Double chappy!
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Endless chaos energy surged, rolling in toward the depths.
Under the frantic urging of the black-bearded man at the peak of the Dominance rank, the silver battleship struggled upstream, like a lone leaf in a stormy sea, on the verge of capsizing amid the vast tides of chaotic energy.
Cold sweat poured down the man’s face. As time passed, he faintly sensed a terrifying suction force, like a colossal beast devouring all in its path.
Even the few Path-Clearing stage junior brothers and sisters beside him finally sensed the gravity of the situation, all huddling in the corners, trembling.
“Hang on, hang on!”
The black-bearded man took a deep breath and unhesitatingly began burning the origin of his internal universe.
For a twelfth-rank evolver, the internal universe was the foundation of existence. Burning its origin meant burning that very foundation.
It would indeed grant a tremendous surge in power, but the consequences were severe, leaving behind irreversible damage.
But right now, the black-bearded man had no other choice.
He had the gut feeling that if he failed to resist this omnipresent suction, what awaited them would be a fate far worse than burning his internal universe.
Buzz buzz buzz.
The arrays inside the silver battleship ran beyond their limits.
No one knew how much time passed, but finally, the man sensed the surrounding suction force gradually weakening.
“We’ve broken free?”
His breath unsteady, his expression was one of sheer joy, and he pumped even more power into the battleship.
At last, the ship began to stabilize, breaking free from the terrifying suction.
“Whew!”
The black-bearded man staggered backward.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had pushed himself so hard. That experience felt like being a mere sixth-rank in front of a peak Dominance ancestor of his sect.
No—what he felt now far surpassed that past despair and awe.
“Senior Brother, are we safe now?”
The junior disciples cautiously stepped forward, voices timid.
“If nothing goes wrong, we should be,” he replied, though his tone held little certainty.
Who knew if that terrifying suction would suddenly return or even intensify? But for now, it seemed they were out of danger.
His words brought a collective sigh of relief.
“Senior Brother, what was that suction just now?”
“Yeah, I felt like even my soul and spirit were being drawn away.”
They all looked to him, still visibly shaken.
“I’m not sure either.”
The man shook his head.
“My guess is some Chaos-rank wondrous lifeform was feeding nearby.”
He had seen Chaos-level beings before—his sect's strongest was one.
But even a Chaos-level wouldn’t be able to draw in all the chaotic energy across millions or billions of light-years like that.
Only those innate wondrous lifeforms, born from the depths of chaotic void, with overwhelming natural gifts, could possibly do that.
“A wondrous lifeform?”
“At the Chaos rank?”
They swallowed hard. Wondrous lifeforms were terrifying enough—often able to crush opponents of the same level. Those with special bloodlines could even challenge Chaos-level experts while still at the peak of Dominance.
A Chaos-rank wondrous lifeform?
Even a typical Chaos Venerable wouldn’t dare provoke one.
“Looks like we got lucky. That one didn’t even notice us.”
The man sounded relieved. From the moment he sensed the suction to barely escaping, nothing actively targeted them.
That was the only reason they had survived.
“We’re too insignificant. In its eyes, we’re no different from the chaotic air drifting around.”
He sighed. Sometimes, being weak had its perks.
At the center of the vast surging chaos, Lin Yuan sat in a calm cross-legged posture.
His true body was fully revealed, massive beyond measure—spanning over ten million light-years—and with each breath, vast amounts of chaotic energy were drawn in.
“I’ve finally entered the Dominance rank.”
Lin Yuan opened his eyes with a smile.
The breakthrough to Dominance was a fundamental evolution of life essence, requiring immense energy.
And the chaotic void had no shortage of energy—chaotic energy was everywhere. Although impure, it was still energy.
Lin Yuan, having long since mastered direct absorption techniques, could forcibly absorb even the roughest chaotic energy due to his profound foundation.
Impure or pure—it was still energy at its core.
“Now then…”
He examined the changes in himself.
The greatest change from entering Dominance was his internal universe.
“It’s already over ten billion light-years in size,” he noted with satisfaction.
At the peak of Path-Clearing, his internal universe had reached 33 million light-years.
Now it was ten billion? A three-hundredfold increase in diameter.
And in volume, the growth was exponentially higher.
“This is just the starting point. My internal universe will continue to expand rapidly.”
He estimated it would eventually reach several hundred billion light-years.
“A typical Chaos Venerable’s internal universe is around that size. Once I reach the Dominance peak, I’ll already be comparable in scale.”
He pondered.
Though this was a size comparison, Lin Yuan’s internal universe, thanks to the refinement of The Infinite Void, already matched Chaos Venerables in quality when it was just ten million light-years.
If it reached hundreds of billions in size, even if his life rank was lower, his sheer internal foundation could allow him to sweep aside any Venerable beneath the Chaos Great Saints.
The strength of an internal universe wasn’t just about size. Diamond and graphite were made of the same atoms—yet one was immensely harder.
“If I reach the Chaos rank, will my universe reach trillions, tens of trillions, or even hundreds of trillions of light-years?”
He speculated.
Natural universes in the chaotic void topped out at about a trillion light-years.
Lin Yuan, by just entering Chaos rank, could surpass that?
“Unbelievable.”
He couldn’t help but sigh, then thought of The Infinite Void.
His internal universe’s evolution was fueled by many things—three infusions of chaotic origin, the Chaos Tree—but most of all, that 13th-rank legacy from the jade gourd.
Specifically, a legacy designed by a 13th-rank time lifeform to build the ultimate foundation.
“The creator of the jade gourd left more than The Infinite Void. There were also legacies for the body, soul, spirit—every facet of life.”
He recalled what the red-robed girl had said, deeply moved.
Just one legacy had taken him this far. What would happen if he obtained all of them?
“I should be content. Getting The Infinite Void alone is already a great fortune. To desire more would be greedy.”
He smiled wryly.
He couldn’t possibly expect everything to go his way.
“But now…”
He reassessed himself.
Having just entered Dominance, his life essence had evolved, his body, soul, and universe skyrocketed in power.
Altogether, Lin Yuan was now nearly at the Chaos rank peak.
“I wonder—once I reach the Dominance peak, can I match Venerable invincibility? Maybe even rival the Chaos Great Saints?”
He mused.
Venerables and Great Saints were both Chaos rank, but vastly different in power.
Just the aftershocks of a clash between Shadowfiend and Nine Phoenix Saints had forced Guming Venerable to evacuate an entire Chaos Continent.
That said, Lin Yuan’s foundation was extraordinary. If he perfected all his techniques, even trained the second or third layer of The Infinite Void, he might not be far off.
“Time to go.”
Shrinking rapidly, Lin Yuan glanced around.
His breakthrough had caused quite a stir—swallowing chaotic energy on a massive scale. Some Venerables were already probing from afar.
They didn’t know what he was, so none dared act rashly.
With a flash, Lin Yuan vanished, uninterested in interacting with them.
“He’s gone?”
“Who was that?”
“A wondrous lifeform? Or a Chaos-rank powerhouse?”
Venerable wills reached across space, exchanging thoughts.
That incredible scene of chaotic energy devouring had shaken Venerables across several domains.
They hadn’t sensed any aura, and even causality was obscured. But from the sheer movement of chaotic energy, they were all alarmed.
“He clearly doesn’t want to meet us.”
“Forget it, let’s head back.”
The Venerables all felt a bit regretful. At their level, few sought battle. Making friends with a powerful peer was always beneficial.
And whoever that was, he definitely counted as a powerful peer.
“Why does he feel… familiar?”
Even Guming Venerable sent out a will projection. Though unable to sense anything, and even causality was blocked…
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d met that power before.
Star Tear – Fragment World
The atmosphere was tense.
Just moments ago, they’d been chatting with Lin Yuan, when his avatar abruptly vanished, leaving only the words “urgent matter.”
It worried them.
What urgent matters could the human civilization possibly have now?
Then the Fragment World trembled slightly, and Lin Yuan reappeared before them.
“Are you okay?” asked Xuanyuan at once.
Xia Qin, standing beside him, looked visibly affected.
“I’m fine,” Lin Yuan smiled.
To break through from Path-Clearing to Dominance, he had dismissed most avatars for safety’s sake.
“Lin Yuan, I feel like…” Xuanyuan stared hard at him, then couldn’t help but ask.
Even though Lin Yuan had tried to restrain his aura, that leap in life level and the power shift… it was still palpable.
“I just broke through,” Lin Yuan said simply.
These nine strongest ones of the human race—he trusted them. No need to hide.
“You broke through?”
“To Dominance?”
Xia Qin was overjoyed.
Lin Yuan was their pillar—stronger meant humanity was stronger.
“Dominance, huh?” Xuanyuan murmured.
He and the others had reached twelfth rank long before Lin Yuan—but now? He had surpassed them.
And not just in power. Even before this, they suspected Lin Yuan could overpower some of them.
“How strong are you now?” asked Yu Die curiously.
They had once asked this when Lin Yuan first stepped into twelfth rank.
At the time, he said: “Peak of Path-Clearing inside the universe; Dominance-level outside.”
Now that he’d truly reached Dominance?
“About Chaos rank,” Lin Yuan answered casually.
“Chaos rank?”
They all inhaled sharply.
Even with their expectations, hearing it confirmed was overwhelming.
Chaos rank—those were the Chaos Venerables.
In the chaotic void, Venerables reigned supreme. Even their current home, this Fragment World, was merely a shard of the Chaos Continent opened by Guming Venerable.
“Our human civilization… now has a Venerable?”
Xuanyuan’s eyes reddened. The others looked much the same.
This moment felt like when humanity first gave birth to a Strongest One in the universe.
No—this was far greater.
A Chaos Venerable.
What they didn’t know was:
When Lin Yuan said “about Chaos rank,” he meant peak Chaos rank.
There was a huge difference between entry-level and peak Chaos. The latter far surpassed the former in all ways.
And this was just Lin Yuan’s starting point.
With time, his power would soar even higher.
After a bit more chatting—
Lin Yuan returned to closed cultivation.
“Now that I’ve reached Dominance, I can train the second layer of The Infinite Void.”
He had lacked the life essence before. But not anymore.
He recalled the structure of the second layer.
With his current foundation, once completed, his internal universe would be comparable to that of a Chaos Great Saint.
Such Saints, having evolved their own unique paths from chaos, possessed monstrous internal universes.
Just a casual move could seriously wound most Venerables.
Their power came not just from understanding the Dao, but from the overwhelming mass of their being.
Inside his internal universe—
The jade gourd trembled. The red-clad girl materialized and glanced around, amazed.
Even though The Infinite Void could greatly enhance one’s inner universe, Lin Yuan’s growth far exceeded her expectations.
He had support from other sources, yes—but the results were staggering.
“Maybe… he really can reach the seventh layer.”
She thought silently.
The Infinite Void had seven layers.
The seventh was purely theoretical—if achieved, the internal universe would rival the chaotic void itself in scale.
Deep in the Guming Chaos Continent
Guming Venerable frowned, thoughtful.
“What is it, Guming?” asked the black-robed youth beside him.
It was rare to see Guming like this.
“Earlier…” he explained what had happened.
An existence, possibly at peak Chaos rank or a wondrous lifeform, had swallowed chaotic energy across thousands or tens of thousands of billions of light-years.
“To swallow that much—it must be a peak Chaos being or a wondrous lifeform,” the youth agreed.
“But what does that have to do with us? I haven’t foreseen any danger lately.”
He seemed puzzled.
“I suspect,” Guming Venerable took a deep breath and said slowly, “that being who devoured all that chaotic energy—was Milky Way.”
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