In the Guming Chaos Continent, within one of the nine major cities called Mingchuan City, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged in a so-called 'inn room.' Yet this so-called 'inn room' might more accurately be described as its own world, boundless and without end in sight.
In the Guming Chaos Continent, an 'inn' signifies safety and a guarantee against disturbance, so the rental fees are quite high. Lin Yuan paid ten pieces of Chaos Stones to obtain a ten-year lease on this 'room.' Ten years is exceedingly short within the context of the chaotic void. Many ancient rank twelve lifeforms nap longer than ten years.
However, given the difference in time flow between the chaotic void and the universe, ten years here in the chaotic void equates to three thousand years in the universe. By the time the lease runs out, if all goes smoothly, Lin Yuan expects he will already have stepped into rank twelve, and by then he can send forth avatars at will—whether to switch inns or explore other regions will be entirely up to Lin Yuan.
'Chaos Void...'
Lin Yuan carefully sensed the vast rules and Great Dao that govern the chaotic void. Compared to the rules and Great Dao of the universe, those of the chaotic void are far more elevated. The main reason Lin Yuan settled this avatar on the Guming Chaos Continent was to study the operation of the chaotic void’s rules and Great Dao in depth.
‘It’s marvelous.’
Lin Yuan could not help becoming immersed in it. Even as a single avatar, so long as it contained Lin Yuan’s mental will, it possessed Unrivaled Insight. As he continued to comprehend, flashes of inspiration surged through his mind, colliding in rapid succession.
[Your Unrivaled Insight allows you to sense the vast rules, enhancing your comprehension of those rules.]
Lin Yuan’s perspective kept rising, vaguely reaching another plane, where mighty torrents of water flowed.
‘That’s...the River of Time in the chaotic void?’
Lin Yuan instantly realized this. Just as the universe has its own River of Time, in which all life below rank twelve resides, so too does the chaotic void possess its own River of Time. Though many rank twelve lifeforms dwell in the chaotic void, there are far more lifeforms below rank twelve.
‘How magnificent.’
Lin Yuan could not help marveling. Compared to the River of Time within the universe, the one in the chaotic void was immeasurably vaster. If the chaotic void’s River of Time is the main channel, then each universe’s River of Time is one of countless tributaries branching off from that channel.
The entire River of Time within the chaotic void resembles the veins of a leaf. The main channel surges like the leaf’s central vein, while the innumerable tiny offshoots flow into each individual universe.
‘Space-time...’
Lin Yuan continuously observed the main channel of the River of Time. Even the smallest splash of water there contained countless imprints of rank eleven life essence.
‘I wonder what it would be like for me to be in the main channel of that river...’
Lin Yuan’s thoughts wandered. With his current level of life essence, the universe’s tributary River of Time could barely hold him. He must constantly keep himself curled up to avoid emerging above the River of Time. But the main channel? That is the source of time in the entire chaotic void, capable of accommodating wonders far exceeding the level of an eleven-level perfect lifeform.
The chaotic void is vast and endless. Although it has yet to produce an eleven-level being who has comprehended the rules of Chaos—such a monstrous prodigy—it does contain rank eleven beings whose upper limit far exceeds that of the universe.
Whether the direct disciples of Chaos Sovereigns, the true descendants of Chaos Great Saints, or those wondrous lifeforms born directly from the chaotic void with life levels on par with a universe, there are countless legends and marvels here.
At the center of the Guming Continent, a sharp black mountain quivered faintly. This black mountain was actually the horn of a Chaos Dragon Beast whose power was nearly on par with the Chaos realm. Long ago, it had submitted to Guming Sovereign, and its true form had been sleeping deep beneath the Chaos Continent.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Why do I vaguely sense a crisis?’
The Chaos Dragon Beast opened its azure eyes in doubt. Being a lifeform born directly from the chaotic void, the Chaos Dragon Beast was half a wondrous lifeform, its body flowing with a faint trace of time-based bloodline. All rank twelve lifeforms, whether in the Path-Clearing realm, Dominance realm, or Chaos realm, regard transforming into a perfect time-based lifeform as their ultimate goal.
Of course, the perfect time-based lifeform is far too distant. For those peak-complete Chaos Great Saints, the first step is to become a time-based lifeform, namely stepping into rank thirteen.
While a rank thirteen time-based lifeform cannot manipulate past, present, and future as effortlessly as a perfect time-based lifeform, nor easily peer into or exit different timelines, it still exhibits certain traits of that perfection, able to use itself as an anchor point to observe the future.
The Chaos Dragon Beast merely possessed a combat power close to the Chaos realm, but its actual realm was still the pinnacle of Dominance. It was its trace of time-based bloodline that granted it an innate ‘foresight.’ That foresight was nothing compared to how a rank thirteen time-based lifeform might study timelines related to itself; it could only sense an impending danger without knowing what, when, or from where.
Even so, this ability was terrifying enough, having helped Guming Sovereign evade many perils.
‘No, I have to tell Guming as soon as possible.’ The Chaos Dragon Beast thought for a moment, then shrank its body down to about ten meters. With a whoosh, it headed deeper into the Chaos Continent.
Beneath the deepest layers of the ground sat a towering, muscular figure wreathed in streams of chaotic energy, inhaling and exhaling these streams with every breath. Though only about twenty meters tall, he seemed to contain an entire universe within. This was Guming Sovereign.
‘Guming, Guming,’ called the Chaos Dragon Beast upon arriving, over and over.
‘Hmm?’
After a short while, Guming Sovereign opened his eyes to look questioningly at his companion. Though others assumed the Chaos Dragon Beast served Guming Sovereign, in truth they were on equal footing, not in a master-servant relationship.
‘I sense a danger—an enormous one.’
The Chaos Dragon Beast quickly recounted its ‘foresight’ of a looming crisis.
‘A crisis?’
Guming Sovereign’s heart tightened slightly. Typically, any danger the Chaos Dragon Beast perceives will occur within a hundred thousand years. But over the next hundred thousand years, Guming Sovereign had no intention of leaving the Chaos Continent, nor of letting the Chaos Dragon Beast leave. Meaning they would both remain here. Even so, they could still face a crisis?
The Chaos Continent is Guming Sovereign’s creation, basically his domain and fortress. Even several sovereigns of the same rank would have no way to deal with him here, let alone the fact that Guming Sovereign was extremely powerful in his own right and had a Chaos Dragon Beast nearly at Chaos level aiding him. How could there still be danger?
Guming Sovereign’s thoughts raced. He trusted his companion, not suspecting any flaw in its ‘foresight.’ In the immense chaotic void, there were few threats to a Chaos Sovereign. Hiding in one’s personal stronghold reduced those threats even more.
‘No need to panic. At least there’s a little buffer time, right?’
Guming Sovereign lapsed into thought. Typically, the crises perceived by the Chaos Dragon Beast would unfold sometime between ten thousand and one hundred thousand years. If it were happening in a mere ten or a hundred or a thousand years, there’d be hardly any time to prepare, leaving them no choice but to endure.
‘What level is this threat?’ Guming Sovereign asked again. This was the crux. If it were an existential threat, he would instantly flee with his entire estate. As for this Chaos Continent and all who inhabit it, in the face of personal survival, Guming Sovereign would give up on them.
‘It’s not a matter of life or death, but I might get seriously hurt,’ the Chaos Dragon Beast hesitated briefly before speaking softly.
‘Not a matter of life or death?’
Guming Sovereign steadied himself. As long as it wasn’t fatal, he preferred not to abandon everything and run. He’d poured his heart and soul into creating this Chaos Continent. Countless beings in the surrounding region of the chaotic void conduct their trades here daily, generating abundant profits that Guming Sovereign was reluctant to lose.
‘I’ll reach out to my friends right now to see if anything major is brewing around here in the chaotic void.’
He immediately began sending messages to his friends. Those who could be called Guming Sovereign’s friends were all at the Chaos Sovereign level as well, extremely well-informed. A looming crisis seldom arises from nowhere; it usually shows some sign. By gathering enough intelligence, Guming Sovereign could deduce the source of danger and figure out how best to deal with it.
Meanwhile, in the virtual world, Lin Yuan’s figure appeared.
‘Little Yuan...’ His parents had been waiting for some time, and his younger sister, Lin Yi, was sitting quietly. The moment they saw Lin Yuan, she stood up.
‘Is the news true?’ asked his mother, Lin Qiong, in a low voice.
Rumors about the Milky Way Star Lord overpowering the Tianyu Clan Patriarch had been going wild throughout human civilization. At first, Lin Qiong and Lin Shoucheng thought it was nonsense. Their son was indeed remarkable, but truly suppressing someone on par with a Strongest one like the Tianyu Patriarch? Surely that was a stretch.
Yet the more they heard, the more real it seemed—there was no official denial, and Lin Yi had also obtained more concrete intel from the Xia Family, leading Lin Qiong and Lin Shoucheng to believe it might be true.
‘Brother, did you really overpower the Tianyu Patriarch?’ Lin Yi asked, unable to remain silent. Because of these events, the Xia Family’s patriarch had just stepped down, and her husband was now the new patriarch.
‘It can’t exactly be called overpowering,’ Lin Yuan said, shaking his head. Absent the involvement of the River of Time, Lin Yuan could not have truly harmed the Tianyu Patriarch.
Even with all his trump cards—his divine powers “World,” “Tear the Sky,” and more—he would only have given the Tianyu Patriarch headaches. Thanks to Lin Yuan’s synergy with time-space fusion comprehension, the patriarch simply could not lock onto his position, leaving him open to repeated hits.
In Lin Yuan’s mind, ‘overpowering’ meant crushing the opponent across the board, even without relying on time-space fusion comprehension, easily beating down the Tianyu Patriarch. Only that would truly count as overpowering.
‘It can’t exactly be called overpowering...’ Lin Yi’s eyelid twitched. So he really did fight that level of Strongest one from the Tianyu Clan?
Beneath the deep starry sky, dozens of colossal figures had gathered. If, a century before, the plan to kill the Milky Way Star Lord had merely drawn one rank twelve being from each peak-level clan, now, in the starry universe, aside from the nine Strongest ones of human civilization, nearly all the rank twelve strongest ones had converged.
A hundred years ago, many among the rank twelve strongest ones saw the Milky Way Star Lord as just a tricky junior, but now he had evidently become their equal. And unlike most rank twelve strongest ones, the Milky Way Star Lord possessed huge untapped potential. He only needed to break through to the ultimate realm for a huge surge in power.
‘What do we do now?’
‘How do we restrain the Milky Way Star Lord?’
One rank twelve strongest one spoke up. None of them had any intention of killing him, because they could not.
‘Metamorphic Empress has gone to contact the two ultimates of the Calamity Clan.’
‘If they can be persuaded, we might still have a chance to stand against the Milky Way Star Lord.’
So spoke the strongest one of the Prison Clan. The Calamity Clan’s two strongest ones were both at the pinnacle of the Path-Clearing realm. If they were willing to move against human civilization and the Milky Way Star Lord, perhaps things would not be quite so grim.
Even if, shortly after stepping into rank twelve, the Milky Way Star Lord’s strength rose to the Path-Clearing pinnacle, the presence of those two Path-Clearing pinnacle beings—even if they had trouble acting directly—would at least give him pause. With the support of several dozen other rank twelve strongest ones, theoretically, human civilization would still face resistance, unable to dominate everything outright.
Of course, regardless, human civilization was poised to become the greatest power in the universe, surpassing even the former heights of the Universe Clan and the Calamity Clan. The days when these peak-level clans could fight toe-to-toe with humanity were gone. Their only hope now was to band together to hold off the expansion of human civilization.
While many rank twelve strongest ones waited, Metamorphic Empress materialized, evidently returning from the Calamity Clan.
‘Metamorphic Empress, so what did the two strongest ones of the Calamity Clan say?’
‘Yes, if they have any requests, just name them. We’ll do our best to accommodate.’
Several rank twelve strongest ones asked at once.
‘Metamorphic Empress, how did the talks go?’ the Prison Clan ultimate also inquired.
Looking at the eager gazes of the many rank twelve strongest ones, Metamorphic Empress momentarily fell silent.
...
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