Chapter 742

Last time he crossed a great realm, it was from the eleventh Rank to the twelfth.

Back then, Lin Yuan was still in his home universe.

The rift torn open to pipe in the Chaotic Void’s origin then was about a million light-years across.

Even so, compared to other breakthroughs at the same level, it was already tens of thousands of times larger.

Normally, when life steps into the twelfth order, the origin infusion from the Chaotic Void opens a rift only a few to ten light-years wide.

And that’s only speaking of diameter being tens of thousands of times larger.

If you compare the amount—the weight—of origin borne—the gap is beyond measuring.

But now—

Lin Yuan was crossing from the twelfth Rank into the thirteenth.

He was no longer receiving the Chaotic Void’s origin through a “rift.”

In this moment, Lin Yuan seemed to have merged with the Chaotic Void’s origin itself.

A vast, mighty flood of origin poured wholly into him.

The entire Chaotic Void, overburdened, began to spin up madly of its own accord, gulping down energy from the inter-dimensional gaps outside.

As a top-tier dimensional space, the Chaotic Void had already formed a closed cycle within; under normal circumstances it did not need to ingest energy from the gaps.

But now, that cycle had been broken by Lin Yuan; with massive origin being poured out, it was forced to actively swallow energy from outside.

“So comfortable.”

As the unending origin surged in, Lin Yuan felt the universes within him plump out rapidly.

With the rise of his realm and the leap of his life-essence, the inner cosmos began to expand at speed.

And expansion demands fuel—plenty of it.

With the scale of Lin Yuan’s inner cosmos, only the Chaotic Void itself could even begin to meet such a surge in demand.

If you ranked by tier, the Chaotic Void’s “mass” roughly matched that of a third-realm Time Lord.

Of course, this “Time Lord” had no will—only the same scale.

In Lord Mo Xu-jun’s thirteenth-rank legacy Infinite Void, if you cultivated to the theoretical extreme and raised your inner cosmos to an “infinite void” matching the Chaotic Void, you would be approaching the Time Lord tier.

But a true Time Lord relies on more than raw mass.

Even with equal mass, you only draw near.

Whooosh—the infinite sand-grain worlds within Lin Yuan also expanded frenetically alongside the inner cosmos.

A single sand-grain world was nowhere near the inner cosmos; the foundations were worlds apart.

But sheer number tells: the boundless total of sand-grain worlds, added together, were absorbing and devouring more of the Chaotic Void’s origin than the inner cosmos itself.

The Chaotic Void ran beyond redline, devouring the dark energy of the inter-dimensional gaps with all its might.

To lives below the thirteenth rank, those gaps look empty—but to Time Beings and to dimensional spaces—

They are saturated with a kind of dark energy that a dimensional space can swallow—and that Time Beings can, to a degree, absorb.

Rumble—

For a time, centered on the Chaotic Void, vast reaches of dark energy were consumed—affecting even farther-off dimensional spaces.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s going on in that dimensional space?”

“What are Lord Mo Xu-jun and the others doing?”

One Time Being after another sensed it, gazing from afar at the Chaotic Void.

Such rampant consumption of dark energy is rare—usually seen only when a dimensional space has perished and is birthing anew.

But now, the Chaotic Void is far from a great destruction.

“This commotion…”

Lord Mo Xu-jun and the other eight Time Beings exchanged looks.

They could feel how “strained” the Chaotic Void was—struggling to supply Lin Yuan.

Bear in mind, the Chaotic Void’s scale matches a Time Lord’s—and even so it could not keep Lin Yuan supplied. How deep must his foundation be?

“Terrifying.”

Rahu exhaled slowly. He had only recently broken into the thirteenth rank.

He knew very well what the origin infusion was like at the twelfth and thirteenth ranks.

Back then, his infusion had drawn down perhaps a tenth—or a fifth—of the Chaotic Void’s origin torrent.

Even so, Rahu had nearly burst from the endless flood.

But for Lin Yuan?

Not only was the entire Chaotic Void pouring itself out, it had begun gulping endlessly from the inter-dimensional gaps.

The gap here was not a hundredfold or thousandfold.

“Could Milky Way be nearing the second realm the moment he becomes thirteenth rank?”

The thought flashed through Rahu’s mind and even startled him.

Thirteenth-rank Time Beings are divided into first realm, second realm, and third realm.

Third realm is the Time Lord, claiming a vast territory within the inter-dimensional wilderness.

Normally, Time Lords have their own pursuits and rarely meddle without cause.

So a second-realm Time Being can already dominate a region; such thirteenth-orders have long since left their home dimensions behind.

Nearing second realm? Many a Time Being who has weathered a full great-desolation cycle hasn’t reached it.

For Lin Yuan, just stepping into the thirteenth, to be judged near the second by Rahu—that was an astonishing assessment.

At that level, a bit of cultivation would tip him cleanly into the second realm.

Among new Time Beings, the gaps aren’t usually so vast—who breaks into the thirteenth without peerless talent?

Meanwhile—

The beings of the Chaotic Void also noticed the anomaly of Lin Yuan’s devouring of origin.

They couldn’t miss it; even the birth of an ordinary Time Being makes a visible stir—let alone Lin Yuan’s.

“Why does it feel like the overall chaos qi has thinned by half?”

“A great Time Being has been born.”

“Yes—I can feel the cause-and-effect of the Milky Way Great Saint. The Milky Way Great Saint has crossed into the thirteenth rank.”

Perfected Great Saints at the Chaos Realm boiled over in excitement.

Compared to Rahu’s recent ascent, the Milky Way Great Saint’s impact was far greater.

Rahu, though an Invincible Supreme Saint, had been “merely” a standard invincible. But the Milky Way Great Saint? The strongest Invincible Supreme Saint in history—only one since the birth of the Chaotic Void.

“A golden age—who would have thought we’d see two great Time Beings born back to back.”

“Indeed. To witness two with our own eyes—life well spent.”

“I’ve decided—I’m attempting the thirteenth Rank now.”

Perfected Great Saints felt all kinds of ways. Over long cosmic epochs, witnessing even one thirteenth-rank birth is fortune enough.

Let alone two—consecutively.

“Did you notice—the omens for the Milky Way Great Saint were far greater than for Saint Rahu?”

Perfected Great Saints lacked the omniscient senses of Time Beings; they couldn’t read the Void’s shifts.

But they clearly felt the difference in the density of chaotic qi.

When Rahu ascended, the Chaotic Void’s chaotic qi barely budged.

But Lin Yuan’s ascent—dropped it by fifty percent?

Such a contrast made many Perfected Great Saints faintly grasp that even among great Time Beings, there are tiers.

And even that sense was a drop in the ocean.

Only a fifty percent drop? If not for the Chaotic Void straining to keep the chaotic qi within bounds, it wouldn’t have been fifty percent—it would have been drained dry.

“Milky Way has crossed into the thirteenth rank?”

On the Milky Way Chaos Continent, the Strongest one Xia Qin and the other eight Strongest ones were elated; as for twelfth-rank evolvers who only emerged after leaving the home universe, they were outright ecstatic.

The stronger and higher the realm, the better you grasp what a thirteenth-rank Time Being means.

Twelfth to thirteenth might be “only” a step, but that step divides Time Being from non-Time Being.

To a Time Being, lives below the thirteenth are like paper—past, present, and future seen at a glance.

Great Saints, Supreme Saints, even Invincible Supreme Saints of the Chaotic Void—what they seek is the trail of Time Beings, yearning for a bit of guidance.

“Milky Way…”

While stirred and excited, the Strongest one Xuanyuan felt endless shock.

From the first moment he noticed Lin Yuan in the home universe, the man had never stopped growing—now he had eased past the bottleneck from twelve to thirteen. “Monster” didn’t begin to cover it.

Three hundred and thirty-three breaths later.

The origin torrent of the Chaotic Void gradually ebbed.

Whether from the eleventh to twelfth, or twelfth to thirteenth—the infusion lasts three hundred and thirty-three breaths.

Within that span, how much you can bear, depends on you.

“Over already?”

Lin Yuan wore a look of lingering hunger.

Even with the Chaotic Void pouring itself out, it had only filled him to seventy percent.

That was because he had deliberately held back.

If he had devoured at will, stuffed himself to a hundred percent—or even to bursting—he could have.

But it would likely have caused irreversible harm to the Chaotic Void.

It would have drained it to emptiness—left its origin hollow.

Even if a great destruction didn’t occur at once, it would come much sooner.

That ran counter to Lin Yuan’s wishes. He did want to use the Void’s origin to rise, but he didn’t want to scar his homeland.

Seventy percent was just right.

As for the rest, he could make it up by drawing on the endless dark energy that pervaded the gaps.

The efficiency lagged behind direct origin devouring, but with the Lord's Status’s aid, his swallow of dark energy would be not far off a true Time Lord’s.

Upon stepping into the thirteenth, more of the Lord's Status's uses had opened up; beyond boosting timeline observation.

His absorption of dark energy had sharply risen as well.

“My current strength…”

Lin Yuan examined himself. Strictly speaking, as a fresh thirteenth, he hadn’t fully settled into the first realm.

Even so, thanks to his foundation, his head-on combat power exceeded most second-realm Time Beings.

As for timeline sight—bolstered by the Status—it was likewise approaching a Time Lord’s.

“The Lord's Status's help… is simply immense.”

At the level of Time Beings, offense alone won’t let you dictate the game.

If you can’t match timeline sight, even if your force outstrips your foe’s, you’ll be led by the nose.

The enemy can’t beat you?

So you win?

That causal logic holds below the thirteenth, but not for Time Beings.

A Time Being simply won’t strike at an enemy he cannot beat.

Can’t win? Then don’t fight.

Or fight another way—with odds.

So long as you can find a timeline where you beat a stronger foe and the foe hasn’t found that line to prepare, you win.

For Time Beings. victory paths are not limited to brute force.

“After becoming a Time Being, the path ahead is to comprehend one’s Origin Dao.”

Lin Yuan mused.

Each Time Being’s Origin Dao is different.

For Lin Yuan, it was the Tao of Chaos Tai Chi at the origin level.

The Origin stratum of the Tao of Chaos Tai Chi, the Tao of Chaos Tai Chi was Lin Yuan’s self-created chaos path.

Across endless dimensions, there is no existing Dao to point the way.

So to derive the Origin-level Tao of Chaos Tai Chi—

He would mainly rely on himself.

“In general, once you realize your Origin Dao, you can step into the second realm.”

Lin Yuan thought. An Origin Dao is the capstone of the endless dimensions; beyond that lies the Supreme Rule Dao.

And the Supreme Rule Dao belongs to the endless tiers themselves; Time Beings study it only as reference—to patch and perfect their own Origin Daos.

“Within the time loop, the Supreme Rule Dao copied a brand of me. In exchange, I can directly watch the operation of the Yang Origin Dao and the Yin Origin Dao.”

Lin Yuan looked beyond the Chaotic Void.

A formless fluctuation from the Supreme Rules answered; whenever he wished, he could observe the workings of Yang and Yin Origins.

There is no Origin-level Tao of Chaos Tai Chi in the endless tiers—

But there are Origin-level Yin and Yang Daos of chaos.

They are among the foundational Daos underpinning the endless dimensions; upon them Lin Yuan had based his Tao of Chaos Tai Chi.

Born from Yang and Yin, yet transcending Yang and Yin.

“I’ll watch them later.”

Lin Yuan drew back his thoughts; he did not immediately view the operation of the chaotic Origin Yang and Yin.

No rush. Fresh to the thirteenth, he still had plenty of room to grow on all fronts.

Reach the limit first—then watch. The insight would be greater, and chances to directly watch Origin Daos are rare, even Time Lords seldom have them.

He withdrew his gaze and stepped once, appearing before Lord Mo Xu-jun and the eight Time Beings who had long been waiting.

“Milky Way, congratulations,” Lord Mo Xu-jun said with a smile.

Even though he had never doubted Lin Yuan’s ascent, at this moment he offered heartfelt congratulations.

“Congratulations, Milky Way.”

“Congratulations on entering the thirteenth.”

The other seven Time Beings offered their well-wishes in turn.

As Time Beings from the same dimensional space, they would stand together through the long ages to come—against other Time Being groups.

A common homeland is a powerful bond—even among Time Beings.

All the more for Time Beings of the same great-desolation cycle; their ties ran close.

Closer than kin—for with such gulfs of being, even kin grow distant.

“Lord Mo Xu-jun.”

Lin Yuan looked at the first Time Being of the Chaotic Void with gratitude.

Across most of his growth, Lord Mo Xu-jun’s Infinite Void legacy had helped greatly.

In the home universe, his inner world had been hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times that of his peers; after leaving, by cultivating Infinite Void, his gap from twelfth-rank denizens of the Chaotic Void widened further.

“Every time I see how fast you grow, Milky Way, I feel like I’ve lived for nothing.”

Lord Mo Xu-jun couldn’t help saying.

The others nodded their agreement.

“It was also your legacy that helped me greatly,” Lin Yuan looked to another Time Being.

“And that Heavenly Void Cauldron—it let me sense the power of timelines in advance.”

“Hahaha, you’re too modest, Milky Way.”

Lord Mo Xu-jun laughed.

“Even without Infinite Void, it wouldn’t have mattered much—at most you’d have stepped into the thirteenth a tad later.”

If Infinite Void alone could make a thirteenth-order, the Chaotic Void would have far more than seven Time Beings.

The legacy had long existed before Lin Yuan—and how many had it brought to the thirteenth?

None.

Not a one.

And that was with Lord Mo Xu-jun occasionally checking in—reviving “promising” cultivators who’d fallen along the way.

Of course, those revivals were limited to those who had died prematurely before reaching Perfected Chaos Realm.

For such cultivators, Mo Xu-jun would grant a do-over.

As for those who reached Perfected Chaos Realm, attempted the thirteenth, and fell into a time loop?

Lord Mo Xu-jun had little interest.

Even if you forced the loop to break at a price, you lost your chance at the thirteenth.

For lives with no hope of the thirteenth, Lord Mo Xu-jun had no interest.

Nor would he pay the price to smash the loop and drag them out.

“Right.”

“You’re still too modest, Milky Way.”

The owner of the Heavenly Void Cauldron added.

“Milky Way—your strength now should have cleanly surpassed mine, yes?”

Lord Mo Xu-jun ventured.

From the commotion as Lin Yuan broke through—devouring the Chaotic Void.

If nothing else, in sheer mass he had already surpassed Mo Xu-jun.

“Only brute force.”

Said Lin Yuan.

Without the Status, even if his mass and power surpassed—he’d only be “stronger brute force.”

“Brute force?”

Lord Mo Xu-jun did not agree.

If your might is crushing—what does it matter if you see no timelines?

Say a second realm versus a first realm—even if the former doesn’t look at timelines, the latter can’t touch him.

“Come.”

“Let’s have a proper gathering today.”

“To celebrate Milky Way joining the thirteenth rank.”

Said Lord Mo Xu-jun.

Lin Yuan did not refuse.

Crossing into the thirteenth—becoming a Time Being, was a joy worth celebrating.

The First Source World.

As Lin Yuan broke the time loop and entered the thirteenth, this Source World also birthed a grand omen.

“What is that?”

“The Ancestor—a new Ancestor is born.”

“It’s the Milky Way Heavenly Venerable—the Milky Way Heavenly Venerable has become an Ancestor.”

“The Milky Way Heavenly Venerable will found the Seventh Ancient Kingdom—he will be the new Ancestor.”

Heavenly Venerables felt a vast qi congeal, their hearts shaken.

An Ancestor, the seventh.

“Milky Way has become an Ancestor?”

In the Qingfen Domain, Marquis Qingfen sensed a heavy karmic aura linked to himself and sighed.

He thought back to the first time he saw Lin Yuan—just a feeble life.

And now that “feeble” life had grown to a height beyond his gaze.

The Great Ling Ancient Kingdom.

Lingwei Wang also felt the omen of a new Ancestor.

“The Milky Way Heavenly Venerable?”

Lingwei Wang fell silent, then shook his head. “Never thought I’d one day have crossed hands with an Ancestor.”

Back when the Qingfen and Zimeng Domains warred, Lingwei Wang had struck—only to be blocked by Lin Yuan—and die at his hands.

Now that Milky Way had become an Ancestor, that loss had become a badge of pride.

To lose to an Ancestor, was an honor.

“Hahahaha—congratulations, Milky Way.”

“Congratulations!”

The Grand Ancestor and the other six Ancestors gathered with Lin Yuan in an independent space-time.

“Thanks to you all for letting me possess you.”

Said Lin Yuan.

Before breaking into the thirteenth rank, he had deliberately experienced possession from the six Ancestors’ perspective.

“Milky Way, when will you found the Seventh Ancient Kingdom?”

The Liyang Ancestor asked.

By custom in this Source World, each Ancestor founded an ancient kingdom.

Time Beings of the Chaotic Void rarely meddled below the thirteenth—at most leaving legacies.

But the Time Beings of this Source World were different: they would found kingdoms and nurture their lines.

“In a while.”

“After I’ve stabilized my realm.”

Said Lin Yuan.

Unlike the Chaotic Void, which could pour origin, in this Source World, stepping into the thirteenth hadn’t brought him much.

So in strength, he had only reached the threshold of the second realm—not like his true body in the Chaotic Void, which had immediately surpassed most of the second realm.

Thus—

Lin Yuan’s next task was to push his strength to the limit.

“Fair enough.”

The Grand Ancestor and the other six nodded.

For an Ancestor, the most important thing is the self.

Founding a kingdom and raising heirs?

Secondary.

Even the Ancestor who valued his descendants most—the Grand Void Ancestor—if cultivation clashed with his kingdom’s line, would unhesitatingly choose the former.

The Second Source World.

As Lin Yuan entered the thirteenth, the world’s heaven-and-earth Dao shuddered.

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

In a hidden world, several sect masters wept; even knowing Lin Yuan’s strength rivaled an Eternal Lord.

As long as he was not one, he would have to face the time loop.

Fail it, and no matter how strong you are in the Three Realms of Transcendence—you sink forever.

Now that Lin Yuan was an Eternal Lord, the seas were open and the skies wide—no hidden dangers.

“The Demon God?”

After crossing into the thirteenth, Lin Yuan’s power had surged; nothing in this Source World was secret to him.

Even the Demon God’s lair—in the world’s deepest place—was under his gaze.

Rumble.

Lin Yuan lifted his right hand.

A boundless Taiji Yin-Yang diagram gathered and spun, and in an instant it sheathed the entire Source World.

Rumble.

Black and white Taiji power rapidly wore down the dark demonic miasma.

Hum—the Demon God’s form condensed, its hollow gaze falling upon Lin Yuan.

“Coming out on your own?”

Lin Yuan looked at it as well.

Now that he had fully stepped into the thirteenth and become an Eternal Lord—with the Lord of Heavenly Radiance’s Status boosting him—he was glaringly obvious in the Demon God’s sight.

Just as Lin Yuan was about to suppress the Demon God and end the demonic calamity.

A hint of emotion welled between the Demon God’s hollow eyes.

“You’ve inherited my Status-what was mine is yours,” the Demon God said with a gentle smile at Lin Yuan.

Its gaze was warm, kind.

Shrouded in endless demonic qi—yet giving an illusion of infinite light.

“But remember—my path is a dead end. My Status can only be reference—do not refine it.”

With that, its demonic body began to break apart; the miasma pervading heaven and earth likewise dissolved into the purest, most primal power and gathered before Lin Yuan.

“Hm?”

Watching, Lin Yuan reversed timelines—back across long ages to the era when the Lord of Heavenly Radiance charged the fourteenth order.

In the instant of that failed charge, the Lord of Heavenly Radiance realized this too—but had no strength to spare, no time to erase his light and dark bodies.

So with his last strength, he shattered his Status, letting it seep into all beings of this world.

This had two aims.

First, to weaken the dark and light bodies as much as possible.

Predictably, had the Status not shattered, the thirteen Eternal Lords of this world could never have stopped a Lord of Heavenly Radiance gone out of control.

Not even just the light body.

Second, if one day an Eternal Lord recondensed that Status, he could claim all of that Time Lord’s legacy.

The dark body—

And the light.

“Lord of Heavenly Radiance…”

Lin Yuan looked at the deep crystal clearly formed from endless demon qi.

Condensing the Status within the beings—that was the Lord’s lifeline bequeathed to this world.

It was a pity the thirteen Eternal Lords never saw it—but Lin Yuan, by “accident,” had recondensed it through the Martial Evolution Path.

“There.”

Lin Yuan raised his eyes beyond the world.

With the Lord's Status's aid, he sensed a power quite kindred to himself there—likely the Lord of Heavenly Radiance’s light body.

In a time-space bathed in infinite radiance.

The thirteen Eternal Lords also sensed the world’s shift.

Before they could react, the radiance that had been grinding them down, vanished.

At the same time—

A new figure gathered—

Lin Yuan.

“Greetings.”

Lin Yuan smiled at the thirteen Eternal Lords.

“Milky Way?” The Lord of Immeasurable blinked, looking around, unable to help asking, “Teacher’s light body…”

“Here.” Lin Yuan turned his palm, and a crystal of endless light appeared.

The thirteen Eternal Lords stared dumbly at the crystal in his hand.

The light body that had pinned them for ages, had been handled so easily?

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