Reversing the River of Time, Hongjun's True Form?!

Looking at the River of Time below, Zhao Gongming instinctively felt shaken.

It flowed out from the depths of Primordial Chaos, passed through the Primordial World, and ran through all heavens and myriad realms. Countless living beings struggled within it.

Even powerful Primordial Unity Golden Immortals—

Within this River of Time, they were merely like little fish, occasionally leaping from the Boundless Fate River to catch a fleeting glimpse of the River of Time in its entirety.

But they soon failed to endure and fell heavily back down, drifting with the current.

Only by proving the Dao of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could one transcend the River of Time and overlook the past, present, and future.

At this moment, as Zhao Gongming observed the River of Time before him, countless insights unknowingly surged into his heart.

[You observed the River of Time and comprehended the Time Law. Current Time Law: 5%]

[You continued observing the River of Time. Your Time Law has greatly improved, and you have comprehended the great supernatural power—Great Time Art.]

[You continued observing the River of Time. Your comprehension of the Time Law has reached perfection and transformed into the Time Dao. Current Time Dao: 1%]

"Time Dao? Great Time Art?"

Zhao Gongming awoke from his enlightenment, a trace of delight appearing on his face.

His gains from observing the River of Time this time were truly immense.

The Time Dao was the second-ranked forbidden Dao law among the Three Thousand Great Daos. Time Leap, Time Reversal, Time Pause—regardless of which great Dao divine ability it was, its might was unimaginable. The Great Time Art was a great supernatural power derived from the Time Dao, and its function was simple: it influenced time.

At present, he could set up a Time-Flow Space with a hundredfold flow of time. One year outside was a full hundred years within.

"This!"

The joy on Zhao Gongming's face deepened. One had to know that he possessed a Top-Tier Innate Divine Foundation and had bloomed twelve-grade Perfect Three Flowers. His potential was astonishing.

But his time spent cultivating had still been far too short.

Now, with this hundredfold time flow, he could bring out even more of his potential. It was equivalent to increasing his cultivation speed another hundredfold!

And that wasn't all. This was merely the most rudimentary application of time.

If he continued comprehending the Time Dao and mastered heaven-defying divine abilities such as Time Pause and Time Severing, that would be truly terrifying.

"A Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal transcends the River of Time and can reverse the past, observe the future..."

Looking at the River of Time before him, Zhao Gongming's heart stirred. But before he could move—

Buzz!

A terrifying, indescribable force suddenly descended. Under that force, a warning of danger instinctively rose within Zhao Gongming's heart.

Following the source of that power, he saw—

At this moment, a sphere of white light stood upstream of the River of Time. It emitted endless white radiance, completely enveloping the entire River of Time.

"This is... the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World?"

Looking at the white sphere of light at the source of the River of Time, Zhao Gongming understood in an instant.

The Heavenly Dao governed the Primordial World, and likewise restrained living beings above the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm on the Primordial Continent, preventing them from influencing the River of Time.

Even Heavenly Dao Sages, who wielded Heavenly Dao Authority, couldn't casually alter the timeline of the Primordial World. They couldn't even revive fallen living beings.

"So that's how it is. Everything can be explained now!"

Zhao Gongming came to a realization. Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals gathered their endless timelines of past, present, and future into themselves, even transcending the River of Time. Even if a living being perished, they could reverse the River of Time and revive them. They could even reverse time to kill a powerful enemy before that enemy had proven the Dao, while they were still weak. Yet in the Primordial World, neither Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, Quasi-Sages, nor even Saints had ever displayed such power to alter timelines at will.

The fundamental reason for all this was the suppression and restraint of the Heavenly Dao.

And this wasn't a bad thing. Otherwise, if the timeline of the Primordial World could be influenced at will, the entire Primordial World would likely have fallen into complete chaos!

Buzz!

As Zhao Gongming pondered this, the white radiance that had originally shrouded the River of Time abruptly weakened by more than half, and the pressure on him suddenly lightened.

Then, a stream of information poured into his mind.

The Great Dao was fifty, the Heavenly Dao forty-nine; there was always a single thread of life.

The moment one proved the Dao of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal and transcended the River of Time, one obtained that single thread of life: the ability to reverse the River of Time and leave one's own footprints upon it!

The longer the span of time one reversed, and the farther the footprints one left stretched, the more astonishing the benefits one could gain.

This was naturally easy to understand.

A Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal transcended the river, their timelines converging into themselves as the false self returned to the true self. If the true self reversed the River of Time, it meant that one had already left traces in the immeasurable years before. If he cultivated to the present day and then reversed time to the Dragon-Han Cataclysm, it was equivalent to having begun cultivating during the Dragon-Han Cataclysm. If he reversed time all the way back to the creation of heaven and earth, it was equivalent to having begun cultivating from the moment heaven and earth were created. Once the reversal ended, he could obtain in one breath all the mana accumulated until now.

"No wonder there's such a staggering gulf between Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals and Primordial Unity Golden Immortals. In mana alone, they must be as far apart as heaven and earth!"

Zhao Gongming murmured. If he could go all the way back to the Creation-Heaven Cataclysm in one breath, wouldn't he directly gain the mana of ten entire Tribulations?

Even a pig could cultivate to the realm of Perfected Quasi-Sage, right?

But when Zhao Gongming began reversing the River of Time, he discovered that everything seemed far less simple than he had imagined.

When he first began reversing time, the resistance didn't seem too great. But as he continued, the resistance from the River of Time became increasingly terrifying.

Fortunately, once the Time Dao manifested, that resistance was instantly reduced by more than half, and Zhao Gongming quickened his pace.

Along the way, as he continuously reversed time, countless scenes and images emerged within the River of Time.

The Six Saints proved the Dao and became Saints. Five Saints emerged in a single day, five descents of Merit shook the Primordial World.

The Purple Cloud Palace preached the Dao, and three thousand Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals gathered within the Purple Cloud Palace.

Without realizing it, Zhao Gongming had arrived at the boundary between the Lich Calamity and the Dragon-Han Cataclysm. By now, he had reversed more than a hundred yuanhui of time.

The resistance from the River of Time had already become terrifying beyond imagination. Even with the Time Dao offsetting it, Zhao Gongming felt as though every step was impossibly difficult.

Buzz!

Just as Zhao Gongming was about to stop, a Gray-White Stone Pearl suddenly manifested slowly, emitting waves of profound aura that enveloped his entire body.

Then, before Zhao Gongming's astonished eyes, the originally terrifying pressure—

At this moment, directly dissipated. The boundary between the Lich Calamity and the Dragon-Han Cataclysm was also crossed by him with ease.

Soon, astonishing scenes unfolded before him once more.

During the Dao-Demon Strife, Luohou and Hongjun unleashed terrifying grand formations and detonated the Execution Immortal Sword Formation, blasting the entire Western Lands of the Primordial World into pieces!

During the Dragon-Han Cataclysm, the three clans went to war, and endless Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin corpses fell from the heavens.

Without realizing it, he had crossed an entire Tribulation in succession and arrived in the era of the Dragon-Han Cataclysm.

At this moment, countless astonishing Dharma manifestations appeared above the River of Time.

A mass of Taiqing Origin, a mass of Supreme Purity Origin, and a mass of Jade Purity Origin formed the shape of a triangle.

The Dharma manifestation of an incomparably beautiful woman with a human body and serpent tail radiated a supreme, unrivaled aura.

An innate Bodhi Tree and an innate Bitter Bamboo leaned against each other, their roots planted atop the River of Time. Their leaves rustled as they scattered radiance of wisdom.

"Are these the Dharma manifestations of the Six Saints? The Heavenly Dao Six Sages could only reverse time this far?"

Understanding dawned upon Zhao Gongming. Clearly, when the Heavenly Dao Six Sages proved the Dao of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, they too had reversed the River of Time.

And this was where they had reached their limits.

Yet beneath the radiance scattered by the Chaos Pearl, this still seemed far from Zhao Gongming's limit.

With that thought, Zhao Gongming crossed past the Dharma manifestations of the Six Saints and continued reversing toward the upper reaches of the River of Time. At last, he stopped.

At this moment, countless ferocious beasts roared and howled in the River of Time below.

They bore endless resentment toward the Primordial World. Their sole purpose in being born was to utterly destroy the entire Primordial World.

Clearly, he had reversed time to the era of the Beast Calamity. But Zhao Gongming merely glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze and looking straight ahead.

Here, a massive sphere of white light had completely blocked the channel of the River of Time.

This was precisely the legendary sphere of Heavenly Dao Origin. It had emerged during the Beast Calamity, taking control of the Primordial World. Likewise, it was the endpoint of reversing the River of Time.

"Strange... Why can't I see the Dharma manifestation of Dao Ancestor Hongjun!"

Looking at the Heavenly Dao true form blocking his path, Zhao Gongming had no intention of crossing it. The assimilating power of the Heavenly Dao itself was something even Saints feared.

Although the Chaos Pearl was with him—

The mana accumulated over two whole Tribulations was already extremely terrifying, more than enough to wield the Slaughter Supreme Treasure in his hands.

Yet the only doubt in his heart was that along the way, he had seen countless Dharma manifestations floating above the River of Time, including Great Supernatural Beings of the Primordial World.

There were also the Heavenly Dao Six Sages, yet he alone had not seen Dao Ancestor Hongjun's Dharma manifestation.

A Dharma manifestation was formed from one's own origin and reflected the true body. Naturally, he was curious about the origin of Heavenly Dao Dao Ancestor Hongjun!

"Wait?"

At that moment, Zhao Gongming seemed to recall something and looked directly at the enormous sphere of Heavenly Dao Origin before him!

The light had been blinding just now, so he hadn't seen clearly. But as he gradually adapted to the Heavenly Dao's radiance, Zhao Gongming finally witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Within the Heavenly Dao Origin, a Purple Earthworm with a savage maw, radiating endless, terrifying intent of destruction, was sleeping. Its body alone occupied nearly one-tenth of the Heavenly Dao Origin. At this moment, as Zhao Gongming's gaze fell upon it, the sleeping Purple Earthworm seemed to sense something. It opened its eyes and likewise looked toward Zhao Gongming.

The next instant, an intense warning born of instinct abruptly arose in Zhao Gongming's heart!