Chapter 3971: What Does This Mean?

The Great Master was too strange an opponent. Not only had she managed to land a physical blow on Unbroken Time, but she had also flung back the returned time that had flooded the three humans. This surpassed Unbroken Time’s understanding. This human’s mastery over the power of time was in no way inferior to its own.

Lu Yin immediately understood why the Great Master wanted to lead the assault. No matter how strong Lu Yin might be, he was simply unable to touch Unbroken Time. All of his attacks would dissipate into nothingness when the thing endlessly extended time. The reason why Lu Yin had been able to hurt it during their first exchange was because it had suffered a backlash from the River of Aeons and the backlash that the Wheel of Karma induced for Dukkhans. The reality was that Lu Yin’s physical attacks had never once actually harmed Unbroken Time.

On the other hand, the Great Master had succeeded. Her single oar had dropped a vicious strike.

The River of Aeons appeared. Once one was dragged in, they would never appear again. This was Unbroken Time’s River of Aeons.

Lu Yin’s feet became rooted in place so that he could not be dragged in. The Great Master reacted in a far odder fashion; she charged straight into the River of Aeons, and as Lu Yin stared on with stunned eyes, a boat appeared beneath her feet.

“A ferryman of the River of Aeons...” Lu Yin stared blankly. What he was seeing was very similar to Zhao Ran’s boat on the River of Aeons. Yes, the Great Master was a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

The Great Master had to be the ferryman of some branch stream of the River of Aeons.

This explained why she did not fear the power of time. When it came to time, aside from Immortals, who could be more proficient than a ferryman of the River of Aeons?

While Unbroken Time was truly bizarre, it also could not surpass a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

Qing Xing understood the situation as well. The Great Master was actually a ferryman of the River of Aeons, but which one? His master had once mentioned that the River of Aeons had several branch streams and that each civilization could be considered to have its own branch. Human civilization’s branch seemed to be in the Tianyuan Megaverse, so Lu Yin would have recognized the Great Master if that was her river.

The Nine Odysseys Megaverse was constantly learning more and more about Lu Yin, and they were also aware that he had once reversed time for the Tianyuan Megaverse.

Without a ferryman of the River of Aeons, how could such a thing happen?

Clearly, the Great Master was not the ferryman of humanity’s River of Aeons.

From behind, some unseen power swept forward. Qing Xing waved a hand, and streams of energy struck the void, pushing it back in multiple layers.

This was not the time to consider the Great Master’s origins. Their priority was to eliminate Unbroken Time as quickly as possible.

From every possible direction, countless insects charged forward suicidally.

Unbroken Time continued to fall back. It was truly startled, having recognized the Great Master’s identity. It could be said that a ferryman of the River of Aeons was among the rare few that did not need to fear the unique lifeform. It was a huge surprise to discover that there was a ferryman among the humans.

It simply did not know how skilled this ferryman was at fighting with the power of time.

“Lu Yin, attack!” the Great Master shouted sternly as she emerged from the River of Aeons. Unbroken Time’s ninth mark had no effect on her. Her oar slammed down again.

Lu Yin did not hesitate, but right as he was about to release another Wheel of Karma, he heard the Great Master’s voice again. “Strength! Use overpowering strength!”

Strength?

Lu Yin paused. Physical attacks had proven useless against Unbroken Time, but what he had just witnessed from the Great Master gave him pause. He clenched five fingers and threw a powerful punch.

If you want strength, I’ll give you strength.

A terrifying attack swept across outer space, as though a giant was attacking Unbroken Time.

The oar blocked the creature from the front. When Lu Yin’s attack arrived, the Great Master swung her oar upwards, and as Lu Yin stared on in disbelief, she gathered his attack and formed a swirl with it. His eyes were not deceiving him; this woman was actually able to gather Lu Yin’s physical power, even if it sounded impossible.

The gathered attack moved with the oar, smashing into Unbroken Time.

It vanished, and a gray color spread across the region. It was using the power of time, but for a moment, not even Lu Yin could tell if Unbroken Time had frozen or reversed time. It had its own River of Aeons, and within its domain, Unbroken Time could do anything.

It was practically a god.

It was already revealing abilities that had not been displayed during Unbroken Time’s previous battle with Lu Yin.

If Lu Yin had known about this ability, he would have never even considered targeting Unbroken Time.

Clang

.

Once again, the sound of clashing metal rang out.

The void split apart and Unbroken Time staggered into view, seeming to have been struck senseless. Its sun and moon had large cracks now, and even the needle had a fissure.

Lu Yin was dazed.

It was hit again? How?

“Again!” The Great Master sneered as her oar rose up high.

Lu Yin clenched a fist. Heaven’s Seal’s sequence particles spread through his arm, and he threw another punch. It was much more powerful than the last one, and it was terrifying to the point of being overwhelming.

Can physical power really be borrowed in this manner?

It was a bit similar to Linked Palm, yet different.

Let’s see how much strength you can really handle!

The Great Master’s expression changed slightly, due to her shock over how much power Lu Yin was capable of unleashing. Still, she was able to use it.

The oar moved as though it had been plunged into a whirlpool. It did not swirl as smoothly as before, but Lu Yin’s physical attack was still gathered and then slammed into Unbroken Time.

It was unable to evade, and could only try to resist with the power of time. It tried to dissipate the approaching attack.

However, the oar never touched Unbroken Time’s time at all. For the third time, the oar slammed against the thing’s body, producing the loudest collision of the battle. Between the alternating sun and moon and the needle, a massive crack could be seen.

No one questioned that one more strike would shatter Unbroken Time completely.

“Again!” The Great Master grew excited.

Lu Yin stared at Unbroken Time. If it was possible to kill one of the four Insect Lords so easily, it would be a joke. Before the four people left, Greater Sancte Awe Gate had given them Immortal matter precisely because she knew that there were beings capable of using it before they reached the Immortal realm. It was quite likely that the four Insect Lords were among those individuals.

After being beaten so badly, this should be about the time for such a trump card to be revealed.

The Great Master might appear to be reckless, but her expression had never relaxed. She was also waiting for Unbroken Time’s trump card. Whether it could use Immortal matter or not, the creature undoubtedly had more skills that it had not revealed yet.

The fact that it had endured several attacks could even mean that it was testing the humans’ attacks.

The Great Master would not be fooled by the massive crack that had appeared. It could very well be a trick.

She would never underestimate any creature.

Dan Jin continued to attack the insect swarm.

Qing Xing held Ni back, though it could also be said that Ni held Qing Xing back.

Facing Unbroken Time, Lu Yin clenched his right fist and threw another punch. Heaven’s Seal’s sequence particles spread through his body, and his consciousness opened the Nine Heavens as he underwent the Nine Heavens Transformation.

The punch shook the entire region.

This punch was much more powerful than his previous two, to the point where even the Great Master was startled by the force.

Even so, she understood that Lu Yin had deliberately revealed more power in an attempt to force Unbroken Time to reveal its trump card.

None of the humans present were naive enough to believe that they could eliminate Unbroken Time before it exhausted all of its trump cards. The reason for that was quite simple: Luo Chan had not made a move yet.

If Unbroken Time was truly in critical danger, there was no chance that the other three Insect Lords would refrain from offering their support.

After seeing Lu Yin release an even more powerful attack than before, the Great Master turned to look at Unbroken Time. “It’s over.”

With that, she slammed another fierce attack down.

Unbroken Time’s needle instantly leapt to point at the twelfth mark.

Tick

.

Everything fell silent.

The cosmos froze.

The upraised oar, Lu Yin’s stare, Qing Xing who was locked in battle with Ni, the endless swarm of insects, and even Dan Jin’s half-released pill were all frozen.

Beneath everyone’s feet, the River of Aeons appeared.

If Unbroken Time’s ninth mark only drew out a fragment of the River of Aeons, then the one beneath the feet of Lu Yin and all of the others at this moment was the authentic surging torrent. It was no different from the River of Aeons that flowed through the Mirari Realm.

Unbroken Time had just dragged out a true River of Aeons.

The mortal world surged, yet time itself ground to a halt. Like mist, like lightning, like wind, it swept across with a feather’s touch, yet carried the crushing weight of ages. The burden of history descended, pressing down so heavily that breathing itself became impossible.

The Great Master sternly shouted, “It’s trying to replace the time of the present with the River of Aeons! It’s going to wash everything away with the irresistible flow of time.”

As she spoke, a boat appeared beneath her feet and shot towards Lu Yin. “Get in!”

Before she could even finish speaking, Lightstream formed a boat around Lu Yin. He looked over at the Great Master, who blinked blankly. “Time?”

“Space.”

“What do you mean?”

“I use the power of space to chase time, and that allows me to move against the River of Aeons.”

The Great Master just stared at Lu Yin. “You use something truly strange.”

She then shot over to Qing Xing.

While Lu Yin was able to endure the endless flow of time, Qing Xing might not. Dan Jin was farther away, yet she also needed to get on a boat. After having lived for so long, none of them could risk being swept away by time.

No one would dare to take the power of time lightly.

Unbroken Time stood at the source of the River of Aeons, allowing the torrent to pour forth. The power of time was washing everything away.

One after another, the insects turned to ash. Their time had been washed away, scoured clean.

To wield time as water and wash the cosmos; who had ever faced such a technique?

It would not be hard for Lu Yin and the others to retreat, if that was what they wanted. Unbroken Time’s River of Aeons could not envelop an entire megaverse. This was nothing more than the being’s gamble to survive by forcing its opponents away.

However, Lu Yin happened to possess the means to go against the flow, and the Great Master was actually a ferryman of the River of Aeons.

For these two reasons, Unbroken Time’s twelfth mark ability posed little threat.

So long as the humans were not washed away by the river, the power of time would not be able to do anything to them.

Still, staying in place while the River of Aeons swept by was far from easy. The faster the flow, the higher the pressure on those in the stream.

Suddenly, Lu Yin thought of something.

Since this river was washing away their time and their time originally belonged to the River of Aeons that was in the Tianyuan, then did this mean that, after the time was washed away, the River of Aeons would carry time that did not belong to it?

Or was it possible that the time that was washed away would simply be absorbed?

No, if it could be absorbed, the ninth mark’s ability wouldn’t exist.

Lu Yin’s eyes lit up. Right or wrong, he would know for sure by trying.

He released his inner universe, followed by Verdant Eternity.

His breakthrough with Lightstream had transformed it into a boat, and its immense weight suppressed time. Its stability in the River of Aeons was due to Verdant Eternity restraining the flow. While Verdant Eternity could not resist the torrent’s flow, that was not what he needed to do. All he needed was a momentary pause, which would give Lightstream a chance to absorb the time that did not belong to the river.

Verdant Eternity acted like a net, but the fish that it caught was the time that was not truly a part of the river.

When the sea in his inner universe made contact with the river, Lu Yin’s body twitched. He nearly lost his footing and hastily reeled the sea back in.

The scouring flow of time did not come from Unbroken Time. That creature merely served as the trigger. The true power of time came from the river itself.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Lu Yin could move at the speed of time, freeze it, and even reverse it, but he could not withstand such a vast torrent. How could he hope to resist the passing of unending years?

Fortunately, he had only been testing things, even if that light probe had nearly sent him tumbling.