Chapter 388

"Calm… calm…"

Lin Qing took a deep breath, calming his turbulent heart-mind: "I must at least achieve the Ultimate through the dual-spacetime rules; only then, when Chief Qi achieves the Ultimate or I cultivate a pillar-level cosmic treasure, can the Shanhai Realm transform into a small universe…"

Even if the Ultimate position descended immediately, he would not break through now.

He could afford to miss this Ultimate position—wait until he deduced the cosmic-creation method of the dual-spacetime rules, then wait for the next Ultimate position.

He did not want to see the Shanhai Realm descend into the same endless civil wars as the Liewang Realm.

So he preferred to master two spacetime rules himself, plus one pillar-level cosmic treasure or cultivate Chief Qi into an Ultimate being—Chief Qi's transcendence would be the gateway to the past rule.

If all else failed, he could cultivate an Ultimate being like his master, but he must obtain a True Self Oath Stone.

Of course—

The most perfect, ideal outcome was still for him alone to master all three spacetime rules, enabling him to transform the Shanhai Realm into a small universe by himself!

But that was far too idealistic; across infinite chaos and infinite eons, only Prince Su had succeeded.

Without the Nine-Mind Sage, he truly had no confidence at all.

"Still… the Ultimate position won't descend within the next thirty-eight million years."

Lin Qing pondered inwardly, while deep within his eyes, countless future lines reflected, "Otherwise… I should have been able to observe the future line of my own ascension to the Ultimate."

Though he could only observe the futures of Eternal beings, Ultimate beings exceeded his future-observation limit.

But at the very instant of achieving the Ultimate, that fleeting moment of life-layer transformation, it still lay within observation range—in theory, it should be observable.

Therefore, the Ultimate position definitely would not descend within thirty-eight million years.

As for the future line he had previously encountered, that version of himself from the future timeline, because his homeland had been destroyed by Like Yu Gong, sought only revenge against Like Yu Gong and pursued mastery of all three spacetime rules—he never once considered achieving the Ultimate.

"Hmm… if I get the chance to turn the Nine-Mind Sage into an avatar, I'll strive to master all three spacetime rules…"

Lin Qing made his decision inwardly.

Immediately after, he left an avatar behind and departed the Cosmic Heart Palace.

"Little brother, you're out so soon?" Second Brother Xianhuang exclaimed: "In such a short time, you could at most have memorized the future-universe model, right?"

"Brother, I'm primarily seeking mastery of the dual-spacetime rules; comprehending just one spacetime rule is useless," Lin Qing shook his head. "I'll come back only after I've mastered two spacetime rules."

"Hmm, that's true."

Second Brother nodded slightly. "But the path of dual-spacetime rules is indeed difficult—I tried it myself back then, but I simply lacked the talent. Don't rush during your cultivation."

"Understood." Lin Qing smiled and nodded.

After leaving the Cosmic Heart Palace, he returned to the Treasure Vault.

The Treasure Vault housed countless treasures, including countless artifacts imbued with time-rule abilities.

Lin Qing briefly tallied them up—and was startled.

The Treasure Vault contained no fewer than tens of millions of artifacts imbued with the various abilities of the present rule!!

"That's way too many!"

Lin Qing marveled, "Artifacts with time-acceleration abilities are the most numerous—over twenty million—while time-reversal artifacts are the rarest, yet still over a million."

But upon closer thought, this was perfectly normal.

Among the three spacetime rules, the present rule was the most common, so artifacts tied to it were the most numerous, unlike the rare artifacts with future-rule abilities.

Moreover, this was the Treasure Vault with the most treasures in the Tian Guang Divine Nation, gathering nearly half the treasures of the Liewang Realm—such quantity was unsurprising.

"The Divine Sovereign's position encompasses the full scope of the rules, plus these subtle artifacts…"

Lin Qing nodded inwardly. "Even without the Nine-Mind Sage, if I seal my memory of the future rule and reincarnate to cultivate the present rule, with these conditions, I could master the present rule with enough time."

But after reincarnation, he'd have to re-cultivate everything—too troublesome, too wasteful.

Most importantly…

He'd regress to a weak state; even with a Divine Sovereign avatar, he might still be crippled by enemies.

Even with prior arrangements, absolute safety couldn't be guaranteed.

So it was best to have the Nine-Mind Sage.

"Continue cultivating time acceleration."

Lin Qing casually summoned a batch of artifacts imbued with time-acceleration abilities and began careful contemplation.

During his last descent into the future, he had read the insights on time acceleration from his future self.

But the future rule and present rule interfered with each other, making cultivation extremely difficult—even the simplest subtleties of time acceleration remained stuck at the final bottleneck.

There was no way: spacetime rules were too complex and ever-changing—he couldn't see the whole picture, couldn't perceive the true spacetime rules, couldn't discern the final outcome, so he could only rely on his own contemplation and fusion.

In the blink of an eye, another hundred years passed.

On this day—

"Disciple, come see me."

Suddenly, Guang Wang's voice echoed within the Treasure Vault.

Lin Qing opened his eyes, his heart stirring: "Could it be that Master and Wu Yin Divine Lord have results?"

He immediately left the Treasure Vault and hurried toward the Tian Guang Divine Palace.

…

"The transmission of the 'Causeless, Effectless' technique you requested."

In the study, Guang Wang smiled and handed Lin Qing a pure white leaf and a storage treasure. "Wu Yin Divine Lord himself knows he got the better deal—he couldn't keep up the charade for more than two hundred years. He added a piece of chaotic treasure for cultivating the 'Causeless, Effectless' technique, enough to carry you to the final layer."

Lin Qing's eyes lit up; he immediately took the technique transmission and the cultivation treasure. "Thank you, Master."

"These treasures for cultivating cause-and-effect techniques are extremely rare—if I were to search for them slowly for you, it'd be a nuisance," Guang Wang said casually. "Wu Yin Divine Lord is the master of cause-and-effect—he has many such treasures."

"Fortunately Master intervened; otherwise, I'd have no standing to bargain with Wu Yin Divine Lord," Lin Qing shook his head.

"Minor matter. Just cultivate well."

Guang Wang smiled and added, "Also, I've arranged things with Lord Luo Shen for you. But she's in a perilous place deep within the chaos—she won't emerge for another five or six hundred years. When she does, she'll come to the Liewang Realm to find you. When you meet her, take her to your homeland, the Void Sea."

"Yes." Lin Qing nodded.

"I have already seen the future from the Void Divine Clan," said Guang Wang. "In roughly two hundred eighty thousand years, a discarded third-generation Void Divine Clan bloodline will emerge; when the new third-generation slot opens, the Void Divine Clan will begin its selection."

"Two hundred eighty thousand years..." Lin Qing gave a slight nod.

In the future timeline, he failed to claim the Void Divine Clan's third-generation bloodline.

There was no way—he was not yet at the Peak of Eternity when the selection began, and he was not yet Guang Wang's direct disciple; failure was only natural.

But now is different.

"Do you have confidence?" asked Guang Wang.

"With my current strength, I estimate a five to six in ten chance," Lin Qing said. "Several competitors have also trained in the terrifying legacies of the Boundary Gods."

"Five to six in ten? That's already quite good," Guang Wang nodded slightly. "Those like Lord Cangye or Lord Yantian, who go to compete, likely have only a one or two in ten chance."

He sighed: "Unfortunately, the selection involves the three Boundary Gods of the Void Divine Clan—I cannot observe the outcome for you."