Chapter 395: Revisiting the River of Time

“As expected, the so-called alternate dimension is the River of Time.”

“Mortals who come here would have their spiritual platforms blanked due to lacking understanding of temporal principles, leaving no memories of this place.”

Jiang Li stood on the riverbank of the River of Time, gazing at the endlessly flowing waters while murmuring to himself. He had visited this place once before. The white fish transformed from the Ancient and Modern Sword had mentioned seeing him downstream in the River of Time – meaning the future – indicating he would return here again. Thus, he had deliberately learned much about the River of Time from Ji Zhi.

“However, this probably isn’t the occasion the Ancient and Modern Sword referred to.”

Jiang Li bent down to observe the River of Time. His current location was the temporal river of Weigu World, whereas the Ancient and Modern Sword had seen him in the River of Time belonging to the Nine Provinces world. Different worlds have varying time flow rates, separated by dimensional barriers and void spaces, resulting in distinct Rivers of Time.

Thick walls lined both riverbanks, their texture resembling cotton candy. Beyond these walls flowed the Rivers of Time of other worlds. For members of the Great Zhou royal family, these walls seemed as immovable as divine artifacts, but Jiang Li felt he could topple them.

However, both Ji Kongkong and Ji Zhi had warned him – the River of Time reflects reality and influences it. Breaking down these walls would connect two worlds, with unpredictable consequences that could be either disastrous or fortunate.

“Best heed the experts’ advice.” Jiang Li stopped concerning himself with the walls.

As always, chaotic mists shrouded the River of Time, obscuring views of past and future. Jiang Li could only see what lay directly before him as he walked. Were Ji Zhi here, he could only traverse about two hundred years upstream before encountering insurmountable resistance preventing further progress.

If Bai Hongtu were present, movement would be nearly impossible – those unskilled in temporal arts cannot navigate the River of Time. Jiang Li was an exception, completely unaffected by the river’s restrictions as he freely wandered through past and future.

Jiang Li proceeded upstream toward Weigu World’s past. With hands clasped behind his back, he occasionally glanced down to observe the world’s history, far more vivid than the cold records in history books.

The further back he went, the more pronounced the conflict between ordinary people and superhumans became. At the very dawn of superhuman emergence, the division between the two groups had been absolute.

As he walked, Jiang Li contemplated how the gap between superhumans and ordinary people wasn’t actually that vast. The greatest divide existed in cultivation worlds. A first-tier superhuman might defeat a fourth-tier one, but could a Qi Refining cultivator overcome a Nascent Soul cultivator? Impossible.

The seven cultivation stages – Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Unity, and Tribulation Transcendence – stood like seven impassable chasms.

“Cultivation… where might resides solely within individuals…”

Jiang Li recalled Tongu World, that cultivation world rife with schemes and intrigues. Though he’d visited multiple worlds, most were technological – Tongu World remained the only true cultivation world he’d encountered.

The martial arts-focused Huanyu World had powerful warriors, but their peak combatants had limitations where sheer numbers could threaten them, disqualifying it as a true “might resides within individuals” world. Only worlds like the Nine Provinces and Tongu World truly qualified.

“The fundamental problem with cultivation worlds lies in their supreme cultivators’ overwhelming power directly determining the world’s trajectory.”

“When disparities between people grow too vast, individual worth becomes unequal, life cheapens, and high-level cultivators may view their juniors as no different from livestock.”

Jiang Li clicked his tongue, increasingly realizing how unique the Nine Provinces was. He stopped walking and ceased these thoughts, having arrived at the crucial moment six thousand years ago when the Outer Realm Demons awakened superpowers in humanity.

…

A featureless Outer Realm Demon descended, scanning the world with spiritual sense. Though not the era’s dominant species, humanity had spread throughout Weigu World through intelligence and reproductive prowess despite threats from floods and beasts.

“Tch, their numbers exceed the limit. Can’t eliminate them all at once – must use gradual extinction.”

The demon lamented its census results. Weigu World’s population barely met the threshold for slow extermination. Had numbers been 20-30% lower, immediate eradication would have been possible without fear of collective deathbed manifestations.

“Count yourselves lucky.”

After fifteen days of observation, the demon finalized its plan for humanity’s gradual demise.

“This world’s sparse spiritual energy limits cultivation potential. Though celestial realm demons once left descendants here, their bloodlines have diluted to near nothingness – demonic beasts have completely regressed into ordinary predators.”

“The Five Elements cycle can create all things, and most humans possess Five Elements Spirit Roots. Therefore, I shall select fortunate individuals to undergo internal elemental reactions, generating anomalous energies within them.”

“Though they won’t become overly powerful, this will create sufficient differentiation. When disparities emerge between people, opposition and conflict inevitably follow. Human desire will amplify these divisions until they erupt into uncontrollable warfare.”

“Excellent. This plan is decided.”

…

Jiang Li rose and traveled further back – to when Weigu World’s Celestial Ladder fractured. After moving about two hundred years upstream, he found his target.

“Now to witness how the Celestial Ladder vanished.”

Jiang Li crouched, expression grave.

…

Six millennia ago, Weigu World existed in a tribal era with rudimentary language just emerging from knot-record keeping. Both cultivation and superpowers remained unknown concepts. Humanity wasn’t the world’s dominant species either, explaining why Weigu World’s historical records lacked details about the Outer Realm Demons’ intervention or the Celestial Ladder’s destruction.

Oral traditions surviving six thousand years had distorted into unrecognizable legends far removed from truth. People then struggled merely for survival, never imagining celestial realms had built an ascension ladder to their world, offering immortality – nor that eyes watched them from the River of Time.

The golden Celestial Ladder hovered invisibly between reality and void, one end anchored in Weigu World, the other in the celestial realm. Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivators could faintly sense it, though indistinctly. Only true immortals could see and traverse it freely.

No one in Weigu World then noticed the ladder’s presence. Though neither at Tribulation Transcendence Stage nor an immortal, Jiang Li could see it clearly – his first glimpse of an intact Celestial Ladder.

Suddenly, anomalies began occurring.