"I can’t keep watching."
The Liyang Ancestor barely managed to maintain a sliver of consciousness and quickly stopped observing the future timeline. His shaken mental state gradually began to stabilize.
However, the backlash from forcibly peering into the future timeline would take him years to fully purge.
"What is this?"
Once he had calmed down, the Liyang Ancestor was deeply shaken. Time beings were indeed capable of peering into future timelines, but there were limits.
For example, there were countless possible future timelines. Even someone at the thirteenth rank could only glimpse a portion and couldn’t grasp the entirety of the future.
Also, when the future timeline involved another time being of the same level, it became extremely difficult to see clearly, often triggering a backlash.
And the further into the future one peered, the more variables there were, and the harder it became to see.
"I actually suffered this much backlash?"
The Liyang Ancestor's expression turned solemn. He had attempted to peer into Lin Yuan's distant future, only to be met with such violent backlash. There were only a few possible explanations.
One, in that distant future, Lin Yuan had formed a karmic connection with an immensely powerful time being. Under that being’s protection, it was natural that he couldn't see more details.
Two, Lin Yuan was in some special environment—there existed places between dimensions that originated time itself, and these could interfere with what even a thirteenth-rank could observe.
Three, Lin Yuan himself had become an immensely powerful time being in that far-off future, able to block all observation, even those from the past.
Aside from these three possibilities, there were a few other low-probability scenarios.
The Liyang Ancestor’s expression was grim. He leaned more toward the third scenario.
Because even from the one known timeline he could observe, it was clear Lin Yuan’s rate of growth was beyond belief.
Even after stepping into the thirteenth rank, he continued to grow at a terrifying speed. In the future, neither the Grand Ling Ancestor nor the Grand Ancient Void Ancestor had the power to oppose Lin Yuan.
Of course, what the Liyang Ancestor had seen was only one possibility. In reality, the Grand Ling Ancestor and Grand Ancient Void Ancestor might not necessarily be enemies of Lin Yuan.
"The reason I can observe these futures of the Milky Way is because his life level is still low, at the Heavenly Sovereign realm."
The Liyang Ancestor thought silently. To him, whether it was Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign, top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign, Strongest Heavenly Sovereign, or Invincible Heavenly Sovereign, they all belonged to the Heavenly Sovereign level.
"Once he steps into the thirteenth rank, it’ll be much harder to see his future."
The Liyang Ancestor mused to himself.
Peering into the future of a time being of the same level was not only difficult but also very blurry, with much of the information incomplete.
Among thirteenth-rank time beings, their strategies and countermeasures relied on analyzing vast numbers of timelines to deduce other beings' plans or traps.
But whether or not one could correctly deduce those strategies depended on how many future timelines they could actually see.
If one couldn’t directly observe another time being’s future, then the only option was to peer into the countless timelines of their own existence to make indirect deductions and guesses.
"Looks like I’ll need to start observing new timelines. With the Milky Way involved, the future is bound to shift dramatically."
The Liyang Ancestor reflected. Time beings, apart from cultivating, spent most of their time watching future timelines. They would typically follow a specific thread deep into the future, which naturally took a lot of time.
Before encountering Lin Yuan, the timelines he had been observing had spanned hundreds of thousands to millions of years—timelines beginning from that far back.
And during that period, Lin Yuan hadn’t yet descended into this Source World. So the countless timelines the Liyang Ancestor had seen were timelines in which Lin Yuan didn’t exist, which was why he had never noticed such a monstrous anomaly emerging from the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.
Now that Lin Yuan's presence was confirmed, the Liyang Ancestor naturally decided to abandon all those previously observed timelines and begin anew from this moment.
With Lin Yuan's inevitable rise to the thirteenth rank, the future of this Source World was bound to take a completely different direction. The timelines he would now observe would be entirely different from before.
"Unbelievable..." The Liyang Ancestor sighed inwardly. Peering into Lin Yuan’s future had broadened his understanding. Could it be that amidst all these endless variables, the future also held a kind of certainty?
"They say those time lords on the verge of achieving perfect time life are beginning to collapse their timelines—merging past, present, and future. But the Milky Way hasn’t even reached the thirteenth rank. How could he possibly demonstrate such a certainty in the future?"
The Liyang Ancestor thought for a while and resumed watching the future timelines.
Milky Way Royal Palace.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, most of his focus on comprehending the Source World’s fundamental operations. The rest of his attention was on analyzing various supreme inheritance guides, refining the martial evolution path's sub-branches.
The sub-branches of the martial evolution path had long matured. What Lin Yuan needed to do now was integrate them perfectly into this Source World.
Each dimension had its own unique laws. For instance, in the chaotic void, when life forms underwent key transitions, they would receive a gift from the chaotic void’s source—this was why inner universes had become widespread.
Without the source’s gift, it would be extremely difficult for inner universes to become popular in the chaotic void, since most powerhouses simply couldn't afford the cost of maintaining them.
But in this Source World, there was no such source infusion. Instead, there were six founding ancestors providing feedback. Nearly every lifeform carried the bloodline of a founding ancestor.
And founding ancestor bloodlines were thirteenth-rank bloodlines. No matter how thin, if tapped into, the potential released could be terrifying.
Thus, the point of integration for the martial evolution path in this Source World was to fully excavate the founding ancestor bloodline.
"Bloodline..."
Lin Yuan looked at his palm, while observing a single drop of Dragon Abyss blood, trying to comprehend the most fundamental power hidden deep within the bloodline.
Whoosh...
In an instant, the drop of Dragon Abyss blood suspended before him boiled over and suddenly transformed into a palm-sized black dragon.
Every scale on the black dragon looked like a bottomless abyss, and the aura it emitted silently began to affect the surrounding space-time.
"So this is the original lifeform, the 'Yuanlong'?" Lin Yuan observed closely. By digging into the root power of the bloodline, he had used a single drop of blood to reconstruct the Yuanlong's true form.
Of course, it was only the form. Its consciousness and soul had long been wiped out. But even so, Lin Yuan could sense the terrifying might of the Yuanlong.
"Just one drop of blood creates an Yuanlong with such presence. At its peak, this original lifeform was definitely not weaker than I am now," Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The Liyang Ancestor had also mentioned this original lifeform. Though used as a cautionary example, it was all relative. The Grand Ancient Void Ancestor had personally slain the Yuanlong, proving just how terrifying it was.
After all, to time beings, any lifeform below the thirteenth rank wasn’t even worth noticing.
"It’s pretty much complete."
Lin Yuan waved his hand, and the palm-sized black dragon instantly dissipated, returning to a drop of Dragon Abyss blood, which he stored away.
After refining it over hundreds or even thousands of years, Lin Yuan had completely solidified the martial evolution path’s sub-branches, fully adapting it to this Source World and the Six Ancient Kingdoms.
"But if I want to spread this martial evolution path, I’ll need to inform the Ancestor."
Lin Yuan thought to himself. Every lifeform in the Liyang Ancient Kingdom was a descendant of the Ancestor, practicing the cultivation system passed down from him.
If Lin Yuan wanted to spread the martial evolution path here—even as a secondary practice—he had to let the Liyang Ancestor know.
With that in mind, Lin Yuan murmured softly, "Liyang."
An invisible force gathered, forming the figure of the Liyang Ancestor, who smiled as he looked at Lin Yuan. "Milky Way."
"Ancestor, may I spread my own evolution path's sub-branch?" Lin Yuan asked.
"Spread your own evolution path’s sub-branch?" The Liyang Ancestor chuckled and nodded. "Of course you can."
"Thank you, Ancestor," Lin Yuan said.
"No need for thanks between us."
The Liyang Ancestor shook his head and disappeared.
In the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom—the richest region in all of creation—the royal palace stood at its very center. At this moment, deep within the palace, many figures had gathered.
Each of them exuded powerful auras—at least top-tier Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns, with nearly ten being Strongest Heavenly Sovereigns.
"The Ancestor is about to descend. As per custom, he will guide our cultivation," the Grand Ancient Void Emperor said gravely. "And he’ll also learn of recent events."
Among the six Ancient Kingdoms, the Grand Ancient Void Ancestor was the most attentive in nurturing his descendants, descending every so often to guide top-tier and strongest Heavenly Sovereigns.
Normally, this would be a rare blessing for the Grand Ancient Void’s powerhouses—receiving guidance from the Ancestor without doing anything to earn it?
But now—
The many Heavenly Sovereigns present were all under immense pressure.
Because among the many recent events, the Liyang Ancient Kingdom had defeated the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom and taken control of a newly-formed first-class treasure land—this absolutely couldn’t be hidden from the Ancestor.
Although the failure to seize the Golden Mist treasure land was due to the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign’s overwhelming strength and not the fault of the others, the Ancestor wouldn’t care. He’d only see them as useless.
In terms of strength, the Grand Ancient Void Ancestor was the oldest and strongest among the six Ancestors. The Grand Ancient Void Kingdom was also the strongest of the six Ancient Kingdoms. Everything tied to the Ancestor was the strongest.
But now—
That belief had been shattered by the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign.
If the gap in strength had been small, the Heavenly Sovereigns might still have some hope of redeeming themselves.
But given the strength the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign had displayed in the treasure land, even the Grand Ancient Void’s strongest Heavenly Sovereigns didn’t dare attempt a rematch.
The gap was too wide.
So wide that there wasn’t even a chance to catch up.
Now, the Heavenly Sovereigns of the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom only hoped that the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign would quickly attempt that next step.
That way, whether he succeeded or failed, they wouldn’t have to shoulder the pressure that Lin Yuan brought.
"The Ancestor is descending."
The Grand Ancient Void Emperor swept his gaze across the gathered Heavenly Sovereigns. He, too, was uneasy. Ancestors stood high above all, and they competed with one another—now that their Kingdom had fallen far behind the Liyang Kingdom, how could the Ancestor possibly be pleased?
And if the Ancestor wasn’t happy, his descendants would suffer for it.
Liyang Kingdom’s capital.
After gaining the Ancestor’s approval, Lin Yuan immediately went to find the Liyang Ancient Kingdom’s Emperor.
Spreading the martial evolution path was no trivial matter. Lin Yuan wasn’t going to handle it himself—it had to be managed by the Ancient Kingdom.
"Milky Way," the Liyang Ancient Kingdom’s Emperor said warmly. "What brings you here?"
"I’ve refined a method to excavate the Ancestor’s bloodline," Lin Yuan replied.
"Oh?" The Emperor's eyes lit up.
Previously, he had only held hope for the Ancestor’s bloodline at the Heavenly Sovereign level.
But after witnessing the contest over the treasure land and seeing the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign's overwhelming power...
He was no longer just hopeful—he was fervent.
Of course, the Emperor also understood that much of Lin Yuan’s strength in the treasure land came from the power of the path of chaotic evolution. But the boost from the Ancestor’s bloodline couldn’t be ignored either.
Especially that new Liyang world he created centered around himself—its power was simply unfathomable.
"However, bloodline excavation is highly random. Not everyone can awaken powerful talents from their Ancestor’s bloodline," Lin Yuan reminded.
Once integrated with this Source World, the martial evolution path's bloodline excavation method had seen major improvement. But no matter how great the improvement, results still varied by individual.
As the Ancestor of Martial Dao and with Unrivaled Insight, Lin Yuan could grasp the root power deep within the bloodline and awaken the ‘Sunborn Genesis’ divine power.
But other cultivators didn’t have that ability. And the excavation of bloodline divine powers depended not just on oneself, but also on the strength of the root power within their bloodline.
Most importantly, Lin Yuan’s technique fused his inner universe, the divine ability ‘World’, the inheritance of Infinite Void, and ‘Sunborn Genesis.’
Sunborn Genesis alone, though powerful, still had many limitations.
"Naturally," the Emperor nodded, not surprised in the least.
The same cultivation legacy could bring some to the level of Great Sovereign, while others couldn’t even reach Path-Clearing.
If Lin Yuan’s bloodline excavation method could allow every lifeform to unearth the Ancestor’s bloodline to the level of Heavenly Sovereign, then the Emperor would’ve truly been shocked.
To him, as long as the lifeforms of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom could excavate a bit more of their Ancestor’s bloodline and improve overall strength even slightly, he would be satisfied.
If the lower-level lifeforms could access more bloodline power, more mid-tier powerhouses would emerge, and the upper tiers would also rise. This would raise the Kingdom’s overall strength.
"Please take a look."
With a flick of his right hand, Lin Yuan summoned the refined martial evolution path sub-branch before them.
From rank one to eleven, and the various sub-branches beyond rank twelve—everything had been perfectly organized.
The Liyang Ancient Kingdom’s Emperor immediately focused.
"This is…?"
The more he looked, the more shocked he became.
...
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