“So the Lord of Wu Shan didn’t ask challengers to defeat them— that’s simply impossible.”
The golden figure spoke.
Even those blessed children of eternity would be crushed by any one of the three painted beings, much less all three.
Especially the last one, which the Lord of Wu Shan painted using the Lord of Heavenly Radiance as the prototype.
The Lord of Heavenly Radiance was not only the strongest Eternal Lord of this world, but also the most mysterious.
No one knew his past; they only knew that from the very first moment he appeared, he was already an Eternal Lord. The other Eternal Lords— including the Lord of Wu Shan— had, strictly speaking, received his favor.
Even the rune Dao was passed down by the Lord of Heavenly Radiance; the other Eternal Lords were not the founders of the rune Dao.
“I can use any means?”
Lin Yuan thought for a moment and asked.
“Of course.”
“No matter what method you use, as long as it springs from your own power— if you can walk into the entrance at the center of the world, you pass.”
The golden figure said, “There are no restrictions.”
“Good.”
Lin Yuan nodded lightly.
“You can take my advice or not.”
The golden figure added. In his view, Lin Yuan’s only hope of passing was to completely transcend the fused spacetime laws.
But that was only advice; he could not force Lin Yuan to follow it.
“Mm.”
Lin Yuan looked at the three grand scrolls. “Can I try now?”
“You may.”
The golden figure was not surprised.
Whether or not they could pass the blockade, every previous challenger tried fighting the beings in the scrolls right away.
After all, these three paintings represented what the Lord of Wu Shan deemed the limit of the Freedom Third Realm. Even if one couldn’t win, it was worth witnessing.
There was no danger anyway.
“Go.”
The golden figure watched Lin Yuan. “Within ten million li of the entrance, the first scroll’s being will emerge. Within one million li, the second will emerge. Within one hundred thousand li, the third will emerge.”
Put simply, the closer you got, the greater the obstruction. Especially within one hundred thousand li, all three would move to stop you.
“Alright.”
Lin Yuan flew straight toward the world’s center.
The closer he drew, the more he felt the grand, unbelievable might of the paintings.
“These three beings in the scrolls were painted by the Lord of Wu Shan— created from nothing?” Lin Yuan was slightly awed. At least the six Ancestors of the First Source World had no such means.
Of course, every thirteenth-rank lifeform had different strengths. The Lord of Wu Shan excelled in the Dao of painting— essentially creation from the void.
In raw killing power, he might be somewhat inferior to other Eternal Lords?
Very soon.
Lin Yuan arrived within ten million li of the entrance.
Rusha…
The first grand scroll unfurled ripples, its surface like water.
The golden-armored youth seemed to come alive— flexing his hands, then stepping out of the painting in a single stride.
“You are the three thousand six hundred and thirty-fifth challenger.”
The golden youth glanced lazily at Lin Yuan and shook his head. “But looking at you, you won’t even get past me.”
Only by reaching within one million li would the second scroll’s being emerge.
Until then, the golden youth would prevent Lin Yuan from approaching.
“Let’s try it.”
Lin Yuan’s expression grew a shade solemn. A foe on par with an Abyss Dragon— this was his first time meeting one.
“Hahahaha.”
The golden youth laughed loudly. His aura suddenly surged; billions of runes bloomed across every plate of his golden armor, compressing and congealing spacetime all around.
“This rune path?”
Lin Yuan watched closely. The youth’s use of the rune Dao far surpassed any rune inheritance Lin Yuan had obtained. The terrifying aura nearly crushed spacetime into particulate dust.
“Suppress.”
The golden youth raised his right hand and pressed toward Lin Yuan.
The surrounding spacetime transformed into countless runes, instantly enveloping Lin Yuan. An ordinary Third Realm of Freedom would be frozen on the spot and then utterly suppressed.
Indeed, an ordinary Third Realm wouldn’t even withstand the youth’s first move, let alone break through.
“Interpreting spacetime with runes?”
A glint flashed in Lin Yuan’s eyes. He took a single step back, easily slipping past the youth’s grab.
For a thousand years, Lin Yuan had continuously contemplated the First Source World’s source in motion; his comprehension of the fused spacetime laws had drawn near the limit. Even if he had no hope of reaching the entrance, evading the youth’s opening strike was well within his means.
“Hmm?”
The golden youth blinked, clearly not expecting Lin Yuan to be so “slippery.”
“Your spacetime insight is decent,” he praised, then added calmly, “but still far from enough.”
Rumble—
Golden runes flooded in from every direction.
They wove and flowed, faintly forming a vast golden prison.
“This move?”
Lin Yuan’s expression tightened. Even with his insight into spacetime, breaking free of this golden prison would take some work— and in that time, the youth’s next strike would already have landed. Rusha…
Lin Yuan’s body turned into an eternal blazing sun. As a Yang Primordial Soul, such killing moves carried great might.
At the same time—
The divine ability “World” spun to life.
The golden cage trembled, then shattered with a boom. An instant later, the youth’s next strike crashed down.
Freed from the golden prison, Lin Yuan melded into spacetime and slipped away.
“This technique… I haven’t seen it before.”
The youth was slightly surprised. Since the calamity, he had seen challenger after challenger across the long ages— but a contender who became a blazing sun, and imposed such domineering transformation and torsion upon spacetime itself— that was a first.
“Interesting, interesting.”
“But strength is the foundation of all.”
The golden youth attacked again, golden runes saturating spacetime.
From the very start, once the youth moved, Lin Yuan had been driven into the downwind.
Forget breaking through— even holding his ground before the golden youth was strenuous.
“On this descent, all resources were prioritized for my true body. The two primordial souls really were neglected.”
Lin Yuan thought quietly.
Neither the Yin Primordial Soul nor the Yang Primordial Soul had opened a particle world, nor had many resources been invested in cultivating the inner cosmos of their bodies.
Infinite Void had been kept up— but even at the fifth layer, it only matched a normal Invincible Supreme Saint, a strongest Heavenly Sovereign.
Which, in this Source World, equaled the Third Realm of Freedom.
While the golden youth stood above the children of eternity.
In such a situation, for this Yang Primordial Soul of Lin Yuan’s to last this long against him was already remarkable.
Under the youth’s full assault, a Third Realm expert— an Invincible Supreme Saint, a strongest Heavenly Sovereign— couldn’t endure, and would soon be suppressed.
“Chaotic solar power…”
Lin Yuan became a blazing sun again. As a Yang Primordial Soul, he was pure Yang and could not draw on Yin; thus his path of chaotic evolution was not the perfect chaotic Tai Chi, but a singular chaotic sun.
The fierce sun burned and scoured the world. Spacetime in all directions rapidly transformed— all falling within his jurisdiction.
For a moment, even the golden youth’s intangible rune-spacetime receded.
“This move?”
The youth, unusually, halted and watched closely for a moment. He nodded in praise.
“Rare indeed. This kind of chaotic-evolution power, though extreme, truly carries great might.”
In this Source World, runes were the foundation for sensing all things— yet the paths of Dao laws and chaotic-evolution force were also studied.
In the golden youth’s eyes, even a singular chaotic solar force was stunning enough.
“By the road you walk, at the limit you should be able to reach the level of a child of eternity.” His tone cooled.
“But right now, you are far from it.”
“Go back and cultivate for hundreds of millions of years before returning.”
He waved. Boundless golden runes surged again with majestic force, instantly crushing Lin Yuan’s outer-body cosmos.
Boom! Lin Yuan was blasted backward ten million li. Only after a few breaths did his aura steady.
As Lin Yuan exited the ten-million-li range, the golden youth turned and stepped back into the painting.
The golden runes receded, and all returned to normal.
Only Lin Yuan remained standing, lost in thought.
“With an untrained Yang Primordial Soul alone, it’s indeed hard to pass the trial.”
He drew his conclusion. Just the golden youth from the first scroll had repelled him— never mind the second and third scrolls.
“Well? How does it feel?”
The golden figure appeared beside him, a hint of amazement in his gaze.
In truth, Lin Yuan’s performance had exceeded his expectations— nearly approaching the standard of a normal child of eternity.
“Better follow my advice. With frontal strength, you have no hope of passing. Only by completely transcending the fused spacetime laws is there a chance.”
The golden figure said.
Indeed, completely transcending spacetime was a “clever” way to pass, since it avoided frontal engagement with the three scroll-beings and relied on a supremacy of spacetime comprehension to walk into the entrance.
But the Lord of Wu Shan hadn’t forbidden this. The golden figure merely advised along the line where Lin Yuan had the best shot.
“Completely transcending the fused spacetime laws… too slow.”
Lin Yuan answered honestly.
He did feel it was too slow.
Who knew if it would take a thousand years or ten thousand?
“Too slow?”
The golden figure was a little stunned.
As long as there was hope, even trillions of years— what of it?
“I still have methods I haven’t used.”
Lin Yuan looked at the golden figure. “Give me a moment.”
Qingyun Sacred Mountain, deep within Qingyun Institute.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes and slowly stood, then took a step.
Spacetime tore open at once. The terrifying power of his physical body and the vast breath of his inner cosmos pierced through everything.
Outside the trial space, around that valley, countless runes flared at once. Spacetime unfolded, as if resisting the intrusion of some inconceivable existence.
The entire trial space quaked.
Shuddering without cease.
...
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