Chapter 653

Heavenly Sovereign Suyin smiled at Lin Yuan.

In terms of strength, he was certainly no match for this newly risen Ultimate Heavenly Sovereign before him.

But he wasn’t the least bit afraid—so what if Lin Yuan was the strongest? It’s not like the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom didn’t have one of their own.

Besides, with the Xuanyin Dao Ancestor backing them, would the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign really dare to charge into the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom?

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Now that he finally had a chance to extort a heavy price, Heavenly Sovereign Suyin wasn’t about to let it slip away.

The terms he offered Lin Yuan were far steeper than what the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom had proposed.

After all, the latter already controlled the most core pillars undergoing refinement, and even without the ones occupied by the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom, they still had a strong shot at claiming this treasured land.

That’s why the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom didn’t dare to open their lion’s mouth with Grand Ancient Void—they had options.

But the Liyang Ancient Kingdom? Without the pillars held by the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom, no matter how powerful the Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign was, even if he could go head-to-head with Heavenly Sovereign Fuxu—

It wouldn’t matter. Grand Ancient Void, Thunder, and Xuanyin together held over half the total number of core refining pillars.

“Too much,”

Lin Yuan said.

“It’s not,”

Suyin replied, standing firm.

“I can give you at most fifty percent of the yield,”

Lin Yuan considered briefly, then looked at Suyin.

“Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, this is the bottom line of the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom.”

Suyin had a firm grasp of his current value and smiled as he spoke.

“I’ll think about it,”

Lin Yuan didn’t reject outright, leaving room for maneuver.

“Alright.”

Suyin didn’t want to press too hard. After all, given a choice, Lin Yuan would definitely prefer to deal with the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.

“But most of the window to fight for this treasure has already passed. I hope you’ll decide soon—the Grand Ancient Void Kingdom’s offer isn’t exactly low.”

With that, Suyin dispersed the avatar he had projected.

Once he vanished—

Heavenly Sovereign Red Flame stepped out.

“That bastard Suyin is completely taking advantage of the chaos!”

Red Flame frowned. Eighty percent of the rare treasures produced in this treasured land over ten trillion years, plus two first-class treasure sites?

How many such sites does the Liyang Ancient Kingdom even have? And they’re giving away two just for thirty-odd core refining pillars?

“We have no choice.”

Lin Yuan felt the same frustration, but he also knew that now more than ever, they couldn’t afford to alienate the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom.

That would only push them further into Grand Ancient Void’s arms.

Though Lin Yuan might be stronger than Fuxu at full power, it wasn’t enough to dominate—especially with other ancient Kingdoms watching like hawks.

Kingdoms like Barbaric Wild and Grand Ling might lack the strongest Heavenly Sovereigns, but the trump cards they brought from their homelands could still rival the strongest in certain ways.

“Milky Way, what’s your plan?”

Red Flame looked to Lin Yuan. Even if he was furious about Suyin’s exploitation, rationally speaking, agreeing to their terms was the only path forward.

At least it gave them a shot at competing with Grand Ancient Void for this land.

“Stall for now,”

Lin Yuan said.

“Stall?”

Red Flame immediately understood what Lin Yuan meant.

Wait and see how things develop before making a final decision.

After all, this wasn’t just about the current treasure—Liyang had to commit two more first-class treasure sites.

Even the weakest of such sites produced treasures of immense value.

In truth—

Red Flame was still thinking too narrowly.

What Lin Yuan really meant by “stalling” wasn’t just about waiting to see the situation unfold, but more importantly, to attempt another breakthrough in the next thousand years.

There were only three breakthroughs that Lin Yuan currently cared about.

First, completing the third layer of Infinite Void.

Second, bringing the Yin-Yang Tai Chi Tao to its second level.

Third, stepping into the Chaos Realm.

Any of the three would bring a qualitative leap in Lin Yuan’s power.

“Suyin, how did the negotiation go?” Back at the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom, Heavenly Sovereign Deyin asked.

“No problem with Grand Ancient Void. As for Liyang—Milky Way said he’ll consider it,” Suyin replied.

“As expected. I’d do the same,” Deyin wasn’t surprised.

They were very clear on the trade terms between the two ancient Kingdoms—there was room to yield to Grand Ancient Void, but for Liyang? No way.

The Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom believed they had Liyang and Lin Yuan in their grasp.

“But no matter how long he thinks, if Liyang wants this land, they’ll have no choice but to agree,” Deyin said with a smile.

“Exactly.”

“Honestly, Milky Way emerging is a blessing for us.”

Suyin also smiled.

Without him, Grand Ancient Void would be unchallenged—even if the other ancient Kingdoms united, Grand Ancient Void still had a strong chance to seize this treasure.

In that case, Xuanyin wouldn’t be able to demand much.

Outside of Grand Ancient Void, no one would “buy.”

But now with Milky Way in the picture, Grand Ancient Void felt threatened and quickly agreed to Suyin’s terms.

Milky Way and Fuxu—two titans clashing. No matter who won or lost, the one who truly profited would be the Xuanyin Ancient Kingdom.

In the chaos void, deep within the Milky Way Chaos Continent—

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, a palm-sized cauldron floating before him.

It was the thirteenth-rank weapon, the Heavenly Void Cauldron.

Its internal Tao rules circulated, and every time Lin Yuan studied it, he had a new insight.

“A thirteenth-rank weapon…”

Lin Yuan watched the cauldron slowly rotating and floating. Even in the Source World’s six great ancient Kingdoms, exchanging for one would cost hundreds of billions in merit.

And even then, it could only be studied for ten thousand years—after that, it had to be returned.

“But this cauldron…”

As Lin Yuan observed its depths, he vaguely noticed that what underpinned this thirteenth-rank weapon wasn’t just rules—it was countless fine threads of time.

“Time lines?”

A jolt ran through Lin Yuan. He faintly realized that he might have truly touched the realm of thirteenth-rank time lifeforms.

“The future…”

Through the time lines of the cauldron, Lin Yuan saw blurry glimpses of what lay ahead.

Beneath a desolate starry sky, a young man raised his hand with a calm gaze and activated the Heavenly Void Cauldron, blasting a mysterious, special place.

That place crumbled inch by inch under the cauldron’s power. The “spirit” within it laughed maniacally and said, “The great time lifeform will avenge me,” then perished.

After destroying the site, the young man’s expression changed slightly and looked in a certain direction.

Most of the scene was blurry—Lin Yuan could only guess that the youth had sensed something.

In the end, he willingly destroyed his own body and soul, abandoning even the Heavenly Void Cauldron, and disappeared into the void.

The vision ended.

Lin Yuan fell into deep thought.

There was no doubt—

What he saw was the future.

And that young man was himself.

But why would he recklessly activate the Heavenly Void Cauldron, destroy a place tied to a thirteenth-rank time lifeform, and then obliterate himself? Lin Yuan had no answer.

Special sites in the chaos void were almost always connected to thirteenth-rank time lifeforms. Destroying one would definitely provoke the being behind it.

At the end of the vision, his future self self-destructed—likely because a time lifeform had arrived.

Lin Yuan didn’t know how far into the future this was, but given his current growth rate, even if it was just tens of thousands of years ahead, he would surely stand at the peak beneath the thirteenth rank. The so-called Invincible Supreme Saints would pose no threat.

Yet even so, he still chose self-destruction. That could only mean the threat came from a time lifeform.

He knew himself—destroying body, soul, mind, and will in the chaos void wasn’t true death. It was merely abandoning a fallback. His self in the Source World would still be alive and well.

“Knowing myself, I wouldn’t be so reckless—not only forcibly activating the cauldron, but also destroying a site tied to a time lifeform?”

Lin Yuan frowned. Using the cauldron would draw its true owner’s attention, and destroying a special site would enrage a thirteenth-rank time lifeform.

Such consequences weren’t something he could bear—unless he had already become one himself. But self-destruction meant he still wasn’t their match.

“Could it be an irreconcilable grudge?”

He thought silently, “The Human Civilization?”

Given that he walked alone, with few allies, the Human Civilization might be the only one capable of harboring such deep animosity.

If his future self was willing to abandon everything just to destroy that site, then the hatred ran deep.

Maybe it wasn’t just hatred. Perhaps the site’s spirit had discovered one of his secrets, which forced him to act?

Countless possibilities swirled in Lin Yuan’s mind.

“Unfortunately, I’m not a time lifeform yet. Even if I glimpse fragments of the future, it’s hard to gather concrete information.”

He shook his head.

Too little was revealed in the scene. Most areas were obscured—even the site he destroyed was vague. Only a distant sense of other site spirits could be sensed.

A true time lifeform could inspect every detail of a timeline, understand its causes and consequences, and decide whether or not to follow it.

Thirteenth-rank time lifeforms could choose their futures. If they saw a timeline they disliked, they could terminate it at a certain point.

Battles between them often centered on the number and depth of time lines they could see. The more future paths one could glimpse, the greater their advantage in confrontation.

Sometimes, two time lifeforms might suddenly clash at a future critical node, seemingly without reason or past grievance.

Most likely, it was because they each wanted different futures, and their conflict was meant to steer the timeline in their favor.

Lin Yuan tried to view more future lines through the cauldron, but a sharp pain suddenly flared in his soul, forcing him to stop.

Future time lines were part of the thirteenth-rank domain. Lin Yuan had barely touched it through the cauldron—but with heavy limitations. He couldn’t watch for long.

“Forget it.”

Lin Yuan pulled his thoughts back.

The past was set. The future wasn’t.

Every moment spawned countless futures—even thirteenth-rank time lifeforms couldn’t see them all.

Perhaps the scene he just witnessed was a timeline that would never come to pass—just a tiny possibility.

“In any case, I need to keep a low profile moving forward. Restrain the Human Civilization, and avoid entanglements with those special sites.”

Lin Yuan told himself. Even if losing everything in the chaos void wouldn’t cause irreversible damage, the cost would still be immense.

Avoiding that would be best.

In his current plan, he would not cause any major upheavals before reaching thirteenth-rank.

In the Source World—

Within the treasured land—

As time passed—

Heavenly Sovereign Lingyu of the Grand Ling Ancient Kingdom also sought Lin Yuan out, offering to trade their forty-five refined sites with the Liyang Ancient Kingdom.

Compared to Xuanyin, Grand Ling’s conditions were even more outrageous—they demanded full ownership of this treasure land for the next ten trillion years.

That meant even if Liyang claimed the land, it would have nothing to do with them for the next ten trillion years. All rare treasures produced would belong solely to Grand Ling.

“Milky Way Heavenly Sovereign, we of Grand Ling control forty-five refining core pillars. If you take them, you’ll instantly surpass Grand Ancient Void.”

Lingyu spoke.

Currently, the most likely to win this land were Grand Ancient Void and Liyang, with Barbaric Wild in third.

The remaining three ancient Kingdoms had little hope.

“I’ll consider it,”

Lin Yuan didn’t refuse outright.

“Good.”

Lingyu nodded. If Lin Yuan had agreed immediately, he would’ve been suspicious.

After he left—

Red Flame looked at Lin Yuan and said, “Xuanyin and Grand Ling have both approached us. Thunder hasn’t shown at all—they’ve probably fully sided with Grand Ancient Void.”

His tone was grim.

Thunder held thirty-eight refining core pillars. If they all went to Grand Ancient Void, the latter’s total would exceed one hundred.

“No matter.”

“Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Lin Yuan’s tone remained calm.

Time continued to pass—

And on this day, a strange ripple once again swept across the treasured land.

The strongest Heavenly Sovereigns from all ancient Kingdoms looked toward the source of the fluctuation—

The second massive core pillar had emerged.

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