📖 Chapter 1300 - Origin

11 Apr, 2024

“This place…” Staring at everything around him, Wang Baole’s eyes instantly narrowed.

His current cultivation was already extremely high, and the scene before him could be said to have appeared due to his own efforts. Therefore, his mind was clear, and he knew that everything he saw here had actually happened countless years ago. It was a scene from the depths of his memories.

Or to be precise, this scene was… from the memories of his original form. After all, if the black wooden nail’s memories were like a long river, then Wang Baole’s memories occupied only a tiny portion at the tail end of that river.

Compared to his original form, the span of time where Wang Baole was conscious was nothing more than a drop in the ocean. However, his powerful cultivation base gave him the qualifications to search this ocean of memories.

And with the power of the Heaven Trampling Bridge, all of this became even easier.

The scene in front of him right now was obviously near the very beginning of his original form’s memories. Wang Baole could clearly sense that the Heaven Trampling Bridge… was already at its limit.

It was impossible to check any further back in time.

Moreover, after stepping out of the stele world and arriving on the Immortal Astral Continent, Wang Baole had obtained a deeper understand of the shape of the universe.

The universe’s name… perhaps it once existed, but by now it was long forgotten. Most of the time, it was simply called the Great Universe.

This Great Universe seemed vast and infinite, and even the enormous Immortal Astral Continent was just a small part of it. The Emperor’s home, Source Universe Dao Void, was no different.

At the same time, there were also the hometowns of All and Ancient, as well as those of the numerous other Almighties. Any one of these places could be considered a complete universe all on its own, but in fact, all of them were contained within the Great Universe.

However, this Great Universe wasn’t truly without bounds. During his stay at Wang Yiyi’s home, Wang Baole had once asked Father Wang about the extent of the Great Universe. Apparently, from some ancient records of the Immortal Astral Continent along with his own perception, he could conclude that the Great Universe indeed had an end.

Furthermore, beyond this Great Universe, there were other Great Universes.

“Our universe is like a leaf floating in a lake. Outside of this leaf… there are many other leaves floating in the water, and on the edge of each leaf, there is an impassable barrier wall.”

This is what Father Wang had said to Wang Baole at that time.

He hadn’t said anything else, but Wang Baole had the feeling that Father Wang… must have left this leaf and been to the lake, or perhaps even traveled to the other leaves.

“A barrier wall…” Wang Baole lifted his head and looked thoughtfully at the hole in the starry sky. Obviously, this place… was the edge of the universe, and something had blasted open the barrier wall, resulting in that hole.

“Why is this scene part of my original form’s ancient memories…” Wang Baole’s eyes narrowed.

“Is this hole related to my original form? Or maybe my original form was the one that created it? If that’s the case, then… did my original form blast open the barrier wall from inside this Great Universe, or… did it come in from outside?” When Wang Baole’s train of thought reached this point, he couldn’t calm down. As waves surged in his mind, his body flickered and he appeared directly in front of the hole.

He unleashed his divine will to check beyond the hole, but an indescribable sense of crisis instantly erupted in his heart. Wang Baole abruptly backed up, shock clear on his face.

His feeling just now told him that there was terrifying danger lurking outside the hole. However, Wang Baole was unwilling to just leave like this. After thinking for a while, resoluteness flashed through his eyes, and he suddenly waved his right hand.

“Ebbing Time!”

With Wang Baole’s current realm, his Ebbing Time was far stronger than before. The river of time appeared with a rumble, and innumerable images emerged inside of it. Each image reflected his current location.

Although the Heaven Trampling Bridge had allowed Wang Baole to trace back the memories of his original form, reaching this point in time was already its limit. However, with the power of Ebbing Time, Wang Baole was actually able to move even further back in time.

Wang Baole’s Ebbing Time was naturally incomparable to the Heaven Trampling Bridge, and it couldn’t bring him back much further. However, right now, it was like he was running a hundred meter dash and had completed ninety-nine meters. Although there was only one meter left, this one meter was extremely important.

Thus, Wang Baole didn’t hold back at all as he used Ebbing Time. The images in the river of time remained exactly the same for an unknown number of years, but just as Wang Baole’s figure started to blur and it seemed like he couldn’t bear it anymore… a different image suddenly appeared.

In that image, there was no hole!

By this time, Wang Baole had turned completely blurry, but he instantly concentrated upon seeing this image. A moment later, the world in front of him turned into the world inside the image.

Now, in the place where the hole originally existed, the barrier wall of the universe was solid and complete. But a moment later… the barrier wall fluctuated, and cracks appeared in it. Moreover, rays of red light spread out from those cracks. Before Wang Baole could see it clearly, a terrible sound like heaven and earth splitting apart rang out from the location of the cracks.

In an instant, the area filled with cracks collapsed, and a gigantic hole appeared. Countless fragments of the barrier wall scattered in all directions as a massive piece of crimson wood suddenly appeared in the hole.

This piece of wood was so big that the crimson light emanating from it influenced the entire starry sky, turning it the color of blood…

A moment later, accompanied by deafening rumbles, the giant piece of wood completely entered the Great Universe and headed off into the distant void. As soon as it entered, the myriad Daos of the Great Universe shuddered, as if they wanted to assimilate the piece of wood. Even as it flew into the distance, the crimson light coming from the piece of wood rapidly dissipated. The piece of wood itself also gradually grew transparent, as if it was about to disappear into the starry sky.

“It came from outside the Great Universe?!” Wang Baole’s heart pounded wildly, and his wide eyes revealed disbelief and even horror. With his current cultivation base and focus, it was almost impossible for him to lose his composure like this. However, what he saw was just too shocking, especially as the piece of wood grew more and more transparent and allowed him to see what was inside.

His whole body trembled violently as he saw, there inside the piece of wood, was… a corpse!

This corpse was rapidly disintegrating. It seemed that, just like the piece of wood was merging with the Dao and fusing into the starry sky, so too was the corpse merging with the piece of wood.

It was clear now. The black wood… was not a wooden ruler, nor was it a wooden nail. It was…

A coffin!

A coffin containing a corpse!

A coffin containing a mysterious corpse that came from beyond the Great Universe!

Wang Baole’s mind was in complete chaos, but time didn’t wait for him. The scene in front of him disappeared, and an instant later, he found himself once again at the third bridge. However, he wasn’t at the front of the bridge, but at the end.

His expression was changing constantly, and his breathing came in ragged pants.

“Am I… a consciousness awakened from the black wood, or… the rebirth of that corpse?!”