110: Temple of Time and Space

“Buzz—!!!”

A grand hum that shook the Universe, as if originating from the dawn of Chaos, suddenly erupted from the top of the eternal primal divine stele! A pillar of light, pure to the extreme and containing ancient Heavenly Dao Laws, acted like the first ray of light to split the heavens and earth, violently tearing through the sky and piercing straight into the clouds!

Rumble—!

The Cross-Realm Teleportation Array, which had been dormant for countless millennia, was instantly activated! The entire Heavenly Gate trembled violently, and the billions of runes on the gate frame—originally dim like sleeping stars—ignited one by one, erupting with a brilliant divine glow that pierced through the void! Profound and complex array patterns frantically intertwined and reorganized in the void, finally converging in the center of the Heavenly Gate to form a massive time-space vortex that swallowed all light! Deep within the vortex, magnificent scenes of galaxies reversing, the sun and moon shining together, and planes being born and destroyed flowed frantically!

【Cross-realm passage opened!】

【Respectfully inviting the ‘Son of the Primordial (Shi)’ to ascend immediately!】

A cold, majestic voice, as if the will of the Heavenly Dao itself had arrived, resounded in the depths of every living being's Soul! Wang Minghui's transmission had already arrived: “The time has come. You may go alone.”

Trace-less took a deep breath, a silver glow flashing through his deep eyes. His toes lightly tapped the Heavenly Profound Divine Jade beneath him, and his entire being instantly transformed into a brilliant silver light that tore through space, resolutely shooting toward the time-space vortex spanning heaven and earth!

“Boom-crack—!!!”

Just as his figure vanished into the vortex, another anomaly occurred! Above the previously clear skies of Heavenly Gate City, endless, heavy Chaos Tribulation Clouds that seemed capable of crushing eternity emerged out of thin air! Within the cloud layers, world-ending Chaos Divine Lightning roared and exploded frantically! A terrifying pressure that transcended the rules of the Heavenly Dao and made the myriad worlds of the heavens bow down descended like an ancient divine mountain!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The billions of Cultivators who had just barely managed to stand up were hit by this pressure beyond imagination as if struck by a giant hammer, uncontrollably kneeling down in swaths once again! Those with weaker cultivation even spat out blood, their Divine Souls on the verge of splitting!

“Is... is a Supreme existence from the Time-Space Divine Temple watching?!” An old Cultivator whose Lifespan was nearing its end and who was well-informed shook like a sieve, his voice filled with extreme awe originating from his Soul.

At the edge of the vortex, Trace-less suddenly looked up! Through the churning Chaos Tribulation Clouds, he vaguely saw a pair of silver eyes so massive they covered half the sky! Those eyes were indifferent and cold; deep within the pupils, an entire surging river of time seemed to be flowing! Just by being swept by that gaze for an instant, Trace-less felt his Soul, Physical Body, and even that recently stabilized time divine sense tree seem to freeze, solidifying in an eternal amber of time!

Fortunately, that gaze was withdrawn as soon as it touched him, like an illusion. The terrifying pressure dissipated as well, leaving behind only the heavy breathing of those in the city who had survived the disaster.

“It seems this commotion is indeed not small.” A deep, inscrutable curve formed at the corner of Trace-less's mouth, and he no longer hesitated. In the final instant before his figure completely merged into the vortex, he crushed the guidance token in his hand that flowed with the mark of the Time-Space Divine Temple.

Shua—!

Blinding silver light swallowed everything, and his figure completely disappeared into the depths of the vortex where the galaxies of the heavens flowed... Long after Trace-less had vanished, the entire Heavenly Gate City remained shrouded in a deathly silence of shock and unspeakable awe. On the plaza, the crowd was like stone statues; only after a long time did a wave of sound like a mountain tsunami erupt:

“Spirit... Spirit Refining Realm... ten million points?! This, this simply subverts the Foundation of the Great Dao!”

“The legend of the ‘Son of the Primordial’ is actually true! The Heavenly Dao bestowed the surname ‘Shi’—this is a destiny to wield the power of time!”

“This boy... no, such an existence—if he is allowed to truly grow, it is no exaggeration to say he will suppress eternal eras and dominate the rise and fall of the heavens!”

“Time-Space Divine Temple... is this the Foundation of a Supreme temple? To casually guide such a Heaven-Defying monster!”

Buzz—

When the dizziness of crossing endless space faded, Trace-less's feet stepped onto firm, cold ground. He appeared within a Guidance Hall so magnificent it was beyond imagination.

However, in the thousandth of a second that his figure solidified—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The entire Guidance Hall, cast from Immortal Divine Gold, seemed to be struck fiercely by an invisible ancient giant hammer, shaking violently and unprecedentedly! The thirty-six Heaven-Bearing Divine Pillars supporting the dome—which seemed to connect to the Chaos starry sky—suddenly erupted with a brilliant divine light enough to blind gods and demons! On the pillars, the reliefs of ancient Divine Beasts that were originally inanimate—True Dragons, Divine Phoenixes, Black Tortoises, White Tigers... actually opened their majestic giant eyes within the divine light! Ear-splitting roars containing a primordial, desolate Aura erupted simultaneously from the thirty-six divine pillars, converging into a torrent of sound waves that tore through space and swept through the entire hall!

“Resonance of the thirty-six divine pillars?!!”

Emissary Ming Chen, the white-robed Elder responsible for guidance affairs, felt as if he had been struck by Chaos Divine Lightning, snapping up from his jade throne crafted from Star Cores! The Jade Slip in his hand, which recorded information on countless Prodigies, fell to the ground with a “clatter” and shattered into powder! On his face, lined with the furrows of age, only extreme shock and disbelief remained!

Trace-less frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping across the hall. At this moment, there were already hundreds of Prodigies from all over the Taichu Divine Continent in the hall. One must know that the Time-Space Divine Temple's Guidance Hall only opened once a day and could accommodate at most a thousand new Disciples, all of whom were top figures among the Prodigies of the myriad worlds!

The news regarding the “appearance of the Son of the Primordial (Shi) at the East Heavenly Gate” had already swept through the upper echelons of the entire Taichu Divine Continent like a world-ending storm via some channel that transcended time and space! Therefore, when Trace-less's figure appeared in the center of the hall accompanied by the shocking phenomenon of the thirty-six divine pillars—

Shua!

Time seemed to freeze at this moment!

The hundreds of Prodigies—who had been resting with closed eyes, talking in low voices, or standing proudly independent—regardless of gender or race, and no matter how arrogant or unruly they had been before, all froze in place simultaneously! Gazes containing extreme shock, horror, disbelief, and even a hint of fear were pinned onto Trace-less like the sharpest arrows!

“Son... Son of the Primordial...” A young man carrying seven ancient swords of different forms flowing with terrifying Sword Intent spoke with a dry, trembling voice. The Purple Cloud Divine Sword in his hand, which was vibrating incessantly, actually let out a low moan like a wail. “Breaking the eternal iron Law... receiving a surname bestowed by the Heavenly Dao... the legend is actually before my eyes...”

Emissary Ming Chen instantly suppressed the towering waves in his heart and, at a near-running pace, arrived before Trace-less with utmost solemnity. Under the watch of hundreds of gazes that were almost burning, this prestigious Emissary of unfathomable strength actually bowed deeply and with extreme respect to Trace-less, who was only in the Spirit Refining Realm:

“This old one is Ming Chen, the humble Guidance Emissary of this temple. I welcome Your Highness Shi! According to the Supreme Laws of the Divine Temple, one who is conferred as the ‘Son of the Primordial’ shall immediately have an audience with the Dominator of the Temple!”

“What?!”

“An audience with the Dominator?!!”

“On what grounds!!!”

Before Ming Chen's voice had even faded, the hall instantly exploded! Suppressed exclamations and incredulous questioning erupted like a volcano!

“Boom—!”

A figure entwined with destructive purple Chaos Lightning suddenly stood up, shattering the chair made of star essence gold beneath him into powder! It was a burly man like a primordial god, his muscles knotted like dragons, and the jumping lightning around him burned the space into black holes! His eyes were blood-red as he stared fixedly at Trace-less, his voice like rolling thunder:

“Old man Ming Chen! I, Chu Kuang, am a True Dragon of the Time Prison Profound Realm, unseen in a hundred thousand years! Even the qualification to see a Temple Elder requires me to wait ten years! Him! A mere Spirit Refining Realm! On what grounds? Just based on that illusory title?!”

Ming Chen slowly turned around, his originally gentle gaze instantly becoming as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, like two physical blades of Law piercing toward Chu Kuang: “Chu Kuang, are you questioning the Supreme judgment of the primal divine stele? Are you desecrating the title of ‘Son of the Primordial’ bestowed by the Heavenly Dao?”

“I...!” Chu Kuang was like a furious beast with its throat seized; his face instantly turned the color of pig liver. His majestic Aura was forced back by that cold gaze, and he could only clench his fists tightly until his knuckles turned white, his eyes burning with towering unwillingness and humiliation.

Trace-less's sharp Divine Thought swept across the scene. Chu Kuang's outburst was by no means an isolated case. Among the hundreds of Prodigies in the hall, almost everyone's face carried shock, jealousy, unwillingness, scrutiny, and even hidden hostility! Every single one of them had been an absolute king who swept through their respective realms and generations without rival! Their pride reached the heavens, and the brand of being the sole sovereign was etched into their bones! A “mere” Spirit Refining Realm practitioner suddenly ascending to the heavens, standing above them all and obtaining the Supreme honor of an audience with the Dominator? How could they accept this? How could they endure it?

This was the Time-Space Divine Temple! A nest where the top monsters of the myriad worlds gathered! Beneath the calm surface lay the Law of the jungle, cruel to the extreme!

“Your Highness, please follow me.” Ming Chen no longer paid attention to the restless crowd. He took out a token flowing with the halo of a galaxy and lightly swiped it against the void in front of him.

Chi-la—

Space was silently cut open like the finest silk. A magnificent grand dao paved with billions of brilliant stars and emitting eternal starlight appeared out of thin air at Trace-less's feet, extending toward the unknowable dimensions deep within the hall.

Trace-less was about to step forward when—buzz—!

Dozens of sharp, frigid Divine Senses filled with undisguised hostility and inquiry locked onto him like poisoned hidden arrows! The coldest and most terrifying of them came from the darkest corner of the hall—

A youth dressed in inconspicuous black martial attire leaned quietly in the shadow of a divine pillar. His head was lowered, but as Trace-less's gaze swept by, he happened to lift his eyelids!

Double Pupils!

It was a pair of Double Pupils so eerie they made one's heart palpitate! The inner pupils were pitch black like the deepest eternal night, while the outer pupils were a deathly grayish-white! In the instant he looked up, Trace-less seemed to see deep within his eyes terrifying anomalies of stars extinguishing, planes collapsing, and time-space turning to dust!

“In the Time Hall, ten halls stand side by side; the competition is so cruel it far exceeds the imagination of the outside world.” Ming Chen's transmission quietly resounded in Trace-less's Sea of Consciousness, carrying a sense of gravity. “Although Your Highness has obtained the Supreme title, your wings are not yet full. In the eyes of certain existences, you are no different from...”

Trace-less understood. The title of Son of the Primordial represented infinite future possibilities and potential, not strength sufficient to suppress everything at this moment. In the eyes of these peerless Prodigies—who were at minimum at the Peak of the Feather Transformation Realm, with no lack of Dharma Domain Realm experts—this “piece of fat” indeed emitted an enticing “aroma.”

The moment he stepped onto the starlight path, Trace-less's footsteps paused slightly. He did not look back, but the translucent time divine sense tree in his Sea of Consciousness swayed silently.

Tenth-grade Divine Sense—activate!

The Divine Sense did not spread out; instead, it acted like the most precise probe, accurately piercing into a certain branch of the river of time! In an instant, countless fragmented future snippets regarding that youth with Double Pupils flooded into his perception like a bursting dam—

A sea of blood! A towering sea of blood so thick it was suffocating, churning with endless resentful Souls!

Corpses! Massive corpses piled like mountains, emitting the Aura of fallen gods and demons!

Collapsing stars! Turning into cosmic dust amidst cries of despair!

Shattered time-space! Disintegrating inch by inch like fragile colored glaze!

And at the center of all this destructive imagery, that black-clad youth with Double Pupils held a long spear with a tip dripping with the blood of gods and demons and entwined with ominous black Qi. He stepped upon a throne paved with the bones of gods, his grayish-white Double Pupils indifferently looking down upon... the crumbling myriad worlds!

“Heh...”

A cold and playful curve formed at the corner of Trace-less's mouth. Without any pause, his figure stepped onto the brilliant starlight path and completely merged into the depths of that eternal starlight.

Passing through layers upon layers of space barriers and Law turbulence that were like a labyrinth, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

Boom—

A vast and boundless Chaos starry sky that seemed to encompass the myriad worlds of the heavens unfolded before his eyes. Nineteen towering, holy temples emitting an Aura that suppressed eternity were like nineteen eternally undying Chaos stars, quietly floating in the center of this starry sky!

They were of different forms and had distinct Auras:

Some temples had towering flames, burning the surrounding void until it was distorted and deformed!

Some temples were ice-sealed realms, where even light seemed to be frozen in their vicinity!

Some temples had Sword Qi piercing the sky, with invisible Sword Intent cutting through space!

Some temples were full of vitality, with countless stars actually cycling through birth and destruction around them!

And the one in the very center, which was also the most magnificent and Soul-shaking—

Its entire body flowed with pure silver light like liquid time! The entire temple seemed not to be composed of matter, but rather carved from the river of time itself! On the surface of the temple, the phantom of the river of time surged incessantly; shadows of the past, present, and future flickered and overlapped within it, emitting an absolute majesty that was Supreme and governed the temporal order of the heavens!

This was the core of the Time-Space Divine Temple—the Time Hall!