Outside the world.
In the void.
Lin Yuan stood quietly, his gaze calm as he looked at the many Evil Gods.
Likewise, all the Evil God True Lords cautiously observed Lin Yuan.
The God-Eye Lord and other Peak Evil God True Lords faintly sensed the boundless power of time and space surging around Lin Yuan's body. Observing the Martial Ancestor was like staring into the vastness of the Boundless Void.
The immense power of time and space continuously poured into the deep layers of space, influencing the surrounding time and space, creating a domain of his own.
It was similar to the relationship between the Void Child and the Void Secret Realm.
The difference was that the Void Child's secret realm originated from its creator.
Lin Yuan, on the other hand, relied entirely on his own power.
This sight made all the Evil Gods tremble in fear, to the point where they didn't dare to continue observing him.
"The aura of the Martial Ancestor is terrifying. In his presence, I don't even have the courage to make a move," thought each of the Peak Evil God True Lords.
"Fortunately, the great Void Child had no intention of fighting the Martial Ancestor. Otherwise, wouldn't we all have become cannon fodder?"
As Peak Evil God True Lords, they possessed many strange abilities, making it hard for them to die. But if they got involved in a battle related to the tenth stage, they could only leave their fate to chance.
"He's too powerful. Far stronger than the Martial Ancestor's incarnation I saw decades ago," the Wisdom Lord thought, instinctively retreating.
"It even feels like the great Void Child is slightly inferior. I wonder if the Martial Ancestor has already stepped into the tenth stage?"
The Wisdom Lord's thoughts drifted, and he couldn't help but glance at the Void Child.
Whether the Martial Ancestor had entered the tenth stage was something they, the Peak Evil Gods, could not discern.
For the Wisdom Lord and the True Lord of Eastern Wing, all they could sense was the overwhelming strength of the Martial Ancestor—strong enough to kill them effortlessly.
That was all.
The Void Child, however, could achieve the same thing using the power of the Void Secret Realm.
So, none of the Evil God True Lords could tell what level the Martial Ancestor had reached.
Only the Void Child, who controlled the Void Secret Realm, had the ability to gauge the Martial Ancestor's power and realm.
In the void, the Void Child also closely observed the Martial Ancestor.
"There's no trace of any treasure left behind by a tenth-stage being…"
The Void Child silently pondered. In fact, from the moment he felt the temporal fluctuations, he had believed that the possibility of the Martial Ancestor stepping into the tenth stage was higher than the chance of him inheriting a treasure from a tenth-stage being.
So far, the only known tenth-stage existence in the Boundless Void was the creator of the Void Secret Realm.
As the new master of the Void Secret Realm, the Void Child didn't believe that the creator left any treasures behind that were on par with the secret realm itself.
Even if the Martial Ancestor had the necessary qualifications, there was no treasure left behind for him to inherit.
But until seeing it with his own eyes, everything was uncertain. The Void Child only thought those two possibilities were the most likely.
"I greet the Martial Ancestor," the Void Child said, bowing slightly to Lin Yuan.
There was no aura of a treasure left behind by a tenth-stage being, meaning that Lin Yuan had caused such a massive temporal fluctuation purely through his own power.
In other words, the Martial Ancestor had indeed entered the tenth stage.
He had become the second tenth-stage powerhouse in the history of the Boundless Void.
Such an existence deserved the Void Child's respectful bow.
"I greet the Martial Ancestor."
"I greet the Martial Ancestor."
"I greet the Martial Ancestor."
Seeing this, the other Peak Evil God True Lords followed the Void Child's lead and bowed to Lin Yuan without hesitation.
"Hmm?"
Lin Yuan glanced at the many Evil Gods, but he wasn't surprised.
In the face of absolute power, any resistance was meaningless. The more powerful the Evil Gods, the better they understood this.
Thus, their submission was entirely within Lin Yuan's expectations.
In fact, even if these Evil Gods hadn't submitted, it wouldn't have mattered to Lin Yuan. He would have simply killed all those who didn't.
And the ones left standing would all be those who submitted.
"If the Martial Ancestor wishes to spread the way of Martial Arts, I am willing to cooperate," the Void Child immediately stated. The Lord of the Yin Realm was a powerhouse openly backed by the Martial Ancestor, meaning that the spread of martial arts was clearly the Martial Ancestor's will.
Under such circumstances, the Void Child naturally had to express his position in a timely manner.
Although the spread of martial arts would allow the beings in the worlds, whom the Evil Gods regarded as their prey, to grow stronger and develop the potential to rival the Evil Gods in the future...
The Void Child understood well that if he tried to stop the spread of martial arts, the Evil Gods probably wouldn't have much of a future anyway. They would likely be slaughtered by the Martial Ancestor.
Perhaps the Void Child, with the help of the Void Secret Realm's power, could hide in the deepest part of the secret realm and survive. But for the other Evil God True Lords, it wouldn't be so easy.
At the very least, the Boundless Void outside the Void Secret Realm would become territory for martial arts practitioners, and even most of the Void Secret Realm itself would likely be occupied by the Martial Ancestor.
So the Void Child decided to cooperate with the Martial Ancestor. After all, even the worst outcome was better than standing completely opposed to him.
"Yield half of the Boundless Void and half of the Void Secret Realm," Lin Yuan said calmly, stating his request.
In truth, with Lin Yuan's strength, he could have completely taken over the Boundless Void, and the Void Child and many Evil Gods wouldn't have dared to protest.
However, doing so would not be beneficial to the development of martial arts.
Without the pressure of the Evil Gods, the worlds within the Boundless Void would see a much lower probability of producing high-level martial arts practitioners.
Not everyone possessed Lin Yuan's Unrivaled Insight, allowing them to easily break through by simply entering seclusion.
Most martial arts practitioners would be stuck at a certain bottleneck for much of their lives, and without external pressure, they might never advance to the next stage.
Of course, Lin Yuan's decision would result in more deaths among martial arts practitioners. Countless martial artists would fall in battles against the Evil Gods.
But Lin Yuan wasn't a babysitter. After securing half of the Boundless Void and Void Secret Realm for them, he wasn't going to take responsibility for their safety as well.
From beginning to end, Lin Yuan had only one goal: to spread martial arts and to produce as many high-level martial arts practitioners as possible.
The latter goal was even more important than the former.
In Lin Yuan's mind, as long as one fifth-rank or sixth-rank martial artist emerged, even if it cost the lives of tens of thousands or millions of fourth-rank and fifth-rank martial artists, it would be worth it.
In fact, if the Evil Gods could practice martial arts, Lin Yuan would have preferred to protect them instead. With their natural talents, they would far surpass the average beings in the world if they took up martial arts.
Leaving half of the Boundless Void and Void Secret Realm to the Evil Gods served another purpose as well. It was meant to maintain a balance between the Evil Gods and the martial arts practitioners.
After reaching the sixth realm of the space-time fusion rule, Lin Yuan could see through the true nature of the Boundless Void.
The Evil Gods originated from the Boundless Void itself, meaning they could never be completely eradicated.
Even if Lin Yuan had the ability to slaughter all the Evil Gods, in a million or a billion years, new Evil Gods would be born.
These new Evil Gods, who were inherently powerful, could even reach the eighth or ninth stages by devouring their own kind.
When the newly born Evil Gods realized that the vast majority of space was occupied by weak beings, they would undoubtedly launch new wars.
And Lin Yuan couldn't possibly stay in the Boundless Void forever. While each visit only consumed a third of his boundary-breaking source power, it would still take a toll over time.
Thus, leaving half of the territory for the Evil Gods would save Lin Yuan a lot of trouble.
At the very least, the Evil Gods and the martial artists would maintain a balance. Over the long years, under the pressure of the Evil Gods, the martial artists would grow stronger, while the Evil Gods, having their own territory, wouldn't engage in desperate battles with the martial artists.
"No problem," the Void Child agreed without hesitation.
Half of the Boundless Void, half of the Void Secret Realm.
It might seem like the Evil Gods were losing half of their space to grow, but in reality, as long as they could stabilize their relationship with the Martial Ancestor, it wasn't a significant loss.
"There is one more thing," Lin Yuan said, looking at the Void Child.
"Please speak, Martial Ancestor," the Void Child replied. "Even if it's ten or a hundred things, I will agree."
The Void Child lowered his stance considerably, ready to comply with any request.
"It's just one thing," Lin Yuan shook his head slightly. He was only a temporary visitor in this world. As long as he ensured the survival of the martial arts legacy, he had no interest in making many demands.
"Deep within the Void Secret Realm, there should be remnants of the realm's creator. I plan to take a look," Lin Yuan said, turning to the Void Child.
After reaching the sixth realm of the space-time fusion rule, many secrets of the Boundless Void had been revealed to Lin Yuan, including those related to the creator of the Void Secret Realm.
"The deepest space of the secret realm?" The Void Child was taken aback for a moment before quickly nodding.
"No problem."
Indeed, in the deepest part of the Void Secret Realm, there were traces left by its creator. But despite observing them for countless years, the Void Child had been unable to understand them.
If Lin Yuan wanted to see them, the Void Child wouldn't dare refuse.
"I'll take you there right away," the Void Child offered.
The deepest space of the Void Secret Realm was inaccessible to anyone except for the master of the realm.
"No need," Lin Yuan shook his head slightly.
"No need?" The Void Child was momentarily confused. Hadn't Lin Yuan just said he wanted to take a look? Why was he now refusing?
"I'll go in myself," Lin Yuan said, taking a step forward and disappearing from sight.
With his mastery of the sixth realm of the space-time fusion rule, as long as Lin Yuan was in the Boundless Void, his will could reach anywhere instantly.
...
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