Martial Peak
chapter-5425

To a Dragon Clan member, their Dragon Bead was like a Monster Core to a Monster Beast. It was the essence of their cultivation, and they wouldn’t easily summon it, but once they did, either their enemy would die, or they would perish.

Summoning a Dragon Bead to deal with enemies was a powerful trump card, but it almost always resulted in damage to the Dragon Bead. When that happened, the power of their Dragon Vein would be like a tree without roots or a river without a source, diminishing their strength to a great degree, if not crippling or killing them outright.

In the past, Yang Kai had summoned his Dragon Bead to kill a badly injured Territory Lord. As a result, his Dragon Bead was damaged, and it took him many years to restore it.

At that time, his Dragon Vein was still very weak, and he could only transform into a 30,000-metre Grand Dragon.

Now, he was an Ancient Dragon, so his Dragon Bead was significantly mightier than in the past.

This was the last move he could use. At this moment, the power in his Small Universe had almost dried up, and his physical body had reached its limit, yet the undercurrents in the Great Sea were as turbulent as ever. If even his Dragon Bead couldn’t open up a path for him to survive, he would be powerless to do anything else.

Fortunately, the Dragon Bead of an Ancient Dragon did not disappoint. The instant it was summoned, an immense power exploded forth. There seemed to be a Dragon swimming within the Dragon Bead, and the intense Dragon Pressure which was released smashed all the turbulent undercurrents in its way.

At the same time, cracks started appearing on the Dragon Bead.

Yang Kai followed his Dragon Bead closely as he broke free from the undercurrent he was currently stuck in and entered the next.

The Dragon Bead shot forward, breaking through all the obstacles as more and more cracks appeared on it.

It smashed through three undercurrents in quick succession, and just as Yang Kai was worried that his Dragon Bead would be destroyed, he felt that all the pressure around him had been lifted. It was as though he had arrived at a completely different World.

Since he entered the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, it had been one crisis after another; however, this space felt totally serene.

It was still an undercurrent, but it was significantly less violent than the ones he had encountered before. Yang Kai even had a feeling that he was surrounded by a different kind of Martial Domain, but before he could look into it, his vision turned dark, and he realised he was about to pass out.

He knew that he had reached his limits. His body, Soul, and Dragon Bead had all been damaged, so he was just one step away from death.

Without hesitation, Yang Kai quickly retrieved his Dragon Bead, which was so full of cracks that it was as though it would break apart at any moment. Following that, he blacked out and collapsed.

At this moment, Yang Kai was so lethargic and dazed that he couldn’t think straight, a clear sign that his Soul had been badly damaged.

Outside Great Evolution Pass back then, Yang Kai had experienced a similar kind of sluggishness after he used too many Soul Rending Thorns to attack a number of Territory Lords inside a Black Ink Nest Space.

He had no idea how long he remained unconscious, but when Yang Kai regained his senses, he was still in a daze.

Withstanding the excruciating pain, he soon recalled what had happened before he blacked out. Without hesitation, he emptied his mind and stimulated his Soul Warming Lotus’ power to repair his Soul.

Due to the damage to his Soul, he was unable to think clearly. Now that he was in a somewhat safer situation, his most important task was to restore himself. Other matters could wait.

The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure of the Universe, so even when Yang Kai was unconscious, it continued to exude its wondrous power to heal him, but now that he was wide awake, he could make far better use of its effects.

Even so, it still took Yang Kai about half a year before he managed to mostly recover from the injuries on his Soul.

He still hadn’t fully recovered, but he was at least able to think straight now. The Soul Warming Lotus would take care of the rest of the damage on its own.

While he was restoring his Divine Sense, Yang Kai did not forget to heal his physical wounds either.

He consumed lots of pills and stimulated the restorative power of his Dragon Vein to mend his wounds. Although he still looked battered, at the very least his bones weren’t visible anymore.

His injuries were severe this time; in fact, he had never been more badly wounded before. Even though there were times when he fell into perilous situations in the past, he had never been so battered.

He was almost pushed over the edge when he was pursued by the Royal Lord.

It wasn’t until now that he had time to inspect his surroundings.

After inspecting them for a while, Yang Kai had a better idea of what was going on.

He was certain that he was still within an undercurrent in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. This undercurrent was apparently carrying him as it traversed the Great Sea, as though there would never come a day when it stopped; however, this undercurrent was different from the ones he had encountered before. Those undercurrents were all filled with different kinds of Martial Domains which formed into invisible attacks that killed any invaders.

Nevertheless, the present undercurrent was stable, without a hint of murderous intent. All Yang Kai could feel was peace and tranquillity, which was a stark contrast to the other undercurrents.

He couldn’t help but wonder why there wasn’t any Martial Domain in this undercurrent. What made it different from the others?

As he continued his inspection though, Yang Kai was surprised by what he found.

In fact, there was a Martial Domain that pervaded this undercurrent as well, but it was not savage and chaotic, which was why it felt calm and tranquil.

[What kind of Martial Domain is this?]

Yang Kai emptied his mind and immersed himself in the Martial Domain. As expected, he soon felt an invisible power washing over his body; however, it didn’t have any negative impact on him, which was unlike the other undercurrents that could harm him.

All of a sudden, his entire figure shook.

That was because he finally realised what kind of Martial Domain it was.

It was a Martial Domain of Time!

If not for the fact that he had cultivated the Dao of Time and could be considered an expert in it, Yang Kai wouldn’t have noticed this.

Time was invisible and intangible. A living being could barely notice the flow of time, which went by in silence and without a trace.

However, Yang Kai could feel time flowing in this undercurrent.

Since this was a Martial Domain of Time, then the power that was washing over him had to be Time Principles. It was delicate and almost imperceptible.

All of a sudden, a name he had heard of a long time ago sprang into his mind.

[Temporal River!]

The cultivation of an Open Heaven Realm Master was all about accumulation as it took much time and effort for a cultivator to enhance the heritage of their Small Universe.

Other than consuming an Innate Open Heaven Pill which was formed in the Universe Furnace, or a World Fruit from the World Tree, there were no shortcuts to speak of when it came to the cultivation of an Open Heaven Realm Master.

Nevertheless, that didn’t mean that this rule couldn’t be bent.

There were two shortcuts when it came to the cultivation of an Open Heaven Realm Master.

Firstly, there were the Small Source Worlds. When Yang Kai was still a newly promoted Sixth-Order Master, he had entered a Small Source World in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven that had benefited him greatly.

The reason he was able to break through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm so quickly was largely thanks to his experience in that Small Source World, which saved him several hundred years of cultivation.

The second shortcut was the Temporal River.

When Xu Ling Gong led Yang Kai to the Small Source World back then, he told him about this miraculous treasure. Xu Ling Gong said that the flow of time inside a Temporal River was different from the outside world. Perhaps 10 years or even 100 years would pass in a Temporal River while only a single year went by in the outside world.

In comparison, Small Source Worlds were true shortcuts, while Temporal Rivers were more akin to the situation inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe. While one was inside a Temporal River, the flow of time was indeed real, but it was faster than in the outside world.

Yang Kai had experienced a Small Source World before, and it was indeed incredible. All the Cave Heavens and Paradises regarded them as core treasures, and only the best disciples were allowed to enter them.

Moreover, every time a Small Source World was used, it would take many years before it would be activated again as part of its Source Strength would be absorbed.

Although Yang Kai had heard about Temporal Rivers from Xu Ling Gong before, he had never seen one.

There were no known Temporal Rivers in the 3,000 Worlds, nor were there any on the Black Ink Battlefield, so Yang Kai had always thought that they were just an ancient legend.

Xu Ling Gong must have seen such a record from the ancient books in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven.

It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai realised that Temporal Rivers were real.

If this undercurrent he was presently in was isolated, it would basically be a river.

If the undercurrents that contained different Martial Domains were isolated, in addition to the Temporal River, there would be Sword Dao River, Saber Dao River, Yin Dao River, Yang Dao River, Alchemic Dao River, and so on.

Temporal Rivers must have existed in the 3,000 Worlds before, which was why there were records of them.

Yang Kai should have realised it the instant he entered this undercurrent; however, his mind was muddled due to the damage in his Soul at the time, so he failed to notice anything.

[How was this Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon formed?] Yang Kai was dumbstruck.

As he recalled it, the transformation and evolution of those Martial Domains in the undercurrents looked like different Masters casting incredible attacks at first sight, but thinking back on it now, Yang Kai realised that the intrinsic nature of all of these rivers was ancient and untraceable.

All of a sudden, something seemed to have dawned on him.

This Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon as well as the Celestial Phenomena he had and had not seen might have naturally formed when the Heavens and Earth first split apart. Those Celestial Phenomena contained the purest form of powers of the Universe, which was why the Martial Domains in this Great Sea all felt so ancient.

Only when an Emperor Realm Master realised their own Grand Dao and condensed their Dao Seal would they be capable of breaking through their shackles and ascending to the Open Heaven Realm.

There were all sorts of Grand Daos in the Universe, and each of these Grand Daos had an infinite number of variations; therefore, the Dao Seal of every Open Heaven Realm Master was slightly different.

Even for cultivators who cultivated the same Grand Dao, their Dao Seals wouldn’t be identical.

The Dao of Space that Yang Kai had cultivated was distinct and different from that of Li Wu Yi.

His mastery and understanding of the Dao of Time were also different from that of the Flowing Time Great Emperor, and could not be the same as those of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue.

The brightest cultivators who had left Yang Kai’s Small Universe often inherited his aptitudes in the Spear Dao, Dao of Space, and Dao of Time. They had a natural advantage when it came to cultivating these three Grand Daos; however, none of them followed the exact same Martial Dao as Yang Kai.

If one compared the myriad Grand Daos to a tree, then each Grand Dao was like a branch that would grow into many different twigs and leaves. Those twigs and leaves came from the same source, but they were all slightly different.

All the Grand Daos intertwined with one another, and there had to be a source, which was the very foundation of the Grand Daos.

Although there were many different Grand Daos, they all could be traced back to the same source.

If this Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon was naturally formed when the Heavens and Earth split apart, the Martial Domains rich in Dao Essence in the undercurrents might not be the source of those Grand Daos, but they must contain part of the source’s aura.

In other words, these undercurrents contained the raw power of the Universe, the very foundation of all Grand Daos!