338: The Road to Power

At the Peak of the Grandmist Dao Palace in Chaos Origin City.

Lin Yuan stood atop the Dao Platform. His profound gaze pierced the Cosmic Barrier, crossed the vast and chaotic Newborn Divine Domain, and finally settled on the void at the core of the Withered Star Ring, which had just been completely purified.

The conscious projection of the Primal Blood Ancestor—that ancient Dark Abyss entity entrenched at the core of the Star Ring, attempting to use the 903 Divine Domain as a cradle for its revival—had completely vanished after fighting him.

The enormous Withered Star Ring, that belt of death composed of countless corrupted Stars, was currently undergoing earth-shattering changes.

Driven by Lin Yuan's Divine Thought, the phantom of the myriad dao furnace expanded to the scale necessary to envelop the entire Star Ring!

The shattered stellar debris was forcibly gathered and reshaped by an invisible great power, no longer twisted corruption, but transforming into the foundational bedrock of mineral veins shimmering with Chaos Starlight; the filthy Dark Abyss Demonic Energy was broken down and purified, turning into a pure energy torrent nourishing new life.

Even the deeply contaminated Star Cores gradually shed their filth under the purifying radiance of the remaining Plane Core power and the primordial azure lotus dao embryo, revealing their original Origin, which contained immense Creation.

[Completely destroyed the important Dark Abyss stronghold "Withered Star Ring" and annihilated the will projection of the Dark Abyss Saint Emperor (Primal Blood Ancestor)! Meritorious achievement shakes the ages!]

[Awarded merit points: 8 billion points!]

[Merit Ranking permanently topped: star city lord Lin Yuan (Chaos Origin City) (merit points: 13.87 billion)]

[slaughter value Settlement: Total slaughter value obtained: 5 billion points!]

[Additional Reward: Due to the complete eradication of the Dark Abyss's largest potential malignant tumor in this Divine Domain, the title "Temporary Junior Child of the Plane" has been upgraded to a permanent title: Additional combat power bonus of 5,000 Yuan Power! Fatal damage immunity count +3! All Great Dao affinity +5000%! Plane Authority enhanced!]

[Temporarily unlocked "Star Continent Lord" Authority! Rewarded with a complete Star Continent Blueprint!]

The grand sound of the Heavenly Dao echoed in his heart. The unprecedented generous rewards demonstrated the value of this victory. 13.8 billion merit points, 5 billion slaughter value, and the title "Junior Child of the Plane," symbolizing the recognition of the Plane's Heavenly Dao, pushed Lin Yuan's Foundation to a Peak that would cause all other Lords to despair.

However, Lin Yuan did not show much joy. His mind sank into the star city lord token, where the newly unlocked "Star Continent Lord" Authority was displaying a blueprint so magnificent it was suffocating.

On the blueprint, Chaos Origin City shone like the brightest Star, occupying the Core Node. Starting from it, invisible networks extended in all directions, outlining the crucial locations where the future ten thousand Star Cities should be situated.

These locations were not randomly arranged; they corresponded to the Great Dao nodes established when the Divine Domain first opened, the hubs of the Chaos Energy Tides, and the cores responsible for suppressing the Plane's Luck.

Only when ten thousand Level 10 Star Cities are established in these designated locations and linked through the star city lord's authority can a complete Star Continent Blueprint be formed, triggering a resonance with the Divine Domain's Origin, and truly condensing this boundless territory into a stable Star Continent!

"Ten thousand Star Cities..." Lin Yuan muttered, his voice echoing at the Peak of the empty Grandmist Dao Palace, carrying a heavy weight of pressure.

One hundred years felt like a sword hanging over his head. The Hongmeng Origin World would appear a century later, and by then, existences from the Saint Realm and even higher realms deep within the Chaos Mother Sea would surely flock over, raising a storm of blood and gore.

Whether the Primal Plane can protect this Creation, or even use it to soar, hinges on whether the 903 Divine Domain can complete its transformation—from the initial opening of Chaos to the Star Continent, then to the Heaven Realm, and finally stabilizing as a Profound Realm—within these hundred years!

As the first star city lord and Junior Child of the Plane, Lin Yuan clearly perceived that the Heavenly Dao's will was placing the heavy responsibility of consolidating the Star Continent increasingly upon his shoulders. The opening of the Star Continent Blueprint to him was proof of this.

Laid out before him were two completely different paths:

Path One: Self-Reliance, Forging Ten Thousand Cities!

Relying on the two Divine Rank Authorities, "Infinite Enhancement" and "Slaughter Supremacy," supplemented by the terrifying efficiency of the chaos creation platform in mass-producing Star Scar Guards, and the Creation ability of the myriad dao furnace to transform all things, Lin Yuan had absolute confidence. He could take Chaos Origin City as the core, radiate outward, personally capture the critical nodes, eliminate the entrenched Strange Beasts and Dark Abyss remnants, and then invest massive amounts of merit points and slaughter value to establish Level 10 Star Cities, one by one, that belonged entirely to him and were branded with the "Chaos Origin" mark!

The advantage of this path was absolute control; every Star City would be entirely at his command. Once the Star Continent Blueprint was formed, its power would be utilized to the extreme, and his authority as the Star Continent Lord would be unprecedentedly strong. But the cost was—time!

Even with his Heaven-Defying efficiency, building and stabilizing a Level 10 Star City and eliminating surrounding threats still required time. Ten thousand cities... a century would likely be entirely devoted to this task, leaving no time for anything else. This meant he would miss the chance to explore the Creation Secret Realms hidden throughout the Divine Domain, which might contain various Opportunities! His personal combat power growth would be severely delayed.

Path Two: Subdue and Integrate, Subduing with Power!

Temporarily slow down the pace of personally building cities, utilizing this precious century to focus on improving his own strength. Relying on the star city lord's supreme authority and the Junior Child of the Plane's unmatched prestige, he would actively move out—either by coercion, enticement, or Alliance—to subdue the Top Lords who were struggling to develop throughout the Divine Domain and were also aiming to challenge the Level 10 Star City status.

As long as the opponent established a Level 10 Star City at a designated Star Continent Blueprint node, submitted to him, and accepted the governance of Chaos Origin City, they could also be incorporated into the Star Continent Blueprint!

The advantage of this path was saving a vast amount of time, allowing Lin Yuan to concentrate his energy on exploring Secret Realms and seeking personal Breakthroughs.

If he could achieve a Breakthrough into the Hunyuan Realm, or even reach a higher level, within the century, he would possess decisive influence in the future battle for the Hongmeng Origin World.

At the same time, having many powerful Lords and their Star Cities under his command would make his forces even larger. But the drawbacks were equally obvious: insufficient control. The loyalty of the subdued Star Cities required constant vigilance, and internal hidden dangers might abound.

The overall power of the Star Continent Blueprint might be discounted because the Star Cities were not entirely of the same Origin. Internal instability would be a fatal weakness when facing the final decisive battle against the Dark Abyss or external enemies.

Silence reigned within the Grandmist Dao Palace, broken only by the faint hum of the Primordial Purple Qi flowing from the dao stele. Lin Yuan's thoughts clashed fiercely, like a surging Chaos river.

He recalled the malicious gaze of Saint Kurong and the sneak attack by the Bone-Eroding Death Warriors, as well as the unconcealed jealousy and hostility of Heavenly Emperor Cang. The path of subduing others was certainly not smooth, inevitably accompanied by countless schemes, betrayals, and bloody suppression.

He also thought of Su Yao's pure Life Force restraining the Dark Abyss, and Mr. Yuan Mie Xu's upright promise to fight alongside him. Not all Lords were enemies; Alliance and integration also contained immense power.

"Personal might... Star Continent Foundation..." Lin Yuan's fingers unconsciously rubbed the cold star city lord token. "For the struggle over the Hongmeng Origin World, the Saint Realm is the entry ticket. If my own strength is insufficient, even with ten thousand cities protecting me, I cannot stop a true Supreme Expert from overturning the skies... But if the Foundation is unstable, and the Star Continent Blueprint cannot exert its maximum power, how can I protect the entire Plane?"