Chapter 535 279: Breaking Through to the 12th-Order Lifeform

For the first time, he felt himself drawing closer and closer to death.

Until Wang Xiao was completely submerged in the vortex.

His consciousness blurred completely, then sank into silence!

...

An unknown amount of time passed.

In a hazy stupor,

Wang Xiao suddenly opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

At this moment,

beneath the night sky, the heavens were filled with countless stars.

Moonlight scattered down, enveloping his body.

'Where am I?!'

Wang Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly.

Just as he was feeling bewildered,

a clear and steady voice suddenly rang in his ear:

"Shengtiang, you fell asleep again. And here you were, saying you wanted to become a Martial Saint. You've only been practicing Martial Arts for a month, and you can't take it anymore? How are you supposed to become my right-hand man in the future?!"

Wang Xiao came to his senses and turned his head to look.

He saw a man with a handsome face, wide-set eyes, and a full forehead, smiling warmly at him.

'Shengtiang, this is...'

As Wang Xiao gazed at the man, it felt as if countless pieces of information were surging into his mind.

Soon,

he exhaled, finally understanding his situation.

'So, this is what it means to reverse the past.'

Wang Xiao had discovered that he had traveled into the annals of the past to experience its events firsthand.

However,

he wasn't participating in his original identity, but as someone else.

The person he had transmigrated into was Wu Shengtiang!

The very same strongest expert from the Martial Arts World whom he had defeated when he first arrived.

Of course,

the timeline he was in was not from when Wu Shengtiang had become famous and dominated a region.

Instead, it was during Wu Shengtiang's youth.

At this time,

Wu Shengtiang was far from being a Martial Saint; he hadn't even reached the Innate Realm.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was just a fledgling.

'Reverse the past, face the future... is this the only way to transcend?!'

Wang Xiao finally understood the meaning of the five words left by the Time Flower.

Only by repeatedly traveling into the past, using the power of others to defeat his past self, could he finally break free from the shackles of the past and face the future!

This was because it meant that no matter how time changed, he himself would remain in a state of eternal invincibility.

Only after achieving eternity could one resist the erosion of time and ultimately transcend time itself!

This was the secret of a Tier Twelve Life!

'Past, present, future... After transcending everything, one naturally transcends time itself!'

A sliver of understanding rose in Wang Xiao's heart.

What he had to do now was very simple.

Without the help of the Book of Space-Time, he had to cultivate step by step.

Until, at some point in the future, he came face to face with his past self.

Then, he would defeat that past self and reverse the past.

"What's wrong? Are you really tired? Let's head back then. Don't overwork yourself. Practicing Martial Arts requires a gradual approach; you can't reach the heavens in a single step!"

Beside him,

the future Emperor of Great Xuan looked at Wang Xiao with concern.

'No wonder Wu Shengtiang swore to protect Great Xuan with his life back then. Such a debt of gratitude for being recognized truly must be repaid in full!'

Wang Xiao let out a breath.

He nodded.

"Yes, let's go back. Don't worry, I will definitely become a Martial Saint!"

Wang Xiao didn't dare to relax his guard in the slightest.

He knew just how terrifying his future self—the one who would arrive in this world—was.

Top-tier talent, top-tier aptitude... nearly all his qualities had reached an impeccable level.

In this body of Wu Shengtiang's, he didn't know if he could defeat his future self!

Fortunately, his own cultivation realm was a significant advantage.

All sorts of cultivation techniques were at his fingertips, and with the help of the future Emperor, he wouldn't lack for resources.

His cultivation now would surely be stronger than the original Wu Shengtiang's.

「In the time that followed.」

Wang Xiao combined his own knowledge and cultivated methodically.

As expected, without the aid of his Analyze All Things talent,

his cultivation progress wasn't as fast as he had imagined.

Problems he used to grasp instantly now took much more time to constantly adjust to in this body.

However,

his foundation was solid, and it only took him ten years to break through to the Martial Saint realm!

Of course,

his Martial Saint realm was much stronger than that of an ordinary Martial Saint.

He was even sprinting toward the Martial God Realm!

After Wang Xiao broke through to the Martial Saint realm,

he didn't stay idle. He helped the Second Prince eliminate his rivals and ascend the throne to become the Emperor of Great Xuan.

However,

the Second Prince had suffered injuries in his early years and passed away after just a few years, entrusting the great responsibility of protecting Great Xuan to Wang Xiao, who had now become Wu Shengtiang!

Thus, Wang Xiao naturally became the pillar of Great Xuan, his might shaking the four corners of the land!

During this period, he also helped the newly enthroned Prince develop the people's livelihood and strengthen the army.

Unfortunately, his power became too great, arousing the suspicion of the new Emperor, and he was directly exiled to garrison the borders!

However,

he didn't try to change anything. Instead, he reorganized the army and rooted out rebellions.

At the same time, he continued to cultivate, awaiting the arrival of his future self.

And then, to engage in their fated duel!

And so, days turned into years.

Time flew by.

Soon, a hundred years had passed.

During this time,

the Great Xuan Empire, under the leadership of the new Emperor, gradually fell into decline, just as it had in the past.

Meanwhile, Wang Xiao, cultivating in silence, easily broke through to the Martial God Realm.

This was also the highest realm that could be achieved in this world.

Without the corresponding resources, it was already impossible to advance any further.

And the other Wang Xiao had appeared in this world as well!

「One year later.」

As the other Wang Xiao's power and reputation steadily grew,

outside the Forbidden City,

Wang Xiao, wielding the Overlord Spear, finally met the other Wang Xiao's challenge.

It was just like all those years ago.

Only this time,

he had a different identity, observing his past self from a new perspective.

'Past, present, future... so this is how one transcends. With great perseverance, you sever the past, present, and future, reducing your very existence to the Void. Naturally, you will then transcend time!'

The moment Wang Xiao saw his other self, understanding dawned in his heart.

He gripped the Overlord Spear and charged at the other Wang Xiao!

「A few moments later.」

BANG!

Wang Xiao pierced his other self with his spear, ending the battle completely!

And at the very instant of the piercing blow,

Wang Xiao and his other self completely merged into one.

Afterward,

the void suddenly began to tremble.

A great river exuding the aura of time abruptly materialized and formed a vortex, pulling Wang Xiao inside.

Wang Xiao began to travel through the River of Time once more.

He now understood the secret to transcending the River of Time: he had to eliminate his past, present, and future selves.

To make himself cease to exist entirely within the River of Time.

That way, even if others used the River of Time to enact techniques—such as attacks or resurrections—they would be unable to find any trace of him.

Only then could one be considered to have broken through to become a Tier Twelve Life!

Achieving this would require an immense amount of time.

He had to use various methods to eliminate his traces, bit by bit!

And so,

Wang Xiao began to travel continuously into the past along the River of Time, erasing the traces of his existence one by one.

He arrived in the Celestial Sword World and became a Demon Cultivator.

He arrived in the Incense Realm and became a member of the Demon Race.

He arrived in the Cultivation Immortality Realm and became a conscious Celestial Dao.

He arrived in the Divine-Demon Realm and became a member of the Divine Race!

With every experience Wang Xiao went through,

the traces of his past were erased bit by bit, ceasing to exist.

After erasing the traces of his past,

Wang Xiao established himself in the present and abruptly connected to his own River of Destiny, slowly peeling it away from the River of Time!

Erasing the traces of the present

meant freeing his own River of Destiny from the control of the River of Time.

This step took Wang Xiao a full thousand years to finally complete.

'Only the final step remains: erasing the traces of the future!'

To erase the traces of the future, one naturally needed to completely control one's own line of Destiny.

To remain eternally unchanging amidst countless variables.

Just as Wang Xiao was about to carefully ponder how to take this step,

BUZZ!

A spatio-temporal fluctuation suddenly appeared.

The long-vanished Book of Space-Time suddenly materialized at this moment.

It simultaneously shone with a brilliant golden light, fiercely illuminating the path ahead in the River of Time.

In that instant,

Wang Xiao felt the countless variables of the path ahead suddenly become crystal clear.

The River of Destiny within his body also began to surge violently, carrying him as it continuously ascended.

In a trance,

he felt like a Kun transforming into a Peng, leaping out of the water.

The entire River of Time suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

At this moment,

he had completely transcended the River of Time, breaking through to become a Tier Twelve Life.