Chapter 707

“Eternal Immeasurable, what did you discover?”

The other towering figures turned their gazes toward him.

There were thirteen of these towering figures, all of them Rank Thirteen Eternal Lords.

They were also the Eternal Lords who had disappeared before the great upheaval in the second Source World that Lin Yuan had descended upon.

“The demonic aura has thinned.”

The first to speak was that towering figure, his tone solemn. He was Lord Eternal Immeasurable, the founder of the Eternal Immeasurable Sect.

Since the birth of the Source World, if Lord Heavenly Radiance was the first Eternal Lord—

Then Lord Eternal Immeasurable was the second Eternal Lord.

The Eternal Immeasurable Sect also possessed the deepest foundation among the six great Eternal Sects.

“The demonic aura has thinned?”

The twelve other towering figures were slightly startled.

All thirteen Eternal Lords had voluntarily taken on the brunt of the demonic catastrophe’s power and were locked in confrontation here, unable to interfere with the Source World at all.

If not for the thirteen Eternal Lords, the Source World would have been fully corrupted when the great upheaval occurred.

At that point, the thirteen Eternal Lords might survive, but all life in the Source World would be doomed, and the entire Source World would enter a great collapse—who knows when it would be reborn again?

This was the nearly inevitable outcome the thirteen Eternal Lords had seen after observing countless future timelines.

The only sliver of hope lay in the thirteen Eternal Lords willingly giving up everything in the Source World to restrain the majority of the demonic catastrophe’s source, thereby slowing the complete corruption of the Source World.

And among countless trillions of future timelines, after the thirteen Eternal Lords chose to imprison themselves here.

There were a few timelines where a new Eternal Lord was born within the Source World.

This new Eternal Lord would cleanse the demonic catastrophe, resist the invasion of demonic aura, and join forces with the thirteen Eternal Lords, providing a slim hope of fully saving the Source World.

Overall, the odds of the Source World being saved were nearly nonexistent.

One could even say there was almost no hope.

Yet the thirteen Eternal Lords still chose to go through with it.

As Eternal Lords—transcendent time beings who observed many timelines—they were not without emotion.

They allowed their homeland to undergo a complete cycle of collapse and rebirth, but they absolutely did not wish to see it prematurely destroyed by demonic corruption.

“The demonic aura is thinning?”

Lord Wu Shan, his figure towering, observed closely for a moment before nodding.

“It really has thinned quite a bit. What exactly is going on?”

According to their countless analyses before the great upheaval, this current point in time should not have seen the demonic aura thinning.

Even though they were now infinitely distant from the Source World, they could still sense the demonic aura that had permeated inside and out becoming thinner—clearly, something had drastically changed within the Source World.

“That shouldn’t be possible…”

“Could it be a variable?”

Lord Black Void’s tone carried a trace of unease.

A so-called “variable”—

Was a future timeline that the thirteen Eternal Lords had not foreseen.

Even though they had jointly observed the future, they were not Rank Fourteen perfect time beings and thus could not fully grasp every timeline. The true future might not lie in any of the ones they had seen.

That was what made it a variable.

And a variable was not inherently good or bad.

It could be good—

Or it could be bad.

For instance, the demonic aura thinning, that might be a good thing. After all, the thicker the demonic aura, the more terrifying the corruption of the Source World.

If the demonic aura thinned, the rate of corruption would slow, the cultivation environment inside would improve, and the chances of a new Eternal Lord being born would increase.

But it might also be bad.

Demonic aura thinning? Why? Was it being absorbed by some being?

Who could absorb and devour demonic aura on such a large scale? A Demon God? If a Demon God was devouring it so extensively, was it to prepare for the final stage of corrupting the Source World?

That would be a disaster!

“If a variable has appeared, I’ll re-observe the future from this point in time,”

Lord Eternal Immeasurable said after a moment of thought.

Though the thirteen Eternal Lords were trapped here, they were not idle—they continuously observed future timelines.

However, the timelines they had observed began from long before the great upheaval.

At that time, the thirteen Eternal Lords had selected a vast number of starting points and examined each timeline in depth, all the way to the complete destruction of the Source World.

Even for time beings, observing trillions of years into the future required immense focus and energy—let alone doing so for countless starting points.

Since the great upheaval, some had re-selected starting points to observe new timelines, but the closest any had come was millions or tens of millions of years ago.

No Eternal Lord had chosen a point within the last ten thousand years to begin their observations.

For Eternal Lords, ten thousand years was far too brief.

“Let me take a look.”

The timeline before Lord Eternal Immeasurable unfolded anew.

Since an unexpected variable had occurred in the Source World, re-observing from this moment would surely reveal the variable’s impact on the future.

“Hmm?”

With just a randomly chosen timeline, and only observing a few tens of thousands of years—

Lord Eternal Immeasurable saw that distant Source World, shrouded in endless demonic aura, suddenly manifest a black-and-white Yin-Yang Tai Chi diagram.

At first, the Tai Chi diagram was minuscule. But within mere breaths, it expanded to an immense size, enveloping the entire Source World.

Rumble...

The black-and-white Yin-Yang Tai Chi diagram began to spin, refining the boundless demonic aura. The demonic aura covering the Source World began vanishing at a rapid pace.

“What?”

“An Eternal Lord?”

“A new Eternal Lord has been born?”

Lord Eternal Immeasurable took a deep breath.

In this timeline, the black-and-white Tai Chi diagram that appeared tens of thousands of years later and blanketed the Source World had to be the work of an Eternal Lord.

“Eternal Immeasurable, what did you see?”

From Lord Eternal Immeasurable’s changing expression, the others sensed that something had changed in the timeline.

Something entirely different from all the futures they had previously observed.

“I’ll take a look too.”

Lord Black Void began observing a new timeline.

Lord Wu Shan did the same.

The rest of the Eternal Lords quickly began observing new timelines as well.

As time beings, this was instinctive.

Before long—

All the Eternal Lords opened their eyes, visibly stirred.

“A new Eternal Lord—a new Eternal Lord has been born.”

“That’s right. A new Eternal Lord has appeared, one who completely purged the demonic aura and saved the Source World.”

Each Eternal Lord looked at one another, their expressions filled with excitement.

Lord Eternal Immeasurable had been continuing along the timeline he had chosen—

Trying to glean more information about the newly born Eternal Lord from farther into the future.

But the reactions of the other Eternal Lords made him realize something was wrong.

“You all…”

He ceased his observation and looked solemnly at the twelve others.

“You all saw the birth of a new Eternal Lord too?”

Lord Black Void, Lord Wu Shan, and the others quickly steadied their expressions.

“I saw it.”

“I saw it too.”

“In the future I saw, thirty thousand years from now, a sword light of black-and-white Tai Chi burst forth, capable of severing all things, annihilating the endless demonic aura.”

As one Eternal Lord after another spoke—

The others’ expressions began to shift slightly.

Each Eternal Lord had seen a different future timeline.

Clearly, they were looking at different timelines.

And yet, the same thing occurred in all of them—

The birth of a new Eternal Lord.

A new Eternal Lord being born was a good thing.

But for all thirteen of them to randomly see timelines where that happened—it was deeply unsettling.

Lord Eternal Immeasurable’s thoughts raced.

The other Eternal Lords also looked grave.

They soon gave up on diving deeper into any one timeline—

And instead began observing as many as possible.

Moments later—

The thirteen Eternal Lords opened their eyes once more.

“Impossible.”

All of their faces showed disbelief.

Observing trillions of years into the future required effort—

But watching just tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ahead was easy.

In a short time, the timelines they observed exceeded a hundred thousand in total.

And without exception—

Every future timeline—

Saw the birth of a new Eternal Lord.

Then the demonic aura was purged, and the lives of the Source World were saved.

Previously, in the millions or even billions of timelines they had observed, the Source World was always corrupted and destroyed.

But now—

In every observed timeline, a new Eternal Lord appeared and rescued the Source World.

Such a completely opposite outcome left the thirteen Eternal Lords in disbelief.

“A new Eternal Lord… is guaranteed to appear?”

“How can an Eternal Lord be guaranteed to emerge?”

“How is that even possible?”

Each Eternal Lord was shaken.

They faintly realized this newly born Eternal Lord might be far beyond their imagination.

The ascension of a time being had never been something that could be guaranteed. In the end, it depended on breaking through temporal cycles—talent and techniques were almost meaningless.

Even the legacy left behind by Lord Heavenly Radiance that hinted at a way to break through temporal cycles—cultivating it to the fifth level only increased one’s odds slightly.

That was already the limit.

And yet the futures they now saw?

Even if not every future, it was already unimaginable.

“No matter what, this new Eternal Lord holds no ill will toward our homeland.”

Lord Eternal Immeasurable said after some contemplation, his voice deep.

At the very least, in the hundred thousand timelines they had observed, a new Eternal Lord always emerged and always acted to purge the demonic aura.

“Indeed.”

The others nodded.

That alone showed that this new Eternal Lord likely felt the same way they did about their homeland—the Source World.

The thirteen Eternal Lords had willingly endured endless ages trapped here for even the slimmest hope, all because of their attachment to their home.

The Source World.

The Hidden World.

“Thank you, Lord Milky Way, for your help.” Several sect leaders looked emotional.

Lin Yuan’s strength had far exceeded everyone’s expectations. He had been able to fight the Demon God head-on—and without using any Eternal Treasures? If not for Lin Yuan, the Hidden World would have surely fallen under the Demon God’s relentless assault.

“It’s nothing. I couldn’t possibly accept those five Eternal Sources for free,” Lin Yuan replied with a smile.

Without those five final Eternal Sources, he wouldn’t have been able to fully open the Infinite Particle World.

Under the Demon God’s attacks, Lin Yuan would have only barely managed to hold on. He wouldn’t have been able to fight back, let alone force the Demon God to retreat.

Mere resistance would’ve been meaningless. With the Demon God’s continued assault, he would’ve eventually slipped up, giving the Demon God a chance to crush him.

“Only five Eternal Sources for Lord Milky Way’s intervention—what a cheap price,” one of the sect masters couldn’t help but say.

It was the truth.

Five Eternal Sources, condensed at great cost by Eternal Lords, were normally more than enough to hire one.

But that depended on the time period.

Before the great upheaval, that deal made sense.

But after it, when all the Eternal Lords vanished—

Eternal-level power became scarce. At that time, getting an Eternal Lord to act was far beyond what five Eternal Sources could buy.

“Lord Milky Way… are you already an Eternal Lord?” At that moment, the sect master of the Eternal Immeasurable Sect cautiously asked.

As soon as the words left his mouth—

The other sect masters leaned in to listen.

They were all curious whether Lin Yuan had become an Eternal Lord.

After all, to battle the Demon God like that—who else but an Eternal Lord could do it?

But ever since the great upheaval, there had been no signs of a new Eternal Lord’s birth.

And before the Eternal Lords disappeared, there clearly hadn’t been any Eternal-level power left in the Source World aside from the Demon God.

“I’m not an Eternal Lord,” Lin Yuan answered directly.

There was no need to hide it.

At his current level, whether he was an Eternal Lord or not made little difference.

“Not an Eternal Lord?”

Hearing the answer they had already half expected, the sect leaders were still shaken.

Not an Eternal Lord, yet able to fight a Demon God like that?

“Do you know the origin of the Demon God?” Lin Yuan asked.

He didn’t explain his strength further, but instead changed the topic.

After battling the Demon God, Lin Yuan had gained considerable insight into its nature.

But the more he learned, the more surprised he became. He was certain the Demon God had once been a Rank Thirteen being.

Yet how could a Rank Thirteen lifeform appear in the Source World—and not suffer backlash from the world?

“The Demon God’s origin?”

The sect leaders looked at each other, then responded, “We don’t know. We only know it’s one of the key sources of the demonic catastrophe.”

“The Eternal Lords didn’t tell you anything?” Lin Yuan asked.

With their ability to observe timelines, the Eternal Lords had to know the Demon God’s true origins.

“They didn’t,” the Eternal Immeasurable Sect master answered truthfully.

“They didn’t?”

Lin Yuan was surprised.

There were two possibilities.

One, the Eternal Lords themselves didn’t know the Demon God’s true origin.

Two, they did know—but chose not to reveal it.

Lin Yuan’s eyes grew distant. He believed the second possibility was more likely.

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