Chapter 345: The Strongest's Surprise

Chapter 345: The Strongest's Surprise (5000 characters, please subscribe)

The flawless and profound violet liquid captivated Lin Yuan, captivating his very soul. He stared at it intently, his renegade talent attempting to decipher its very essence.

However, after a long while, he seemed to gain no new insights. There were two possible reasons for his renegade talent's lack of progress. Either the violet liquid held nothing worth comprehending, or its essence was too profound for Lin Yuan's current ninth-tier renegade talent to fathom, even just a fragment.

The first possibility didn't make much sense. How could there be nothing worth understanding about the violet liquid if it had helped Lin Yuan's inner world break free of its shackles and surpass its limits?

"I'm already at the ninth tier, yet I still can't comprehend even a bit of it," Lin Yuan thought to himself. "The origin of this mysterious gourd is far more enigmatic than I imagined."

It wasn't that he couldn't comprehend it at all; he just couldn't grasp even a fragment of its secrets. If it were the former, he could at least keep trying to understand it, even if he couldn't fully grasp it. But the latter was like being denied entry altogether.

"Oh well," he sighed. "As long as the gourd is in my possession, it's mine. I'll figure it out eventually."

Lin Yuan refused to believe that he would still be unable to comprehend the mystery even after reaching the tenth or eleventh tier. And if he truly couldn't, then the origin of the mysterious gourd must be even more extraordinary than he thought, which should be a cause for celebration rather than concern.

"Let's continue," he urged himself. "If I wait any longer, I feel like this drop of liquid might dissipate."

Lin Yuan fixed his gaze on the violet liquid. Ever since the drop had formed at the mouth of the gourd, he had felt a pressure from the cosmos itself, as if it wanted to erase the existence of the violet liquid.

"Is it because my inner world will break the two-billion-li limit with the help of this violet liquid?" Lin Yuan wondered.

A billion li inner world was the limit for all life in the cosmos, including those special beings. Lin Yuan had easily surpassed this limit, breaking some fundamental rule. But two billion li? That was pushing the limits even further.

The seven liquids within the mysterious gourd—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—appeared similar, but each was undoubtedly more precious and rare than the last.

The cyan liquid had enabled Lin Yuan's inner world to expand from 1.665 billion li to 1.998 billion li. And now, the violet liquid promised to push it even further, to an astonishing 2.331 billion li.

On the surface, both expansions seemed to have the same multiplier of 3.33. But in reality, the violet liquid's expansion was building upon the limits already stretched by the cyan liquid, making it an even more remarkable feat.

It was like standing on the tip of a hundred-foot pole and taking another step forward—a challenge far beyond comparison to the cyan liquid.

To illustrate this point, consider the athletes of a low-tier civilization that has not yet ventured into the starry skies. They might take nine seconds to run a hundred meters. But reducing that time to eight seconds, or even seven, would not be a linearly proportional increase in difficulty; it would be an exponential leap.

And so it was with the expansion of Lin Yuan's inner world.

"Absorb," Lin Yuan commanded, swallowing the violet liquid.

Rumble...

Terrifying violet flames erupted within Lin Yuan's body. Unlike the previous rules-based attacks, these flames rendered his Elemental Body useless. His Physical God Art, Blood Rebirth, crumbled instantly, and his body quickly turned to ashes.

Buzz.

Moments later, Lin Yuan's physical form reconstituted, a look of surprise on his face.

"Absorbing this violet liquid is much more difficult than the previous six drops," he muttered to himself, steadying his mind.

Usually, the absorption of a new liquid started off smoothly, but with the violet liquid, Lin Yuan felt an unprecedented level of difficulty from the very beginning.

"Again," he said, taking out the Mysterious Protection artifact once more. The gourd's surface had now turned a mottled mix of gray and violet, both dull and dazzling.

In the alien battlefield, beneath the massive permanent spatial rift, Lin Yuan's Taiyin Yuan Spirit sat cross-legged in meditation. Occasionally, other powerful beings passed by, but none detected his presence.

Absorbing the boundary-breaking source power that leaked from the permanent spatial rift did not require one to be in the main space. One could absorb it just as effectively while situated within the numerous layers of space.

This particular permanent spatial rift was created by an attack of the strongest level, tearing through countless layers of space. No matter which layer Lin Yuan occupied, he could absorb the boundary-breaking source power.

"I've now accumulated one hundred and forty-eight strands of boundary-breaking source power," Lin Yuan said, a smile spreading across his face.

Before his ninth shuttle attempt, he had accumulated one hundred and twenty strands. The ninth attempt had consumed ten strands, leaving him with one hundred and ten.

In the over ten years since then, he had gathered an additional thirty-eight strands of boundary-breaking source power.

"Boundary-breaking source power comes from space that has been permanently torn apart," Lin Yuan mused. "In other words, the power source of the Myriad Worlds Gate must continuously tear space from its very foundation? This doesn't seem like a good thing."

Lin Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. Continuously tearing space at its foundation would eventually lead to the destruction of the main universe if taken too far.

Of course, the main universe had its own will, operating in mysterious ways, and it would not allow the strongest beings to act unchecked. Creating permanent spatial rifts within a certain range would likely go unnoticed by the will of the main universe. But if the strongest beings dared to attempt this on a large scale, they would undoubtedly face its interference.

"However, once I reach the tenth tier, I should be able to venture to large alien battlefields and absorb the boundary-breaking source power from the permanent spatial rifts there," Lin Yuan contemplated.

If medium and small alien battlefields were the result of powerful evolvers wielding peak weapons over long periods, then the large alien battlefields bore the marks of the strongest beings themselves.

Large alien battlefields were where peak races clashed, where the strongest beings faced off and occasionally clashed directly. That was where the true concentration of powerful beings from the myriad races of the cosmic starry skies could be found—where even the extremely rare ninth and tenth-tier powerhouses gathered.

So far, the closest instance of the strongest colliding was several decades ago, with that corpse of a beyond-universe strongest expert.

"After I step into the tenth tier, even in large battlefields, I will have the power to protect myself." Lin Yuan thought to himself.

If it were just the ninth tier, it would still be a bit unsafe. Some special eleventh-tier powerhouses could completely employ curse-killing techniques.

But reaching the tenth tier would be much safer. According to the principle that one must surpass at least two major realms to curse-kill, only the strongest would be able to curse-kill a tenth-tier life form.

If an alien strongest expert made a move, the strongest of the human civilization would definitely counter.

In such a balance, Lin Yuan would lose at most a Yuan Spirit, which would have no impact on his true body.

"I wonder how much the permanent spatial rift in the large alien battlefield can increase the efficiency of my accumulation of boundary-breaking source power?"

Lin Yuan was somewhat expectant.

Virtual World.

Lin Yuan met with Duoke and other special ninth-tier experts.

"Galaxy Star Master, some ninth-tier aliens who were driven into the inner region are willing to pay the price of all their harvest in this secret realm, just to let their clones leave."

Duoke spoke up.

The ninth-tier aliens being hunted down by human civilization evolvers were mainly from the Insect Clan and Sky Feather Clan, two peak clans, but they also included powerful clans and experts from special life forms.

These ninth-tier aliens had ended up on the human civilization's hit list simply because they were dragged down by the peak clans.

But now, the situation in the Xuanhuang Secret Realm had completely clarified, and under the suppression of the Galaxy Star Master, those ninth-tier aliens had no chance at all.

In this situation, a small number of ninth-tier aliens naturally wanted to surrender to the human civilization. At least, they wanted to ensure the survival of their clones.

For many clans, a ninth-tier powerhouse was like a pillar supporting the heavens. The loss of a ninth-tier powerhouse's clone would definitely affect the clan significantly.

"Since you chose to join hands with the Insect Clan and Sky Feather Clan, you should know the consequences." Lin Yuan said calmly.

Paying the price of all their harvest in this secret realm?

Even without that, everything would belong to Lin Yuan once the secret realm closed anyway.

He would even be able to obtain their flesh and blood. The flesh and blood of ninth-tier powerhouses were already comparable to many universal treasures.

"Very well."

Duoke's spirits rose.

This was the true Galaxy Star Master, the greatest genius in the history of human civilization.

He made no compromises with the aliens, and would rather give up any harvest to make the aliens suffer.

Galaxy Main Planet.

Lin Yuan stopped absorbing the purple liquid within the Mysterious Gourd.

Firstly, the constant disintegration of his physical body into ashes was a form of attrition.

Secondly, the liquid within the Mysterious Gourd was not infinite; it could only condense a small amount every once in a while.

"Comprehend the Xuanhuang Evolution Path."

Lin Yuan turned his attention to comprehending the Xuanhuang Evolution Path.

The Taiyang Yuan Spirit, located in the Xuanhuang Secret Realm, cultivated the *Xuanhuang Strike* and the *Xuanhuang Body*.

The Taiyin Yuan Spirit, located in the alien battlefield, contemplated the time rule and cultivated the *Spatial-Temporal Step*.

And the true body, located on the Galaxy Main Planet, comprehended various evolution paths while comparing the Chaos Crystal, miniature universe, and himself to each other.

Each of the three main body Yuan Spirits had their own focus.

"The Xuanhuang Evolution... It's truly wondrous. The tenth-tier and even eleventh-tier chapters are completely different from the nine major strongest evolution paths of our current human civilization."

Lin Yuan was captivated, and the deeper his comprehension of the Xuanhuang Evolution Path went, the more it could promote his cultivation of the *Xuanhuang Strike* and the *Xuanhuang Body*.

As for the *Spatial-Temporal Step*, his comprehension of it promoted his understanding of the time and space rules.

Numerous insights intertwined under the impetus of his heaven-defying comprehension talent, causing Lin Yuan to improve at an unimaginable speed.

"The transformation from the ninth tier to the tenth tier is a slow process and cannot be accomplished overnight." Lin Yuan, while comprehending, also paid attention to his transformation.

Ninth-tier powerhouses had at least opened up millions of layers of space, and it was impossible to transform so many layers of space in a short period of time.

"With my current situation, once I start transforming, it will probably take about a hundred years to complete." Lin Yuan thought to himself.

Other ninth-tier powerhouses who wanted to break through to the tenth tier would be extremely careful during the transformation, paying attention to the changes in their inner world and the layers of space.

From time to time, they would also need to make adjustments.

But Lin Yuan didn't need to care about any of that. With his vast inner world and profound depth of space, once his foundation reached a certain level, the so-called transformation would occur naturally.

"A hundred years." Lin Yuan sighed slightly.

The time he had spent in the main universe added up to just over a hundred years, and now a single transformation and breakthrough would take a hundred years.

"I won't be traveling during this hundred-year period." Lin Yuan made a decision.

At his current level, blind traveling wasn't very useful. It would be better to first step into the tenth tier and then think about how to travel specifically.

This hundred-year period would be just enough to accumulate a large amount of boundary-breaking source power. He was quite curious about the 'customized' travel methods of the Myriad Worlds Gate.

With sufficient boundary-breaking source power, Lin Yuan wouldn't mind trying a 'customized' travel once.

Of course, the prerequisite was that it would bring him tremendous benefits, at least benefits that he couldn't obtain in the main world.

After all, 'customized' travel required at least a hundred strands of boundary-breaking source power as a starting point, and Lin Yuan wouldn't even consider it without seeing enormous gains.

"The tenth-tier chapter of the Xuanhuang Evolution Path mainly discusses the essence of the 'time rule'."

"The tenth-tier chapter of the Xiaoyu Evolution Path also discusses the essence of the 'time rule'."

"Both discuss the essence of the time rule, yet they are completely different.

With the wealth Lin Yuan possessed, even without counting the gains from the Xuanhuang Secret Realm, he could afford to purchase all nine of the greatest evolution paths of human civilization.

The primary use of these evolution paths for Lin Yuan was to study and emulate them.

By comprehending their understanding of the fundamental rules, he could then incorporate them into his Great Dao of Evolution.

"Time," Lin Yuan murmured, his gaze calm as he took out the 'Miniature Universe' to experience the fully functioning time rules within it.

"So far, I've comprehended one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three time rule models, but the more I understand time, the more perplexing it becomes," Lin Yuan mused, his expression filled with wonder.

If he had not yet entered the threshold of understanding time rules, he might have felt that they were straightforward.

But the deeper he delved into his insight into time rules, the more he realized his own insignificance.

In the face of the vast and eternal river of time, what was he but a tiny speck? Even the mighty eleventh-tier beings could only be considered slightly larger fish.

Only the strongest could truly transcend the river of time and achieve everlasting existence.

"I've only grasped one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three types of time models. I'm still far from comprehending the complete time rule," Lin Yuan thought to himself.

Currently, the evolution scholars of human civilization had summarized a total of two thousand one hundred and seventy-three types of time models.

But that didn't mean that understanding all two thousand one hundred and seventy-three time models would lead to a complete comprehension of the time rule.

Unlike space rules, the countless evolution scholars of human civilization had already formed a relatively mature understanding of space rules.

By grasping all the core space models, one could fully understand the complete space rule.

However, with time rules, even if one comprehended all the currently known time rule models, it would not be enough to fully grasp the complete time rule.

To truly understand the complete time rule, one could only rely on themselves.

No matter how many time rule models there were, they could only serve as a guide; the final step could only be taken by oneself.

"In terms of comprehending the time rule, I've finally hit a bottleneck," Lin Yuan said, ceasing his contemplation.

Even with his heaven-defying comprehension talent and the complete time rules functioning within the Miniature Universe, Lin Yuan had reached a standstill in his understanding of the next time rule model.

This was only to be expected. Wasn't it natural to encounter bottlenecks when comprehending time rules? As for the Miniature Universe, the time rules within only made it easier for the owner to understand time rules; they didn't directly impart an understanding of the world's rules.

If the Miniature Universe had that ability, how could it have only appeared in the reward repositories of the third and fourth floors of the Nine-Story Black Tower?

"Perhaps I can seek guidance from a strongest expert?" Lin Yuan suddenly thought.

This feeling of being stuck was only temporary; it wouldn't hold him back for long.

But if there was a shortcut, why take the hard road? After his last meeting with the Xia Qin strongest expert, the latter had clearly stated that Lin Yuan could ask him for help with any cultivation questions he had.

"I'll give it a try," Lin Yuan decided, and immediately began to contact the Xia Qin strongest expert.

Since he had some doubts about the Xiaoyu Evolution Path as well, he might as well ask about them now.

On the towering Evolution Tower...

The Xia Qin strongest expert suddenly opened his eyes.

"Hmm?"

"That little guy is actually seeking me out?"

The Xia Qin strongest expert received Lin Yuan's message and a smile appeared on his face.

He had almost thought that Lin Yuan had forgotten about him, a strongest expert.

"Does he have some cultivation questions he wants to ask me?" The Xia Qin strongest expert was in a good mood.

A genius like Lin Yuan was unprecedented in the history of humanity.

Although it was still uncertain if he would eventually become a strongest expert, the Xia Qin strongest expert felt a sense of accomplishment in guiding such an extraordinary talent.

"Come on up," the Xia Qin strongest expert agreed to meet with Lin Yuan.

In an instant, Lin Yuan's figure appeared below.

"Greetings, Xia Qin strongest expert," Lin Yuan said respectfully.

This was still the virtual world, but it was the personal world of a strongest expert, and no one could enter without the strongest expert's permission.

Even an exceptional genius like Lin Yuan had to notify the strongest expert before entering.

"Rise," the Xia Qin strongest expert said. "Now, what is your question?"

The Xia Qin strongest expert looked at Lin Yuan with interest.

He was curious about Lin Yuan's cultivation questions.

With the number of space layers Lin Yuan had exhibited in the Xuanhuang Secret Realm, what could he possibly ask about? Was it a doubt he had during his ninth-tier cultivation?

Or was it a question about breaking through from the ninth-tier to the tenth-tier?

Or perhaps it was a matter of not understanding certain space fundamentals?

The Xia Qin strongest expert's thoughts raced as he wondered what aspect Lin Yuan would inquire about.

He guessed that Lin Yuan's question would be related to space, as he was still only at the ninth-tier, and even with the vast number of space layers he had opened up, his understanding was limited to that tier.

"Xia Qin strongest expert," Lin Yuan said after a moment's thought. "I have some confusion about the three mystic time index in the Xiaoyu Evolution Path. Is the three mystic time index three different time states, or is it a time vortex formed by the entanglement of the three mystic forms?"

Regarding the three mystic time index in the Xiaoyu Evolution Path, which involved different states of time, Lin Yuan compared it with his time rule models and had some minor doubts about the details.

"The Xiaoyu Evolution Path?"

The Xia Qin strongest expert's eyebrows rose. This was the evolution path that he had dedicated himself to.

However, soon after, the Xia Qin strongest expert was stunned.

The three mystic time index was content from the eleventh-tier chapter of the Xiaoyu Evolution Path!

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