Eighth Order

While the Universe Masters were talking, Shi Yan and Rampaging Demon God had already exchanged dozens of blows.

"Bang!"

Another collision sent an unstoppable force crashing over Shi Yan, and his body flew backward despite himself.

Rampaging Demon God truly lived up to his name. Aside from his unmatched defense, his attack Secret Technique had one defining trait: weight. It came crashing down in a mighty torrent, crushing opponents head-on with overwhelming force.

This style of attack was especially effective against an opponent like Shi Yan, who was a notch weaker than him.

"Deflect!"

Shi Yan manipulated the timeline, using his past self to bear the impact. He quickly steadied himself and avoided damage to his Divine Body.

But this move wasn't invincible. The injuries suffered by his past self would rebound onto him through the backlash of time, costing him a considerable amount of divine power.

After several exchanges, he had already expended some of his divine power. After all, he had no Supreme Treasure Armor. Even with the advantage of his domain, and despite Rampaging Demon God's lack of skill in attack, relying solely on his divine power for protection was hardly easy.

Rampaging Demon God, by contrast, stood motionless like a mountain. There was no change in the aura of his Divine Body, clearly showing that their exchanges had done nothing to him.

His arrogance was well-founded. The Blood Sea Demon Armor could completely nullify physical attacks below the Eighth Order, and reduce the power of attacks above the Eighth Order to one-millionth. True Gods couldn't even exceed the limit his divine armor could withstand.

In terms of value, it was even a notch above an ordinary Supreme True Treasure Armor. After all, ordinary Supreme True Treasure Armor could only nullify physical attacks below the Seventh Order.

In other words, aside from True Gods who excelled at Soul Attack, the most others could do was seal and suppress him, then use some special feature of a perilous place to kill him.

But how difficult was it to suppress a True God? Unless they had an overwhelming advantage, a True God wouldn't foolishly stand by and let themselves be suppressed without fighting back.

With his life in no danger, Rampaging Demon God naturally had little to worry about, and grew ever more lawless.

"Hmph. Your attack is almost at the Eighth Order? With that little strength, you dare provoke me?" Rampaging Demon God sneered.

Shi Yan's domain had indeed astonished him, but he didn't think much of Shi Yan's attack Secret Technique.

"Just as expected of Rampaging Demon God." Instead of getting angry at the taunt, Shi Yan grinned. If Rampaging Demon God weren't this strong, he wouldn't have bothered fighting him.

Only by facing someone a notch stronger than himself could he keep discovering flaws in his Secret Technique. Then, drawing on his accumulated insights and inspiration, he could revise it again and again, hoping to break through the bottleneck of the Eighth Order.

As he thought this, Shi Yan engaged Rampaging Demon God once more.

Rampaging Demon God grew even angrier. "You're no match for me at all. If it weren't for this domain, I'd teach you a proper lesson today!"

Though the domain's power couldn't hurt him, its restraining and suppressing effects were very real. At that moment, Rampaging Demon God was moving slower than a snail. Breaking the speed of light was nothing but a pipe dream.

Against Shi Yan, who could burst forth at thousands or even tens of thousands of times his speed, he could only respond passively. Shi Yan, meanwhile, could attack or retreat at will, completely in control.

"Rampaging Demon God, save your strength." Shi Yan was knocked backward again, but his smile only grew wider. "Once I've confirmed my insights, I'll stop bothering you."

Being treated like a sparring partner only made Rampaging Demon God angrier.

"This is the 15th Stone Pillar Space... Look, it's Rampaging Demon God, and there's a silver-haired human-shaped Universe Supreme Being with him. He should be the one who appeared at Nine Abyss Ravine not long ago."

As the two fought, other powerful beings in Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space arrived one after another. Even Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor appeared in turn.

"What a powerful domain. Rampaging Demon God has the Blood Sea Demon Armor protecting him, so the domain probably can't hurt him. But with the help of a Peak Supreme Treasure, its restraining force can leave Rampaging Demon God barely able to move. Could this domain be as powerful as some Supreme True Treasures?"

"Who is that? Could he be a Universe Supreme Being newly born in this Reincarnation Era?" Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor both focused their attention on Shi Yan.

They were both ancient Universe Supreme Beings. They could recognize most of the True Gods from the First and Second Reincarnation Eras. After all, Universe Supreme Beings were quite different from Universe Masters—their numbers were far smaller.

"I heard the Primal Universe recently gave birth to another Universe Supreme Being. He's the Light Beast God, one of the Natural Beast Gods of this era, known as the 'Time Beast God.'

"Though I haven't heard that the Time Beast God has any accomplishments in space, if he really is the Time Beast God... a Natural Beast God who has become a Universe Supreme Being, Beichi, doesn't he interest you?" Blood Orchid Ancestor sent a voice transmission to Star Lord Beichi.

They were both True Gods from the First Reincarnation Era, with little time left before the end of their era. Star Lord Beichi understood what Blood Orchid Ancestor meant.

But he only replied indifferently through voice transmission, "Whoever he is, with a domain like that, no one can do anything to him unless they have a Domain-type Supreme True Treasure."

Star Lord Beichi's words left Blood Orchid Ancestor silent. Universe Supreme Beings with Domain-type Supreme True Treasures were all incredibly difficult to deal with.

The effect of Shi Yan's Secret Technique was no less than that of a Supreme True Treasure. At least, with their strength, the two of them couldn't threaten him.

"Yes! That's it! When space and time are combined like this, they flow together more naturally!"

Shi Yan paid no attention to the powerful beings who had come to watch. He was rapidly absorbing what he had learned over the years.

He even recalled the many questions he had accumulated during Chaos Evolution. The feeling of breaking through a bottleneck was exhilarating.

At the same time, the Space-Time Domain around Shi Yan began to change in a peculiar way.

Within the originally chaotic, distorted space-time, a strange rhythm emerged. It echoed through the Space-Time Domain, as though a hint of order had arisen from extreme chaos.

As the rhythm continued to reverberate, the power of "Chaotic Space-Time" gradually grew stronger. At first, the change was barely noticeable, but after only a few breaths, Rampaging Demon God felt the restraints on him growing stronger, and his speed slowing to a crawl.

Shi Yan also stopped fighting Rampaging Demon God at close range. Instead, he put away the Peak Supreme Treasure Thunder Punishment Prison.

The electric snakes spreading around them gathered together, forming an extremely thick whip of lightning.

This was a function shared by most Domain Supreme Treasures: they could be condensed into weapons, whose power was no less than that of Peak Supreme Treasure weapons.

However, when condensed into a weapon, they could no longer function as a domain. And because domains repelled one another, two Domain Supreme Treasures couldn't be used together in coordination. Of course, techniques that controlled space and time were an exception.

"Rampaging Demon God, try this!"

The whip of lightning lashed toward Rampaging Demon God. Golden light filled his body, making him look imposing, but at a complete disadvantage in speed, he could only be toyed with by Shi Yan. Rampaging Demon God felt a surge of bitter indignation.

"Bang!"

The instant they collided, Rampaging Demon God felt as though some unseen force were trying to erase both his past and future.

Without a future, anything was as good as "dead" in the "present." Without a past, it lost the very foundation of its existence. This attack alone had fully crossed the threshold of the Eighth Order.

"Your Secret Technique is stronger now, but it's still nowhere near enough to hurt me!"

Rampaging Demon God roared. The Blood Sea Demon Armor drew in its Will Impact, but its golden light blazed even brighter. The Secret Patterns on it flashed without pause, resisting the mysterious assault from the past and future.

"Boom!"

Rampaging Demon God slammed into the whip of lightning. The lightning condensed by Thunder Punishment Prison shuddered. Though the aura of Rampaging Demon God's Divine Body remained unchanged, for the first time he was knocked back two steps.

"I broke through!"

Shi Yan excitedly dismissed the whip of lightning. The Space-Time Domain around him continued to grow stronger with that unique rhythm, and it had yet to reach its limit. However, Shi Yan deliberately drew in its power.

During Chaos Evolution, Shi Yan had already been fairly confident he could break through to the Eighth Order. But under the influence of Monster Beast Progenitor, he had ultimately fallen just short.

Now, after spending several hundred more years—more than six hundred eras with Time Acceleration—Shi Yan had finally broken through the bottleneck of the Eighth Order.

"..."

Rampaging Demon God seemed surprised that he had actually been knocked back.

"You broke through?"

Seeing Shi Yan draw in the power of his domain, Rampaging Demon God spoke slowly.

"That's right. I've cultivated in Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space for so long. Thanks to your help, I finally made a breakthrough." Shi Yan nodded.

"Hmph!"

Rampaging Demon God couldn't help snorting at that. It sounded nice, but Shi Yan had still forced him to be a sparring partner.

The thought made Rampaging Demon God furious, yet he seemed to have no way to deal with Shi Yan. Scowling, he Teleported away.

Shi Yan didn't mind. Rampaging Demon God posed no threat to him, and wasn't exactly popular either. He hadn't feared Rampaging Demon God before his breakthrough, and now he feared him even less.

After Rampaging Demon God left, Shi Yan looked toward Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor, who stood in the distance, and smiled faintly. "If you two have nothing else, I'll take my leave."

With that, Shi Yan Teleported back to the area of 60,000-fold acceleration around the 15th Stone Pillar. "As expected, my understanding has improved a little now that I've broken through."

Now that he was approaching the Black-Veined Stone Pillar again, he could probably reach a position around 95,000-fold acceleration. Of course, the jump from True God Level to Void Level was still a major hurdle.

With that thought, Shi Yan sat cross-legged and consolidated his new realm.

On the other side, Star Lord Beichi glanced at Blood Orchid Ancestor beside him and said, "Blood Orchid, I advise you not to let your imagination run wild. You'd be better off focusing on your cultivation and improving your strength instead of thinking about useless things."

With that, Star Lord Beichi Teleported away.

Blood Orchid Ancestor gazed at the 15th Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space, her expression darkening slightly. A hint of thought crossed her face, but no one knew what was on her mind.