Chapter 682

Golden Mist Treasure Lands.

Lin Yuan was observing the operation of the Source World's origin.

A thousand years had passed, and the irregular rift connected to the Source World's origin had shrunk by nearly one-tenth. However, it still didn’t hinder Lin Yuan’s ability to observe and comprehend it.

Huala—

Traces of rune aura intertwined in front of Lin Yuan, attempting to fully replicate the Source World’s origin within the irregular rift.

In the next moment—

Countless threads of runes collapsed.

“Failed?”

Lin Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, not showing much surprise.

Though in theory the Dao of Runes could replicate all things, theory was just theory. Reality was another matter.

Given the vastness of this Source World’s origin, unless Lin Yuan stepped into Rank Thirteen and became a lifeform of time, it was fundamentally impossible to replicate it.

Of course, Lin Yuan's attempt to replicate it through the Dao of Runes was mainly for the purpose of deeply engaging in the operation of the Source World’s origin.

Even if the replication failed, it wasn’t without gain. Understanding the cause of failure made his insights into the Source World’s origin even clearer, making future comprehension easier.

“The rare treasures produced by this Treasure Land can nurture time constitutions, making it easier to comprehend the power of time—one can even vaguely see fragments of one’s future.”

After fully refining the Treasure Land, Lin Yuan gained a deeper understanding of the rare treasures it produced. Over the years, he had spent some effort studying them and roughly grasped the true purpose of the golden mist.

To vaguely see future scenes—such an ability was practically defiant and unrivaled, a privilege of Rank Thirteen time lifeforms.

But for Lin Yuan, it wasn’t particularly useful.

His future was constantly being watched by six Ancestors. There was no need to use such methods.

Not to mention the vague images and fragmented information—it also required an enormous expenditure of mental effort.

“I don’t need it, but the other Heavenly Sovereigns are different.”

A thought stirred in Lin Yuan’s mind. The many Heavenly Sovereigns from the Six Great Ancient Kingdoms didn’t have six Ancestors watching over them. They were undoubtedly curious about their own futures.

Even a vague glimpse of the future could serve as a kind of warning. Lin Yuan was invincible across the Six Great Ancient Kingdoms and didn’t care about danger, but ordinary Heavenly Sovereigns were a different story.

In the many wars across the Six Great Ancient Kingdoms, the number of Heavenly Sovereign-level powerhouses who fell was not small.

If they could foresee a vision of their own demise and prepare in advance, wouldn't that avert a disaster?

Heavenly Sovereign-level powerhouses all had various life-saving methods. While they might not fall completely, being able to preserve their main battle bodies was already quite valuable.

“These golden mists can be traded away to acquire resources for opening up particle worlds.”

Lin Yuan had made up his mind. For his second Source World true body to open up particle worlds, he already had a clear idea of the resources required—it was much more than expected.

Having such a Treasure Land to offset the cost was a huge relief.

Certainly, given Lin Yuan’s status in the hearts of the six Ancestors, just a word from him would be enough for them to gather any number of resources.

But everything came at a price. The Ancestors wouldn’t give unreservedly. When Lin Yuan asked them for help, he would incur karma, and when he reached Rank Thirteen, he would have to repay it.

Qingyun Sacred Mountain.

Aside from opening up particle worlds—

Lin Yuan was also comprehending more cultivation systems of this Source World.

“The Three Stages of Freedom focus on ‘freedom’. Powerhouses at this level are equivalent to Supreme Saints or Ultimate Heavenly Sovereigns. Those in the third realm are comparable to Invincible Supreme Saints or the Strongest Heavenly Sovereign.”

Lin Yuan contemplated silently.

This Source World’s division of the Supreme Saint realm was much clearer than that of the Chaos Void or the First Source World, explicitly stating the strength standard of the third realm of freedom.

“They say that in the central region of heaven and earth, the strongest successors of the Eternal Sects have the power to sweep through the third realm of freedom?”

Lin Yuan pondered. Judging by their descriptions, these strongest successors likely possessed strength close to Yuanlong?

Due to the influence of the Dao of Runes, this Source World had a much lower cultivation threshold than the Chaos Void or the First Source World. It was easier to comprehend the Dao of Laws, and thus more powerhouses emerged.

Creatures like Yuanlong, born from the creation points of Source Worlds, could be rivaled—or at least approached—by some of the Rank Twelve lifeforms in this Source World.

But Lin Yuan didn’t feel much about that.

Close to Yuanlong?

Even a thousand years ago, his frontal assault methods had already surpassed Yuanlong.

Not to mention, after a millennium of cultivation and enlightenment, Yuanlong—before Lin Yuan, who had now opened a hundred billion particle worlds—was merely a few slaps away.

“The Rune Legacy of the Eternal Sects…”

Lin Yuan yearned for it. Even though he had far surpassed Yuanlong—

He had to admit the power of that primordial lifeform. The strongest successors of the central Eternal Sects being able to approach Yuanlong meant their rune legacies must be far more exquisite than Lin Yuan's current understanding.

Only such legacies could bridge the gap between future generations and primordial beings like Yuanlong.

You had to understand, before the great changes of heaven and earth, the lifeforms in this Source World still had normal physical bodies. Under such conditions, to reach heights close to Yuanlong? That was already extraordinary.

“Step by step. The rune legacy of the Eternal Sects? Once I finish opening up the infinite grains of sand-like particle worlds, I’ll go take a look.”

Lin Yuan steadied his mind and re-entered a state of cultivation.

Far away from Qingyun Sacred Mountain—

A massive ‘Demon’ was striding forward.

It had a pair of enormous wings, and its body was covered in countless massive mouths. Endless demonic energy surged from all directions into those mouths.

Its dark wings alone spanned over ten trillion li—and that was after it had deliberately condensed and shrunk its demonic form. If it had unfolded without restraint, its body could’ve been hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times larger.

“Source!”

“Source!”

“Source!”

As the giant demon walked, countless Demon Spirits and even Great Demons instinctively prostrated, chanting in a strange tongue.

“Source?”

The giant demon halted, and a sudden thought emerged in its chaotic mind—

It wanted to become Source.

Become the Source.

Become the Source Demon.

Just one step away.

That thought surfaced in the giant demon’s mind.

At this point, it was only a step away from becoming a Source Demon.

As a 'Demon', its instincts didn’t lead it to devour its kind for advancement.

“Demonic energy!”

In just a few breaths, the giant demon had devoured the nearby demonic energy, then began striding toward an area with denser demonic energy.

“There?”

The giant demon looked in one direction—the concentration of demonic energy there was significantly higher than the surrounding regions.

Driven by primal desire, it continued devouring and moved toward that dense region.

Qingyun Sacred Mountain.

Numerous disciples moved in and out of the mountain in an orderly manner, cleansing areas where demonic energy gathered to prevent the birth of powerful ‘Demons’.

“Heh, I found that clearing demonic energy isn’t dangerous at all. Pretty easy, actually.”

“Yeah, I’ve done it dozens of times over the past few hundred years—never ran into any trouble.”

The disciples chatted among themselves.

“Don’t get careless.”

A more senior disciple spoke up: “It’s true that we’ve encountered fewer Demon Spirits lately, but don’t let your guard down.”

He glanced at the others. “Otherwise, if you run into a Demon Spirit, the casualties could be severe.”

A thousand years ago, disciples who went out to clear demonic energy were extremely cautious. Encountering a Demon Spirit was a disaster.

Any Demon Spirit possessed power close to Stage Six of Longevity. It might not threaten Elders, but for ordinary disciples, once they were corrupted by demonic energy, survival was nearly impossible.

“The number of Demon Spirits decreasing—maybe the Demon Plague outside is ending?”

An optimistic disciple couldn’t help but say.

Just as others were about to join the discussion—

Suddenly—

An overwhelming pressure swept through.

All the disciples felt suffocated, as if facing a colossal entity beyond anything they’d ever seen.

At the same time—

At the peak of the Sacred Mountain—

Runes began to glow.

In mere moments—

The Sect Master and the Elders appeared.

“Rune warning? A Great Demon is approaching? No… regular Great Demons wouldn’t trigger this many rune warnings. Is it a peak Great Demon? Or a Great Demon nearing Source Demon level?”

The Elders trembled inwardly.

A peak Great Demon was manageable. The mountain’s defenses might barely hold.

But a Great Demon close to becoming a Source Demon? If that were the case, the only thing the Sect Master and Elders could do was hope it wouldn’t notice Qingyun Sacred Mountain.

“Look.”

The Sect Master flipped his hand, summoning a series of rune-formed images.

They saw it clearly—in the distance, a colossal demon with massive black wings and countless mouths across its body was striding toward them.

Wherever it went, demonic energy surged into the mouths like flowing water.

Deep within Qingyun Courtyard—

Lin Yuan was cultivating in seclusion.

The suffocating aura reached him, too.

“This aura…”

He opened his eyes.

“A Great Demon—an incredibly powerful one. Nearing the level of a Source Demon?”

His eyes lit up. In the past thousand years, he had hunted hundreds, thousands of Great Demons—but had never encountered one with such power.

“Where is it?”

He stood up, looked in the demon’s direction—and vanished.

At the peak of Qingyun Sacred Mountain—

The Sect Master and Elders watched the demon on the rune screen, hearts pounding.

These rune images were a Qingyun Sacred Sect secret technique—rumored to originate from the central Eternal Sects—allowing them to silently spy on distant demon movements.

“This giant demon… its path doesn’t seem to cross Qingyun Sacred Mountain. We should be safe.”

After watching for a while, the Sect Master concluded, and the other Elders let out a collective sigh of relief.

None of them wanted to face such a terrifying demon nearing Source Demon level—the pressure was overwhelming.

“Huh?”

Just as they began to relax, a few Elders still watching the rune screen suddenly froze, expressions shifting—as if they had just witnessed something utterly unbelievable.

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