Inside the dim grand hall, a gathering of many Rank Twelve Strongest Ones took place once again.
Compared to a century ago—when they brimmed with confidence—every one of them now appeared visibly displeased.
A hundred years. They had spent a full century personally applying cause-and-effect rules to try locking onto the Milky Way Star Lord’s location, but with no success. All of their cause-and-effect visions indicated that the Milky Way Star Lord was indeed somewhere in the universe, yet they couldn’t pinpoint him.
If they hadn’t confirmed that Lin Yuan’s presence was absent from the Milky Way main star, a Rank Twelve might have long since gone there to probe directly.
“What’s going on?”
“Why is our cause-and-effect sensing of the Milky Way Star Lord so vague?”
The many Rank Twelve Strongest Ones exchanged glances. Had the Milky Way Star Lord’s true body or avatars hidden in Humanity’s Central Star Region or ancestral lands, they wouldn’t have been so frustrated. Those areas were Humanity’s core strongholds, after all.
But that wasn’t the case. At the very least, the Milky Way Star Lord’s avatars and incarnations roamed freely across the universe.
“There are two possibilities,” said the Tianyu Race founder.
“One possibility is that the Milky Way Star Lord’s proficiency in cause-and-effect rules is above ours as Rank Twelve beings—only in that way could he hide himself so thoroughly that we’ve repeatedly come up empty."
“The second possibility is that the Milky Way Star Lord relies on some cause-and-effect treasure to obscure his trace. Given Humanity’s resources, producing such a treasure wouldn’t be too difficult.”
After a moment’s pause, he went on: “I think the second possibility is more likely.”
The other Rank Twelve Strongest Ones nodded slightly in agreement.
The idea that the Milky Way Star Lord might surpass them in cause-and-effect comprehension felt too outlandish. They were Rank Twelve, after all. Even if cause-and-effect wasn’t their strong suit, the notion of being overtaken by an Eleven-level being was a bit too absurd.
“What a pity we don’t have a lock of hair or a drop of his blood. Otherwise, even if he did have a cause-and-effect treasure to protect him, he couldn’t escape our tracking,” said the Zhou Race Strongest One with a slight shake of his head.
Cause-and-effect rules hinge greatly on a “medium.” Whether cursing or tracing someone’s location, having a physical medium vs. not having one changes the difficulty drastically.
“With the Milky Way Star Lord’s level of power, and how much Humanity values him, there’s no chance of any stray hair or blood lying around,” the Insect Race Empress added.
“Even a common Rank Eleven is careful about this and wouldn’t leave anything of themselves unguarded.”
In any battlefield scenario, a high-level combatant who sees no way out will usually self-destruct, turning body and soul to ashes rather than be captured. Part of it is to avoid interrogation by the enemy, part to prevent any “medium” from falling into the enemy’s hands.
“Through normal methods, we clearly can’t locate him,” mused the Prison Race Strongest One.
“Could we force him to show himself?”
By “force him out,” they meant threatening the Milky Way Star Lord’s friends or family to make him appear. Indeed, the Milky Way Star Lord was quite young, still having parents and other relatives, such as figures under the Red Kun Lineage or the Red Kun Star Lord.
“It won’t do much,” said the Starry Sky Alliance Strongest One with a dismissive shake of his head.
“He doesn’t strike me as someone who puts too much weight on personal ties.”
“Agreed,” the Insect Race Empress concurred.
“That Tuoba Ancient God tried using one of the Milky Way Star Lord’s friends as leverage, and the Milky Way Star Lord personally killed that friend instead.”
All the Rank Twelve Strongest Ones here had researched him in detail, so they knew about that conflict with Tuoba. It showed that even if they managed to capture the Star Lord’s loved ones or mentors, he might not even blink.
And for a Rank Twelve to lower themselves to such tactics—if it worked, it might be worth it, but if it didn’t, it would just be disgraceful. Then they’d also face Humanity’s Strongest Ones afterward, which hardly seemed worthwhile.
“Fan Hou,” said the Prison Race Strongest One, suddenly looking at the Zhou Race Strongest One.
“Your race obtained a unique technique in the universe’s early days...”
“You—?” The Zhou Race Strongest One Fan Hou’s expression changed subtly.
“You mean the secret art ‘Bowing to Nine Suns’?”
“Bowing to Nine Suns” was a cause-and-effect technique involving ritual supplication to forcibly intensify the causal link between two parties, ultimately allowing for cursing or location tracking. But it exacted a steep price: to cast it on the Milky Way Star Lord, Fan Hou would have to pray to him for nine consecutive days, each day depleting a portion of his own origin power.
Though that origin power could be replenished later, it would take considerable time, during which he couldn’t maintain peak battle strength.
If he were using it against a fellow Rank Twelve, Fan Hou might consider it worthwhile. But just to pin down the location of the Milky Way Star Lord—an Eleventh-level being—for so heavy a cost?
“The Milky Way Star Lord is already at Rank Eleven Perfection, liable to challenge the Strongest One any time. If he crosses into Rank Twelve, it’s likely he’ll reach the peak Path-Clearing stage before this cosmic epoch ends,” said the Prison Race Strongest One.
“You know what that means for all our races.”
“Insect Race’s Metamorphic Empress is willing to sacrifice that drop of bizarre blood for dealing with him, so what’s the big deal about you employing this technique?” the Insect Race Empress chimed in.
Clearly, the Insect Race was paying the highest price here. Still, given their deep enmity with Humanity, they were also the keenest to stop him from making it to Rank Twelve.
“All right.” Zhou Race Strongest One Fan Hou hesitated briefly before agreeing.
“I’ll start worshipping the Milky Way Star Lord now. Nine days from now, I’ll have pushed our cause-and-effect bond to its limit. At that point, I can tell you his exact location.”
“Good. Once we’ve pinned him down, leave everything else to us,” the Prison Race Strongest One said with a grin.
In truth, “Bowing to Nine Suns” was a form of curse. After praying for nine days to deepen the causal link, one could unleash a potent curse. But cursing was no sure thing, particularly if they suspected the Star Lord had a protective cause-and-effect treasure.
Even “Bowing to Nine Suns” wouldn’t guarantee success. And even if they did kill him while he was still below Rank Twelve, Humanity’s Strongest Ones could revive him through the river of time, since his imprint remained there.
Thus, the best plan was to identify one of his avatars or incarnations, pounce on it instantly with a group of Rank Twelves, suppress him, then use that drop of bizarre blood to corrupt him. That would be the perfect way to deal with the Star Lord.
“We don’t have to kill him permanently—just let that bizarre blood affect him enough that at the critical moment he fails to reach the Strongest One,” they agreed, exchanging glances.
“Then I’ll begin.”
Fan Hou of the Zhou Race inhaled deeply, and in the depths of his race’s domain, his true body knelt down. His mind filled with information about the Milky Way Star Lord. At once, a link of cause-and-effect began forming. Then, day by day, he would bow to the Milky Way Star Lord, each bow strengthening that link.
——
In the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, Lin Yuan had no clue about their plot. He simply found it amusing that after all this time, the alien Rank Twelves couldn’t even pin down the avatars he’d deliberately exposed, so they couldn’t give him the fun of a final showdown.
“But at least they haven’t attacked my teacher” he mused.
A century ago, after learning from the Calamity Race that the aliens were out to get him, Lin Yuan asked Xia Qin the Strongest One and the others to keep a close watch on the Red Kun Star Lord and Lin Yuan’s own parents. He’d also stored fragments of their spiritual wills in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, just in case.
“Rank Twelve...”
Setting aside those thoughts, Lin Yuan began his final preparations for pushing to Rank Twelve. Right now, in the river of time, his body was already so huge that it practically exceeded the river itself. If he weren’t crouched near the riverbed, the flow wouldn’t be able to contain him at all.
“I feel like if I just stand up, the river’s depth only reaches my waist,” he thought drily.
For typical Rank Eleven Perfection experts, stepping momentarily out of the time-river for a chance at Rank Twelve is already exhausting. During that final push, they must also endure an infusion from the primordial chaos to gather enough strength to leap free of the river. But in Lin Yuan’s case, he barely had to leap. Merely straightening would expose half his body above time’s river.
“Given my life level and foundation, there’s at least a ninety-five percent chance I’ll succeed,” Lin Yuan estimated.
As for that remaining five percent or so, it was only the inherent uncertainty in such a vast chaotic void.
“Huh?”
He suddenly sensed something.
“The Martial Arts Evolutionary Path has produced its first Rank Eight?”
With his Seventh Stage spacetime sense, plus his status as the founder of Martial Arts, Lin Yuan could faintly perceive every evolver practicing Martial Arts in the universe.
“Yes indeed.”
A smile touched his lips.
In the Spirit Realm, after millions of years, the highest martial artist had only reached Martial Arts Rank Eight, and that was through Lin Yuan’s own forced nurturing. But here in the main universe, not even a thousand years had passed, and already someone had reached Rank Eight on the Martial Arts Path.
The main reason was that Human Civilization in the main universe offered near-systematic training methods. What was once a mysterious practice was now common knowledge. Plus, advanced experts were freely sharing pointers. As a result, the path of Martial Arts blossomed here far more than in the Spirit Realm or even the Immortal Realm.
“All right. Before I attempt the Strongest One, I might as well meet this youngster.”
Long ago—centuries prior—Lin Yuan had posted a notice using his “Martial Arts Founder” account, saying whoever became the first to reach Martial Arts Rank Eight could meet him in person.
——
On a wild planet, a lone figure sat cross-legged.
“Martial Arts Rank Eight—this is what it feels like!”
Radiating boundless energy, an embryonic world seemed to take shape within his body. This figure’s name was Zhang Tianzhi, once a peak Rank Seven evolver, and just moments earlier he had opened up his inner world, officially crossing into Martial Arts Rank Eight.
Thus far, in Human Civilization, nobody had heard of anyone surpassing Rank Seven on the Martial Arts Path, meaning Zhang Tianzhi was very likely the first Rank Eight after the Martial Arts Founder himself.
“Cultivating the flesh as the core, supplementing with vitality, spirit, soul, and willpower—truly deserving of its place as Humanity’s fifth evolutionary path.” Zhang Tianzhi marveled at his internal changes, growing ever more reverent toward the Founder who pioneered this Martial Arts Evolutionary Path. Merely following a path that someone else perfected was already so unfathomable; how powerful must the one who created it be?
“Someone’s looking for me?”
He froze, receiving a direct signal from the Goddess of Wisdom that someone wanted to contact him.
“The Martial Arts Founder is inviting me?”
Seeing the identity of his caller, Zhang Tianzhi’s mind went blank. The Founder wanted to see him?
“Oh—right, the Founder did say that whoever first reached Rank Eight could meet him.” Zhang Tianzhi recalled the old announcement. As someone on the Martial Arts Path, he remembered every post from the Founder.
“But I just made my breakthrough. I haven’t told anyone. How did the Founder know?” Not daring to delay, Zhang Tianzhi accepted at once.
Instantly, a sliver of his spiritual will was drawn into a “personal world.”
After becoming an Eleven-Level Citizen, Lin Yuan’s permissions were maxed out. His personal space had expanded into an entire personal world.
“Greetings, Founder!” Zhang Tianzhi spotted a hazy figure standing at the center of this world and hastened forward to bow.
“You’re not bad,” Lin Yuan said with a faint nod.
Going from Martial Arts Rank Seven to Rank Eight was a massive transition, involving the development of one’s inner world. Strictly speaking, the Martial Arts path Lin Yuan designed allowed people to open their inner worlds even before Rank Seven, but that was an extremely difficult route.
“If there’s anything you want to ask about cultivation, go ahead,” Lin Yuan said.
Since he’d come in person, he might as well guide the young man. It would cost him nothing.
“Thank you, Founder!” Zhang Tianzhi was thrilled. The Founder’s personal guidance! If the news got out, how envious would others be?
“Well, in my thousands of years cultivating, I’ve tried many evolutionary paths and found they all emphasize different rules…” Zhang Tianzhi began. Before starting Martial Arts, he’d been a Rank Seven peak evolver who tried dozens of different paths, each with its own strengths. Was there no path in the world that truly encompassed everything?
“That’s perfectly normal,” Lin Yuan answered with a smile.
“An evolutionary path is created by humans, and people have what they’re good at and what they’re not. That applies even to the strongest pathways. Even the so-called top evolutionary paths have specific leanings.”
“I see,” Zhang Tianzhi realized.
Then, as though recalling something, he hesitantly asked, “So, Founder… what are you best at?”
“Me?”
Lin Yuan kept a calm expression, noting Zhang Tianzhi’s unwillingness to meet his gaze. Then he smiled faintly.
“I suppose I’m a bit good at everything.”
...
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