Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 420 - 410: The Ten Thousand Realms Have Reached Their End, 11 Monument Marks!

"Ultimately, I still owe you a favor."

Su Mu slowly extended his right hand, looking at the mark of the Stone Ring on his middle finger.

This Stone Ring had indeed helped Su Mu greatly. Elder Ling brought the ring’s Artifact Spirit, and according to him, it was this "important figure" in front of them who assisted him.

Yet he had only met this woman once, and Su Mu couldn’t understand why she would help him.

Upon hearing this, it seemed Lady Houtu had already anticipated Su Mu would ask this question, having an answer in her heart long ago.

She slowly replied, "I didn’t really help you in any way. On the contrary... you stopped the Great Flood, which invisibly saved this city."

"Today, I invited you here because I have an impertinent request, hoping you could help."

Lady Houtu’s tone seemed always so calm and ethereal, without any emotional fluctuation.

Perhaps she herself does not know if she counts as a "creature" anymore, whether she should have the emotional fluctuations unique to "creatures". Since the moment she became the Reincarnation, she might have ceased to exist as a "self", instead becoming a Supreme rule entity, unfit for low-level emotional fluctuations.

This is normal, because once she harbors emotions or feelings, it would be an immeasurable catastrophe for the reincarnation of All Heavens and Myriad Realms, the entire reincarnation plunging into "darkness".

But this time, and the last, she broke her own principles, not remaining an observer but entering the game.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have invited Su Mu to this place.

....

"Repair the bridge?"

Initially, Old Ten and Du Ziren invited him here with the intention of having him help repair the bridge, perhaps gaining a substantial amount of Favor Points.

"It’s so, but not entirely."

"Please follow me."

With that, Lady Houtu slowly turned, heading toward the end of the bridge, and Su Mu followed her step by step.

This stone bridge spans the entire Dark River, roughly three thousand meters in length.

A three thousand meter distance isn’t long, but walking on the bridge inexplicably feels somewhat distant, each step making the feet heavy, quite odd.

Very soon, they arrived at the end of the stone bridge.

At the end of the stone bridge stands a stone stele, a hundred meters tall, thirty meters wide, of deep black hue. The instant his gaze touched the stele, Su Mu felt his breath halt, his soul uncontrollably shuddering.

Looking closely, the stone stele bore no inscriptions, only shallow traces like rings of time.

Su Mu counted, and there were eleven traces on the stele.

Oddly, such a large stone stele bore only eleven traces, making it seem abrupt.

....

Lady Houtu gazes at the eleven traces on the stone stele, sighing deeply.

Actually, she watched the traces decrease bit by bit, yet unable to stop it.

This stone stele is called the "Reincarnation Stele", representing "the lifespan of reincarnation".

Indeed, reincarnation too has a lifespan; it might be reborn, but it certainly won’t live eternally.

When all traces on the Reincarnation Stele vanish, it signifies the Reincarnation Dao has reached its end, it’s shattered. The complete Reincarnation Dao of All Heavens and Myriad Realms shatters, leaving only one possibility: that All Heavens and Myriad Realms shatter, all laws and Great Dao annihilate, returning to chaos, everything reverting to void.

The eleven traces symbolize the world has only eleven epochs of lifespan left.

In other words, after eleven epochs, Ten Thousand Realms shatter, all entities destroyed, returning to the initial chaos.

Eleven epochs, a mere eleven epochs; for supreme beings, eleven epochs are incredibly short, short enough that a single retreat, a brief rest, makes eleven epochs vanish in a flash.

All told, the lifespan of All Heavens and Myriad Realms has reached its final juncture.

Eleven epochs are far too short, far too short.....

She’s also uncertain why only eleven traces are left.

....

Many epochs ago, the day Lady Houtu became reincarnation, the Reincarnation Stele was densely covered with traces. At that time, the lifespan of All Heavens and Myriad Realms was nearly infinite, nearly but still finite, meaning no matter how well the realms develop, one day they will meet their end.

However, later, one day, the traces of All Heavens and Myriad Realms began disappearing rapidly, almost every minute, every second reducing by one epoch, decreasing.

This unusual situation attracted Lady Houtu’s attention. She presides over reincarnation, constantly searching within reincarnation for the cause accelerating the realms’ decline.

However, despite her immense power, reaching a certain height, she couldn’t leave reincarnation, couldn’t leave this place, because she embodies the Reincarnation Dao, and the Reincarnation Dao is her.

Even as she calculated the reincarnation of countless creatures across the realms, including those reborn, those wandering in the cycle, those born into it...

Nevertheless, no matter what, she couldn’t calculate what "deviation" accelerated the rapid decline of the realms.

Until one day, precisely eight years ago, she finally deduced some clues.

That day, a River Guardian appeared from the River of Time, seemingly from nowhere, unknown for whence he came, why he suddenly appeared by the River of Time, or why he guarded it.

That was unimportant; the key was, on the day that River Guardian appeared, the traces on the Reincarnation Stele reduced instantly to just nine!

Meaning, at the moment of the River Guardian’s appearance, the entire realm’s lifespan dwindled to nine epochs!

And that River Guardian was none other than Su Mu standing before her!

Thus, since Su Mu’s appearance in the River of Time, Lady Houtu noticed him, observing him in secret.

Because she thought, Su Mu in all likelihood was that "deviation," because his arrival meant the realm’s lifespan was suddenly at its end; the answer was clear, Su Mu would destroy the realm after nine epochs.

He was the "deviation" Lady Houtu couldn’t deduce or find!

Thus, since that day, Lady Houtu regarded Su Mu as her greatest enemy.

Because she can’t allow Su Mu to destroy everything, not due to fear of her death following the Reincarnation Dao’s disappearance, nor intense concern for the realm’s creatures’ survival; everything has its fate.

She cares about.... why Su Mu would do this?

Why must the survival of the realms fall upon one person’s shoulders?!

She is puzzled.

So, she’s been testing and observing in secret, holding immense enmity toward Su Mu from beginning to end.

This enmity persisted until one day, bringing transformation.

That day was the first occurrence of a Time Flood in the River of Time.