God Eye True Master's Interception

At that moment, only the upper half of Shi Yan's body remained, sprawled across the bridge of the Holy Sound Ship. Under his control, the severed lower half turned into divine power and dissipated.

Of course, that divine power could never return to his True God Heart.

"Chik, chik..."

Divine power surged within him, and Shi Yan's body was soon fully restored. He had only taken one direct hit, yet it had cost him two-tenths of his divine power.

But Shi Yan showed no sign of panic. Instead, he burst out laughing.

In the distance, Blood Orchid Ancestor looked both shocked and furious. She had immediately controlled her vines and tried to ensnare Shi Yan again, but she was a step too late.

Shi Yan kept attacking from aboard the Holy Sound Ship, and his space-time secret technique had long since reached its limit. Blood Orchid Ancestor's vines could no longer surround him as they had before.

"Whoosh!"

As the distance between Shi Yan and Blood Orchid Ancestor continued to grow, her interference became increasingly slight.

The Holy Sound Ship kept accelerating and had already neared a hundred thousand times the speed of light.

"Ha ha ha ha... Now that I've shaken off Blood Orchid Ancestor, I won't have to flee into the Universe Boat Core Region without any preparation." Shi Yan was elated.

Blood Orchid Ancestor's vines grew ever more frantic, but they still couldn't cross the line. As time passed, she found herself increasingly unable to keep up.

"This distance should be enough for me to teleport... I just need to get beyond the Forest of Decay."

Shi Yan struck back a mass of vines that had coiled toward him. At the same time, he monitored the space around him and sensed its fluctuations, judging that Blood Orchid Ancestor's interference could no longer prevent him from teleporting.

However, the Forest of Decay was one of the most dangerous places in the deepest part of the Inner Domain of Universe Boat. Teleportation was impossible anywhere within the surrounding area blanketed by the aura of decay.

Of course, at top speed, it wouldn't take Shi Yan long to fly out of the Forest of Decay.

Before long, the edge of the Forest of Decay came into view. Beyond it lay numerous Void Wormholes—the passages leading to the Universe Boat Core Region.

The wormholes' connecting points were fixed, and they were one-way. Once inside, the only way back out was to fly all the way through.

The information about the Core Region connected to each wormhole had been uncovered through the perilous explorations of one True God after another.

Throughout history, many True Gods had become lost in the Universe Boat Core Region forever. Some had watched their Miniature Universes suddenly decline one day; others had never been seen again by the time their three Reincarnation Era limits had passed.

That was why the maps and information concerning the cores of the Three Great Forbidden Lands were absolute secrets to every race.

That was also why Shi Yan had never tried to bargain with the races of the Primal Universe over information about the Core Region.

"Whoosh!"

The Silver Flying Ship swept past the edge of the Forest of Decay and entered the outer reaches of the Universe Boat Core Region.

"Teleport!"

Shi Yan manipulated the fluctuations in space, preparing to teleport away immediately.

But just then, Shi Yan faintly heard hymns ringing in his ears, as if countless believers were praising the god they worshipped.

"All beings sing in praise; Eternal Kingdom!"

A holy voice rang out from afar. Shi Yan turned to look and saw a figure standing outside a towering Divine Temple, calmly watching him. A phantom God Eye loomed behind the figure.

A white sphere of light, as if it were a sun, floated above the towering Divine Temple. Its sacred radiance bathed the surroundings, and faint hymns could be heard coming from within it.

The next moment, Shi Yan felt his control over his surroundings slipping away. His Space-Time Domain was also crumbling.

Since becoming a True God, this was the first time Shi Yan had been utterly suppressed by someone else in the realm of domains.

The twisted space-time was smoothed out, the raging lightning was dispelled, and it seemed that every force was completely cleansed beneath that sacred radiance.

"..."

Shi Yan stared fixedly at the figure standing outside the Divine Temple. "God Eye True Master..."

Indeed, this was the Universe Ocean's current overlord, a Ninth-Order True God who wielded three Supreme True Treasures: God Eye True Master.

Shi Yan's domain had Eighth-Order power. God Eye True Master, however, used the Eternal World, a Domain-type Supreme Treasure, at the Eighth-Order level, giving his domain Ninth-Order power. That was how he had so easily shattered Shi Yan's domain.

"Time Beast God, you became a Universe Supreme Being as a Natural Beast God, and reached the Eighth Order without a Supreme True Treasure. You're truly impressive. Even I was nowhere near your level back in the Primal Universe era."

God Eye True Master's gaze was indifferent as he flew toward Shi Yan aboard the Eternal Palace. He continued, "But now you've run into me. Your fate ends here."

God Eye True Master was confident. There was no way Shi Yan could escape him.

Shi Yan's expression turned grave. God Eye True Master was in a league of his own compared with Blood Orchid Ancestor. He was a supreme being who had been only slightly weaker than Original Ancestor.

"God Eye True Master... Your God Eye Race wants to transcend reincarnation, but you won't find the answer in me." Shi Yan met God Eye True Master's gaze as he spoke.

"Whether there's an answer or not, my God Eye Race will find out for ourselves. There's no need for the Time Beast God to trouble himself."

At the mention of reincarnation, a shadow passed through God Eye True Master's eyes.

Seeing that, Shi Yan smiled—a scornful smile. "God Eye True Master, I thought that as the strongest being of your Reincarnation Era, you must have been someone worthy of respect. But now I see you're nothing more than a dried-up corpse in its grave... A True God can transcend only through his own power. External forces are merely aids. If you place all your hopes in external forces, transcending reincarnation is nothing but a dream."

Shi Yan's words completely ignited God Eye True Master's fury. "Silence! My God Eye Race is destined to exist forever! As for you, Time Beast God, today is the day you die!"

A halo lit up behind God Eye True Master's head. Within it, a massive God Eye glimmered with golden light.

"Go!"

A brilliant golden phantom sword flew out of the God Eye and shot toward Shi Yan. Before he could react, it plunged straight into his body.

God Eye True Master's Soul Attack was every bit as formidable as that of someone capable of withstanding Original Ancestor's Tenth-Order power head-on.

"Heart Like, Bright Mirror Platform."

Shi Yan repeated the words in his mind. The Secret Patterns of the Clear Heart Mirror had already been activated to the limit. Combined with his True God Limit willpower, Void Divine Power formed layer upon layer of phantom mirrors in his sea of consciousness.

Behind countless phantom mirrors, a real bronze mirror floated quietly. Reflected on its surface was a mottled heart—that was Shi Yan's True God Heart, within which his soul was concealed.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

The phantom golden sword easily pierced through the layers of mirror-images, while its power steadily dwindled. By the time only about two-tenths of its power remained, it struck the Clear Heart Mirror head-on.

The Clear Heart Mirror shuddered, Void Divine Power surging across its surface. A clash between True Gods at this level was already beyond the Clear Heart Mirror's limits. Shi Yan's Void Divine Power was what sustained it; otherwise, the mirror would have been breached long ago.

"Bang!"

The phantom golden sword finally ran out of divine power and shattered. Shi Yan's face had paled a little. "No wonder a Ninth-Order Soul Attack is so powerful. If my willpower hadn't reached the True God Limit, it really wouldn't have been easy to withstand."

Though God Eye True Master was powerful, his willpower had only just reached Void Level. He was probably a notch below Star Lord Beichi. And his massive halo Supreme Treasure was not specialized in Soul Illusions, so its amplification of Soul Attacks was limited as well.

"Few in the entire Universe Ocean could withstand my full-strength Soul Attack. Time Beast God, you should be proud." God Eye True Master's eyes were icy.

Shi Yan ignored him and merely said softly, "Space-time, condense!"

At his command, the crumbling Space-Time Domain swiftly condensed around Shi Yan, shrinking to a radius of less than one light-year. The sacred radiance came rushing after it, seeking to disperse his domain completely.

Yet though condensed to less than one percent of its original range, the domain seemed far more stable than before. For a moment, the Eternal World struggled to invade it.

Shi Yan kept staring at God Eye True Master. He moved his lips, silently saying, "Next time we meet, I'll repay you double."

With the other man's domain momentarily unable to suppress him, Shi Yan turned into a blur and raced toward the wormhole ahead.

"God Eye True Master! Stop him!"

Blood Orchid Ancestor, whom Shi Yan had left behind, finally came into view.

"You don't have to tell me that!"

God Eye True Master was deeply shocked. He hadn't expected Shi Yan to wield his domain to such a degree.

Most experts using Domain Supreme Treasures could maintain roughly the same power regardless of the domain's range, unless they concentrated it fully into the shape of a weapon.

Clearly, there was still a gap between using a domain secret technique one had mastered oneself and using external power to activate a Domain Supreme Treasure.

"Eternal True God, rise!"

A hazy white light burst from the towering Divine Temple and shone all around it. Countless phantom divine beasts appeared within the light, bowing and paying homage to the Divine Temple at its center.

"True God! True God..."

The praises faintly assailed Shi Yan's soul. Weaker True Gods would likely have been affected to some degree.

But with Shi Yan's willpower at the True God Limit, even God Eye True Master's full-strength Soul Attack could do nothing to him. Such a minor influence was even less of a concern.

God Eye True Master clearly hadn't expected these little tricks to work. Endless white light quickly gathered around the Divine Temple, and countless phantom divine beasts merged into it, as if sacrificing themselves to bring some great being into existence.

Ancient, mysterious Secret Patterns spread around the Divine Temple. They weren't the patterns of the Supreme Treasure Divine Temple, but those of some secret technique God Eye True Master had mastered.

In this move, the Supreme True Treasure Eternal Palace served merely as a vessel.

"Roar!"

As the light solidified, a gigantic Strange Beast appeared in midair. It had six claws, three heads, and three tails.

The Strange Beast barely flicked its tails, yet it seemed as if the entire world swayed with it.

It was the same secret technique, but God Eye True Master was the God Eye Race's strongest member and the true inheritor of the ancient legacy the race had obtained. When he used it alone, its power surpassed that of any two other True Masters of the God Eye Race working together.

If he led all seven True Masters in a combined attack, its power would be even more astonishing.

But God Eye True Master was confident that even acting alone, Shi Yan would never withstand this strike.

"Eternal True God, kill him!"

God Eye True Master's voice rang out, brimming with murderous intent.

"Roar!"

The Strange Beast lunged at Shi Yan. Merely being targeted made Shi Yan feel the divine power throughout his body howl, warning him that danger was upon him.