Martial Peak

Chapter 5983: Ninth Level

Within Mu’s Space-Time River, Yang Kai was shrouded in his own Space-Time River as he used it to greedily devour everything around him.

The river was made out of Dao Strengths. Every single undercurrent and wave surged with Dao Strength, and as time passed, Yang Kai’s Space-Time River grew bigger while Mu’s river shrank.

It was entirely by chance, but it could not be denied that Yang Kai and Mu had walked the same path. This gave meaning to Mu’s countless years of patience and perseverance.

Due to trying to open the Profound Source Gate in the past, Mu’s Space-Time River was no longer complete, which cut off her future path. She could not explore the deeper mysteries of the Martial Dao; therefore, she passed down her hopes to those who came after her.

Among all the hidden hands she left behind, her Space-Time River was the final gift she had to offer; however, if a person wanted to harness this gift to make themselves more powerful, it would take time.

Perhaps even Mu would not have expected Yang Kai to be approved by so many of her remnant shadows.

Under normal circumstances, if Black Ink Strength had the irrefutable advantage in any of the 3,000 Universe Worlds and there was no hope of suppressing and sealing that particular Source piece, there would be no reason for Yang Kai to waste any time on that Universe World.

Nevertheless, during Yang Kai’s previous travels, he did his best to find every single remaining shadow of Mu. He wanted to save them all from their suffering and take them away from the Universe Worlds.

Each one that disappeared signified that the Mu of that time approved of Yang Kai.

After moving through some 2,700 Universe Worlds, Yang Kai received approval from over 2,000 of them, which was a massive number.

This allowed him to devour and refine Mu’s Space-Time River with greater efficiency.

As Yang Kai’s river kept expanding, his command over the many Dao Strengths increased as well. The enlightenment from the many mysteries exploded in his mind.

Yang Kai was deeply engrossed and could not extricate himself from what was happening inside his mind.

The joy of glimpsing into the mysteries of every Grand Dao was impossibly tantalising for any Master.

Grand Daos were the basis behind all existence and the ultimate goal of all cultivators. If someone were to be entirely immersed in this, there was a chance that they would forget all else and transform into Dao Strengths themselves.

This meant that Yang Kai’s situation was tricky as well; on the one hand, he had to resist the lure of the Dao Strengths, while on the other, he had to do his best to take them in to strengthen his own mastery of the Grand Daos.

He tried his best to maintain the balance of refining as quickly as possible while still remaining in control over his senses, making sure to not let himself be lost in the process.

All of a sudden, his mind felt as if it had received an awakening. It was as if he had broken through a barrier that had been preventing him from growing stronger.

Yang Kai realised that his mastery of the Dao of Time had reached the Ninth Level!

A Master’s strength was essentially divided based on their cultivation. Of the nine Orders of the Open Heaven Realm, each higher Order was much stronger than the previous. It was a clear and easy way of distinguishing between Masters.

However, this kind of division was not comprehensive and there could be great disparity in power even among Masters in the same Order of Open Heaven Realm.

The disparity came from the difference in accumulation of each Master, the power differential in the heritage of the Master’s Small Universe, as well as… the Master’s understanding of their Grand Daos.

The Open Heaven Realm involved the discovery and mastery of Grand Dao. In a sense, the higher the mastery of one’s Grand Dao, the stronger the Master.

Since the dawn of existence, no one had a clear way of defining the levels of mastery of the Grand Dao.

Thus, Yang Kai had split the mastery of Grand Daos into nine levels based on his own growth.

Superficial Contact, Peering Through the Doors, Taking the Initial Steps, Traversing a Familiar Path, Attaining Mastery Through Comprehensive Understanding, Exceeding the Ordinary to Reach the Extraordinary, Standing Above All Others Within Sight, Summiting the Peak, and finally Shocking History and Dazzling the Present!

This was merely his own method of division, one he shared with others, and some had adopted it. Until now, none tried to correct it. 

Yang Kai felt that he had differentiated them correctly.

His primary Grand Daos were the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space. These were the Dao Strengths that formed the basis of the Space-Time River; however, despite his many opportunities and his mastery over the Grand Daos, after all this time, he had only managed to cultivate the Dao of Time and the Dao of Space to the Eighth Level.

All this while, Yang Kai did not know how to break through to the Ninth Level; however, he had a vague feeling that if his mastery of the Dao of Time reached the Ninth Level, an indescribable change was bound to happen.

Finally, as Yang Kai refined Mu’s Space-Time River, he was able to make a breakthrough on one of his primary Grand Daos, allowing it to reach the Ninth Level!

[To think it’s the Dao of Time first! Not the Dao of Space!] Yang Kai had always thought it would have been the latter that would be the first to reach the Ninth Level of mastery.

Yang Kai was a little taken aback as the Dao of Space was the first one that he truly cultivated. He had his Dragon Source to thank for his ability to cultivate the Dao of Time to its current level.

The Dao of Time was the Bloodline Talent of the Dragon Clan.

All at once, Yang Kai gained a mysterious sense of understanding. As he lifted his hand ever so slightly within the Space-Time River, he seemed to be able to grab onto the flow of Time!

In the past, he was able to make Time flow quicker within his Space-Time River to cultivate 10 times faster, but he could not truly control the passage of Time.

But, he could do so now!

With the increase in Yang Kai’s command over the Dao of Time, his Dragon Vein surged and he could not stop himself from raising his head and letting out a Dragon Roar. His Dragon Scales rustled as his Dragon Form enlarged!

His Dragon Vein had advanced even further.

This was a great surprise.

However, before Yang Kai could dwell on his joy, his mastery over his other primary Grand Dao broke into the Ninth Level as well.

This time, it was the Dao of Space!

Once again, the mysterious sense of enlightenment flooded Yang Kai’s mind. He felt his mind grow hazy. It was as if it had been stuffed full with the truth of the Grand Daos, which he did not understand in the past. The truth of existence was unfolding in front of him.

He quickly harnessed the strength of his Soul Warming Lotus, even though he was uncertain whether it would help.

The clarity that poured back into his mind made him feel a little better.

Now that Yang Kai’s mastery of both the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time had reached the Ninth Level, his Space-Time River became even more massive.

Previously, his Space-Time River looked like a blade of grass in comparison to Mu’s river, which was like a tall tree; however, after all the refining he had done thus far, his river grew bigger and could now be likened to a shrub instead.

While the tree was still a tree, it had grown a lot smaller.

That was not the only difference. At first, Yang Kai had a hard time keeping up with his frenzied attempt to refine Mu’s river to strengthen his own.

The Dao Strengths of Space and Time formed the foundation of the river, and without a strong enough command over both, it was hard for Yang Kai to control the colossal river.

It was akin to a building. If a building’s foundation had only been built for five storeys, the building ran the risk of collapsing if 10 storeys were built instead.

Yang Kai’s command over the Daos of Time and Dao of Space was the foundation in this scenario, and by having a greater mastery over these two Grand Daos, his foundation became stronger. This transformation was evident in the river’s physical state. While it looked a little scattered earlier, it was now a lot more concentrated.