Chapter 282: Transcending the Universe

Lin Qing felt something was odd.

He had simply picked a time at random to activate the Proof of Kings; how could so many people appear the moment he entered the Kings' Realm Ruins?

Exactly three hundred people, appearing almost simultaneously.

"Did they know in advance that I would open the Kings' Ruins at this moment? Or is there another reason?"

Various guesses flashed through Lin Qing's mind.

At the same time, he could see that among these people were Star Beings, Void Beings, and Void Lords, who, like him, had clearly come for the trial.

But he knew none of them.

It was normal that he didn't recognize the young Star Beings, but among the Void Lords of the Void Sea, the powerful ones were few, and those qualified to receive the Proof of Kings were even rarer.

How could he possibly not know a single one of such Void Lords?

Most importantly, these people were also grouped in threes like him: one Star Being, one Void Being, and one Void Lord, and it seemed the groups did not know each other.

At this moment, Lin Qing also formed a rough judgment in his heart.

He was a single person with three avatars, blending into the crowd without drawing attention.

Most of the others also looked somewhat dazed, as if they hadn't expected so many people to enter the Kings' Ruins.

Suddenly—

"Boom!"

A beam of heavenly light containing terrifying pressure suddenly descended; the light condensed out of thin air into an old man wearing a crimson robe, with white beard and hair, his expression cold and indifferent, his pressure so fearsome that everyone present could not help but turn their heads.

Before the gaze of the three hundred, the crimson-robed old man said indifferently, "Lucky little ones, congratulations on being chosen by the Kings; you are qualified to enter the Wang Dian to undergo the trial. Perhaps... this will be the most important opportunity of your lives."

His gaze swept across, and he said coldly, "I hope that among the Void Seas corresponding to these hundred universe domains, a few more people will pass the trial."

The crowd below could not help but show expressions of shock.

Hundred universe domains corresponding to Void Seas?

Lin Qing had guessed this from the start and was mentally prepared, but now that it was confirmed, he still felt greatly shocked, and his heart grew even more puzzled.

The true universe is so vast, but a single universe domain covers only a few hundred million light-years; the space of each universe domain is separated, so that the high-dimensional Void Sea is also divided into patches of sea.

Around every patch of Void Sea lies an endless abyss; even Void Divine Officials cannot cross the endless abyss.

Naturally, the Void Seas corresponding to other universe domains also contain numerous second-level civilizations.

Therefore, these people he did not know at all naturally came from other Void Seas.

And what Lin Qing did not understand was—

Never mind people from a hundred Void Seas; even if the Proof of Kings were distributed simultaneously across all Void Seas in the entire universe, it would not be possible for a hundred domains worth of people to activate the Proof of Kings at exactly the same time.

Moreover, by comparing the time flow with his avatar in the Mountain and Sea Realm, he could confirm that the time flow here had not changed; it was not the case that he waited an instant here while many years passed outside.

How did the Kings' Ruins make so many people appear simultaneously?

He found it somewhat incomprehensible.

"Inside the Wang Dian, there are no special rules."

The crimson-robed old man looked at the crowd below and said coldly, "Star Beings participate in the Star-level trial, Void Beings participate in the Void-level trial, and Void Lords participate in the Lord-level trial. As long as you pass the trial, you will receive a reward; as for the reward level, that depends on your performance."

As he spoke, the palace doors behind him slowly slid open, revealing the magnificent and vast corridor, and at the end of the corridor, three passages branched off.

Above the passage on the right, the mark 【Star】 was visible, clearly corresponding to the Star-level trial.

Above the passage in the middle, the mark 【Void】 was visible, clearly corresponding to the Void-level trial.

And above the passage on the left was the mark 【Lord】, naturally leading to the Lord-level trial.

The crimson-robed old man also had no desire to say more; he immediately waved his sleeve and said, "Everyone, go in."

One by one, the trial participants bowed respectfully before entering the Wang Dian.

Just as Lin Qing was about to step into the palace, he suddenly noticed that the crimson-robed old man was looking at him, his eyes gentle, and he sent a transmission sound with an extremely gentle and polite tone:

"Honored guest, you may wait a moment; there is no need to rush into the trial."

Honored guest?

Lin Qing's heart stirred; immediately, he slowed his steps without showing any emotion and quietly stopped in place.

After the many trial participants had entered the palace, only Lin Qing remained outside.

The crimson-robed old man then quietly descended before Lin Qing and said respectfully, "I did not expect a distinguished guest from our Human Race's Demi-God-level civilization to arrive; I have been somewhat lacking in propriety. Please forgive me. I am the guardian of the Wang Dian, Wei Kuo."

Demi-God-level civilization?

Lin Qing's heart stirred again; is the Primordial Realm a Demi-God-level civilization?

This crimson-robed old man must have discovered that Lin Qing possessed the summoning mark of the Kings' Realm, which led to this judgment.

Just as a 2.9-level civilization can create summoning marks leading to other 2-level civilizations, it seems the Primordial Realm can also create summoning marks for Transcendent-level civilizations?

"However, it seems the honored guest is not from the Immortal Realm or the Cliffside Realm?"

The crimson-robed old man looked at Lin Qing and said, "Could it be that you are from the Primordial Realm? Is the honored guest the tombkeeper of the Great Void Tomb?"

Lin Qing was slightly stunned; he did not expect the other party to deduce his origin so easily, so he nodded slightly and said, "Indeed so."

Lord Su once said that all third-level civilizations know about the Primordial Realm; indeed, he was right...

Moreover, the 'Cliffside Realm' mentioned by this crimson-robed old man reminded him of the 'Feng Xue' senior who, back when he was learning the Divine Skill inheritance of the Army Commander in the Sky Archipelago, created the Rotating Star Divine Skill and the Primordial Annihilation. That senior was the Fourth Army Lord of the Cliffside Realm.

According to the information he knew when learning the Primordial Annihilation, this Feng Xue senior originally followed the Cosmic God divine official path and even surpassed the Star God level.

That naturally made him a Chaos God.

Although in the competition of the Cosmic God path, senior Feng Xue later also failed.

But achieving the status of a Chaos God was enough to demonstrate his strength.

Such a powerful figure, having the qualification for the Primordial Realm to specially set up an empty island to leave an inheritance, obviously had an extraordinary background; thus, the Cliffside Realm is naturally a third-level civilization.

Now it seems, the Cliffside Realm is actually a Demi-God-level civilization?

Come to think of it, he was actually a direct disciple of this Fourth Army Lord of the Cliffside Realm.

However, the standard for a Level One civilization to select direct disciples is obviously much lower.

"As expected."

The old man in the red robe sighed, "I never expected the Primordial Realm to choose to descend and reappear in this era. I wonder which generation of Gravekeeper you are, honored guest?"

"Which generation?" Lin Qing couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled in his heart. Why ask this?

He still said, "I am the first Gravekeeper."

"The first?" The old man in the red robe was stunned. "Are you the first Gravekeeper selected after the Primordial Realm re-nurtured a civilization?"

"What? Is there something wrong with that?" Lin Qing asked in confusion.

"That is not the case." The old man in the red robe immediately shook his head and said, "Originally, I thought that the new civilizations nurtured by the Primordial Realm were all very weak at the beginning, needing to undergo long-term development and replace generations of Gravekeepers before a Void Sovereign could possibly appear. I never expected the first Gravekeeper to have reached this step; it is truly rare."

Lin Qing understood, realizing what he meant.

The Earth civilization is also the new civilization nurtured by the Primordial Realm.

Even if the Primordial Realm is the so-called Semi-God-level civilization, it is ultimately a civilization that has already perished and declined, leaving only a Vacuum Great Tomb and a few ruins. The initially nurtured Earth civilization naturally received little legacy from the Primordial Realm.

It could only start growing slowly from the weakest planetary civilization. If not for Lin Qing, who knows how long it would have taken for the first Void creature to appear, let alone open a Void Secret Realm.

The very first Gravekeeper selected initially was naturally from the weakest period of the civilization, in the early stage with the most difficult conditions.

If one waited until the Earth civilization grew up and digested the benefits of the Vacuum Great Tomb and the Primordial Realm, it would be different.

Therefore, theoretically, the Gravekeeper would also have to change generation after generation before a true powerhouse could appear. For the first Gravekeeper to become a Void Sovereign is indeed quite rare.

"Although the honored guest's strength is currently still weak, you are after all the Gravekeeper of the Primordial Realm's Vacuum Great Tomb, which is also an honor for this Hall of Thousand Kings."

The old man in the red robe said politely, "Since you possess the induction mark of our Realm of Thousand Kings and are a honored guest of the Primordial Realm, the reward for the trial should naturally be raised a level. Theoretically, you can obtain the highest reward of this Hall of Thousand Kings."

Raise a level? The highest reward?

Lin Qing couldn't help but feel a joy in his heart. Fortunately, he had gone to the Bronze Demon Mountain before coming; fortunately, he possessed a sufficiently powerful mental will, otherwise this good thing would not have happened.

"The gene indices of your two avatars are both quite good." The old man in the red robe looked again at Lin Qing's Black Flame Clan avatar and Blood Cauldron King avatar, and softly praised.

"Five hundred and sixty thousand times, and it's still just 'quite good'?" Lin Qing muttered to himself.

He considered his gene index to be ridiculously high.

The gene index of a general Void Sovereign might only be seven or eight thousand times. He is dozens of times higher than that, yet the Guardian of this Hall of Thousand Kings still only considers it 'quite good'?

Truly a Level Three civilization; the vision is indeed high enough.

"Mr. Guardian Wei Kuo."

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and spoke, "I am somewhat curious. Just now you said that we, these trialists, all come from the Void Seas corresponding to a hundred universe domains?"

"Yes." The old man in the red robe nodded and said, "Our Realm of Thousand Kings, as the era closest to the Present World, also has the responsibility of inheritance and education for the Human Race, just like the various Transcendent-level civilizations. This batch of our Realm of Thousand Kings was left with inheritances by three Kings in the Hall of Thousand Kings, and then a hundred proofs of Kingship were sent into the Void Sea, waiting for those with affinity to come and undergo the trial."

The era closest to the Present World?

Lin Qing felt even stranger in his heart and couldn't help but ask, "Then how is it possible to let trialists from a hundred Void Seas simultaneously activate the proofs of Kingship? I just picked a time to activate it at random. Was it just this coincidence?"

"Hahaha..."

The old man in the red robe laughed and shook his head, saying, "It is also true. Although the honored guest comes from the Primordial Realm, the Primordial Realm has perished after all. It is normal for you not to understand."

He pondered for a moment and said, "Does the honored guest know why a Transcendent-level civilization is called a Transcendent-level civilization?"

"Transcending the universe?" Lin Qing said uncertainly.

"Then, what is transcending the universe?" The old man in the red robe asked again.

"This... jumping out of time and space?" Lin Qing said.

"A Level 2.9 civilization, or the current Vacuum Great Tomb, can all achieve the point of jumping out of time and space." The old man in the red robe said, "But this is actually just jumping out of time and space in the spatial sense, becoming an independent spatial domain; it is not transcending the universe in the true sense."

"Up, down, east, west, north, and south constitute 'Yu'; past, present, and future constitute 'Zhou'. Time and space are the universe."

He sighed, "Only a Level Three civilization, which is a Transcendent-level civilization, can achieve transcending time and space simultaneously. Simply put, it means jumping out of the timeline to be considered true transcendence."

"Jumping out of the timeline?" Lin Qing murmured.

"A Transcendent-level civilization is one that has detached from the 'present' of the universe, able to observe the past at any time, and also descend upon any time point in the future, turning the future into the present."

The old man in the red robe explained, "And this Hall of Thousand Kings is located within the Realm of Thousand Kings, also existing in the state of transcending the universe and jumping out of the timeline. Counting back about thirty billion years from the era you are in within the real universe is the transcended time point of the Realm of Thousand Kings. Therefore, the universe in this time period since then is all within the activity territory of our Realm of Thousand Kings."

Lin Qing listened, his heart filled with shock.

Detached from the 'present' of the universe, able to observe the past at any time, and also descend upon any time point in the future?

Jumping out of the timeline?

From his era counting back three billion years to the present, is this entire time period the territory of the Realm of Thousand Kings?

The terror and mystery of a Level Three civilization had completely surpassed his imagination.

"Does the honored guest understand now?"

The old man in the red robe said, "For a Transcendent-level civilization, the scope of territory is not significant in terms of spatial scale; more importantly, it is the length of the timeline."

He looked at the trialists who were successively walking into the trial channel of the Hall of Thousand Kings behind him and said, "Therefore, these trialists are actually just people who obtained the proof of Kingship within a certain period of time. Many are not from the same era as you; they were simply pulled into the Hall of Thousand Kings by the Realm of Thousand Kings at this moment, existing in the state of transcending the universe."

Lin Qing fell silent for a moment and said, "But won't this cause a paradox? For example, if someone meets my past self, wouldn't that cause the future to change? Or is it parallel universes?"

"Paradox?" The old man in the red robe laughed. "When you transcend, you will naturally understand."

Lin Qing found it hard to figure out.

The old man in the red robe shook his head and said, "No need to think too much. Regardless of how the past and future are, the most important thing is ultimately the present. Everything ultimately depends on strength. Since everyone is an existence transcending the universe, the final comparison is still strength."

He sighed, "Just like the Yu Xingyuan Demon Race. The calamity of the Yu Xingyuan Demon Race spread throughout the universe; even a Transcendent-level civilization could not escape its disaster."

"Transcending the universe..." Lin Qing nodded slightly and said, "Then I will begin the trial."

(End of this chapter)