âDark Heaven Hall?â
Lin Yuan focused on the source of the space-time fluctuations and, after comparing it to his beast-hide map, quickly arrived at a conclusion.
Dark Heaven Hall was a core region of the Mysterious Emperor Universe, housing the Heart of Dark Heavenâa supreme-grade treasure at the Supreme Saint level.
Since entering the Mysterious Emperor Universe, Lin Yuan had obtained many valuable treasures, but apart from the nearly three-meter-tall Life Godstones, all of them were at or below the Chaos Great Saint level.
As for Supreme Saint-level treasures?
Even when the Mysterious Sovereign lineage still existed, such treasures were extremely rare and typically only found deep within the inner regions of the universe.
âWith my current strength...â
Lin Yuanâs thoughts stirred.
Before entering the Mysterious Emperor Universe, he had plotted several routes based on the beast-hide map, but Dark Heaven Hall hadnât been included as a stop.
That was because the area around Dark Heaven Hall was saturated with Dark Heaven Forceâa power even stronger than the force of the Pagoda. With his strength at the time, it would have taken him a great deal of time and effort to enter.
So he had simply written it off.
Compared to Dark Heaven Hall, Lin Yuan had placed greater priority on reaching the tomb at the deepest part of the universe.
But times had changed.
What was once difficult for Lin Yuan was no longer a problem.
After reaching the second layer of Infinite Void, Lin Yuanâs overall strength had skyrocketed. What could once delay him now posed little threat.
And based on the space-time ripple currently emanating from Dark Heaven Hall, it was clearly surfacing. If Lin Yuan didnât move now, it would surely draw the attention of the other Great Saints.
Great Saints like Heiyao and Dual-Source had the power to enter Dark Heaven Hall as wellâit would just take them longer.
âIâll make a trip.â
With a thought, Lin Yuanâs Yang soul stepped out to follow the original route deeper into the Mysterious Emperor Universe.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuanâs true body immediately began transmigrating toward Dark Heaven Hall at high speed.
The second layer of Infinite Void had elevated Lin Yuanâs power on all frontsânot just his true body, but both his souls had also been strengthened.
At present, his Yang soul alone was stronger than his entire true body had been before entering the Mysterious Emperor Universe.
âThat damn Dual-Source really screwed me over.â
Heiyaoâs expression was dark as he flew through the inner regions of the universe.
As the tenth to enter, heâd had little choice in where to go and had rushed inward. He hadnât had time to carefully inspect anything along the way, and so far, he had nothing to show for it.
A Chaos Great Saintâone of the strongestâand yet not a single worthwhile treasure after entering a postnatal universe? Heiyao found this intolerable.
âDual-Source is certainly hateful, but itâs him...â
His thoughts turned to Lin Yuan. If it hadnât been for Lin Yuan, he would have at least been the third to enter.
âDamn it. Where the hell did he come from?â
Heiyao seethed. Though Lin Yuan had slapped him flying, he hadnât been injured at all.
From that blow, Heiyao judged that Lin Yuanâs strength was roughly on par with his own.
âHm?â
Just then, Heiyaoâs expression shifted as he sensed a strong wave of space-time fluctuations.
âThereââ
He looked over, excitement rising.
This was the signature ripple caused by the emergence of a supreme treasureâa phenomenon that stirred heaven and earth.
âFor a postnatal universe with such heavy space-time suppression to still produce such intense fluctuations...â
âThis has to be a Supreme Saint-level treasure!â
Heiyao didnât hesitate and shot toward the source of the ripple.
Even Supreme Saints would fight over such a treasure. If he, a Chaos Great Saint, could seize itâeven if he couldnât use itâhe could trade it with a Supreme Saint.
âThis space-time fluctuation...â
Elsewhere, Dual-Source, cloaked in blue-gray light, abruptly stopped. âA Supreme Saint-level treasure.â
âEven if this postnatal universe was created by someone nearly at the level of an Invincible Supreme Saint, there shouldnât be many such treasures.â
After a brief pause, he turned toward the rippleâs origin.
Not knowing whether more such treasures lay deeper in the universe, he couldnât afford to miss the one before him.
âThere it is...â
Other Chaos Great SaintsâTianlu, Nine Phoenix, and Shadowfiendâalso sensed the powerful ripple and determined its source to be a Supreme Saint-level treasure.
âA treasure of this magnitude...â
They didnât hesitate either and rushed toward the ripple.
Outside the universe entrance, none of them had fought to be the first to enterânot only due to strength differencesâ
But also because there hadnât been any guaranteed benefits in doing so.
Who said being first would mean getting anything?
And who even knew whether there would be treasures worth fighting over?
Chaos Great Saints werenât reckless. Without clear rewards, none of them would risk a fierce fight.
But nowâ
The level of fluctuation left no doubt. A treasure of unimaginable power was about to surface.
A Supreme Saint-level treasure was more than enough reason to go all out.
Even newly ascended Great Saints like Nine Phoenix and Shadowfiend were now willing to clash with Dual-Source and Heiyao for it.
Further away, many Chaos-level Evolvers also felt the fluctuation.
âA supreme treasure. It has to be.â
âToo bad it has nothing to do with us.â
They looked on longingly, but quickly cooled down like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on them.
New Great Saints might dare challenge Dual-Source and Heiyao because they were all Chaos full-stage beings.
Even if weaker, they wouldnât be killed easilyâthey could still escape.
But Chaos Venerable?
Forget Dual-Sourceâeven a new Great Saint could slaughter them with ease.
If they tried to join the fray, they'd be signing their own death warrants.
âStill, we could get closer and take a look.â
âYeah. I want to see what this kind of treasure even looks like.â
Some of them, curious, began to approach from afarâso long as they didnât show any signs of wanting to interfere, the Great Saints would likely ignore them.
âThere it is.â
Lin Yuan appeared, looking toward a dark palace not far ahead.
The palace was slowly surfacing from deep space-time, shrouded in thick Dark Heaven Force from all directions.
âNormally, Dark Heaven Hall lies hidden in deep space-timeâwithout guidance, it would be impossible to find. Now that itâs surfacing, maybe itâs due to the outer layers of the Mysterious Emperor Universe collapsing and affecting this area too?â
Lin Yuan mused.
Its premature emergence was one reason heâd rushed over.
If it were still hidden, heâd have waited until after visiting the tomb.
âOnce it fully emerges from the deep space-time, I can retrieve the Heart of Dark Heaven.â
He stood calmly, waiting.
Just thenâ
A faint ripple of space-time appeared.
Dual-Source was the second to arrive.
âThat palace?â
Though he didnât have a map, he instantly zeroed in on the dark palace.
Whoosh, whoosh, whooshâ
Soon after, Heiyao and Savage arrived.
Then came Tianlu, Nine Phoenix, and Shadowfiend.
âThe treasure is inside the palace.â
All eyes burned as they stared at the dark palace rising from the depths of space-time.
âYour spatial manipulation is quite impressive,â Dual-Source said, eyes locked on Lin Yuan, âbut trying to contest this treasure with me? You're not quite there.â
âMy power path happens to directly counter yours. If we fought seriously, you wouldnât be able to win.â
If a few words could make Lin Yuan back down, Dual-Source was happy to say them.
âOh?â
Lin Yuan stood with hands behind his back and glanced at Dual-Source.
What he said wasnât entirely wrong. Though they hadnât fought all-out before, Dual-Sourceâs blue-gray power was indeed capable of severely damaging space-time.
But that was only when strength was equal.
Water could extinguish fireâbut a single droplet couldnât quench a sky full of flame.
âSavage, what say you and I work together?â Heiyao whispered via mental transmission.
âTeam up?â Savage was intrigued. Heâd been leaning toward targeting Lin Yuan first as wellâHeiyaoâs domain was great at suppression, after all.
âWho are we dealing with?â
âLetâs go for him.â
Heiyao glanced at Lin Yuan, having weighed the risks carefully.
Lin Yuanâs power was similar to Heiyaoâs domain, and even suppressed itâsomething that made him uneasy.
He knew Dual-Sourceâs tricks well from past dealings.
Given the choice, he saw Lin Yuan as the bigger threat.
âHim?â
âNo problem.â
Savage grinned, also preferring to deal with Lin Yuan early.
Among all the Great Saints present, Lin Yuan was the only unknown factor. Leaving such a wild card alone made even Savage uneasy.
Rumbleâ
At that momentâ
The dark palace completely emerged from deep space-time.
A dense space-time ripple swept in all directions.
âNow.â
Heiyao instantly activated his domain, unleashing waves of darkness. Savage stepped forward, punching across space-time toward Lin Yuan.
âHm?â
Dual-Source had been about to approach the palace, but seeing this, he realized they were launching a joint attack on Lin Yuan.
âStrike while heâs vulnerable.â
He also transformed into a beam of blue-gray light and lunged at Lin Yuan.
Lin Yuan stood motionless, glancing calmly at the incoming forces.
Whooshâ
With a thought, he activated the divine power: Za Warudo! (World).
The space-time around him twisted violently. Having undergone its recent transformation, his inner universe now gave rise to an even more powerful outer universe.
Buzzâ
Dual-Source, still in light form, was instantly frozen mid-air under the crushing pressure of space-time. Forced back into physical form, he stared in shock.
âThis kind of suppression?â
âWhat?â
Heiyaoâs pupils contracted. The moment Lin Yuanâs outer universe formed, his domain collapsed, and he himself was frozen stiff.
âI canât feel external space-time?â
Savage, too, was stunned. His punch halted mid-swing, and he stumbled, dazed by the distortion in space-time.
At the center of it all stood Lin Yuan.
But in the eyes of the other Great Saints, he had become a blazing eternal sun.
Its light and heat radiated outward, eroding and collapsing the chaos power paths of all the others.
Even Tianlu, Shadowfiend, and the others who had planned to wait for their moment to strike were shaken to their cores by the sheer terror of the scene.
...
20 chapters ahead on patreon: /David_Lord