Chapter 502: Just in Time.
SCRREEECH!
Following a deafening thunderclap, and just after Mu Gu Tian cried out in alarm, a pair of enormous white claws shot out from the Spatial Rift. They grabbed both sides of the opening and violently tore it wider! Like a fragile sheet of paper, the Spatial Rift was instantly ripped into a massive fissure roughly ten meters wide and thirty meters long!
The Spatial Power emanating from the fissure relentlessly tore at the surrounding dead branches and leaves, its pull like a black hole that sent a dreadful chill through everyone’s hearts.
"What is that?"
At that moment, two figures rushed toward Luofeng City’s North City Gate from a distance. The one in the lead was none other than the Xuanling Emperor, Xuan Yin, clad in a Golden Robe. Beside him was an elder in green robes with green hair, Wu Changqing.
"I’m not sure, but judging by those claws, it’s an incredibly powerful Magical Beast! Anything capable of tearing space must have reached the Venerable Realm at a minimum!" Wu Changqing’s expression was grim. In the two years since Mu Chen’s departure, he had spent every day and night trying to break through from the Emperor Realm to the Venerable Realm. But his efforts were in vain. It was as if the breakthrough to the Venerable Realm was actively resisting him. The more desperately he tried to break through and comprehend it, the more solid the bottleneck became, and the further the realm seemed to drift away.
"A Venerable Beast..." A deep despair filled Xuan Yin’s eyes. In the entire Xuanling Empire, besides Elder Mu, only two others had reached the Venerable Realm to become Martial Venerables: Di Cang and Qin Garden. And precisely when the Beast Tide erupted, neither of them was in the Empire. If the attack hadn’t been so sudden, he would have suspected the Magical Beasts had deliberately chosen this moment to strike.
’It seems the heavens themselves wish to destroy Xuanling.’
Xuan Yin’s sigh was met with silence from Wu Changqing, who finally said with resignation, "Your Majesty, there is no need to feel guilty. Perhaps the final outcome will be different. But that can only happen if we give it our all, even if it means laying down our lives for the Xuanling Empire."
At that moment, a flicker of understanding lit up in Wu Changqing’s eyes. ’Perhaps this is the purpose of life—to pour all of one’s strength into a single task, one you’re willing to die for. And for me, that task is to be a guardian!’
CHIME!
With the birth of this life-sacrificing epiphany, a clear, crisp chime suddenly echoed in Wu Changqing’s mind. The moment the sound spread through his Sea of Souls, Wu Changqing realized that the bottleneck preventing him from entering the Venerable Realm had vanished! Moreover, the Primordial Power he had cultivated for so long, pent up and suppressed by that bottleneck, finally erupted in full force! It completely shattered the thin membrane separating the realms!
A muffled THUMP sounded from within Wu Changqing’s body. Then, to his utter astonishment, his consciousness was pulled into an incredibly profound Illusion Realm! This Illusion Realm had no flowers, grass, or trees. It had no Attribute Elemental Power, nor anything that could be seen at all! It was pure nothingness! A void devoid of everything!
’Where am I...’
"Time and space are the Origin of this realm. Where there is time, there is space; where there is space, there is time. Time flows, space shifts, the vast seas turn to mulberry fields... O child from the world below... how much you comprehend now depends on your own destiny."
An ancient, ethereal voice echoed from the void and entered Wu Changqing’s mind. Immediately after, streams of gray energy surged in from all directions, pouring directly into his consciousness. Lines of obscure, esoteric symbols streaked through his mind. No, ’streaked’ wasn’t quite right. ’Flowed’ was the most fitting description!
They flowed. The profound symbols were like a running stream, passing through his mind once before vanishing without a trace. Throughout this process, Wu Changqing was utterly bewildered. He didn’t know what the symbols meant, nor did he understand their purpose. All he knew was that he desperately wanted to memorize them. But as soon as he committed one line to memory and moved to the next, the previous one would be completely gone, as if it had never been there.
’What in the world... are these things...’
Time flowed by, second by second. Of course, this was only the passage of time within the Void Space. In the Outer Realm, everything seemed to be frozen in place, utterly unchanged.
As time passed in the void, Wu Changqing made a strange discovery. The flowing symbols were gradually becoming less esoteric. At the very least, within long strings of symbols, he could now subconsciously grasp the meaning of one or two! Yet, when he tried to articulate the meaning of those symbols with words, he found them to be utterly indescribable. It was a profound type of information that could only be understood intuitively, never spoken.
If Mu Chen had been here, he would have instantly recognized this as the spatial comprehension Elder Mu had described to him. Those profound symbols were the fundamental elements of understanding Spatial Power. If, by the end, Wu Changqing failed to understand even a single symbol, it would mean he had failed to grasp even a sliver of Space Power.
However, according to what Elder Mu had told Mu Chen, when a Martial Artist breaks through to the Venerable Realm, they gain access to the Realm Battle Skill, Spatial Transmission, even if they haven’t comprehended any spatial elements. The only difference was that the distance they could travel and the stability of their control over space would be vastly inferior to someone who had truly grasped Spatial Power.
But Wu Changqing could now understand two or three symbols. It might not sound like much, but understanding just those few symbols was enough to make his control over Spatial Power several times more stable than those who understood none at all.
WHOOSH!
His vision blurred, and Wu Changqing felt a powerful force from the Outer Realm flood his body, jolting his consciousness fully awake. When he came to, he realized that Xuan Yin had been thrown back by the surge of power that had erupted from him.
He looked down at his own hands and clenched his fists. A thrill shot through Wu Changqing. ’This is an unprecedented level of power! It’s so immense it feels like it’s about to burst out of me!’
"Hah!"
With a loud cry, a dark green vortex suddenly enveloped Wu Changqing’s body. The vortex then began to solidify, hardening like metal to coat his entire frame before slowly melting and merging into his body!
This series of changes perfectly illustrated the evolution of Primordial Power defense from the Martial Sect realm to the Martial Venerable realm: from a Gangfeng Vortex to Elemental Armor. And now, in the final stage, that power had fused directly with his body, protecting his internal organs completely!
From the outside in!
Wu Changqing cracked a grin. A single, faint silver Martial Ring pulsed at his feet. But despite its dimness, this silver Martial Ring possessed an otherworldly power that far surpassed his nine dazzling purple rings from before!
’So this is the realm of a Martial Venerable? Finally! I no longer have to fight with the resolve to die! This time, my resolve is to drive back every last one of these beasts that dare to insult our Empire!’
His Mental Realm had undergone a monumental shift. After nodding to the stunned Xuan Yin, Wu Changqing took a single step into the void. When he reappeared, he was already standing before Mu Gu Tian and Wang Mo! Teleportation!
"!!"
A green-haired elder suddenly materialized before them, startling both Wang Mo and Mu Gu Tian. However, when they saw the National Guardian Elder Jade Token hanging from his waist, their tension immediately eased. For although the Xuanling Empire was a small nation, it still had its share of Martial Emperor experts. These experts were the powerful National Guardian Elders! Mu Gu Tian and Wang Mo had been fortunate enough to see one once, many years ago, on a trip to the Imperial Capital.
CRACKLE!
Just as Wu Changqing set foot on the city wall, the head of the mysterious Giant Beast finally emerged from the massive fissure in the sky. It resembled the head of a lion, yet it was far more majestic. It had a long mane of white fur that, at first glance, seemed to drift on the wind like a curtain of light. Streaks of black fur were interspersed within the snow-white mane. Instead of looking messy, they only served to enhance its regal and domineering presence, adding the air of a true King!
TSCH!
The moment the Giant Beast appeared, its dark-gold pupils swept over the other Magical Beasts that had gathered to watch. A flash of utter disdain flickered in its eyes and was gone.
"Father, we’ve arrived!"
It spoke human words!
Wang Mo and Mu Gu Tian were both stunned speechless. A Magical Beast that could speak human words had to be either a High Level Venerable Beast or a Holy Beast! But this Giant Beast had called out to its ’father’ the moment it appeared! Could it be? Was there an even more powerful Magical Beast behind it?!
"We finally made it. Looks like we’re just in time."
This voice wasn’t ancient, nor was it ferocious like a beast’s. It sounded... human. The moment Wu Changqing looked up and saw the Magical Beast, he was already overjoyed. But when he heard that familiar voice, he wanted nothing more than to leap into the sky and stand before the magnificent creature himself!
"That’s Chen’Er!"
Clearly, Wu Changqing wasn’t the only one who recognized that voice. There was someone else present who knew it even better: Mufeng!
After crying out, Mufeng, who had been standing before the Mu Family Members, paid no mind to the Giant Beast’s terrifying power. With a single leap, he shot toward the top of the beast’s head. A slender figure stood there, clad in a flowing black robe. A long, ice-blue ponytail swayed behind him in the wind. A black case was strapped to the small of his back. But most astonishing of all were his eyes!
They were an incredibly fantastical pair of eyes. Within his pupils, a translucent Ice Crystal flower was spinning rapidly...
"Father!"
A thousand unspoken words were condensed into that single one. Looking at this man, who had visibly aged, Mu Chen was finally overcome with emotion. Meanwhile, the Snow Qilin, Xiaobai, curiously observed the resolute man before them. He bore a striking resemblance to Mu Chen, and more importantly, Mu Chen had just called him "Father"...