Chapter 680

The successful creation of twelve particle worlds meant that Lin Yuan could continue down this path.

If he could create and sustain twelve particle worlds, then he could create and sustain a hundred and twenty, or even twelve billion—an infinite number of sand-like particle worlds.

But at the same time...

Another issue arose.

That was—resources.

Worlds couldn't be created from nothing.

They required a massive amount of resources to support them.

Compared to internal worlds or universes, particle worlds were much smaller, so they consumed fewer resources.

But the problem was quantity.

At twelve particle worlds, Lin Yuan could still manage. But what about a hundred and twenty? Or twelve hundred?

“Qingyun Sacred Sect?”

Lin Yuan thought of his own sect. As a dominant power before the Great Change, even though Qingyun Sacred Sect had declined under repeated Great Demon assaults, it still had a strong foundation.

If Lin Yuan were to obtain all of Qingyun Sacred Sect's resources, it would indeed support the creation of particle worlds for quite some time.

But that would only be a temporary solution.

Even if all of Qingyun Sacred Sect’s resources could support up to twelve hundred particle worlds—then what?

Where would the resources come from for twelve thousand or a hundred twenty thousand?

And no matter what, Qingyun Sacred Sect was the sect of his “original self.” Lin Yuan wasn’t willing to take too much from them.

“What I need is a stable and abundant source of resources.”

Lin Yuan pondered silently.

In this Source World, the richest resources were naturally found at the center of the world. But right now, the world center was the area most saturated with demonic energy—and Source Demons were frequently sighted there.

Until he fully regained his peak strength, Lin Yuan wasn’t willing to go there.

Even at full strength, without a way to deal with Source Demons, he still wouldn’t go.

“The Gate of Myriad Realms…”

Lin Yuan recalled the resource supply sent from the First Source World to aid in his cultivation.

In the First Source World, he held a remarkable position—even the six Ancestors treated him as an equal. Acquiring enough resources for his particle worlds wasn’t a problem.

The issue was that using the Gate of Myriad Realms to transfer items to another dimension required paying a cost in boundary-breaking source power.

For instance, before reaching the twelfth rank, Lin Yuan had used it multiple times to send his Primordial Bell and the mysterious gourd to his target worlds for cultivation.

Naturally, that consumed several strands of boundary-breaking source power.

Just a few strands weren’t much—but that only applied to transferring the Primordial Bell and the mysterious gourd.

If the number or “mass” of transferred items increased, the boundary-breaking source power consumed would also rise significantly.

And the resources needed for Lin Yuan’s particle world creation? They were vast—like mountains and seas. Relying solely on the Gate of Myriad Realms would consume source power in the millions or even tens of millions of strands.

“Forget it.”

Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.

How much boundary-breaking source power had he managed to accumulate with great effort? He valued every single strand. If he had to use so many just to build particle worlds, Lin Yuan would rather train directly in the First Source World.

“The resources for building particle worlds still have to come from this Source World.”

Lin Yuan decided. The cost of sending resources through the Gate of Myriad Realms was simply too high—more than he was willing to pay.

“The resources of this Source World…”

Lin Yuan looked up beyond Qingyun Sacred Mountain. Since the Great Change, what had become the most abundant thing in this world?

Demonic energy.

It was everywhere.

“Demonic energy?”

Lin Yuan’s expression turned thoughtful. He had studied demonic energy before and confirmed it was a high-level power. Otherwise, once someone became demonized, their strength wouldn’t skyrocket so drastically.

But Lin Yuan had never attempted to convert demonic energy into usable energy for absorption.

Because countless powerful cultivators in this world had already tried—and found that demonic energy could not be absorbed. If forced, it would corrupt them, turning them into demonized beings.

All cultivators knew the risks of becoming demonized.

As the corruption deepened, a demonized being’s emotions would gradually be erased, and eventually, even their memories would vanish—leaving behind only a powerful husk of a being, like a walking corpse known as a “demon.”

“But just because the cultivators of this world can’t absorb demonic energy doesn’t mean I can’t.”

Lin Yuan’s mind stirred. A thread of dark power gathered at his fingertip—it was demonic energy.

Outside Qingyun Sacred Mountain, demonic energy was everywhere. Acquiring a wisp of it was effortless for Lin Yuan.

“Absorb it?”

Lin Yuan carefully observed the wisp of demonic energy.

Direct absorption was certainly not an option.

Demonic energy would corrode the soul and will.

Although Lin Yuan’s mental strength could completely resist it, there was no need to suffer unnecessarily.

“Chaotic Tai Chi Diagram.”

With a single thought, a Tai Chi diagram of Yin and Yang appeared before him.

As Lin Yuan’s own evolution of chaotic power, it could be summoned instantly with a mere thought.

Hum hum hum…

The black-and-white Tai Chi diagram spun slowly, faintly permeating through layers of space-time.

Lin Yuan placed the wisp of demonic energy next to the Chaotic Tai Chi Diagram.

One Yin and one Yang—black and white—the diagram ground the demonic energy like a millstone.

The Tao of Yin-Yang and Tai Chi, born from chaos, held the power to reduce all things back to chaos.

The demonic energy was devoured and crushed repeatedly by the black-and-white mill.

Yet even after being ground apart, its essence remained unchanged—it was still demonic energy.

And so, it was crushed again.

This repeated hundreds of times until the demonic energy finally transformed into a kind of pure power.

“This is the essence of demonic energy?”

Lin Yuan’s eyes lit up as he examined the purified energy.

“Let’s try.”

He began absorbing it immediately.

“It can be refined.”

“It’s perfectly suited for creating particle worlds.”

A smile appeared on Lin Yuan’s face. With this, the biggest issue he faced—lack of resources for creating infinite particle worlds—was solved.

“However, a single wisp of demonic energy, once returned to its essence, yields very little pure power.”

Lin Yuan mused. Creating an infinite particle world couldn’t be sustained by just a few wisps of demonic energy.

“Then those demons…”

A thought flashed through his mind. Demons were essentially condensed masses of high-density demonic energy. The demons themselves were dense clusters of it.

He could predict that refining an entire “demon” through the Yin-Yang millstone would yield vastly more pure power than a few stray wisps.

“Let’s go test it now.”

Lin Yuan stirred and quietly left Qingyun Sacred Mountain.

After spending years at Qingyun Institute, his Unrivaled Insight had already fully deciphered the sect's grand protective formation.

Not to mention silently slipping in and out—he could easily take full control of the Qingyun formation if he wanted to.

Outside Qingyun Sacred Mountain...

Demonic energy drifted everywhere.

Lin Yuan searched carefully and soon spotted a Demon Spirit.

Though not as towering as the Great Demon that attacked the mountain, this Demon Spirit still had a massive body spanning a million li, lying quietly as it breathed in and out the surrounding demonic energy.

Not every demon liked to wander—many preferred to stay in one place and slowly draw in demonic energy.

“You’ll do.”

Lin Yuan eyed the Demon Spirit. A body a million li in size—how much demonic energy did that represent?

Not to mention that its very composition was condensed, high-purity demonic energy. If Lin Yuan could refine this one demon, the resources gained would be immeasurable.

“Let’s make it quick.”

Staring at the enormous demon, Lin Yuan immediately summoned his Chaotic Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram to suppress it.

Roar!!

The Demon Spirit had been quietly resting when it suddenly sensed something disrupting its energy flow. It immediately grew agitated.

Demons lacked higher thought, but they did have simple instincts—like curiosity or anger.

That was why Great Demons attacked Qingyun Sacred Mountain: curiosity. Once they lost interest, they left.

“Suppress!”

Lin Yuan activated the Chaotic Yin-Yang Tai Chi Diagram. The original body of this vessel had peak eleventh-rank strength. After years of cultivation, Lin Yuan’s real strength had already returned to the Dominance rank.

With the power of Dominance driving the Tai Chi Diagram, not even a Great Demon could withstand it—let alone a mere Demon Spirit.

In no time at all...

The million-li Demon Spirit was completely suppressed.

“Refine.”

Lin Yuan absorbed the demon into his internal universe and began crushing it with the Tai Chi Diagram.

Crash!

The enormous demonic body shattered rapidly, breaking down into pure energy, which Lin Yuan quickly absorbed.

“Right now, I’m actually quite similar to those who become demonized…”

As he devoured the pure energy refined from demonic essence, Lin Yuan pondered.

But while he, too, absorbed demons, he only took in the purified power ground down by the Tai Chi Diagram. It posed no harm to him.

In fact, this world likely had similar techniques—refining demons and then absorbing the energy.

However, once the demonic energy was reduced to pure power, it no longer granted the rapid power surge typical of becoming demonized.

What cultivators in this world lacked wasn’t resources—but the strength to fight the demons.

Several days later...

Lin Yuan successfully refined the Demon Spirit.

“This should be enough for me to create over three hundred particle worlds.”

He smiled. If a single Demon Spirit yielded this much, what about Great Demons? Or even Source Demons?

Of course, for now, Lin Yuan would only target Demon Spirits and Great Demons. As for Source Demons? Even if he recovered his full strength, he wouldn’t casually confront one.

Based on the many ancient texts Lin Yuan had studied at Qingyun Institute...

Source Demons were likely linked to the mythical Demon Gods.

Recklessly refining a Source Demon could attract the attention of a Demon God.

If Lin Yuan’s guess was right, the Demon Gods of this world were equivalent to thirteenth-rank time-based lifeforms.

And judging by the behavior of various demons, Demon Gods likely weren’t very intelligent—they wouldn’t observe future timelines like the six Ancestors did to decide whether to befriend Lin Yuan.

“Time to head back.”

Lin Yuan immediately returned to Qingyun Sacred Mountain.

The vast energy he had just obtained would be enough to sustain his cultivation for quite some time.

Just like that...

Every so often, Lin Yuan would quietly leave Qingyun Sacred Mountain to hunt demons and fuel the creation of new particle worlds.

Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had gone by.

...

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