Ding-Seven Warfront Sector
Lin Yuan quickly arrived at the section of the warfront he was assigned to.
The warfront between Qingfen Domain and Zimeng Domain was extensive, and each Great Sovereign had to hold down a designated area.
Their duty was to fend off enemy assaults.
The Ding-Seven sector, where Lin Yuan was stationed, was on the periphery. The senior and peak Great Sovereigns from Zimeng Domain would almost certainly focus on attacking the core areas.
This was why Qingfen Marquis assumed Lin Yuan’s opponent would be Sovereign Leige.
Among the Great Sovereigns Zimeng Domain had deployed publicly, there were only two or three newly advanced ones—Leige being the most likely to attack Ding-Seven.
Of course, it was only most likely—not guaranteed.
But even if another Great Sovereign came instead, they’d likely be a newly advanced one as well. A senior or peak Great Sovereign? That was extremely unlikely.
For a senior or peak Great Sovereign to attack the periphery would be a waste. Even if they succeeded, what would it accomplish?
It wouldn’t affect the overall war. The peripheral lines could be quickly reinforced by Qingfen Domain.
But the core warfront was different—if Zimeng broke through Qingfen’s central defenses, the tide of war would shift dramatically.
If Zimeng actually sent a senior or peak Great Sovereign to attack a peripheral sector, Qingfen Marquis would probably be thrilled.
One fewer powerful enemy assaulting the center meant much less pressure on Qingfen’s defenses.
“This war has Qingfen Domain on the defensive. Chisong King is likely leaning toward a more ‘conservative’ approach.”
Lin Yuan mused to himself. From Qingfen Marquis’s strategy, he could infer Chisong King’s intentions.
Lin Yuan agreed with the approach. Lingwei was currently making an aggressive show of strength—engaging in a direct clash wouldn’t bring any benefits.
As long as they could weather the first waves of Zimeng’s attacks, the momentum would naturally shift. Whether to counterattack would be up to Chisong King.
“Greetings, Great Sovereign.”
“Greetings, Great Sovereign.”
Not long after arriving at the Ding-Seven sector, several figures came to see him.
Lin Yuan wasn’t alone in defending this part of the warfront.
Several war machines were stationed under his command, awaiting his orders.
In wars between domains, anyone below the Great Sovereign level relied heavily on war machines.
Those at the Path-Clearing or Dominance stages were simply too weak. Only through war machines could they pose any real threat to a Great Sovereign.
Thousands of Dominance-level cultivators, striking in unison through a war machine, could deliver a blow powerful enough to make even a Great Sovereign wary.
“Report.”
Lin Yuan swept his gaze over the figures respectfully standing before him.
They were all peak Dominance cultivators—his subordinates in this sector.
“Great Sovereign, we currently have one mid-grade Beta-class war machine, six lower-grade Beta-class machines, and thirty-six Alpha-class machines of upper, middle, and lower grades combined.”
The one who spoke first was a one-horned man named Luo Peng. He respectfully reported the status.
War machines were divided into three main classes: Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.
A Gamma-class machine could hold dozens to hundreds of Dominance-level warriors. Their combined force could provide limited restraint against a Great Sovereign.
Beta-class machines came in upper, middle, and lower grades. They could hold anywhere from a thousand to ten thousand Dominance cultivators.
As for Alpha-class machines, they could hold over ten thousand Dominance-level warriors. A single strike from such a machine was something even a peak Great Sovereign had to take seriously.
Being on the fringe of the warfront, the best they had was a mid-grade Beta-class machine.
Upper-grade Beta-class and Alpha-class war machines were concentrated at the core battlefronts. They were extremely rare and only deployed to the most critical zones.
Of course, rarity was one thing. Whether they had enough Dominance-level warriors to man them was another.
This war between Zimeng and Qingfen Domains, while appearing limited to two domains, actually involved elite forces from dozens of neighboring domains. It was already considered a high-intensity war.
“War machines…”
Lin Yuan nodded slightly.
It was said that above the Alpha class, there existed even more powerful war machines—ones capable of housing Great Sovereigns themselves.
“As for deployment—arrange things however you normally would.”
“If a Great Sovereign-level enemy appears, I’ll handle it.”
Lin Yuan said plainly, choosing not to interfere with the details.
As the commander of this sector, his responsibility was to control the overall situation.
“Yes, Great Sovereign.”
Luo Peng responded respectfully.
“Right.”
“Take me to inspect the war machines.”
Lin Yuan looked calmly at Luo Peng.
“Inspect the war machines?” Luo Peng didn’t question it. “Please follow me, Great Sovereign.”
Soon after—
Lin Yuan stood before a massive war machine.
This one was a Gamma-class machine, capable of housing 368 Dominance-level cultivators.
It stood tens of millions of li tall, and once fully activated, it could expand in size by hundreds or even thousands of times.
“So this is a war machine…”
Lin Yuan carefully examined it. Its surface was covered in countless arcane runes. These runes were what enabled the fusion of hundreds of Dominance-level powers.
Hundreds of Dominance cultivators, each following different paths—combining their power without it clashing or even exploding was impressive enough, let alone fusing it.
And merely combining their powers wouldn’t be enough to threaten a Great Sovereign.
But with amplification by the war machine, the final strike could be hundreds of times stronger.
That was the secret of war machines.
“These runes…”
Lin Yuan examined them closely.
[Your insight is Unrivaled. Upon observing unknown runes, your understanding of the Chaos Rule has increased…]
Sparks of inspiration erupted in his mind, enhancing his comprehension of the Chaos Rule.
“These runes can directly enhance Chaos Rule insight?”
Lin Yuan was stunned.
Until now, he had improved his Chaos Rule insight by mastering other lesser rules.
Those lesser rules then pushed forward his understanding of Chaos.
But now?
Simply studying the runes on a war machine could produce a similar effect?
“The essence of these runes… is the fundamental structure of the Chaos Rule.”
“In any world or realm, Chaos doesn’t exist as a specific rule. The moment a world is created, Chaos immediately differentiates into myriad individual rules.”
“To comprehend Chaos directly? There’s simply no such opportunity.”
As he studied the war machine’s runes, these thoughts emerged in Lin Yuan’s mind.
“And yet these machines somehow managed to condense the root structure of Chaos? Who could’ve accomplished this?”
He was amazed.
His Chaos Rule insight had reached the second level.
But to say nothing of condensing a second-level Chaos structure—he couldn’t even form a first-level one.
Understanding something and expressing it were two different things.
“No wonder war machines can perfectly fuse the power of thousands of Dominance-level warriors… no wonder…”
Lin Yuan’s thoughts churned.
When he first learned of war machines, he found them unbelievable.
The higher one's cultivation, the greater their perspective. And the more one learned, the harder it was to believe such power-fusion techniques.
But now, having seen it firsthand—
He understood. Only a fundamental, source-level rule like Chaos, capable of generating countless other rules, could possibly contain and harmonize so many disparate paths.
All things arise from Chaos—and return to it.
“My Chaos Rule insight is just at the beginning of the second level. To evolve the power of Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi, I’ll need to reach the peak of second level—or even the third.”
He frowned slightly.
The complexity of evolving the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi power exceeded his expectations. He had thought second-level insight would be enough.
“Even putting aside third level—just reaching peak second level… at my current rate, how long would it take? A million years? Ten million?”
Lin Yuan wondered silently.
Improving one’s Chaos Rule insight meant improving one’s grasp of all rules simultaneously.
It would require an immense investment of time and effort.
“Too long.”
He shook his head.
If the Chaos Great Saints knew what he was thinking, they’d probably be so ashamed they’d choose to reincarnate.
To reach peak second-level Chaos insight in a million or ten million years? Most Chaos Great Saints couldn’t achieve that even in thousands or tens of thousands of cosmic eras.
Many of them still lingered at the beginning of second level.
“But these war machines…”
Lin Yuan’s gaze gleamed with excitement.
By studying the runes on these machines, he could directly improve his Chaos Rule insight—a method thousands of times more efficient than normal cultivation.
And as Chaos insight grew, so too would his understanding of all other rules.
“Good thing I didn’t leave.”
Lin Yuan was genuinely pleased.
Before the war began, Qingfen Marquis had advised him to temporarily leave Qingfen Domain.
In Qingfen Marquis’s eyes, Lin Yuan was a core imperial bloodline with massive potential. As long as he became a Great Sovereign, he could easily dominate others.
Before that, he should stay as low-profile as possible and avoid getting entangled in inter-domain wars.
But Lin Yuan had declined.
Partly because Qingfen Marquis had treated him well—and he didn’t want to leave at such a critical time.
But mostly because he knew himself. With his current strength, unless the founding ancestors of the ancient kingdoms took action, it would be hard for him to die even if he wanted to.
Leaving or not—it didn’t matter much to him.
Looking back—
It had been the right decision.
Had he left, he’d never have come into contact with these war machines.
Even Gamma-class machines were top-secret to the ancient kingdoms.
They only appeared in times of war.
And even then, outsiders had no chance to get close, let alone study them.
Now that Lin Yuan was the commander of this sector, he had the perfect excuse: “inspection.”
“Alright, you can go.”
Lin Yuan glanced at Luo Peng and said casually, “I’ll stay here for a while.”
“Yes, Great Sovereign.”
The one-horned Luo Peng immediately withdrew.
Whoosh.
Lin Yuan’s figure flashed into the war machine’s interior, where the chaotic runes grew more complex and profound.
And the benefits he gained grew even greater.
Zimeng Domain
One by one, the war machines roared to life, and the Great Sovereigns moved out to their assigned sectors.
The most powerful among them went straight to the core battlefronts. After all, those areas held the greatest strategic value—if captured, they could decide the war.
High in the sky
In the depths of layered space-time—
Lingwei stood in dark green armor. The aura he unconsciously released caused space around him to distort and collapse.
“Chisong King of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom isn’t ambitious. He won’t go all out to stop me,” Lingwei said calmly, eyes on the battlefield.
He had dared to launch his invasion of Qingfen Domain not just because he had prepared extensively across dozens of nearby domains—but also because he had deduced that Chisong King would likely be the one resisting him.
Chisong King was naturally carefree. The fact that he preferred to live in his fiefdom rather than the capital said it all.
The capital was the heart of an ancient kingdom. Any ambitious royal would never leave it behind.
“Chisong King will probably ask his sixth brother to intervene…”
Lingwei had already accounted for nearly every possibility.
“What a pity. If not for that ‘Milky Way,’ my original plan would’ve worked—and taking Qingfen City would’ve been so much easier…”
He sighed. Despite all his schemes, he hadn’t predicted that Qingfen Marquis had secretly trained a Great Sovereign disciple.
A Great Sovereign-level disciple, willingly hiding in Qingfen City?
If he hadn’t been certain his plan hadn’t been leaked, Lingwei would’ve suspected a traitor had warned Qingfen Marquis.
“Still, this works. Only through war—through an open and overwhelming victory—can I claim Qingfen Domain and the surrounding regions in a way that maximizes my prestige.”
His gaze turned cold.
In the end, war was about victory. And crushing opponents with sheer strength aligned perfectly with the preferences of the ancient capital’s old monsters.
It would greatly help him become a candidate for the throne.
Of course, becoming a candidate was just the first step—without that status, he couldn’t even compete for the crown.
Ding-Seven Sector
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged within a war machine, his immense senses enveloping every chaotic rune.
[Your insight is Unrivaled. Upon observing unknown runes, your understanding of the Chaos Rule has increased…]
He didn’t know how long had passed, but the flashes of inspiration in his mind gradually slowed.
“I’ve pretty much understood this one.”
He opened his eyes. The chaos runes carved into this particular machine were limited.
A mere Gamma-class machine couldn’t hold too many such runes—if it did, it would be Beta or even Alpha-class.
“Next one.”
Lin Yuan stepped out and moved toward the next war machine.
...
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