The Beginning of Everything

For ordinary people, merging their bodies into the River of Time was tantamount to seeking death. There was no possibility of success.

But Mu Zi was different. The various powers she had mastered could all withstand the erosion of the Power of Time, and she also possessed methods that allowed her to preserve herself within the passage of time as much as possible.

Buzz—Buzz—

As Mu Zi's thoughts stirred, endless Profound Light emerged. As it spread, two figures stepped out of the void and descended upon the world.

One carried an ancient, undying aura, as though it had endured the changing of eras; the other was ethereal and unfathomable, like it stood upon the far shore of the Myriad Realms.

Between the two figures, Mu Zi gave off no such extraordinary aura. Yet compared to them, she possessed an incomparably powerful sense of presence.

No matter how the years passed or how the countless worlds changed, she would always exist in this world. What she stood upon was the present—the most tangible moment of all!

Past, present, future—the unique nature of the Three Lives Body technique seemed tailor-made for Mu Zi to merge into the River of Time.

Step—

At Mu Zi's command, the Past Body and Future Body stood on either side and stepped into the River of Time at the same moment.

One figure walked upstream, setting foot in the past; the other headed downstream, making its way toward the future.

Boom—

The entry of the two figures provoked a reaction from the River of Time. In an instant, the power of space-time began to surge, and waves rolled without end.

For a living being to set foot in the River of Time and leave its own traces within it, Mu Zi's actions had, to a certain extent, touched upon a taboo. This roused the River of Time's resistance, making it far more difficult for her to maintain her existence within space-time.

"Three Lives Tread Through Time!"

Mu Zi's gaze grew ever more brilliant, and her Past and Future Bodies exerted their power alongside her. Waves of time and reincarnation spread out, allowing Mu Zi to remain above space-time without being expelled by the River of Time.

Had any other living being disturbed time in such a manner, they would likely have drawn a backlash from the river of space-time, and even their very existence would have been erased. Yet Mu Zi's Past and Future Bodies possessed an exceptionally high affinity with the River of Time. Thus, they did not completely stir the power of that great space-time; instead, in a peculiar manner, they gradually merged with the aura of the River of Time.

It was precisely because of this that Mu Zi could preserve her own existence beneath the backlash of the Power of Time.

She could even go further. As the two figures ventured deeper into the past and future, the fluctuations of the river of space-time gradually calmed down.

Gradually, the waves within the River of Time ceased to rise and returned to stillness, as though Mu Zi's existence had not triggered any resistance at all.

In the end, Mu Zi no longer even needed to expend her own power to withstand the erosion of time. She could stand atop the River of Time with ease.

"So it really can be done."

As the rejection she endured weakened further and further, a ripple arose in Mu Zi's heart, and the radiance in her eyes gradually softened. Although she had previously deduced this method of transcendence, the Power of Time was too unfathomable, with all manner of unpredictable variables.

Now that she had truly succeeded in establishing a foothold within the River of Time through the Three Lives Body technique, it meant that Mu Zi's path was genuinely feasible.

However, she could not relax yet. Placing herself within the River of Time was merely the first step and proved nothing. What would happen during the subsequent breakthrough was still impossible to fully predict.

Mu Zi's next plan was even more difficult to foresee, whether in fortune or disaster.

Splash—Splash—

Flowing downstream and tracing upstream, the two figures gradually moved farther away within their respective space-times. As the Past and Future Bodies ventured ever deeper through the River of Time, their steps inevitably began to slow.

Revisiting the past and occupying the future required sufficient cultivation to support it. The stronger one was, the deeper one's foundation, and the more profound one's comprehension of time and reincarnation, the farther into distant space-time one could venture.

That would provide Mu Zi with greater aid for her upcoming breakthrough. Yet human strength had its limits; Mu Zi could not tread through time without end. She could only hope to travel as far as possible.

Space-time here was a chaotic existence. After an unknown length of time, the Past and Future Bodies finally reached their limits and stopped moving forward.

Buzz—

At Mu Zi's will, the Past and Future Bodies each spread out their power, rooting themselves firmly in the space-time where they stood.

Above the River of Time, the two figures stood at opposite ends, rooted in the past and future, as though they were holding up the River of Time.

The Three Lives Body was like an anchor, coordinates within space-time. Amid the scouring of the River of Time, it gave Mu Zi something to rely on at all times, anchoring her true spirit and guiding her through the years, reducing the chance of losing herself.

Only through this method did Mu Zi possess the right to set foot upon such a supreme path of transcendence!

"Let's begin."

Mu Zi's mind gradually calmed. Next, she would take the most crucial and most unfathomable step.

She would truly merge herself into the River of Time. Once it began, there would be no possibility of stopping.

In the end, there would only be two outcomes: either Mu Zi would attain the Dao through her body and step into the supreme realm, or, if she failed, she would fall into eternal loss, beyond the salvation of anyone.

Once her body merged with the River of Time, Mu Zi would completely enter the state of breaking through. During that time, her connection with the outside world would become difficult to trace.

No one could predict how long this process would last. Perhaps the Great Thousand World would enter an era without the Martial Ancestor.

"After I disappear, I hope they can remain safe."

One final thought rose in Mu Zi's heart. Then, her consciousness completely sank into the empty void beyond perception.

Her consciousness spread as Mu Zi's spirit entered the depths of her Spirit Platform. Before her eyes, streams of light gathered and formed a profound mark, from which waves of reincarnation seeped out.

Mu Zi gazed quietly ahead. This mark was the Reincarnation Seal she carried, and it could be considered an old friend of hers.

When she entered the Returning Origin Realm, the Reincarnation Seal had not dissipated. Instead, it had fused more deeply into Mu Zi's true spirit.

The Reincarnation Seals possessed by the experts of the Tianxuan Continent did not carry such mystery. Yet as Mu Zi's cultivation rose, she increasingly sensed just how extraordinary her own Reincarnation Seal was.

As early as the first time Mu Zi underwent a Reincarnation Tribulation, she had discovered a power contained within the Reincarnation Seal.

That power was Mu Zi's deepest hidden trump card, one she had never used.

Back then, if Mu Zi had failed to continue the severed path of the Yuan Power system and had faced the descent of the Otherworldly Demon Emperor while still at the Reincarnation Stage, she would still have possessed a contingency through this trump card.

Now that Mu Zi was about to transcend, the time had come to use the power within the Reincarnation Seal.

Her path of cultivation had begun here, and here, too, she would ascend to its peak.

(The foreshadowing from earlier can be found in Chapter 520, "Contingency.")