone as powerful as Jian Ba; so, how could he have the spare energy to consider the 8,000-year deadline?
What caused him to feel uneasy must be something external!
As such, he was slowly losing ground against Jian Ba.
Chong Jiu, who was watching the battle from afar, noticed this unusual situation and couldn’t help but furrow his brow. Nonetheless, he too had no idea what was going on with Yang Kai. Furthermore, he was being marked by Jiang Ba’s companion. He could not lend Yang Kai a hand, and could only wait and watch.
Fearsome Dao Strength shockwaves spread into the surroundings as the two men clashed endlessly until at one point, Yang Kai suddenly heard a shout ring in his ear.
Yang Kai instantly fell into a trance, but before he could hear it clearly, Jian Ba had already disappeared.
Immediately, a sense of crisis gripped his entire body. Yang Kai knew that he was in real trouble. His figure quickly distorted and faded away, but the next moment, Jiang Ba arrived before him and slashed down at his fading figure.
A splash of blood spattered into the void while Yang Kai’s figure appeared in another direction, promptly covering his abdomen. Apparently, Jiang Ba’s sword had cut him, leaving a gaping wound.
The indistinct shout once again rang in his ear. Yang Kai shook his head, trying to disperse this strange sound, but to no avail.
Just after the first shout, a second shout soon followed, and then a third, a fourth…
In just a few breaths, Yang Kai felt countless voices ringing in his head. These countless voices jumbled into an incoherent noise before eventually converging into two words.
It was naturally his name!
Having wounded Yang Kai, Jian Ba doggedly pursued him, but just as he was about to make his move, a great sense of horror suddenly gripped his heart. The moment this sense of horror emerged, Jian Ba’s eyes went wide. It was not terror or fear Jian Ba felt though, but instead extreme excitement.
Because ever since his cultivation had reached its peak, no one had been able to give him such a feeling. Even in this Taboo Realm, where he had encountered countless Masters, no one had struck true terror into his heart.
But at this moment, against an enemy who had been wounded by him, this long-lost feeling had reappeared.
Jian Ba couldn’t help but recall the Masters he had faced when he was weak.
The sword that had accompanied him all his life began to hum, warning him to retreat.
Jian Ba didn’t retreat though; instead, he swung his sword down, causing the expressions of Chong Jiu and the other experts watching from afar to become extremely solemn. Because this attack could be said to be the strongest sword attack they had ever seen. It was Jiang Ba’s all-out strike.
Once he executed this attack, his target would definitely die!
The sword light filled everyone’s vision, blinding them.
When the sword light disappeared, Chong Jiu and the other Master quickly looked up and what entered their sight made their eyes crack wide open in shock.
Much to their surprise, Yang Kai had not blocked that sword strike at all and simply let it fall on his shoulder. It almost severed his arm, but it didn’t, as the endless river water happened to be wrapped around Jian Ba’s sword and wrist, preventing him from following through.
Although Yang Kai was injured, his expression was extremely strange, he seemed a little confused yet also a little relieved.
What caught Chong Jiu’s attention was the Void behind Yang Kai, which looked extremely unusual at the moment. It happened to be continuously distorting, and through this distorted space, a faint distortion of Space-Time emerged from some unknown place.
[The restriction of this place had been broken!]
When Chong Jiu recalled Yang Kai’s confident words, his heart began to pound violently, [Could it be that the rumours circulating in the Taboo Realm are true? Did enough people in Yang Kai’s Universe still remember him? But, how is that possible?]
Anyone who entered this place would be quickly forgotten; otherwise, how could the Masters who had entered this place be unable to leave even after so many aeons?
But other than this possibility, Chong Jiu could not find a better explanation.
“Yang Kai!” He quickly called out.
Yang Kai, who was immersed in this wonderful feeling, raised his head and smiled at him before turning to look at Jian Ba, who was still standing at arm’s length. Under Jian Ba’s stunned gaze, Yang Kai stretched out two fingers and grabbed his sword.
“It turns out that only by breaking the restriction here can one pry into the higher realms of the Martial Dao!”
Saying so, Yang Kai gently raised his fingers, lifting up the long sword that had cut into his shoulder.
The corners of Jian Ba’s eyes twitched violently as his instincts were giving off warning bells.
At this moment, Yang Kai gave him a very strange feeling, as if he was about to achieve some kind of breakthrough.
This feeling left him in a great shock. The Masters in the Taboo Realm had already reached their limits. The reason they were trapped here was because they wanted to break through to higher realms, but in the end, they had touched upon the Taboos of the Heavens.
Today, he had seen both an amazing truth and an incredible secret.
Breaking the restriction of this place would allow one to gain insight into the next realm!
This was a huge blow to Jian Ba’s mental state. Not to mention him, even Chong Jiu, who was watching from afar, and the companion Jian Ba had invited, felt the same way.
“Stand down!” Yang Kai looked at Jian Ba and declared.
Jian Ba naturally ignored him, gritting his teeth as he poured all his strength into the long sword and pushed it down without muttering a word, seemingly intent on cutting Yang Kai in two.
The sword in his hand was his Dao, backing down would be equivalent to abandoning his Dao, so how could he possibly agree?
Whether it was High Heaven Territory’s Star Boundary, or the Universe Worlds of Myriad Monsters Territory, everywhere where Humans had settled, Humans were chanting Yang Kai’s name non-stop, singing his praises, spreading the name of Void Great Emperor.
For the first few days, nothing unusual happened, but as time passed, a strange sound started ringing in everyone’s ears, like waves crashing onto the shore.
Furthermore, the sound became louder and louder with the continuous actions of the Humans. Finally, at a certain moment, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Everywhere the Humans were gathered, a river suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
The sonorous sounds of waves crashing were originating from the river, and everyone witnessed this magical sight.
The water in the river swelled and flowed towards the horizon, passing through the endless void, flowing through one Great Territory after another, to the Late Ancient Era battlefield, and finally converging on the final battlefield where Yang Kai and Mo fought each other.
The dozen or so of Yang Kai’s close relatives in the palace looked excited at the sight of this. Their chanting became more hurried, and their expressions more fervent.
The river was illusory at first, as if it existed in another Space-Time, but it soon became real and tangible. Immediately afterwards, a figure emerged from the tumultuous waves in the river.
Looking at the figures standing in the palace, the figure cracked a smile and stated, “I’m back!”
The figures in the palace broke into tears of joy as they swarmed towards the figure one after another.
…..
Meanwhile, the Masters in the Taboo Realm soon got the news and rushed over. Over 100 people had gathered in a short time, and more were still coming from afar.
These people were all Supreme Masters of their respective Universes. Each and every one of them had reached their own limits. Every single one of them used to be a legendary figure where they came from.
But now, their worlds had long forgotten about them, causing them to be trapped in this Taboo Realm.
Over 100 of the strongest Masters in existence were calmly standing around the location where Yang Kai had fought with Jiang Ba, staring at a corpse floating nearby.
The corpse naturally belonged to Jian Ba. Jian Ba was tightly holding a broken sword in his hand, while the cause of his death was none other than the other half of his sword being rammed through his chest.
Dead!
There was no shortage of brave and ruthless men in the Taboo Realm, and battles broke out all the time. These were the kind of battles one would seldom see in the outside world.
Be that as it may, very few people actually lost their lives during these fights.
Because although the cultivation methods were different for Universe to Universe, everyone’s prime focus would be their Dao, after their cultivation had reached its utmost limit. It could be said that all things lead to the same destination; as a result, everyone’s strength was basically the same here. So, no matter how intense a battle was, very few people would die.
The last time someone died was over 100,000 years ago, and that was because a certain man with a horrible personality ultimately drew everyone’s ire and was besieged by many Supreme Masters.
But the current situation was far from that. It was pretty obvious that Jian Ba had not died because he was ganged up on. No matter what kind of Dao they were cultivating here, they all had sharp vision and insight.
The one who had killed Jian Ba was just a single man! Furthermore, Jian Ba’s opponent had killed him so easily that he had even snapped Jian Ba’s sword in two!
Even if these Supreme Masters present here weren’t very familiar with Jian Ba, most of them had fought him at least once in the past.
Jian Ba’s sword was his Dao. So, killing someone might not be a big deal, but killing someone while destroying their Dao at the same time was inconceivable.
What the Supreme Masters were concerned about was that they had sensed some unusual fluctuations a while ago. Even when they were far away, those fluctuations were as bright as a match in the darkness.
Those were clearly the fluctuations caused by someone breaking through their current cultivation realm! But by the time they arrived here, they didn’t see anything.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the faces of Chong Jiu and Jian Ba’s companion were filled with a bitterness, their expressions way worse than eating a bitter pill.
Both had witnessed Jian Ba’s death at the hands of Yang Kai, which had shook them to the core. By the time they came back to their senses, the Supreme Masters had already arrived here to investigate after noticing the commotion.
As a result, they were unable to leave.
If they tried to leave now, they would definitely be forced to stay.
The Supreme Masters had been trapped here for far too long, so any unusual movements would definitely attract their attention, let alone a disturbance that exceeded the limits of their current strength.
“Who was here?” Someone suddenly asked.
Although it was a random question without a head or tail, the meaning behind it was obvious. The speaker was obviously asking who had witnessed Jian Ba’s death.
No one answered.
“Who arrived here first?” Someone asked.
Still no answer, but the eyes of the Supreme Masters began to wander across each other, their gazes swiftly changing as they reached a certain unspoken agreement.
Finally, everyone’s eyes landed on Chong Jiu.
Chong Jiu scowled in anger as he stared at the colleague invited by Jian Ba, “Why are you only looking at me? He was here as well!”
Although the two were originally on different sides, they clearly had no choice but to band together at this moment. If they didn’t handle this situation well, they might become the public enemies of all the Supreme Masters, so they couldn’t afford to be careless.
There was no escape from this Taboo Realm. If they became public enemies, things would be hard-pressed for them in the future.
“Who killed Jian Ba?” An old man with small stature asked. This old man had been trapped in the Taboo Realm for who knows how many years. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was one of the oldest Supreme Masters in the Taboo Realm; at least, these 100 or so Supreme Masters present had all come to the Taboo Realm later than him.
“It wasn’t me,” Chong Jiu quickly clarified, “I’m not that capable.”
The Supreme Master standing beside him also quickly denied, “I didn’t kill him either.”
“You were here first, didn’t you see who did it?” The short old man asked. Although he was the only one who spoke, he represented everyone.
“Well…” Chong Jiu hesitated for a moment. He knew that no matter what, he couldn’t avoid this matter. Rather than drawing everyone’s ire, he might as well speak the truth. After understanding this point, he finally answered, “Yang Kai killed him.”
“Who is Yang Kai?” The short old man frowned. He had never heard of this name before.
“He was a newcomer whose Dao Strengths had manifested into a river. He arrived about 8,000 years ago,” someone explained.
The short old man finally understood, “I seem to have some impression of him, but how could a newcomer kill Jian Ba? Where is he?”
“He left,” Chong Jiu replied.
“Where did he go?”
“He left, from this place.”
The Supreme Masters were stunned for a moment before staring at Chong Jiu in shock.
Being the focus of attention of so many Supreme Masters, Chong Jiu felt as if an enormous mountain was weighing down on him. The Supreme Master who was standing by his side subtly stepped away from him, drawing a clear line between them.
“You said… he left this place?” The short old man asked. Although his tone remained calm, his heart was in turmoil.
“Brothers, Sisters, there’s no need to stare at me like that, he really did leave. This friend and I saw it with our own eyes,” Chong Jiu stated as he pointed towards the Supreme Master who had just stepped away from him.
The man’s face darkened, but he knew he couldn’t avoid it. All he could do was brace himself and nodded, “Yes, he did leave.”
Chong Jiu smiled and said, “Weren’t you all attracted by those strange fluctuations? I’ll be frank with you, according to the rumours, there are two ways to leave the Taboo Realm, and the second method is apparently true. Yang Kai used that method to leave this place. What’s more, when he broke through the restrictions here, he seemed to also break through to the next realm, allowing him to kill Jian Ba!”
Since ancient times, it had been passed down that there were two ways to escape the Taboo Realm. One was to constantly fight and kill other Supreme Masters. So long as you killed enough Supreme Masters, you would have a chance to leave this place. The second was to have enough people from your original Universe remember you and wish for your return.
Whether the first method would work or not, no one knew, because few people ever died in the Taboo Realm.
But now, the second method had been proven effective. If Chong Jiu wasn’t lying, Yang Kai had left the Taboo Realm using this method.
Under these circumstances, there was no need for Chong Jiu to lie, everyone was well aware of this.
“How is that possible? Once we arrive here, the denizens of our Worlds would’ve quickly forgotten about us. Without any memories, how can they remember us? This is simply impossible,” Someone questioned.
Chong Jiu spread out his hands and stated, “I don’t know. In any case, Yang Kai told me a long time ago that his world would never forget him. Perhaps because he saved his Universe, the people of that world still remember him?”
The Supreme Masters still found it difficult to accept this, because from ancient times until now, there had never been a precedent of anyone leaving this place.
But now, a newcomer who had only entered 8,000 years ago had done just that.
This made them envious, but at the same time, they also saw a glimmer of hope.
If someone could leave here, it meant that this Taboo Realm wasn’t a prison they couldn’t escape from, it was just that they had not found the right way.
It was definitely impossible to count on Yang Kai’s methods. Not mentioning who knows how his world still remembered him, the main reason was that he had only been here for 8,000 years.
The others had simply been here for far too long. Before Yang Kai, the previous Supreme Master to arrive here had done so some 20,000 years ago. After tens of thousands of years, all traces of his existence in his world would have long since vanished
“You can get a glimpse of the next realm after breaking the restrictions here? What kind of Realm is that?” The short old man asked.
Chong Jiu shook his head, “I don’t know what Realm he reached, but once he broke through, he casually snapped Jian Ba’s sword with just two fingers.”
All the Supreme Masters gasped in shock.
What those two fingers destroyed was not just a sword, but Jian Ba’s Dao!
One could only imagine what amazing realm Yang Kai must have reached at that instant.
“Everyone, before Yang Kai left, he told me that he will find a way to rescue me. Although I don’t know if he would be able to do it, if he does, everyone here will have new hope of finding a way out.” Chong Jiu threw out another piece of news that excited everyone.
In an instant, the expressions of all the Supreme Masters present changed.
Half a day later, the Supreme Masters finally dispersed.
Chong Jiu let out a long sigh and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Although he was also a Supreme Master and didn’t fear any individual in the Taboo Realm, being stared at by hundreds of Masters just as strong as him still felt like being stabbed multiple times.
If he hadn’t thrown those words at the last moment, Chong Jiu believed that these guys would have attacked him together and then interrogated him for more information.
Even if he had already divulged everything he knew…
However, everything was different once he spoke those last words. As long as they still wished to leave the Taboo Realm, they would not make things difficult for him in the future. In fact, if anyone dared to make things difficult for him, they would become public enemies of this Taboo Realm!
An enormous river stretched across the void, its waters fiercely surging, with waves rising and falling one after another.
Yang Kai was sitting in a cross-legged position over this enormous river, forming a set of profound hand seals. As his hands moved, the water in the river would cycle through states of agitation and calm.
The myriad of Daos Strengths would also undulate with the current in the river.
It had been several years since Yang Kai returned from the Taboo Realm.
Whenever he recalled his absurd experiences over the past few years, Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
On the day, when he finally returned from the Taboo Realm, all his relatives came to meet him tearfully, complaining about their pain of parting. Soon after, everyone returned to the Star Boundary together, and after learning of the news of his return, all rejoiced.
In the 8,000 years after Yang Kai’s disappearance, all their memories about him had been erased, but the moment he returned, all the vanished memories were restored. No one knew what extraordinary power could cause something like this.
Only Yang Kai seemed to notice something.
After that, Yang Kai was placed under house arrest!
He, a mighty expert who had surpassed the Open Heaven Realm, who had reached an unprecedented Realm never seen before, who could call the wind and rain with just the flip of his hand, had actually been placed under house arrest!
The ones who put him under house arrest were none other than Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu!
His Wives were also under house arrest like him.
According to his parents, they were growing old. It was already a miracle that they had been able to give birth to Yang Xue in the past, but there was no way for them to have any more children. So, the responsibility of continuing the Yang Family’s bloodline fell squarely on Yang Kai’s shoulders!
The old couple didn’t make any outrageous demands, just that he should father as many children as the number of Wives he had. So, each of his Wives should give birth to at least one child. When this condition had been fulfilled, they would release them.
In terms of strength, his parents were naturally not Yang Kai’s opponents and he could easily escape if he really wanted to; however, his parents had also said that if their unfilial son dared to disobey them this time, they would bash their heads against High Heaven Peak until they died!
Yang Kai was left with no choice!
According to his parents, Yang Kai had been cultivating for many years and had explored many worlds, big and small. He had been constantly on the move. But now that the world was at peace and his cultivation had already reached the limit, there was nothing he needed to worry about in this world. As such, he should pay attention to continuing the Yang Family’s bloodline!
Helpless, Yang Kai, Su Yan, Yu Ru Meng, and the others were locked up on a lone peak in High Heaven Palace.
It wasn’t until several years later that Yang Kai walked out of the mountain peak with a tired look on his face, his eyes sunken and his face pale. Right behind him was a large group of beautiful women with big bellies.
Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu were overjoyed. As the saying went, ‘people need to be pushed to get results!’ In the past, they had tried to make Yang Kai continue their bloodline, but he had always brushed them off with all kinds of excuses. If they had known it would be this simple, they would have put him under house arrest long ago!
After having completed this vital mission, Yang Kai finally had time to catch up with his old friends.
Mi Jing Lun and the others were naturally aware of what was going on with Yang Kai over these past few years; so, they could not help but tease him when they finally met up.
Soon, Yang Kai learned about the current situation of the Human Race from the other Ninth-Order Masters.
With the end of the war more than 8,000 years ago, the Black Ink Clan was completely wiped out, and the Universe had finally achieved a state of peace. Now, the Human Race were the sole rulers of the world.
Be that as it may, the scars of countless years of war were difficult to erase.
The 3,000 Worlds used to be extremely prosperous, but now, apart from those in High Heaven Territory and Myriad Monsters Territory, the Universe Worlds in the rest of Great Territories had either been completely corrupted by Black Ink Strength or had long since been destroyed.
It could be said that the habitable space for the Human Race had been greatly reduced.
Originally, traces of Human activity could be seen in every Great Territory, but now, all the surviving Humans were gathered in High Heaven Territory and Myriad Monsters Territory, with more than 90% of them living in the latter.
In fact, because of the scarcity of cultivation resources, the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Star Boundary and Myriad Monsters World, had essentially been evacuated and cordoned off. The Human Race didn’t dare let too many people live in these two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, lest too many good seedlings were born and there were no resources to nurture them!
If the number of people suitable for cultivation increased, but there were no resources for them to cultivate with, fights over cultivation resources would definitely break out, which would ultimately lead to chaos.
Currently, the population living on the Star Boundary and Myriad Monsters World was extremely small, and if one wanted to enter these two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, they would need to undergo a rigorous series of tests and selections.
This was the current state of the Human Race; they had won the war, but it was a pyrrhic victory.
Nonetheless, they could not do anything about it. The Black Ink Clan had simply done too much damage to the 3,000 Worlds.
In addition, the Human Race didn’t have the means to repair these corrupted Universe Worlds. If no solution was found, the Human Race would have many dark days ahead of them.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had returned from the Taboo Realm, and at this moment, he was repairing a Universe World.
This was an uninhabited Great Territory. Perhaps this Great Territory once used to be bustling with Human activity, with its Universe Worlds being rich and prosperous; however, after the Black Ink Clan occupation, all that was left was deathly silence, and all the Universe Worlds had died.
The massive Space-Time River stretched across the void, with Universe Worlds floating up and down in the river, Daos Strengths fluctuating rhythmically.
The Black Ink Strength that had corrupted these Universe Worlds was quickly stripped away and then sent into the Profound Source Gate by Yang Kai to be sealed. After that, Yang Kai evolved Yin and Yang, then harmonized the Five Elements, which gave birth to the 10,000 Grand Daos.
The flow of time in the Space-Time River was different from the outside world, and with Yang Kai’s current cultivation, this flow rate had reached an extremely exaggerated degree.
Perhaps 1,000 years were elapsing inside the river for each breath that passed in the outside world…
The lifeless Universe World slowly regained its vitality in the Space-Time River.
Suddenly, a small figure stepped out and walked over to Yang Kai’s side before pursing his lips in frustration, “It’s empty outside, there’s nothing here, so boring.”
Yang Kai fiercely turned to him and shot him a glare, “It’s all your fault!”
The figure immediately tried to explain, “What does Mo’s evil deeds have to do with this Little Eleven?”
The small figure standing next to Yang Kai at this moment was none other than ‘Little Eleven’, or rather, it was the same person Yang Kai had seen in the Primordial World’s Dawn City.
8,000 years ago, Yang Kai defeated Mo and sealed it with the Profound Source Gate; however, as the most ancient being in this Universe, even Yang Kai was unable to completely destroy Mo.
After all, Black Ink Strength was a power born at the beginning of the Universe. As long as the Universe still existed, and as long as there was darkness in living beings, Black Ink Strength would never be extinguished.
However, Yang Kai spent some effort to extract the consciousness born from this power from the Profound Source Gate.
This consciousness was Little Eleven, who was standing beside him.
Strictly speaking, Mo was Little Eleven, but these two were different.
In other words, Little Eleven was not making excuses, he was indeed not Mo. During the Early Ancient Era, he had fought alongside the 10 Martial Ancestors to protect the Human Race.
Only Mu had noticed the problem in Mo at the time. She had set up the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and sealed Mo before its consciousness was completely corrupted.
Afterwards, under Mu’s secret arrangements, Mo’s Source was divided into 3,000 pieces and sealed in different Universe Worlds while Mu kept Mo’s consciousness by her side to guard him.
Unlike what Mu did, the current Little Eleven was not some weak child in Dawn City who did not even have the strength to strangle a chicken; otherwise, he would not have been able to wander the void alone.
Looking at the surging river stretching across the void before him, Little Eleven couldn’t help wondering, “Speaking of which, what Realm are you in now?”
Little Eleven was completely unaware of the fact that Yang Kai was trapped in the Taboo Realm, as Mo was sealed by Yang Kai after his defeat, and Little Eleven was freed just a few days ago. However, Little Elven was surprised to discover that Yang Kai’s strength was far greater than the last time Mo fought with him. It seemed to have gone beyond the scope of the Open Heaven Realm.
Little Eleven reckoned that even if Mo had been at his peak, he would still be no match for the current Yang Kai.
“You’re supposed to be a Master in the Creation Realm, can’t you see through my cultivation?” Yang Kai asked instead of answering.
Little Eleven explained, shaking his head, “That’s a false claim. Mo never reached the Creation Realm. He could at most be described as a Pseudo-Creation Realm Master. The main reason Mo was able to create the Black Ink Clan is because of the unique properties of Black Ink Strength, not because Mo had reached the necessary realm; but you, you’re different. Your current cultivation has indeed exceeded the Open Heaven Realm, so I’m very curious about what Realm you’ve reached.”
Yang Kai had already noticed that there was something wrong with Mo’s ‘Creation Realm’ a long time ago, but at that time, his strength and vision were simply insufficient; as such, he was unable to determine anything.
Now that Little Eleven had personally admitted it, Yang Kai wasn’t too surprised.
“My Realm…” Yang Kai muttered before shaking his head, “No one has reached this Realm before, so I don’t know what it should be called.”
Saying so, he quickly changed his hand seals before raising them towards the Space-Time River, making a grabbing motion.
The next moment, the enormous river was gripped by Yang Kai, who gently shook it and shouted, “Go!”
Immediately after, tiny grains of sand were flung out from the Space-Time River one after another and began rapidly expanding. Surprisingly, these grains were Universe Worlds.
These Universe Worlds were the remaining Universe Worlds of this Great Territory. Originally, they had been corrupted by Black Ink Strength and were devoid of any life. Some were even destroyed by the Black Ink Clan’s resource exploitation.
But now, all these Universe Worlds had completely changed. Although there were no sentient beings on them, each of these Universe Worlds looked completely new, without a trace of Black Ink Strength left on them. The dilapidated Universe Worlds had been repaired and were filled with perfect Grand Daos. Furthermore, each of these Universe Worlds was lush and green, full of life and vigour.
These Universe Worlds were already teeming with vitality, so they would give birth to their first life forms in just a few years.
Even with Little Eleven’s vast experience, he was still shocked by this amazing sight.
The Universe Worlds were not artifacts, nor were they pieces of furniture; they were not something that could be repaired so easily. However, these devastated Universe Worlds had been brought back to life by Yang Kai. This was not something a normal Human could do.
“Creating something out of nothing, a Divine Ability to create a new world, truly amazing,” looking at the Universe Worlds flying out into the void and slowly coming to a stop at certain spots, Little Eleven couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. He felt that his sins had been significantly reduced.
Hearing this, Yang Kai raised his brow as a smile flashed on his face, “Then let’s call it the World Creation Realm.”
“Huh?” Little Eleven was stunned, but quickly recovered and muttered, “The World Creation Realm… it’s quite appropriate.”
In the past, the Universe Furnace created all Worlds, but now, Yang Kai’s Space-Time River was also able to create Universe Worlds.
The Space-Time River itself was modelled after the Infinite River inside the Universe Furnace, and the Infinite River was the foundation of the entire Universe Furnace. All the Universe Worlds in this Universe had been created by the Infinite River. Yang Kai felt that his own Space-Time River would reach the level of the Infinite River sooner or later.
“Let’s go to the next place.” Yang Kai stood up and rushed towards the adjacent Great Territory, with Little Eleven following closely behind him.
Every Great Territory Yang Kai passed though had its once-dead Universe Worlds now radiating with new vitality. By the time Yang Kai was finished restoring all the Great Territories in the 3,000 Worlds, 1,000 years had already passed.
Yang Kai then spent another 1,000 years doing the same thing to the Universe Worlds in the Black Ink Battlefield.
After 2,000 years, the entire 3,000 Worlds and even the Black Ink Battlefield were no longer desolate and barren as they had been in the past. They were once again brimming with endless vitality. In time, these Universe Worlds would definitely be able to produce new cultivation resources, and the increasing number of Humans would slowly become the masters of these Universe Worlds.
Void World was originally Yang Kai’s Small Universe, the crystallization of his life’s cultivation, his very foundation, but now, he had stripped away his Small Universe from himself and turned it into a real Universe World, placing it in High Heaven Territory, next to the Star Boundary. He did this after he broke through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm and advanced to the World Creation Realm.
It was quite an incredible feat. Upon learning of this, all the Ninth-Order Masters were totally shocked, but considering that it was Yang Kai’s handiwork, they were able to accept it; after all, he was the only World Creation Realm Master in the history of the Human Race, so any kind of absurd and impossible feat suddenly became perfectly normal for him.
At this moment, somewhere on Void World, Yang Kai looked at a child in front of him and exhorted in a serious manner, “I’ll leave Little Eleven in your care. If there are any abnormalities, seal him immediately, I will deal with him when I return.”
Although the child did not look very old, he spoke in a steady voice like an elder, “Understood, Big Brother.”
This child’s appearance bore some resemblance to Fang Tian Ci.
As a matter of fact, he was none other than Fang Tian Ci. After Yang Kai used the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow lost their physical bodies, but their consciousnesses remained in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, accompanying him for many years.
Because of the uniqueness of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, while they were Yang Kai’s Soul Clones, they were also independent entities.
Over the years, while Yang Kai was repairing the Universe Worlds, he had also been thinking about how to bring Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow back to the world of the living. He couldn’t possibly allow them to remain in his Knowledge Sea forever without a flesh body.
Reincarnation was certainly a good choice, but in that case, they would most likely lose their original memories and become another unfamiliar Soul. After all, it was not the same as when he had cast his Secret Technique, and left many seals on his Soul Clones, ensuring that his Soul Clones would grow aware of their mission and memories at the right time.
Finally, when Yang Kai decided to strip off his Small Universe, he was struck with an indigenous idea.
That was to integrate Void World’s Source into Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow, allowing them to reincarnate along with the World itself. This way, not only would they be able to retain their original memories, but they would also become the Masters of Void World. From then on, they would share the same fate as Void World; if one suffered, all suffered, and if one prospered, all prospered. So long as Void World was not destroyed, they would be immortal.
Yang Kai’s Small Universe’s foundation was extremely strong, and now that they had become this Universe World’s Masters, it would be easier for them to progress in the future. It was easy to foresee that the 3,000 Worlds would have two more top Masters in the near future.
Yang Kai had also left Little Eleven here to be watched over by Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow as it would be grossly inconvenient for him to bring Little Eleven along for the rest of his journey.
After the child Fang Tian Ci responded, a black kitten sitting on his shoulder also nodded and spoke like a Human, “Meow… Big Brother, don’t worry, if there’s anything wrong with this brat, Second Brother and I will beat him to death!”
A look of anguish and frustration appeared on Little Eleven’s face as he rebuked, “Don’t make me sound like some wicked demon, at least show some basic respect to a Senior like me!”
The kitten immediately let out a snort.
“Then, I’ll take my leave,” Yang Kai nodded before soaring into the sky.
The trio’s gazes followed after him until Yang Kai finally disappeared from their sight.
A moment later, the child, Fang Tian Ci, and the kitten, Thunder Shadow, stared at Little Eleven together, causing him to frown, “What do you want…”
The kitten shouted, “Let’s beat him up, meow!”
Having said so, his figure left afterimages as he pounced at Little Eleven’s face, while his pair of cat claws swiped furiously, leaving multiple afterimages.
Little Eleven cried in surprise, and just as he was about to dodge, the child, Fang Tian Ci, threw him on the ground.
A moment later, two Humans and a kitten were lying on the ground with their faces black and blue.
Thunder Shadow gasped for breath as he stated, “I’ve wanted to beat you up for a long time now! Satisfying!”
The child Fang Tian Ci did not fare any better. His nose was bleeding, but there was a content smile on his face.
Little Eleven’s face was covered in claw marks. He was undoubtedly much stronger than these two, but this was Void World, and the child Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow were the Masters of this place. Little Eleven was just asking for trouble by being hostile to them while within the bounds of this Universe World; thus, their fight ultimately ended in both sides being defeated and wounded.
Nonetheless, Little Eleven stubbornly declared, “Once I recover, I’ll deal with you two!”
…..
Outside Void World, when Yang Kai arrived in the void, what he saw next took him aback, because there were many familiar faces waiting.
Putting aside the group of women led by Su Yan, Yu Ru Meng, and the others, many of the Ninth-Order Masters were also here.
[How did my whereabouts get leaked…]
Yang Kai secretly reflected for a moment, wondering how he gave himself away. All he could say was that his Wives understood him too well.
“Are you planning on going on a long journey?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked at him and asked.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded his affirmation, “I made a promise to someone. I have to at least try to save him.”
Inside the Taboo Realm, Chong Jiu was not lying when he said to the many Supreme Masters that Yang Kai vowed to save him. Yang Kai had indeed sent him a Divine Sense transmission just before he left declaring as much.
Chong Jiu had helped Yang Kai quite a bit during his 8,000 years in the Taboo Realm; furthermore, the two of them shared the same ideals. If possible, Yang Kai wanted to rescue him from the Taboo Realm, despite the fact that he had no idea where Chong Jiu’s Universe was.
This would probably take a lot of time and effort to find, and there was no guarantee his trip would bear any results.
Having fallen into the Taboo Realm, Chong Jiu’s world had forgotten about him a long time ago. Even if Yang Kai found his home, he might not be able to discover any traces of Chong Jiu’s existence.
However, as the saying goes, put forward your best, and leave the rest to the Heavens!
“I also want to find a way to overcome the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm Method.”
The Open Heaven Realm Method that the Human Race was currently cultivating was comprehended by the 10 Martial Ancestors from the World Tree and passed down through the ages. The Open Heaven Realm Method allowed the Human Race to gain a foothold in this world and gave them a chance to become the overlords of this Universe, but in the end, this cultivation method was flawed.
All cultivators who ascended to the Open Heaven Realm had innate limits imposed on them.
Such a cultivation system was obviously imperfect.
In the Taboo Realm, Yang Kai had come into contact with many Supreme Masters from different Universes, each of them had a different cultivation method, but very few of their methods had such obvious shackles as the Open Heaven Realm.
As the popular adage goes, stones from other hills may be used to polish one’s own jade. So, Yang Kai’s purpose of venturing out to explore was firstly to find traces of Chong Jiu, and secondly, to study the cultivation systems of other places to see if he could make use of them to improve the Open Heaven Realm Method.
Since the Human Race was now thriving, and countless Universe Worlds had been restored, even the originally desolate and dilapidated Black Ink Battlefield had regained its vitality, the Humans no longer needed to worry about living space and cultivation resources. Yang Kai felt that it was time to shift his attention to future issues.
What’s more, there was not just his Universe in the vast and endless void. Although he had now reached the World Creation Realm, no one could say with absolute certainty that there were not any existences stronger than him out there.
If one day a Master from another Universe came to invade, their side must have enough strength to protect themselves.
This was also a form of preparation for the rainy days.
“If you can find such a thing, could we break through to the World Creation Realm?” Xiang Shan asked.
“Probably not,” Yang Kai shook his head. He had experienced breaking through to the World Creation Realm first hand, so he knew the method to do so and understood it was not something that could be achieved by solving the shackles of the Open Heaven Method Realm. Rather, this breakthrough was more about opportunities, luck, and several other conditions. “The ideal situation is to allow the current Human Race to advance through the Open Heaven Realm without being affected by their innate shackles first.”
Originally, a cultivator who directly ascended to the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm would have an upper limit of the Fifth-Order, but if Yang Kai found a solution to this flaw, then a Third-Order Master would not only be able to reach the Sixth-Order in the future, but he would also be able to cultivate to the limit of what he could achieve, perhaps even reaching the Ninth-Order one day.
In that case, the Human Race, with the help of two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, would be able to give birth to even more Eighth-Order, and Ninth-Order Masters…
If a Ninth-Order Master wanted to break through to the World Creation Realm, they would first need to study the 10,000 Grand Daos. When his or her mastery of the Grand Daos had reached a certain level, they would finally be able to touch the Taboo of this world. Finally, if that person could break the restriction of the Taboo Realm, they would then advance to the World Creation Realm.
Yang Kai had already traversed this path, so if the Ninth-Order Masters took this path again in the future, it would be a bit easier and more relaxed than when he had first ventured onto it.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Mi Jing Lun nodded his acknowledgement, “Then I wish you all the best, but we won’t be able to provide much help in this matter. You can only count on yourself.”
With Yang Kai confirming the existence of the World Creation Realm, the Ninth-Order Masters were all diligently cultivating and studying the mysteries of various Grand Daos. Furthermore, with Yang Kai’s current cultivation, they would not be able to provide any support to him even if they accompanied him.
Yang Kai nodded before turning to his Wives.
Yu Ru Meng stated with a snort, “You can forget about leaving us behind this time.”
Although the other women didn’t say anything, their determined expressions were speaking for themselves.
Yang Kai smiled, “Then, let’s go together.”
The group of women immediately broke into cheers. They were obviously overjoyed as they had not expected Yang Kai to agree so easily. Immediately, the group of women gathered around Yang Kai, chatting and laughing.
“Old Tree!” Yang Kai suddenly called out to the void, “Let’s go.”
In response to his call, the World Tree’s illusory phantom appeared in everyone’s field of vision. The towering giant tree was no longer lifeless as it used to be; rather, it was lush and brimming with vitality. Not only that, but countless World Fruits were also hanging from its branches.
In the past, Yang Kai had borrowed the World Tree’s power to travel to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from the edge of the Universe. This made the Old Tree consume too much energy and it fell into deep slumber.
Only when Yang Kai returned after reaching the World Creation Realm and began using his Space-Time River to repair the Universe Worlds in the various Great Territories did the Old Tree slowly wake from his slumber.
The World Tree was closely connected to the Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds; everyone’s rise and fall was connected with each other. When the Black Ink Clan occupied the 3,000 Worlds, the World Tree was shrouded in a miasma of gray energy for many years, which left it in a desolate state. As the Universe Worlds died one after another, the fruits hanging on its branches also began to wither and fall. This caused the Old Tree to shrivel and grow older.
It had to be brought to notice that these World Fruits were the embodiments of the vitality of the various Universe Worlds. If the Universe Worlds were alive, their corresponding fruits were fresh and alive, if the Universe Worlds died, their corresponding fruits withered and fell.
Apart from the countless Universe Worlds Yang Kai had repaired over the past few thousand years, he had also placed the 3,000 Universe Worlds that Mu had left behind in her Space-Time River in the various Great Territories. Not only that, Yang Kai had also restored the Universe Worlds on the Black Ink Battlefield.
In light of this, the Old Tree’s vitality had significantly increased, and the number of fruits hanging from it was more than twice of when it was at its prior peak.
In the past, it was impossible for the Old Tree to manifest its figure outside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but now, it could easily do so.
Its thick trunk might give off the appearance of an old tree, but it bore no marks to show its age; rather, it seemed much younger than before.
It could be said that ever since Yang Kai began repairing the Universe Worlds, the Old Tree’s days had become more and more comfortable.
Old Tree smiled cheerfully at Yang Kai as it stretched out a branch which wrapped around Yang Kai and the various Women, before it gradually started glowing green.
By the time the glow faded away, Yang Kai and the others had disappeared.
In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, when Yang Kai and the others reappeared, the Old Tree gently withdrew its branches wrapped around them, and then sent over 10 seedlings, World Tree Clones, to Yang Kai with another branch.
“Be careful on your journey,” Old Tree advised before prompting its strength, sending Yang Kai and the others out of Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
When they reappeared, they were already standing on the edge of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Yang Kai carefully put away the 10 seedlings as they were necessary for his return journey. This would surely be a long and arduous journey, so without the guidance of Old Tree, even a World Creation Realm Master like him might get lost in the endless void.
Drawing on his experience the last time he returned from distant lands, Yang Kai had Old Tree prepare some seedlings in advance. This way, when he ventured deep into the vast, endless void, he could plant the seedlings on some Universe Worlds he found and use them to contact the Old Tree.
Furthermore, this would also help in strengthening the Old Tree’s foundation, because the Universe Worlds with World Tree clones planted on them would be included into the Old Tree’s teleportation range. All the Universe Worlds within this range would be imprinted onto Old Tree’s body, manifesting in the form of World Fruits.
In all likelihood, the World Tree’s teleportation range would increase with Yang Kai’s exploration. Perhaps after Yang Kai found a new Universe, he would be able to connect it to the 3,000 Worlds and travel freely between them.
Yang Kai summoned a Warship, whereupon everyone gathered in the cabin.
“Husband, which way should we go?”
“Let’s go this way.”
“Alright then, sit tight.”
“Right, if we’re all traveling outside, what about our children?”
“Their Grandfather and Grandmother are looking after them, there’s no need to worry. Also, it’s not like they are kids anymore.”
“Mhm, Father and Mother must be very happy with so many grandsons and granddaughters. It’s really envious! But they’ve gotten old, will they be able to look after them?”
“Their Uncle and Aunty are also looking after them.”
“That brat Yang Xiao, I’ve only seen him a few times over the years!”
*Peng!*
“Hey, if you want to talk, just talk. Why are you closing the door?”
“I don’t care. Big Sister has already given birth to two, but I’ve only given birth to one, I want to have another kid too. Husband, you can’t be unfair!”
“This isn’t something I can decide, eh… ahh, don’t tear my clothes, let’s talk it out!”
THE END.