"Crucial trump card?" Vice Tower Master Nalan's eyes brightened with interest. As someone who would also enter the supermassive battlefield, he was naturally curious about humanity's strategies.
Standing behind Xuanyuan Duo was the Xuanyuan strongest being, who might possess knowledge of classified information.
"Crucial trump card?" Lin Yuan’s interest was piqued as well.
He had discussed many aspects of the supermassive battlefield with Xia Qin, the strongest being, and while humanity had prepared some trump cards, nothing seemed worthy of the word "Crucial".
"Did the Xuanyuan strongest being tell you?" Vice Tower Master Nalan asked expectantly, looking at Xuanyuan Duo.
"No," Xuanyuan Duo shook her head. "It’s just my guess."
"Guess?" Nalan was momentarily stunned, not quite processing the response.
"Nalan, you’ve experienced the two-dimensional world. You must remember that individual," Xuanyuan Duo turned to look at Nalan.
"That… that individual?" Nalan’s face changed slightly.
"You mean Lord ‘Blood Rain’?"
Any human evolver who had fallen into the two-dimensional world could never forget the extraordinary presence of Lord ‘Blood Rain.’
It wasn’t just human evolvers; countless powerhouses from the starry races remembered the human known as ‘Blood Rain.’
From the first opening of the Heavenly Gate in the two-dimensional world, it had been an era belonging to ‘Blood Rain.’ Numerous eleventh-rank perfected legends, including those like the Divine King wielding ideal strongest weapon, were crushed under ‘Blood Rain’s’ overwhelming power.
When the two-dimensional world ended and the "white paper" escaped the universe, the starry races and even factions within human civilization sought information on the mysterious ‘Blood Rain.’
Unfortunately, no clues were found.
But there was no doubt that ‘Blood Rain’ existed and was suspected of escaping the two-dimensional world as the sole survivor among the starry races.
Powerhouses of the starry races speculated that ‘Blood Rain’ was likely one of humanity’s hidden evolvers. Otherwise, there would have been some trace of information.
Humanity’s known eleventh-rank evolvers numbered less than a thousand. This count referred to publicly acknowledged evolvers, but hidden among them were secret forces cultivated by human civilization.
These were humanity’s concealed assets.
And not just humanity—other races across the universe had similar contingencies.
"Are you saying Lord ‘Blood Rain’ will also enter the supermassive battlefield?" Vice Tower Master Nalan quickly realized, looking at Xuanyuan Duo with excitement.
"Most likely. Such an event, affecting the entire universe, will surely involve Lord ‘Blood Rain.’" Xuanyuan Duo affirmed, though it was still her speculation.
She had, in fact, asked the Xuanyuan strongest being about this, but had received no reply. Yet she firmly believed Lord ‘Blood Rain’ would make an appearance in the upcoming supermassive battlefield.
"If Lord ‘Blood Rain’ intervenes, everything will fall into place," Nalan said.
Although the supermassive battlefield differed from the two-dimensional world—the former allowing unrestrained use of strongest weapons and even involving twelfth-rank ultimate interventions—Lord ‘Blood Rain’s’ dominance in the two-dimensional world suggested he would be a formidable presence on the battlefield. At the very least, with Lord ‘Blood Rain’ holding the line, humanity’s chances of securing leadership in the battlefield would significantly increase.
Lin Yuan quietly listened to the exchange between Xuanyuan Duo and Vice Tower Master Nalan.
In a way, Xuanyuan Duo’s assumption wasn’t wrong. The ‘Blood Rain’ in the two-dimensional world was indeed Lin Yuan. Moreover, Lin Yuan would participate in the opening of the supermassive battlefield.
"Milky Way Star Lord, you missed the opportunity to meet Lord ‘Blood Rain’ in the two-dimensional world. Perhaps you’ll have another chance in the supermassive battlefield," Nalan said to Lin Yuan with a smile.
"Meeting Lord ‘Blood Rain’ is a rare privilege for any eleventh-rank evolver," Xuanyuan Duo added.
Neither Xuanyuan Duo nor Vice Tower Master Nalan had any inkling that the Lord ‘Blood Rain’ they spoke of was standing right before them.
The gathering lasted only half a day. After exchanging pleasantries, the eleventh-rank evolvers gradually dispersed.
Back on the main star domain, Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
"Path-Clearing Stage," thoughts of the twelfth-rank Path-Clearing Stage surfaced in Lin Yuan’s mind.
The essence of the Path-Clearing Stage lay in establishing one’s own Dao. Only then could one stabilize their twelfth-rank realm.
"I wonder, what will my Dao look like?" Lin Yuan pondered curiously. Typically, the Dao a twelfth-rank being establishes is determined during their journey toward the ultimate breakthrough, with subsequent progress being a gradual refinement.
"Time to resume cultivation," Lin Yuan thought as he prepared to delve into enlightenment.
Suddenly, a profound and far-reaching spacetime ripple emanated from the depths of the distant cosmos.
"Could it be…" Lin Yuan raised his gaze.
"The location of the supermassive battlefield opening?"
Lin Yuan quickly analyzed the situation.
To ensure the supermassive battlefield was resilient enough to withstand the unrestricted combat of perfected eleventh-rank beings wielding strongest weapons, several strongest beings had joined forces to extract dozens of large cosmic secret realms from the depths of the void and fuse them as the battlefield’s foundation.
According to Xia Qin, the strongest one, the resulting supermassive battlefield would have an incredibly high threshold for power, even accommodating short-term clashes involving twelfth-rank entities.
"So this is the means of twelfth-rank beings?" Lin Yuan marveled as he carefully sensed the spacetime ripple. Even perfected eleventh-rank beings at the fifth stage of spacetime could only vaguely perceive its magnitude.
However, with his sixth-stage comprehension of spacetime, Lin Yuan could faintly reconstruct the distant scene of strongest beings manipulating spacetime to fuse the vast secret realms.
"Though my understanding of spacetime reaches the sixth stage, I am still far from the capabilities of true twelfth-rank beings," Lin Yuan realized.
The disparity was clear. Even if their spacetime comprehension matched, the foundational strength between them was worlds apart.
The same blade quality wielded with a hundred pounds of force versus a hundred tons of force would naturally yield vastly different results.
"One step at a time," Lin Yuan reminded himself.
"I haven’t been cultivating for long."
While he yearned for the Path-Clearing Stage and the twelfth rank, Lin Yuan knew his current priority was building a solid foundation.
Even though he could attempt the ultimate breakthrough at any time and his chances of success far surpassed any other perfected eleventh-rank evolver, Lin Yuan refrained from rushing.
Once the ultimate breakthrough began, there would be no turning back. He would either ascend to the twelfth rank or be erased entirely by the backlash of the river of time.
Lin Yuan couldn’t be certain if the Gates of Myriad Realms could protect him, but for now, he chose to assume the worst-case scenario.
"Let’s set the date for the eleventh-rank celebration to one month from now," Lin Yuan decided amidst his cultivation and enlightenment.
He had received numerous congratulatory messages celebrating his advancement to rank eleven. Every new eleventh-rank being was expected to hold a celebration, both as a display of strength and to intimidate rival races. Vice Tower Master Nalan had held a similar celebration upon his advancement.
For Lin Yuan, hosting a celebration was not just a formality but also a means of accruing tangible benefits—namely, receiving substantial gifts.
At his tenth-rank celebration centuries ago, Lin Yuan had received gifts totaling seven to eight million units of universe crystals from various factions.
Though seven to eight million units were negligible to Lin Yuan now, they had been a significant sum for him as a new tenth-rank evolver.
Now, as an eleventh-rank being, Lin Yuan’s celebration promised to surpass his previous one in scale, prestige, and the number of congratulatory gifts from factions.
Such gifts were a lifeline for Lin Yuan, who faced the immense resource demands of cultivating the "Mysterious Emperor's body."
Even though these gifts couldn’t cover all the resources needed to perfect his cultivation to the eleventh-rank peak, they would alleviate some of the burden.
Lin Yuan’s eleventh-rank celebration would far outshine Vice Tower Master Nalan’s, simply because their standings were incomparable.
While factions might disregard Nalan, they dared not offend the Milky Way Star Lord. Nalan’s potential capped at the perfected eleventh rank, with a minuscule chance of reaching the twelfth rank. Lin Yuan, on the other hand, had a tangible chance of becoming the tenth strongest being in human civilization.
The factions knew that if they failed to honor Lin Yuan now, they might regret it if he became a twelfth-rank being in the future.
Thus, Lin Yuan’s eleventh-rank celebration garnered an astounding total of—
"3.2 billion units of universe crystals?" Lin Yuan calculated, a smile forming on his face.
This massive sum rivaled the combined wealth of a dozen typical eleventh-rank evolvers.
With these crystals converted into resources, coupled with the discounts afforded by his high-ranking citizenship, Lin Yuan estimated he could advance the cultivation of the "Mysterious Emperor's body" significantly.
"With 3.2 billion units and my accumulated crystals, I might push the "Mysterious Emperor's body" to the major completion of the eleventh rank," Lin Yuan estimated.
The primary bottleneck in cultivating the "Mysterious Emperor's body" lay in resources, as Lin Yuan had an abundant supply of the required crystals from the Mysterious Emperor’s secret realm.
Time passed swiftly.
Three months later, on the main star domain, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his mind brimming with insights that continuously advanced his comprehension of rules.
"Finally, the Rule of Great Destruction has reached the seventh stage," Lin Yuan murmured, opening his eyes with a satisfied smile.
The Rule of Great Destruction, a pillar-level fusion rule, had now entered the domain of the twelfth rank.
Lin Yuan had already achieved the pinnacle of the sixth stage for this rule during his tenth rank. His newfound speed of comprehension as an eleventh-rank being made reaching the seventh stage inevitable.
In fact, over the past three months, the Rule of Great Destruction was not the first pillar-level fusion rule Lin Yuan had advanced to the seventh stage. The first was the Rule of Samsara of Life and Death.
"Hmm? My inner world has expanded again," Lin Yuan noted, directing his consciousness inward.
His advancement to rank eleven had triggered an infusion of chaotic void origin, breaking the shackles limiting his inner world.
Although his inner world couldn’t yet reach the size of tens of thousands of light-years like that of a twelfth-rank being, it had no fixed limits. Each breakthrough in rule comprehension significantly expanded it.
Additionally, the chaotic void origin absorbed over time continued to gradually enlarge his inner world, though at a slower rate compared to the explosive growth from rule comprehension.
Upon first entering rank eleven, Lin Yuan’s inner world spanned 600B miles in radius. Now, with the comprehension of two seventh-stage pillar-level fusion rules, it had expanded to 650B miles—an increase of 50 billion miles. (I may have previously wrote it wrong in previous chapters, anyway this is the correct number)
"At my current life essence, I wonder how I would appear in the river of time," Lin Yuan mused.
All beings within the universe exist in the river of time. Only those who comprehend the rules of time can project their consciousness into it for a brief glimpse.
In the river of time, every being has a corresponding reflection. Generally, the stronger a being’s essence, the larger its reflection in the river, granting access to deeper layers.
With this thought, Lin Yuan projected his consciousness into the river of time.
A dense, oppressive atmosphere enveloped him as he opened his eyes, scanning his surroundings.
The river of time stretched endlessly, vast and boundless. Yet, Lin Yuan’s massive form filled the riverbed, leaving little room for the torrential waters to flow past him.
Large waves surged and swept toward the shores, scattering countless "big fish" that frantically fled in other directions.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
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