"I don't have it," Lin Yuan directly shook his head and said.
In fact, Lin Yuan did possess an item that could increase the probability of making the ultimate leap—an item that could break through the shackles of the inner world. This mysterious gourd, after absorbing the seven-colored liquid within it, could expand the size of one's inner world by more than twenty times.
For an eleventh-rank being attempting the ultimate leap, their inner world would undergo a transformation into an inner universe. At that point, the greater the foundation of the inner world, the smoother the transformation, effectively increasing the likelihood of a successful ultimate leap.
But there was no way Lin Yuan would use this mysterious gourd for a transaction. He had even kept it hidden from human civilization, let alone revealing it to Tuoba Ancient God.
Lin Yuan could easily foresee that if he dared to reveal even the slightest information about the mysterious gourd, it would immediately attract the direct intervention of a Strongest One.
To the Strongest Ones, no matter how talented Lin Yuan was, he was still just a being within the River of Time. Unable to escape it, he would eventually die of old age, so such a genius would not hold much significance to the Strongest Ones.
But the mysterious gourd? It was absolutely a treasure surpassing even twelve-star cosmic wonders like the Spring of Eternity. Lin Yuan had no doubt that the Strongest Ones would fight to the death over it.
"I knew you wouldn't have it," Tuoba Ancient God said, "but human civilization definitely does."
"The spiritual will I took belongs to your close friend. Are you really going to watch as his memories are completely overwritten by my experience?"
Tuoba Ancient God continued.
Once Fang Qing's spiritual will was fully assimilated by Tuoba Ancient God, it would be utterly erased.
'This old fossil is threatening me' Lin Yuan was furious inside.
"I'll think about it," Lin Yuan didn't outright refuse but said these words before standing up and disappearing.
After Lin Yuan left, only Tuoba Ancient God and Sigu Ancient God remained in the temporarily constructed virtual network world.
"Tuoba!" Sigu Ancient God glared at Tuoba Ancient God, his face extremely grim, with flames flickering in his eyes. Sigu Ancient God had always maintained a reputation as a mediator, forming connections with all sides, but now he was genuinely furious.
"A mere sixth-rank being's spiritual will, and you think it's worth a treasure that could increase the probability of an ultimate leap?"
"Even if you have a grudge against human civilization, since I've stepped in, you shouldn't have made such an unreasonable demand."
Sigu Ancient God's gaze was icy.
"A mere sixth-rank being?" Tuoba Ancient God smiled slightly, "To us, yes, it's just a sixth-rank being, but I also found out that Fang Qing has done a great favor for the Milky Way Star Lord."
"The Milky Way Star Lord is too young. He probably values this kind of favor very highly. I'm just making a suggestion—if the negotiations fall through, it doesn't matter."
Tuoba Ancient God seemed indifferent. Although he knew the likelihood of the Milky Way Star Lord producing a treasure that could increase the probability of an ultimate leap was slim, what if he did? If the Milky Way Star Lord was willing to go to great lengths, it would be an enormous opportunity for him.
And even if, in the end, the Milky Way Star Lord couldn't produce such a treasure, Tuoba Ancient God could always propose other conditions. After all, Fang Qing's spiritual will was in his hands, and he could manipulate the Milky Way Star Lord at any time.
"Aren't you afraid of offending the Milky Way Star Lord and, by extension, human civilization?" Sigu Ancient God was silent for a moment before speaking.
No matter the outcome, Tuoba Ancient God had thoroughly antagonized the Milky Way Star Lord, which equated to antagonizing human civilization.
"I don't have much lifespan left; what do I have to be afraid of?" Tuoba Ancient God said calmly, "Within a few million years, I will attempt the ultimate leap."
"If I fail, everything about me will be erased. What difference does it make if I offend ten Milky Way Star Lords? And if I succeed, I'll be a Strongest One—what can the Milky Way Star Lord do then?"
Tuoba Ancient God shook his head, "Sigu, all these years you've spent making connections with various geniuses seem meaningless to me. If they don't become Strongest Ones, what use are those connections?"
"How I conduct my affairs is none of your concern," Sigu Ancient God retorted, "But Tuoba, let me ask you one last time: do you really want to stand against the Milky Way Star Lord?"
"I wouldn't advise it. The Milky Way Star Lord's potential is the greatest I've ever seen, and your actions could have serious repercussions."
Sigu Ancient God spoke earnestly.
"The greatest potential?" Tuoba Ancient God sneered, "I'll be attempting the ultimate leap within a few million years. Do you think the Milky Way Star Lord will be able to achieve the ultimate leap within that time?"
"Stop trying to mediate, Sigu. I've got the Milky Way Star Lord figured out."
"We special life forms are far above others. Why should I care about the Milky Way Star Lord?"
"Even if the Milky Way Star Lord seeks out a Strongest One from human civilization, I can always turn to the Insect Race's Tianyu Clan—they can protect me."
Tuoba Ancient God had thought things through thoroughly. No matter how extraordinary the Milky Way Star Lord's talent was, he wasn't a Strongest One. The nine Strongest Ones of human civilization wouldn't go to war with the Tianyu Clan of the Insect Race over the Milky Way Star Lord's friend.
After all, nothing had happened to the Milky Way Star Lord himself. As for his friend's death? The Strongest Ones of human civilization wouldn't care about that.
Sigu Ancient God fell silent at those words.
"Now, I'll just wait for the Milky Way Star Lord's reply."
"Hopefully, there will be a pleasant surprise," Tuoba Ancient God said, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Tuoba, why don't you propose a different condition? I'll negotiate on behalf of the Milky Way Star Lord," Sigu Ancient God suggested after some thought.
"Sigu, just stay out of this," Tuoba Ancient God replied dismissively, "At this point, no treasure is valuable to me unless it helps with the ultimate leap."
"Unless you can provide something that increases the probability of an ultimate leap."
"Of course I don't have that," Sigu Ancient God sighed, even if he did, he wouldn't give it up.
Lin Yuan, having left the temporary virtual network world, returned to his personal space.
"Tuoba Ancient God sees me as an easy target, trying to squeeze me for everything I've got," Lin Yuan thought as he sat down.
Anyone could see that Tuoba Ancient God's demand was excessive, but he was holding Fang Qing's spiritual will over Lin Yuan as leverage.
"Information suggests that Tuoba Ancient God is proud and has a bad temper. Now I see he's also quite bold," Lin Yuan thought to himself. To threaten him so blatantly was something he had rarely encountered.
"Then again, Tuoba Ancient God has no reason to fear me. In the eyes of most strong beings, my limit is the eleventh rank. As for the ultimate leap? Achieving it has little to do with talent."
Lin Yuan reflected. As an eleventh-rank special life form, Tuoba Ancient God had no reason to fear an eleventh-rank human.
As for the myths Lin Yuan had shattered and the miracles he had created at the eighth and ninth ranks? The higher the level, the exponentially harder it would be to replicate such feats.
While Lin Yuan had been able to kill beings of the same rank with ease at the eighth and ninth ranks, could he really do the same after advancing to the eleventh rank?
Killing eleventh-rank beings as easily as slaughtering chickens? That was a feat reserved for the Strongest Ones, and even some special eleventh-rank life forms could resist the Strongest Ones to some extent.
Take the 'Mother of the Tree Realm,' for example—she was undoubtedly one of the strongest eleventh-rank beings.
A moment later, Sigu Ancient God reached out to Lin Yuan.
"Milky Way Star Lord, I'm sorry I couldn't convince Tuoba," Sigu Ancient God said with some shame. He hadn't expected Tuoba Ancient God to be so reckless as to demand such outrageous terms.
"Tuoba has little lifespan left and is on the brink of a forced ultimate leap. He'll cling to any hope of increasing his chances. At this point, Milky Way Star Lord, meeting him..."
Sigu Ancient God sighed.
If this had been tens of billions of years ago, he was confident he could have persuaded Tuoba Ancient God, but now? Tuoba Ancient God's focus was entirely on the ultimate leap, and he didn't care about offending even one or two Strongest Ones to achieve it.
"I'll continue to negotiate. Based on my understanding of Tuoba, he might lower his conditions a bit," Sigu Ancient God offered.
"Understood."
"Thank you, Sigu Ancient God."
Lin Yuan nodded.
After Sigu Ancient God left, Lin Yuan remained seated.
"Lower his conditions?" Lin Yuan sneered. Based on his brief interaction with Tuoba Ancient God, he didn't think it was very likely.
Besides, if he started by demanding a treasure that could increase the probability of the ultimate leap, how much could he really lower his price?
Red Kun Main Star.
Lin Yuan silently appeared.
In the past, traveling from the Milky Way Star to the Red Kun Main Star would have taken Lin Yuan one or two years at the eighth rank.
But now, with his mastery of Nine Steps of Space-Time, it was merely a matter of two or three steps.
The space around Lin Yuan twisted, and he easily evaded the Red Kun Main Star's planetary defense system. No one on the Red Kun Main Star was aware that the Milky Way Star Lord had returned.
Soon, Lin Yuan arrived at the Thirteenth Mountain and quickly entered Fang Qing's cultivation chamber.
The news of Fang Qing's sudden collapse had not yet spread. Lin Yuan had not explained the reason for contacting Tuoba Ancient God; apart from Sigu Ancient God, no one else knew.
"Fang Qing."
Lin Yuan looked at Fang Qing lying in the nutrient chamber.
Swoosh.
The white-bearded old man's projection appeared. As an intelligent life form, he could only manifest as a projection in the real world, without a physical body.
"Milky Way Star Lord, why have you returned?" The old man was shocked. He had just seen the Milky Way Star Lord not long ago and was still waiting for news, yet Lin Yuan had personally returned.
"No need to make a fuss."
Lin Yuan glanced at the old man, "Regarding Fang Qing, I'll ask a Strongest One to revive him later."
The next moment.
Lin Yuan focused his thoughts and, using Fang Qing's physical body as a 'medium,' followed the causal connection to curse and kill his spiritual will.
Fang Qing had just reached the sixth rank, while Lin Yuan was already a ninth-rank evolver, three major levels higher. Moreover, he was using the body with the deepest connection as the 'medium.'
In other words, Fang Qing was doomed.
The rules of causality are among the most mysterious and obscure in the universe, and after reaching the ninth rank, Lin Yuan had spent some time specifically studying these rules.
If Fang Qing's spiritual will were to be assimilated by Tuoba Ancient God, his memories would be completely corrupted by the Ancient God, similar to being trapped in a poisonous memory loop.
Even if he were resurrected, with his memories unchanged, he would still die in madness.
Rather than let that happen, Lin Yuan decided it was better to kill Fang Qing outright.
By dying in this way, Fang Qing still had a chance to be resurrected by a Strongest One.
To maximize the chances of completely killing Fang Qing, Lin Yuan had deliberately told Tuoba Ancient God that he would 'consider it.'
This kept Tuoba Ancient God hopeful, while Lin Yuan secretly returned to the Red Kun Main Star in his true form, thus ensuring the highest success rate for the curse.
"The causal connection is gone"
Once the curse was completed, Lin Yuan sensed that the causal line connected to Fang Qing had disappeared.
The difference in their levels was so vast that Lin Yuan hadn't even paid any price for this curse.
In fact, Lin Yuan had prepared for the worst-case scenario, where the curse might fail, especially since Fang Qing's spiritual will was in Tuoba Ancient God's possession.
What kind of tricks didn't an ancient being like Tuoba Ancient God have? Perhaps he had the ability to block causal connections.
The causal curse is formless and intangible, but it's not omnipotent—there are ways to counteract it. For example, the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm could isolate causal connections.
So—
In Lin Yuan's plan, if Tuoba Ancient God managed to block the curse, he would immediately ask Strongest One Xia Qin to intervene and curse Fang Qing.
With the power of a Strongest One, cursing a sixth-rank being would be impossible to block unless Tuoba Ancient God had a Strongest One's legacy place like the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
But as it turned out.
Tuoba Ancient God seemed unprepared for this or perhaps never expected that Lin Yuan wouldn't be swayed by his threats and would instead curse his friend outright without even negotiating.
"Revived... later?" The old man, though saddened, also felt a sense of relief.
When he learned from Lin Yuan that Fang Qing's collapse was related to an Ancient God, he had already braced himself for the worst.
What kind of being is an Ancient God?
Now it seemed that Fang Qing was indeed dead.
However, the Milky Way Star Lord did intend to ask a Strongest One to revive him in the future.
It's worth noting that while a sixth-rank being does leave a mark on the universe, forming a 'beacon' that makes resurrection possible, the number of sixth-rank evolvers in human civilization is in the billions upon billions.
If every deceased sixth-rank evolver required a Strongest One to revive them, the Strongest Ones would never have a moment's rest, dedicating all their time to reviving sixth-rank evolvers.
Only sixth-rank evolvers with extraordinary talent and potential have a chance to be resurrected by a Strongest One.
Fang Qing obviously didn't meet that criteria. Cultivating the Ancient God evolution path was inherently risky and could easily turn one into a vessel for an Ancient God.
Strongest Ones generally wouldn't revive such evolvers.
But since Lin Yuan said so, the old man immediately believed it.
Deep in the universe.
In a certain secret realm.
Tuoba Ancient God sat cross-legged. His body was as large as a star, and as a rare special life form, if Tuoba Ancient God fully extended his body, he would be as vast as a star system.
"The Milky Way Star Lord said he'd think about it."
"I wonder how that's going."
Tuoba Ancient God thought to himself.
His true goal wasn't actually a treasure that could increase the probability of the ultimate leap.
Even if human civilization possessed such an item, they wouldn't let the Milky Way Star Lord do as he pleased with it.
That was just a random condition Tuoba Ancient God proposed, expecting the Milky Way Star Lord to negotiate.
His ultimate goal was to have human civilization promote his evolution path.
The probability of making the ultimate leap isn't just influenced by treasures—there are various methods.
For example, spreading one's evolution path more widely and having more practitioners cultivate it could have a similar effect.
But human civilization had been suppressing the spread of Ancient God evolution paths, leaving Tuoba Ancient God frustrated with no solution.
Now, however, the Milky Way Star Lord gave him hope.
"Milky Way Star Lord, if you intervene, I believe you could get human civilization to back off and allow the spread of my evolution path. It wouldn't be too difficult."
Tuoba Ancient God thought to himself while waiting for the Milky Way Star Lord to contact him again.
Just then.
Buzz.
A wave of invisible energy swept through.
"Hmm?"
Tuoba Ancient God was momentarily stunned.
"Causality?"
Tuoba Ancient God's expression changed.
"This isn't good."
Tuoba Ancient God immediately sensed that the spiritual will of Fang Qing within him was rapidly disintegrating.
"A curse?"
"Someone cursed this spiritual will?"
Tuoba Ancient God was incredulous, "The secret realm I'm in has a weakening effect on causality."
"To successfully curse, one would need the closest connected item, like using the physical body as the 'medium.'"
"Was the Milky Way Star Lord the one who cursed it?"
Tuoba Ancient God quickly realized and immediately understood that he had underestimated the Milky Way Star Lord's attachment to Fang Qing.
If the Milky Way Star Lord truly valued Fang Qing, he would at least have negotiated. But to curse outright? That carried significant risks.
"The Milky Way Star Lord doesn't want to be threatened at all?"
Tuoba Ancient God was silent for a moment before understanding the Milky Way Star Lord's mindset.
He had a feeling that even if he had taken the Milky Way Star Lord's parents or close relatives instead of Fang Qing, the result would have been the same.
After eliminating the threat to Fang Qing.
Lin Yuan quickly returned to the Milky Way Main Star.
As the Milky Way Star Lord, it wasn't an issue for him to leave the main star for a short time, but being away for too long would be a bit unwise.
"The Strongest One's next scheduled resurrection will likely be in about two thousand years."
Lin Yuan thought to himself. The Strongest Ones typically resurrect a batch of beings at once after accumulating a set number of targets, which is the most convenient and efficient method.
"In two thousand years, after two thousand years in the main world, I should have already reached the eleventh rank, and then I can ask the Strongest One to resurrect Fang Qing."
Lin Yuan silently reflected.
If things go smoothly, in two thousand years in the main world, Lin Yuan might already be attempting the ultimate leap, or perhaps he would already have achieved it.
Two thousand years in the main world doesn't mean Lin Yuan will only experience two thousand years; with the Gate of Myriad Realm, Lin Yuan's actual time experienced might be more than twenty thousand years.
With all the resources and foundations Lin Yuan possessed, combined with his unrivaled insight, two more millennia might be enough for him to attempt the ultimate leap or even achieve it.
Time passed slowly.
In the blink of an eye, another twenty years went by.
Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Lin Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.
"A hundred years... are almost up."
"The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm is about to close." Lin Yuan looked toward the outer region of the secret realm.
He saw that a large number of ninth-rank alien beings and ninth-rank human evolvers had gathered in the outer region. As for the inner region, there were also many ninth-rank aliens.
These were aliens who had been forced into this area by the human evolvers.
"The secret realm is closing... it's almost time for me to reap the rewards."
A smile appeared on Lin Yuan's face as he looked at the despairing ninth-rank aliens in the inner region, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
...
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