Chapter 734

The imperial palace was certainly considered absolutely secure.

At least the young emperor couldn’t imagine what kind of power could possibly break through the palace’s defenses and kill him here.

In this world, the suppression of the physical body was immense—physical growth was impossible, and the final strength of one’s mind and will was also limited. It was impossible to take on tens of thousands alone.

But the final tribulation was obviously not going to be that simple.

It was definitely not something he could face head-on.

The young emperor never intended to do so anyway.

Moreover, he had already assumed one thing—sooner or later, the palace would be breached.

Under such circumstances, so-called absolute safety was meaningless.

The imperial palace was too large a target.

Everyone knew the emperor resided there.

Rather than wait in the palace for the great tribulation to arrive—

It was better to simply disappear into the mortal world.

This world was vast beyond measure. The Grand Feng Dynasty occupied the richest ninety-nine provinces.

Beyond the ninety-nine provinces, many small nations stood side by side.

Even farther lay vast territories, like the endless deep sea to the east.

But that place was sparsely populated and harsh to survive in.

The young emperor believed that if he just picked a random place to hide, even if the power of the great tribulation was unprecedented and capable of breaking through the palace, it would still be helpless against him.

If he could survive for one hundred and fifty years, then he would win.

As for how to survive?

The young emperor didn’t really care.

Fighting the tribulation head-on?

That would be the most foolish approach.

The requirement of this tribulation wasn’t to defeat it.

He only needed to live for one hundred and fifty years.

Jinlong Sect.

Lin Yuan spent just over half a month to fully take over control of this colossal force in Manzhou.

Mainly because Jin Yi, a Dao Master, cooperated and proactively paved the way for him.

Combined with Lin Yuan displaying strength on par with a Dao Master, the other disciples naturally didn’t dare resist.

As for how a Dao Master suddenly appeared?

A major power like Jinlong Sect would surely train disciples in secret.

Any disciple with the potential to become a Dao Master would never be publicly exposed.

What if they were assassinated by other factions before ascending to Master status?

So Lin Yuan’s appearance was accepted by the entire sect as Jin Yi’s secretly groomed successor.

With that, the transition of power in Jinlong Sect went unusually smoothly.

On top of that, Lin Yuan had soul-searched all of Jin Yi’s memories, giving him complete insight into the sect and allowing him to observe numerous timelines.

In less than a month, the entire Jinlong Sect had submitted to Lin Yuan.

Due to the suppression of this world, when observing future timelines, Lin Yuan couldn’t see exact images—only fragmented text descriptions.

Thus, soul-searching Jin Yi had been absolutely necessary.

Not only did it deepen his understanding of Jinlong Sect.

It also saved a great deal of time that would have been spent viewing Jin Yi’s past and future timelines.

Lin Yuan’s target was the Grand Feng Emperor.

Most of the timelines he usually observed were related to the Grand Feng Emperor.

As for Jinlong Sect? It wasn’t worth his full attention.

“Manzhou is taken.”

In the Grand Jinlong Hall, Lin Yuan sat casually.

Taking over Jinlong Sect had been an unexpected gain.

Among the many timelines he had viewed before, he had never seen this one.

With control of Jinlong Sect, Manzhou was basically in his grasp.

As for the official forces of the Grand Feng Dynasty?

With Lin Yuan’s methods and the backing of Jinlong Sect, the imperial forces in Manzhou stood no chance.

They would be silently replaced, just like Jinlong Sect.

“Time is still tight.”

Lin Yuan gathered his thoughts.

After twenty years of cultivation, he considered himself at the peak of the Dao Master realm.

In terms of combat power, he was practically invincible among Dao Masters. Ordinary ones couldn’t withstand even a moment against him.

But this immense strength brought almost no improvement to his lifespan.

Based on his precise grasp of his physical state, his remaining life span wouldn’t exceed one hundred and thirty years.

Which meant that to pass this time loop trial, he had to kill the Grand Feng Emperor within one hundred and thirty years.

“If, on the last day of my life, I still haven’t managed to kill the Grand Feng Emperor, then I’ll use the Boundary-breaking source energy to do it.”

Lin Yuan thought to himself.

The Boundary-breaking source energy was his ultimate trump card.

Even at the thirteenth rank of Time Beings, it remained immensely useful.

If he could avoid using it, he absolutely would.

Back when he was attempting to break through to the thirteenth rank, Lin Yuan had already developed methods to forcibly enter other innate universes.

He had tried entering a universe on the verge of destruction.

But unlike his home universe, he couldn’t absorb massive amounts of Boundary-breaking source energy from it.

Lin Yuan suspected this was due to interference from the consciousness of the Chaos Void.

The Boundary-breaking source energy was likely the core origin energy of spatial dimensions like the Chaos Void.

Even thirteenth-rank Time Beings struggled to detect and absorb it.

It only emerged during the destruction of innate universes birthed by the Chaos Void, during which some of the Boundary-breaking source energy would leak out.

Originally, the Chaos Void’s consciousness didn’t interfere with this leaking force, since even Time Beings couldn’t detect it.

But ever since Lin Yuan absorbed a large amount of it during his home universe’s destruction, the Chaos Void’s consciousness had become wary.

From then on, in every innate universe nearing destruction, the moment Boundary-breaking source energy began to leak—

It would be immediately reclaimed into the deepest origin of the Chaos Void.

Giving Lin Yuan no opportunity to absorb it.

So currently, Lin Yuan’s only method of stockpiling Boundary-breaking source energy was to accumulate it day by day through time.

Spending four million units of Boundary-breaking source energy to break through the time loop, if it could be avoided, it should be.

As his final trump card, Lin Yuan was naturally reluctant to use it.

But if he truly couldn’t break through the loop on his own, he would use it without hesitation.

But to spend all his accumulated Boundary-breaking source energy, without even trying to break the time loop by himself, Lin Yuan absolutely wouldn’t accept that.

After all, the initiative for breaking the loop currently lay with Lin Yuan himself.

So there was no rush.

“The Time Beings of the Chaos Void, the First Source World, and the Second Source World all observed my future timelines and were so confident I’d reach the thirteenth rank—because in the future, I’m destined to do so.”

“It’s probably because the Boundary-breaking source energy can be used in the time loop.”

Lin Yuan’s expression became thoughtful.

That would explain it.

Time loops differed for every individual—there was no guaranteed path to breaking through.

But as a universal force, the Boundary-breaking source energy could directly break through the time loop, which ensured his eventual ascension to the thirteenth rank.

The only difference was whether he ascended by spending four million units of Boundary-breaking source energy.

Or did it with his own power.

Naturally, Lin Yuan hoped for the latter.

Not only would it save a huge amount of Boundary-breaking source energy, it would also be a testament to his own strength.

Proof of his worth.

After fully taking control of Jinlong Sect, Lin Yuan resumed watching his own future timelines.

Line after line of phantom text flickered into view before vanishing.

Revealing one possible future for Lin Yuan.

[At age thirty-eight, you believe no Dao Master can rival you. You sneak into the capital of Grand Feng alone, intending to assassinate the emperor.]

[A month later, you are surrounded by twenty-eight Dao Masters and fifty thousand imperial guards. You die.]

“Hm?”

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.

With his current strength, he was individually unmatched.

Yet merely sneaking into the capital—before even seeing the emperor—resulted in death?

“Twenty-eight Dao Masters?”

Lin Yuan gently shook his head.

That number was roughly half of all such masters across the ninety-eight provinces.

Add the elite fifty thousand guards, if he fought to the death, then yes, he could indeed perish.

Because he was viewing a future timeline, Lin Yuan wouldn’t even think about retreating.

If the goal was to assassinate the emperor, then it was a one-way mission.

Even if he failed, he would at least learn the capital’s defenses.

So in that timeline, Lin Yuan died.

But if that had happened in the present, and he realized it was futile.

He would have immediately backed off.

And even if he didn’t retreat, he’d use Boundary-breaking source energy to forcibly "clear" the trial before dying.

“Continue.”

Lin Yuan began observing a new timeline.

[At age thirty-eight, you sneak into the capital, much more cautious this time.]

[Two months later, you successfully enter the imperial palace, but are surrounded by thirty thousand imperial guards. You die.]

“Hm?”

Lin Yuan stroked his chin.

Just thirty thousand guards—no Dao Masters—yet he died?

“There must be a secret in the palace capable of suppressing Dao Masters.”

Lin Yuan speculated silently.

In this loop world, the Dao of Runes could still be used, but it was heavily restricted—only manifesting as written text.

So Lin Yuan lacked a lot of key intel.

But from the outcomes alone, he could deduce quite a bit.

Facing twenty-eight Dao Masters and fifty thousand guards, if he refused to retreat, then yes—death was likely.

But just thirty thousand guards? With enough time, he should be able to slaughter them all.

“Keep going.”

After a moment of thought, Lin Yuan resumed viewing future timelines.

After taking full control of Jinlong Sect, the forces under Lin Yuan’s command saw massive development.

As a Master-level force with thousands of years of legacy, the Jinlong Sect had enough connections and resources to elevate his forces several levels.

Next—

Lin Yuan began using Jinlong Sect as a stepping stone, gradually expanding into other major provinces.

Of course, he moved quietly. That was his top priority.

Before making any move against the Grand Feng Emperor, he would never expose any information about himself.

With the emperor in the light and himself in the shadows, he had the time and space to grow undisturbed.

Once exposed, from shadow to light, things would no longer be so easy.

With the Grand Feng Dynasty’s national machinery in full swing, any further development of his forces would face major hurdles.

At that point, completing the assassination trial would depend entirely on his own strength.

Which would greatly lower his chances of success.

And so—

Time passed swiftly.

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

...

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