Chapter 656: Entering the River of Time, A Mysterious Phantom
The black planet exploded with a loud crash. The fragmented rocks transformed into flying meteorites which shot across the four directions in the Chaos. The group fixed their gazes at the center of the explosion and saw a head appear in Yanmo’s hand. The head was also pitch black like metal and the most surprising thing about it was the single giant eye situated vertically in the middle of its face. The eye was staring straight at the group with a red glint.
“Run!” shouted Blackie. He turned around without hesitation and the group followed closely behind him. They all shot out across the Chaos in trails of light. They were not stupid enough to think they would be able to take Yanmo down now that he had recovered his head. They had no doubt he could completely wipe them out with only the power in his pinkie.
Yanmo put his head back on his neck and instantly, endless fierce light engulfed the Chaos and a loud humming sound could be heard all around. Powerful energy began to flow through his body which caused the laws of the universe to vibrate non-stop. This was the return of the king and the only way to survive was to surrender. He quickly chased after Blackie while still remembering to absorb the Spiritual Qi around him.
Jiang Liu sensed Yanmo’s movement behind him and shouted in shock, “He’s coming at us fast!”
“We can see that, Captain Obvious. Keep running as fast as you can!” said Blackie. They were taking the route they previously took but their force was much more powerful than before, raising another ruckus amongst one of the planet’s locals.
“What’s happening? Why are they back?”
“This is too frightening. Compared to them, I’m as weak as an ant.”
“They’ve reversed their roles. The bald dog’s being chased after this time!”
“Look, the headless figure’s headless no more! No wonder they’re being chased after.”
It was at this time that Yanmo slowly raised his palm against the planet as he expanded his body to the extent he could seemingly hold up the whole Chaos with one hand. Mighty forces rolled out from his body which was already much bigger than the planet, making it seem like the planet was nothing but a toy. Yanmo grabbed hold of the planet and imbibed everything into his body. Immediately, a series of frightened screams could be heard as the planet was sucked dry.
While doing that, Yanmo never stopped moving his feet as he continued chasing after Blackie. His single eye, which was fixed on Blackie, glowed even redder as it turned blood-red. “You stupid dog, die! Supernatural power, Death Stare!”
Blackie, who was running for his life, felt a sudden chill in his body as if he could be wiped out from the face of the world any second. He wiggled his butt without hesitation and shouted, “Mosaic Light!” Instantly, mosaic light shot out from his butt and surrounded the group.
To Yanmo’s eyes, Blackie and the group were completely hidden by the mosaic light and so he found it difficult to know where they were at. The loss of the target meant that his Death Stare attack was useless as it landed on a nearby planet, causing it to disappear at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“That’s one hell of a supernatural power!”
“It’s a good thing the master gave me these leather pants. We’re still alive thanks to it. Long live the mosaic!”
“Make sure to avoid the light cause I don’t think we can deflect it at all!”
“This Wisdom Elite’s too powerful. We’re no match against him!”
They were all stunned by Yanmo’s terrifying power and wished they could flee even faster.
“I’ll increase our speed with the power of the wind,” said Shi Tuqin as she quickly wrote something in the air. Immediately, their speed was drastically increased.
“What should we do, Lord Dog? How long do you think your mosaic light can last?” asked Huang Deheng anxiously.
“Lord Dog, maybe we should ask for help from the expert,” said Jiang Liu.
With the mosaic light still flowing out from his butt, Blackie gave the thought some consideration. “No, Yanmo’s too strong. He might disturb the master if we lead him back there. Under no circumstances can we allow that to happen.” He shook his head vigorously. “Only a Wisdom Elite can take him down and I know just the person. Follow me!” With that, he led the group off in another direction.
Soon, they arrived at the ancient battleground, and not long after, so did Yanmo. He stared at the mosaic and started to rush toward it while throwing a punch at the same time. The force of the power pummelled everything to the ground. Blackie quickly brought everyone to the river and entered it without any hesitation.
He planned to ask the Soul Master for help. It was the best plan he could come up with on such short notice. He was sure the Soul Master would be able to handle Yanmo for she was also of the Wisdom level. Not to mention, she had the Elite King’s corpse with her, too.
Once inside the River of Time, they knew they had entered a completely different world. A horrible pressure caused their minds to go into a trance and inexplicably gave birth to a sense of confusion as a deluge of chaotic voices crashed around in their ears. The river seemed peaceful on the surface but below that, it was kicking up angry foams against the sides.
“We have to be extra careful while here. The River of Time contains scenes and sounds from infinite periods of time. We must keep our Dao Hearts stabilized for it’s the end of the road if we lose it,” warned Blackie gravely.
Huang Deheng and Old Ling’s hearts began to beat wildly at the mention of the River of Time. The name sounded very familiar to them and instantly brought about a round of mixed feelings which caused them to shudder. No one had ever been able to confirm the existence of the River of Time. Now that they were faced with it, they became awestruck at the thought that the ability to go back in time itself was before them.
They walked along the river and scenes from their past floated before their eyes. There were times of happiness, sadness, anger, and regrets. The scenes were so temptingly close to them that they wished they could enter it and change the course of their histories.
Suddenly, they were brought back to the present by a crisp whipping sound. What greeted them was the sight of Qin Manyun looking at them sternly with a glowing willow branch in her hand. “Don’t lose yourself in the River of Time. What you see before you are nothing but illusions. There’s no way we can break through the barrier of time with our power.”
“That was a close shave. Thank you for saving us, Miss Qin,” said Huang Deheng and others. One would need to pay a heavy price to change the course of history. Even a Wisdom Elite would run into a risk of being engulfed by the River of Time. What was more to say about them?
Qin Manyun and Shi Tuqin became more and more awestruck as they delved deeper into the River of Time. When they first heard of Li Nianfan’s plan of resurrection, they felt his power to be beyond their imaginations, but now that they were walking inside the River of Time, they had a better understanding of what it would really take for Li Nianfan to do so. They nearly fell into despair at the thought of how much stronger Li Nianfan really was compared to an ordinary human being. This caused them to realize without a doubt that no one was comparable to the expert.
They realized Yanmo, too, had entered the River of Time when the waves around them thrashed even more wildly. The force of his entrance caused the water level to recede as one water pillar shot up to the sky.
“Run!” shouted Blackie decisively.
Yanmo did not immediately chase after them. He stood where he was with his trembling body as confusion began to fill his eyes. All the while, he ignored the water crashing against his body. Before his very eyes was the scene of the destruction of his world. The planets were dying, the sun and moon dimmed, and many living creatures were wiped out. He was reliving the past again—of the Eldritchs plundering and slaughtering.
He gave out an angry roar and an infinite aura erupted from within him, causing the River of Time to shake. He maniacally punched the air which caused no more than a little ripple here and there as if the scenes were protected by an invisible barrier. He kept on roaring and punching, punching and roaring while wishing vehemently to break the barrier and go back in time.
Meanwhile, Blackie and the rest of the group kept moving forward while the scenes changed before them. They saw the end of planets, the breaking apart of the heavens, the pitiful plight of many living creatures, the countless people who died in battle, skies stained red with their blood, and of course, the Eldritchs. There were no words to describe just how destitute those times were.
“I, Qing Di, killed twelve Chaos Daluo Golden Immortals of the Eldritch Clan. I asked the Elite, though dead, our clan will never perish!”
“I, Zhantian Dijun, killed three Wisdom level fighters of the Eldritch Clan. I pledge my loyalty to the human race to fight off all enemies!”
“I, Yu Linglong, will go into the Chaos Ocean in pursuit of the Eldritch Clan! I won’t back down in the face of danger!”
Qin Manyun was crying her heart out. “Why does this all have to happen? Why can’t we all live together in peace?”
“It was a tragic time. A total disaster for the Chaos. No one got away unaffected,” said Huang Deheng in a low voice.
Suddenly, they heard loud crashing sounds coming from in front of them. Terrible forces of energy erupted around them and made them jump.
“A fight must’ve broken out in the River of Time.”
“What a frightening aura. The fighters are definitely more powerful than us.”
“Could it be the Soul Master?”
The group was shocked and quickly rushed toward the location of the fight.
What greeted them were three figures flying above the river’s surface. An infinite amount of aura poured out of them which caused the water around them to flow in an opposite direction. Two of the figures belonged to the Soul Master and the Elite King. They could not see who the other person was but he must be strong to be able to go head-to-head against the Soul Master and the Elite King.
The Soul Master waved the Chaos Flag and the River of Time exploded. The water shot up to create a wall. The light of destruction from the Chaos Flag transformed into a black tornado that was aiming straight for the mysterious phantom. The mysterious phantom took out his hand from behind his back and pointed at the black tornado. Instantly, the power of Wisdom poured out from his finger and transformed into a ripple, freezing the black tornado.
“We’ve been at it for a long time now so why don’t you give up this futile attempt? There’s no way the two of you can stop me,” said the mysterious phantom with a cold laugh. He received an answer in the form of the Elite King’s attack. “Earth-Shattering Fist!” Although one could sense the Wisdom power pulsating within, it was infinitely more powerful than any Wisdom attack. Even brushing against it would cause a thousand planets to explode.
The mysterious phantom did not seem to be afraid and threw a punch, too. The impact of the collision between the two attacks parted the River of Time. If this was any other ordinary river, the water would have been completely evaporated by the impact. However, this was the River of Time after all. There was only a small ripple in the water before settling back to its original form.
“I can’t believe there’s another person in the River of Time. Do you think that mysterious phantom’s one of the Eldritchs?” asked Shi Tuqin in shock.
Qin Manyun knitted her brows together and answered, “It’s obvious the Soul Master and Elite King aren’t at the peak of their powers. Surely they would’ve defeated the mysterious phantom by now if they were.”
“I remember the Soul Master saying something about someone wanting to go back in time to kill the young Elite King. That mysterious phantom must be the person she was talking about! She came here to stop him!” said Blackie.
“Where did the mysterious phantom come from and how did it manage to enter the River of Time?” asked Shi Tuqin with a puzzled expression on her face.
The River of Time was in the ancient battleground which was situated in Chaos. It was obvious that the mysterious phantom was not in the Chaos, so how did it enter the River of Time?
“I think I can answer your question. Strictly speaking, the River of Time doesn’t exist. It can only be manifested using great power so it can appear anywhere the manifester wishes. However, I haven’t heard of anyone who could manifest the River of Time so it’s odd how there suddenly seems to be two people who can do that now,” explained Huang Deheng. “That mysterious phantom’s real body’s probably somewhere else. He must’ve used a special method to enter the River of Time.”
In actuality, he was extremely frightened at the thought of the mysterious phantom’s power. The mysterious phantom not only managed to enter the River of Time but his combat power had already reached the realm of a Wisdom Elite. That meant that with his real body, he could even surpass a Wisdom Elite! The mysterious phantom probably had a hand in all the catastrophes that ever occurred in the Chaos.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind them. It was Yanmo striding quickly and causing a mini-wave to rise with every step. His single eye was completely red and his whole body was emitting a cold murderous aura.
“We’re doomed,” said Jiang Liu with a low voice. They were hoping to be rescued by the Soul Master. It never crossed their minds that she herself would also be engaged in a desperate battle. Now, there were enemies on both sides. This would not end well for them.
“Lord Dog, what should we do?” asked the dispirited group.
“I’ll try to buy some time with my leather pants but after that, we’re on our own,” said Blackie with resignation in his voice.
“It’s you!” shouted Yanmo suddenly when he laid his eyes on the mysterious phantom. Instantly, he was filled with a powerful murderous intent as he rushed toward the mysterious phantom. “I’m going to kill you!”