Chapter 687

Couldn’t pull him?

The golden figure paused, slightly taken aback.

This ruin’s origin was unbelievably profound— even a peak Third Realm of Freedom expert wouldn’t be able to resist it.

They would be forcibly drawn into the trial space.

But Lin Yuan?

The golden figure studied him closely.

He didn’t understand this young man’s methods, but judging by his life aura…

It was just the normal level of the Third Realm of Freedom.

And yet he had blocked the pull with ease.

“Is his insight into spacetime that deep?”

The golden figure wondered.

The essence of his forced pull was a borrowing of spacetime laws.

If the other party was equally versed in spacetime laws, failing to move him was perfectly reasonable.

Only, to grasp spacetime to the extent that even he couldn’t do anything— that was exceedingly rare.

Even among the Eternal Sects’ so-called children of eternity, few had such comprehension.

In this world, countless cultivators used the rune path to comprehend laws. The threshold might be lower, but it hadn’t vanished.

The deeper one went into spacetime, the harder it became.

“He’s probably on the verge of transcending spacetime laws themselves.”

So judged the golden figure. To “transcend spacetime laws” meant having one foot already outside the ninefold bounds of spacetime— only then could one make him ineffective.

“Didn’t expect to meet a gem this time.”

The stronger the challenger and the deeper their feel for laws, the greater their hope of passing the trial.

And his very purpose was to nurture a challenger who could pass every trial.

As it stood, Lin Yuan had a sliver of hope of clearing them all.

“Almost got dragged off.”

Lin Yuan himself was shaken— the runes had surged across heaven and earth just now. If not for his near-limit insight into the fused spacetime laws, he might’ve been forcibly transferred.

Only his Yang Primordial Soul was present here; many methods couldn’t be used. And since his true body had to open up the infinite sands-of-eternity particle world, all resources were prioritized for the true body.

So the Yang Primordial Soul’s strength was only at the level of a strongest Heavenly Sovereign, an Invincible Supreme Saint— equivalent to this world’s Third Realm of Freedom.

A Yang Primordial Soul lacked Yin, so The Tao of Tai Chi was constrained.

If his Yang Primordial Soul fused with the Yin Primordial Soul to become the Tai Chi soul, then even if still weaker than the true body,

It would stand above the strongest Heavenly Sovereign and Invincible Supreme Saint, on par with an Abyss Dragon.

“Easy there, little one— don’t worry. I mean no harm.”

The golden figure’s voice was gentle. Faced with a challenger who held even a faint hope, he had patience to spare.

“Where are you sending me?”

Lin Yuan asked directly.

None of the sect ruins he’d found before had presented anything like this.

Being forcibly moved into an unknown space, with unknown risks and background— Lin Yuan naturally resisted.

“The trial space. Pass the trial there, and you can obtain the final inheritance.”

The golden figure showed no impatience.

“Trial space?”

Lin Yuan understood.

The runes surrounding this valley were clearly the work of a cultivator— he’d already been prepared for that.

“Which Holy Sect’s trial space is this?”

Lin Yuan asked.

Just that one rune technique that nearly forced him away far surpassed the Qingyun Supreme Sacred Sect or the Li Hong Holy Sect. Lin Yuan guessed it had to be the handiwork of some Supreme Holy Sect.

“Which Holy Sect?”

The golden figure gave Lin Yuan a longer look, then shook his head. “This is not a Holy Sect’s trial space.”

“Not a Holy Sect’s trial space?”

A hint of doubt crossed Lin Yuan’s face.

If not a Holy Sect’s trial space, then whose?

“The creator of this trial space is the great Lord of Wu Shan,” the golden figure said.

“Lord of Wu Shan?”

Lin Yuan was startled.

The Lord of Wu Shan was an Eternal Lord of this Source World— a thirteenth-rank time lifeform.

From what Lin Yuan had learned, the Lord of Wu Shan was extremely mysterious. He had never founded an Eternal Sect, moved alone, and stepped into the thirteenth rank through the Dao of painting.

The Lord of Wu Shan’s paintings contained endless mysteries. To call them paintings was underselling them— each one was a complete world. His pursuit was to paint a “grand scroll” rivaling the “great painting” of this Source World itself.

“This trial space was created by the Lord of Wu Shan?”

Lin Yuan looked at the golden figure, unable to help asking.

“Would I lie?”

The golden figure’s tone turned solemn.

“Why did the Lord of Wu Shan create this trial space?”

Lin Yuan didn’t doubt it much. The Eternal Lords of this Source World had unfathomably deep influence; no one dared impersonate an Eternal Lord.

“Before the ‘demon’ calamity descended, the Lord of Wu Shan had already sensed it— that this world would fall into eternal silence. So he pre-created many trial spaces, to cultivate capable challengers after the calamity.”

“The Lord of Wu Shan hoped to nurture a new Eternal Lord— only then could the ‘demon’ calamity be cleansed.”

The golden figure said.

Strictly speaking, he didn’t need to share any of this. But if he didn’t explain, the young man before him likely wouldn’t enter the trial at all.

“I see.”

Lin Yuan’s expression grew thoughtful.

Eternal Lords could observe future timelines. The descent of the ‘demon’ calamity was a sudden disaster to anyone below the thirteenth rank— but to time lifeforms, they’d likely “seen” it long ago.

Lin Yuan had wondered why no thirteenth-rank beings intervened while the calamity ravaged the land. Now it seemed the Eternal Lords of this world had begun laying out their plans in advance.

This trial space, for example.

“Was the Lord of Wu Shan held up by the Demon God?”

Lin Yuan voiced his doubt.

Compared to cultivating a new Eternal Lord to clean up the calamity, a thirteenth-rank time lifeform acting personally would be simpler and easier.

Eternal Lords weren’t something you could “cultivate” to order. In the First Source World’s six ancient kingdoms, after Ancestor Grand Ancient Void, the other five Ancestors had not been groomed in any special way before breaking into the thirteenth rank.

For the Lord of Wu Shan to foster a new Eternal Lord through trial spaces— the odds were slim.

Thus Lin Yuan suspected the Lord of Wu Shan couldn’t free himself. And to hold him down, the likeliest candidate would be that ‘Demon God.’

“Demon God?”

The golden figure shook his head. “Strong as the Demon God is, he cannot hold down the great Lord of Wu Shan.”

“Not the Demon God?”

Lin Yuan grew even more surprised. “Then who?”

“I don’t know either.”

The golden figure said, “The Demon God is not the source of the ‘demon’ calamity.”

“Enough— I’ve said all I can. This trial space was painstakingly opened by the Lord of Wu Shan. The final inheritance within explains the essence of the rune Dao.”

He looked at Lin Yuan. “With your grasp of spacetime, there’s a sliver of hope you pass. Even if you don’t, you can still obtain a portion of the inheritance— greatly beneficial.”

“Now tell me— will you enter the trial space?”

“An Eternal Lord’s trial space…”

Lin Yuan considered briefly, then asked, “Is there any danger?”

If there was, he planned to wait until he’d cultivated to his limit before returning.

The trial space wasn’t going anywhere. He could attempt it whenever he wished.

“Danger?”

The golden figure sighed. “The Lord of Wu Shan saw countless cultivators perish under the ‘demon’ calamity. Why would he build danger into a trial space?”

“If you feel you cannot pass, I will send you out. There will be no danger.”

His tone grew rueful. “If not for the high threshold of the Lord of Wu Shan’s inheritance— if unqualified cultivators forced comprehension, it would cause irreparable harm— he might not have set any trials at all.”

To a being like the Lord of Wu Shan, spreading his inheritance without trials would be true malice.

Setting trials was mercy—

To spare those unsuited to comprehension from irreversible loss.

“Then I’m willing,” Lin Yuan said at once.

The Lord of Wu Shan was a thirteenth-rank time lifeform. Of course Lin Yuan desired his inheritance.

And if there was no danger? That was basically a free gift. Why would he refuse?

“Good.”

The golden figure looked at Lin Yuan. “Next, do not resist.”

“Alright.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

Hum— The surrounding runes resonated again. A wave of spacetime swept over and instantly pulled Lin Yuan into a mysterious space.

“Where is this?”

Lin Yuan looked around.

A vast realm— and what seized his gaze at once were three gigantic “paintings” hanging at the center of the world.

The three vast paintings depicted: first, a youth in golden armor, whose aura was so terrifying that it bled through the scrolls themselves.

Second, a woman of sultry grace, dressed in near-transparent gauze, lips faintly upturned. An invisible psychic force emanated from her. Ordinary Third Realm of Freedom experts wouldn’t dare stare for long, lest they sink into oblivion.

As for the last “grand scroll,” it showed a white-robed man. Compared to the first two, no aura leaked from him at all— yet to Lin Yuan, he felt the most threatening.

“The powers in these three ‘grand scrolls’— each is no weaker than an ‘Abyss Dragon.’”

Lin Yuan’s expression grew a touch solemn.

Especially the white-robed man in the final scroll— he faintly suggested a level beyond the Abyss Dragon.

“These three ‘grand scrolls’ were painted by the great Lord of Wu Shan.”

The golden figure appeared beside Lin Yuan then, gazing at the three paintings as well.

“The Lord of Wu Shan’s paintings are all real— and the beings within these three grand scrolls are real. They can walk out of the paintings.”

He continued, “Each excels in a different aspect— the Lord of Wu Shan painted them specifically for trial challengers of later generations.”

“As long as you can break through the obstruction of the three scroll-beings and reach there—”

As he spoke, he pointed to the absolute center of the realm.

There, a small door stood faintly.

“—you pass.”

The golden figure said.

He glanced at Lin Yuan. “With your current strength, it’s very hard to bypass the three scroll-beings’ blockade head-on.”

“My advice is: push your fused spacetime laws to the utmost. Once you completely transcend the fused spacetime laws, you can pass the trial easily.”

His tone was calm.

Once you fully transcended spacetime, you were spacetime. With one thought, you’d appear before that small door at the world’s center. The three scroll-beings wouldn’t just fail to block you— they couldn’t even touch you.

This was why he believed Lin Yuan held a tiny chance of passing.

That sliver depended on whether Lin Yuan could completely transcend the fused spacetime laws. If he could, he would pass.

If he couldn’t, he wouldn’t.

Lin Yuan’s current insight sat at “almost transcending,” but that was not the same as “fully transcending.”

To truly transcend the fused spacetime laws— hope was faint, vanishingly small.

But it was still far beyond those Third Realm of Freedom who were merely circling within spacetime’s ninefold bounds.

“Completely transcend the fused spacetime laws?”

Lin Yuan frowned slightly. Even the Mysterious Sovereign at his peak in the chaotic void had only half a foot beyond the fused spacetime laws.

As for complete transcendence? Lin Yuan had confidence, but no idea how long it would take— five thousand years? Ten thousand?

Observing the First Source World’s source at work had made his comprehension of fused spacetime laws leap forward. But to completely transcend them— still very hard.

“Take your time. You have ages— hundreds of billions or trillions of years if you need. The trial has no time limit.”

Said the golden figure.

Normally, to push past the three scroll-beings’ blockade required power beyond an ordinary child of eternity.

This was the threshold to receive the Lord of Wu Shan’s inheritance. If you couldn’t surpass a normal child of eternity, how could you speak of becoming a new Eternal Lord? And his inheritance required a sufficiently strong lifeform to cultivate it at all.

But given Lin Yuan’s attainment in spacetime, there was no need to brute-force it. A normal Third Realm of Freedom almost never reached the strength of a child of eternity— that required great external aid.

Much less breaking through the three scroll-beings head-on— which demanded even more than a typical child of eternity.

“Whatever you do, don’t underestimate them.”

The golden figure looked at Lin Yuan and continued, “These three beings are what the Lord of Wu Shan considers the true limits of the Third Realm of Freedom. They’re far stronger than those children of eternity. So the trial doesn’t ask you to defeat them— only to break through and reach the entrance at the center.”

“They are indeed very strong.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

In the first two “grand scrolls” alone, the beings had the strength of an “Abyss Dragon.” The last even faintly surpassed it. By rights, such beings shouldn’t exist.

Since the First Source World’s birth, only one Abyss Dragon had ever emerged— forged by countless coincidences and karmic winds.

The children of eternity in this Source World might approach the Abyss Dragon, and the Source Demons could match or exceed it— but they couldn’t even enter this trial space.

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