Confirming that Lin Yuan was the reincarnation of a Great Saint, Guming Venerable and the black-robed youth grew even more reverent.
It meant that Lin Yuan’s history stretched across unfathomably ancient eras.
His true identity might very well be one of those legendary Supreme Saints who once shook the chaotic void.
Inside the palace—
With his master's approval, Wan Qu promptly reported the valuation.
“Brother Milky Way, the total value of all these rare treasures comes out to forty million Chaos Stones.”
Wan Qu couldn't help but feel a bit stunned—this was a staggering sum, one that even Venerables would find painful to part with.
After all, the resource consumption of Chaos Venerables was immense—take Guming Venerable, for example, between his own needs, the expenses of his Chaos Dragon Beast companion, and the upkeep of countless formations across Guming Chaos Continent.
“Forty million Chaos Stones.” Lin Yuan nodded.
This exceeded his expectations. He hadn't even sold all the treasures from the inheritance space—just a portion.
He’d estimated their value to be between twenty to thirty million Chaos Stones. So the final price clearly showed Guming Venerable was offering above market value.
“Please thank the Venerable on my behalf.”
Lin Yuan said.
He still didn’t know why Guming Venerable was showing him such goodwill—whether it was the purchase of the Fragment World, or now—but it wasn’t a bad thing.
“I also want to purchase a batch of cultivation resources.”
Lin Yuan then listed what he needed.
“No problem.”
Wan Qu patted his chest with confidence.
Guming Chaos Continent had become a major trade hub in the surrounding voids, and the resources Lin Yuan sought weren’t rare—acquiring them wouldn’t be hard.
Time passed.
In a flash, ten years went by.
Fragment World
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, his physical body exuding a profound, dense aura that distorted the surrounding spacetime.
"Mysterious Emperor Body… I’ve finally cultivated it to peak Dominance."
A smile appeared on Lin Yuan’s face. As the Mysterious Emperor lineage’s guardian technique and a body-refining method, Mysterious Emperor Body tempered the flesh to near perfection in every aspect.
Even the Great Saint-level Nine Tribulations Tuolong Body had only refined minor aspects of his body—his main framework remained based on Mysterious Emperor Body.
“My physical body now should be close to the level of a Chaos Venerable.”
Lin Yuan thought. The perfected Dominance-level Mysterious Emperor Body already forged one of the strongest bodies at that stage.
Plus, his innate physical foundation was ridiculously strong, especially with the immense support of his internal universe, creating a positive feedback loop.
At this point, Lin Yuan’s physical body had reached a level where improvement was barely possible.
“Next up is the Chaos-level Mysterious Emperor Body…”
He shook his head.
That level required an extremely powerful life essence—at least upon reaching Chaos level.
“But to perfect the Chaos-level Mysterious Emperor Body… the resources required…”
Lin Yuan gave a slight sigh.
Given the current strength of his physical body, once the Chaos-level version was completed, he might be able to crush even Chaos Great Saints using just his body.
But the resources required would be astronomical—even the entire fortune of a Supreme Saint might not suffice.
“One step at a time.”
He reined in his thoughts.
“And you.”
With a thought, a palm-sized bell-shaped treasure appeared in front of him.
It was his carefully nurtured Primordial Bell.
After years of cultivation and massive resource investment, the Primordial Bell had now reached the Dominance level.
It was fully attuned to Lin Yuan’s spirit and consumed nearly no energy to activate, while its power rivaled that of Chaos-level treasures.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t used you even once all this time.”
He shook his head.
Given his cautious nature, he never acted without absolute confidence. He rarely put himself in danger, and usually relied on avatars when needed.
So there had been no need to use the Primordial Bell.
Still, even though it hadn’t proven itself in battle, treasures like this—while they might not be used—were essential to have.
That was why he had never stopped cultivating the Primordial Bell.
Many of his trump cards and ultimate moves had never been used, but he kept refining and adding to them.
“I’ll use the essence of my current internal universe to nourish it directly.”
He placed the Primordial Bell into his inner universe. Now that his universe was vast and powerful, anchored by the Chaos Tree, it could oversee and manage all within.
Home Universe
The Great Collapse had fully ended, and the once-expansive universe had condensed into a single point.
That point was infinitesimal, yet vast—spacetime around it fully compressed. Even a Supreme Saint couldn’t peer into it.
The destruction and rebirth of a universe were part of the chaotic void’s fundamental laws, completely beyond external interference.
Within that singularity—
Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm
The secret realm had shrunk to ten meters across.
Lin Yuan’s avatar sat in the center, observing everything outside the secret realm.
Beyond it was a void of chaos—no fluctuations of law or Dao.
The essence of a universe’s collapse was the extinction of all laws and Daos.
Yet to Lin Yuan, that lifeless void was full of wonder.
Though seemingly still, he could sense the slow gestation of infinite laws.
From nothing to something, to full formation—in Lin Yuan’s eyes, it was a display of perfect, miraculous beauty.
The birth of life was a miracle. So too was the evolution of a universe.
“Marvelous…”
Lin Yuan was mesmerized, fully immersed.
[Your Unrivaled Insight allows you to comprehend the essence of Dao laws by observing cosmic destruction and rebirth.]
Countless insights burst into his mind every moment.
The operation of chaotic void’s origin laws gave birth to universes, which would eventually collapse and be reborn—this, too, was a manifestation of those origin laws.
Yet such manifestations were nearly impossible to observe without being at Great Saint level or higher.
To set up something like the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm within a universe, one needed Chaos Great Saint-level power. Even among them, few could do it.
“This universe is still gestating. When it truly begins to be reborn, and the laws resume, life returns—that will be when I gain the most insight.”
Lin Yuan thought.
“Once I’ve witnessed the entire process of destruction to rebirth, my comprehension of the laws will surge. I might even reach the level of casually creating a universe.”
He mused.
A twelfth-rank lifeform’s inner world evolved into an internal universe—but that universe was slowly nurtured over time.
Being able to casually create a universe was a whole different level.
In the chaotic void, Venerable-level factions generally created their own chaos continents.
But top Great Saint factions—especially those with Supreme Saints—went a step further and created entire universes.
These artificial universes weren’t born from the chaotic void, so they lacked its eternal traits. However, in size and the ability to foster life, they far surpassed chaos continents.
Supreme Saints could customize the rules of their universes—creating unique cultivation environments or even new species.
“To casually create a universe… that’s the ultimate proof of law comprehension.”
Lin Yuan thought. Without mastering countless laws, how could one construct a perfect universe from scratch?
“Unfortunately, this current universe still needs time before it begins its rebirth. Much longer than usual. Maybe because I removed too many lifeforms during the collapse? The force of rebirth isn’t strong enough and needs time to absorb energy from the chaotic void?”
He muttered to himself.
Actually, he suspected there were other reasons too.
Perhaps it had to do with the immense amount of Boundary-Breaking Source Energy he’d absorbed during the collapse?
Though he didn’t yet understand its nature, it was undoubtedly a form of extremely high-level power.
Typically, that energy would merely leak out during collapse and eventually return—but this time, he’d absorbed it all.
“Shame… this kind of source energy can only be accessed by beings within the universe during collapse.”
Lin Yuan shook his head.
Over the years, he had sent avatars to explore nearby void domains and found other collapsing universes, but none yielded much source energy.
Fragment World
It had been some time since human civilization migrated here.
Inside a high-tech classroom, over a dozen students were attentively listening to the teacher.
Although current human technology could easily conduct lessons in virtual worlds, some schools still retained face-to-face instruction.
It felt more real than virtual learning.
The teacher was a middle-aged woman. She looked at her students—all born in the last ten years. Being born in this fragment world, bathed in Star Tear’s aura, meant their talent was exceptional. Most would become Evolvers.
“Sun Ming.”
She frowned slightly, glancing at a student seated toward the back—his eyes were dazed, clearly lost in thought.
“Here, teacher!”
The student named Sun Ming snapped out of it and quickly stood up.
“Tell me, what is the ‘Milky Way Calendar’?”
She smiled at him.
“Milky Way Calendar?”
Sun Ming perked up. If it had been any other question, he might’ve stumbled—but the Milky Way Calendar? He was a devoted fan of the Milky Way Strongest One!
“Fifty-six years ago, our universe faced destruction. Countless citizens of human civilization were doomed to perish with it.”
“But the Milky Way Strongest One stepped forward. Alone, he rescued all our people and brought us to this new home.”
“From that day, our old calendar—‘Star Sea Calendar’—ended. The ‘Milky Way Calendar’ Year One began.”
“The Milky Way Calendar was named in honor of the Milky Way Strongest One, to commemorate his unmatched achievements.”
He answered passionately.
The other students listened, their faces glowing with admiration.
In human civilization, the Milky Way Strongest One had practically become a myth.
“Well done.”
The teacher nodded with a gentle smile.
These new generations born in the new homeland might not fully grasp it—but she did.
She had lived through the final days of the Star Sea Calendar, when the government had announced the universe’s end and instituted a lottery to choose who could migrate.
The odds? About one in two hundred.
She had been selected—but her parents, friends, and classmates weren’t.
She had faced the horrifying prospect of surviving alone while everyone she loved died.
In the end, she gave up her spot to stay with them through the end.
Then—at the brink of despair—the Milky Way Strongest One declared he would take everyone to safety.
She would never forget that moment—hope in the depths of despair.
To humanity, the Milky Way Strongest One was far more than a hero. He was a savior.
“Let’s talk about martial cultivation.”
The teacher continued.
“Martial cultivation is the path the Milky Way Strongest One walked.”
Sun Ming lit up. He knew this one too.
“In Galactic Year 40, the Milky Way Strongest One used martial cultivation as the foundation to develop 673 Daos. These encompassed nearly all known paths, and all led to twelfth-rank breakthroughs. By Year 45, the old-era evolution paths had begun to be phased out…”
His voice was full of excitement.
He hadn’t started martial cultivation yet, but had already decided it would be his path.
“Hm…”
The teacher listened with a faraway look. These new-generation humans couldn’t understand how deeply things had changed.
The sight of countless old-era Evolvers lamenting the fall of their paths as martial cultivation replaced them…
In the depths of the Fragment World...
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, silently observing everything.
Now that all martial branches had spread through human civilization, replacing the old Star Sea-era evolution paths, it was exactly as he had foreseen.
This outcome was inevitable.
After all, the martial branches he developed far surpassed the old paths in potential, accessibility, and overall power.
Even the nine strongest humans had switched to martial cultivation—let alone ordinary citizens.
And since all the branches shared the same foundation, martial cultivators of different paths could still communicate and exchange insights.
“I can sense it. In distant void domains, martial cultivators are also emerging.”
Lin Yuan nodded slightly.
This must have been the work of the Myriad Dao Pavilion spreading the system.
The Eye of Ten Thousand Laws had kept its promise—no dragging feet—issuing immediate orders to spread martial cultivation through its branches.
“The spread is fast. The number of cultivators already exceeds that of human civilization.”
Lin Yuan thought. In the universe, humanity was numerous, but in the vast chaotic void, they were still insignificant.
Martial cultivation had only just begun to spread. Once it went deeper, the number of practitioners would explode.
Source World
Qingfen City
Lin Yuan sat in meditation, feeling every nuance of his Blazing Sun Divine Body.
In the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, this body type was like the favored child of heaven—offering immense advantages in cultivation, law comprehension, and combat strength.
“I still need to keep condensing Seeds.”
He hadn’t stopped, though it had become far harder now. Even for Lin Yuan, it took several days to form one.
And the pace was slowing—soon it would be ten days, then dozens.
“The current situation…”
He ended his cultivation and glanced outside.
Ever since Lin Yuan ruined Zimeng Domain’s plans, tensions had been rising.
Now, Zimeng had deployed troops to the border.
Armies in this ancient kingdom were arranged in battle formations—100,000 eleventh-ranks combining power, amplifying it, and unleashing a strike capable of heavily wounding a Path-Clearing powerhouse.
Whoosh—
Just then, Qingfen Marquis appeared.
“Zimeng Domain’s actions are being directed by ‘Lingwei Wang.’ War is basically inevitable.”
“Sooner or later—hundreds, maybe thousands of years.”
He spoke bluntly.
Tensions weren’t limited to Zimeng—dozens of nearby domains were similarly restless.
“Lingwei Wang?”
Lin Yuan nodded. He’d heard of this newly crowned king—a rare royal granted the title, since most were top-level Lords.
“Still, it’s just war. Our Liyang Ancient Kingdom does not fear it.”
The marquis looked at Lin Yuan.
“Just don’t leave Qingfen City. I’m worried Lingwei Wang may target you.”
Without Lin Yuan, conquering Qingfen would’ve been far easier.
Hence his concern.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
Lin Yuan assured him. After selling the Myriad Array Crystal, he wouldn’t lack resources for a long time.
With enough resources and inheritances, he had no reason to venture out.
“Good.”
The marquis nodded and vanished.
If war truly broke out, Qingfen would face the most pressure. The marquis had his hands full.
As he disappeared—
Lin Yuan reflected for a moment and resumed cultivation.
War or peace…
Either way, growing stronger was always the right path.
Time passed—
And a thousand years went by in a flash.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: patreon.com/David_Lord
58