114: Primordial Virtual Network

"Hiss—!"

Lin Yuan gasped, his pupils constricting to the limit! Every hair on his body stood on end in an instant, and a sense of fear stemming from his life's instincts, deep into his marrow, coiled around his heart like a cold viper!

He clearly "felt" it—the moment that "Wisdom Sword," representing the ultimate edge of will and condensed from pure Origin Law, appeared, the Devouring Origin within his body that devoured all things began to resonate uncontrollably and frantically!

However, this resonance was not excitement, but an extreme trembling born from facing an absolute superior existence, a crushing pressure from both status and power!

"Do you understand now?" Li Xuan's calm, waveless voice rang out, seemingly carrying a peculiar rhythm that instantly smoothed out the violent tremors of Lin Yuan's Divine Soul.

He waved his hand casually, and the four War Spirit phantoms, capable of changing the color of heaven and earth, dissipated silently like bubbles.

The solidified sea of clouds on the summit began to surge and flow again, as if the earth-shattering scene from moments ago was merely a dream.

"Will is like steel tempered a thousand times; while it can support you in fighting across Realms and slaughtering powerful enemies... but," his gaze suddenly became incomparably deep, as if it contained the truth of the birth and death of the Universe, "only a will that has withstood the most violent baptism of the 'Origin Law' sea and remains undying and immortal after being forged a thousand times can truly control the Origin! Command the Origin! Make it follow your every command, rather than being devoured by it!"

Before the words faded— "Whoosh!" An inconspicuous streak of black light shot out from Li Xuan's wide sleeve and hovered in front of Lin Yuan.

It was a sword.

A sword that looked extremely ordinary, one could even say dilapidated.

The sword body was covered in rust and the erosion marks of time, dull and lusterless.

On the blade, there were still several obvious, hideous notches as if broken open by immense force!

It hovered there quietly, exuding an aura of common iron and rotten wood.

"Just like this piece of common iron," Li Xuan's voice carried a peculiar tone, as if telling an ancient story, "In the hands of an ordinary person, let alone cutting metal or jade, I fear it would be difficult to even snap a slightly tough branch!"

However, the moment his last word fell!

"Hum—!!!" A clear, impassioned sword cry that seemed capable of tearing through the eternal night erupted without warning from within that dilapidated iron sword!

Those ugly rust stains on the sword body peeled off inch by inch like decaying snake skin!

The next moment— Boom!

A Sword Qi, pure to the extreme and condensed to the extreme, like a dragon that had slept for eons suddenly awakening, surged into the sky from the seemingly ragged sword tip, carrying a supreme will that could sever everything and destroy Myriad Laws!

Wherever the Sword Qi pointed, nothing could withstand it!

The thick, rolling, seemingly boundless sea of clouds above was as fragile as thin paper before the edge of this Sword Qi!

Accompanied by a deafening, terrifying roar that sounded as if the sky itself had been torn apart, a massive spatial rift that spanned the horizon, bottomless and extending for countless miles, was forcibly cleaved open!

Through the rift, one could even see the dark and cold cosmic Void Realm behind it!

The power of this single strike seemed intent on cleaving the entire Great World in two!

"But in the hands of a true Sword Saint," Li Xuan's voice continued calmly, as if that earth-shattering strike had merely brushed away a speck of dust, "a single strike can collapse stars and bury a vast Great World! It can reverse heaven and earth, and restart an epoch!"

His gaze was like lightning, instantly piercing Lin Yuan, who was shaken to his core and almost unable to think.

His voice suddenly became as cold as the ice of the Nine Netherworlds, carrying a warning that went straight to the Divine Soul: "Your Devouring Origin, no matter how strong its potential or how great its power, if it lacks a matching 'will' core capable of withstanding its backlash and controlling its ferocity..."

Li Xuan's voice rose sharply, like thunder from the Nine Heavens exploding in Lin Yuan's Sea of Consciousness, every word carrying the weight of ten thousand jun: "It is like a weak child attempting to wield a Chaos Divine Axe capable of splitting heaven and earth!"

"Before the enemy is harmed in the slightest, you yourself would be reduced to cosmic dust under the unconscious, one-in-a-billionth wisp of edge emitted by that divine axe! Your form and Soul would be destroyed! Never to be reincarnated!"

Looking at Lin Yuan's pale face and his violently heaving chest, Li Xuan's tone softened slightly, carrying a detachment that looked down upon the ages: "However, Lin Yuan, you need not be too harsh on yourself, demanding that you comprehend the Devouring Origin Law to the Realm of Perfection while still in the Myriad Laws Realm."

"Such a feat..." he shook his head slightly, "without unparalleled Comprehension Ability that surpasses the heavens and dominates the ages, and without Heaven-Defying, ancient, and rare supreme Opportunity, it is simply... a fool's dream!"

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, as if that breath intended to draw the Spiritual Qi of the entire world into his lungs!

He forcibly suppressed his surging blood and the palpitations of his Divine Soul, his chest heaving like a bellows, but his eyes were as sharp as knives.

He asked in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of imperceptible hoarseness: "Does Teacher mean that the most urgent matter for this Disciple is to first undergo a thousand refinements to polish the edge of my will! And only when my will is sufficiently tenacious and able to bear the weight of the Origin, should I then proceed to break through to the Law Domain Realm?!"

Li Xuan did not answer directly.

His gaze, deep as the starry sky, slowly lifted, piercing through the rolling clouds of the Xuantian Peak Summit, crossing the vast and boundless firmament, as if casting towards the end of the primordial Universe, landing upon some invisible boundary.

Lin Yuan subconsciously followed his teacher's gaze and also looked up at the deep, boundless firmament.

The next moment!

His heart was gripped tightly, as if by an invisible, cold giant hand!

He saw that in the Nine Heavens, far beyond what ordinary people could perceive or spy upon, at an extreme height and distance... a boundary, so vast it was unimaginable, seemingly spanning the entire sky of the Taichu Divine Continent, invisible and intangible yet truly existing... was slowly... contracting... in an irreversible and heart-palpitating manner!

A terrifying fluctuation stemming from the entire heaven and earth, the entire epoch, and the entire Origin of the Universe—grand, desolate, and carrying the implications of both end and rebirth—spread out like an invisible tide from that contracting boundary, silently enveloping the entire Taichu Divine Continent!

Lin Yuan felt his Soul trembling slightly under this fluctuation, as if he had seen the doomsday scene of the heavens' stars falling and all worlds returning to ruin!

The epoch is changing!

Before the birth of the new epoch, the entire Taichu Divine Continent will welcome an unprecedented grand celebration spontaneously formed by the will of the Heavenly Dao!

At that time, only powerful Cultivators who have broken through to the Feather Transformation Realm and truly touched a sliver of the authority of the Heavenly Laws will have the qualifications and ability to participate in that heaven-and-earth feast sweeping across the entire Divine Continent!

To compete for that legendary "Epoch Opportunity" which is said to contain a sliver of the new epoch's Luck and is capable of defying the heavens and changing one's fate!

If one misses this Opportunity, being slow by one step means being slow in every step!

One is destined to be left far behind by those peerless Prodigies who seize the Opportunity and ride the wind, until one can only look on from afar, unable to catch up!

"Teacher!" Lin Yuan's voice carried unprecedented urgency and heaviness, as if bearing a thousand-jun burden, "The epoch change is imminent, how should this Disciple choose? How can I... compete for that sliver of heavenly chance?!"

Li Xuan slowly withdrew his gaze, which seemed to have pierced through the ages, and landed it on Lin Yuan once more.

In his eyes, there seemed to be a hint of indescribable, profound light.

"Do you know of the 'Taichu Virtual Network'?" Li Xuan's voice suddenly became ethereal, carrying a hint of guidance, "Perhaps there, you can find the path of transformation that belongs to you!"

Lin Yuan's mind stirred, and a stream of information from his distant Clone instantly flooded his mind.

A flash of realization crossed his eyes: "My Clone mentioned it in the information transmitted back. It is said that this network covers the three thousand Great Domains of the Taichu Divine Continent, reaching everywhere. For the Human Race Cultivators of the Taichu Divine Continent..."

He paused, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes, "it is almost a second, truly real world!"

"Not bad." Li Xuan nodded, a mysterious smile appearing on his face.

He slowly raised his right hand, and at the tip of his index finger, a point of light, brilliant to the extreme and seemingly containing the condensed essence of billions of stars, suddenly lit up!

The light quickly condensed and extended, transforming into a data rune so complex and profound it was unimaginable, woven from countless dense dao patterns!

The surface of the rune flowed with radiance like a galaxy, and every subtle line seemed to be expounding the most fundamental mysteries and Laws of heaven and earth!

"Focus!" Li Xuan gave a low shout, and the rune carrying the supreme information, with his fingertip, pointed lightly yet with absolute precision toward the center of Lin Yuan's brow.

"Hum—!"

It was as if a star containing the mysteries of the Universe had fallen into his calm Sea of Consciousness!

The moment the rune touched the center of Lin Yuan's brow, it instantly melted and dissipated, transforming into a vast, boundless torrent of data composed purely of information and Law, surging violently into the depths of Lin Yuan's Sea of Consciousness!

In an instant!

Lin Yuan's consciousness felt as if it had been violently yanked away from reality by an invisible hand! His Divine Soul was cast into a boundless, cold, yet shimmering cosmic illusion filled with countless mysterious points of light!

Billions of "stars," each shimmering with different colors and representing different information nodes, rotated, flowed, and intertwined before his eyes. They connected and crisscrossed in ways that defied imagination, constructing a prototype of a world that was incomparably vast and nearly completely real!

"Is this the virtual world?" Lin Yuan's Divine Soul floated and explored within this sea of stars composed of pure data and Law, feeling its breathtaking grandeur and reality.

Li Xuan's voice, carrying the vicissitudes of eternity and seeming to traverse endless time and space, rang out clearly within this illusion:

"The Taichu Virtual Network is neither an illusion nor a dream! It is a second world crafted by the sages of our Human Race, who gathered the wisdom of ages, exhausted infinite power, and poured their heart and blood into its creation!" Following his words, the countless data points around them seemed driven by a supreme will, beginning to reorganize, arrange, and evolve at an astonishing speed!

Lofty divine mountains rose from the ground! Vast galaxies flowed ceaselessly! Bizarre Secret Realms unfolded one after another! Countless magnificent scenes, each with distinct styles yet incredibly real, flashed rapidly through Lin Yuan's consciousness!

Li Xuan's phantom, like the creator of the world, appeared quietly beside Lin Yuan's Divine Soul. With a light wave of his sleeve, countless more concrete and shocking images flowed rapidly through the Void Realm like a carousel:

"It is not a simple projection of an illusion." Li Xuan's voice was filled with supreme majesty and the wisdom to perceive everything. "Its core is the Heavenly Dao Sacred Artifact that suppresses the Luck of the Human Race—the 'Taixu Mirror'!"

The images froze!

In the Void Realm, an ancient, heavy bronze mirror that seemed to carry endless years slowly emerged! The surface of the mirror rippled like water, clearly reflecting the microcosm of the heavens, myriad worlds, and billions of living beings! On the frame were carved dense, Innate Sacred Patterns that emitted a terrifying pressure capable of freezing one's Divine Soul! Every line seemed to contain the power to create the world!

"With the 'Taixu Mirror' as the core, it fused the supreme power of three hundred and sixty top-grade Sacred Artifacts! It even absorbed and refined the broken internal world Origins of countless fallen Sacred Realm experts!" Li Xuan's voice rang out like a great bell, revealing the shocking foundation of this virtual world. "Only then was this world, which is infinitely close to reality, constructed!"

"Here," Li Xuan's gaze seemed to pierce through all falsehoods, looking directly at the Origin of Lin Yuan's Divine Soul, "everything can be reflected truly! Your cultivation Realm, your limit of combat power, your depth of comprehension of Law, your mastery of Martial Skill and Divine Ability, and even the pain and consequences brought by death!"

"The most important point is," Li Xuan's voice carried a strange emphasis, "all items, Magic Treasure, divine weapons, Medicinal Pill, and Heaven And Earth Treasure that we possess in reality can be brought into this virtual world without any loss or flaw! Moreover, all their attributes, effects, and power are exactly the same as what you experience in reality!"

In Lin Yuan's pupils, the endless river of data and the torrent of Law were reflected. He "saw" the core areas of the virtual world that Li Xuan had manifested:

Tower of Will: A giant tower that reached the heavens and the earth, seeming to support the entire virtual Universe, stood towering! On the tower's body were coiled countless chains of dao patterns, thick as primordial Dragon and materialized! Each chain shone with the radiance of different Law, condensed from pure Dao! The tower was divided into Nine Heavens, emitting a terrifying pressure that could freeze the Soul! It is said that those who ascend to the top of the tower can forge a supreme will that is immortal and indestructible, capable of shaking the heavens!

river of origin: A brilliant river spanning the Void Realm, with no known source or end, roared and flowed through the endless data! What flowed in the river was not ordinary water, but liquefied, nearly tangible Origin of Law! The scent of Law, dense to the extreme, permeated the area. Just by approaching the riverbank, Lin Yuan felt his comprehension of Law become a hundred times clearer! One day of meditation here was worth at least a hundred, or even a thousand days of bitter cultivation in the outside world!

Taichu Arena: A behemoth composed of pure energy, burning eternally like a supernova, floated in the Void Realm! On its surface, billions of points of light flickered, collided, and annihilated like stars! Each point of light represented a peerless Prodigy who was fighting bloody battles within, vying for supreme glory and resources!

Stairway to Godhood: Most eye-catching was the magnificent stairway that pierced the clouds, seeming to connect the divine kingdom with the mortal world! Each step emitted energy fluctuations that were completely different yet breathtakingly powerful! Above the steps, phantom images of gods and demons faintly roared, and the sound of the great Dao rumbled! Legend has it that those who can step to the top of the stairway can obtain a supreme Opportunity capable of defying heaven and fate, enough to drive even Myriad Dao Realm experts crazy!

"The time flow in the virtual world is exactly the same as in the real world." Li Xuan's voice suddenly became deep and magnificent, carrying a heavy warning. He raised his hand and pointed to a Void Realm area deep within the illusion that was violently twisting, collapsing, and emitting an ominous aura. "You can treat it as your second world, second battlefield, and second dojo to manage, to strive, and to seize all Opportunity! However, remember—must remember—"

Li Xuan's voice, like a cold blade, stabbed fiercely into Lin Yuan's consciousness:

"There, although 'death' will not cause you to truly perish..."

"However, the pain of the Divine Soul being torn apart brought by every 'death' is like falling into an endless purgatory! Every injury to the dao foundation caused by 'death' is like carving an indelible scar on your perfect path! That is a permanent trauma sufficient to cut off your future path to the heavens!"

Lin Yuan followed the direction Li Xuan pointed and stared intently.

He saw that deep in the collapsing Void Realm, a blurred figure was letting out a desperate scream so shrill it pierced the Origin of the Soul! His body, like a wax statue thrown into strong acid, was being eroded, disintegrated, and stripped away inch by inch by the collapsing power of the Void Realm! In the end, it turned into countless dim points of light and completely dissipated!

Even from an incomparably far distance, the extreme pain and despair contained in that scream were still clearly transmitted to the depths of Lin Yuan's Divine Soul, making him involuntarily shiver to the bone!

When Lin Yuan tried to cautiously probe a trace of his Divine Sense into the massive torrent of data representing the "Myriad Laws Realm" Martial Artist...

"Boom!"

It was like opening Pandora's Box!

Countless terrifying figures, whose mere aura was enough to collapse stars and make Lin Yuan feel suffocated, emerged one after another from the torrent of data, like gods and demons looking down upon all living beings:

A youth with silver hair like a waterfall and eyes containing the River of Time walked slowly, stepping on an illusory river composed of the scenes of countless worlds being born and dying! Wherever he passed, the Void Realm froze! All Law stagnated! Around him, seventy-one runes, shining like miniature suns and flowing with the aura of Time Law, slowly rotated; each represented absolute control over 1% of the Time Law! —That was a peerless Prodigy painstakingly cultivated by the Time-Space Divine Temple!

Another person was completely shrouded in a chaotic air current that destroyed all things and devoured everything! He merely raised his hand and grasped into the void, and in his palm appeared a phantom of a miniature Universe that was rapidly collapsing, with stars bursting into cosmic dust one after another! The aura of destruction seemed to want to completely annihilate the entire torrent of data! —This was a killing machine that walked out of the Destruction God Domain!

Further away in the core of the data, a figure, like a brand that existed since eternity and was indestructible through ten thousand calamities, was deeply imprinted in the Origin of Law! His body emitted an eternal radiance that was immortal and indestructible, impervious to all Laws! That was the manifestation of the terrifying power possessed only by the Eternal Origin Law, which was approaching the Great Perfection Realm!