The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm opens once every 200,000 years. Each time it opens, it remains active for a hundred years.
Lin Yuan did not enter the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm right when it opened. Instead, he deliberately waited 30 to 40 years to avoid the influx of other strong individuals, then sent his Yang Primordial Spirit.
At that time, Lin Yuan had just entered the ninth rank. Although he had stabilized his level by utilizing dozens of types of cosmic power, he was still far behind the pinnacle of other ninth-rank beings in the universe.
Moreover, Lin Yuan's purpose in entering the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm was not for treasures or opportunities, but to uncover the source of a certain calling he felt. Thus, he chose to avoid the "peak" time when most would enter the realm.
"This Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm has witnessed my growth during the ninth rank," Lin Yuan thought to himself.
When the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm first opened, Lin Yuan was merely at the ninth-rank's ten-thousandfold level. Although he wasn't at the bottom, he wasn't particularly strong either. However, now that the realm was about to close, Lin Yuan had redefined the value of the ninth rank in the eyes of the many races of the universe.
So, a ninth-rank being could be this powerful?
Could it be that an ordinary ninth-rank being could overpower even those unique and special ninth-rank beings?
"In the past twenty years, my comprehension of the laws of time has progressed so much that I am very close to fully understanding them." Lin Yuan shifted his attention away from the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Thanks to the guidance of the Strongest One, Xia Qin, who had helped him escape the long river of time and briefly step onto the "shore," Lin Yuan had made rapid progress in his understanding of time laws over the past twenty years.
Specifically, Lin Yuan had built 1,953 new models of time laws, based on the 2,173 known models of time laws.
Compared to the nearly ten thousand models of space laws, where understanding them all leads to mastery of space laws, the models of time laws that humanity had summarized still left a long way to go before fully understanding the laws of time.
At least, judging by the majority of life in the universe, the difficulty of comprehending time laws far exceeds that of space laws.
Of course, the threshold for space laws is lower, but their true upper limit is not much weaker than that of time laws.
Even the Strongest Ones have deeply delved into the vast domain of space, such as the Void God Strongest One, one of the nine Strongest Ones of human civilization, and the master of the Devil Jade Tower, both of whom are highly skilled in space laws.
For the Strongest Ones, space laws have transcended mere rules and become a path—The Tao of Space.
"The 1,953 new models of time laws I constructed are merely applicable to my understanding of time laws. They cannot be generalized like the earlier 2,173 models."
Lin Yuan pondered to himself.
Almost all the great scholars of human civilization who have specialized in time laws are at the eleventh rank; they have long since fully understood time laws.
Could it be that they only constructed 2,173 time law models?
Of course not.
The 2,173 time law models were designed to help most evolvers understand them in the simplest way possible.
As for more profound time law models, they certainly exist, but the difficulty of comprehending them is extremely high.
Moreover, they may not be applicable to every evolver, which is why they have not been fully disclosed.
For example, the 1,953 new time law models that Lin Yuan constructed contain his most fundamental understanding of time laws.
Other evolvers might as well be reading ancient texts; it would be more reliable for them to simply feel the time fluctuations honestly.
"I have a feeling that when I construct the 2,050th new model of time laws, that will be the moment I fully comprehend time laws."
In other words, Lin Yuan is just under a hundred models away from fully understanding time laws.
The time needed might be as short as three or four years or as long as seven or eight years.
It won't differ much from the thirty years he initially anticipated to fully comprehend time laws.
Boom!
Within the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
A dim, mysterious light shone from the ground to the sky, covering the core and inner areas of the secret realm.
All foreign beings in this area would be obliterated by the power of the secret realm.
In an unremarkable valley within the inner area, a special ninth-rank being, who had hidden their aura and had nearly 30 million layers of space opened up, stood there.
At that moment, the mysterious light from the deepest part of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, stretching from the ground to the sky, was about to envelop the valley where he was.
"With my strength, as long as I break through the human civilization's blockade before the realm closes and enter the outer area, I have at least a 30% chance of successfully leaving the realm."
The special ninth-rank being silently calculated.
The ninth-rank evolvers of human civilization, who maintained the blockade from the inner to the outer area, were already struggling with their task.
Moreover, as a special ninth-rank, he had the confidence to sweep away the vast majority of ninth-rank beings.
If it weren't for the possibility of the Milky Way Star Lord appearing at any moment, this special ninth-rank being believed that his chances of leaving the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm would exceed 90%.
But even so, a 30% chance wasn't low.
It was certainly better than waiting in the inner area to die.
However, the peak race alliance of the Insect Race, the Tianyu Race, and other peak races wouldn't allow him to do so.
A 30% chance of leaving the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm meant a 70% chance of dying at the hands of human civilization.
If he died, the many treasures and weapons on his body would fall into the hands of human civilization.
Moreover, if even a special ninth-rank being only had a 30% chance of escaping, ordinary ninth-rank beings of other races might not even have a 10% chance.
Thus, even if a few managed to escape, the vast majority of ninth-rank beings would still die at the hands of the human civilization's evolvers.
From the perspective of the peak race alliance of the Insect Race, Tianyu Race, and others, while they might salvage some losses and some strong individuals might preserve their avatars, the gains for human civilization would be even greater.
In that case, they might as well go all the way.
They would rather bear the losses themselves than let human civilization gain any benefit.
"Milky Way Star Lord, it's all because of the Milky Way Star Lord!"
This special ninth-rank being thought of that towering figure, and his heart trembled.
If not for the absolute power of the Milky Way Star Lord, how could so many ninth-rank beings be forced to this extent by a mere ninth-rank evolver of human civilization?
"However, I've hidden all my weapons, treasures, and opportunities in a secret corner of the secret realm. I hope they'll still be there the next time the realm opens."
The special ninth-rank being thought to himself. Without his weapons and treasures, his combat strength would drop significantly, and if he forcibly broke through the human civilization's blockade, his chances of leaving would be slim.
The main issue was that the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm's suppression of space was too extreme. The teleportation and instant movement techniques that the special ninth-rank beings were most skilled at were severely hindered.
And once he entered the outer area, to be repelled out of the secret realm, the surrounding space had to be stable.
As for hiding the treasures and weapons in the inner area and then trying to force his way through the human civilization's blockade...
Even the corpse of a ninth-rank being is a valuable resource, especially those of special beings, whose value is calculated in tens of thousands of universe crystals.
Time passed.
After another six months.
In the outer area of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Lin Yuan, along with several other ninth-rank evolvers of human civilization, was repelled out of the secret realm just before it closed.
Whoosh.
Lin Yuan's figure appeared under the starry sky.
Nearby, other ninth-rank evolvers of human civilization were also appearing one after another.
"Milky Way Star Lord, I'm heading off first."
"Thanks to the Milky Way Star Lord, our human civilization was able to suppress those other races during this trip to the secret realm."
"Hahaha, that was truly satisfying!"
One by one, the ninth-rank evolvers of human civilization greeted Lin Yuan before leaving.
Lin Yuan also merged into the deep layers of space, heading toward the Milky Way's main star.
At the same time, a wisp of Lin Yuan's consciousness descended into the deepest part of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm through the Mysterious Emperor Mark.
As the master of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm, even if his physical body did not enter, he could send a wisp of his consciousness there through the power of the mark.
"Master."
A six-armed figure stood respectfully.
"How did it go?" Lin Yuan asked directly.
Lin Yuan had naturally entrusted the task of wiping out the ninth-rank beings in the core and inner areas of the secret realm to the six-armed figure. After all, this was something the figure was familiar with and had done countless times.
"Master, there are no more foreign beings left in the secret realm," the six-armed figure reported immediately.
"No more foreign beings," implying that all those ninth-rank beings who did not reach the outer area and were not repelled back to the main universe had perished.
"These are the bodies of the foreign beings."
The six-armed figure waved his hand, and over 8,000 bodies appeared before them.
The Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm's killing power had two forms: one that completely obliterated, annihilating both body and soul, and one that only erased the soul while preserving the body.
In the past, the six-armed figure would opt for complete obliteration since the bodies of foreign beings were of no use to him.
But this time, under Lin Yuan's instructions, the six-armed figure chose the soul-erasing method.
"These…" Lin Yuan looked at the more than 8,000 ninth-rank alien bodies. These were all universe crystals.
The bodies of ninth-rank beings, having undergone countless refinements, had their flesh and bones transformed into rare treasures of the nine-star universe.
And this was just among ordinary ninth-rank beings. For those special ninth-rank beings, their value would be ten or even a hundred times higher.
"These bodies cannot be exposed. I'll use them as resources to cultivate the 'Mysterious Emperor's body,'" Lin Yuan thought.
He had no qualms about devouring these bodies; after all, they were beings from other races in the universe.
Human civilization frequently hunted down special beings and made delicacies from them, which were highly sought after.
Cultivating the "Mysterious Emperor's body" required a vast amount of external resources. The resources weren't limited to the Mysterious Emperor Crystals; anything containing energy could be absorbed by the Mysterious Emperor's body.
"And then there are the weapons and treasures."
The six-armed figure waved his hand again, and over 10,000 weapons and treasures appeared.
Although the ninth-rank beings entering the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm wouldn't bring their most valuable weapons and treasures, they would certainly carry one or two decent items to maintain their combat strength.
While one or two weapons or treasures per individual might not seem like much, when combined from over 8,000 ninth-rank beings, it amounted to nearly 20,000 weapons and treasures, all at the ninth-rank level.
The value was so great that even Lin Yuan was somewhat amazed.
"Luckily, both my true form and my primordial spirits can cultivate the 'Mysterious Emperor's body.' Otherwise, who knows how long it would take to use up all these weapons and treasures."
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
Like the bodies of the ninth-rank aliens, the nearly 20,000 weapons and treasures before Lin Yuan couldn't be taken out, as each one had unique characteristics. If they were brought out, there would be a risk of them being recognized, which could expose Lin Yuan's identity as the master of the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
Aside from being used to cultivate the "Mysterious Emperor's body," Lin Yuan had another way to utilize these bodies and treasures.
He could use the "Primordial Power" he mastered to continuously revert everything to its most basic source power.
During his previous transmigrations, Lin Yuan had fully integrated the power of bodies from other worlds into the Original Essence Gold by using "Primordial Power."
Of course, Lin Yuan thought he might not need this method.
Cultivating the "Mysterious Emperor's body" required a terrifying amount of resources, and Lin Yuan was cultivating three Mysterious Emperor's bodys at once.
"Lastly, there are the Mysterious Emperor Crystals and some of the treasures in the secret realm."
The six-armed figure waved his hand one last time, and a large number of items appeared in front of them.
"Not bad at all," Lin Yuan thought, pleased with the tremendous harvest from the Mysterious Emperor Secret Realm.
At least for the foreseeable future, Lin Yuan wouldn't need to worry about resources or universe crystals.
Under the vast starry sky.
Lin Yuan's figure appeared, and with a single step, space rippled, and he reappeared thousands of light-years away.
While returning ordinarily, Lin Yuan used teleportation techniques. As for the "Nine Steps of Space and Time"? He wouldn't consider using that unless something important arose.
"This time, the Mysterious Emperor Crystals I brought back, along with the various weapons and treasures accumulated in the secret realm, should be enough to sustain the cultivation of my true form and Yin Primordial Spirit for a while."
As Lin Yuan traveled, he began planning for the future.
The "Mysterious Emperor's body" was a life-saving and defensive secret technique, and it was definitely worth cultivating if he could. Even his primordial spirit avatars needed to cultivate it, as he had invested heavily in them as well.
If possible, Lin Yuan didn't want his two primordial spirits to be too weak.
Whoosh.
Lin Yuan continued to traverse thousands of light-years with each step. His Yang Primordial Spirit, without the World Tree, moved slightly slower in normal travel, but compared to other ninth-rank evolvers, it was still many times faster due to the number of space layers he occupied.
"Hm?"
After another large teleportation of several thousand light-years, Lin Yuan glanced at the desolate starry sky before him, intending to continue his journey, but he suddenly noticed a black planet.
In the vast universe, most star domains are barren and desolate, with planets being rare, and even fewer of those being life-bearing planets suitable for habitation.
This black planet looked extremely ordinary, likely one of those worthless dead stars. Lin Yuan initially thought so too, but after a closer look, he realized he couldn't see through this black planet.
"What is that?"
Lin Yuan observed more closely and even peered through multiple layers of space, discovering that the black planet could influence the space layers.
"A planet that can influence space layers? What secrets does this black planet hold?" Lin Yuan didn't approach immediately but kept his distance, continuing to observe.
"It can block my senses. If I hadn't coincidentally come near this black planet, I wouldn't have noticed it if I were even a little farther away."
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
At this moment, he realized the peculiarity of this black planet. Although he wasn't sure of its origin, anything capable of evading his detection couldn't be simple.
"Is this a stroke of luck just from traveling normally?" Lin Yuan suddenly thought.
Once human civilization's evolvers reached the sixth rank, they loved exploring more star domains in search of so-called "adventures." Even evolvers below the sixth rank enjoyed flying their spaceships around.
In fact, when Lin Yuan swept through the Milky Way Star Domain and found a mysterious gourd, it was also considered an adventure.
"Let's test it out first."
Lin Yuan observed for a while longer before suddenly striking with a palm toward the distant black planet.
Boom!
Terrifying power descended upon the black planet through multiple layers of space.
Lin Yuan held back as much as he could with that strike, but it was still enough to easily destroy a high-level life-bearing planet. However, when it landed on the black planet, it felt as if it had sunk into a quagmire, having no effect at all.
"Hm?"
Lin Yuan's expression changed slightly.
On the fringes of human civilization's territory, the Xiayou Evolution Tower stood tall and imposing.
As one of the nine great evolution towers of human civilization, the Xiayou Evolution Tower represented the Strongest One, Xia Qin, who held the line at the edge of the territory, deterring the two peak race groups bordering human civilization.
Within the evolution tower, in a certain cultivation world, Deputy Tower Master Nalan sat cross-legged.
"I never expected that I, a peak tenth-rank being, listed among the top 100 A-rank threats by other races, would be surpassed by the Milky Way Star Lord in my understanding of the laws of time."
Deputy Tower Master Nalan felt a mix of emotions. How old was the Milky Way Star Lord? And how old was he?
Moreover, the Milky Way Star Lord's understanding of the laws of time didn't just slightly surpass his; it far exceeded his own.
The casually deployed time prison alone was enough to trap him. Though it was true that he hadn't used his full strength, the Milky Way Star Lord was still only at the ninth rank!
Deputy Tower Master Nalan knew that he had lost.
"I've always been the one surpassing my predecessors, but this time I've been surpassed by a junior. It's an odd feeling." Deputy Tower Master Nalan harbored no resentment toward the Milky Way Star Lord.
The Milky Way Star Lord had surpassed him in understanding the laws of time simply because he wasn't strong enough.
As Deputy Tower Master Nalan sat cross-legged, his state of mind subtly shifted.
In the midst of his thoughts, a long-standing bottleneck that had been holding him back began to crumble and dissolve.
"Mh?"
Deputy Tower Master Nalan's aura began to change, subtly evolving toward a higher level.
"Have I comprehended the key to the fusion rule?"
"Can I now attempt to reach the eleventh rank?"
Deputy Tower Master Nalan was momentarily stunned, unable to believe it.
For a tenth-rank evolver to advance to the eleventh rank, they primarily needed to comprehend a qualifying fusion rule.
Deputy Tower Master Nalan had been stuck at this stage for a long time, having entered several otherworldly places and lived through millions to tens of millions of years, yet he still hadn't been able to overcome this obstacle.
He never expected that this time, thanks to the Milky Way Star Lord, he would thoroughly examine himself, discard his past pride, and break through this bottleneck.
"Milky Way Star Lord..." Deputy Tower Master Nalan's expression was complex.
In a certain sense, the Milky Way Star Lord was his benefactor.
...
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