Chapter 118: Future Manifestation (1)

Deep within the inner sect of Black Desolation Sect, Ji Yue sat at the center of a vast formation, her silver hair floating gently amid the starlight enveloping her.

She was only one step away from completing her transformation. The power of the stars had already permeated her body, and the final change to her physique was within reach.

Yet at this critical moment, she lost her concentration.

Her purple eyes were turned toward the outside of the sect, toward her sister.

"That idiot... What is she doing, getting caught in such a clumsy trap?" Her voice carried a frustration she rarely let show, and something else she didn’t notice herself: fear.

The Demon Lord, four major stages above her husband, was now free to run wild, and no one could stop him.

Ji Yue hoped he would recognize the danger and flee.

But would he?

And even if he decided to run, could he actually escape someone so much stronger than him?

Her fingers tightened slightly as she watched the distant battlefield.

They had already gone through the Sacred Ceremony, linking their fates. Even if the worst happened, she would see him again.

But reincarnation was never that simple. There was no guarantee that everything would proceed as she wished, or that the person she met again would be the same Gu Yuan she knew now.

She didn’t want to leave any of that to chance.

Should she abandon everything and go to him?

Ji Yue hesitated.

She was at the final step. If she stopped now, she wouldn’t simply lose the opportunity to acquire the physique she had always wanted. If she did stop, then she would lose her original physique as well.

She could lose everything.

For someone as composed and decisive as Ji Yue, it was an agonizing choice. For once, neither calculation nor experience offered her a clear answer.

-----

Back on the battlefield outside the sect, Ji Yan remained sealed within the formation raised by the five Demon Kings, her power suppressed along with her freedom.

No grin... only anger was on her face.

She tested the seal, probing its restrictions. Breaking free through brute force was certainly possible, but how long would it take?

Should she use her Destruction Dao? Tear everything trapping her away?

Like her sister, Ji Yan had her own reservations.

Like her sister, Ji Yan was hesitating.

Her gaze rested on the Demon Lord, and the killing intent in it was so thick that one might wonder how many she had killed to carry this much. It was a gaze that dared him to come down and attack anyone at all.

She didn’t shout. She didn’t threaten. Her silent stare, saturated with a killing intent no mortal should be able to hold, was more terrifying than anything she could have said... and the Demon Lord naturally felt it.

His plan had succeeded. Ji Yan wouldn’t be able to break free anytime soon, and the battle should have been as good as won.

Despite repeatedly reminding himself of this, he couldn’t shake the unease creeping into his heart.

Neither sister knew what the other was thinking. Both were preoccupied with the same person, their husband.

Unaware of that shared anxiety, Gu Yuan had already snapped free of his earlier daze.

He, too, was worried about them.

The panic spreading among the Black Desolation Sect members around him barely registered in his eyes. His attention was fixed on one person alone: the Demon Lord, who was now free to act as he pleased.

How can he stop him?

Gu Yuan searched for a way to bridge the gap between them, but he couldn’t think of anything.

If he could just buy some time, Ji Yan would probably break out of that flimsy prison, and Ji Yue would be available to help as well. He didn’t need to defeat the Demon Lord himself. He just needed to hold out until one of his wives could intervene.

But how?

Gu Yuan turned his gaze toward Ruxi.

Could she buy some time?

The grave expression on her face answered his question before he even had to ask.

She couldn’t do it.

Gu Yuan drew a slow breath, then let it out. Panic wouldn’t help him, and neither would waiting for someone else to solve the problem.

He had to find a way himself.

But what could he actually do?

Neither his treasures nor his techniques, powerful as they were, could make up for a gap of four major stages. The Crimson Fire was no exception.

So, what did he have left that might help?

The Orb of Creation? Its Door ability? Could he use it to summon his mother-in-law?

Even if he could open a door, would she be able to pass through it? Was the ability restricted to him, or could others use it too? And more importantly, was she even in a position to come?

Too many unknowns. He had no time to work through them all.

Gu Yuan decided to activate the ability and deal with the consequences afterward. At this point, keeping the Door ability a secret was the least of his concerns.

But just as he was about to act, another thought occurred to him.

When he had broken through to the Embryo Realm, the Orb of Creation had granted him a new ability. He still hadn’t checked what it did.

Could it actually help?

If he could use his own ability to turn the situation around, that would be preferable to relying on someone else.

Until now, the Orb’s abilities had primarily served to strengthen or support him. However, there was no rule saying this new ability had to follow the same pattern.

With tension mounting, Gu Yuan immediately opened his status window to find out.

- Future Manifestation: Allows the host to temporarily access the cultivation and capabilities he could attain after a chosen number of years. The cooldown is at most one hundredth of the selected interval.

"Wow..."

The low exclamation escaped Gu Yuan’s mouth, filled with shock and joy.

An ability that seemed tailor-made for his current predicament! For a moment, all kinds of thoughts flashed through his mind, but he quickly pushed them aside. There would be time to think about the implications later.

Right now, he needed to use it.

The question was, how many years into the future should he choose?

Ten thousand years?

Would that be enough?

Gu Yuan was confident that, given the assistance of the Orb of Creation, he could reach a level of power far beyond the Demon Lord’s in a mere few thousand years. Ten thousand years should be more than sufficient.

But that counted the help of the Orb of Creation. If he didn’t count it, everything changed.

Gu Yuan recalled Elder Lianxin from the Yin-Yang Sect that stood at the Severing Realm. She was around sixty thousand years old, and she possessed an Earth Grade Spiritual Root.

His own Spiritual Root was only Top Grade.

After weighing his options, he settled on a much longer interval.

One hundred thousand years!

Of course, that meant the cooldown could be as long as a thousand years. Was he hoping to go a thousand years without encountering another life-threatening situation?

No. That wasn’t what he was betting on.

The description had said at most one hundredth of the selected interval.

At most meant it could be less.

That was the gamble he was willing to take.

With no hesitation remaining, Gu Yuan activated Future Manifestation.

In an instant, power surged through his body, and his cultivation began to soar.

From the Embryo Realm, which he had only just reached, he advanced into the Void Realm, then the Unity Realm. His cultivation continued climbing, but as he approached the threshold of the Tribulation Realm, its progress suddenly slowed.

For a brief moment, Gu Yuan wondered if he had reached a limit. Could it be because his Golden Mountain Scripture only supported his cultivation up to the Unity Realm?

He had no time to dwell on the question.

His cultivation broke through into the Tribulation Realm.

Then, instead of slowing further, its advance accelerated once more. Gu Yuan surged into the Severing Realm, passing through its stages one after another.

First Stage. Second Stage. Third Stage...

He continued all the way to the Ninth Stage, reaching the very peak of the Severing Realm before his cultivation finally came to a halt.

Had that been the limit? As though in answer to his disappointment, something clicked deep inside him.

An invisible barrier shattered, and his cultivation broke through once more.

The Immortal Ascension Realm!

Immortal Power coursed through his body, and for the first time, Gu Yuan felt as though nothing in the world could stand in his way.

If he wished, he could destroy this entire mortal world.

The thought didn’t even seem far-fetched. It felt entirely within his reach, as natural as raising a hand.

For a moment, Gu Yuan simply stared at his hands, and a strange smile slowly spread across his face.

"So this is what it feels like... to fear nothing."