Eighth Order

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

"Boom!"

Another collision sent Shi Yan flying backward, an unstoppable might enveloping him.

The Rampaging Demon God lived up to his title of "Rampaging." Aside from his invincible defense, his attack Secret Technique had only one trait: "Heavy." It was overwhelming, crushing head-on with absolute force.

Especially against an opponent slightly weaker than himself like Shi Yan, this style of attack was exceptionally effective.

"Deflect!"

Shi Yan manipulated the timeline, using a past self to absorb the impact, quickly stabilizing his form while avoiding divine body damage.

But this move wasn't invincible. The injuries suffered by his past self would rebound onto him as temporal backlash, costing a fair amount of divine power.

After several exchanges, his divine power had already been somewhat depleted. Without a Supreme Treasure armor to protect him, even with his domain advantage and the fact that the Rampaging Demon God wasn't skilled in attack, relying solely on divine power for defense was far from easy.

In contrast, the Rampaging Demon God stood like a mountain, unmoving, his divine aura unchanged. The previous exchanges clearly hadn't affected him at all.

His pride was well-founded. The Blood Sea Demon Armor could completely ignore material attacks below the Eighth Order, and even attacks above the Eighth Order were reduced to one-millionth of their power. A True God simply couldn't breach the armor's endurance limit.

In terms of rarity, it was even superior to ordinary Supreme True Treasure armors. A typical Supreme True Treasure armor could only ignore material attacks below the Seventh Order.

In other words, aside from True Gods highly skilled in soul attacks, other beings could at most seal and suppress him, or kill him by exploiting certain special environments in a death ground.

But suppressing a True God? How difficult was that? Unless one held an absolute advantage, a True God wouldn't foolishly stand still and wait to be suppressed.

Because of this, with no threat to his life, the Rampaging Demon God had nothing to worry about, and his temperament grew increasingly lawless.

"Hmph, attack power close to the Eighth Order? With such strength, you dare provoke me?" the Rampaging Demon God taunted.

Shi Yan's domain impressed him, but his attack Secret Technique was beneath notice.

"As expected of the Rampaging Demon God." Facing the taunt, Shi Yan wasn't angered; instead, he grinned. If the Rampaging Demon God weren't stronger than him, he wouldn't bother fighting him at all.

Only against someone slightly superior could he continuously discover flaws in his Secret Technique, then refine it based on his accumulated insights and inspiration, striving to break through the Eighth Order bottleneck.

Thinking this, Shi Yan clashed with the Rampaging Demon God once more.

The Rampaging Demon God grew increasingly furious: "You're no match for me at all! If not for this domain technique, I'd teach you a proper lesson today!"

Though the domain's power couldn't harm him, its binding and suppression effects were real. The Rampaging Demon God's speed was now as slow as a snail; breaking light speed was a pipe dream.

Facing Shi Yan, who could move thousands or tens of thousands of times faster, he could only react passively. Shi Yan, meanwhile, could attack or retreat at will, holding complete control.

"Rampaging Demon God, save your strength." Shi Yan was knocked back again, but his smile only grew wider: "Once I've verified my insights, I'll naturally stop pestering you."

This attitude of using him as a training partner only infuriated the Rampaging Demon God further.

"Right here, the 15th Stone Pillar Space... Look, it's the Rampaging Demon God, and a silver-haired humanoid Universe Supreme Being. Should be the one who appeared at the Nine Abyss Ravine not long ago."

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

"Such a powerful domain. The Rampaging Demon God has the Blood Sea Demon Armor, so the domain likely can't harm him. But paired with a Peak Supreme Treasure, the binding force can actually make him barely move. This domain's strength rivals some Supreme True Treasures, doesn't it?"

"Who is this? A newly born Universe Supreme Being from this reincarnation era?" Star Lord Beichi and Blood Orchid Ancestor both fixed their gazes on Shi Yan.

Both were relatively ancient Universe Supreme Beings. They could recognize most True Gods from the First and Second Reincarnation Eras. Universe Supreme Beings, after all, were far rarer than Universe Masters.

"I heard the Primal Universe recently birthed a new Universe Supreme Being, the Light Beast God among this era's Natural Beast Gods, called the 'Time Beast God.'

But I haven't heard that this Time Beast God has any accomplishment in space. Still, if it really is the Time Beast God... A Natural Beast God who has stepped into Universe Supreme Being status, Beichi, aren't you interested?" Blood Orchid Ancestor transmitted to Star Lord Beichi.

Both were True Gods of the First Reincarnation Era, nearing their end. Star Lord Beichi understood Blood Orchid Ancestor's meaning.

But he only transmitted calmly: "No matter who he is, with this domain technique, unless someone has a domain-type Supreme True Treasure in hand, no one can do much to him."

Star Lord Beichi's words silenced Blood Orchid Ancestor. Universe Supreme Beings with domain-type Supreme True Treasures were all extremely troublesome existences.

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

"Yes! Yes! That's it! Space and time combined like this, the operation becomes much more natural!"

In the midst of battle, Shi Yan paid no attention to the gathered powerhouses watching. He was rapidly digesting years of accumulated knowledge.

He even recalled many confusions he'd built up during the Chaos Evolution. The feeling of breaking through this bottleneck was exhilarating.

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

Within the originally chaotic and twisted space-time, a strange rhythm was born. It echoed through the domain, as if a thread of order emerged from extreme chaos.

As the rhythm continued to reverberate, the power of "Chaotic Space-Time" gradually increased. It wasn't obvious at first, but within just a few breaths, the Rampaging Demon God felt the binding on him grow stronger, his speed becoming pitifully slow.

Shi Yan no longer engaged in close combat with the Rampaging Demon God. Instead, he withdrew the Peak Supreme Treasure "Thunder Punishment Prison."

The scattered electric serpents converged, forming an extremely thick lightning whip.

This was a common function of most domain-type Supreme Treasures: they could be condensed into weapons, with power no less than a Peak Supreme Treasure weapon.

But while condensed, they couldn't maintain the domain effect. And since domain-type treasures repelled each other, two couldn't be used simultaneously in coordination—though space-time control techniques were an exception.

"Rampaging Demon God, try this!"

The lightning whip lashed toward the Rampaging Demon God. He was bathed in golden light, his aura imposing, but his speed was completely inferior, leaving him at Shi Yan's mercy. This filled the Rampaging Demon God with indignation.

"Boom!"

At the moment of collision, the Rampaging Demon God felt as if some unseen force sought to erase his future and past.

Anything that loses its future is as good as "dead" in the "present"; anything that loses its past forfeits the foundation of its existence. With this single strike, he had fully stepped into the threshold of the Eighth Order.

"Your Secret Technique has grown stronger, but if you think you can hurt me, you're still far off!"

The Rampaging Demon God let out a furious roar. The Blood Sea Demon Armor withdrew its will impact, but the golden light blazed even more dazzlingly, the Secret Patterns upon it flickering incessantly as they resisted the mysterious strikes from the past and future.

"Boom!"

The Rampaging Demon God slammed into the lightning whip. The lightning condensed by the Thunder Punishment Prison trembled violently. Though the Rampaging Demon God's divine body aura remained utterly unchanged, he was shaken back two steps for the first time.

"Breakthrough!"

Shi Yan excitedly dispersed the lightning whip. The surrounding Space-Time Domain, under that unique rhythm, continued to grow stronger. It had not yet reached its limit intensity, but Shi Yan actively controlled the domain to rein in its power.

Originally, during the Chaos Evolution, Shi Yan had been fairly confident he could break through to the Eighth Order. But under the influence of the Monster Beast Progenitor, he ultimately fell short by a hair and failed to break through.

Now, after spending several hundred more years—over six hundred epochs with time acceleration factored in—Shi Yan had finally broken through the bottleneck of the Eighth Order.

"..."

The Rampaging Demon God seemed somewhat surprised that he had actually been driven back.

"You broke through?"

Seeing Shi Yan rein in the domain's power, the Rampaging Demon God spoke slowly.

"That's right. After cultivating in this Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space for so long, thanks to the Demon God's assistance, I've finally made a breakthrough." Shi Yan nodded in acknowledgment.

"Hmph!"

The Rampaging Demon God snorted at that. Well said—as if he didn't just force me to be his sparring partner?

Thinking this, the Rampaging Demon God felt a surge of anger, yet he seemed to have no way to deal with the other party. He could only keep a cold face and teleport away directly.

Shi Yan didn't mind much. The Rampaging Demon God had never been a real threat to him, and his social standing wasn't great either. Before the breakthrough, Shi Yan hadn't feared him; now, he feared him even less.

After the Rampaging Demon God left, Shi Yan turned his gaze to Star Lord Beichi and the Blood Orchid Ancestor, who stood in the distance. With a faint smile, he said, "You two, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

With that, Shi Yan teleported directly back to the 60,000-fold acceleration zone of the 15th stone pillar. "Indeed, with a breakthrough in realm, my willpower has also improved somewhat."

Now, as he approached the Black-Veined Stone Pillar, he could probably reach a position around 95,000-fold acceleration. Of course, the leap from True God level to Void Level remained a major threshold.

As he thought this, Shi Yan sat cross-legged and began to stabilize his realm.

On the other side, Star Lord Beichi turned his head to glance at the Blood Orchid Ancestor beside him and said, "Blood Orchid, I advise you not to overthink things. Focus on cultivating and improving your strength—that's far more practical than dwelling on useless thoughts."

With that, Star Lord Beichi also teleported away.

The Blood Orchid Ancestor, her gaze somewhat dim, looked toward the 15th Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space. A flicker of contemplation crossed her face, though her mind remained unknown.