Time passed, and fifteen years went by in the blink of an eye.
Milky Way Star, Star Lord's Hall.
Lin Yuan's true body sat cross-legged. In the small area in front of him, space faintly trembled, and time gradually twisted.
Buzzing sounds filled the area as the time flow occasionally increased and sometimes slowed.
"Since I started grasping the rules of time nine years ago, my subsequent insights have become slower and slower," Lin Yuan said, observing the area with different time flows before him. "It seems unlikely that I can fully comprehend the rules of time at the ninth rank."
"Even if I forcefully comprehend it with Unrivaled Insight, it would take tens of thousands of years. By then, I could have already advanced to the strongest one." Lin Yuan thought to himself.
The rules of time don't help in breaking through from the ninth to the tenth rank, nor do they improve one's foundation significantly.
Normally, a ninth-rank strongman wouldn't devote much time and energy to understanding the rules of time, as it's a bottomless pit.
Only Lin Yuan, with his Unrivaled Insight, attempted it for a few years, concluding that it would take tens of thousands of years to fully understand the rules of time.
Of course, this refers to time spent at the ninth rank.
Once Lin Yuan reaches the tenth or even eleventh rank, understanding time will likely become much faster.
"In comparison to the rules of space, the rules of time are somewhat redundant. They are tied to one's essence, and without a high level of life essence, they are essentially useless."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
For example, some ancient eleventh-rank beings, few of whom have comprehended the rules of time.
Even if they could enter the river of time and revive those who have died in the past, would they dare to do so?
No.
Even if they could revive the weakest sixth-rank beings, they wouldn't dare.
They have the ability to do so, but they wouldn't.
Because it violates the operating rules of the main universe, and doing so would result in backlash from the main universe.
The essence of the strongest ones is so profound that they can withstand the backlash from 'reviving,' but eleventh-rank beings can't.
Lin Yuan, who has just started with the rules of time, can only achieve time acceleration and deceleration, and even then, the most he can manage is three times the normal speed.
Whether accelerating or decelerating time, he can only maintain it for twenty breaths, and if the area exceeds three meters around him, the duration will sharply decrease.
If the area covered includes a strongman with a higher essence than Lin Yuan, the effect might collapse prematurely.
It's like trying to trap a whale with a small fishing net.
As for slowing down his body's time flow to achieve a type of 'longevity,' it only results in extended lifespan.
When time flow differs from the main universe, the perception of many cosmic rules becomes vague.
Time is a pillar rule, and it's through the power of time that life can perceive the fluctuations of many cosmic rules.
When time rules differ from the main universe, it's equivalent to cutting off the perception of cosmic rules.
Unless new rules of operation are rebuilt within the time flow area.
Lin Yuan's eight transmigrations each led to worlds with different time flows from the main universe, but he could still comprehend cosmic rules there.
This is because each world had rules of operation suited to its time flow.
"Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm."
Lin Yuan glanced at the depths of the starry sky. Fifteen years had passed, and the Yang Primordial Spirit had covered most of the inner area.
In five or six more years, it would enter the core area.
Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Deep within multiple layers of space.
Lin Yuan and Xi Lan were on their way.
Traveling with Xi Lan had significantly increased Lin Yuan's travel efficiency.
Although Xi Lan's combat power was average, he excelled at 'leaping' between space layers, saving Lin Yuan a lot of trouble.
For instance, when encountering a tough native creature, they could often escape before it even noticed the fluctuations in the space layers.
The native creature wouldn't have time to chase them.
"The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm has been open for over twenty years," Xi Lan said while traveling, his tone slightly heavy.
"Many of my friends who entered the Secret Realm have died."
Xi Lan sighed. "If I hadn't listened to you, Milky Way Star Lord, and stayed away from those opportunity places, I might not be here now."
Opportunity places contain treasures and are great opportunities, but also great risks.
Because many alien strongmen would flock there, trying to compete for treasures could easily get you killed by an alien strongman.
Xi Lan had already gained a lot from this trip to the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, aside from the mysterious black sphere. He had also luckily entered another opportunity place earlier.
Now, for Xi Lan, the most important thing was a safe return.
"Indeed." Lin Yuan nodded.
Over the past twenty years, he had made some friends among the ninth-rank human evolvers and learned some information about this trip to the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
"Currently, the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm is unsafe everywhere. Some strong alien beings in the outer area, likely with substantial gains, are starting to sweep the outer regions."
Xi Lan's face showed a hint of sarcasm. "Now, there are million-layer and ten-million-layer ninth-rank alien strongmen sweeping the outer area."
Lin Yuan was not surprised by this.
The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm had been open for over twenty years, and the ninth-rank beings who had survived this long had likely gained something, becoming targets for those million-layer and ten-million-layer alien hunters.
Instead of painstakingly exploring opportunity places, these hunters found it easier to target those who had already found them.
In the main universe, hunting a ninth-rank being, even a newly advanced one, requires considering many factors, such as whether their faction would provide support.
More importantly, even if they killed a ninth-rank being, it was likely just an avatar, carrying few valuable treasures.
But in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, it was different.
Those who survived until now were like walking treasure troves to the million-layer and ten-million-layer strongmen, with even the weakest having significant gains.
Lin Yuan himself had accumulated quite a bit, even though he avoided opportunity places as much as possible. Other strongmen must have even more.
With the outer area being the smallest, it was the first to be swept.
Lin Yuan and Xi Lan moving towards the core area actually helped them avoid the first wave of hunters.
"To leave the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, one must be in the outer area when it closes, to be expelled."
Lin Yuan sighed slightly.
The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm had 333 entrances in the main universe, but they were only entrances, not exits.
If one wasn't in the outer area when it closed, they would be left inside and eventually killed by the realm's power.
"Milky Way Star Lord, have you made any breakthroughs in these fifteen years?" Xi Lan asked curiously.
If it were any other ninth-rank strongman, Xi Lan wouldn't ask this question. Fifteen years for a ninth-rank strongman is like a blink of an eye.
But this was Lin Yuan.
Xi Lan had witnessed Lin Yuan's rapid growth firsthand.
Just decades ago, Lin Yuan was still fighting eighth-rank beings in the mid-sized alien battlefield.
And in such a short time, he could repel a ninth-rank strongman like the 'Maduo' walker, who was close to the million-layer realm.
That happened fifteen years ago.
Now, fifteen years later.
Lin Yuan could only be stronger.
"Indeed, I have made some breakthroughs."
Lin Yuan smiled and didn't deny it.
"That's insane," Xi Lan sighed.
Watching a once little guy catch up, surpass, and quickly leave him behind was a complex feeling for Xi Lan.
Living in the same era as the Milky Way Star Lord, he wasn't sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate.
Xi Lan didn't ask further, as detailed inquiries would be presumptuous.
But Lin Yuan's mind flashed through many breakthroughs of the past fifteen years.
First was entering the rules of time. Most ninth-rank beings wouldn't achieve this.
Even if a ninth-rank being lucked into it, it would be after reaching the peak of the ninth rank, with no room to advance, coupled with good luck and accumulated experience.
For Lin Yuan, entering the rules of time within twenty to thirty years of reaching the ninth rank was almost unbelievable.
Entering the rules of time didn't significantly boost direct combat power, but its auxiliary effects were rare and valuable.
Next was the development of space layers. In fifteen years, Lin Yuan had developed his space layers to 198,000.
From the perspective of space layers, Lin Yuan wasn't weak even among ten-million-layer beings.
198,000 space layers combined with his over 100M miles of internal world could boost Lin Yuan's direct combat power to the level of a two-million-layer being.
Of course, this was only in terms of direct combat power. In other aspects, Lin Yuan still lagged far behind a two-million-layer being.
Such as mastery over numerous space layers and the ability to occupy multiple layers instantly.
Additionally, Lin Yuan occasionally continued to study the body of the strongest one, seeking to understand more about the path of demonic evolution.
These demonic evolution paths benefited Lin Yuan, even at the ninth rank.
Moreover, Lin Yuan aimed to further elevate his rank within the Devil Jade Tower.
After becoming a core member of the Devil Jade Tower, the next level was a sequence member.
Compared to ordinary and core members, sequence members truly wielded power in the Devil Jade Tower.
If Lin Yuan became a sequence member, he would likely gain partial control over the Devil Jade Space.
In this way.
Even if an alien strongman condensed a Devil Jade Mark and became an ordinary member, using the mark to enter the Devil Jade Space, Lin Yuan could use his sequence member authority to expel them.
This would prevent aliens from gaining benefits from the Devil Jade Space. Lin Yuan knew the treasures in the reward vault of the nine-story black building were incredibly precious.
Lin Yuan even speculated that if he continued to raise his rank in the Devil Jade Tower, he might one day become the new master of the Devil Jade Tower.
Although the Devil Jade Tower had declined after its master's disappearance and many members had scattered and hidden, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse.
The treasures in just one floor of the nine-story black building's reward vault were enough to make Lin Yuan's eyes shine, let alone the entire Devil Jade Tower.
Finally, there was the absorption of the mysterious liquid from the gourd.
Lin Yuan had now absorbed the sixth type of blue liquid, and was halfway through it, expanding his internal world to 180M miles in diameter.
It should be noted... every expansion of the internal world after developing space layers increased the power of each space layer.
This greatly influenced Lin Yuan's strength.
Of course, only Lin Yuan's true body reached 180M miles in diameter. The Yang Primordial Spirit in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm still had the same internal world size as before entering.
After all, Lin Yuan couldn't send the mysterious gourd to the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm for the Yang Primordial Spirit to absorb.
Actually, he could send it through the Gate of Myriad Realms.
In the transmigrated world, he could use a wisp of source power to send items from the main world to the transmigrated world.
Similarly, in the main world, Lin Yuan's true body and Primordial Spirit could instantly transfer items through the Gate of Myriad Realms.
It would just cost source power.
As for the isolation of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm? If he could cross dimensional barriers, the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm was nothing.
But Lin Yuan didn't do this because the mysterious gourd would be at risk in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
If the Yang Primordial Spirit, holding the mysterious gourd, encountered a strongman Lin Yuan couldn't resist or danger within the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, losing the gourd would be devastating.
"Source power?"
Lin Yuan sighed softly. Fifteen years ago, he had accumulated seventy-one wisps of source power.
Now, he had reached 120 wisps.
This large amount of source power allowed Lin Yuan to 'customize' a transmigration.
Spending a hundred wisps of source power, the Gate of Myriad Realms could select a world for transmigration based on his conditions.
"If it weren't for the need to conserve energy for transmigrations, I'd want to transmigrate now." Lin Yuan shook his head.
Before breaking through a bottleneck, Lin Yuan avoided transmigrating to not hinder his progress.
But now? He needed to accumulate time to develop space layers, a perfect time for transmigration.
Unfortunately, he was in the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm and wanted to uncover the cause of the 'calling sensation,' so he decided to delay the transmigration.
It wouldn't make much difference.
No loss of source power either.
"Only five or six years left to reach the core area."
Xi Lan couldn't help but whisper. He also wanted to see the core area of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
"Yes."
Lin Yuan nodded.
As they hurried along.
Boom!
A terrifying celestial phenomenon ripple came from afar, affecting multiple space layers.
"Hmm?"
Lin Yuan's expression changed slightly as he looked towards the source of the ripple.
...
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