Chapter 485

Crack, crack.

As the first fissure appeared.

On the surface of the towering giant “egg,” a second fissure, then a third fissure, continually emerged.

Each fissure spread, expanded, and split with rapid speed.

In the blink of an eye.

The giant “egg,” nurtured by countless rules, was covered in cracks.

“Chaos!”

At that moment, Lin Yuan’s true body and soul, as well as every incarnation, and all the rules he had comprehended, finally fused together.

Over the course of a thousand years, Lin Yuan had grasped more and more rules, and there had already been a trend of fusion among those numerous rules. Now, they had completely merged into one.

Boom!

The towering giant “egg,” covered in fissures, silently collapsed. A new rule, born from countless other rules yet transcending them, emerged.

This is chaos.

The rule of chaos.

“Finally… I’ve finally comprehended the rule of chaos.”

Lin Yuan opened his eyes. In the instant that the rule of chaos took shape, all of Lin Yuan’s incarnations and even his two Primordial Souls fully mastered it.

“So this is the rule of chaos?”

Everything in Lin Yuan’s field of vision became simpler.

If the rule of time and space is the cornerstone of all things—the world’s operations and the impact of rules all inseparable from time and space—then the rule of chaos is everything of all things. From the highest realm of time and space down to the basic rules of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, all originate from the rule of chaos.

All great dao rules arise from chaos.

“My mental will, my soul, my body, my entire being, they’re all getting stronger.” After giving birth to the rule of chaos, Lin Yuan sensed that every aspect of himself was undergoing a transformation, and a massive one at that.

In truth, taking another step forward at such heights is extremely difficult. At Lin Yuan’s level, aside from making a great leap in realm, it’s almost impossible to achieve another sudden boost in power.

Between Lin Yuan a thousand years ago and Lin Yuan a thousand years later, the latter had comprehended several million types of pillar-level fused rules, yet the gap in power between the two time periods wasn’t that vast.

While several million fused rules sounds like a lot, they were like loose soil.

They struggled to form a single, cohesive force.

But now, as soon as the rule of chaos was born, those several million rules rapidly merged into one, creating a blade so sharp and indestructible that nothing could withstand it.

“Forty million points of mental will.” With a slight inward sense, Lin Yuan found that his mental will had reached forty million points.

One must realize that mental will doesn’t improve in the same way as the physical body or soul. Over a thousand years, immersed within the core of the Immortal Realm’s origin, Lin Yuan had only increased his mental will by tens of thousands of points.

But now, the moment the rule of chaos emerged, his mental will index surpassed forty million points, and it still wasn’t stopping—his mental will continued to rise.

“My sense of time and space is also expanding rapidly.”

Lin Yuan’s gaze seemed to pierce through endless time and space. Before, at most, he could sense an area equivalent to a few dozen Immortal Realms. Now, that range was quickly closing in on the size of a hundred Immortal Realms, then two hundred, three hundred, and still climbing.

“My inner world.”

Lin Yuan looked toward his inner world. His transmigrated body's inner world was around 230 million miles across.

It wasn’t like the main universe, which, after breaching from rank ten to rank eleven, received the infusion of chaos-void origin. Under normal circumstances, the inner world’s size would be limited to that scope.

That was already based on the mysterious gourd’s transformation and support. Otherwise, the limit would be around ten million miles across.

Right now, though, with the birth of the rule of chaos, his inner world also began frantically expanding—one billion miles, ten billion miles, a hundred billion miles…

“Hmm?”

“The River of Time?”

Lin Yuan looked at the Immortal Realm’s River of Time. Whether in the main universe or the Immortal Realm, he had always been suppressed by that River of Time. To be free of its suppression, he would have to take the ultimate leap to rank twelve. Even with the martial evolution path spreading among countless beings, the suppression on Lin Yuan by the River of Time had only weakened slightly.

Yet now?

Lin Yuan clearly sensed that the River of Time’s pressure on him had decreased significantly.

A weaker suppression from the River of Time meant that when Lin Yuan finally made the ultimate leap, the backlash from the River of Time would be much smaller as well.

This is also why comprehending the rule of chaos at the eleventh rank can greatly increase one’s chances of reaching the final twelfth rank.

Of course, that’s only the theoretical reason.

Those who had already comprehended the rule of chaos were no longer at rank eleven long ago. The so-called rank eleven comprehension of the rule of chaos is just an extension of the principle that everything is derived from chaos.

In essence, the River of Time, which stems from the fusion of time and space, can suppress all life, but it cannot suppress chaos.

As long as you grasp the rule of chaos, even if it’s only at the first stage, you can largely neutralize the suppression and backlash of the River of Time.

“The rule of chaos is the threshold for those at the Dominance stage to step into the Chaos stage. To become a Chaos-stage powerhouse, one must comprehend the rule of chaos.”

Lin Yuan quietly thought this through.

Rank twelve divides into three levels: Path-Clearing, Dominance, and Chaos.

A rank twelve Chaos-stage cultivator can roam freely in the chaos void. An existence such as the Mysterious Sovereign is at the pinnacle of the Chaos stage. The same goes for the master of Devil Jade Tower.

Certainly, the Mysterious Sovereign stands at the peak of the Chaos stage, and so does the master of Devil Jade Tower.

“My current power should already be able to face someone like the Immortal Realm’s Dao Ancestor at rank twelve head-on, right?” Lin Yuan wondered.

Before grasping the rule of chaos, Lin Yuan relied on his seventh-level mastery of time and space, which was only enough to save himself from a rank twelve ultimate being like the Immortal Dao Ancestor. Given the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s deep foundation at the ultimate stage of rank twelve, he could stand still and probably be impervious to Lin Yuan’s attacks.

Yet now, the rule of chaos united every rule Lin Yuan had learned, pulling them all into a single entity.

Even if his essence of life remained at rank eleven, in terms of raw combat strength, Lin Yuan had reached genuine rank twelve ultimate power. And that was just Lin Yuan’s true form in the Immortal Realm, which was ultimately a temporary vessel in terms of foundation. It was far from comparable to his main self in the main universe.

In the main universe, his true body underwent an infusion of chaos void origin upon advancing to rank eleven. However, due to Lin Yuan’s life-level constraints, most of that foundation stayed dormant in his inner world.

Now that Lin Yuan had given rise to the rule of chaos, even if his life-level hadn’t changed, his ability to absorb the chaos void origin would definitely surge. One could imagine that once he returned, his main self in the main universe would gain an even bigger power boost than what he had just achieved in the Immortal Realm.

By then, even if the main universe’s rank twelve ultimates have greater strength than the Immortal Dao Ancestor, Lin Yuan would still be able to withstand or even suppress them.

Rank twelve ultimate figures in the main universe tend to be stronger than the Immortal Dao Ancestor, largely because of their competition against each other, the abundance of inherited treasures from beyond the universe, and that infusion of chaos void origin upon taking the ultimate leap. On average, they’re considerably stronger than the Immortal Dao Ancestor.

“I feel like at any moment I might be forced into taking the ultimate leap.”

Lin Yuan exhaled gently. His foundation was now too robust. It felt as though the River of Time could no longer fully hold him back.

“Hold it together, hold it together.”

Lin Yuan steadied himself. He absolutely planned to make that ultimate leap in the main universe. After all, in the main universe, that leap would be accompanied by an infusion of chaos void origin, which the Immortal Realm lacks. This is one reason the Immortal Dao Ancestor isn’t as strong as the main universe’s rank twelve ultimates.

Lin Yuan wasn’t certain whether making the ultimate leap in the Immortal Realm and then returning to the main universe’s chaos void would grant him a second infusion of chaos void origin. To stay on the safe side, it was best to go back and break through to rank twelve there.

“The rule of chaos?”

Lin Yuan refocused and began to familiarize himself with this brand-new power—or rather, this brand-new rule.

While Lin Yuan was running the rule of chaos and letting it collide and interact with the myriad rules of the Immortal Realm, all the rules across the entire Immortal Realm began to tremble.

In the core of the Immortal Realm’s origin, on Dao Ancestor Continent, the Immortal Dao Ancestor was in seclusion. Even after crossing into rank twelve, one still needs to continue comprehending rules.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s eyes flew open, revealing a trace of shock on his face.

“Why do I feel like all the rule fluctuations are shaking?” he muttered in disbelief.

In the Immortal Dao Ancestor’s perspective at rank twelve, rule fluctuations are usually orderly and stable. The functioning of a world depends on innumerable flawlessly interlocking rule fluctuations.

Yet now, he could clearly sense that the fluctuations in the origin of the Immortal Realm—and indeed throughout the entire Immortal Realm—had become chaotic, almost as though they had a life of their own and were frightened.

It resembled a calm pond whose waters once flowed in a steady state, but something colossal within its depths had begun thrashing about, sending hidden currents everywhere.

But the Immortal Dao Ancestor also knew that a complete world’s operation, governed by innumerable rules, is a perfectly balanced system. It’s not something you can disrupt merely at will. Even someone as strong as the Immortal Dao Ancestor can only influence the equilibrium of rule fluctuations within a limited range by mobilizing his dao path.

Yet this sweeping chaos to the Immortal Realm’s rules left the Immortal Dao Ancestor with a sense of unease.

“What on earth is happening?”

He scanned every corner of the core and the Immortal Realm’s thirty-three celestial domains. Far in the Abyss of Demons, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor was likewise examining his vast domain.

“Is it the Martial Dao Ancestor?”

After a while, the Immortal Dao Ancestor directed his gaze toward the core of the Immortal Realm’s origin, where the world’s consciousness resided—and where the Martial Dao Ancestor had entered a thousand years ago.

He wasn’t certain about the precise cause of the current rule upheaval, but he knew he himself wasn’t responsible. In the entire Immortal Realm and Abyss of Demons, aside from him, only that unfathomable Martial Dao Ancestor could bring about such an effect.

“What in the world did the Martial Dao Ancestor do to create such chaos… Did he break through to the Ancestor Realm?”

The Immortal Dao Ancestor speculated, then shook his head. He himself had ascended to the Ancestor Realm and understood quite well what the resulting upheaval would look like. Though such a breakthrough is indeed astonishing, it’s not what’s happening now.

Moreover, so far he hadn’t sensed anyone transcending the bindings of the River of Time, which meant that the Martial Dao Ancestor had not yet reached the Ancestor Realm.

The first to sense the operation of chaos were indeed the Immortal Dao Ancestor, followed by the many Golden Immortals and Jade Immortals of the thirty-three immortal domains.

Golden Immortals have already comprehended the rule of space to some extent; Jade Immortals are even more advanced, and both rely heavily on external rules. In comparison, immortals below Golden Immortal and the mortal realm sensed very little.

“What’s going on?”

“Why are the fluctuations of space rules becoming unstable?”

“Me too—various basic rules are affected.”

Throughout the thirty-three immortal domains, Golden Immortals and Jade Immortals grew anxious. The Immortal Dao Ancestor, having reached this realm, was largely unaffected—his foundation was unshakable. But Golden Immortals and Jade Immortals, still in the phase of sensing and depending on external rules, felt their very roots threatened by even the smallest shift.

“Is this because of the Immortal Dao Ancestor? The Abyss of Demons Progenitor? Or the Martial Dao Ancestor?”

“I think it’s probably the Martial Dao Ancestor.”

“Yes, it must be. Before the Martial Dao Ancestor emerged, hundreds of millions of years passed without anything like today’s upheaval.”

“The Martial Dao Ancestor… so this is the power of the Martial Dao Ancestor?”

These Golden and Jade Immortals were uneasy, but none dared to rush to Martial City and question the Martial Dao Ancestor’s disciples. Are you joking? The Martial Dao Ancestor can provoke waves across the entire Immortal Realm.

Even the Immortal Dao Ancestor and Abyss of Demons Progenitor are staying put. Anyone else who tries to demand an explanation would just be throwing their life away. Clearly, that would be sheer insanity.

“That’s enough for now.”

After familiarizing himself with the rule of chaos for a while, Lin Yuan gradually withdrew it. He also saw how the rule of chaos affected the countless rules of the Immortal Realm—because it stands above all other rules, it naturally suppresses them, even time and space.

In the core of the Immortal Realm’s origin.

Lin Yuan’s gaze turned to the world consciousness lurking in the corner.

A thousand years ago, when Lin Yuan first arrived here, that consciousness was on high alert. Yet over time, once it realized Lin Yuan wasn’t causing trouble and was focusing on understanding the laws, its guard relaxed, and they ended up sharing this core area.

Now, however, after Lin Yuan produced the rule of chaos and deliberately released a hint of this fundamental rule’s aura, letting it softly operate, the Immortal Realm’s consciousness seemed like a mouse that just saw a cat. Without hesitation, it fled to the farthest corner, trembling.

Lin Yuan found that surprising. Although the world consciousness can’t wield the entire power of the Immortal Realm in this core location, he could still feel that it retained some defensive measures. A thousand years ago, it yielded to Lin Yuan partly because Lin Yuan’s threat was genuine, but also because it had its own hidden cards. At the very least, it wouldn’t be completely helpless against him.

“Are you afraid?”

Lin Yuan looked at the Immortal Realm’s consciousness huddled in the corner and took the initiative to ask.

The Immortal Realm’s consciousness only has primal instincts. This reaction came from genuine terror deep within.

“Buzz, buzz…” After a while, the Immortal Realm’s consciousness responded, explaining the reason for Lin Yuan’s doubts.

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