“Heart attack?”
Lin Yuan glanced at Xia Qin Strongest One without surprise.
Since the discovery of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, countless Rank Twelve Strongest Ones had tried to refine it, but none succeeded. They could not even pinpoint its exact location, let alone refine it. Now that he had become its owner, it was bound to shock every Rank Twelve Strongest One.
“When I explored the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, I happened by chance to reach its deepest area…”
Lin Yuan gave a brief explanation.
“I see.” Xia Qin Strongest One smiled, unconcerned about how Lin Yuan refined the realm, only that it now belonged to him.
“Good, very good!”
“Lin Yuan, you might not realize how important the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm is to our Human Civilization!”
Letting out a long breath, Xia Qin Strongest One spoke solemnly.
“Important to Human Civilization?”
Lin Yuan was slightly taken aback.
In his view, Rank Twelve Strongest Ones wanted to refine the realm because they assumed it held invaluable inheritances that could be pivotal for their evolutionary paths. Indeed, the Mysterious Emperor Lineage’s three protective secret arts are enormously helpful, even to Path-Clearing, Dominance, or Chaos-level experts.
But regarding its significance for Human Civilization as a whole?
Perhaps it was about preventing widespread knowledge of those three secret arts from leaking to enemies who might find ways to counter them. The rules left by His Majesty prohibited passing them on to other powerhouses.
Lin Yuan had never seen how the realm itself could be so crucial to Humanity.
The Mysterious Emperor beasts? Mysterious Emperor crystals?
While Mysterious Emperor crystals were precious, for an entire civilization they were just a scarce resource—not so vital that they were of “greatest significance.”
“The true treasure for Human Civilization is the realm itself,” Xia Qin Strongest One said, looking at Lin Yuan.
“The realm itself?”
Lin Yuan was contemplative.
“Yes—the realm itself.”
He nodded.
“The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm isolates cause and effect, blocking spacetime probes. Even we Rank Twelves can’t interfere in or observe what goes on inside it.
“And at present, the twelve peak-race forces of the universe appear to maintain a certain level of warfare, but dangerous currents flow beneath. Those alien races keep close watch for any genius evolver to emerge from our Human Civilization."
“For those at or above Rank Six, it’s still manageable. Even if they fall, they can generally be resurrected through their life imprints.
“But below Rank Six? Many potential geniuses are snuffed out before they ever really rise—killed by alien curses, leaving them beyond resurrection.”
Xia Qin Strongest One sighed.
“That’s true,” Lin Yuan concurred.
He himself had been targeted by alien curses in the past. He only survived thanks to secrecy, plus having an example—Red Kun Star Lord’s disciple died that way ten thousand years ago.
But countless other young geniuses across Human Civilization hadn’t been so lucky.
Every year, who knows how many under-Rank-Six talents were slain by curses?
Some apex aliens at Rank Ten or Eleven specialized in cursing Humanity’s Rank Four or Five geniuses. Using a Rank Ten or Eleven life-level curse against Rank Fours or Fives required minimal cost, and whatever cost there was could be replenished.
Even the Strongest Ones had no good solution. After all, there were only nine of them, and each had to focus on the alien Rank Twelves. They couldn’t protect every genius. Meanwhile, Humanity was itself assassinating important alien geniuses in retaliation.
“So you’re suggesting…?” Lin Yuan saw what he was getting at.
“Precisely. If we have the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, we can store a wisp of our key under-Rank-Six talents’ spiritual will inside it,” Xia Qin Strongest One explained.
“If they get cursed, they can still survive.”
Life, at its core, hinges on spiritual will. The essence of splitting off avatars is dividing one’s spiritual will into new bodies. If the spiritual will remains, flesh and soul can be reconstructed.
“Though Humanity’s backbone is our Rank Tens, Rank Elevens, and we Rank Twelves, we all started at the bottom. If those below Rank Six can live on, our civilization will have a future,” he added wistfully.
Like Lin Yuan himself, who grew from Ranks One and Two.
“Indeed.” Lin Yuan nodded.
For any race, the foundation is always the lower tier. A strong base continually births mid- and upper-levels, all the way to the peak. Some lesser races try to pour every resource into a single powerful individual, but if that person perishes, they face extinction.
“Don’t worry—I’ll set up a threshold. Storing a portion of spiritual will in the realm will come at some cost. If a genius can’t afford it for now, they can owe a debt and repay it later,” said Xia Qin Strongest One, having considered the finer details.
After all, the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm was Lin Yuan’s personal possession. There had to be some price, if only to keep the arrangement orderly.
“That’s a minor matter,” Lin Yuan replied, unconcerned.
He had no plan to throw open the entire realm. Offering just one corner for storing spiritual will was trivial to him.
After learning that Lin Yuan owned the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, Xia Qin Strongest One no longer suggested he bring his true body to the Central Star Region. In terms of safety, the central territory of Human Civilization couldn’t compare.
Throughout history, whenever wars with other apex races grew fierce, Humanity’s core realms and “ancestral lands” had been overrun more than once, even the Central Star Region turning into a battlefield. But the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm had remained out of reach for all that time, and no matter how the alien Rank Twelves probed, they learned nothing.
Lin Yuan was certainly safer inside the realm than anywhere else in Human Civilization.
Even so, before they ended their talk, Xia Qin Strongest One still urged caution. Perhaps the alien Rank Twelves wouldn’t try anything. Lin Yuan was already unstoppable, plus he had the protection of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Xia Qin Strongest One himself couldn’t see how anyone could truly harm Lin Yuan. Yet if they did move against him, they’d likely be confident enough to pose a real threat—that was the greatest danger.
On the Milky Way main star, a figure appeared silently outside.
“So this is the Milky Way Star Lord’s home world?” Cloaked in black robes, the figure radiated no aura, gazing calmly at the planet below.
“Let’s go see him.” With that, the figure used the Star Platform to enter.
By now, the Milky Way main star was the core of dozens of allied Star Domains, and large numbers of Human Civilization citizens and aliens flowed in daily. Since this visitor’s credentials were in order, no one stopped him.
Before long, the black-robed figure arrived on the main star, making his way toward the planetary center, home to the Star Lord Hall.
Within the great hall, two foreign subordinates of Rank Eight, one with red skin and one with green eyes, reported: “My lord, someone from the Calamity Race requests to see you.”
“Calamity Race?”
Lin Yuan opened his eyes, a bit curious.
The Calamity Race was the most mysterious among the twelve apex powers, and also one of the most intimidating. They boasted two peak Path-Clearing Strongest Ones, making every other apex force wary. Even if those two couldn’t fight at full power, they were still peak Path-Clearing. Who knew what hidden methods they possessed?
For this reason, the Calamity Race held a detached status among the twelve apex powers.
“Interesting.”
After a moment’s thought, Lin Yuan said, “Let him in.”
Soon, the black-robed visitor stepped into the Star Lord Hall.
“Greetings, Milky Way Star Lord.” He bowed respectfully.
While speaking, he snuck a glance at Lin Yuan—a young man seated cross-legged in the distance, holding a hazy, illusory book that seemed wrapped in some concealment. Just looking at the book itself made the black-robed figure’s heart tremble.
“That’s him—the Milky Way Star Lord?” The visitor felt uneasy. Though he, too, was Rank Eleven from the Calamity Race, he had the sensation of standing before his own ancestral Strongest One when facing Lin Yuan, a fellow Rank Eleven.
“So the Calamity Race sent you here in secret for what reason?” Lin Yuan dispersed the book and gave a curious glance at the black robe, which was itself a rare spacetime treasure capable of masking any aura. Even a Rank Twelve Strongest One wouldn’t notice unless they looked closely.
Clearly, the visitor did not want anyone else to know he was meeting Lin Yuan, not even Humanity’s Strongest Ones.
“My ancestor asked me to come and inform you of something,” the man said quickly.
“The Tianyu Race, Insect Race, Prison Race, and other Rank Twelves plan to use that drop of bizarre blood against you.”
“Bizarre blood?”
Lin Yuan’s thoughts stirred. He recalled that in the early days of the universe, a strange lifeform fell inside, an event Humanity’s Strongest Ones hadn’t participated in because Humanity didn’t even exist yet. But some records described its frightening power.
“So the Metamorphic Empress of the Insect Race obtained a drop of that weird creature’s blood?” Lin Yuan wondered aloud.
“That’s right,” the black-robed figure said.
“That drop of bizarre blood is a source of chaotic corruption. For anyone below Rank Twelve, it’s lethal. Please be extremely cautious.”
He went on to lay out the aliens’ plot in detail—perhaps not perfectly, but the key point was that single drop of blood, one of the few items that might threaten the Milky Way Star Lord’s real body.
Lin Yuan listened calmly.
In truth, he was unconcerned. The Insect Race and other Rank Twelve aliens believed that drop of blood could harm him based on the power he revealed during the super-large battlefield.
But after his trip to the Immortal Realm, Lin Yuan’s strength rose vastly, no weaker than a normal Rank Twelve Strongest One. Strictly speaking, after receiving the peak Dominance expert Cang Weiyang’s treasures, he might be stronger than the average Rank Twelve, nearing the level of the Metamorphic Empress or Xia Qin Strongest One.
No matter how formidable that weird blood was, it couldn’t kill a Rank Twelve. Otherwise, the Metamorphic Empress wouldn’t have simply kept it all this time without using it. Crucially, in order for it to work, they would have to fully suppress one of Lin Yuan’s bodies or avatars—practically impossible.
At his current level of mental will and soul strength, even a Dominance-level being couldn’t restrain him so quickly that he couldn’t react.
“So why is your Calamity Race telling me this?” Lin Yuan studied the black-robed man.
He knew his own strength, but the Calamity Race didn’t. So why volunteer this secret?
“My ancestor didn’t say,” he answered in a low voice.
He was likewise baffled by the command. In the Calamity Race, though, whatever the Ancestor said was final.
“All right.” Lin Yuan waved dismissively.
The black-robed man withdrew at once.
“It looks like I can’t stay on the Milky Way main star.”
Lin Yuan pondered.
Though the aliens’ plan wasn’t a threat to him personally, if a host of Rank Twelve Strongest Ones came charging in, the collateral damage would devastate the star and the nearby worlds. Lin Yuan himself could survive, but the result for countless citizens here wouldn’t be pleasant.
When Rank Twelve Strongest Ones clashed, destruction was measured in light-years.
He had to consider the people living on the Milky Way main star.
“If my Primordial Souls and avatars leave, the alien Rank Twelves won’t bother attacking the main star,” he thought. They certainly didn’t care about the planet’s population; plus, with Humanity’s Strongest Ones on guard, if those aliens slaughtered one Star Domain, Humanity would retaliate by ravaging ten of theirs.
“For now, my two Primordial Souls and all avatars should operate in barren Star Domains,” he decided.
Meanwhile, he would use his rule comprehension to hide the cause-and-effect traces of his souls and avatars. At his current level, even a Rank Twelve would struggle to pinpoint him precisely.
Sure, he could have them all hide in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, which was inaccessible from the outside. Yet staying in there meant he couldn’t sense or interact with external rules. Lin Yuan wasn’t trying to avoid every brush with alien Rank Twelves, either—he wasn’t afraid of them.
“At the rate my inner world is evolving, I’ll reach my limit in at most one hundred years. Then I can attempt the ultimate leap,” Lin Yuan mused.
During that century, if they did manage by chance to find one of his avatars through cause and effect, he wouldn’t mind giving them a good fight. If they couldn’t, well, he would simply break through to Rank Twelve unimpeded.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
58