"Is this the riverbed?" Lin Yuan observed his surroundings. The stronger a being’s essence, the heavier they were within the River of Time, causing them to sink deeper.
Now, Lin Yuan had reached the bottom of the River of Time—the riverbed itself. It was the deepest point, with nowhere further to sink.
"So many lives." Lin Yuan gazed around. The River of Time was filled with countless floating light points, each representing a life. These light points drifted with the currents, vast and innumerable.
Almost none of these light points could revive their consciousness. To be aware of oneself within the River of Time required comprehending the rules of time—a feat typically achievable only at the eleventh rank.
"Some 'small fish,' and a few 'big fish,'" Lin Yuan noted as he stretched and moved within the river. The larger a being’s form, the farther and clearer their vision extended within the River of Time.
For those who had only recently comprehended the rules of time, their vision in the River of Time extended merely a few dozen meters around them, beyond which everything became blurry.
"Let me try swimming upstream." Lin Yuan’s thoughts stirred, and he began moving against the current of the River of Time, heading toward the past.
Upon comprehending the rules of time, beings gained the ability to move upstream. However, most eleventh-rank beings refrained from doing so, as it served little purpose.
Though the rules of time allowed upstream movement, it remained an arduous task for eleventh-rank beings due to the river’s opposing flow.
The strongest beings typically traversed upstream to resurrect lives from the past.
For an eleventh-rank being, however, attempting to revive past lives was suicidal. The backlash from the River of Time would annihilate them instantly, even if they tried to resurrect a mere sixth-rank being.
"Hmm?" Lin Yuan moved upstream, step by step, until he came to a halt.
"This life light point… gray?" Lin Yuan focused on a gray light point in front of him.
Gray, unmoving light points in the River of Time represented lives that had already perished.
"With my current life essence, I should be able to forcibly pull this life light point up and place it in the present without succumbing to the backlash," Lin Yuan speculated.
This was the essence of resurrection.
Lin Yuan’s life essence was now so powerful that he could resurrect a deceased sixth-rank being—an unfathomable feat among the starry races. Historically, resurrection was a technique exclusive to twelfth-rank ultimate beings. Even the most gifted eleventh-rank beings couldn’t withstand the backlash.
"Resurrecting a seventh-rank being…" Lin Yuan’s gaze shifted to a slightly larger gray light point in the distance.
Resurrecting this larger light point brought an evident sense of pressure. While achievable, it would severely injure him under the backlash of the River of Time.
"Let’s keep going upstream." Lin Yuan’s interest grew as he pressed onward. Though upstream movement was extremely challenging for eleventh-rank beings, Lin Yuan found it relatively easy. The turbulent waters of the River of Time posed only moderate resistance.
"Is this the River of Time?" an eleventh-rank being who had only recently comprehended the rules of time observed the surroundings with excitement.
To comprehend the rules of time placed this being in the second tier of eleventh-rank evolvers, no longer a novice.
"It’s so vast." The being was filled with awe and despair.
Crossing into the eleventh rank often came with aspirations of reaching the ultimate. However, the vastness of the River of Time laid bare the slim chances of ever ascending to the twelfth rank.
In the River of Time, beings could sense their life essence relative to the river itself, highlighting the immense gap between their current state and the ultimate rank.
This eleventh-rank being found even slight upstream movement exhausting, let alone escaping the river entirely.
Suddenly.
A terrifying undercurrent surged from the riverbed, slamming into the eleventh-rank being and leaving them disoriented for a long while.
"What was that undercurrent?" The being, confused and shaken, tried to peer toward the riverbed.
With their current life essence, their vision extended only a few dozen meters. Beyond that, everything became indistinct.
"What is that?" Straining to see the depths, the eleventh-rank being caught a glimpse of a colossal figure occupying the entire riverbed, moving upstream.
Compared to this gargantuan figure, the eleventh-rank being was like an ant.
"Such an enormous form, moving upstream… is it a strongest one?" The being was shaken, but something felt off.
Weren’t the strongest ones said to have escaped the River of Time? Why was one still within it?
At the riverbank, a towering figure sensed something and gazed down at the surging waters.
"Hmm?" This towering figure, a twelfth-rank ultimate, observed the unusual turbulence within the river, noting that the currents were far more agitated than usual.
"What could be causing this?" The figure frowned slightly but took no further action.
While twelfth-rank beings had escaped the River of Time, they did not control it. Their sensitivity to the river was limited. For instance, to resurrect a past life, they needed a life’s imprint as a "coordinate."
Moreover, touching the river’s waters could destabilize their foundational Dao and even risk re-entrapment within the River of Time.
For this reason, the strongest beings approached the river with utmost caution, touching it only briefly during resurrections.
"Perhaps it’s due to a localized anomaly in the flow of time?" The figure speculated. Discrepancies in the flow of time across regions of the main universe often manifested in the River of Time as "reefs."
The larger the area and the greater the discrepancy, the more significant the "reef," causing turbulent undercurrents.
"Which ultimate being’s doing could this be?" The figure pondered, suspecting it to be the work of a fellow twelfth-rank being.
Within the River of Time, Lin Yuan concluded after multiple attempts, "At most, I can resurrect a seventh-rank being. Resurrecting an eighth-rank being would overwhelm me."
The backlash of the River of Time could only be resisted through life essence; external aids were useless.
"I now possess some characteristics of the strongest beings," Lin Yuan thought, smiling. Though he couldn’t yet match their ability to resurrect eleventh-rank beings, he had achieved feats otherwise exclusive to them.
"Time to return," Lin Yuan decided, following the current back to the present.
Remaining in the past subjected him to the relentless erosion of the River of Time. While he could endure it for extended periods, the present was far more comfortable.
On the main star, Lin Yuan’s consciousness returned.
His experiences in the River of Time gave him a clearer understanding of his capabilities. As of now, the life essences of all other beings within the river were far below his own.
While moving upstream, Lin Yuan had glimpsed perfected eleventh-rank legendary beings. Compared to him, they were insignificant.
"Still far from the strongest ones," Lin Yuan mused, refocusing on his cultivation.
"Hmm?" Lin Yuan paused, a smile forming.
"The three strongest weapons have been successfully refined."
In the Mysterious Emperor’s secret realm, Lin Yuan’s yang primordial soul sat cross-legged before three floating weapons: a silver warblade, a golden armor, and a deep green orb. These represented an offensive weapon, a physical defense weapon, and a soul defense weapon, respectively.
Initially, Lin Yuan had estimated it would take years to refine these weapons. However, his advancement to the eleventh rank drastically accelerated the process, completing it in just a few months.
"With these three strongest weapons, my strength has received another significant boost," Lin Yuan remarked.
Reassessing his combat power:
The average perfected eleventh-rank being had a combat power of 10.
Lin Yuan’s combat power, upon advancing to the eleventh rank, was 10,000.
Now, with two pillar-level fusion rules at the seventh stage and the refined weapons, his combat power could reach tens of thousands.
For reference, the combat power threshold for twelfth-rank beings was around one million.
"If I utilize the physical divine ability ‘World’ to self-destruct my inner world, the short-term power might reach 200,000 or 300,000," Lin Yuan speculated. This divine ability, his fifth physical one, was a pure offensive skill and one of his most potent trump cards.
Even the strongest weapons couldn’t match the instant power of ‘World’s’ self-destruction. It wasn’t due to the weapons’ limitations but because Lin Yuan couldn’t yet unleash their full potential. In the hands of a twelfth-rank being, these weapons could easily achieve powers exceeding a million.
Testing the silver warblade, Lin Yuan casually slashed through space, creating a dark fissure revealing layers of void.
The weapons, even in their initial refined state, allowed Lin Yuan to tear through the Mysterious Emperor’s secret realm at will.
Back on the main star, Lin Yuan was satisfied with the weapons’ performance but quickly resumed his cultivation. While the weapons significantly enhanced his combat strength, they remained external aids. Lin Yuan aspired to achieve unparalleled strength through his own efforts.
Time passed.
Four months later…
"The supermassive battlefield has opened," Lin Yuan ended his cultivation, sensing the stabilization of spacetime fluctuations from the battlefield’s location.
Since its creation, the battlefield had emitted constant spacetime ripples. Now, these ripples had ceased, signaling that the battlefield was fully stabilized.
"The supermassive battlefield," Lin Yuan’s yang primordial soul activated, heading toward the Xiayou Evolution Tower.
The supermassive battlefield represented the highest standard of battlefields created by peak races, capable of withstanding short-term clashes involving twelfth-rank beings and allowing eleventh-rank beings wielding strongest weapons to fight without restraint.
With its completion, human civilization began mobilizing its eleventh-rank evolvers, centering efforts around its nine Evolution Towers.
While humanity’s nine strongest ones were confident in Lin Yuan’s ability to surpass perfected eleventh-rank beings, additional preparations were made.
On the surface, the supermassive battlefield appeared to be a stage for eleventh-rank beings. However, beneath this facade lay the unseen struggles of twelfth-rank ultimate beings.
Numerous strongest weapons and contingencies from ultimate beings were in play. In theory, the strongest ones weren’t supposed to intervene directly, but nothing was certain. The so-called rules of the battlefield were established by these very beings.
If tempers flared, interventions from the strongest ones were not impossible.
In the Insect Race territory…
Tuoba Ancient God emerged with other eleventh-rank ancient gods from a space within the Insect Race domain.
"Tuoba, your avatar hasn’t been fully cultivated yet. Are you planning to send your true body into the supermassive battlefield?" an ancient god beside him inquired.
The Insect Race Alliance placed great importance on the battlefield, not only deploying its eleventh-rank forces but also offering hefty rewards to recruit independent eleventh-rank beings like Tuoba.
Though Tuoba had no intention of serving the Insect Race, their offers were too tempting to refuse.
Since his avatar’s defeat at Lin Yuan’s hands in the two-dimensional world, Tuoba’s progress in cultivating a new avatar had been slow.
Technically, Tuoba had already formed a new avatar, but it remained significantly weaker than his true body. Cultivating an avatar comparable to his true body required vast time, effort, and resources.
Moreover, the permanent damage to Tuoba’s mental will from the two-dimensional world had further hindered his progress.
"Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing," Tuoba reassured the other ancient god.
Having agreed to the Insect Race’s terms, Tuoba was confident in his preparations.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
68