Mysterious Emperor Universe.
Lin Yuan, the second to enter, felt as if he were traversing a long corridor through space and time.
Eventually, he descended beneath a desolate, silent starry sky.
"This is the interior of the universe?"
Lin Yuan looked around as his immense perception spread outward. âThe suppression of laws here is intense. With my eighth-layer comprehension of space-time, itâs difficult to teleport far within.â
In the outer chaotic void, a Chaos Great Saint could teleport across one-tenthâor even one-hundredthâof a Void Domain with ease.
But here in the Mysterious Emperor Universe? At most, he could cross ten million light-years. The difference was immense.
âAs expected of a universe created by a Supreme Saint.â
The more Lin Yuan observed, the more he recognized the terrifying nature of this universe. Even with its laws running on their own, they could still suppress Chaos Great Saints.
âIn terms of sheer size, this postnatal universe must be many times larger than those naturally born of the chaotic void.â
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
At his current strength, he could easily devastate a naturally formed universe, forcing it into premature collapse. But he couldnât even shake this Mysterious Emperor Universe.
And this was despite the fact that its time and space had already begun collapsing from age.
One could imagineâin its prime, even a Supreme Saint wouldnât dare enter lightly.
After all, this was a universe painstakingly created by the Mysterious Sovereign, a Supreme Saint who had poured immense effort into it.
Whereas natural-born universes were simply birthed by chaos. There was no comparison.
âIâm hereâŠâ
While scanning his surroundings, Lin Yuan simultaneously cross-referenced the beast-skin map, quickly pinpointing his location.
âFollowing this path yields the greatest reward.â
He chose one of the pre-planned routes. The final destination was the Mysterious Sovereignâs tomb, but along the way, he would pass through many zones containing rare treasures.
Other powerhouses entering the Mysterious Emperor UniverseâChaos Great Saints includedâcould only instinctively head toward the center. Their rewards along the way? Left to luck.
But Lin Yuan had planned ahead. Without wasting time, he could ensure the greatest returns.
Even if he found nothing in the tomb, this trip would still be worth it.
âLetâs go.â
His figure vanished, reappearing tens of millions of light-years away.
Before he could teleport againâ
ROAR!!!
A terrifying roar rang out. From the depths of space-time, a colossal octopus-shaped creature appeared, its hundreds of tentacles lashing toward Lin Yuan.
Wherever the tentacles passed, time and space were annihilated.
âThis is⊠a Mysterious Emperor Beast?â
Lin Yuanâs heart stirred with surpriseâhe instantly recognized it.
Back when he had explored the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, these beasts had been everywhere.
In truth, Mysterious Emperor Beasts werenât exactly living beings. They were incredibly powerful, capable of drawing upon the surrounding worldâs power, but their intelligence was extremely low.
To the Mysterious Emperor Lineage, Mysterious Emperor Beasts were merely vessels for cultivating Mysterious Emperor Crystals.
In their training, these crystals were essentialâfor instance, Lin Yuanâs cultivation of the [Mysterious Emperor Body] required a vast amount.
âThis oneâs powerfulâalmost at the Chaos threshold.â
Lin Yuan judged its strength as he observed.
In the Mysterious Emperor Realm, their power capped out at Rank 9 Ten-Thousandfold Stage. But here? They were vastly stronger, reaching the threshold of the Chaos Realm.
âNot surprising. Mysterious Emperor Beasts draw strength from their surroundings. This universeâs origin is overwhelming. Even as it collapses, it grants them terrifying boosts.â
Lin Yuan nodded slightly.
Even a dying behemoth was larger than a horse. And compared to the Secret Realm, this universe was no mere behemoth.
Crashâ
As the beast launched its frenzied attack, Lin Yuan calmly activated his divine powerââWorld.â
Under an invisible wave of cosmic force, the Chaos-threshold Mysterious Emperor Beast disintegrated into dust.
Its intelligence was too low. Though it possessed Chaos-level combat power, it wasnât truly a Chaos Realm.
A real Chaos Realm wouldâve fled the moment they saw Lin Yuan. Even if they couldnât escape, they wouldnât charge in recklessly like this beast.
That was the first difference. The second? Their attacks were overly simple. Once patterns were understood, they were easy to counter.
Of course, âeasyâ only applied when one had Lin Yuanâs overwhelming strength.
For an average Chaos Realmâeven at peak levelâfacing a beast like this for the first time would be a nightmare.
As the octopus-shaped beastâs body crumbled, a Mysterious Emperor Crystal, several thousand meters in size, appeared.
âThis crystalâŠâ
Lin Yuanâs eyes lit up. It was the largest heâd ever seen. Even the total output of the Secret Realm paled in comparison.
âWith this, I can finally push the [Mysterious Emperor Body] to the Chaos Realm.â
He was satisfied. This body-tempering art, created by the Mysterious Sovereign, had massive resource demands.
While it could absorb any resource, Mysterious Emperor Crystals were essential.
The Secret Realm was semi-fused with the universe, constantly absorbing chaotic energy and producing new crystals.
Had his home universe not collapsed early, a full cosmic era wouldâve been enough to push Lin Yuanâs [Mysterious Emperor Body] to the Chaos level.
If not to perfection, then at least near itâwith more eras for further accumulation.
For Chaos Realms, waiting a dozen or a hundred eras wasnât unusual.
But due to that early collapse, Lin Yuan had lost his steady source of crystals.
After perfecting the Dominance stage, his training had stalledânot because of lack of generic resources, but because of the missing crystals.
âIf I can find a few tens of thousands of these beasts at this level, I should reach the Chaos stage.â
Storing the massive crystal, Lin Yuan estimated silently.
His physical foundation was already monstrous. Even at just Dominance Perfection, his body nearly rivaled a Chaos Great Saintâs.
Once he broke through, his physique would reach the peak among Chaos Great Saints.
If he perfected it? He could crush Supreme Saints with just his body.
âTens of thousands?â
He looked around at the starry skyâunconcerned. The Mysterious Emperor Universe was vast, and it definitely held more than that many beasts.
âThere are many Evolvers here. I can trade for more of their crystals later.â
He reasoned calmly.
If he could encounter a beast, so could others.
Mysterious Emperor Beasts couldnât leave their territories. Upon death, both body and soul perished, leaving only the crystal.
But only Mysterious Emperor Lineage members had use for these crystals.
To others? They were no more than chaotic stones of equivalent size. If Lin Yuan offered a premium, those Evolvers would line up to sell.
From then onâ
Every time Lin Yuan teleported, he scanned the area. If a beast appeared, heâd swiftly kill and collect its crystal. If not, he simply continued along the planned route.
Not because the crystals werenât valuableâthey were vital to his body cultivation.
But for now, he was the only one who truly needed them. There was no rush.
Besides, killing a Chaos-threshold Mysterious Emperor Beast wasnât easy for most Evolvers.
The returnâjust tens of thousands of chaotic stonesâwas hardly worth the effort.
âIâve arrived.â
He now stood before a pale green planet, carefully observing it.
It emitted no auraâno different from any dead planet.
But on the map, it was clearly marked: Life Source Star.
It was said to produce Life Godstones, one of the Chaos Voidâs rarest treasures. A palm-sized piece could restore a mortally wounded Great Saint.
Even irreversible injuries couldnât kill you, as long as the stone still held power.
Because of that, Life Godstones were priceless lifesaving artifactsâcoveted by all Chaos Great Saints.
âGodstones fall from the Sea of Life, a mysterious realm like the Thunder Poolâplaces we canât access.â
âOnly that sea births them. And even then, extremely rarely.â
âBut this starâŠâ
Lin Yuan gazed down.
This was the benefit of a postnatal universe: the ability to set oneâs own laws.
This Life Source Star had been carefully crafted by the Mysterious Sovereign to mimic the Sea of Life. It could indeed birth Godstones.
Of course, it was vastly inferior in efficiency. But after tens of millions of cosmic erasâwithout anyone taking themâsurely it had accumulated quite a few.
âLetâs take a look.â
He sent an avatar inside, despite the mapâs note that it held no danger.
Who knew what mightâve changed after so long?
The avatar descended swiftly into the starâs core.
âHmm?â
The area was saturated with misty vitality. Lin Yuan felt he could recover from any injury just by standing here.
âWhatâs that?â
In the deepest part, a green crystal nearly three meters wide floated quietly. All the surrounding mist flowed from it.
âA Life Godstone?â
âThree meters wide?â
Lin Yuan was stunned.
A palm-sized piece could save a dying Great Saint. This one was thousands of times larger.
Enough to save thousands of Saints?
âWith this⊠even if I were besieged by Supreme Saints, I wouldnât die quickly.â
He was thrilled.
As long as the stone still had energy, Lin Yuan was essentially immortalâfar beyond the simple regeneration of blood-based techniques.
Unless a Rank Thirteen being erased him from the timeline, he could not be killed.
âHow many chaos stones would this be worth?â
He calmed his thoughts. In truth, no amount could buy such a stone.
Even for Great Saints, this was a top-tier survival tool.
âCollect it.â
Without hesitation, he began retrieving the stone.
Boomâ
The entire star quaked. Lin Yuanâs main body also acted to support the avatar.
Eventually, the three-meter Life Godstone settled into his palm.
âA massive windfall.â
His heart was jubilant. Even if he gained nothing else in this journey, this alone made it worth it.
âMore than just a lifesaver, it contains profound laws of life itself. Itâll greatly help my understanding of life-based principles.â
Storing it carefully in his inner universe, Lin Yuan allocated a portion of his mind to study itâand immediately sensed insights.
âLetâs not get ahead of ourselves.â
âTime to collect the next treasure.â
After verifying nothing else remained, he left. The green mist rapidly faded.
Whooshâ
He vanished again, leaping tens of millions of light-years.
From here, he followed the preplanned route, visiting each zone that stored rare itemsâtaking them all.
Great Saintâlevel weapons?
Treasures unseen in ten thousand cosmic eras?
Items only birthed in mysterious regions of the Chaos Void?
Everything that the Mysterious Emperor Universe had accumulated over millions of erasâ
Now fell into Lin Yuanâs hands.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: /David_Lord