Chapter 5426, No Other Choice
Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Upon that realization, Yang Kai couldn’t help grinning. His laughter was muffled initially, but as time passed, he started guffawing to the point where he cried tears of joy.
Although he had gone through so much hardship and almost lost his life, he came across such an opportunity!
To escape from the sheep-headed Royal Lord, he took the risk and dove into this Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. It never crossed his mind that he would arrive at such a cultivation paradise.
There was no doubt that the undercurrents in the Great Sea were akin to innate treasures of the Universe. Their very existence was a natural wonder.
At that instant, Yang Kai even had the urge to thank the Royal Lord. If not for the latter’s relentless pursuit, he would never have come across this place.
It had only been several hundred years since he ascended to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, and although time flowed several times faster in his Small Universe than other Open Heaven Realm Masters, and he had a World Tree clone to purify his World Force, both of which allowed him to cultivate multiple times faster than average, he was still a long way off from the Eighth-Order.
Yang Kai estimated that it would be another 1,000 to 2,000 years before he could achieve a breakthrough.
That length of time seemed too daunting to him.
Initially, this reality was giving him a severe headache. He had been trying to come up with ways to increase his cultivation speed so that he could make it to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm sooner. He even had the urge to seek out the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary so that he could ask for a High-Rank World Fruit from the World Tree.
However, the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary had been elusive since time immemorial. He was extremely lucky even to have a chance to enter it back then, so it seemed practically impossible for him to go there again.
Furthermore, even if he managed to find the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, would the World Tree even give him a High-Rank World Fruit?
Just like Mo, the World Tree was one of the oldest living beings in the Universe. If it refused to give Yang Kai the World Fruit, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
Now that he was inside a Temporal River though, Yang Kai didn’t have to worry about ascending to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm anymore.
Yang Kai wondered what the time flow differential in this Temporal River was compared to the outside world, but by analyzing the Time Principles around him and considering the density of Time Dao Essence, he believed the flow of time here was at least 10 times faster than normal.
In other words, if he spent ten years in this place, only one year would pass in the outside world.
He could cultivate in this place with peace of mind until the day he made it to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Although as a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was no match for the sheep headed Royal Lord, he was able to evade him for several years. If he managed to ascend to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he had the confidence to flee from the Royal Lord with ease even if he was incapable of defeating him.
A fervent Yang Kai immediately fished out all sorts of resources and started refining them, but a problem soon came to his mind.
Did he have enough resources to reach the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm?
Initially, he had accumulated a staggering amount of resources, more than enough to reach the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm; after all, he had plundered quite a few Black Ink Clan territories over the years and acquired a massive quantity of cultivation materials.
However, when Cang asked for some resources to restore himself back then, Yang Kai had passed the bulk of what he owned to him.
Moreover, to escape from the Royal Lord over the years, Yang Kai had used up a large amount of the Blue and Yellow Crystals he had left. As a result, he was seriously lacking in Yin and Yang Element materials.
He certainly had sufficient Five-Element materials, but if he used up all his Yin and Yang Element materials before he ascended to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he would be in serious trouble.
However, it was pointless for him to worry about it at this point. He would find out if he had sufficient resources as he cultivated.
He then circulated his Secret Art and began refining a set of Seven Element materials. They were absorbed by Yang Kai and turned into the heritage of his Small Universe.
The speeds at which Open Heaven Realm Masters could refine materials varied. The fundamental reason was the sturdiness of their Dao Seals they had condensed when they were still Emperor Realm Masters.
The more robust their Dao Seal was, the quicker one could refine cultivation materials.
Therefore, even if two Open Heaven Realm Masters were in the same Order, the speeds at which they could refine resources could be very different. The one with a better foundation could refine materials more quickly and grow their power more rapidly. Even a slight difference would become massive over hundreds or thousands of years.
When Yang Kai condensed his Dao Seal back then, he was able to withstand the impact of Seventh-Order materials, so when it came to the speed of refining materials, only those once-in-a-generation geniuses from the Cave Heavens and Paradises were somewhat comparable to him in the entire 3,000 Worlds.
Since Yang Kai was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, he could fully refine a set of Fifth-Order materials in a few days.
Then, he fished out another set of materials.
The process of cultivation was dull, but the increase in power was real and exhilarating.
Therefore, despite the monotony, a cultivator was more than capable of cultivating in seclusion for hundreds of years.
Once a person was engrossed in the increase of their power, they would no longer feel the passage of time.
Half a year later, Yang Kai’s flesh wounds had mostly healed, and although his Soul was still damaged, he didn’t have to worry about it as he had the Soul Warming Lotus’ help.
However, his Dragon Bead was still full of cracks. From previous experiences, Yang Kai knew that repairing a Dragon Bead couldn’t be rushed. It required him to use the power of his Dragon Vein to nurture it slowly. Perhaps it would be restored to a perfect state again in several hundred years.
After refining another set of materials, Yang Kai opened his eyes and sensed his surroundings.
Then, he furrowed his brow because he detected some unusual changes.
Over the past six months, besides refining materials to increase his cultivation, Yang Kai had also been making use of the ambient Time Principles and Time Dao Essence in the Temporal River to comprehend the Dao of Time.
He had benefited greatly from this.
The Bloodline Talent of the Dragon Clan was the Dao of Time. Back in the Dragon Pool, Yang Kai managed to grow into a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon. With the increase in the power of his Dragon Vein, his mastery over the Dao of Time had also improved significantly, growing from the Sixth Level to the Seventh Level. It was only one level behind his mastery over the Dao of Space now, which had reached the Eighth Level.
Nevertheless, that single level was still a far distance to cross.
The reason the flow of time was different in a Temporal River was that it was filled with ample Time Dao Essence.
The Time Dao Essence and Time Principles continuously washed over Yang Kai’s mind and body. This kind of impact was invisible and imperceptible to someone who had never cultivated the Dao of Time, so they wouldn’t detect any anomaly while inside the Temporal River. It wasn’t until after one left this place that they realised the flow of time was different.
On the other hand, Yang Kai could make use of these impacts to study the Dao of Time. He could even refine the Time Dao Essence directly to improve his mastery of the Dao of Time.
That was what he had been doing these past six months; however, he now realised that the Temporal River seemed to have become shorter.
The lengths of the undercurrents in the Great Sea were all different, and although he had not checked it carefully, Yang Kai reckoned that the Temporal River was about 9,000 metres long when he first entered it. Now, however, it was 500 metres shorter.
Was it because he had barged into this place and absorbed the Time Dao Essence here?
Yang Kai had no idea, but after giving it some thought, he stopped comprehending the Dao of Time and instead focused on just cultivating.
Half a year later, Yang Kai opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings once again.
The Temporal River had become shorter again, though it wasn’t as severe as the previous time. It was now about 20 metres smaller. The difference was minimal, but Yang Kai could easily detect it as he had been paying close attention this time.
These kinds of changes made him realise something.
It seemed that his presence and the absorption of Time Dao Essence were the main reasons for the shrinking of the Temporal River.
In other words, as long as he was inside the Temporal River, he would consume the amazing power in this place, and the river would continue to become shorter; after all, the Time Dao Essence was constantly washing over him, causing the flow of time in this isolated space to be different from that of the outside world.
He had only been cultivating for another half a year, but the river had become 20 metres shorter. In other words, the river would shrink about 40 metres a year if he did nothing but cultivate. As such, this Temporal River would be gone for good in around 200 years at most.
If he simultaneously absorbed the Time Dao Essence in this place and cultivated it, the river would disappear even sooner.
Upon this realization, Yang Kai’s expression darkened.
Initially, he intended to stay in this Temporal River until he ascended to the Eighth Order, but now it seemed that the Temporal River would disappear in just about 200 years.
That amount of time wasn’t sufficient for him to make it to the Eighth Order.
[What should I do now?]
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai realised that the Great Sea was vast, and it had countless undercurrents in it. Since there was one Temporal River here, there might be another. Even if this Temporal River was completely consumed, he could just go looking for the next one. As long as there were five to six Temporal Rivers of this size in the Celestial Phenomenon, he would be able to ascend to the Eighth Order.
Right now, Yang Kai’s main task was to increase his strength. He wasn’t sure if the Royal Lord had also dived into this place, but if he had, there might come a time when they bump into one another.
Regardless, where there was a will, there was a way. It was pointless for Yang Kai to overthink things at this point.
He then set his mind at ease and stopped absorbing the Time Dao Essence in the Temporal River; instead focusing all his efforts on cultivating.
Sets of materials were refined as time went by.
Just like what he had estimated, about 40 metres of the Temporal River would vanish for every year he spent in this place.
Yang Kai slowly became wholly absorbed in cultivation and lost track of the outside world.
He had never cultivated for such a prolonged period of time before. Initially, he found it difficult to adapt, but as the heritage in his Small Universe increased, he slowly got used to it.
About 160 years later, Yang Kai was shocked awake by an anomaly while cultivating.
He hurriedly opened his eyes and realised that the Temporal River was only 100 metres long now. It was originally a long river, but it had significantly shortened over the years.
Due to its length, it couldn’t even sustain its own existence anymore and as it was battered by the other undercurrents, it was on the brink of collapse.
Yang Kai could feel that the Martial Domains in the other undercurrents had broken through the isolation of the Temporal River.
His expression changed as he stored the set of materials he hadn’t fully refined and got to his feet.
It was time to leave this Temporal River.
Despite knowing that this day would come, Yang Kai still felt lost when he finally had to set out.
He had no idea if he could find another Temporal River. The undercurrents in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon were turbulent, so perhaps before he could find the next Temporal River, he would be killed by them.
However, he had no other choice.
Surging the power of his Dragon Vein, Dragon Scales started appearing on Yang Kai’s skin, including his eyelids, and his entire figure radiated a golden glow.
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