Chapter 596

There are eighty-one Chaos Secret Pattern Diagrams in total.

These diagrams were bestowed by the Liyang Ancestor, containing the ultimate intricacies and fundamental threads of the chaos rules.

The twenty-seventh Chaos Secret Pattern Diagram is the last of the eighteen diagrams that represent the second stage of chaos. Comprehending it fully marks one’s understanding of chaos rules reaching the peak of the second stage.

“So that’s how it is.”

Lin Yuan felt a rush of joy. Previously, there were still many parts of this diagram he didn’t understand.

But now, all doubts had vanished. Every wisp of swirling chaos energy appeared wondrously simple to his eyes.

“Liyang Ancestor…”

Lin Yuan felt deep admiration. To extract the essence of chaos rules and display it in the form of diagrams—such a method was beyond imagination.

“Still, even with such superior cultivation conditions, no thirteenth-rank being has emerged in the Liyang Ancient Kingdom over all these endless years…”

Lin Yuan couldn’t help but feel pressure.

Since the birth of this source world, only six known thirteenth-rank time lifeforms had ever emerged—each founding one of the six ancient kingdoms.

Apart from the very first thirteenth-rank, three others came from the kingdom that the first one established, and two more from another kingdom.

As for the Liyang Ancient Kingdom?

No thirteenth-rank had ever arisen apart from its founding Ancestor.

“The Heavenly Sovereigns of the Liyang Ancient Kingdom, as long as they’ve lived long enough, can pretty much all accumulate the hundred billion merit required to possess the Ancestor once—or even two or three times. And they’ve basically all comprehended the eighty-one diagrams.”

Lin Yuan thought silently.

One hundred billion merit might seem unreachable in the short term, but guarding a first-class resource ground yields one hundred merit every ten thousand years.

So it would take just ten trillion years of guarding to earn enough—and for a Heavenly Sovereign, ten trillion years isn’t long at all.

Not to mention, every time a full-scale war erupts between kingdoms, any contribution a Heavenly Sovereign makes earns merit.

“Forget it.”

“It’s too early to think about this now.”

Lin Yuan steadied himself. He was only at the Dominance stage—he wouldn’t even consider the thirteenth rank until reaching perfection in the Chaos stage.

“Let’s look at the twenty-eighth Chaos Secret Pattern Diagram.”

With a thought, a new “diagram” appeared before Lin Yuan.

Starting from the twenty-eighth, the diagrams delve into the mysteries of the third stage of chaos.

Fifty-four diagrams cover the third stage—evidence of how obscure and difficult this level of chaos rules is.

[Your Unrivaled Insight boosts your comprehension of chaos rules as you study the Chaos Secret Pattern Diagram.]

After only a short time studying, Lin Yuan felt that the essence of chaos contained in this one diagram surpassed the combined depth of the previous twenty-seven.

“Incredible… So beautiful…”

Lin Yuan studied it intently, estimating that it would take about a thousand years to fully comprehend.

Which meant that, barring unexpected circumstances, in a thousand years, his mastery of chaos rules would reach the third stage.

Chaos Void.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

“Peak of the second stage of chaos.”

A smile appeared on his face.

“I can try to evolve the power of Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi now.”

Using chaos rules to develop a personal power path—that was something only Chaos Great Saints in the Chaos Void could achieve.

Lin Yuan was able to attempt it now only because his foundational rule comprehension was extremely deep.

Even in the source world—where comprehension was easier than in the Chaos Void—only Great Sovereigns had any hope of forming a personal chaos power.

But Lin Yuan?

He was attempting it at the Dominance stage.

In fact, if the Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi weren’t so difficult to evolve and didn’t require such high understanding, Lin Yuan could’ve tried it at the Path-Clearing stage.

Compared to things like pure Chaos Flame, Chaos Shadow, or Chaos Life,

Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi was the fusion of two fundamentally opposite paths into a new kind of power.

Inner Universe.

Lin Yuan's figure condensed and formed.

Rumble—

Massive amounts of chaos energy surged, like a chaotic ocean. Deep within it, searing heat and frigid cold churned endlessly.

“Mm.”

“With my current peak second-stage comprehension, I can indeed evolve Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi power, but the speed…”

Lin Yuan sensed carefully and realized it would take at least ten million years to succeed.

Ten million years?

Although ten million years wasn’t much to Lin Yuan—after stepping into the twelfth rank, he no longer had a lifespan limit—it was still a long time.

How long had it even been since he became an evolver?

“To evolve Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi with only second-stage comprehension is still a bit forced—that’s why it would take ten million years. But if I reach third-stage comprehension, the time required might shrink significantly.”

Lin Yuan was thoughtful.

In Chaos Yin-Yang Tai Chi, chaos was the foundation—the container. The deeper one’s understanding of chaos rules, the faster the evolution.

At peak second stage, it would take ten million years to evolve it.

But with third-stage comprehension? Maybe just ten thousand years.

Go further, reach the peak of third-stage comprehension? Perhaps only a thousand—or even a few thousand—years.

“One step at a time.”

“I’m not in a rush. Even if it takes ten million years, I can wait.”

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, thinking to himself.

“That black jade really does help with willpower. It’s only been half a year, and my willpower index has increased by five million—up to seventy-five million.”

Lin Yuan thought silently.

No wonder Black Jade Nest was a first-class ground. The Liyang Ancestor was a thirteenth-rank time lifeform. Those Great Sovereigns and Heavenly Sovereigns had seen every treasure imaginable.

And still, they fought to temporarily guard Black Jade Nest—proof of how effective black jade was.

“Still, gaining five million willpower in just half a year was likely because it was my first time using black jade. Going forward, it won’t be so easy.”

Since Lin Yuan had never used black jade before, his improvement was dramatic.

Chiyang Heavenly Sovereign gave up Black Jade Nest so readily partly to avoid offending Lin Yuan, and partly because his own willpower flaw had already been fixed—black jade wasn’t as useful to him anymore.

“Once I’ve accumulated enough extra black jade, I could bring some back to the Chaos Void and sell it to those Venerables and Saints.”

Lin Yuan mused. So far, he hadn’t heard of any treasure in the Chaos Void that could boost willpower like this.

Previously, Lin Yuan had used the Gate of Myriad Realms to descend into the Boundless Void and slain void creatures in secret realms to strengthen his willpower.

But that method had a ceiling—at most, it could raise his willpower to forty or fifty million.

It couldn’t compare to black jade, which was effective even for Heavenly Sovereign-level willpower.

Between the Yiyun Void Domain and the Anbo Void Domain—

Was a vast stretch of barren void.

So-called barren void was a general term for the space between two void domains.

Void domains were regions where chaos energy was dense—ideal for life to cultivate and thrive. The chaos energy in such places nurtured strong beings more easily.

But between those void domains, the barren void was thin in chaos energy, and few strong beings ever settled there.

If the Chaos Void was an ocean, then each void domain was an island—while the barren void was the water covering 99% of the ocean.

Simply put, the barren void made up the vast majority of the Chaos Void.

At that moment—

From the deathly silent barren void, a terrifying fluctuation erupted.

A fiery red aura and an endless dark shadow clashed violently, and the shockwaves spread in every direction.

Several naturally formed universes, nurtured by the Chaos Void, were prematurely thrust into collapse.

“Nine Phoenix, what will it take for you to stop?”

The voice came from the source of the dark shadow—it was the Shadowfiend Great Saint, speaking again.

When other chaos-level beings broke through to the Saint realm, they were always celebrated by their peers. But he, the Shadowfiend Great Saint, had been hunted by the Nine Phoenix Great Saint ever since his breakthrough.

It hadn’t stopped to this day.

The Shadowfiend Great Saint was bitter—how could he focus on cultivation like this?

“Stop?”

Nine Phoenix Great Saint sneered. “If you can revive all my people, I’ll stop. Well? Can you do that?”

“That’s impossible.”

The Shadowfiend Great Saint shook his head.

Nine Phoenix Great Saint belonged to a race of natural phenomenon lifeforms, most of whom had reached the twelfth rank and escaped the River of Time—how could they be revived?

Escaping the River of Time broke the limits of lifespan, but it also meant losing the possibility of resurrection.

“Hmph.”

Nine Phoenix Great Saint didn’t respond. Instead, a torrent of chaotic flame filled with boundless vitality blasted toward the Shadowfiend Great Saint.

His form blurred, and the blast struck a distant part of the barren void.

But—

Boom!

A faint ripping sound rang out.

Where the chaotic fire struck, a fragment of shattered space-time suddenly emerged, as if a corner of a vast world had been exposed.

Wisps of Mysterious Emperor aura swirled through the air.

“What is that?”

Nine Phoenix and Shadow Demon both noticed instantly and, for once, stopped fighting, staring at the revealed corner of space-time.

“That fragment… it must be the entrance to a universe, previously hidden deep in time-space, now exposed by my strike?”

Nine Phoenix Great Saint was suspicious and uncertain.

“It’s not a naturally formed universe—it’s one that was created. Only a Supreme Saint—or even one of the strongest among them—could have created such a vast universe.”

Shadowfiend Great Saint had come to the same conclusion.

In the Chaos Void, there were two kinds of universes.

First were natural universes—born from the chaos void itself.

Second were artificial universes—created by Supreme Saints.

Artificial universes lacked the indestructibility of natural ones, but they far surpassed them in depth and foundation.

After all, they were crafted by Supreme Saints.

A Supreme Saint who created a universe could define its rules and typically used it as their private domain.

“A great fortune—this is a massive opportunity.”

The Shadowfiend Great Saint was overjoyed. A universe created by a Supreme Saint? And from the look of it, that Saint was no longer present—otherwise, this fragment would never have been exposed by their battle.

Guming Chaos Continent, Fragment World of Star Tear.

Lin Yuan was seated cross-legged, studying the twenty-eighth Chaos Secret Pattern Diagram.

Suddenly—

Lin Yuan’s expression shifted slightly.

He turned his right hand, and a piece of beast hide appeared.

It floated into the air, releasing a strange aura, and the mysterious map on its surface began to shimmer faintly.

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