179: The transition between eras is accelerating.

Outside the Bronze Door, space seemed to solidify. The gazes of the nine examiners and the many Prodigies were firmly glued to the tightly shut entrance, as if drawn by an invisible magnet. The moment that massive Bronze Door, bearing endless mysteries, slowly opened and a figure stepped out—

Hiss—!

A chorus of audible gasps filled the air!

Lin Yuan's figure was not towering, yet he seemed to carry a newly opened Chaos Universe! What flowed around him was no longer simple Qi currents, but substantial, churning Chaos Mist. With every step he took, the Void Realm beneath his feet silently imprinted profound and unfathomable Chaos Dao Marks, as if he were walking upon the River of Time, leaving an indelible mark. What was particularly chilling was the sword mark on his brow; previously obscure, it was now clearly visible, emitting a pure, ancient Chaos aura, like the brand left by the Blade of Creation. Merely glancing at it caused one's Divine Soul to sting and threaten to disintegrate!

The muscles on the White-Robed Examiner's aged face twitched slightly, his voice trembling uncontrollably like a candle in the wind: “You... in that Chaos Secret Vault... did you... touch the Great Dao Origin?”

Lin Yuan's gaze was calm and deep, like an ancient well without ripples. He merely nodded slightly: “By chance, I managed to glimpse a thread of the True Meaning of Chaos.” His words were an understatement, as if discussing a trivial matter. However, only he knew how earth-shattering this harvest was—not only had he truly touched the threshold of the Chaos Great Dao, initially grasping the true meaning of the Origin that evolves myriad things, but more critically, the Awakening level of his supreme Foundation, the Innate Dao Body, had suddenly soared from 15% to 25%! This 10% leap brought a terrifying combat power increase of ten million Feather! This was nearly equivalent to the total accumulation of an ordinary Prodigy cultivating for several hundred or even a thousand years!

Clear Emptiness was the first to step forward. The aura of his Space-Time Law seemed especially minuscule under Lin Yuan's Chaos pressure. The look in his eyes was no longer simple admiration, but a deep reverence, like facing a leap in life level or an Incarnation of the Cosmic Origin. His voice carried a trace of Soul-deep awe: “Brother Lin... your aura now... is beyond what we can fathom. Vast as the Boundless Star Abyss, profound as the Chaos Return to Ruin... I fear the Realm itself is now a shackles to you.” He felt that his proud Power of Space-Time Deduction was like an ant attempting to measure the Universe before Lin Yuan.

Luohu, Luoshen, and others in the distance stood like isolated islands amidst surging waves. Luohu's knuckles, gripping the Axe of Destruction, turned white from excessive force. His Will of Destruction felt insignificant and powerless before Lin Yuan's all-encompassing Chaos aura, like a firefly next to a bright moon. In the depths of Luoshen's eternally calm, icy lake eyes, a chasm named 'Gap' was clearly reflected for the first time. An intuition stemming from the Dao Body Origin told her that Lin Yuan was no longer an object to pursue, but an existence to look up to. The rest of the Prodigies found their Divine Souls stinging just from looking directly at the Chaos Dao Marks around Lin Yuan, and they quickly lowered their heads in avoidance.

Just as the scene fell into an eerie silence due to Lin Yuan's exit—

“DONG—!!!”

A grand bell toll, sounding as if from the beginning of the Myriad Ages of Primordial Desolation and containing the sorrowful cry of heaven and earth during an Epoch transition, suddenly erupted without warning from the deepest, most core Forbidden Ground of the Taichu Divine Palace!

This bell toll surpassed the limits of hearing, directly shaking the Soul Origin deep within every living creature!

“DONG—! DONG—! DONG—!...”

Immediately following, the second, the third... each sound more urgent, each more heavy! A total of nine rings, like nine Sky-Opening Giant Hammers, fiercely smashed against the Space-Time Barrier of the Taichu Divine Continent!

The bell toll was grand, vast, tragic, and murderous! The will contained within it seemed to announce the curtain call of a glorious Epoch and the beginning of a new Epoch of blood and fire! Visible ripples of pale golden sound waves instantly swept across the vast territory of the entire Taichu Divine Palace, originating from its core, and continued relentlessly toward the more distant, broader corners of the Divine Continent, and even into the depths of the Boundless Star Sea! Wherever they passed, all spirits were startled, and Laws wailed in grief!

“Nine... Nine Bells Ringing Simultaneously?!” The color instantly drained from the White-Robed Examiner's face, replaced by extreme shock and unbelievable paleness. He cried out, his voice distorted: “The Epoch Battlefield... is going to open early! The time left for you... is not much!”

“What?!” Clear Emptiness shuddered violently, as if struck by the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. His handsome face instantly lost all color, and his voice cracked sharply: “Didn't... didn't we have three whole years left?! Why is it so sudden?! How can the Heaven and Earth Rules change just like that?!”

The perpetually silent Black-Robed Examiner, whose eyes seemed capable of piercing the netherworld, now fixed them like two bolts of solid lightning onto Lin Yuan, who had just emerged from the Secret Vault, his Chaos Qi yet to dissipate! That gaze was filled with unprecedented shock and a sudden clarity that seemed to grasp a world-shaking truth! His low voice was like rolling thunder, carrying a weight that seemed to freeze space, as he spoke word by word: “Because... someone touched the deepest Legacy Imprint of the Chaos Great Dao Origin! The Great Dao responded, and the process of Epoch transition... has been forcibly accelerated! The time left for us... is probably less than a year! Maybe... even shorter! The new Epoch Tide, the Epoch Conflict that will bury all spirits... is about to sweep in!”

Lin Yuan felt as if his heart had been struck by a heavy hammer. Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, the Chaos Lotus Seed rooted in Chaos trembled violently, seemingly sensing the Great Dao's declaration! A sudden realization instantly pierced his Soul—the process of him subduing the Chaos Lotus Seed and comprehending the first thread of dao rhyme in the opening chapter of the Chaos Origin Scripture was the 'cause' that triggered the core Legacy of the Chaos Great Dao, acting like a lit fuse that forcibly accelerated the Epoch transition!

The storm was not approaching; it was... imminent! The tide of destruction was about to shatter the current tranquility!

Lin Yuan's thoughts stirred, and the golden Data Panel visible only to him appeared before his eyes:

Lin Yuan glanced at his Data Panel:

[Realm: Dharma Domain Realm Fourth Heaven]

[seed of martial dao (Supreme Grade): Cultivating]

[supreme war spirit: 80 Million Feather combat power]

[dao slaying wisdom sword: 50 Million Feather combat power]

[Origin Domain: One Thousand Meter Radius]

[chaos heavenly extreme sword: 2 Million Feather]

[chaos heavenly evolution robe: 2 Million Feather]

[Primordial Dao Body (20%): 100 Thousand Feather]

[Eternal Evolution Body (Innate Dao Body 25%): 25 Million Feather]

[Total combat power: 159.1 Million Feather]

[Title: Supreme of Myriad Laws (Ability to be unlocked after the 903rd Era begins)]

[Origin Spells: Myriad Laws Reversal Wheel (Double Damage Return), Myriad Heavens Life and Death Wheel (10x Total combat power increase), Soul Devouring Seed Spirit Technique (Devour enemy Divine Soul to create a Puppet), Soul Devouring Seal (3x Total combat power increase), Swallowing Origin Mending Heaven Art (Recovery Type Spell)]