"Alright."
"This time, besides congratulating you on reaching the tenth stage," Lin Yuan glanced at the many evil gods below and the cold-sweating Void Child. With a thought, the time-space around them resumed to normal.
For Lin Yuan, whether or not the Void Child had reached the tenth stage made little difference—he was still far from being his match.
When Lin Yuan had first comprehended the sixth stage of the time-space fusion rule, his combat strength already surpassed that of tenth-stage Evil gods. Let alone now, after a century of hard cultivation.
A hundred years ago, the Void Child was no match for Lin Yuan, and now, after a hundred years, the gap between them had only grown. Even though the Void Child had managed to reach the tenth stage, it was still far from enough to bridge the gap.
Of course.
Lin Yuan thought it was irreparable, but the Void Child might not see it that way.
That's why Lin Yuan revealed his pressure right from the start, forcing the Void Child to recognize his place.
Judging by the results, the effect seemed to have worked well.
"Please speak, Martial Ancestor," the Void Child immediately responded respectfully.
Freed from the oppressive stillness of time and space, the Void Child felt much more relaxed, though he still felt like he was dreaming.
After breaking through to the tenth stage, the Void Child had believed that he would gain a corresponding status. But now, it seemed that there was little difference compared to before the breakthrough.
"You and the other Evil gods must make a solemn vow: for the next ten billion years, you are forbidden to initiate any attacks on any Martial Dao cultivator," Lin Yuan said.
With his return imminent, Lin Yuan wanted to eliminate any remaining threats.
Specifically, he wanted to prevent the Evil gods from developing any new schemes after his departure.
Although the Primordial Demon Tree could still call for Lin Yuan's aid, doing so would waste his world-breaking source energy.
This time, Lin Yuan had not only resolved the crisis in the Azure World but also greatly spread the Martial Dao and made significant progress in his cultivation.
It was a rewarding journey.
But next time, he wouldn't reap as much.
To minimize the chances of any accidents, Lin Yuan needed to prepare and have the Evil gods swear an appropriate vow.
This so-called vow, known as a "Heart Oath" in the boundless void and a "Dao Oath" in the spirit realm, involved resonating with the laws of the Dao through an oath to bind oneself.
Lin Yuan wanted these Evil gods to take a Heart Oath instead of simply killing them to eliminate future threats because he wanted to leave enough pressure on the Martial Dao cultivators.
Pressure drives motivation, and motivation fuels the growth of Martial Dao.
As for why the restriction was set for a ten billion years? If in that time, the Martial Dao couldn't produce a cultivator on par with a ninth-stage Evil god, then Lin Yuan would really need to reflect on whether there was a problem with his Martial Dao system.
Even after a ten billion years, with Lin Yuan's deterrence, the Void Child would likely still hesitate to act.
After all, with a time-space flow rate difference of 600 times between the boundless void and the main universe, tens of millions of years would have passed in the main universe by then.
If Lin Yuan hadn't successfully broken through to the ultimate level by then, he'd probably have failed in his attempt and perished.
In such a scenario, the fate of the Martial Dao system would no longer concern him.
"Alright," the Void Child nodded without hesitation.
The other perfected Evil gods below him didn't hesitate either.
What a joke! Even without the Heart Oath binding them, with Lin Yuan—the Martial Ancestor—watching over them, none of the Evil gods, no matter how bold, would dare lay a hand on any Martial Dao cultivator.
Soon, all the Evil gods swore their oaths in Lin Yuan's presence, causing the boundless void to react.
Lin Yuan glanced over at the many Evil gods one last time before disappearing without a sound.
It wasn't until Lin Yuan had been gone for quite some time that the Void Child dared to straighten his back and look around.
"Has the Martial Ancestor left?"
The Void Child breathed a sigh of relief.
"What exactly is the Martial Ancestor's strength?" The Void Child swallowed nervously.
Before breaking through to the tenth stage, the Void Child had already felt immense pressure in front of the Martial Ancestor.
But now, after reaching the tenth stage, the pressure he felt in the Martial Ancestor's presence was even greater than before.
"Could it be... the eleventh stage? The twelfth stage?"
The Void Child thought quickly. He could only speculate in this direction, as the strength Lin Yuan had displayed seemed far beyond that of a normal tenth-stage being.
The Void Child had not only broken through to the tenth stage, but the secret realm creator had left behind detailed descriptions of what the tenth stage was like.
After his breakthrough, the Void Child felt that he fit the secret realm creator's descriptions perfectly. But Lin Yuan?
The Void Child couldn't comprehend it.
"Great Void Child," a voice interrupted the Void Child's chaotic thoughts.
Below him, one of the perfected Evil gods cautiously spoke up.
They had come to congratulate the Void Child on reaching the tenth stage, hoping they could now stand tall before the Martial Ancestor.
But judging by the scene just now, all of their hopes seemed utterly impossible.
"Dismissed," the Void Child said, disinterested. He even regretted breaking through to the tenth stage.
Before the breakthrough, the Void Child still had hope in his heart—he could aim to catch up to the Martial Ancestor.
But after reaching the tenth stage, when he felt the Martial Ancestor's power again, he realized that there was no hope of catching up.
The feeling of going from hope to despair wasn't pleasant.
"Yes," the perfected Evil gods exchanged glances and then respectfully withdrew.
They too were deeply shaken. The Martial Ancestor's strength had shattered their understanding of what was possible in the boundless void.
Did such a powerful being truly exist in the world?
"Wait."
The Void Child suddenly thought of something and spoke up: "Remember, you must all follow the Martial Ancestor's command. No one is allowed to disobey."
A Heart Oath could only bind a person to a certain degree—it couldn't completely prevent someone from acting out. If one of the perfected Evil gods went mad and disregarded everything, even the Heart Oath wouldn't stop them.
So the Void Child warned them again that no matter what, they must never disobey the Martial Ancestor's orders.
"Yes."
"Great Void Child, we're not foolish."
The perfected Evil gods immediately promised. After witnessing the Martial Ancestor's overwhelming power, none of them would dare disobey, even without the Void Child's warning.
"With these Evil gods in place, the Martial Dao will have at least a ten billion years to develop."
Floating in the boundless void, Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The boundless void would continually give birth to new Evil gods, and the later generations of Evil gods, not having witnessed Lin Yuan's power, might eventually attack the beings within the worlds.
But for now, those perfected Evil gods and the tenth-stage Void Child had witnessed Lin Yuan's methods firsthand.
With their influence over future generations of Evil gods, the situation in the boundless void would remain stable.
That was why Lin Yuan hadn't wiped out all of the powerful Evil gods.
Their fear of Lin Yuan was more effective than any Heart Oath.
Azure World.
In front of the Martial Hall.
Lin Yuan appeared.
"Martial Ancestor."
High Priestess Qing Yao immediately came to pay her respects.
For the past hundred years, Lin Yuan's true self had been in secluded cultivation, but the two Primordial Spirits had frequently appeared, transporting many Martial Dao cultivators to other worlds.
"From now on, you will have to handle the spreading of Martial Dao on your own," Lin Yuan said. After six hundred years of cultivation, the strongest batch of Martial Dao cultivators in the Celestial Azure World had reached the seventh rank.
This was the result of Lin Yuan's two Primordial Spirits personally taking time to nurture them.
However, these seventh-rank Martial Dao cultivators had been accelerated by special means and had little potential for further progress.
The reason Lin Yuan had forcefully cultivated this batch of seventh-rank Martial Dao practitioners was to ensure the continued spread of Martial Dao after his departure.
Seventh-rank Martial Dao practitioners could travel through the void and find new worlds to spread Martial Dao on their own.
Of course, the process would be much slower than when Lin Yuan's two Primordial Spirits were overseeing it, but time was on their side.
"Understood," High Priestess Qing Yao nodded, then cautiously asked, "Martial Ancestor, is there something else?"
Although Lin Yuan's tone had remained calm throughout, High Priestess Qing Yao could sense a deeper meaning behind his words.
"I will enter seclusion soon and may not emerge for a very long time," Lin Yuan said.
By seclusion, he meant returning to the main universe. If nothing unexpected happened, Lin Yuan's next descent into the boundless void would be many years in the future.
And whether that day would come at all was uncertain.
If Martial Dao continued to develop without any crises that severed its inheritance, Lin Yuan might never need to return.
"Yes," High Priestess Qing Yao responded respectfully.
"Martial Ancestor..." High Priestess Qing Yao was about to say something else, but the Martial Ancestor had already vanished from in front of her.
"I wonder how long the Martial Ancestor will remain in seclusion this time," she thought to herself before getting back to her work.
As the source world of Martial Dao, the Azure World had an overwhelming number of matters to handle each day, especially now that Martial Dao was spreading rapidly.
Boundless void.
Lin Yuan lay casually, allowing the tides of the void to carry him to different regions.
He spent his last year in this world continuing his cultivation and enlightenment. Although his comprehension of the void's rules had already reached its limit, forcing further insights wasn't completely fruitless—just less efficient.
Time passed.
A year went by in the blink of an eye.
Whoosh!
Lin Yuan's figure disappeared.
He reappeared inside the Primordial Demon Tree in the Azure World.
As his spiritual will returned to his body, he couldn't just abandon the Martial Ancestor's golden body. It had to be kept in the safest place possible for future use.
And the safest place was, of course, inside the Primordial Demon Tree in the Azure World.
In terms of strength, the Primordial Demon Tree wasn't powerful—no match for even a ninth-stage Evil god.
But the Primordial Demon Tree was Lin Yuan's "beacon" in the boundless void. It could contact Lin Yuan's true self in the main universe at any time and summon him to descend.
This was the most powerful aspect of the Primordial Demon Tree.
"The stay time is up."
Lin Yuan slowly closed his eyes.
Deep within his mind, the towering Gate of Myriad Realms suddenly radiated a brilliant light.
...
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