Chapter 333: A Miracle in an Instant

"Is there still a sliver of possibility?"

Manager Qiu couldn't help but say, "How can there still be hope? A Demon Sovereign with power reaching the world's upper limit, possessing an astonishing will capable of influencing the River of Time and Space, completely exceeding the theoretical response limit. And this Survivor, my lord, has not yet transcended. How could he possibly stand against such a foe?"

The handsome young man glanced at him lightly and said, "If he possessed such a will as well, would there not be hope?"

Manager Qiu was momentarily stunned and said, "A creature that has not yet transcended, one who has not even seen the River of Time and Space, how could its will possibly evolve to such a degree?"

"In the history of my Kingdom Realm, there have indeed been such peerless geniuses," the handsome young man said slowly. "It is understandable that an Ultimate Existence would seek such an outstanding disciple."

Looking at Lin Qing on the water curtain, he said slowly, "Moreover, this Survival World itself holds an opportunity to glimpse the River of Time and Space, does it not?"

"Your lordship means..." Manager Qiu said in shock, "But, merely for that one instant, how is that possible?"

"I also think it is impossible."

The handsome young man said in a light voice, "However, let us watch for now."

Inside the Abyss's cabin.

"The gap is too great..."

Lin Qing frowned tightly, recalling the scene where he was attacked by that Demon Sovereign. "Changing time and space with will alone? Is will at a higher level truly so terrifying?"

He had only heard rumors that wills at higher levels existed, but he was unclear about the specifics.

Normally, for a creature like him living within the universe, his will could at most be raised to the universe's upper limit, meaning his will could influence reality, nearly becoming real.

As for will at a higher level?

It is said that only by entering the River of Time and Space, witnessing the truth of time and space, and merging one's will into the River of Time and Space, is it possible for the will to undergo an essential transformation!

And this step, even for chaotic creatures like the Ancestor of the Tianyuan Seat who have just crossed the threshold of time and space, is impossible to enter the River of Time and Space; they can only barely sense its existence.

Theoretically, only higher-level High Chaotic Creatures could possibly achieve this step.

Yes, even High Chaotic Creatures only have a possibility!

This indicates that many High Chaotic Creatures do not necessarily possess will at this level!

"This Survival World actually uses the soul of a High Chaotic Creature to serve as the Demon Sovereign?"

Lin Qing felt it was somewhat incredible.

According to Xu Qingzhi, transcended beings like the Ancestor of the Tianyuan Seat are merely the weakest Low Chaotic Creatures. Under the cultivation system popularized in the Kingdom Realm, the probability of their birth is not small.

As for High Chaotic Creatures, even within the Kingdom Realm, they are absolutely considered elites.

Out of tens of thousands of Low Chaotic Creatures, a High Chaotic Creature might not even appear, showing how rare they are!

Even though the Myriad Phenomena World Group is a major power, they would surely cherish such an elite. How could they be willing to let such an elite abandon everything to reincarnate as a weak demon?

The so-called Demon Sovereign is merely showing off its power within this Survival World.

"However, the gap is indeed too great..."

Lin Qing frowned. "That strike from the Demon Sovereign just now could even break the armor formed by the projection of the aura of my Innate Universe Treasure. Its own power must have reached the limit of the world's restrictions. Add to that the will changing time and space..."

The projection armor formed by a wisp of aura from an Innate Universe Treasure has an intensity that reaches the limit allowed by world rules.

Logically, even if the Demon Sovereign's power reached the world's upper limit, it should not be so easy to break the projection armor. However, the opponent's will changed time and space, so it directly penetrated the defense of the projection armor.

If not for another life-saving treasure possessing absolute defense beyond the world's limits, he would certainly have died just now.

"Under these world rules, it is invincible among the invincible."

Lin Qing took a deep breath. "Normally, no matter how one thinks, it is reasonable that I could not possibly kill it, but..."

This is the trial of Your Majesty, the Light King.

Since Your Majesty, the Light King, can foresee millions of future lines, it means there is hope for passing this trial.

In this world, or upon his person, there must exist a hope that allows him to kill that Demon Sovereign.

"What is it?"

Lin Qing began to ponder carefully.

The Innate Universe Treasure?

Will Secret Arts?

"Two possibilities."

Lin Qing pondered silently: "First, hidden within this Survival World are certain precious materials from the Chaos that could allow my Innate Universe Treasure to evolve again, for instance, evolving to the level of an Eternal Universe Treasure."

"The rules of this Survival World were likely set by an Eternal Existence. If I possessed an Eternal Universe Treasure, I should be able to break the restrictions of the world rules."

But he immediately shook his head slightly, rejecting this thought. "However, this possibility is relatively small."

As far as he knows, even Eternal Existences crave to obtain Eternal Universe Treasures!

Precious materials capable of evolving an Universe Treasure to the Eternal level are likely extremely rare even within the Chaos; how could they be hidden in such an artificial world?

"The second possibility... should be that my will evolves to a higher level. Once I also possess the will to change time and space, the Demon Sovereign's advantage would vanish completely. Combined with the Illusory World Great Extinction, I would be certain of victory."

Lin Qing couldn't help but frown. "But... this is impossible as well, right..."

He had received the inheritance of the Primordial Realm 'City Lord of Feiyuan', the 'Three Thousand Purgatories'. This secret art for tempering the will was also created by an Ultimate Existence, and theoretically, it can cultivate the will to the Ultimate Realm.

Of course, this is only theoretical; in practice, it requires support from realm, comprehension, opportunities, and various other factors.

He used the 'Source of Liao Xinjie' to enter the path, and then advanced the first stage to perfection, which is the level of the universe's upper limit.

Beyond that, he must enter the River of Time and Space and glimpse the truth of time and space before he can continue to cultivate this secret art.

This is a necessary condition.

Otherwise, merely possessing a secret art for cultivating will, even if one wanted to advance, there would be no way.

"Both possibilities are very small... What should I do?"

Lin Qing pondered for a long time. "Forget it. Let me thoroughly explore the entire Survival World first; perhaps I will make some discovery?"

He glanced at the Final Shengdao deep within the mist, and immediately activated the Abyss to depart.

Until he possessed enough strength, he would not be coming back.

Coming back would only mean throwing his life away.

So there was no need to worry about other survivors getting ahead of him either.

If not for the fact that the Demon Sovereign was bound by the world's restrictions and could only operate within the Shengdao, even if every survivor in the entire world banded together, they would only be slaughtered by it.

……

Days passed one after another.

More and more survivors hurried over and boarded the Shengdao, but no matter their strength, facing that Demon Sovereign, there was only one outcome—death.

Gradually, no one dared to come to the Shengdao anymore.

Lin Qing couldn't be bothered with the other survivors either. This world existed to filter out that one and only survivor; everyone was a competitor, and he had no interest in helping these survivors.

With his strength, apart from the Demon Sovereign, there was nothing in the entire world he feared.

Every day, he piloted the Abyssal Ship, using chance encounters to search everywhere for that hope that might not even exist.

And this purely oceanic world was shrouded in fog everywhere, making the search efficiency terribly low.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

This day.

"Hm? That's…"

On the Abyssal Ship, Lin Qing gazed into the distance at the dim sea surface. Through the fog, he could faintly see a point of golden light drifting and flickering in the water. He immediately leapt off the ship and chased after it at top speed, running across the water.

It was unmistakably a golden treasure chest floating on the surface.

"A golden treasure chest?"

Lin Qing's eyes lit up.

Over these years, he had already searched every silver treasure chest, and even searched all the other survivors, yet found nothing that could help him.

He had inquired with the Night Peddler long ago and already knew this survival world also had golden treasure chests, but they were one-of-a-kind, and no one knew their location.

Golden treasure chests appeared randomly all over the world; whoever encountered one depended entirely on luck.

"Maybe there's hope."

Lin Qing immediately brought the chest back to the ship, then opened this one-of-a-kind golden treasure chest with immense anticipation.

However—

"A Resurrection Stone?"

Lin Qing frowned at the oval-shaped gray stone in his hand. "What's this thing for? Resurrection?"

This Resurrection Stone could, by leveraging the rules of this world, forcibly resurrect any living being he knew of. As long as they had died in this world, and as long as their soul had not transcended, even if the soul had dissipated, they could still be resurrected.

"Resurrect… resurrect who?"

Lin Qing sighed helplessly; the hope that had just been kindled was instantly doused again.

Every living being he knew in this world, whether survivors or demons, those already dead could not help him.

What good would resurrecting them do?

"Being able to resurrect even a dissipated soul is indeed miraculous, but what's the use?" Lin Qing shook his head slightly.

In the past, as the Lord of the Mountain Sea Realm, he had also resurrected living beings of the Mountain Sea Realm.

But normally, resurrection required a soul. The Mountain Sea Realm's origin would shelter the souls of its living beings; he had merely helped reshape their bodies.

Once a soul dissipated, death was certain.

The fact that this Resurrection Stone could resurrect even a dissipated soul was indeed remarkable, but no matter who he resurrected, it was of no help to him.

"Where… where exactly is hope?" Lin Qing furrowed his brow.

He had once believed that within this one-of-a-kind golden treasure chest, hope might exist.

But now it seemed, it was merely a single chance at resurrection.

"I'll ask the peddler tonight about the secrets of this Resurrection Stone." Lin Qing shook his head slightly. "Keep searching…"

……

That evening.

"A Resurrection Stone, huh…"

The Night Peddler looked at Lin Qing and said with a smile, "You want to know its secret? Actually, it doesn't have any particular secret. It merely exchanges a single resurrection at the cost of damage to this world. Is there no one you wish to resurrect?"

"Damage to the world?" Lin Qing asked casually. "It can even resurrect a dissipated soul—how does it manage that?"

"Actually, the key isn't this unremarkable stone itself; it's merely a representation of a chance, like a shopping voucher. Does the voucher itself hold any meaning?"

The Night Peddler smiled and said, "This Resurrection Stone represents your qualification to command the world once—to command this world forged by Eternal Beings to forcibly dredge the soul of a living being that once existed from the river of spacetime this world inhabits, and then have the world reshape a body. That's all."

"The river of spacetime?"

Lin Qing suddenly looked at him, and an incredible notion abruptly arose in his heart.

"What else?" the Night Peddler sighed. "When even the soul has dissipated, only the great river of spacetime retains traces of its existence. Apart from reversing spacetime, what other method could resurrect it?"

He tilted his head back, as if gazing up at this world, or perhaps at the divine spirit who created it. "This survival world was created by the various Eternal Beings and contains all manner of spacetime mysteries; naturally, it also contains the mystery of 'time reversal.'"

Lin Qing took a deep breath, then immediately asked, "Since this Resurrection Stone resurrects a living being I know, does that mean I'm the one who locates them within the river of spacetime?"

"Correct." The Night Peddler smiled. "You can communicate with the world's will and find the living being you wish to resurrect from within the river of spacetime."

Lin Qing looked at him, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and asked, "Then… can I glimpse the river of spacetime?"

"Of course." The Night Peddler glanced at him. "Although it's only for an instant, under the protection of the world's will, your soul is as if guarded by multiple Eternal Beings together, and will not be swept away and lost within the river of spacetime."

"I understand…"

Lin Qing finally understood in his heart. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I have no more questions."

After the Night Peddler departed, a flash of wild joy inevitably passed through his eyes.

"So that's how it is…"

"So this is that one sliver of hope!"

Lin Qing understood completely in his heart. He looked joyfully at the Resurrection Stone in his hand and said, "To glimpse the River of Time and Space in an instant? Isn't this exactly what I need most?"

One of the necessary conditions for the next level of the Three Thousand Purgatories secret art is that one must perceive the truth of time and space!

"Let's try it."

Lin Qing did not hesitate. The Three Thousand Purgatories secret art, which he had already attempted many times, surfaced in his mind, and he immediately activated the Resurrection Stone.

It didn't matter who was resurrected—anyone would do!

What mattered was the process of resurrection!

The next moment, Lin Qing felt a vast and mighty invisible will envelop him.

The World's Will!

The World's Will of this world, created by multiple Eternal Existences, was immensely powerful—so powerful that it could even forcibly reverse time and space by borrowing the River of Time and Space in which this world resided.

"Boom!!"

Accompanied by the roar of his consciousness, in an instant Lin Qing felt his awareness swept along by this overwhelmingly mighty World's Will, as if lifted to countless higher levels, his perspective transcending everything, and he instantly 'saw' a wondrous sight.

It was an incomparably majestic and incomparably long river, seemingly condensed from endless time and space. Everything originated from where this river came from, and everything also ended at where this river went to.

It pierced through the boundless space above and below and the four directions, and it pierced through the endless time from ancient times to the present. It was the beginning of everything, and also the end of everything.

The River of Time and Space!

The River of Time and Space, which only high-level Chaos beings were qualified to enter!

Even barely sensing its existence required a Transcendent-tier powerhouse to accomplish, which showed how magnificent and mysterious it was.

And now, swept along by this world's World's Will, Lin Qing was like one standing on the shoulders of a giant, and was fortunate enough to glimpse this incomparably magnificent spectacle!

In just that single instant, Lin Qing could not even bear to spare the thought of deciding who to resurrect, and simply immersed himself in the miracle of that moment.

Immediately after, his consciousness had already departed the River of Time and Space once more.

"So this is the River of Time and Space?" Lin Qing's eyes shone.

Legend had it that as long as one could frequently enter the River of Time and Space, it would greatly benefit the comprehension of the laws of time and space.

And Lin Qing had only seen it for an instant, but in that instant, in his heart he also vaguely gained a faint, negligible understanding of the truth of time and space.

But...

No matter how negligible, it was still no longer an unknown equal to zero.

"It's already enough."

Lin Qing slowly closed his eyes and silently recited in his heart: "Order."

"Advance, Three Thousand Purgatories!"

(End of this chapter)