Guarding the River of Time

Chapter 453 - 443: The Identity of the Chaotic Human Shadow, an Ancient Existence

Very soon, the black ship stopped beneath the stone bridge, and Su Mu jumped onto the stone bridge with a leap.

A mysterious woman clad in dark hues slowly emerged from the chaotic mist, gazing at Su Mu, her beautiful eyes radiating a sacred glow.

"Lady Houtu, I’m truly sorry to bother you again." Su Mu said with a smile, clasping his fists in greeting.

"It’s fine, I’ve been waiting for you for quite some time." Lady Houtu said softly.

"Does the lady know the purpose of my visit?" Su Mu was a bit surprised, staring directly into her eyes, wondering if it was just his imagination, he felt Houtu could perceive some of his secrets.

"If my guess is correct, you want to ask about the origin of that black and white tree in your Dantian, right..." Lady Houtu said slowly, her eyes sharp and penetrating.

Hearing this, Su Mu was taken aback and chuckled, "It seems there’s no hiding anything from you, my lady."

"This tree.... is called the Black and White Yin Yang Tree."

"Its origin is extremely ancient and old."

"Legend has it that when the heavens and earth first opened, at the very moment the Ten Thousand Realms were born, many ’Origins’ emerged from the chaos, among them was a specific Origin, named ’Innate Yin Yang Qi’."

"After the birth of Innate Yin Yang Qi, it transformed into five streams, disappearing into the void, their paths unknown."

Lady Houtu explained word by word.

"The black and white tree in my Dantian is the transformation of the ’Innate Yin Yang Qi’?" Su Mu inquired, understanding the meaning.

"Yes, but.... this tree of yours is incomplete, formed by the evolution of two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi." Houtu answered slowly.

She too was very surprised Su Mu obtained two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi. Since the birth of the Ten Thousand Realms, no one has ever obtained two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi simultaneously, not even she could.

For Innate Yin Yang Qi cannot be forcibly obtained by ’brute force’.

The Innate Yin Yang Qi is Primordial Qi, if it senses danger, it can escape to be reborn somewhere else in the Ten Thousand Realms.

So even if Houtu forcibly subdued one stream of Innate Yin Yang Qi, she couldn’t truly possess it.

It must willingly submit to the Innate Yin Yang Qi, but to make the ’proud’ Innate Yin Yang Qi submit voluntarily, how could it be easy?

Throughout ancient and modern times, no one has ever achieved it, Su Mu was the first, and having two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi submit simultaneously, is already a miracle.

However.... Houtu could understand, gazing across the Ten Thousand Realms, someone qualified to make Innate Yin Yang Qi submit willingly, Su Mu would certainly be one.

"So there are three streams left?" Su Mu said slowly.

"Yes, only by gathering all five would it be complete, but.... it’s too difficult, almost impossible." Houtu sighed gently.

If Su Mu could successfully subdue five streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi, then the balance of the future chess game would tilt some.....

"I know the whereabouts of two of them, but the last one, I do not know."

Having said that, Lady Houtu waved her jade hand, and two transparent Crystal Stones floated in front of Su Mu.

"These two Coordinate Stones record the time-space coordinates of two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi, but they can only be accurate to a certain world, not a particular place, person, or creature."

"It might be a person, a tree, a stone, in short.... it could be any entity."

In order to scout the whereabouts of these two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi, Houtu paid no small price, activated the Nether River, enhanced the Bridge of Reincarnation, embodied the rules to search through reincarnation, searching world by world, the difficulty was unimaginable....

Yet, she was already in the game, even if she had to pay the highest price, she would do her utmost to help Su Mu search.

Hearing this, Su Mu was somewhat flattered, yet instead of receiving the Crystal Stone, he awkwardly said: "The lady has helped me so much, I honestly don’t know how to repay."

After his words, Houtu paused for a moment, smiling softly: "Consider it as owing me a favor, and as for how you might repay this favor, I haven’t decided, it might exist, or might not...."

In reality, Houtu herself didn’t know what she wanted.... She seems to have lost interest in all desires.

After embodying reincarnation, under countless years of ’imprisonment’, she was gradually losing emotions, feelings, had it not been for her strong mentality, she would’ve long become a rule of reincarnation devoid of feelings and thought.

Since she embodied reincarnation, her body couldn’t leave this place, thus it was a form of ’imprisonment’ in itself.

Should the day come when Su Mu truly reaches the final step, reaches the end of that path, she seems to not know what kind of favor she wants him to return.... she doesn’t know....

She spoke such words to relieve Su Mu’s psychological burden, she’s helping him with some purpose....

Upon hearing this, Su Mu then accepted the two Crystal Stones, and sincerely said: "I’ll always remember the lady’s kindness, if one day in the future, I, Su Mu, truly have the capability to help, the lady has only to ask, and I won’t refuse."

Hearing this, Houtu paused for a moment as well, smiled, and didn’t say much more.

...

"I heard you have a daughter?" Houtu changed the subject, looking at Su Mu, her beautiful eyes shimmering.

"Yes, she’s almost nine, her name is Nannan." Su Mu of course knew he couldn’t hide this from Houtu, so he admitted it frankly.

.....

"Nannan..." Lady Houtu murmured, wondering what she was thinking about.

After contemplating for a long time, she said to Su Mu: "Before you leave, bring her here to meet me, I’ll give her a gift."

Hearing this, Su Mu hurriedly waved his hands in refusal: "That’s not necessary, really."

"Just a little trinket."

"Also, I might need to go into seclusion for a while, so... if you have any matters, you can use the boat I gave you to command any of my subordinates."

Lady Houtu slowly said.

Because of pushing the evolution of two streams of Innate Yin Yang Qi, it severely depleted her vitality, she needs to retreat for a period of time, for not much time is left to her, she must restore to the best condition as fast as possible.

She’s already in the game, and there’s no way to disengage, nor can she disengage, once lost, the Reincarnation Realm would also collapse, losing her very purpose....

"Do you know who they are....." Su Mu asked seriously, looking at Houtu.

The "they" in Su Mu’s words are those who orchestrated two floods, repeatedly made moves against him, and laid plans against him.

Because "they" are constantly in the shadows, while he is out in the open, making him feel very passive, unsure how to make the first move, only able to be passively calculated by each.

Mainly as Su Mu cannot leave this river, there’s really no way to search for it, making it very distressing.

Hearing this, Houtu was silent for a long time.