The towering man spoke with a calm tone.
There was no pressure radiating from him at all.
If Lin Yuan hadn’t clearly sensed that the causal links of Hun Xiao and Yu Lin had been completely erased, he might’ve mistaken this man for an ordinary lifeform.
“Vanish?”
Lin Yuan mulled over the man’s final words.
Before I vanish?
“We’ll save that for the end.”
With a wave of his hand, the towering man shifted the surrounding space-time. In an instant, the two of them stood before a grand palace.
Lin Yuan glanced around and immediately noticed two ancient characters atop the palace.
Mysterious Sovereign.
He didn’t know what the characters meant, but the moment he saw them, he understood.
“The Hall of Mysterious Sovereign?”
“This is the Hall of Mysterious Sovereign?”
Lin Yuan thought to himself. Among the many regions marked on the beast hide map, the Hall of Mysterious Sovereign was second only to the mausoleum.
But the map had described the Hall of Mysterious Sovereign as hidden deep within space-time, nearly impossible to locate.
Whoosh!
Following the towering man into the hall, Lin Yuan came to a stop before a jade table.
The man took the initiative to sit on one side, smiling at Lin Yuan. “Please, sit.”
“Yes.”
Lin Yuan obeyed meekly.
There was no doubt—this towering man was the strongest being Lin Yuan had ever seen.
Whether in the chaotic void or the source world where the Liyang Kingdom once sat—below the thirteenth rank, this was the strongest lifeform.
To kill Supreme Saints at a whim, and not just kill, but utterly annihilate them without any chance of revival…
Lin Yuan had the distinct sense that if this man bore him any ill will, every trace of Lin Yuan's existence in the chaotic void would be forcibly erased.
“You must already know who I am,” the man said with a smile.
“Your Majesty,” Lin Yuan nodded.
The moment this man appeared, the origin of the Mysterious Emperor Universe had unified as one.
Other than the one who created this acquired universe—Mysterious Sovereign himself—no one else could have done that.
And both Hun Xiao and Yu Lin had recognized him too. Those two Supreme Saints didn’t even try to fight—they turned and fled instantly.
But in the end, they still couldn’t escape.
“Hahaha…”
The towering man laughed aloud. “In my era, in terms of talent and speed of growth, even those wondrous lifeforms born of the chaotic void were far inferior to me.”
He glanced at Lin Yuan and added with a hint of emotion, “But compared to you, I suppose I was quite ordinary.”
When he returned to the Mysterious Emperor Universe, the memories of everything that had happened here over the past thirty million cosmic eras flooded into his mind.
With his current state, he could also perceive many secrets hidden within Lin Yuan—like how his life level was still at the Dominance stage, yet the foundation of his inner universe was unmatched.
“Your Majesty is anything but ordinary,” Lin Yuan responded immediately.
To be able to effortlessly kill two Supreme Saints? Even Lin Yuan wouldn’t dare claim he could do that after stepping into the Chaos stage.
So far, the chaotic Yin-Yang Tai Chi path he was evolving hadn’t fully taken shape—he still didn’t know its true power and had no certainty.
“My current state is special. Though I haven’t reached the thirteenth rank, I’ve surpassed the twelfth. That’s why I could truly kill Supreme Saints. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be possible.”
The towering man chuckled. “Back when I was at the Dominance stage, forget fighting Supreme Saints—I couldn’t even stand before an ordinary Venerable.”
Lin Yuan listened attentively.
What the man meant was that he had managed to survive even before Venerables during his Dominance stage.
That alone was remarkable. Lin Yuan himself had Unrivaled Insight, had descended into countless dimensional worlds, and had even cultivated a thirteenth-rank inheritance—only then had he barely achieved what he had.
For others, it was nearly impossible to replicate.
“Special state?” Lin Yuan looked at him.
“Mm.”
“You should know—I attempted to reach the thirteenth rank long ago, but ended up trapped in a time loop.”
The man explained, “But now, I’ve broken free of it. Not by succeeding, but by force. This kind of escape is unnatural—it won’t last. I’ll vanish soon.”
Lin Yuan listened quietly.
He recalled what the Eye of Ten Thousand Laws had once told him: that twelfth-rank perfected beings trapped in time loops could forcibly break free—by planting an anchor in the outside world and activating it at a specific moment.
Once activated, the time-trapped being could use it to lock on and tear free of the loop.
But almost none chose to do so.
First, it was too difficult. The time loop was sealed off from the chaotic void—just having an anchor didn’t mean escape was possible. One needed power that could shake the time loop.
Any twelfth-rank being with that kind of power likely had a real chance of breaking through normally. There was no need to force it.
Second, forcibly escaping the time loop violated the chaotic void’s supreme laws. Even if one returned, they would face constant backlash from the entire chaotic void.
Beings below the thirteenth rank couldn’t last long. They would perish.
“Why did Your Majesty break free of the time loop?” Lin Yuan couldn’t help asking.
It was obvious that the pearl given to him by the tomb spirit was the anchor left behind by this towering man.
Crushing it would let him lock onto the anchor and escape.
But why go that far?
The tomb spirit had told him he could crush the pearl at any time—but had hoped he wouldn’t.
The former was Mysterious Sovereign’s intent, the latter the tomb spirit’s own thoughts.
The spirit knew what crushing the pearl would mean.
But why had Mysterious Sovereign given that order?
Did he foresee the threat of two Supreme Saints to Lin Yuan?
Even if he did—was it worth it?
To abandon his chance of reaching the thirteenth rank, and erase all trace of his own existence, just to help a successor many generations removed?
It made no sense.
Back when the Mysterious Emperor Lineage was annihilated, countless disciples were hunted—yet Mysterious Sovereign didn’t break free. Why now?
“Don’t overthink it. I didn’t escape the time loop for you. It’s just…”
The man’s gaze turned distant, as if recalling something. “I don’t want to break the time loop.”
“You… don’t want to?” Lin Yuan was stunned. That could be a reason?
“Breaking it wouldn’t have been hard. I just had to forget about my senior sister.”
The man’s expression grew unfocused. “But to forget her? I won’t. Even after countless erasures and restarts across thirty million eras, I still won’t.”
Lin Yuan said nothing. He didn’t ask who the senior sister was.
“I forgot to introduce her,” the man said. “I was born in a tribe. Orphaned early, starved constantly, nearly died many times. But the worst wasn’t hunger—it was the fear of being eaten.”
“I eventually fled the tribe, searching for a chance to live. But I was captured by an evil cultivator who planned to refine me using my blood and soul.”
Lin Yuan quietly listened. Based on murals in the mausoleum, Mysterious Sovereign came from a natural universe—humble origins, brutal environment.
“Then… I met my senior sister. She was a disciple of the Qingxuan Sect. When she passed by and sensed evil, she acted to vanquish the wicked. She killed that man and saved me.”
The man’s tone grew nostalgic. “I still remember the first thing she said to me: ‘Little beggar, don’t be afraid. That monster is dead. You’re safe now.’”
“I always wonder—if she’d come a moment later, I’d probably be dead.”
“She took me back to Qingxuan Sect. After testing me, she found I had decent potential and took me in as her junior.”
“She was so kind. Never minded how filthy I was. She washed me clean, rebuilt my body, and taught me everything.”
Lin Yuan listened in silence.
“From then on, I swore to repay her. I wouldn’t let anyone in this world harm her.”
“As I cultivated, my talent shone. I soon became the strongest in Qingxuan, led it to become the most powerful force in our universe.”
“Later, we became Dao companions. That was the happiest day of my life.”
“I reached the twelfth rank. With my help, so did she. We survived our universe’s collapse and entered the chaotic void together.”
At this point, the man’s voice turned cold. “But soon after arriving, we encountered a Dominance-level raider. I was no match. To save me, she burned everything—her soul, essence, will… every body, every form—just to hold him off.”
“She died. I lived.”
“I searched everywhere. Learned that twelfth-rank beings are free from the river of time. To revive someone like her, I had to become a time-being—reach the thirteenth rank.”
“So I set that as my goal. Funny, isn’t it? I was only at the peak of the Path-Clearing stage—not even at Chaos—but I dreamed of becoming a time-being.”
He chuckled.
“But once I entered the chaotic void, I found my bloodline was special. The environment awakened my full potential. I quickly reached Dominance, Venerable, Saint…”
“After perfecting the Chaos stage, I founded the Mysterious Emperor Lineage, established the Mysterious Emperor Kingdom, and wiped out every raider I could—partly to avenge her. But the one who killed her had already died long ago.”
He smiled faintly. “Once I became a Supreme Saint, I began thinking about reaching the thirteenth rank. I consulted many special beings across the void.”
“They said my heart demon was too strong. That she affected me too deeply. That if I entered the loop, I’d likely never pass through.”
He scoffed. “Those beings were born mighty—aloof from birth. What do they know? If not for her, I’d have died long ago.”
“She was never my heart demon. She’s the only reason I grew strong.”
Lin Yuan nodded.
Many wondrous lifeforms born of phenomena had cold emotions, guided solely by self-interest.
“Still, I knew she mattered too much. If I entered the time loop, she would likely be involved.”
“Later, I stumbled into a dimensional rift and obtained a supreme treasure. But I couldn’t suppress it alone. Only the time loop could conceal it.”
“At the time, I had already reached the limit—held Invincible Supreme Saint power. Though not yet recognized by the others, I didn’t want to wait anymore. With that treasure, my odds of breaking through improved.”
“The longer I waited, the greater the risk of the treasure being exposed. Other Supreme Saints would stop at nothing to seize it—and maybe even attract time-beings.”
He looked at Lin Yuan. “So before my attempt, I made many preparations. One was the Mysterious Sovereign Pearl. It contains a trace of that treasure’s aura. If crushed, it would resonate with the real thing—hidden inside the time loop. That signal would let me locate the anchor and break free.”
“I thought—if thirty million eras passed and I still hadn’t succeeded, then I probably never would. So I left the order: crush the pearl after that long.”
“And even then, crushing it only served as a ‘reminder.’ Whether I chose to respond—that was still up to me.”
“I see.”
Lin Yuan nodded, lost in thought.
“As for the loop I was trapped in… to break it the normal way, I’d have to forget her completely. Isn’t it ironic? I seek the thirteenth rank to revive her—but to reach it, I must first erase her?”
“If I forget her, what meaning does the thirteenth rank hold?”
“If I forget her—am I still me?”
The man’s tone turned scornful.
“In the loop, my memories were wiped again and again—but never once did I choose to forget her. Until you crushed the pearl, and I tore my way out.”
Lin Yuan looked at him, his heart stirred.
According to the Devil Jade Tower’s intel, every time loop was a test unlike any the person had ever faced.
And for Mysterious Sovereign, that test was… to forget her?
Lin Yuan guessed that this “forgetting” meant more than memory—it meant erasing all emotion, all connection. Even if the memories were restored later, the purity of feeling would be gone. He would never revive her again.
“A loop without her. A breakthrough without hope. I was bored stiff. Now that I’m out—this is better.”
The man raised his right hand. A hazy glow appeared in his palm.
“Before I vanish, I’ll give you this treasure I found in the dimensional rift.”
...
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