Chapter 1672: The Supreme Will!

Within the endless Time River, Ye Guan and the Boundless Master sped through its currents. Around them, fragmented visions of past history flickered into view, then vanished like sparks in the wind.

These were the vanished eras. Ye Guan glanced at the fleeting images surrounding them and couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. Time stretched endlessly, and in the grand scheme of things, all living beings were but passing travelers.

Thinking of something, Ye Guan turned to the Boundless Master and asked, "Senior, you're familiar with the Great Daoist Brush Master. Can you tell me more about him?"

The Boundless Master took a drag from his cigar and blew out a smoke ring. "My impression of him? He's always hiding something."

Ye Guan frowned. "Hiding?"

The Boundless Master nodded. "Hiding his true intentions. Haven't you noticed? On the surface, it seems like he's always targeting you but to me, it feels more like he's trying to mislead everyone, to conceal what he's really after."

"Mislead who?" Ye Guan asked.

"Right now, I'd say he's either deceiving your aunt and her group... or the Supreme Will itself," the Boundless Master replied. "The guy's a bastard, surebut make no mistake, he's terrifyingly powerful. There aren't many in this universe that could make him cautious."

"So... his real target might not even be me?"

"That's entirely possible."

Ye Guan fell silent.

Could it be that Daoist dog is... actually a good dog?

No way.

He immediately rejected the thought.

The Boundless Master glanced at Ye Guan and said, "To survive from your father's era all the way to now... that's no small feat. Just look at me, for example."

Ye Guan nodded but stayed silent.

The Boundless Master laughed heartily. "Don't worry about that guy. As long as you're strong enough, all the schemes and plots in the world are meaningless."

Ye Guan grinned. "Now that's the truth."

The Boundless Master nodded. "What we really need to figure out now is just how powerful the Supreme Will actually is."

Ye Guan asked, "Have Aunt Slaughter and the others ever fought with the Supreme Will?"

The Boundless Master shook his head.

"They couldn't reach it?"

"Nope," he replied flatly.

Ye Guan's expression grew heavy.

The Boundless Master continued, "We know far too little about the Supreme Will, not how it destroyed the previous eras, nor even why. Was it to protect all living beings... or simply to annihilate them and gain strength? What's its endgame? These are the questions your mother is trying to answer."

"She wants to understand the upper limit of its power," Ye Guan said.

"Exactly. That's why we're heading to the Ancient Era, hoping to find out how that era was destroyed, and whether its strongest cultivators left anything behind for future generations."

Ye Guan murmured, "If we want to know the limit of its power, it's simple, we just have to see if it has a second move."

The Boundless Master nodded solemnly. It was like facing the Three Swords; if you wanted to know how strong they were, the easiest way was to see if they had a second strike.

At the moment, they knew almost nothing about the Supreme Will. All they had was one fact—the Great Daoist Brush Master was one of its agents.

Anyone could slander the Great Daoist Brush Master, except for his strength.

Just then, the Time River trembled. Not far ahead, a vast field of golden divine lightning surged toward them, its oppressive pressure impossible to ignore.

"Time Divine Lightning," the Boundless Master said. "Once we pass through this, we'll officially be in the Ancient Era."

Ten trillion years!

One trillion years per era, this meant they had already reversed through ten trillion years of history.

Ye Guan had to admit: his mother was seriously badass.

Without her array, there was no way he and the Boundless Master could have made it this far. But thanks to her, it felt almost effortless.

As they neared the tribulation lightning field, Ye Guan prepared to draw his sword, but the Boundless Master stopped him.

"No need," he said.

They entered the lightning zone. The pressure was immense, strong enough to trouble even a Circle-Breaking Realm cultivator. Yet their protective array held firm, shielding them completely.

The Boundless Master added, "The next era's tribulation lightning is the real headache."

Ye Guan nodded.

After passing through the zone, their began to slow down. Along the Time River's right wall, the past began to reappear reversed and in fragments. He saw a familiar scene: the Ascension Battles Road, where countless elite cultivators were throwing themselves forward, one after another.

Once more, Ye Guan saw the crimson-robed Chaos Era Lord. The man was looking directly at him.

Ye Guan instinctively wanted to speak, but the Boundless Master quickly stopped him.

"No. If you open your mouth, something big will happen."

Ye Guan didn't argue. In that instant, as he had tried to speak, an inexplicable sense of dread had risen from deep within. It grew stronger by the second.

"Is it the Supreme Will?" he asked.

"Not sure," the Boundless Master replied. "But something or someone... doesn't want the rules to be broken."

Ye Guan stared at the crimson-robed figure. The man continued to watch him in silence... and then gradually began to blur.

They were moving backward through time, after all, like watching a rewound recording. The past was retreating.

"This era's end... was erased," Ye Guan muttered.

The Boundless Master nodded. They had seen no conclusion, no final moment; clearly, someone had wiped it clean.

Both of their faces darkened.

To forcibly cut off a slice of history like that. What kind of terrifying power would it take?

Ye Guan asked, "Why erase it?"

The Boundless Master glanced at him. Ye Guan stared back.

Their expressions turned grim.

Could it be someone knew people from the future would come looking?

The Supreme Will?

Ye Guan suddenly said, "If it really was the Supreme Will... that might actually be a good thing."

"Oh?" the Boundless Master raised a brow.

"It means it's wary of us," Ye Guan explained. "And if it's wary... maybe it's not as all-powerful as we thought. Doesn't that make sense?"

The Boundless Master fell silent for a long moment, then nodded. "That's some next-level optimism you've got there."

Ye Guan was speechless.

"But now I'm more worried," the Boundless Master added. "What if it wasn't the Supreme Will?"

Neither of them said another word.

After a while, Ye Guan exhaled. "No point overthinking it. One way or another, we'll have to face it."

The Boundless Master smiled. "You're right."

He took a long swig from his flask.

They continued upstream through time. In under fifteen minutes, they had already crossed the entire Chaos Era.

The farther they traveled, the stronger Ye Guan felt it, that sense of being watched. Something was observing them from the shadows. He scanned the surroundings but saw nothing. Still, he was sure of it.

"Senior," he asked, "do you feel it?"

"Of course," the Boundless Master replied calmly.

"What is it?"

"An unknown presence."

Ye Guan's face twitched. He should've brought Erya and Little White along. Those two might be unreliable, but at least they could fight.

The Boundless Master grinned. "Don't worry. With me around, you'll return the same way you came. After all these years hanging out with the Great Daoist Brush Master, I've got some clout in this universe."

Ye Guan didn't believe a word of that. He stayed alert. If anything went wrong, hell, he'd run for it without hesitation.

Fortunately, nothing strange happened for a while. But then they came upon another zone of tribulation lightning. This time, the lightning was purple and at least ten times stronger than the last batch.

Even though the array's power remained active, Ye Guan still unleashed his Invincible Sword Intent as a precaution.

The Boundless Master waved him off. "Relax. It's just a bit of lightning..."

They stepped into the zone. Instantly, purple divine lightning rained down on their array. In a heartbeat, their shield cracked.

The Boundless Master's face changed. "Shit! Something's wrong with this place!"

Boom!

Their protective array shattered into countless fragments.

Ye Guan was ready. His sword intent surged forth, carving a path through the storm, but almost immediately afterward, more lightning bolts surged forward to face them.

Ye Guan roared, "Protect!"

Kaboom!

A torrent of laws burst from within him, forming a barrier around him and the Boundless Master. The purple lightning slammed into it again and again, and Ye Guan's face rapidly paled.

He pushed his Order Dao to its limit and dragged the Boundless Master forward. They had to escape fast.

The Boundless Master wasn't idle either. He was desperately trying to stabilize the collapsing Time River. The combined pressure from Ye Guan and the lightning had almost destroyed it. If it broke completely, they'd be lost in the chaotic flow of time.

Just as they were about to break through the lightning zone, a black divine lightning bolt tore through the sky and slammed down from above.

The Boundless Master's face went white. "Shit! Destiny Tribulation Lightning! How is that even possible?! Someone's targeting us!"

The Order Dao barely held it back but the Time River shattered.

They plummeted, swallowed by a sea of darkness.

Ye Guan's fists clenched tight. Countless divine forces slammed into him, but he held his ground with sheer willpower.

The Boundless Master clung to him for dear life.

"Fuuuck!"

Ye Guan gritted his teeth. "Brother, now would be a great time to

help!

"

Another bolt of black lightning thundered down.

Boom!

Ye Guan and the Boundless Master were swallowed by the dark.

A third lightning bolt descended but just then, a cold, detached voice echoed through space.

"Shatter."

Boom!

The black lightning exploded into nothingness.

***

A long time had passed before Ye Guan finally came to. His head felt like it was stuffed with lead, heavy and muddled. He opened his eyes with a jolt.

He was lying in a courtyard, stretched out on a reclining chair, his entire body limp and weak.

Not far off, a little girl who was seven or eight years old at most stood at a stone table, gripping a kitchen knife in both hands. Tied down on the table in front of her was a plump, completely immobilized rooster.

She stared at the bird, visibly nervous, her tiny hands shaking as she held the knife. Her whole body was trembling.

Next to her, a small stove burned steadily. A pot of water on top was already boiling. Clearly, it was meant for the unfortunate chicken.

The girl glanced at the boiling pot, took a deep breath, and tried to steady herself. She raised the knife, aiming at the rooster's neck. But just as she was about to bring it down, she froze again and trembled like an aspen tree..

A few seconds later, she took another deep breath, worked up her courage, and once again lifted the knife high above her head. But the moment it was about to touch the chicken's neck... she stopped. Again.

Meanwhile, the poor rooster was terrified to the point of silence. It considered struggling at first, but now, it just wanted to get over it. The suspense was killing it.

Clang!

The girl dropped the knife with a clatter. Then, she crouched and covered her face before stammering, "I-I don't want to eat it... I don't want it anymore..."