Shadow after shadow emerged from the River of Time and Space, but without exception, every one of them became another soul claimed by Mo.
The first shadow had lasted Yang Kai roughly two hours.
The second didn't even make it that long.
By the third, the duration was shorter still.
"This isn't good!" From among the distant onlookers, Mi Jinglun's expression turned grave—he could see the crux of the problem.
And it was a serious one. Though Yang Kai's shadows poured forth endlessly, their strength seemed to weaken with each wave, as though time were flowing backward through him, regressing his condition to ever-earlier stages.
By now, the aura radiating from Yang Kai had dwindled to only that of a freshly ascended Ninth-Order cultivator. The moment he stepped out of the River of Time and Space, Mo swatted him down without the slightest effort.
If this continued, Yang Kai might not even be able to retain his Ninth-Order cultivation. And if that happened, no matter how many shadows appeared, Mo could dispatch them all with trivial ease.
Yet another freshly ascended Ninth-Order Yang Kai shadow stepped from the River. Mo raised a hand and grabbed it, holding it firm, regarding it with an indifferent gaze. "You've still disappointed Mu!"
Caught in Mo's grip, Yang Kai showed no panic. The repeated annihilation of his shadows had already familiarized him with death. At those words, he raised an eyebrow. "That's not necessarily true."
Mo looked mildly surprised. "You still have some trick?"
Yang Kai flashed him a grin. "One you haven't seen before."
"Very well!" Mo smiled as he spoke, and his great hand clenched, crushing the shadow into nothingness.
The very next instant, Yang Kai emerged from the River of Time and Space once more.
Only this time, the aura he carried was clearly different—it was the aura of his peak.
If the foundation of the Shadow Technique lay in the River of Time and Space, then its core was the caster at the present temporal point. In Yang Kai's case, that meant using his present self as the core and the River of Time and Space as the foundation to channel the power of the three thousand Great Daos—only then could he summon those shadows from the past.
Every shadow Mo had slain before had been just that—a shadow. But the one now stepping forward was Yang Kai's true body, Yang Kai at this very moment in time!
Both foundation and core were supremely important; neither could be dispensed with. To break the Shadow Technique, one had to target both. Mo had previously tried to seize the power of the River of Time and Space, only to be stymied by Yang Kai's shadows before he could follow through.
But now that Yang Kai's true body had appeared, it offered hope. If he could slay this Yang Kai, the Shadow Technique would collapse of its own accord!
Was it really that simple, though? Yang Kai stepping out of the River now seemed like a move born of desperation. After all, every shadow he had summoned before had been destroyed. Summoning shadows from even earlier temporal points would yield only Eighth-Order strength—hardly enough to make waves before Mo.
Combined with what Yang Kai had said earlier, Mo had a vague sense that Yang Kai was about to deploy his final resort.
He found himself unexpectedly eager.
And Yang Kai did not disappoint. The instant his true body emerged from the River, he spoke in a soft chant: "I sacrifice a thousand years of my future, to exchange for the merit to come—come!"
As the words fell, the River of Time and Space behind him churned violently. The vast river shrank abruptly by a significant measure, and from it stepped a single shadow of Yang Kai.
Mo narrowed his eyes at the sight, because the aura of this shadow was actually stronger than that of Yang Kai's true body.
That was almost impossible. After all, the Shadow Technique was cast using the present self as the core, and the shadows it summoned were always from the past. In other words, the summoned shadows could never surpass the true body—the true body was always the strongest.
Yet here, before Yang Kai, an exception had appeared.
In that instant, Mo grasped the truth and his shock was immense. "You can summon shadows from the future?!"