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Translator: Silavin & Raikov
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
In the midst of the gruelling wait, an aura belonging uniquely to Masters in the Ninth Order rippled out, and as their Small Universe burst out in expansion, everyone knew that the first successful Ninth-Order Master had appeared.
It was not Zheng Wu You, but instead another rising star from the Burning Moon Army.
Everyone who was watching the situation closely couldn’t help but reveal joyful expressions.
The birth of the first Ninth-Order Master seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Within the coming half day, a second and a third success appeared. After the day was over, the number had grown to as many as seven.
By the next day, there were 11.
By the third day, 14.
The fourth day, 17!
The success rates of the rising stars who have received feedback from the World Tree clones and possessed unparalleled talent were incredibly high. Until now, none of them had shown too many problems with advancing.
However, there were still six who were struggling to break through, which Yang Kai and the others couldn’t help but worry about.
Breaking through as a result of sudden enlightenment had to be done in one fell swoop. The longer it dragged on, the worse the situation would become.
Four days have already passed. Those who were able to break through successfully had already broken through. The remaining six would likely experience some setbacks, which made the others worry and also feel helpless at the same time.
Nobody could help another person break through, everything depended on their own hard work and accumulations. If their accumulation was enough and their luck was not bad, then they would naturally be able to succeed, just like the 17 before them, but fate was a tricky thing that nobody could perfectly predict…
Yang Kai suddenly turned his gaze towards a certain direction. There, a person was pushing their aura hard. The illusory phantom of their Small Universe was constantly expanding and contracting behind them as if it were a living being that was breathing. If everything went smoothly, then once the illusory phantom of the Small Universe expanded to its limit, it would break through and expand greatly.
However, Yang Kai clearly sensed that this cultivator was somewhat lacking in strength, and he couldn’t help but sigh, knowing that it would be difficult for them to succeed with their current heritage.
This was inevitable. Throughout history, the path from the Eighth Order to the Ninth Order had always been full of obstacles. If there existed those who succeeded, then it was only natural for some to fail as well.
At a certain moment, when the illusory phantom of the Small Universe expanded again, there was an obvious sound of something breaking.
This caused the expressions of all the Ninth-Order Masters who were paying attention to this person to change, and the cultivator who was trying to break through also had a panicked look on his face. He then opened his eyes with a bitter expression.
The cracking sounds grew more and more intense, and the illusory phantom of his Small Universe was becoming difficult to maintain. His Small Universe seemed to be on the brink of rupturing. The person turned their head to Yang Kai, and after a moment of anxiety, his expression calmed down. He smiled, ready to accept his final fate.
The next moment, his vision suddenly blurred, and Yang Kai, who had been observing from a distance, appeared in front of him and raised his hand to touch the top of his head.
A river flowed and waves roared. The Space-Time River enveloped everything, and Space-Time Strength suppressed and sealed the local space. Everything seemed to turn still, including the rupturing of the Small Universe.
The man looked up at Yang Kai in surprise and asked, “Dao Lord?”
Yang Kai lowered his head to look at him and smiled, “Are you in such a hurry to die?”
The man felt a little ashamed and lowered his head, unable to meet Yang Kai’s gaze directly, “I did my best, but I still failed to live up to Dao Lord’s expectations.”
Yang Kai was silent for a moment before he spoke in a commanding voice, “Look at me, Wang Chang!”
The man raised his head abruptly, feeling extremely surprised, “Dao Lord remembers me?”
Even though he was born in the Void Dao Temple, he never interacted much with Yang Kai after being brought out of the Void Dao Temple and meeting him for the first time. He was proficient in neither the Dao of Time nor the Dao of Space, but cultivated the Spear Dao instead. He was also not qualified to be selected to be a Void Guard, and over the years, he had never received any more attention or care from Yang Kai.
He thought that someone as great as the Dao Lord, the one who shouldered the fate of his people, would only be concerned about the survival of the Human Race. Even though he came from the Void Dao Temple, the only connection they had was in name. The Dao Lord had also never given special treatment to any of the disciples who came from the Void Dao Temple.
He never thought that he would be called out by the Dao Lord by name today.
“I remember every one of you,” Yang Kai began, “The survival of the 3,000 Worlds was not really your concern to begin with, yet I brought you out of the Void Dao Temple and threw you into this cruel and bloody battlefield to sacrifice yourselves for the survival of a group of Humans you have never met before. If anyone should feel guilty, it should be me.”
Wang Chang was anxious to respond, “It is the honour of us disciples to serve you, Dao Lord.”
“Even so,” Yang Kai nodded gently, “You are all excellent, and have never let me down.”
Wang Chang’s expression turned grim, “This disciple cannot break through to the Ninth Order, and my Small Universe is about to rupture…”
“So what if you reach the Ninth Order? So what if you’re in the Eighth Order? You slaughtered many of our enemies from the Black Ink Clan. It is the same when you were in the Eighth-Order. You still killed our enemies and pushed them back. You also protected your allies behind you. Your Eldest Senior Brother Miao’s aptitude is limited. Unless he can obtain a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, he will never be able to reach the Ninth Order, but isn’t he still living a fulfilling life? You didn’t fail to break through because you have not worked hard enough. Destiny simply didn’t favour you today, that is all,” Yang Kai reassured him.
Turning the conversation around, Yang Kai raised his voice, “I only ask you one thing. Even if you cannot reach the Ninth Order in this lifetime, can you still hold on to your original convictions and sacrifice yourself for the Human Race? Will you fight and slay our enemies to eradicate this evil?”
Wang Chang answered meekly, “Naturally, I am willing, but Dao Lord… my Small Universe is about to rupture, can I still survive?”
The Small Universe was the foundation of every Open Heaven Realm Master. If the Small Universe ruptures, the cultivator would perish.
Yang Kai grinned, “Are you dead now?”
“Not yet.” Wang Chang shook his head. Even he himself thought his answer was ridiculous after saying it.
“If you are willing to live, then you can live. If you are not willing, no one can save you!”
Wang Chang seemed to understand something and his dark eyes lit up again, “Dao Lord, please save me!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. Looking up at the Small Universe behind Wang Chang, he contemplated for a moment before extending a finger. At the same time, the Space-Time River that suppressed and sealed this space began to surge wildly.
In the far-off void, Mi Jing Lun and others were watching the situation attentively. Everyone was heartbroken. After 17 out of the 23 cultivators eligible to break through to the Ninth Order successfully advanced, a failure still appeared in the end.
At such a critical moment, failure was equivalent to death!
However, just as everyone was silently waiting for fate to carry out its judgement, the Space-Time River suddenly appeared, surrounded by the fluctuation of the Space Principles.
It wasn’t until this moment that everyone realised that Yang Kai had rushed over.
No one knew why Yang Kai had gone over at this time, but before anyone could see what was happening, the Space-Time River suddenly disappeared. Following that, Yang Kai returned to his original position.
It was as if he had never left.
Only his face was slightly paler than before.
“Junior Brother, you…” Mi Jing Lun was shocked.
“Huh? What just happened?!” Ou Yang Lie suddenly exclaimed, scaring Mi Jing Lun so much that he choked on his words.
Following his gaze, all the Ninth-Order Masters were shocked by what they saw. The rupturing of Wang Chang’s Small Universe had mysteriously been reversed, leaving the illusory phantom behind him completely intact. The only differences were there was no longer any sign of a breakthrough going on and Wang Chang’s aura had become weaker, as if his foundation had been damaged.
Many thoughts flashed through Mi Jing Lun’s mind as he turned to Yang Kai in astonishment, “Junior Brother, what did you do?”
Regardless of what Yang Kai did, they could tell from the results in front of them that Wang Chang, who was doomed to die, had been saved while his breakthrough had failed.
Compared to dying and fading away, this was undoubtedly a good result. At the very least, Wang Chang had survived and could still contribute to the war.
Yang Kai said, “I crippled hundreds of years of his foundation.”
“Is that also possible?” Ou Yang Lie couldn’t stop his eyes from widening in surprise. This was an incredible event that was simply unheard of, but bizarre things seemed to happen around Yang Kai often.
Xiang Shan furrowed his brow, “Even if you have crippled hundreds of years of his foundation, how did you save his life when his Small Universe was about to rupture?”
“Many things can be done in a frozen space-time. I just gave it a try and it somehow worked,” Yang Kai gave a casual explanation.
Everyone finally understood.
Just now, they only saw Yang Kai rushing to Wang Chang’s side for an instant before returning. In reality, the time Yang Kai spent in that frozen space-time was not just a moment. He must have made a lot of preparations and used many means to suppress Wang Chang’s breakthrough to save his life.
What he did was nothing short of a miracle.
But manipulating Space-Time on any level was not an easy task. Whether it be the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, both were extremely profound and esoteric. Yang Kai was perhaps the only person capable of such means in this universe.
“What are the drawbacks?” Mi Jing Lun asked excitedly. He was originally worried that they would have to see their people fading away among those who were breaking through to a higher realm, but seeing that Yang Kai had such a technique, he could save their lives. These warriors have served the Human Race for thousands of years, so even if they had to die, it should be on the battlefield. It was the honour they deserved. They should not be dying on the path of breaking through!
The only thing to worry about now was whether there were any drawbacks to this method of saving people.
“He will never be able to break through this bottleneck again in his lifetime. If he’s lucky, he may return to the peak of the Eighth Order, but if he’s unlucky, he will only be able to maintain his current cultivation,” Yang Kai explained.
Crippling several hundred years of Wang Chang’s cultivation had brought him down directly from the peak of the Eighth Order, and this kind of destruction caused by external forces had undoubtedly damaged Wang Chang’s foundation.
That was also the reason why Yang Kai had spoken so much with Wang Chang earlier. For a favoured son of Heaven who had the potential to stand at the pinnacle of Martial Dao, lingering on and barely surviving might not be considered a blessing. The greatest pain and torment for a cultivator was to have one’s Martial Dao being cut off.
If Wang Chang was unable to accept such a fate, he would still perish. Only by letting go of his obsession could Yang Kai’s rescue become meaningful.
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.