[Remaining Stay Time: 1 Year]
In a hidden space within the Void Secret Realm, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on a giant stone. He opened his eyes and glanced at the virtual text in the lower left of his vision.
"It's time to go back."
Lin Yuan thought to himself. His 600-year stay in the boundless void was about to end. Unless Lin Yuan used up one-third of his world-breaking source energy, his stay time would run out, and he would automatically return to the main world.
One-third of his world-breaking source energy wasn't much to Lin Yuan. Trading it for 600 years of peaceful cultivation time was worth it.
But—
Over the past 20 years, Lin Yuan had begun to feel the limitations of this boundless universe.
To put it simply, the efficiency of comprehending the rules had been gradually decreasing.
In simpler terms, the boundless void had been "emptied out" by Lin Yuan.
Different worlds, depending on their size, contain different levels of rule mysteries.
For example, when comparing the time rules of the main universe to those of the world of Immortal World and the spirit realm that Lin Yuan had traversed before—the former was vastly greater than the latter.
Therefore, the upper limit of the main universe far surpassed that of Immortal World and the spirit realm, as the beings within those worlds were innately unable to sense more complex rule mysteries.
The boundless void was now almost the same for Lin Yuan. Continuing to cultivate in the void had little purpose unless he completely gave up on comprehending rules—it would just be a waste of time.
In fact, if Lin Yuan were to break through to the eleventh or twelfth rank, the rules he would comprehend would likely surpass those of the boundless void.
By then, if Lin Yuan were to return to the boundless void, it would be the void trying to absorb Lin Yuan's rule comprehension instead.
"Perhaps the secret realm creator who failed to reach the ultimate level so long ago didn't just fail due to lack of resources or bad luck—it might also be because of the nature of the boundless void itself," Lin Yuan speculated. After all, no ultimate being at the twelfth rank had ever appeared in the boundless void.
The only one who attempted to reach the twelfth rank, the creator of the secret realm, ultimately failed, and all traces of their existence were erased.
"But that doesn't affect me."
Lin Yuan's expression was calm. If the boundless void could no longer help him comprehend rules, he would return to the main universe to do so.
If, one day, the main universe could no longer provide him with rule comprehension, then he would use the Gate of Myriad Realms to travel to a higher dimension for his insights.
For most beings, their upper limit had long been predetermined by their world, but Lin Yuan was different. He had no such limitations.
"A hundred years of hard cultivation, though my speed has slowed in the past twenty years, overall, it's still been quite fruitful."
A smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face.
During these hundred years, Lin Yuan spent most of his energy on comprehending rules. A small portion of his energy went into tempering his Martial Ancestor's golden body.
With the resources of the entire boundless void at his disposal, Lin Yuan had already cultivated the "Mysterious Emperor's Body" of the Martial Ancestor's golden body to the perfected tenth rank.
The reason for investing so much into the Martial Ancestor's golden body was because Lin Yuan had long regarded it as his permanent physical body in this boundless void.
Although the void could no longer provide much help in rule comprehension, cultivation wasn't solely about rules.
If Lin Yuan ever decided to take a break and stop comprehending rules, the boundless void would be a decent choice for relaxation. With the Martial Ancestor's golden body in place, he could immediately resume his position whenever he descended, saving a lot of time.
After all, cultivating the Martial Ancestor's golden body to its perfected state used the resources of the void—not Lin Yuan's own.
With a mere thought, Lin Yuan summoned a small golden bell that floated in front of him.
When he descended into this boundless void and took over the Martial Ancestor's golden body, the first thing he did was summon this weapon, which he had been nurturing along the way.
After 600 years of continuous nurturing, along with providing vast amounts of resources, the power of this Primordial Bell was now no less than that of any eleventh-rank treasure.
In Lin Yuan's hands, its power was even more immeasurable.
After all, the Primordial Bell had been nurtured by Lin Yuan from scratch, perfectly attuned to him. With just a single thought, Lin Yuan could unleash its full potential.
The same strike that other treasures might need full power to activate, the original bell could achieve with just a fraction of the energy.
This was why Lin Yuan intended to crush all the strange items he obtained from the two-dimensional world, turning them into primordial power to feed back into the original bell.
If the Primordial Bell could reach the twelfth rank, it would be far more valuable to Lin Yuan than ten or even dozens of twelfth-rank weapons.
Finding a weapon perfectly suited to oneself was incredibly rare, let alone one that fit as perfectly as the original bell.
"Many rules..."
Lin Yuan's gaze deepened.
The greatest gain from this transmigration was the enhancement of his spiritual will.
Before his descent, Lin Yuan's spiritual will was only in the millions, but now, it had reached over 33.3 million.
The growth of spiritual will wasn't as simple as mere multiplication—it became exponentially harder to increase over time.
The threshold for spiritual will at the Strongest one level was 18 million. Most eleventh-rank perfected legendary beings had spiritual will levels exceeding 10 million.
Does that mean the spiritual will of the Strongest ones is only 1.8 times stronger than those eleventh-rank legendary beings?
Besides spiritual will, Lin Yuan's greatest improvement lay in his comprehension of the rules.
Especially after mastering the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule, he had made rapid progress in comprehending other fusion rules over the past hundred years.
"Among the many pillar-level fusion rules, I've reached the sixth stage in 83 of them."
"These include the Life and Death Reincarnation Rule, the Great Destruction Rule, the Causality Fluctuation Rule, the Time-Space Shattering Rule, the Endless Star Rule, the Time-Space Galaxy Rule, the Void Tide Rule, the Cosmic Rift Rule, the Five Elements Rotation Rule, and the Space Collapse Rule."
The sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule belonged to the domain of the Strongest ones.
For the pillar-level rules, one would need to reach the seventh stage to enter the ultimate level.
Though none of the 83 pillar-level fusion rules had reached the Strongest one realm, all were at the peak of the sixth stage. And their sheer number was significant.
Even the Strongest ones would find it difficult to comprehend so many pillar-level fusion rules simultaneously and push them all to the sixth stage.
The Strongest ones also needed to allocate their time and energy to comprehend their own path.
In fact, with Lin Yuan's level of insight, if he had focused on just one pillar-level fusion rule, he could have reached the seventh stage in one or two of them within a hundred years.
But that wouldn't have been very meaningful. If Lin Yuan hadn't reached the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule, pushing a pillar-level fusion rule to the seventh stage would have significantly boosted his strength.
However, with the foundation of the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule, adding one more pillar-level fusion rule at the seventh stage wouldn't significantly enhance Lin Yuan's power.
In comparison, comprehending more pillar-level fusion rules at the peak of the sixth stage was far more beneficial to Lin Yuan.
It also served as preparation for comprehending the Chaos Rule in the future.
Although Lin Yuan didn't know exactly how to comprehend the Chaos Rule, based on the information he had gathered, it was clear that the more rules he comprehended, the better.
Without a sufficient number of rule insights, one could not ultimately merge everything back to its origin and transform it into chaos.
Besides the pillar-level fusion rules, Lin Yuan had also comprehended a large number of ordinary fusion rules—hundreds to thousands of them.
These ordinary fusion rules were not something Lin Yuan had deliberately studied but were instead side results of his pursuit of the pillar-level fusion rules.
"Now that I think about it, my tenth rank compared to the tenth ranks of other beings from the myriad races of the cosmic starry sky..."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
For the human civilization of the main universe and other races' tenth-rank beings, comprehending a single pillar-level fusion rule would qualify one as a first-rate tenth rank. Comprehending the second stage of such a rule would allow them to attempt the breakthrough to the eleventh rank.
But Lin Yuan?
The second stage? Not to mention the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule—he had comprehended 83 pillar-level fusion rules, all at the sixth stage.
In terms of pure rule comprehension, even the eleventh-rank perfected legendary beings couldn't match Lin Yuan.
"My strength now, compared to when I first comprehended the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule a hundred years ago, has improved tremendously."
Lin Yuan was in good spirits.
The combined power of numerous pillar-level fusion rules at the peak of the sixth stage, coupled with his control over the time-space rule, unleashed a power far beyond that of a single time-space sixth stage.
After reviewing his own state.
Lin Yuan turned his gaze toward the boundless void.
With his current comprehension of time and space, a slight focus allowed him to sense the countless "glimmers" formed by all the beings cultivating Martial Dao.
"For the past hundred years, the two Primordial Spirits have continually transported countless Martial Dao cultivators to other worlds. Now, the number of Martial Dao cultivators in this boundless void has surpassed that of the Martial Dao evolvers in the main universe."
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The main universe was far larger than the boundless void. Even the territory of human civilization alone was much greater than the void.
But now, the entire boundless void was under Lin Yuan's control. After 600 years of spreading Martial Dao, it was no surprise that the number of Martial Dao cultivators had surpassed that of the evolvers.
In human civilization, countless citizens had many choices—such as the nine other Strongest evolution paths and other evolution methods that suited them better.
Sometimes, a path that suited oneself was more important than a powerful one.
But in the boundless void, Martial Dao was the only path—the supreme one. Naturally, every being that could practice Martial Dao would do so, and those who couldn't would still try.
"Unfortunately, the number of high-level Martial Dao cultivators isn't very large."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
This was the inevitable result of the rapid spread of Martial Dao.
Any cultivation system requires a long time to produce high-level cultivators. Lin Yuan could only spread the system more broadly.
But as for high-level Martial Dao cultivators? He couldn't interfere too much. Unless Lin Yuan stopped cultivating himself and personally guided each of those Martial Dao cultivators, the process would be slow.
That would be counterproductive.
Ultimately, self-cultivation was the foundation. Spreading Martial Dao was, in essence, a way to better support his own future cultivation.
"Only one year left..."
Lin Yuan thought to himself, wondering if there were any matters he needed to wrap up.
Suddenly.
At that moment.
Lin Yuan seemed to sense something—a time-space fluctuation that swept across all directions.
"Hmm?"
A trace of surprise appeared on Lin Yuan's face.
"Has an evil god broken through to the tenth rank?"
After a brief examination, Lin Yuan immediately understood that the one who had broken through to the tenth rank was none other than the Void Child.
The Void Child had been stuck at the perfected ninth stage for billions of years, unable to take that step. But shortly after Lin Yuan's descent, he had finally broken through.
Lin Yuan speculated that the Void Child's breakthrough might be related to himself. Many bottlenecks could only be overcome through a shift in mindset.
Vice Tower Master Nalan of human civilization had also broken through to the eleventh rank after losing a time-rule battle to Lin Yuan, who was still at the ninth rank.
"Interesting."
Lin Yuan stood up, took a step forward, and vanished.
In the depths of the Void Secret Realm.
The Void Child's aura was terrifying, and time-space fluctuations swept across all directions. Every ninth-stage perfected malevolent god in the boundless void could sense it.
"The tenth rank!"
"I've finally reached the tenth rank."
The Void Child was on the verge of tears. He had been stuck at the perfected ninth stage for so long that, if it weren't for the existence of the Void Secret Realm, he might have doubted whether the boundless void had ever produced a tenth-rank malevolent god.
"I've now reached the highest peak in the history of the boundless void."
The Void Child exuded time-space energy with abandon, his eyes filled with ambition. "That Martial Ancestor—I no longer need to fear him as much."
Having broken through to the tenth rank, the Void Child's confidence soared. In his mind, even if the Martial Ancestor was also a tenth-rank evil god and stronger than the average tenth-rank, he was now on the same level.
After all, according to the messages left by the creator of the secret realm, ordinary tenth-rank evil gods couldn't treat the Void Secret Realm as nothing.
But no matter what, he was now on par with the Martial Ancestor.
The Void Child had no intention of fighting the Martial Ancestor. Even ninth-rank evil gods rarely fought each other, let alone tenth-rank beings.
Strong beings weren't foolish—after cultivating to such a level, who would risk their life against someone of the same rank?
But in terms of status, the Void Child felt that he deserved more respect.
At the same time.
The time-space fluctuations caused by the Void Child's breakthrough to the tenth rank also alerted many peak evil gods.
"Time-space fluctuations? Has another powerhouse broken through to the tenth rank?"
"Is it the great Void Child?"
"The Void Child has broken through to the tenth rank?"
One by one, the evil gods, after their initial shock, quickly grew excited.
In recent years, they had all been living under the oppression of the Martial Ancestor, feeling quite stifled.
The Martial Ancestor was too powerful, too influential—none of the evil gods dared to oppose him, or even speak too freely behind his back.
But now, the Void Child had also broken through to the tenth rank.
Unlike the Martial Ancestor, the Void Child was the leader of all the evil gods. Before the Martial Ancestor reached the tenth rank, the evil gods followed the Void Child's orders.
Compared to the unknown temperament of the Martial Ancestor, the evil gods naturally hoped for the Void Child to ascend to the tenth rank.
"Let's go."
"Let's congratulate the Void Child."
"The great Void Child is destined to remain great."
The evil gods immediately made their way to where the Void Child was.
In a vast hall.
The Void Child sat high on his throne, with many evil gods below him.
"Great Void Child, now that you've reached the tenth rank, your brilliance is destined to shine over the boundless void, and all life will bow to your light."
One by one, the evil gods offered their heartfelt congratulations to the Void Child.
The Void Child sat quietly on his throne. He had heard such praises countless times before, but after breaking through to the tenth rank, they now felt different.
"Great Void Child, from today onward, we evil gods will no longer have to act according to that Martial Ancestor's whims."
"That's right. These past few hundred years, I've lived in constant fear of offending that Martial Ancestor."
"Now, with the great Void Child, the Martial Ancestor won't dare go too far."
The evil gods soon began discussing the Martial Ancestor, as expected. Before the Void Child's breakthrough, the Martial Ancestor had been the ruler of the boundless void.
Even the Void Child had been subject to his whims.
But now, everything had changed.
At least the boundless void had two rulers now.
Of course.
The evil gods didn't expect the Void Child to truly clash with the Martial Ancestor for their sake.
That was unrealistic.
But at least the Void Child could serve as their solid backing.
It would make the Martial Ancestor more cautious and elevate the status of the evil gods.
"Rest assured." The Void Child smiled confidently. "Now that I've reached the tenth rank, I won't let you suffer any grievances in the future."
The Void Child hadn't even finished speaking when—
The time-space around them fell into an eerie silence.
This silence was complete—even as a tenth-rank evil god, the Void Child couldn't sense any time-space fluctuations. It was as if he had returned to the ninth rank—no, to the weakest first rank.
Swish!
A figure appeared silently. He seemed ordinary, with no aura emanating from him, but in this completely still time-space, his presence stood out, as if all of time and space were under his feet.
This figure was Lin Yuan.
Just by showing up, he silenced time and space itself. The Void Child, whose aura had been as vast as an ocean moments before, was now like a tiger without teeth, struggling even to remain seated as cold sweat poured down his face.
"M-Mar-Martial Ancestor..."
The Void Child looked up at the Martial Ancestor standing high in the sky. At this moment, he realized that all the changes around him were because of the Martial Ancestor. He had once thought that reaching the tenth rank would make him equal to the Martial Ancestor.
But now, that thought seemed like a joke.
The Martial Ancestor hadn't even made a move, and the Void Child was already struggling to hold on. Could this really be considered equal?
"I see you've reached the tenth rank," Lin Yuan looked down at the Void Child, his tone calm. "So I came to offer my congratulations."
"Thank you, Martial Ancestor."
"I appreciate your thoughtfulness."
The Void Child forced a smile, bowing respectfully.
The evil gods below also sensed the absolute stillness in time and space.
Yet compared to the change in time-space, it was the interaction between the Void Child and the Martial Ancestor that sent shivers down their spines.
It felt like they had fallen into an ice cave.
...
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