Fortunately, the interference came quickly and departed just as fast, vanishing in mere moments.
By this point, the ancestral ground's time reversal had already traversed several thousand years, and the scenes Yang Kai witnessed were events from millennia past.
Once again, he saw his own figure active within the ancestral ground.
That was his first time visiting the ancestral ground — when, under the coercion of the Kun Clan, he had unsealed the Ink-Sealed Ground, shut away for countless years, and laid eyes upon that dead ink-colored giant divine spirit.
Everything was reversing. Time flowed rapidly backward, and Yang Kai, as a mere spectator, slowly bore witness to all that the ancestral ground had undergone.
Meanwhile, the omnipresent ancestral spirit power within the ancestral ground continued to pour ceaselessly into his dragon body. The power of his dragon bloodline grew ever stronger, manifesting physically as his dragon body continued to expand.
His dragon body had already exceeded seven thousand zhang, and his dragon bloodline was extraordinarily pure. At this level, further purifying the bloodline through the mere passage of time had become exceedingly difficult — which was why, in all the years since his visit to the Dragon Pool, his dragon body had grown only about a hundred zhang.
Unless he entered the Dragon Pool once more, there would be no possibility of further advancement.
Yet now, under the constant absorption and refinement of ancestral spirit power, his dragon body was undergoing remarkable changes. Moreover, as his dragon bloodline strengthened, his comprehension of the Dao of Time also advanced — which in turn affected the time reversal, accelerating its pace ever more.
In the first two years, the time reversal had only traversed three to four thousand years. In the following two years, it covered four to five thousand. Another two years, and it had reached six thousand years…
He witnessed one historic moment after another within the ancestral ground, even observing once more the scene from the late Near Antiquity — three successive Dragon Emperors and the Phoenix Queen of that generation sacrificing their blood and bodies to seal away that ink-colored giant divine spirit.
Yang Kai's mind grew ever more still, weathered with the weight of ages.
This experience far surpassed the span he had undergone while cultivating within the Grand Ocean Heavenly Phenomenon. In that place, only a few thousand years had passed. But during this journey of witnessing the ancestral ground's passage through time, a hundred thousand years had already elapsed — and in the future, there might be many more hundreds of thousands to come.
Outside the ancestral ground, the Ink Clan's Four Gates Eight Palaces Sumeru Formation continued to run without interruption. With no external force battering the great formation, the Domain Lords needed only to keep it operational — requiring little exertion — and so did not feel particularly weary.
Still, they dared not relax their vigilance for even a moment. Decades had passed since they had laid down the great formation, yet there was still no sign of Yang Kai. The only indication that he was still cultivating was the ceaseless surging of ancestral spirit power below.
Di Wu had been familiarizing himself with his own power ever since his arrival — and after having rashly barged into the ancestral ground and caused a scene upon first coming here, he had not dared to set foot inside the Sacred Spirits' ancestral ground again.
Under the suppression of the ancestral spirit power, his pseudo-Royal Lord strength was difficult to wield. He truly feared a direct confrontation with Yang Kai, and so could only continue to stall, hoping that one day the ancestral ground's spirit power would be completely exhausted.
Over these decades, though he had not gone to investigate personally, he had sent the Domain Lords into the ancestral ground to check on the situation multiple times. The conclusion was unsettling — after decades, the ancestral ground's spirit power showed not the slightest sign of diminishing, as though that mysterious power were inexhaustible.
Back at the Barrier of No Return, the Royal Lord had sent people to inquire about the situation several times. Di Wu dared not lie, reporting everything faithfully. The Royal Lord had not been overly harsh with him, simply instructing him to wait for the right opportunity and ensure that Yang Kai was killed within the ancestral ground — even if that meant waiting a while longer.
Receiving the Royal Lord's reply, Di Wu's heart settled, and he became even more resolute in his waiting.
Another hundred years passed, and the ancestral ground remained unchanged. Yang Kai had now traversed several hundred thousand years. During this era, the ancestral ground teemed with Sacred Spirits of every kind — many of which Yang Kai had never seen or even heard of. This was the age when the ancient Monster Race ruled over all worlds, and the glory of the Sacred Spirits had begun to wane. Even so, the ancestral ground remained their paradise.
As time reversed further, he witnessed an unimaginable great war within the ancestral ground — a civil war among the Sacred Spirits. Towering figures that mirrored the heavens and earth in grandeur clashed throughout the ancestral ground, and the ancestral ground of that era was far vaster than it was today.
That war led to the complete annihilation of many Sacred Spirit lineages. Clusters of Sacred Spirit essence were shattered to pieces, and even the ancestral ground itself suffered a massive reduction in territory.
Time had now reversed to the late Primordial Era.
This was the age when the Sacred Spirits had united all realms under their dominion — the best of times for them. Their power was immense, and none could stand against them. Had it not been for their own infighting, the Monster Race would never have risen.
Yang Kai suddenly felt a peculiar sensation — as though he were about to witness something extraordinary. At first the feeling was vague, but as time flowed on and he continued to observe the ancestral ground's changes, it grew ever more intense.
By now, the speed of the time reversal had become inconceivably fast. Many scenes flashed past in an instant, like flowers glimpsed from galloping horseback. Had Yang Kai not been fused with the ancestral ground — drawing upon its own mechanism of reversal — he would not have been able to make out what those fleeting scenes actually were.
Until, at a certain moment, the Sacred Spirits vanished entirely from the ancestral ground. The entire world was suffused with an aura of extreme antiquity and primordial wildness. Then a flash of dazzling light swept through, and the world fell into silence.
Yang Kai's heart stirred. A feeling of intense urgency seized him, and for the first time he actively channeled the power of the Dao of Time to influence the vast ancestral ground.
The speed of the time reversal abruptly slowed — then froze entirely.
Only then was Yang Kai able to carefully observe this stretch of land.
The ancestral ground of this era was entirely different from the one he knew. This was the most primordial form of the ancestral ground — no Sacred Spirits, no ancestral spirit power.