Chapter 727

Rahu gazed at Lin Yuan, his expression slightly dazed.

Before becoming a Time Being, when he had seen Lin Yuan take action, a sense of helpless awe had risen in his heart—an instinctive feeling that he could never contend against him.

Now that he had become a Thirteenth Rank Time Being, facing the Milky Way Saint, that same feeling of powerlessness still lingered.

“Please, sit.”

Lin Yuan waved his hand, and the surrounding scenery shifted, bringing them to a tranquil manor filled with gentle breeze and calm waters.

“Alright.”

Rahu’s expression carried a trace of unease.

At that moment, he couldn’t even tell whether it was he who had ascended to the Thirteenth Rank, or the Milky Way Saint before him.

“How does it feel, being a Time Being?”

Lin Yuan smiled at Rahu.

He was rather friendly toward this newly ascended Thirteenth Rank.

After all, through his observation of the future timelines, Lin Yuan knew Rahu harbored no hostility toward him.

This visit was not an attempt at revenge, it was simply to meet him.

If Lin Yuan had chosen to hide his true power and disguise himself as a normal Invincible Supreme Saint, Rahu might even have offered him some opportunities in gratitude.

That was the conclusion Lin Yuan had already seen across many possible timelines.

But at Lin Yuan’s current level, a newly ascended Time Being’s “gifts” were of no value to him.

Rahu had just entered the Thirteenth Rank—his foundation was bare, his wealth far beneath Lin Yuan’s.

When Lin Yuan asked, Rahu had wanted to answer “Excellent.”

And it truly was excellent.

After stepping into the Thirteenth Rank, everything felt different—as though he had risen from two dimensions to three, with all life beneath the Twelfth Rank appearing flat and fragile before him.

Yet when he thought of the inscrutable depth of the Milky Way Saint, that “excellent” turned, instead, into a humble, “Not bad.”

“The essence of your life has only just transformed to the Thirteenth Rank,” Lin Yuan said with an amused smile.

“You should take time to stabilize it. Best not to strain yourself trying to peer into future timelines just yet.”

Rahu’s heart trembled slightly—he had, indeed, been doing exactly that, attempting to glimpse Lin Yuan’s future timeline.

This was the audacity of a newborn calf.

A more seasoned Time Being would already understand that when another being’s timeline was vague or inaccessible, it meant something, and one would never dare pry further.

“Yes,” Rahu replied quickly, startled at his own recklessness. He immediately ceased his attempts to peer into Lin Yuan’s time.

“What kind of Time Loop did you fall into?”

Lin Yuan asked casually.

Time Loops were shaped by the supreme laws of infinite dimensions—beyond the sight of even Time Beings or Time Lords.

Only the one who experienced it could ever know.

In his conversations with the seven Time Beings of the Chaos Void, Lin Yuan had learned what trials they had faced.

Now, curious about this new ascendant, he wanted to know what Rahu had gone through—what his personal test had been.

Each perfected Twelfth Rank lifeform faced a unique Time Loop, perfectly tailored to their greatest weakness.

“My Time Loop…”

Rahu’s expression darkened slightly.

“In it, I became a beggar—born into an age of chaos. I couldn’t use any transcendent power, not even my own thinking speed was above mortal level. Apart from retaining my full memory, I was no different from an ordinary human.”

His expression showed lingering fear.

It was different from reincarnation. Reincarnation also stripped one of power, but the understanding of laws remained—one could still use those rules subtly.

But in the Time Loop, no transcendent power could be used—truly none at all. One couldn’t even sense the ripples of any laws or Daos.

There was another hidden constraint—

Lifespan.

Without transcendent power, mortals only lived a few decades.

In an age of chaos, surviving past thirty was considered long-lived.

“What was the trial?”

Lin Yuan asked.

“To end the chaos and found a unified empire,” Rahu said. “But I was just a beggar, without background or power. I was starving to death—yet they wanted me to end an age of chaos and establish a unified dynasty?”

“Truly difficult… and well-targeted.”

Lin Yuan nodded.

He had seen Rahu’s past timelines. This new Time Being had spent eons buried in cultivation, uninterested in worldly affairs—never commanding armies or gathering followers.

So, in a mortal life that lasted only a few decades, if he failed the trial before reaching his natural death, his memory would be wiped, and he’d start over.

Normally, if one failed the first cycle, no number of retries would help.

Rahu was a master of cultivation—he had endured endless torment for his Thirteenth Rank inheritance.

But the Time Loop didn’t test cultivation—it tested something he had never touched.

“How did you pass the trial in the end?”

Lin Yuan asked.

“I spent fifty years enduring countless hardships and close brushes with death. Eventually, I unified half the land and faced my final foe in one last decisive battle. If I won, I would complete the trial and found the empire.”

“Did you win?” Lin Yuan looked at him.

“I didn’t.” Rahu shook his head. “I lost badly. My trusted generals all died, and I was captured alive.”

“I was sixty then, with maybe twenty years left to live. Having lost that war, even if I started again, I’d never rise again—let alone as a prisoner.”

His tone carried a faint sigh.

Lin Yuan listened quietly.

“My enemy, perhaps not wanting me to die easily, didn’t kill me. Instead, he kept me imprisoned and tortured daily.”

“It wasn’t much different from dying. I was utterly hopeless—a sixty-year-old mortal, body failing, mind dulled, rotting in a dungeon. I even thought of ending it myself, starting the cycle anew, sparing myself the humiliation.”

Rahu met Lin Yuan’s gaze. “But just before I chose to die, I thought—what is humiliation to someone like us? As long as I live, and the trial hasn’t ended, there is still hope.”

“My enemy came each day to torment me. I endured. Ten years passed. With my body’s decline, I had maybe five years left to live.”

“Then, a turn of fate came.”

“Though my forces had been shattered in that final battle, some loyal survivors remained. They risked everything to infiltrate the palace and reached me. They wanted to rescue me.”

“But even if I escaped, I wouldn’t have lived long. Instead, I saw one last hope—right there in the palace.”

“So, I plotted an assassination. In the end, I succeeded in killing my enemy, and upon the corpse of his dynasty, I founded mine.”

“My new empire was born in the last month of my life—and then I broke through the Time Loop.”

Rahu’s tone was solemn.

“Not easy,” Lin Yuan said quietly.

But it was more than that.

From the moment Rahu entered the Time Loop, he had lived on the edge of death. A beggar surviving even a year in chaos was a miracle—let alone building an empire.

To fail in the final war and still persevere—to endure ten years of torture and still find hope—how many could do that?

“To lose everything, to be humiliated, yet still endure—that’s what it takes to pass the Time Loop.”

Rahu looked at Lin Yuan gratefully.

It was that same understanding—of letting go of obsession—that had allowed him to survive his trial.

“Time Loops…”

Lin Yuan once again felt their profound cruelty.

No wonder, across the endless ages of the Chaos Void, only seven had ever broken through. Countless perfected Chaos beings remained trapped within forever.

“Milky Way, you…”

Rahu hesitated.

“I’m preparing to challenge the Thirteenth Rank,” Lin Yuan said softly. “I just don’t know what kind of Time Loop awaits me.”

Rahu’s eyes widened slightly—so it was true. The unfathomable Milky Way Saint had not yet become a Time Being.

“With your foundation, your chance of breaking through must be far greater than mine,” Rahu said immediately.

To him, even the idea that Lin Yuan wasn’t yet Thirteenth Rank was absurd—his very presence exerted greater pressure than a Time Being’s. Rahu couldn’t even imagine his true power.

After that, Lin Yuan chatted casually with Rahu for a while, even giving him a few pointers.

Though Rahu was a Time Being now, he had only just stepped into it. Lin Yuan, at his level, was entirely qualified to guide him.

Half a day later, Rahu left Lin Yuan’s manor in a daze.

He had sought Lin Yuan first after breaking through, intending to perhaps give some guidance to the one who had indirectly helped him.

Yet in the end, it was he—the Time Being—who had been guided.

“Monster…”

Rahu thought to himself, recalling every detail of his meeting with Lin Yuan. The sheer, boundless pressure still made his heart tremble.

“How can a Twelfth Rank being be this strong?”

He couldn’t understand—and never would.

He knew too well the chasm between his current self and his former self before the breakthrough.

That gulf had been forged through a fundamental transformation of life and the baptism of the Chaos Void’s source.

How, then, had Lin Yuan transcended that barrier—and even stood above him?

As Rahu pondered, seven towering figures descended—the seven Time Beings of the Chaos Void.

“Rahu, congratulations on your ascension,” said Mo Xu Jun, smiling kindly.

“Greetings, seniors,” Rahu replied quickly.

Though all were now Time Beings, he was newly ascended—he dared not act presumptuous before these ancient veterans.

“You just went to see Milky Way, didn’t you?”

Mo Xu Jun glanced toward where Rahu had come from.

“Yes,” Rahu answered, startled.

He suddenly realized—the truth about Lin Yuan’s power, the seven ancient Time Beings surely knew far more than he did.

“Milky Way Saint’s strength…”

He asked at once, unable to suppress his curiosity.

“Milky Way’s strength?”

Mo Xu Jun fell silent.

The six behind him also said nothing.

Not out of reluctance—out of uncertainty how to explain.

“Milky Way cannot be measured by ordinary reason,” Mo Xu Jun finally said. “He is destined—without doubt—to become a Time Being, and even a Time Lord.”

“Destined… to become a Time Being?”

“And even destined to become… a Time Lord?”

Rahu was stunned.

He knew what “destined to become a Time Being” meant—guaranteed success in breaking the Time Loop.

That alone was unthinkable. Yet remembering the pressure Lin Yuan had exuded, Rahu could almost believe it.

But destined to become a Time Lord?

That was a being of the Thirteenth Rank’s Third Stage—one who had begun to converge their own timelines. How could anyone say such a being was “certain”?

“You didn’t offend Milky Way, did you?”

Mo Xu Jun asked.

“No,” Rahu replied quickly.

He had never intended to, and after feeling that crushing presence, he wouldn’t have dared even if he had.

“Good.”

Mo Xu Jun nodded. “You’ll understand more about Milky Way in time.”

“For now, stabilize your realm quickly. The Celestial River Dimension will need you soon.”

“Yes.”

Rahu nodded.

After meeting the newly ascended Rahu,

Lin Yuan’s figure vanished, returning to the Milky Way Chaos Continent.

“Before breaking through to the Thirteenth Rank,” he thought, “I’ll take a good long rest.” (Surprised?)

How long?

Two thousand years.

Since setting foot on the path of cultivation as an evolver, Lin Yuan had never truly rested.

Before reaching the Twelfth Rank, the human civilization had faced pressure from alien races and the Chaos Void itself.

He had not dared to stop.

After reaching the Twelfth Rank, it was the same—cultivation and enlightenment, without pause.

Though his strength and spirit were in perfect condition, tireless and serene, before facing the Thirteenth Rank and the unknown Time Loop, he simply wanted to sleep.

He had prepared everything that could be prepared.

“Sleep then.”

Lin Yuan slowly closed his eyes. Across the First and Second Source Worlds, all his bodies and true selves fell into slumber.

This was deep sleep—his consciousness completely adrift, unless threatened.

His slumber made no great difference to the Chaos Void—he rarely interfered with its workings anyway.

As time flowed quietly on, two thousand years passed.

And at last came the day Lin Yuan awoke, the day he would attempt his breakthrough to the Thirteenth Rank.

In the next chapter MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

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