A Desperate Gamble

Let's rewind time to a few dozen seconds ago.

Shi Yan didn't know who was hunting him at this moment, but he understood that Blood Orchid Ancestor's blatant pursuit must have some backing behind it.

Within the Divine Fire Prison, where endless gray flames blazed, two powerful beings clashed without pause. Vines spanning millions of kilometers writhed and coiled toward the white flying ship, but any gray divine fire that touched them was easily scattered.

Yet these dense, seemingly inexhaustible vines would sometimes twist and snap, sometimes wither rapidly, while countless thick bolts of lightning dozens of meters in diameter crashed down from midair, striking the vines limp and powerless.

Still, Blood Orchid Ancestor spared no divine power, sending wave after wave of vines to bind Shi Yan, leaving him with a helpless feeling like trying to cut flowing water with a blade—the more he cut, the more it flowed.

"Blood Orchid Ancestor, expending your divine power like this is fine for a short while, but as time drags on, aren't you bound to lose?" Shi Yan probed.

"Hahaha... Three-Life True God, or should I call you Time Beast God? You're right, this kind of fighting does consume my divine power, but with my divine body, lasting ten or eight days is no trouble. Do you think you have ten or eight days left to live?" Blood Orchid Ancestor's voice turned shrill, her killing intent soaring.

"Damn it!"

Shi Yan cursed under his breath. Blood Orchid Ancestor's confident demeanor confirmed that she must have allies. There weren't many forces in the Universe Ocean capable of killing an Eighth Order True God. Shi Yan sifted through his memories: "Could it be the God Eye Race?"

Shi Yan knew that in the future, the God Eye Race would kill a True God of the Second Reincarnation Era, Kong Luo, and chase his companion Thunder Robe Demon God into a desperate flight, forcing him deep into the core of the Universe Boat, which triggered the emergence of the Duan Donghe lineage.

The God Eye Race would also lose two True Gods—the Second True Master and the Seventh True Master—along with two Supreme True Treasures, a classic case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.

"Should I flee to the core of the Universe Boat too?" Shi Yan frowned. He had planned to explore the core region, but being chased there was definitely not part of his plans.

After all, the core of the Universe Boat was no blessed land. Even True Gods could lose their lives or fall to the Disaster of Getting Lost if they weren't careful. Especially for someone like Shi Yan, who had no map of the core region—exploring it would require extreme caution.

If he fled into the core in panic, his survival would come down to luck.

"Should I escape to the core?" Shi Yan wavered. "Blood Orchid Ancestor's helper might not be the God Eye Race or some other superpower. If not, I still have a chance to escape..."

But before he could agonize much longer, he suddenly felt a strange power settle around him, as if someone was peering into his future.

"Who's there?"

Shi Yan instinctively twisted the timeline around him, disrupting the future, but the probing force still forcibly seized the futures of nine timelines surrounding him.

"How is that possible? Forcibly seizing my timelines?" Shi Yan was shocked. He was a genuine Eighth Order True God, having fully reached that level in realm.

He wasn't like the more common True Gods in the Universe Ocean, who relied on Supreme True Treasures to forcibly exert Eighth Order power while actually being only at the peak of Seventh Order or even Seventh Order.

With Shi Yan's realm, forcibly seizing his timelines would require at least a Ninth Order realm, or an Eighth Order realm paired with a Supreme True Treasure. Shi Yan leaned toward the latter.

"If it were a true Ninth Order realm peering into my timelines, I might not even notice..." Shi Yan judged inwardly, but immediately felt immense pressure.

An Eighth Order realm with a Supreme True Treasure was equivalent to Ninth Order combat power. In the entire Universe Ocean, only two beings had this level of strength: the God Eye Race's God Eye True Master, and the Skeleton Race's Skeleton Master—both super existences of the First Reincarnation Era.

Of course, the suppressed Original Ancestor was a tier above both.

Shi Yan was certain that this attack came from God Eye True Master. God Eye True Master's deduction methods were famous across the Universe Ocean, while Skeleton Master was known for his extraordinary survival abilities.

"The God Eye Race... Blood Orchid Ancestor sure has guts, daring to cooperate with anyone." Shi Yan was utterly exasperated. He had only been in the Universe Ocean a short time, and now he had to face its number one power—this was hell mode.

"I'll have to give it my all..." Shi Yan steered the Holy Sound Ship to change course.

Blood Orchid Ancestor was startled. Comparing the map of the Universe Boat, she quickly realized Shi Yan was heading for the core region.

"God Eye True Master, Time Beast God is fleeing toward the Universe Boat's core." Blood Orchid Ancestor immediately informed God Eye True Master.

"Don't worry, I'm already intercepting him there." God Eye True Master replied, but inwardly he thought, Just as I expected.

Of the nine timelines he had glimpsed, three pointed to a similar future: Shi Yan fleeing to the Universe Boat's core. God Eye True Master had chosen to intercept him there in advance.

"What a ruthless one. If you escape into the Universe Boat's core, you might become a threat in the future." God Eye True Master's gaze flickered with killing intent.

Though most beings in the Universe Ocean believed that fleeing into the Universe Boat's core in such panic meant almost no chance of survival, for God Eye True Master—who had led the God Eye Race to rise from under the Skeleton Race's oppression and become the Universe Ocean's top power—the principle of "uproot the weeds and dig out the roots" was deeply ingrained in his instincts.

As he sped along, God Eye True Master also sent messages to the Third True Master and the Second True Master, ordering their teams to head for the Universe Boat's core. But given their speeds and positions, the other two groups of God Eye Race experts had little chance of intercepting Shi Yan. Only God Eye True Master had the best hope.

"Almost there. Another five days and I'll reach the Universe Boat's core." Shi Yan sat cross-legged in the Holy Sound Ship, manipulating his domain to fight Blood Orchid Ancestor while monitoring the surrounding hundred light-years.

If any God Eye Race expert approached, he would detect them in advance.

Under Blood Orchid Ancestor's interference, Shi Yan could only maintain a speed of about thirty thousand times the speed of light. At this pace, he wasn't confident he could avoid interception.

If he could travel at full speed, it would take only a day to go from the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space to the Universe Boat's core. Of course, if his speed weren't hindered, he could simply flee far away without needing to seek survival in a death trap like the Universe Boat's core.

Soon, four days passed. As they drew closer to the Universe Ocean's core, the surrounding environment grew increasingly harsh.

The Inner Domain of the Universe Boat was vast, and the dangers scattered across it naturally varied in severity.

Roughly speaking, with the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space as the boundary, Universe Masters at the Fourth Order had to be cautious in areas beyond it, while Fifth Order Universe Masters could move more freely.

But past the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space and further inward, even Fifth Order Universe Masters could easily die, and ordinary True Gods had to be careful. The closer to the core, the more dangerous the terrain became.

After crossing the Divine Fire Prison, Shi Yan passed over a dozen more perilous zones. The environment shifted violently around him, but it had little effect on the two battling True Gods.

The silver flying ship, entangled with countless vines, flew into a forest. Unlike the lush greenery of ordinary forests, the trees here were all shades of black, white, and gray.

A dense aura of death and decay spread from the trees, as if trying to rot everything around into dust.

This was a famous danger zone deep within the Universe Boat's Inner Domain, known as the Forest of Decay.

"..."

Blood Orchid Ancestor frowned. As a plant lifeform, even having cultivated to the True God stage, her innate instincts still affected her somewhat. The Forest of Decay was the kind of environment she hated most.

Worse still, the Forest of Decay lay deep in the Universe Boat's Inner Domain, enough to trouble Seventh Order True Gods. Though Blood Orchid Ancestor had Eighth Order strength, she couldn't ignore it.

"Sizzle..."

The blood energy permeating the vines clashed against the surrounding corruption, easing some of the pressure on Shi Yan.

The Forest of Decay's environment had a much weaker effect on Shi Yan. The Thunder Punishment Prison's lightning weakened under the influence of the corrupt aura, but his control over time and space remained unaffected.

Moreover, with the Blood Orchid Ancestor's vines on the outside, in a sense, she was protecting Shi Yan from the Forest of Decay's influence.

With these shifting advantages, the Blood Orchid Ancestor's hindrance against Shi Yan weakened by a fraction.

"Hmph. Though it affects me somewhat, thinking you can break free from my restraints anytime soon is still a fool's dream." The Blood Orchid Ancestor was confident in herself.

Just then, Shi Yan's figure appeared on the bridge of the Silver Flying Ship.

The platinum-white Beast God True Form manifested, killing intent surging in its pitch-black eyes. Since things had come this far, Shi Yan no longer bothered to conceal his Beast God True Form.

"Blood Orchid Ancestor, die!"

Shi Yan roared. The Secret Patterns on the horn atop his head swirled, and massive phantom claws covered his hooves as he grabbed directly at the vines spreading all around.

"Without a single Supreme True Treasure, how could you possibly be my match?"

The Blood Orchid Ancestor grew angry as well. Boundless vines blazed with cyan light, weaving together into a thick vine whip that lashed out head-on.

But Shi Yan suddenly feinted. The illusory Beast God Claw dodged the Blood Orchid Ancestor's vine whip and instead struck at the other vines around him.

"What?!"

Caught off guard, countless vines were shattered by the strike and hung limply.

In return, however, the Blood Orchid Ancestor's full-force blow landed squarely on Shi Yan's platinum-white body.

Pfft!

Like a hot knife through butter, Shi Yan's divine body was cleaved in two by the vine whip.

Though Shi Yan's figure flickered as he strained to manipulate time and space to dodge, backed by a Supreme True Treasure, the Blood Orchid Ancestor's full strike was brutally powerful.

Time and space? All shattered!

His past self? Smashed to pieces!

For the first time, Shi Yan experienced firsthand the might of an offensive Supreme True Treasure.

If not for his heaven-defying defensive measures and the domain weakening his opponent, that single blow alone would have blasted Shi Yan's divine body apart, costing him no less than half his divine power.

But as it was, though his divine body was cut in two, repairing it didn't consume much divine power. Moreover...

"Blood Orchid Ancestor, I take my leave!"

Though wounded, Shi Yan had pushed back the countless vines around him, creating a momentary gap in the Blood Orchid Ancestor's interference. That was enough for him.

"Time Acceleration!"

Shi Yan's speed skyrocketed instantly, breaking through the Blood Orchid Ancestor's obstruction.