Martial Peak

Chapter 6001: Price

This was the reason why Yang Kai thanked Mo in the end.

“I’m afraid this is the end he wanted.”

Mu had protected the Human Race and the Universe for countless years, and even after her death, she had left behind many contingencies and hidden hands.

Although the world was in ruins and the Human Race were like ants to Mo, it was still what Mu wanted to protect. Under the premise that the world had someone else strong enough to protect it, Mo was willing to go along with Mu’s Will.

Of course, if Yang Kai didn’t have the necessary strength, Mo wouldn’t mind killing him. In that case, Mo would have still set aside a Great Territory for the Human Race to live and multiply after he dominated the entire Universe. This way, the Human Race wouldn’t be wiped out and he would have a reasonable explanation for Mu.

At the end of the day, Mo was not inherently evil. In the Late Ancient Era, he had even protected the Human Race and took it upon himself to help them gain their freedom. If it weren’t for him and the 10 Martial Ancestors working together, the Human Race of that era would not have been able to defeat the Early Ancient Era’s Great Monsters.

It was just that he was unable to control his gradually growing power and eventually lost his way, especially after Mu’s demise. When she died, no one was able to restrain him anymore.

Today’s ending was something Mo himself probably sought from the start.

Everyone sunk into silence after listening to Yang Kai’s explanation of what truly happened, as what Mu would want others to know. Their current feelings were tough to describe.

Mo’s life might have been filled with misery, but he was still the one who had brought about the pain and suffering of the Human Race for millions of years. Had there been no Mo, the Human Race would have ruled the world unchallenged after defeating the Early Ancient Era’s Great Monsters. There would not have been a war that lasted for so many eons.

The Black Ink disaster had caused unimaginable losses to the Human Race, with countless elites having sacrificed their lives to bring it to an end.

As far as the Human Race was concerned, no matter how miserable Mo’s life had been, it was an irrefutable fact that he was the Human Race’s greatest enemy.

As the adage goes, ‘The winner is the King, and the loser is the villain!’

*Kacha…*

Suddenly, it sounded as if something had cracked. Everyone promptly turned to look at the source, and was immediately shocked.

“Big Brother!” Yang Xue called out, staring at Yang Kai’s face in horror.

Everyone also looked serious as a crack appeared on Yang Kai’s face. It was not a normal wound, and neither was Yang Kai bleeding from it.

After the first crack, another one appeared soon after, and then another, and another…

They were not just on Yang Kai’s face, but on his hands as well.

The current Yang Kai looked like a piece of porcelain that was on the verge of shattering, and everyone could feel fearsome Daos Strengths seeping from these cracks.

Yang Kai looked down at his hands and muttered to himself, “It came faster than I expected!”

He seemed to have anticipated his current situation.

“What’s happening?” Su Yan asked from behind him, her tender body uncontrollably trembling.

After so many years of struggle, Mo was finally defeated and the Black Ink disaster was resolved. The future belonged to the Human Race, and it was foreseeable that the world would become a far better place.

Yang Kai was the biggest contributor in the final battle, but at this moment, his entire body was shrouded in an inexplicable crisis. Everyone could not help but be nervous.

What was even more disturbing was that no one had ever seen such injuries before.

Yang Kai gently patted the back of Su Yan’s hand, comforting her, “I won’t die, but I don’t have much time left.”

“What does that mean?” Xiao Xiao asked.

“How should I put it…” Everyone around him was worried to death, but Yang Kai, the main person involved, remained completely calm and composed, “The Shadow Technique was created by Mu with the Space-Time River as its foundation. I inherited her legacy and walked the same path as her, so naturally I can also use this Secret Technique.”

“However, Mu’s Space-Time River was incomplete, so her Shadow Technique was actually incomplete. She could only summon shadows from the past, and once those shadows dispersed, the memories of that period would also disappear. On the other hand, I have perfected this Secret Technique and can summon shadows from the future. Each shadow I summoned in the battle just now was from 1,000 years in my future. Now that the shadows have already been destroyed, I must pay the price.”

The more powerful a Secret Technique was, the harder it was to use it. The Shadow Technique was undoubtedly the most powerful Secret Technique that had ever appeared in this world, especially since Yang Kai had surpassed his predecessor and used it to defeat Mo. The price he had to pay would definitely not be small either.

“Once the shadows of the past are destroyed, the memories of the corresponding past will also disappear. So, what kind of price do you have to pay when your future shadow is destroyed?” Mi Jing Lun asked solemnly.

“I won’t exist in those periods in the future.”

“You won’t exist? What do you mean?”

“Although I can’t explain it clearly, you can think of it as a literal statement.”

Mi Jing Lun was silent for a moment, digesting this unbelievable news, “You summoned eight shadows, so does that mean 8,000 years of your future just… disappeared?”

“Indeed!”

“What happens after 8,000 years?”

Yang Kai shook his head, “I have no idea.”

After all, this was the first time he had used the Shadow Technique, so although he knew that he would cease to exist for the next 8,000 years, all traces of his existence would be erased by the Space-Time Dao Strength of the Universe, he couldn’t say for certain what would happen after that.

“How could this be?” Yang Xue’s eyes turned red.

“It’s not a big problem, I should be able to return after 8,000 years,” Yang Kai comforted.

Despite his assurance, everyone could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

His back suddenly became lighter as Su Yan suddenly left.

She returned soon after, but this time she brought Yu Ru Meng and the others with her.

The eyes of all the women turned red as they tried to hold back their grief, preventing their tears from rolling down. Su Yan had already briefed everyone of the situation, so they knew the crisis Yang Kai was about to encounter.

In the short time Su Yan was not there though, further cracks had appeared on Yang Kai and the leakage of Dao Strengths had become more and more obvious.

Yang Kai really didn’t have much time left, and the backlash from the Shadow Technique was even stronger than he had imagined.

Mi Jing Lun shot a glance at the crowd, whereupon everyone apart from Yang Kai’s close relatives retreated to the side.

The women who had been brought here by Su Yan finally couldn’t hold it in any further and burst into tears.

In the end, it was Yu Ru Meng who acted like the Big Sister of the family and managed to compose herself first.

Before she could say anything more though, the skin on Yang Kai’s face began to peel off and disappear. Even though they were all Eighth and Ninth-Order Masters now, there was nothing they could do.

Everyone held back their grief as they helplessly watched Yang Kai’s figure gradually vanish.

At the very last moment, Yu Ru Meng shouted at Yang Kai, “You heartless bastard! Mark my words, if you don’t come back after 8,000 years, I’ll take my Sisters and marry someone else!”

Yang Kai gave her a smile, “This sounds so familiar…”

Yu Ru Meng’s Will finally shattered, and she broke into tears. She tightly grabbed Yang Kai’s hand, and begged, “You must come back! You must!”

Yang Kai swept his gaze over all of them one by one, as if he wanted to imprint their faces into the depths of his Soul, before gently nodding and assuring, “Of course!”

Right then, scattered specks of light emerged before an enormous river spanning across the void appeared, enveloping Yang Kai. Soon after, an enormous wave came crashing down on him, swallowing him into the river.

The river slowly disappeared, and so did Yang Kai along with it, leaving behind a group of women standing there in a daze, their endless sorrow flowing like a river.

“Something’s not right,” Mi Jing Lun, who was watching from afar, suddenly whispered before turning to Xiang Shan, “Do you feel it?”

Xiang Shan nodded his agreement, “There’s something wrong.”

The other Ninth-Order Masters more or less felt the same way. Although they couldn’t figure out what exactly was wrong, Ninth-Order Masters were extremely perceptive. Their senses were so sharp that even just a slight disparity around them would arouse their suspicion.

Everyone made their respective probes, but none of them were able to find anything amiss.

Unable to find anything wrong, they had no choice but to put this matter aside, but they still maintained a certain degree of vigilance.

The curtain of the final battle had already fallen. The allied Army had finished off the Black Ink Clan Army, while Mo had been completely sealed by Yang Kai. Although the greatest contributor had suffered severe backlash from his Secret Technique and had his existence wiped out by Space and Time for the next 8,000 years, when all was said and done, the victory needed to be publicized.

When Mi Jing Lun and the others returned and spread the news that Mo had been ended, the Human Race Army of millions that had been waiting here all cheered and danced in joy.

The war that had been going on for millions of years had finally come to an end. Now, all under the Heavens belonged to the Human Race!

After the battle, the casualties were counted and the aftermath was dealt with in an orderly manner.

The Small Stone Race Army had already withdrawn and returned to the Chaotic Dead Territory through the Void Corridor. The Human Race also began their withdrawal half a month later.

The Void Corridor created by Zhang Ruo Xi saved the Human Race a lot of time.

Not everyone left however, headed by Su Yan and Yu Ru Meng, Yang Kai’s Wives, his Disciples, Yang Xue, Yang Xiao, and several others all stayed behind.

They remained in the place where Yang Kai had disappeared, quietly waiting for his return.

The next 8,000 years would definitely be very dull and long, but so long as they could see Yang Kai the moment he returned, any amount of waiting would be worth it.

A fleet of dilapidated Warships entered the Chaotic Dead Territory through the Void Corridor. The current Zhang Ruo Xi could still somehow maintain the balance of Yin and Yang in her body, so the Chaotic Dead Territory was now a safe place.

Be that as it may, she couldn’t maintain this state for much longer. In order to fight Mo and kill the Royal Lords, she had burned too much of her Heavens Order Bloodline.

Once the Human Race Army left the Chaotic Dead Territory, she would break the harmony with the two. At that time, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan would reappear, and Zhang Ruo Xi would lose her previous strength.

At the end of the day, if she didn’t have her Heavens Order Bloodline that could maintain the harmony of Yin and Yang, she would just be a Ninth-Order Master.

The fleet passed through the Chaotic Dead Territory and soon returned to the 3,000 Worlds.

Many years ago, when the Human Race Army first set off from the Star Boundary, they had some 30 million soldiers, but now, only slightly more than 10 million remained; around 60% of the soldiers had died in this final war.

Despite the terrible losses, compared to the solemn and miserable atmosphere they had when they first set out, everyone was high in spirits, and every Warship was buzzing with cheers and laughter, despite the sad state of the army.

On a certain Purifying Black Ink Warship that was so wrecked that it looked like it would fall apart at any moment, Mi Jing Lun was standing at the bow with Xiang Shan beside him.

The two calmly listened to the hustle and bustle on the other Warships and exchanged a knowing glance.

“The Human Race has won, but the greatest contributor is unable to celebrate with us, it’s quite regretful,” Mi Jing Lun couldn’t help but lament.

Xiang Shan nodded his agreement, “Now that I think about it, had he not forced those peace treaties with the Black Ink Clan, the Human Race wouldn’t have been able to accumulate enough strength.”

“That’s right,” Mi Jing Lun nodded, “By the looks of it, that treaty was an important turning point in the rise of the Human Race.”

“What was that treaty called?”

“What’s it called again?”

The two Ninth-Order Masters glanced at each other before the smiles on their faces slowly faded away, gradually replaced by solemn looks…