The cosmic void was torn on a vast scale, revealing one scene after another of the chaotic void.
Before the eyes of the nine Strongest ones of human civilization, in just an instant, a fissure spanning over ten thousand light-years was ripped open. And that was only the beginning.
With every passing moment, this fissure spread wildly: Ten thousand light-years. Fifty thousand light-years. A hundred thousand light-years. Two hundred thousand light-years.
An overwhelming pressure poured into the universe—this was the aura of the chaotic void’s place of origin.
‘Milky Way Star Lord…’
Even though the nine Strongest ones of human civilization had long expected that the Milky Way Star Lord’s breakthrough to the ultimate realm would create a huge disturbance—after all, when Lin Yuan advanced to rank eleven previously, he tore a crack to the chaotic void over a hundred light-years wide, comparable to a normal rank-eleven-peak lifeform impacting the ultimate—they were still unsettled by what they now saw at the very start of his breakthrough.
The universe fissure immediately surpassed two hundred thousand light-years, and it was still expanding at an alarming rate.
After one full breath, the tear’s expansion finally slowed, fixing at about a million light-years in length.
‘A million light-years?’
Xuanyuan, one of the Strongest ones, took a deep breath. When they each broke through to the ultimate realm, the fissures they tore into the universe were merely on the order of a hundred light-years. But the Milky Way Star Lord’s was already a million?
A hundred light-years versus a million. Superficially, it’s only a difference of ten thousand times. Yet, under that discrepancy, the amount of origin energy from the chaotic void streaming in could be greater by factors of a million or even tens of millions. Such a massive inflow of the chaotic void’s origin would be enough to burst any newly risen twelfth rank being’s inner universe.
‘How terrifying…’
The Strongest one named Void God couldn’t believe it. How much of the chaotic void’s origin would such a million-light-year fissure inject? Enough to fill a new twelfth rank lifeform’s inner universe to bursting.
‘What kind of foundation does it take to tear such an enormous fissure in the universe?’
Gu Li, one of the Strongest ones, muttered to himself. The extent of the fissure during a strongest one breakthrough depends solely on the challenger’s inherent power. Until now, none of them had had a straightforward sense of Lin Yuan’s true potential.
They only knew he was incredibly strong—so strong that he had dragged down a twelfth rank being in the River of Time. But regarding his overall foundation…that was a different matter.
Foundation is related to life essence, but they are not exactly the same thing. Yet now, a million-light-year fissure laid bare the Milky Way Star Lord’s unprecedented depths. Even if every rank-eleven-peak lifeform that had ever attempted the ultimate breakthrough in this universe were combined, they would amount to less than one ten-thousandth of his power.
‘It seems the Milky Way Star Lord doesn’t really need us to stand guard…’
Yu Die, one of the Strongest ones, observed aloud. The moment that million-light-year fissure was torn, the chaotic void’s pressure spilled into the universe, enfolding the Milky Way Star Lord in protection. Given the magnitude of that chaotic void origin around him now, not even a peak twelfth rank Path-Clearing being could get close.
And the two Path-Clearing pinnacles of the Calamity Clan—already shunned by the will of the universe—would risk full-on suppression by the universe if they tried to approach.
The other eight Strongest ones nodded in agreement. Yu Die’s statement was not wrong. Right now, even they would be unable to get near Lin Yuan because the chaotic void origin would force them back.
That million-light-year chasm connected to the core place of origin in the chaotic void, which is guarded by the will of the chaotic void. Even if one opened only a hairline crack, no one except the challenger himself could draw near, nor would anyone dare try.
All across the universe, the twelfth rank strongest ones of other peak-level clans also watched this moment:
‘A fissure a million light-years wide? No wonder the Milky Way Star Lord was able to overpower Celestial Feather Chen. This is a terrifying foundation—beyond anything I’ve even heard of.’
A strongest one of the Starry Sky Alliance spoke in a somber tone. Originally, many twelfth rank beings had worried that the Milky Way Star Lord might undergo his breakthrough in secret. But from the looks of it, such concerns were pointless. The commotion was far too great; even those at rank ten or eleven could sense something happening.
‘I’ve never heard of anything like it either.’
‘I once received information from beyond this universe, and even that contained no mention of such a monster.’
Though the other twelfth rank beings could not comprehend it, after seeing Lin Yuan defeat a twelfth rank like Celestial Feather Chen, their capacity to accept the bizarre had broadened considerably.
Even if they did not fully understand, they now accepted it faster.
‘With such a monstrous foundation, is it really possible for the Milky Way Star Lord to fail his breakthrough to the ultimate realm?’
One of them voiced a growing doubt. Waiting for the Milky Way Star Lord to fail had become their only real option. Were he to die in the process, it would solve all problems at once, and the entire cosmic stage would revert to its previous balance. Yet looking at the fissure he had just torn, they wondered if a being so powerful would truly perish. Could the backlash from the River of Time and the universe possibly handle him?
‘We have no other choice now but to hope he fails.’
The Prison Clan strongest one shook his head. Before the Milky Way Star Lord even started to break through, they had found him untouchable. Now, with the chaotic void origin supporting him, there was all the less they could do.
After all, to the chaotic void, any successful evolution is beneficial, hence the origin is bestowed. Meanwhile, to the universe, this same ascension breaks free of the River of Time forever, seizing resources from the universe—thus the backlash.
‘What’s going on? Why do I feel this heaviness in my chest?’
‘Yes, as though some calamity is imminent.’
‘Did something change?’
Countless creatures across the cosmic starfields felt a profound sense of pressure, as though the world were about to collapse. Most rank ten or below lifeforms could not detect Lin Yuan’s breakthrough, but the million-light-year crack and the torrent of chaotic void origin pressing into the universe still affected them indirectly.
Even so, certain rank ten and eleven beings, acutely sensitive to space, became vaguely aware that someone was breaching the ultimate realm—and only one person could create such an impact: the Milky Way Star Lord.
‘So the Milky Way Star Lord is attempting the ultimate realm? I guess even he needs to go through that process…’
‘I wonder if he’ll succeed…’
‘If someone who could overpower a twelfth rank is only just now breaking through, then if he succeeds…’
Many rank ten and eleven experts felt a tingle along their scalps. Yet most were quietly hopeful. Many strong individuals, whether of powerful or lesser clans, already had to live under the thumb of peak-level powers. Following a Milky Way Star Lord-led human civilization was no worse—and might be better—than serving other peak-level clans, as there might be fewer wars forced upon them.
Within the Calamity Clan’s domain, in a mysterious, unfathomable place, a strongest one of the Calamity Clan sat before an ordinary wooden house and observed the scene of the Milky Way Star Lord’s breakthrough from afar.
‘As expected of the reincarnation of a peerless Great Saint, causing such uproar just to reach twelfth rank,’ the Calamity Cla strongest one outside the house sighed.
‘After a Great Saint is reborn, their memories are sealed away. Typically, once they break through to the ultimate realm, most memories are restored. A reborn Great Saint who recovers enough memories will return to their peak state in no time at all. A peerless Great Saint’s reincarnation… It’s almost impossible for any one universe in the boundless chaotic void to encounter it. And yet it’s happened to us?’
Within the house, the other Calamity Cla strongest one felt the same astonishment.
‘Hahaha, good thing our Calamity Clan never made a move against him, or once that Great Saint regained his former power, hiding in the universe would have done us no good anyway.’
A standard Chaos-level lifeform is already as vast as a universe, but a peerless Great Saint can even cause repeated “resets” for entire universes, if not outright destroying them. Too many resets, and the Calamity Clan would have nowhere to escape. Moreover, between the cosmic destruction and the next genesis, a peerless Great Saint can still act upon the universe—if they are willing to pay the price.
Deep within the universe’s hidden layers of space, in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, the six-armed figure also sensed the universe’s shift.
‘So the master has begun his breakthrough to the ultimate realm?’
As the guardian spirit of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, this six-armed being could tap into the realm’s power to perceive many external events.
‘Having reached the seventh layer of space-time comprehension and nurtured the rules of Chaos, I suspect the master’s reserves go beyond that.’
He gazed at the million-light-year fissure with silent wonder. Mastering seven-layer space-time or the rules of Chaos alone cannot justify ripping open such an immense rift in the universe.
‘Your Majesty, have you been reborn?’
He murmured softly to himself. As a Chaos Great Saint—moreover, a peerless Great Saint—the Mysterious Emperor could indeed have been reincarnated. Any normal being at the Chaos realm can in theory be reborn, but returning to twelfth rank after erasing all personal bloodlines and talents is almost impossible—meaning rebirth for most ordinary Chaos beings is virtually the same as death.
However, a Chaos Great Saint or peerless Great Saint can retain some fragment of memory upon reincarnation, drastically increasing the chance of returning to twelfth rank.
Beneath that million-light-year fissure, Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, looking up.
‘A million light-years…’ Lin Yuan felt some surprise. The tear alone was nearly the size of a Path-Clearing pinnacle’s inner universe.
‘It’s coming.’
He barely had time to think further before the terrifying origin energy of the chaotic void came pouring in through the million-light-year fissure like a mighty flood.
‘I’ll devour it—I’ll devour everything!’
He let his inner world, as well as his physical body, soul, and both Primordial Soul, absorb as much as possible. Chaotic void origin was the purest form of energy in the chaotic void, far beyond Chaos Stones. For any lifeform, it carried infinite benefits.
Swish, swish…
As he devoured that origin energy, Lin Yuan’s inner world expanded madly:
Twenty light-years. Fifty. A hundred. A thousand.
After two hundred or so breaths, Lin Yuan’s inner world had reached ten thousand light-years.
‘Ten thousand light-years?’ Lin Yuan could hardly believe it—already reaching the minimum threshold for an “inner universe.”
A typical rank eleven lifeform who succeeds in a breakthrough to twelfth rank gradually expands their inner world to tens of thousands or a hundred thousand light-years over a period of a few thousand years as they fully stabilize their realm. Yet Lin Yuan had reached ten thousand light-years before the infusion of chaotic void origin was even finished.
‘My inner world…no, at this point, it’s probably an inner universe now…’
He sensed its vastness, rolling onward like a massive tide. And still, the infusion continued:
Two hundred fifty breaths. Three hundred breaths. Three hundred thirty breaths…
Finally, at the three-hundred-thirty-third breath, the flow of chaotic void origin ceased. By then, Lin Yuan’s inner universe had exceeded one hundred thousand light-years, reaching one hundred eighty thousand.
Know that in a normal rank eleven being’s breakthrough, one first absorbs the chaotic void origin until the inner world is barely ten light-years in scale; then one enters the “ultimate leap,” during which that chaotic void origin is fully assimilated over time, bringing the inner world to about ten thousand light-years, officially becoming an inner universe. Finally, bolstered by that inner universe, the being completes the ultimate leap into twelfth rank.
In simple terms, a rank eleven lifeform has two major challenges in breaking through to the ultimate realm:
Failing either challenge dooms the attempt. But Lin Yuan’s inner world was already at a hundred eighty thousand light-years—even before the ultimate leap. He had far surpassed the one-thousand-light-year threshold.
Which meant that, for him, only one major hurdle remained.
‘And it’s still growing…’
Lin Yuan observed his nearly two-hundred-thousand-light-year inner universe. Even though the influx of chaotic void origin had halted, his inner universe’s expansion was picking up pace and had already passed five hundred thousand light-years.
‘My current strength…’
Lin Yuan felt a surge of excitement. He was only halfway through the breakthrough process, yet it seemed his power now rivaled or even surpassed the peak of Path-Clearing.
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