In a crimson world blazing with boundless blazing sun energy, a fragment of Lin Yuan's consciousness—an avatar formed from a strand of mind—cautiously observed his surroundings.
At the highest point of this crimson world stood a solitary figure.
That figure had infinite forms.
Every time Lin Yuan looked, he experienced something different—gained some new insight.
He had entered this crimson world once before—when he had condensed his thirty-thousandth Seed.
That figure at the peak was, in all likelihood, the progenitor of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom—a thirteenth-rank time lifeform.
Originally, Lin Yuan thought his entry into this world was a fluke, a rare chance.
But upon condensing his 33,000th Seed, he realized—he had formed a subtle connection with this crimson world.
Through this connection, he could return again.
Having discovered this, Lin Yuan made a habit of coming back periodically.
He had to. Though this world appeared to be one of pure fire—
In truth, the “fire” here contained countless laws and Daos. Every law Lin Yuan had ever comprehended could be found here.
And that figure at the highest point—presumably the Liyang Ancestor—had left Lin Yuan utterly awestruck.
In the chaotic void, even Supreme Saints were desperately chasing the footsteps of thirteenth-rank beings, hoping to increase their infinitesimal chance of breaking through.
Yet here, in this source world, he could stand so close to a thirteenth-rank time lifeform?
If those Supreme Saints from the chaotic void saw this, they’d go mad with envy. Mysterious Sovereign, Devil Jade Tower Master—such Supreme Saints would dream of an opportunity like this.
“I can enter this world because I’ve condensed enough Seeds.”
Lin Yuan understood well. It wasn’t random. It was thanks to the faint trace of the progenitor’s bloodline in his body—and the Seeds.
“Unfortunately, I’m still one short of 33,333 Seeds…”
He looked slightly helpless.
Thirty-five years ago, he had condensed the 33,332nd seed. Since then, he’d been striving to form the last one.
But the closer he got, the more he felt that 33,333 marked a whole new domain.
At that point, all the Seeds in his body would form a complete grand cycle.
Once this cycle formed, it would bring a tremendous transformation.
“One step at a time.”
“It’s only been a thousand years.”
He calmed his mind. This final Seed was far more intricate than any before it. Even for him, it required deep insight and understanding to have a chance.
Though difficult, with Lin Yuan’s Unrivaled Insight, it was just a matter of time.
If not in a thousand years, then two thousand. Or five thousand.
“I can’t keep watching…”
After staying in the crimson world for a while, Lin Yuan felt himself reaching the limit.
This world was filled with the unceasing fire of the blazing sun. His consciousness could remain only by relying on the Seeds' protection—which had a time limit.
Whoosh.
A moment later—
Lin Yuan's condensed avatar dispersed.
Inside the Burning Heaven Courtyard
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
“A thousand years of secluded cultivation… felt like a blink.”
The higher one’s life level, the more vague the concept of time became. For Great Sovereigns and Heavenly Sovereigns, seclusion for ten million, even a billion years, was nothing.
A thousand years? Not even a nap.
“But I’ve made major progress in these thousand years.”
He smiled. The biggest gain: his comprehension of the chaos laws had reached the second realm.
From the first to the second realm may seem like a small step, but it was the culmination of comprehending countless laws—quantitative growth resulting in qualitative change.
Chaos law comprehension wasn’t about direct insight. It required endless understanding of countless individual laws.
Normally, Chaos Venerables started at the first realm. To reach the second realm, they’d spend ten or even hundreds of cosmic eras slowly gaining insights.
But Lin Yuan did it in just a thousand years.
And he wasn’t even at Chaos-level—just in the Path-Clearing stage.
The higher one’s life level, the easier it became to comprehend the laws.
You had to stand tall to see far.
“Still, even though I’ve reached the second realm of chaos law comprehension, I haven’t yet found a way to evolve the Tai Chi Yin-Yang power based on it…”
Lin Yuan pondered.
He’d originally estimated that the second realm would be the threshold to evolve Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi.
But that was only one of the prerequisites—not the full picture.
“How does chaos give rise to yin and yang? How does it become Tai Chi?”
He mused, “This is a path unique to me. Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi… no precedent exists—not in the chaotic void, nor this source world.”
Even seemingly similar paths were fundamentally different.
For example, the Chaos Fire path walked by Qingfen Marquis was not like that of other Great Sovereigns—it was azure, it was incinerating.
Even if two people walked a “Chaos Fire” path, their versions could vary drastically.
Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi even more so.
“If I didn’t have access to that crimson world… if I couldn’t observe that thirteenth-rank time lifeform, I might not be able to evolve Chaos Tai Chi even in a hundred thousand, a million years.”
He admitted to himself.
He could’ve easily created either Chaos Yin or Chaos Yang alone. But he didn’t want just one.
Since the second stage of his cultivation, his foundation had been Yin-Yang Tai Chi. Now, with chaos evolving into all things, Tai Chi was still his core.
If he only evolved Chaos Yin or Yang, he would limit his future potential.
“Liyang Ancestor…”
Watching that figure hadn’t enabled him to create Chaos Tai Chi yet—but it had pointed him in the right direction.
Now, at least he had a goal, rather than wandering blindly.
“Maybe if I raise my chaos law comprehension to the third realm, things will become clearer.”
He realized this after repeatedly observing the progenitor.
Theoretically, the second realm was enough—but theory was one thing, reality another.
So—he would keep deepening his chaos law comprehension.
There were three realms in total. The third was the ultimate limit. At that point, he could evolve all kinds of unique paths with ease.
“If even I can’t yet see the possibility of evolving Chaos Tai Chi, it means this path has enormous potential.”
He thought.
Some power paths could be formed with just the first realm of chaos laws—like basic Chaos Fire or Chaos Gold.
But others required second realm comprehension—dozens, hundreds of times harder—but with far greater results.
So the more law comprehension a path required, the greater its future potential.
“Chaos third realm…”
His eyes gleamed. In the chaotic void, even many Chaos Great Saints hadn’t reached the third realm—it required an insane number of fully understood laws.
But Lin Yuan?
With Unrivaled Insight, comprehending laws was almost as easy as breathing.
Especially in this source world. With the help of Seeds, his ability to sense laws had risen dramatically, letting him understand more, faster.
“This source world has helped me so much.”
He sighed.
Without it, if he relied solely on chaotic void cultivation, he would’ve taken many detours.
“If just one source world is this effective, then the remaining thirty-two…”
His heart stirred.
Deep within the Gate of Myriad Realms, thirty-three source world coordinates were recorded.
Thirty-three source worlds.
“Still…”
“Just this one source world already takes half my mental will to explore. Doing another would impact my true self too much.”
He thought.
After stepping into twelfth-rank lifeform, his essence had evolved. He no longer needed full immersion to transmigrate—but still had to devote a large part of his mind.
Exploring one source world didn’t affect his true self much.
But two? That would leave only half his mental will behind.
Which meant weakened power, slower insight, and more.
It wasn’t as simple as creating an avatar. Two different-dimensional worlds, separated by infinite spacetime—maintaining a connection even with the Gate of Myriad Realms as a bridge required a significant portion of mind.
“One at a time.”
He reminded himself. No need to rush. The coordinates weren’t going anywhere.
Once he fully explored this world—or hit a bottleneck—he could pull back his mind and move on.
“After a thousand years of nurturing, my seventh physical divine ability is almost ready.”
He sensed the origin forces coalescing deep within his blood.
A complex imprint was forming—resembling the blazing sun hanging in the firmament.
“This time… what kind of divine ability will it be?”
He was excited. The martial path’s physical divine abilities were drawn from one’s deepest bloodline powers.
His current body came from the Liyang Ancient Kingdom—he carried the progenitor’s thirteenth-rank bloodline.
Which meant the ability might be related to the Liyang Ancestor—possibly even their innate technique.
A thirteenth-rank lifeform’s innate technique—though weakened by Lin Yuan’s current life level—was still something from that tier.
More importantly, once awakened, Lin Yuan could refine and perfect it—making it usable even in the chaotic void or other worlds.
“A thirteenth-rank lifeform’s talent…”
Lin Yuan’s heart raced.
Through this talent, he could glimpse the true nature of such high-level life.
The Devil Jade Tower Master and other Supreme Saints had once paid an enormous price to kill a rare time-bloodline lifeform—just to get a taste of the thirteenth-rank.
But Lin Yuan?
He had gone straight to awakening the gift of a thirteenth-rank being.
“My body, soul, and inner universe are all fully developed. It’s time to step into Dominance.”
With a thought, he began the breakthrough.
Of course, it was just this body in the source world making the leap. His true self in the chaotic void would wait.
Once this one succeeded, the other would follow.
Given his foundations, advancing from Path-Clearing to Dominance was guaranteed—no surprises.
And if there was a safer way, why not take it?
This body could be discarded. But his true self in the void? Lin Yuan wouldn’t risk it lightly.
If something went wrong here, he’d still be safe there.
“Yes… both body and soul are starting to transform.”
He carefully guided the changes, directing them toward the result he wanted.
“This body isn’t quite as refined as my true self’s.”
He admitted objectively. His true body had endured three infusions of chaotic origin power—granting unparalleled enhancements to his inner universe.
This world lacked that “benefit.” But thanks to the Blazing Sun Divine Body and Seeds, the advantages here were almost equal.
City Lord’s Mansion
Great Sovereign auras filled the air. Tension between Qingfen Domain and Zimeng Domain had only grown over the past thousand years—both sides had deployed multiple Great Sovereigns, ready for war at any moment.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom’s royal capital was paying close attention.
A titled royal had personally taken command of the conflict. Most of the Great Sovereigns gathered here had been summoned by him.
“Yu Yan, you’re here.” Qingfen Marquis nodded at Lin Yuan’s materialized form.
“Mm.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
With so many Great Sovereigns present, it would be inappropriate for a disciple of Qingfen Marquis to be absent.
Still, only his divine soul came. His true self remained in seclusion at the Burning Heaven Courtyard, focused on every detail of the Dominance breakthrough.
His two divine souls, linked by Illusion To Reality, were indistinguishable to outsiders.
Other Great Sovereigns nodded toward him as well, friendly and respectful.
They were all part of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom. Facing a hostile force, there was no internal strife. Those gathered here were all on good terms with Qingfen Marquis.
The royal who was overseeing the conflict wouldn’t bring in anyone with grudges against him.
“Great Sovereign Redleaf.”
Lin Yuan sat beside Redleaf—one of the few he’d interacted with before.
Over a thousand years ago, they had traded—Lin Yuan exchanged the Myriad Array Crystal for a trove of resources.
Redleaf’s strength was terrifying—likely even above Qingfen Marquis.
“Looks like war is about to begin.” Redleaf commented.
He wasn’t a titled marquis. His presence here was purely due to Qingfen Marquis’ invitation.
“Yes. Zimeng Domain is probably ready.” Lin Yuan nodded.
He had spent nearly all of the last thousand years in seclusion, but he still had a general sense of the situation.
Zimeng had gathered a vast number of experts, as had Qingfen. The balance was about to break—it was only a matter of who made the first move.
“We’ll head to the border soon.”
Qingfen Marquis spoke from the main seat. The visit was to scout how many Great Sovereigns Zimeng had deployed—and get familiar with potential opponents.
The Great Sovereigns chatted briefly. Lin Yuan mostly listened, studying each one.
All of them had evolved unique power paths from chaos. Even observing them quietly gave Lin Yuan insight.
He had spent most of his time watching the blazing figure of the Progenitor in the crimson world—but that was too vast, too overwhelming.
Occasionally studying these Sovereigns offered a different kind of perspective.
“Most Great Sovereigns of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom walk the path of Chaos Fire.”
Lin Yuan noted. A few, like Redleaf, had also grasped Chaos Life.
Understandable—given the Empire’s environment and the Progenitor’s influence, Chaos Fire had saturated everything.
A moment later—
Led by Qingfen Marquis, the Great Sovereigns all traveled to the border.
Qingfen City had a direct space-time passage to the frontier—built to prevent any delay in reinforcement in case of sudden war.
“What is this?”
Lin Yuan’s expression shifted.
He had been to the border before. But compared to now, something felt completely different.
...
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