The Immortal Realmâs consciousness is enraged?
The moment the Source Land shook, the Immortal Dao Ancestor noticed.
Is the Martial Dao Ancestor approaching the Immortal Realmâs consciousness?
Looking toward the center of the Source Land, the Immortal Dao Ancestor was not surprised. Though he had already warned Lin Yuan that the Immortal Realmâs consciousness was terrifying, able to draw upon the power of the entire Immortal Realm at will, the temptation of that central spotâhome to every law of the Immortal Realmâwas simply too great. It was precisely why he himself had once tried to get close to the consciousness and ended up suffering considerable loss.
Now Lin Yuan was approaching that place as well, likely for the same reason.
'Letâs see how long the Martial Dao Ancestor can hold out against the Immortal Realmâs consciousness' the Immortal Dao Ancestor thought with mild curiosity.
Even an Ancestor Immortal cannot clash head-on with the entire Immortal Realm; it all comes down to how long one can endure. The Immortal Dao Ancestor had already made up his mind: if Lin Yuan showed signs of losing, he would intervene and help.
He had first-hand experience battling the Immortal Realmâs consciousness and was confident he could extract Lin Yuan unscathed, which would earn him the Martial Dao Ancestorâs gratitude.
At present, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness is only deploying the power of the Source Land. Thatâs still normal. The truly frightening scenario would be if it summoned the power of the entire Immortal Realm, the Immortal Dao Ancestor thought, carefully sensing the energies at play.
A terrifying force surged forward, intent on swallowing Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan made no effort to block it at all. In terms of sheer power, he was weaker even than the Immortal Dao Ancestor, let alone the Immortal Realmâs consciousness. His greatest confidence in approaching was his comprehension of lawsâspecifically, his mastery of space-time.
With a Seventh Layer space-time understanding, Lin Yuan stood above the Immortal Realm in terms of space-time. It was the same reason the Abyss of Demons Progenitor, who had shattered all the space-time in some region, could never affect Lin Yuan.
Rumbleâ
The violent origin power swept over Lin Yuan in a flash, then blasted off into the distance.
'It didnât touch me?'
Lin Yuan felt reassured. As long as the Immortal Realmâs consciousness could not pinpoint him, all would be fine. If it had been able to lock onto Lin Yuanâs true location, he would have abandoned the approach.
Rumbleâ
Even though it failed to hit him, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness did not cease. It kept gathering the might of the Source Land in an attempt to subdue him. Lin Yuan still chose not to resist. He merely continued to move slowly toward the core where the Immortal Realmâs consciousness resided.
In a few days, perhaps having discovered it could not make contact with Lin Yuan, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness paused. Then a wave of consciousness extended forth, trying to communicate.
Since it possessed consciousness, it was certainly capable of dialogue; it had simply never needed to converse with the Immortal Dao Ancestor in the past. But now, confronted by Lin Yuanâsomeone it could not easily handleâit was forced to initiate communication.
Lin Yuan responded with his own intent: 'Let me come in and perceive the laws at their source.'
'Impossible' replied the Immortal Realmâs consciousness with clear fury. Its location was the core of the Source Land, the point where the consciousness had first arisen. Not only was it the source of all laws in the Immortal Realm; it was also the source of the consciousness itself.
If Lin Yuan entered, he could do more than just observe the laws; he would gain the opportunity to strike at the Immortal Realmâs consciousness directly. Outside that core, the consciousness could readily unleash the full might of the Immortal Realm, but within the core, neither the Immortal Realmâs power nor even origin power could penetrate. There, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness was like a toothless tiger.
'I promise I wonât harm you' Lin Yuan added immediately. He had once replaced the world consciousness of the Azure World, so he knew what it feared most. He offered the guarantee in a timely manner.
Yet the Immortal Realmâs consciousness gave no response. Even the roiling energies in the Source Land went quiet.
'Not going to talk, huh?' Lin Yuan thought for a moment, then continued edging closer to that core. Before long, he came to a halt.
'A space-time barrier?'
He stared at the twisted region of space before him. Even with his Seventh Layer understanding of space-time, he could not advance any further.
'So this is your trump card' Lin Yuan mused. To enter the core, besides braving the consciousnessâs frenzied attacks, one must also surmount this space-time barrier.
Divine Ability: Tear the Sky.
Lifting his right hand, Lin Yuan gathered an invisible force and gave the space-time barrier in front of him a gentle tear. The Tear the Sky was a purely offensive abilityâextreme in its destructive powerâand one of the body-based arts Lin Yuan awakened during this transmigration.
Ripâ
Under that strike, faint ripples spread across the barrier, but they vanished almost instantly.
'It actually worked?' Lin Yuan did not press further.
Moments later, two figures appeared at his side: his Yin Primordial Soul and his Yang Primordial Soul. The might of Tear the Sky depends on the userâs overall power. Though this avatar had formidable strength, it still fell far short of the two Primordial Souls. Of course, those two souls were also weaker than Lin Yuanâs true self, but their power was well beyond what an avatar could bring to bear.
When the two Primordial Souls raised their right hands and again tore at the space-time barrier in front of themâ
Ripâ
The space-time barrier shook more noticeably this time, yet soon returned to its original state.
'If you refuse to let me in, Iâll bring the Immortal Dao Ancestor with me' Lin Yuan threatened the Immortal Realmâs consciousness. With the Immortal Dao Ancestorâs offensive techniques, even if he canât break down the barrier right away, what about a hundred million years from now? Could you hold out forever?
In truth, on his own, the Immortal Dao Ancestorâs attacks could not even get near the space-time barrier; he would be subdued by the worldâs full force before he arrived. But with Lin Yuanâs help, that situation changed. Lin Yuanâs Seventh Layer space-time comprehension prevented the consciousness from pinpointing him. If Lin Yuan truly wanted to bring the Immortal Dao Ancestor here, he could very well succeed.
Of course, Lin Yuan was merely bluffing, since he himself had no desire to wait millions of years. But the Immortal Realmâs consciousness did not know that.
'At that point, I canât promise I wonât strike at you' Lin Yuan continued.
Still, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness gave no response.
'Alright, Iâll go get the Immortal Dao Ancestor now. Maybe Iâll invite the Abyss of Demons Progenitor too' Lin Yuan declared, letting one of his avatars quietly dissipate.
Just then, the previously silent consciousness began stirring again and sent a message to Lin Yuan: 'How could he guarantee he would not launch an attack after entering the core?'
'Youâre in no position to negotiate' Lin Yuan replied firmly.
'Either agree and let me in right now, or a hundred billion years from now, Iâll break in with the Immortal Dao Ancestor.'
With that, Lin Yuan waited in silence for the Immortal Realmâs consciousness to respond.
A long while passed before the consciousness finally delivered a message: it had agreed to Lin Yuanâs condition.
Ten billion years or a hundred billion years might be unimaginably long for Lin Yuan, but to the Immortal Realmâs consciousness, it was hardly any different from tomorrow or the day after. Therefore, from the consciousnessâs perspective, the dilemma was straightforward: let Lin Yuan in today, or be attacked tomorrow or the day after. And the eventual outcomes of those two scenarios would be vastly different.
"Thatâs more like it" Lin Yuan said with a slight smile.
He recalled his two Primordial Souls, leaving only a single avatar before the barrier. At once, the space-time barrier in the distance began to warp, forming a temporary passage into the core.
An instant later, Lin Yuan stepped inside.
"Huh?"
The Immortal Dao Ancestor opened his eyes wide. From the moment he sensed the Source Landâs tumult, he had been using a certain method to observe the clash between Lin Yuan and the Immortal Realmâs consciousness.
He had seen how Lin Yuanâs mastery of space-time nearly brought him to the very core, only to be stopped by a space-time barrier. He had witnessed the appearance of the two Primordial Souls and the destructive Tear the Sky technique.
Though the Immortal Dao Ancestor could not hear Lin Yuanâs exchange with the consciousness, it was obvious that, in the end, the Immortal Realmâs consciousness took the initiative to open a channel and allow Lin Yuan to enter.
"The Martial Dao Ancestor actually got in?"
For countless eons, the Immortal Dao Ancestor had yearned to enter the consciousnessâs core, but it remained only a dream. Without a massive qualitative leap in power, he simply could not prevail against the Immortal Realmâs consciousness. Yet Lin Yuan⊠after just two centuries in the Source Land, he had gone where the Immortal Dao Ancestor himself longed to go but could never reach.
Within the core of the Source LandâŠ
Lin Yuan emerged into the space there. All around him was darkness, with countless glowing points drifting through it. Even at a glance, Lin Yuan realized these glowing points each corresponded to an actual law.
In the dark void, innumerable glowing lights floated. Some were no bigger than a fist, while others were as large as stars.
"How incredible"
Lin Yuan murmured as he studied them one by one. Even the smallest of these lights contained boundless information. Each was the law itself. Even if Lin Yuan had fully grasped a particular law, seeing it manifested like this offered fresh insights.
Once the Immortal Realm begins its final decline, these core light-points will collapse one after another. In the outside world, that would manifest as the Great Dao collapsing. The laws contained here would crumble and then gradually meld together, waiting for the long destruction to pass so that new life can emerge.
So Lin Yuan mused. From the moment he entered the core, he had been half-immersed in enlightenment. Each second, he gained fresh understanding of one law or another.
"Hm?"
'That must be the true form of the Immortal Realmâs consciousness' Lin Yuan thought, noticing a glowing sphere in the distance. Unlike the other lights, this one was clearly the Immortal Realmâs consciousness.
At the moment, it watched Lin Yuan warily. Lin Yuan knew precisely what it was worried about, but he could not be bothered to reassure it. He threw himself wholly into absorbing insights from the vast array of lights around him.
Time slid by.
Unnoticed, a thousand years had passed.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: /David_Lord