Guarding the River of Time-Chapter 398 - 388: Great Dao Origin Artifact, Great Figures
With a wave of Elder Ling’s large hand, a small purple snake appeared on his palm.
This small purple snake was half an inch long, with fine purple scales that shimmered with a faint golden glow, two silver horns on its head resembling white jade, incredibly beautiful, and its pupils were like amber, extremely lovely.
When Su Mu first laid eyes on this purple snake, he was instantly captivated.
Its beauty was indescribable, and merely calling it beautiful seemed too mundane.
It should be described as dreamy, exquisite, noble...
.....
"This is the Artifact Spirit of the Stone Ring."
Elder Ling said.
Su Mu examined the purple aura of the snake and noticed a problem. The snake had no Spiritual Power, its presence was weak; not weak, rather its aura merged seamlessly with its surroundings, like the wind in nature, elusive, mysterious, and unfathomable...
"What a peculiar little snake." Su Mu couldn’t help but admire.
...
"Actually, I couldn’t have found it by myself."
"I was aided by a major figure."
"In truth... I don’t know why she decided to help me."
Elder Ling smiled as he spoke.
The Stone Ring, truly named the "Reincarnation Ring," is a tangible "form" evolved from the Origin of the Reincarnation Dao.
In All Heavens and Myriad Realms, the Reincarnation Dao is one of the Supreme Daos, just slightly below the Time Dao.
The saying "Space remains unspoken, Time reigns" is stated conservatively.
In fact, you could say, even with the emergence of the Three Thousand Great Daos, Time is still king!
Time grants "meaning" to space, Time grants "meaning" to all Daos.
Without Time, all things would be static, or nonexistent, because the birth and evolution of everything requires Time.
For instance, if the origin of All Heavens and Myriad Realms was a "Big Bang" or "Great Chaos," without Time, no matter how many times of "Great Chaos," nothing would evolve, no life would emerge.
Time gives everything meaning, and every cultivator, upon reaching a certain height and level, will echo such sentiments.
Because in the Cultivation Realm, a common phrase is "Immortality."
The higher one cultivates, the more one realizes the weight of these two words, which in truth are unattainable. Since the birth of All Heavens and Myriad Realms and the birth of life, no one has achieved true "Immortality." Many have achieved "Longevity," but none true "Immortality."
Even if someone has lived since the birth of All Heavens and Myriad Realms until now, such a person would still be considered "Longevity," not "Immortality."
Because there is still the future!
No one can guarantee that they will live to the endless future; as long as Time continues to flow, the future will never arrive, will never end, making "Immortality" impossible.
Throughout ancient and modern times, many mighty beings speculate that to achieve true "Immortality,"
perhaps there is only one way, and that is to refine the River of Time; note, not to control it, but to refine it, making the River of Time one’s own, mastering Time, transcending Time, to achieve true "Immortality."
This is merely the speculation of those mightiest; no one knows if it is true because, throughout the aeons, no one has completely refined the River of Time. In fact, no one has the qualification to refine the River of Time.
Thus, Su Mu’s emergence as the River Guardian brought immense shock to All Heavens and Myriad Realms.
Especially those supreme beings, they are all observing, probing, trying to understand what this River Guardian is doing on the River of Time...
Is he merely guarding it, or is he... attempting to refine the River of Time.
The two instances of the Time Floods were tests from certain supreme figures to gauge Su Mu’s reality, to understand what exactly he was doing on the River of Time...
The Path of Time is such a supreme existence.
Therefore, the Reincarnation Dao, slightly inferior to the Path of Time, holds immense weight, and the Reincarnation Ring, evolved from the Origin of Reincarnation Dao, requires no further explanation, as one would describe it: "Great Dao Origin Artifact."
This Reincarnation Ring is indeed a "Great Dao Origin Artifact."
Through the ages, disputes over the Reincarnation Ring have never ceased; from the moment of its creation, the war over "seizing the Reincarnation Ring" began and continues to this moment! Countless supreme strong beings are trying every means to discover its whereabouts.
Elder Ling was the final victor in the last war of the Reincarnation Ring, carrying it, hiding, and struggling through different times and spaces, enduring much hardship.
At last, he met Su Mu on the River of Time, meeting the legendary River Guardian.
After much thought, he decided to hand the Reincarnation Ring to Su Mu.
For all this time, the successive owners of the Reincarnation Ring never truly realized its real value; no rightful, powerful Preacher has appeared, otherwise, the Artifact Spirit of the Reincarnation Ring would not have fled.
And now, Elder Ling found this qualified person, and that person is Su Mu!
Elder Ling’s reasoning was simple; knowing he couldn’t reach the final step, he would rather assist someone who might, for such an accomplishment and honor as raising the dragon, what could be greater?
The "true dragon" Elder Ling intends to support is Su Mu. From the moment he saw Su Mu, he had made up his mind.
He also wanted to see what it would look like for someone to truly reach supreme. If one day Su Mu really took that final step to become the one supreme, perhaps in his lifetime, Elder Ling could catch a glimpse of that ultimate scene.
From ancient times to now, All Heavens and Myriad Realms have birthed many supreme beings. Elder Ling had seen most of them; he truly admired them, as each was an existence that seized the heavens’ Dao, ruling within and beyond the universe.
But none had moved Elder Ling as Su Mu did at first glance, astonishing him, making him feel a selfless sense of following a dragon!
He never expected to actually find the Artifact Spirit of the Reincarnation Ring.
Compared to those true major figures in All Heavens and Myriad Realms, he could only be considered half a major figure, yet he succeeded where so many others failed.
The greatest reason was that one major figure in All Heavens and Myriad Realms unexpectedly withdrew from the game, abandoning the fight, and chose to help him find the Artifact Spirit, then directed him to bring it to Su Mu.
That major figure, he had only heard her name; it was his first time seeing her.
"Seems like Brother Ling has quite a network."
"Even having a major figure’s support."
Su Mu showed interest and said with a smile.
"Brother Su flatters me, how could I know such a major figure."
"I speculate it might be because of Brother Su, that’s why she helped me."
Elder Ling said, with absolute certainty.
"Because of me?"
Su Mu pointed to himself, puzzled, not understanding when he became acquainted with a major figure.
