Lin Yuan gently closed his eyes, and the last rune slowly dissipated.
At this moment, the world inside the jade gourd was empty.
No rune remained floating.
“3,333 methods for constructing an internal universe.”
In Lin Yuan’s mind, fragments of what was contained in the many runes emerged. Now he had fully comprehended all of them.
“No wonder one has to comprehend the 3,333 runes in order to pass the trial.”
Lin Yuan pondered inwardly.
Those 3,333 runes represented 3,333 ways to construct a universe.
In fact, after comprehending them, Lin Yuan faintly realized that these methods of constructing a universe complemented and fit each other.
The universe that could ultimately be built would reach some inconceivable height.
“Foundation. This is the real foundation.”
Lin Yuan’s gaze was astonished. The internal universe of someone in the Path-Clearing rank was nearly on par with that of a Chaos Venerable’s internal universe. Who could compare to such a foundation?
“Incredible.”
Lin Yuan’s thoughts spread out. He possessed Unrivaled Insight, and only after expending most of his mental energy could he barely grasp the profundities within those runes.
But to be like the being who created this jade gourd, who opened up all these universe construction methods out of nothing—at least, for now, Lin Yuan had no confidence in doing so. He saw not the slightest hope, nor could it be done given unlimited time.
Of course, the main reason was that Lin Yuan’s life level had not reached that height. His rank restricted his Unrivaled Insight.
“So this is a thirteenth-rank time lifeform?”
Lin Yuan thought to himself. Although the vast amount of information transmitted inside the jade gourd and what the red-clothed young girl revealed had never mentioned the realm or strength of the jade gourd’s creator, Lin Yuan was very sure that the creator of the jade gourd was definitely not someone ordinary Chaos or even peerless Great Saints could rival.
A thirteenth-rank time lifeform could already see through many timelines, knowing parts of the past, present, and future. Their vision was different from other lifeforms.
Whoosh!
Just as Lin Yuan was still immersed in comprehending the many runes, the red-clothed young girl suddenly appeared in front of him.
“You’ve studied these runes before?”
The red-clothed young girl could not help asking.
The runes inside the jade gourd were left by its creator. Theoretically, there would be no leak of them. At most, one or two runes might be similar to those of a naturally born universe in the Chaos Void.
But if only one or two were similar, that might speed up comprehension. Could it be they were all similar?
Hence, the red-clothed young girl asked this question.
Compared to a leak of the rune’s imprint, the possibility that Lin Yuan spent only one year to comprehend what the jade gourd’s founder required a cosmic epoch to achieve seemed more unlikely to her.
So the red-clothed young girl felt that a leak of the runes was more plausible?
“Studied them before?” Lin Yuan froze slightly, then immediately shook his head and said, “No. This is my first time seeing these runes. They are too amazing.”
Lin Yuan’s tone carried admiration. Only after comprehending these runes did he understand how difficult it was to create them, and the level required for grasping the essence of the universe.
“You’re amazing as well.” The red-clothed young girl fell silent for a moment and then spoke.
The jade gourd’s creator was remarkable because he was a time lifeform, able to see through past and future, knowing countless universes from birth to destruction. Thus he could develop so many methods of universe construction.
But Lin Yuan?
The red-clothed young girl did not know Lin Yuan’s precise level, but she was certain he was not thirteenth-rank, nor was he even in the Chaos realm.
Such a little fellow, taking only a single year to comprehend all of these runes, made the red-clothed young girl’s sense of reality crumble.
“What should I do now?”
Lin Yuan asked.
He had comprehended all the runes.
What next?
“Since you’ve already comprehended every rune, you can naturally refine the jade gourd.”
The red-clothed young girl said.
Even though Lin Yuan’s speed of comprehension was unimaginably fast, once he had done it, he met the standard for refining the jade gourd.
And once the jade gourd was refined, he would receive the complete foundational legacy contained within it.
If one cultivated this legacy to the extreme, the foundation would become unimaginably solid. By absorbing seven colors of liquid, one’s internal world could expand by twenty-three times its original size.
Then, after cultivating this foundational legacy, one’s internal universe would be more than twenty-three times larger than that of lifeforms of the same level.
“Refine the jade gourd?”
Lin Yuan attempted to extend the power of his internal universe into the jade gourd.
Yet he found he could not touch the gourd’s source at all.
“Relying just on your current internal universe power, there’s no way to refine the jade gourd,” the red-clothed young girl noticed Lin Yuan’s attempt and immediately said, “You have to take those 3,333 runes, the universe construction methods they contain, and fully merge them into your own internal universe before you can refine it.”
Once all the universe constructions in those runes were integrated, the internal universe would undergo a fundamental transformation, and only then would you have the basis to refine the jade gourd.
“Don’t worry, there’s no time limit. Take your time.”
The red-clothed young girl explained.
According to the standards left by the jade gourd’s creator, comprehending the runes had to be done within one cosmic epoch, but merging all those runes into one’s internal universe carried no such limitation.
A single cosmic epoch, ten cosmic epochs, all would be fine.
“Although you have yet to refine the jade gourd, you can barely operate part of its authority. You can send me into your internal universe, and I’ll guide you on how to integrate these universe constructions faster and better.”
The red-clothed young girl said immediately.
The construction of a universe was enormous and complicated. Even small adjustments could trigger a domino effect, causing the entire universe to collapse.
However, after comprehending all these runes, Lin Yuan had effectively found a fixed “template.” As long as he followed the structure outlined by those runes, nothing unexpected would happen.
Certainly, guidance would make it quicker.
“No problem.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He felt no reason to guard himself against the red-clothed young girl.
If the jade gourd’s creator truly intended to kill him, there was no need for so much trouble. A single thought would be enough to suppress Lin Yuan.
Even a universe nurtured by the Chaos Void could not withstand it.
Right now, not even a thirteenth-rank time lifeform could completely destroy Lin Yuan.
Because he had a split self in the source world. After reaching the twelfth rank, the Gate of Myriad Realms revealed more of its functions. When Lin Yuan descended into the source world, it used up a small portion of his true soul consciousness, creating a major split self.
Even if the true body in the Chaos Void perished, it would not affect the split self in the source world.
With the methods of a thirteenth-rank time lifeform, it would be easy to kill all forms of Lin Yuan—true body, primordial spirit, and avatars—in the Chaos Void.
But the source world?
The source world and the Chaos Void are located in different dimensions. Even a thirteenth-rank time lifeform would struggle to cross over. Such a lifeform is still only at an exploratory stage regarding other dimensions.
Lin Yuan could easily descend to the source world by relying on the Gate of Myriad Realms’ great power.
Without the Gate of Myriad Realms, intruding on other dimensions would encounter unimaginable resistance, and a thirteenth-rank time lifeform could do nothing about it.
Swish.
Lin Yuan barely managed to control the jade gourd, sending the red-clothed young girl into his internal universe.
The moment she left the jade gourd, she felt the breath of the outside world. A look of comfort appeared on her face. She could not remember how long it had been since she last experienced the waves emanating from the genuine Chaos Void.
In her eyes, these waves were a matchless enjoyment.
“Hmm?”
“Your life level is only Path-Clearing?”
Right away, the red-clothed young girl sensed Lin Yuan’s life aura. As the spirit of the jade gourd, her perception exceeded that of some Chaos Great Saints.
“Path-Clearing?”
The red-clothed young girl once again fell into silence.
A Path-Clearing lifeform had comprehended all those runes, and it only took him a year?
Buzz!
In the next instant, the red-clothed young girl entered Lin Yuan’s internal universe.
“Close to eight million light years?” The red-clothed young girl was slightly surprised, but when she recalled how fast Lin Yuan had comprehended all those runes, she quickly calmed down.
For a Path-Clearing realm to have an internal universe of nearly eight million light years was extremely rare. Even with the seven kinds of divine liquid condensed by the jade gourd, one still needed a sufficiently vast foundation for support.
However, the Chaos Void was boundless, and many wondrous lifeforms carried time-related bloodlines. Some had an innately immense internal universe. Having nearly eight million light years in the Path-Clearing stage was not impossible.
Compared to the size of his internal universe, the red-clothed young girl was most shocked by Lin Yuan’s insight. A single year to comprehend all the runes was beyond what even lifeforms with dense time-related bloodlines could do.
“Let me take a look.”
The red-clothed young girl glanced around, closed her eyes for a moment, then pointed to one spot and said, “Start from over there.”
“Got it.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
He began controlling that part of his domain, reconstructing it according to the first rune’s universe construction as a template, piecing it together.
“Hmm?”
A faint tremor rippled through his entire internal universe. Lin Yuan frowned a little and paused.
“How do you feel?”
“Does it seem like your internal universe is about to collapse?”
The red-clothed young girl asked with a grin.
“Yes.” Lin Yuan nodded.
“That’s normal.”
“Any change to the universe’s construction affects the entire universe.”
The red-clothed young girl smiled.
“Anyone else changing the universe’s construction risks the total collapse of their internal universe, but you don’t need to worry about that.”
She explained.
For Lin Yuan, modifying the universe’s construction after comprehending all the runes was like taking an open-book exam.
Lin Yuan silently listened.
“I’ll continue.”
Lin Yuan immersed himself again in adjusting his universe’s construction.
[Your Unrivaled Insight helps you as you attempt to alter the fundamental structure of the universe, increasing your understanding of the universe’s essence, speeding up its fundamental restructuring.]
Initially, Lin Yuan progressed slowly in altering his universe, since he had to be very careful. Even if he held the standard answers, caution was still necessary.
But as the changes went deeper, Lin Yuan quickly became “proficient,” and his rate of altering the universe’s fundamental structure soared.
“This little monster…”
The red-clothed young girl watched from the side.
At first, she could still offer suggestions, pointing Lin Yuan toward which position or direction he should modify. But gradually, she found there was almost nothing she could guide him on.
In fact, Lin Yuan’s techniques for adjusting the fundamental structure of his internal universe were more exquisite than those she knew.
Every universe is unique, so while the red-clothed young girl understood only the bigger framework for universal changes, she did not know Lin Yuan’s universe like he did.
Source World, Qingfen Domain, Yu Family.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, aura hidden.
“Turning to practice martial arts is going quite smoothly.”
Lin Yuan nodded slightly. His original body here, Yu Yan, was comparable to the eighth or ninth rank in the Chaos Void, containing abundant primordial energy.
Lin Yuan’s switch to martial arts would not waste this primordial energy, using it all to advance his martial cultivation.
“The Liyang Ancient Kingdom.”
Lin Yuan looked up again at the eternal scorching sun across the sky, and a certain secret method flashed in his mind.
The “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method.”
Through a specific method, one could condense a seed of the scorching sun inside oneself.
That scorching sun seed had many uses. It strengthened the body, guarded the soul and mind, and more.
Every being in the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, from the moment of birth, was granted this “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method” to build their foundation.
“This method is said to come from the one called the Liyang Ancestor, who made it available to every being in the kingdom. That was his wish.”
Lin Yuan thought quietly.
The “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method” goes from simple to advanced. Forming the first scorching sun seed is easy, but forming ten seeds is extremely hard, while forming a hundred scorching sun seeds is something that only a twelfth-rank Ji Dao realm expert could do.
In this source world, they call the Path-Clearing rank the Ji Dao realm; the idea is the same. One has opened one’s own path.
“I can try cultivating it for a bit and see if it can merge with martial arts.”
Lin Yuan pondered.
As for his true body in the Chaos Void? For the moment, he would wait and see the results of his cultivation here.
Since the “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method” was from the Liyang Ancestor, Lin Yuan did not know if there were hidden risks. Having this body practice it posed the worst-case scenario of giving up this descent.
That was totally within Lin Yuan’s tolerance.
It would not affect his true body in the Chaos Void at all.
“The original body spent centuries condensing only nine scorching sun seeds.”
Lin Yuan recalled that the Dongyang Family’s Dongyang Meng had also condensed nine scorching sun seeds, so people once believed either of them might become candidates to serve under Qingfen Marquis.
“Sadly, because of the Dongyang Family’s attack, three of those nine scorching sun seeds collapsed. Afterward, I switched to martial arts, and the remaining six also fell apart.”
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
The “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method” is not a legacy, nor a path, but more like a supplemental practice technique. By forming scorching sun seeds within oneself, one improved certain underlying traits and aptitudes.
The greater the number of scorching sun seeds formed, the greater the corresponding benefit.
As for the exact benefit, the original body did not know. He only felt that each time he formed another scorching sun seed, his cultivation speed increased slightly.
“Let’s begin.”
Lin Yuan collected his thoughts. His martial cultivation was rapidly recovering and did not require much attention, so he could devote effort to testing the “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method.”
Swish.
Between heaven and earth,
Threads of scorching energy poured into Lin Yuan’s body, slowly coalescing.
[Your Unrivaled Insight lets you cultivate the “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method,” and you form the first scorching sun seed.]
[Your Unrivaled Insight lets you cultivate the “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method,” and you form the third scorching sun seed.]
[Your Unrivaled Insight lets you cultivate the “Liyang Nurturing Spirit Method,” and you form the fifth scorching sun seed.]
...
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