Chapter 709

Demonic aura drifted through the air, exuding an endless, shadowy presence.

It stood in stark contrast to the boundless light from before.

Lin Yuan looked up at the "Lord Heavenly Radiance," falling into a moment of silence.

The figure before him now, this version of Lord Heavenly Radiance, was nearly indistinguishable from the Demon God rampaging outside.

The only difference was the eyes—the Demon God’s were hollow and empty.

But this "Lord Heavenly Radiance" now was utterly indifferent.

Not hollow—just cold.

“The Demon God is Lord Heavenly Radiance.”

Lin Yuan arrived at a firm conclusion.

He had watched with his own eyes as Lord Heavenly Radiance transformed into the Demon God—if he still wasn’t convinced, that would be pure foolishness.

In fact, Lin Yuan had speculated before that the so-called Demon God might actually be one of this Source World’s Eternal Lords.

Or perhaps… even Lord Heavenly Radiance himself.

But he hadn’t pursued the idea too deeply. After all, how could a being as powerful as Lord Heavenly Radiance—a Time Being—have their spiritual will erased, reduced to acting on instinct?

Time Beings could perceive countless future timelines. Erasing their will was nearly impossible—let alone for someone like Lord Heavenly Radiance, who was likely a Time Lord.

Forget erasing a Time Lord’s will—just thinking about it could generate countless timelines in which that thought was discovered and preemptively countered.

Why had the Five Founding Ancestors of the first Source World, aside from the Liyang Ancestor, shown such caution toward Lin Yuan?

Was it kindness? Of course not. It was because they realized there was no timeline in which they could stop his rise.

If any timeline had shown a viable way to kill Lin Yuan, the Founding Ancestors would have fought over it. The Liyang Ancestor would’ve protected him—but the others wouldn’t have been so forgiving.

“No wonder the Eternal Lords never revealed the true source of the demonic catastrophe.”

Lin Yuan’s expression turned contemplative.

Who was Lord Heavenly Radiance? He was the first Eternal Lord of this Source World. The entire rune cultivation system had been established by him.

At the dawn of creation, he had enlightened all living beings. In a sense, the thirteen Eternal Lords that followed had all benefited from his grace.

Without Lord Heavenly Radiance, half of them likely wouldn’t have emerged. The cultivation system of this world wouldn’t have reached the flourishing heights it had before the great upheaval.

To all living beings—including the disciples of the Eternal Sects—Lord Heavenly Radiance was a special figure. Revered and close, to the point of fanatical worship.

If it were revealed that the apocalyptic demonic catastrophe originated from Lord Heavenly Radiance—

Countless strong cultivators would suffer inner collapse, losing the will to resist the catastrophe.

That, more than anything, was why the Eternal Lords had left no information behind—keeping this truth a strict secret, even from their own sects.

“Perhaps even the Eternal Lords didn’t want the world to know that Lord Heavenly Radiance became the Demon God…”

Lin Yuan sighed inwardly. Undoubtedly, the thirteen Eternal Lords were also grateful for Lord Heavenly Radiance’s guidance.

To all, he was the embodiment of light. Perhaps the Eternal Lords didn’t want to see him hated and cursed by the world.

“But how did Lord Heavenly Radiance’s spiritual will vanish? Was it erased? Or was it something else entirely?” Lin Yuan continued pondering.

Even now, he didn’t know if Lord Heavenly Radiance was alive or dead.

But one thing was clear—the man never anticipated that his physical body would one day, on instinct, corrupt the Source World.

Otherwise, he would’ve prepared for it—sealed his body, for example, and waited for his will to return.

Yet even a being suspected of being a Time Lord hadn’t foreseen this fate—

Whatever happened must’ve involved forces extremely hidden, even from Rank Thirteen Time Beings.

“Forget it.”

“Whether Lord Heavenly Radiance is the Demon God or not… doesn’t really matter to me.”

Lin Yuan shook his head. He had no personal attachment to Lord Heavenly Radiance—only admiration for such a figure.

Whether he was a savior or a destroyer, it didn’t change anything.

Beneath the sky, Lord Heavenly Radiance—now fully transformed into the Demon God—continued speaking:

“I built my foundation on runes, and forged two true bodies: one of Light, and one of Darkness. Naturally, the Light body is far stronger than the Dark one.”

Lin Yuan listened quietly. Below the level of temporal life, there was no such thing as dual true bodies. Lin Yuan had only managed to manifest three true bodies by relying on the Gate of Myriad Realms, paying the price of a fragment of his spiritual will.

What defines a true body? A true body is unique—everything else is just an avatar.

There exists causal connection between a true body and its avatars.

But two true bodies—are entirely independent, causally unlinked.

If Lin Yuan hadn’t seen Lord Heavenly Radiance’s transformation with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed they were one and the same.

He had received Lord Heavenly Radiance’s rune inheritance—establishing a slight karmic tie.

And he had fought the Demon God—creating a second karmic tie.

But the two were completely separate.

This was one of the reasons he never suspected the Demon God was Lord Heavenly Radiance.

“The Dao of Runes encompasses all things. I believe that at its final level, it can achieve omnipotence,” Lord Heavenly Radiance’s voice rippled with emotion.

“Omnipotence…”

Lin Yuan fell into deep thought. This Eternal Lord’s ultimate pursuit had been omnipotence through runes.

“That’s enough. The inheritance ends here. If you’ve made it this far, it means you’ve fully grasped this level—and you haven’t yet become an Eternal Lord. Congratulations. You have a high chance of becoming one.”

Lord Heavenly Radiance smiled. “If you already are an Eternal Lord, then mastering this level will aid you in the path of runes. It will help you compress your own past, present, and future timelines.”

Lin Yuan listened quietly.

This inheritance—created by Lord Heavenly Radiance—had never been fully understood by even many Eternal Lords. And among those below the Eternal level?

Not a single one had ever succeeded.

Even Lin Yuan—despite merging countless inheritances from this Source World, using his Unrivaled Insight, and leveraging laws from multiple dimensional spaces—had still spent over ten thousand years to fully comprehend it.

What hope would others have?

“…Honestly, I envy you.”

A smile spread across Lord Heavenly Radiance’s face. In his Demon God form, the smile looked twisted and eerie. “To become an Eternal Lord, there’s still a direction you can work toward. Time cycles aren’t absolute. This inheritance I created slightly breaks that cycle. In the countless dimensional layers, there are other similar legacies.”

“Though mastering them is extremely difficult, at least there’s hope—something you can pursue. Even if you never succeed, it still benefits your cultivation.”

His expression grew complicated.

“But for me to take the next step… it’s not about hope anymore. Whether a Time Being can evolve into a perfect one—is determined the moment they begin their cultivation. If you can, you can. If not—then no amount of effort will help.”

Lord Heavenly Radiance shook his head slightly. “And before attempting that breakthrough, no Time Being can truly know whether they can succeed. Future timelines cannot reach into the Rank Fourteen realm.”

Lin Yuan took it all in.

Especially the final few sentences—revealing rare insight into the evolution of a Time Being into a perfect Time Being.

“You can, or you can’t?”

“No matter how hard you try, if you can’t—you can’t?”

Lin Yuan furrowed his brow slightly. He could sense Lord Heavenly Radiance’s helplessness as he spoke those words.

It felt like being shackled by fate—destiny sealed.

But wasn’t the whole point of being a Time Being to defy fate? To observe and choose one’s future?

And yet, in the end, even they were bound by fate.

“So… breaking into Rank Fourteen has no threshold? Any peak Rank Thirteen can attempt it. But whether you succeed or not… that’s another story?”

From Lord Heavenly Radiance’s brief remarks, Lin Yuan pieced together a rough picture.

This was completely different from breaking from Rank Twelve to Rank Thirteen.

That leap had a clear barrier: time cycles.

But time cycles could be worked around. This inheritance was proof of that. Strengthening one’s anchor to the outside world, refining one’s evolutionary path—all of it helped.

But from Rank Thirteen to Fourteen?

That was determined the moment one began their journey. No going back. No changing it.

And from all the information Lin Yuan had gathered, perfect Time Beings were extremely rare.

More accurately—there was no definitive proof they even existed.

Across all his travels and transmigrations, Lin Yuan had encountered many Time Beings.

He had learned of others through them as well. But a perfect one?

All he knew was that such beings supposedly wandered past, present, and future—able to choose the future they wanted, and, if dissatisfied, return to the past to forcibly reshape it.

But had anyone ever truly seen such a being?

Even the Six Founding Ancestors of the first Source World hadn’t.

The only possible connection Lin Yuan had—

Was the projection of the Gate of Myriad Realms in his mind.

It existed outside all timelines. Even Time Beings couldn’t perceive it.

That alone aligned with the traits of a perfect Time Being.

“It’s over.”

Lin Yuan looked toward the sky, where Lord Heavenly Radiance’s figure gradually faded.

His expression was tinged with emotion.

To have fully comprehended this inheritance—and in doing so, discovered the truth of the demonic catastrophe—that had been an unexpected bonus.

Trial Space.

The incarnation Lin Yuan had left behind opened its eyes.

The green book floating before him slowly descended, the light within it completely fading.

“You…”

The golden figure’s eyes widened. “You actually comprehended the entire inheritance?”

This green book was one of the original inheritance scrolls created by Lord Heavenly Radiance. Once a being fully comprehended it, the book itself would enter a dormant state—just as it had now.

“Yeah.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

Now that he had mastered it, his understanding of runes had reached an unimaginable level. Whatever he willed in his heart became a rune—and he could even briefly bind future timelines to observe them.

With his current mastery, he now possessed some of the traits of a Time Being.

“Still can’t compare to a real temporal being, but… it’s far clearer than using the Void Cauldron.”

Before his eyes, countless future timelines slowly unfolded—

Scenes of many possible futures playing out before him.

“…Freak.”

The golden figure stared at Lin Yuan, momentarily at a loss for words.

Even though he had seen Lin Yuan battle the Demon God with his own eyes, this was different.

This rune inheritance—something not even many Eternal Lords had grasped—Lin Yuan had just casually mastered.

“…Why didn’t the great Lord Wu Shan—”

The golden figure frowned. With Lin Yuan’s current capabilities, how could Lord Wu Shan, who had foreseen the future, not leave behind any kind of arrangement?

Beyond the Source World.

In a spacetime bathed in infinite light—

Thirteen towering figures stood silently, enduring the blinding radiance from all directions, while continuing to observe countless future timelines.

“Eternal Lord… Eternal Lord… all Eternal Lords…”

Lord Wu Shan’s eyes were filled with awe. After watching even more timelines, he realized that in every future, the one called “Milky Way” would become an Eternal Lord.

“This ‘Milky Way’… even shares a slight karmic tie with me—having obtained the inheritance I left in the Trial Space?”

Lord Wu Shan was momentarily stunned. He had never seen such a definitive future before.

“In as few as several thousand years, or at most several tens of thousands, this ‘Milky Way’ will become an Eternal Lord. Then, in an extremely short span, he will become a Time Lord—sealing and consolidating his own timelines.”

Lord Black Void spoke up as well, eyes equally shaken.

Ever since they discovered something special about Lin Yuan, the thirteen Eternal Lords had divided their efforts.

Some focused on observing as many future timelines as possible—to see if in any of them, "Milky Way" failed to become an Eternal Lord.

Others followed one timeline deeply—to see how far he could go.

The result shocked them all.

First: not a single timeline they observed showed a future in which Lin Yuan didn’t become an Eternal Lord.

Not even a single future where he only became one after a hundred thousand years.

Second: in every deep-observed timeline, Lin Yuan’s growth was terrifyingly fast. Even reaching the level of a Time Lord in a short time.

Time Lord?

This Source World had existed for untold ages—and only one had ever appeared: Lord Heavenly Radiance.

And technically, he hadn’t even been native to this Source World.

The Eternal Lords knew this.

Which meant that in all its history, this Source World had never produced a Time Lord.

But this “Milky Way”?

Not only would he become an Eternal Lord—

He would, in short order, complete a path that none of the thirteen Eternal Lords had ever walked.

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