Martial Peak C.5984: Standstill

With the Grand Daos of Space and Time breaking through to the Ninth Level of mastery, Yang Kai’s Space-Time River now had a stronger foundation; thus, it began devouring and refining Mu’s Space-Time River at a far quicker rate.

As the frenzy of devouring and refining continued, Yang Kai’s mastery over the Grand Daos increased as well.

Next was a breakthrough in the Spear Dao…

Then, a breakthrough in the Sword Dao…

Breakthroughs in the Alchemic Dao, Array Dao, and Yin-Yang Dao soon followed…

Yang Kai’s understanding of each Grand Dao rose in rapid succession. The barriers were broken through and he achieved a new height of mastery.

With each breakthrough, Yang Kai’s mind was filled with strange and wondrous enlightenment, granting him further clarity in each Grand Dao.

Outside the Space-Time River, light and darkness continued to clash.

Both the Primordial Light and Primordial Darkness did not possess their full power anymore, but as the darkness remained whole and continued to grow over the years, Mo had become a lot more powerful than Zhang Ruo Xi.

This held true even when Yang Kai had used the Profound Source Gate to suppress and seal a third of his Source.

Mo would have regained all of his strength and be even more powerful right now if it had not been for the many hidden hands Mu left behind.

Zhang Ruo Xi could only just barely challenge Mo to a fight with the help of the Nine Palaces Formation she formed with her eight Small Stone Race Personal Guard.

In just a few hours though, the eight Small Stone Race Masters were littered with cracks. It looked as if they could crumble into a pile of rubble at any moment now.

Zhang Ruo Xi tried her best to buy time, but she did not know how much longer she could continue to hold out. All she could do was fervently hope that Yang Kai could hurry up.

Each time light and darkness collided, their respective powers wore down the other. Light dispelled darkness while darkness devoured light.

Time and time again, Zhang Ruo Xi and Mo continued to weaken each other. This was most evident in the way Ruo Xi’s white wings had dimmed and Mo seemed to have lost some of his prior madness.

[This is not a good sign,] Zhang Ruo Xi could tell that Mo, as the consciousness that sprung from Primordial Darkness, did not have full control over Black Ink Strength. The years of growth and accumulation had made the power increase beyond Mo’s ability to freely wield.

That was the reason why her arrival bearing the strength of the Primordial Light had drawn out the frenzied resentment of the Primordial Darkness and caused Mo to lose his rationality.

At the same time, Mo had an instinctive, obsessive yearning and protectiveness of Mu’s Space-Time River. Even his subconscious would not allow anyone to touch what Mu had left behind.

As Black Ink Strength clashed with Mo’s consciousness, his actions began displaying contradicting desires. At times, he fiercely chased down Zhang Ruo Xi, but at times, he turned back around to head for the Space-Time River.

Zhang Ruo Xi relied on this dichotomy to provoke Mo and keep him occupied; however, once Mo regained his senses, it would not be so easy for her to do so.

Although Mo currently possessed strength that surpassed all others, he was currently behaving like a wild beast without a sense of rationality, so Zhang Ruo Xi could still deal with him by employing the right strategy.

Even though Mo regaining his rationality meant that his raw power would be weaker, Zhang Ruo Xi was not confident that she could stop him then.

What one feared the most was often the very thing to occur. As the clashes continued, Zhang Ruo Xi could sense that Mo’s gaze was getting clearer.

To make things worse, her Personal Guard could barely hold out anymore.

That was not the only bad news though. Even her strength, which relied on her Heaven’s Order Bloodline to harmonize the powers of Yin and Yang, was beginning to show signs of instability.

Her Heaven’s Order Bloodline was indeed powerful. It was the only thing that could bridge the powers granted by the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer. Thanks to Zhang Ruo Xi’s many years of diligent cultivation, she was finally able to reconcile the two opposing powers and draw them into her. As a result, she possessed superior strength.

However, her Ninth-Order cultivation was still quite weak in comparison to the powers of the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer. She could not withstand a prolonged fight that involved such overwhelming power.

On the other hand, Zhang Ruo Xi dared not hold back in a fight against Mo. She went all out with every strike, and as the number of clashes increased, her power became more and more unstable.

Her Personal Guards were in bad shape and her strength was becoming unstable, so she knew she did not have much time left.

Even so, she never once considered retreating; instead, her eyes filled with determination as she made a decision.

After yet another ferocious clash, the two figures separated.

Zhang Ruo Xi could clearly sense that even more cracks emerged on the bodies of the eight Personal Guard behind her.

Her grip on the Heaven’s Order Sword tightened and she exhaled softly as her wings began to flap and her presence grew even more imposing.

In the void opposite her, Mo stood unmoving with his head lowered.

Just as Zhang Ruo Xi prepared to strike once more, Mo raised his hand to block her, “You should stop now.”

Zhang Ruo Xi did not listen. Her presence continued to intensify with no signs of stopping; nevertheless, she could not ignore Mo’s present state and could not help asking, “Have you regained your rationality?”

Mo raised his head and looked at her. Although his eyes showed signs of a struggle, it was no longer in a state of madness.

“I have to thank you for that,” he replied.

Zhang Ruo Xi knew what Mo meant.

Initially, the power of Primordial Darkness was still too strong for Mo to bear, causing his consciousness to devolve into a frenzied state; however, as he and Zhang Ruo Xi continued to clash, the powers of light and darkness ate away at each other. Both their powers were weakened in the battle.

Now that Mo’s consciousness could overpower his strength, he regained some rationality.

“That won’t be necessary,” Zhang Ruo Xi coolly replied.

Mo’s brows furrowed ever so slightly, “You will die if you use that attack!” 𝐟𝐫eewe𝗯𝐧𝚘ve𝐥.c𝚘𝚖

Mo could tell that Zhang Ruo Xi wanted to harness all of her remaining power to engage him in a final clash that would determine life or death.

“You probably won’t die, but you will suffer,” Zhang Ruo Xi said.

“That’s why you should stop. I don’t wish to kill you,” Mo urged.

Zhang Ruo Xi showed no signs of stopping. She did not respond to Mo at all. Instead, she continued to harness her power and strength to prove her determination with her actions. Cracking sounds could be heard from the eight behind her.

With this strike, the eight of them would turn into dust.

Mo’s gaze turned cold as he snarled, “If you insist on dying, I am willing to fulfil your desire for death, but have you thought about what would happen to Yang Kai if you died?”

Zhang Ruo Xi was a little startled.

[Sir would be deeply saddened by my death, right? That’s enough for me…]

Zhang Ruo Xi still showed no signs of backing down; instead, she let out a faint smile. This made Mo exasperated as he could not resist saying, “Why are Human women so stubborn? You think it’s worth it to die at my hands to protect him, but have you ever thought about the guilt and torture the living would have to endure? If you truly want to act in his best interests, I advise you to calm down and look at things from his perspective. You staying alive should come before everything else.”

Zhang Ruo Xi stared at Mo in shock this time, brimming with confusion.

[What’s going on? The one who wields the darkest of all powers that exist is attempting to reason with me during a life-and-death moment…]

She could not help but find it unbelievable, especially since Mo made a good point.

Instinctively, she suddenly felt that Mo was scheming something.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Mo curtly snorted, “I lived among you Humans for more years than you have lived. We once worked together and protected each other.” [There was even someone very important to me once. All I wanted to do was to help her, but in the end, I was destined to ruin everything…]

When Mo saw what Zhang Ruo Xi was about to do, he could not help but recall his own past. [Mu must’ve felt great anguish when she decided to lock me up. In the end, I let her down.]

Mo turned towards the Space-Time River and said, “Why don’t we just wait here? When he comes out, I will fight him.”

Zhang Ruo Xi frowned as she looked at Mo, too afraid to let her guard down.

Mo turned back to her once more, “There’s nothing for you to worry about. You are free to strike me at any given moment and engage me in a fight to the death. As you said, even if I kill you, I will suffer in the process, and when he comes out, perhaps I won’t be able to hold my own against him.”

Zhang Ruo Xi simply could not figure out what Mo was thinking.

It would indeed be great for her if she did as Mo suggested.

She had enough strength to unleash a powerful final strike, and she could do so at any time, so the only one who had anything to gain by agreeing to Mo’s suggestion was her.

Besides, even if Mo was plotting something sinister, would she be able to stop him?

[If Mo is truly willing to simply stop and wait now, once Sir comes out, he and I can attack Mo together.]

“You better not do anything rash,” after hesitating for a brief moment, Zhang Ruo Xi withdrew her imposing aura.

“Naturally,” Mo smirked as it remained standing in place.

Zhang Ruo Xi nodded.

The two Masters who had been dueling in a brutal, all-out fight to the death now stood together in the void, waiting in silence. Sure enough, life was unpredictable.

Zhang Ruo Xi was still on guard, so she led her eight Personal Guards over to a spot between Mo and the Space-Time River to block Mo.

Mo saw what she was doing and showed no inclination of stopping her, puzzling her even further.

That being said, she had never encountered Mo before. She imagined Mo to be a brutal, sinister, and vicious existence, but after interacting with him herself, she realised that was not the case.

Though confused, as Zhang Ruo Xi stared into Mo’s eyes, she had a vague inkling and could not help but ask, “What do you want to do?”

Mo’s gaze went past her and stared at the massive Space-Time River as he asked, “It’s very grand and beautiful, isn’t it?”

Zhang Ruo Xi did not answer Mo’s question, instead frowning in doubt, “So what if it is?”

“It saved me from endless darkness,” Mo replied, “So, to me, it is the light. This is what she left behind, and since she has chosen a Successor, I want to see what happens. If her Successor can kill me, it won’t be a bad way for me to die.”

After a pause, Mo continued with a heavy heart, “When it comes down to it, I did something I shouldn’t have. It only stands to reason that I pay the price for it.”

“If you wish to die, I can fulfil your wish for you!” Zhang Ruo Xi shot back.

Mo eyed her coolly, “Only the person who gave me my new life can kill me. No one else has the right to do so.”