Passing Off the Fake as Real

"I absolutely can't take that head-on!"

Shi Yan's expression twisted into a grimace. He was in bad shape at the moment. After fighting for so long, even with the steady supply from his Miniature Universe, he had less than half his divine power left.

God Eye True Master's all-out strike would probably reach the peak of the Ninth Order. Without a Supreme True Treasure to protect him, Shi Yan had no chance of withstanding it.

"...I have no choice but to do this."

Shi Yan's eyes darkened. A Silver Flying Ship emerged from his body. He flew inside and charged straight toward the "Eternal True God."

"A Peak Palace Treasure?" God Eye True Master sneered. "My Eternal True God is embodied by the Supreme True Treasure Eternal Palace, so it can naturally suppress and seal things as well. You think a Peak Palace Treasure can impress me... Wait, something's wrong!"

God Eye True Master suddenly noticed that the Holy Sound Ship had entered the range of the Eternal World. Without the protection of the Space-Time Domain, the ship was immediately bogged down as if it had entered a swamp.

The three-headed, six-armed Strange Beast brought a claw down. The Holy Sound Ship was swallowed up and suppressed by the Eternal Palace without the slightest ability to resist.

God Eye True Master's expression changed dramatically. The divine eye in the enormous halo behind his head shone brightly, illuminating the void. Far away, a phantom figure gradually appeared—it was Shi Yan.

By then, he had already reached the edge of a Void Wormhole. God Eye True Master's Secret Technique had illuminated him, revealing his location. Shi Yan looked back at God Eye True Master and Blood Orchid Ancestor, who was already rapidly closing in.

God Eye True Master and Blood Orchid Ancestor both stopped in their tracks.

Shi Yan had already reached the edge of the wormhole. There was no longer any chance of stopping him.

"God Eye True Master, Blood Orchid Ancestor... I'll remember this!"

Shi Yan's gaze swept over the two of them, brimming with killing intent. Then he plunged straight into the wormhole.

"God Eye True Master! How could you let him escape?" Blood Orchid Ancestor looked furious. Compared with the God Eye Race, she had even less hope of achieving Transcendence of Reincarnation, so she valued this operation even more.

God Eye True Master was in a foul mood as well. Hearing Blood Orchid Ancestor's accusation, he replied impatiently, "This Time Beast God's mastery of time is astonishing. He sacrificed a Peak Palace Treasure and used his Future Body to pass off the fake as real, while his true body escaped into the past along the timeline. Unless I used a Secret Technique, I couldn't see through it either. How can you blame me for that?"

Blood Orchid Ancestor was momentarily at a loss for words. If Shi Yan had manipulated the timeline right in front of them, he naturally couldn't have fooled them.

But Shi Yan had used a Peak Palace Treasure as the price, casting a Secret Technique inside it to pass off the fake as real. Unless God Eye True Master had kept his true body under constant observation, it would have been exceedingly difficult to discover the truth in time.

Just as the two stood there in silence, two more Palace Supreme Treasures appeared in their field of vision: the Seventh True Master's Supreme True Treasure, Ice Cliff Fortress, and the Sixth True Master's Peak Supreme Treasure, Green Wave Palace.

"God Eye."

"Teacher!"

The other four True Masters arrived shortly afterward, and they too noticed the tense, almost frozen atmosphere.

They all guessed what had happened. "Looks like the Time Beast God got away."

God Eye True Master seemed distracted. He glanced at the other four True Masters and said, "Let's go. We're heading back."

"Wait."

Star True Master suddenly called out to God Eye True Master and the others as they prepared to leave. Then he turned to Blood Orchid Ancestor and said, "Blood Orchid, the God Eye Race came all this way for nothing. Don't you owe us an explanation?"

Blood Orchid Ancestor was startled. She hurriedly retreated into her Palace Supreme Treasure and went on guard, then snapped, "Third True Master, I did everything I could to hunt down the Time Beast God. Our cooperation was entirely voluntary. What explanation could you possibly demand?"

As Star True Master made his accusation, Green Eye True Master caught on too and taunted, "Blood Orchid Ancestor, did you think the God Eye Race could be summoned whenever you pleased and dismissed just as easily?"

"Sixth True Master, you!" Blood Orchid Ancestor was furious. "You're twisting the facts! Your God Eye Race just wants to make an example of me. Spare me the high-minded excuses!"

"Hmph! Say whatever you like. Unless you give the God Eye Race an explanation today, you're not leaving so easily," Second True Master said coldly.

"Hahahahaha... I'm a Universe Supreme Being. Why would I bow to the likes of you? I'm not the Time Beast God. I have more than one Supreme True Treasure!"

Endless vines, wreathed in green light, extended from her Palace Supreme Treasure. The razor-sharp aura of a Supreme True Treasure seemed ready to tear everything apart.

"Hmph, you overestimate yourself!"

God Eye True Master's gaze sharpened. He once again used the Eternal World to suppress the area. As two Supreme True Treasures clashed, the entire world seemed to tremble.

Seeing this, the other four True Masters joined the battle.

"Green Eye Divine Light!"

"Star Hand!"

"..."

The battle erupted anew.

Half a month later, two pieces of news swept through the entire Universe Ocean like a tsunami.

"Have you heard? Blood Orchid Ancestor, who was in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space, was killed by the five True Lords of the God Eye Race." Two powerful beings—one with two faces and four arms, the other with three heads and eight arms—were exploring the Inner Domain of Universe Boat together. They were both Universe Masters from the Purple Moon Holy Land.

"The God Eye Race?" The three-headed, eight-armed Universe Master grew interested. The Purple Moon Holy Land had existed in the Universe Ocean for countless years, but few races were as powerful as the God Eye Race. "Wasn't Blood Orchid Ancestor always cultivating in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space? Why would she suddenly fight the God Eye Race?"

"It wasn't for no reason. Have you heard of the Time Beast God, whose fame has recently risen in the Primal Universe?" asked the Purple Moon Holy Land expert with two faces and four arms.

"Of course."

"Apparently, Blood Orchid Ancestor and the five True Lords of the God Eye Race teamed up to hunt down the Time Beast God. In the end, they drove him into the Universe Boat Core Region... Tsk, tsk. Even those few from our Holy Land would have to tread carefully in the Core Region, despite having a map from the Progenitor, wouldn't they?" The two-faced, four-armed Universe Master clicked his tongue in amazement.

"The Universe Boat Core Region... It really is an extremely dangerous place. But if Blood Orchid Ancestor and the God Eye Race teamed up to hunt the Time Beast God, how did they end up turning on each other?" The three-headed, eight-armed expert first agreed, then asked in puzzlement.

"What else could it be?" The two-faced, four-armed expert scoffed. "The God Eye Race is nearing the end of its final Reincarnation Era. Of course they're going to go all out. Six of them attacked one, yet still let the Time Beast God escape. Naturally, Blood Orchid Ancestor became the target they used to make an example of."

"Those True Gods from the First Reincarnation Era really are crazy... Too bad they have no hope of making it through the cycle of reincarnation." The three-headed, eight-armed expert wore a mocking expression.

"Exactly. They actually pinned their hopes on a Beast God. How foolish... Let the poor fools struggle all they want. It doesn't matter as long as they don't drag us into it."

The two Universe Masters from the Purple Moon Holy Land treated the God Eye Race as a laughingstock.

In their view, what did it matter if someone was powerful? They were only Universe Masters, yet could exist through endless eras. Even the most dazzling Universe Supreme Beings would turn to ash after three Reincarnation Eras, forgotten by everyone.

They wouldn't dare bare their teeth at the Universe Supreme Beings to their faces, but behind their backs, the Universe Masters of the two Great Holy Lands were all extremely arrogant. As for the Universe Supreme Beings, they couldn't be bothered to leave their Holy Lands.

"Alas... Blood Orchid."

In the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space, Star Lord Beichi, who was still quietly cultivating in the Second Stone Pillar Space, sighed helplessly.

He had long known that cooperating with the God Eye Race was no different from making a deal with a tiger. He had tried to make Blood Orchid Ancestor understand that the plan was doomed and persuade her to give up, but she had set her heart on this path. The outcome had been just as he expected.

Still, he understood that Blood Orchid Ancestor had fought for the hope of Transcendence of Reincarnation she believed in. Her fall meant she had died on the path to Transcendence of Reincarnation.

Now Blood Orchid Ancestor had failed and fallen. Whether it was the God Eye Race who killed her or Star Lord Beichi himself, if they couldn't transcend reincarnation, they would ultimately follow in her footsteps.

"If I can't break through before this Reincarnation Era ends, I'll die too. I must... make it through the cycle of reincarnation..." Star Lord Beichi closed his eyes again and continued cultivating, just as he had through the long years before.

Elsewhere, in the Primal Universe, within the Hulan Secret Realm.

Qing Huan, Lord Fengtian, had been cultivating in the Hulan Secret Realm ever since Shi Yan left. Now he had heard both pieces of news from some of his friends.

Qing Huan couldn't sit still any longer. He hurried through the Universe Passage in the Hulan Secret Realm and reached Shi Yan's Miniature Universe.

The world within the Miniature Universe was still in its early stages of evolution. At that moment, the laws of Shi Yan's Miniature Universe were manifest, much like those in the Original Ancestor's Initial Universe. To the weak, it was an incomparable cultivation paradise.

But to Universe Masters like Qing Huan, it made little difference. Of course, Shi Yan had granted him the authority to draw on the Universe Origin within the Miniature Universe. So here, Qing Huan was absolutely invincible, just like Chaos City Master in the Initial Universe.

"Teacher! Teacher!"

Qing Huan's voice rang across the world.

As the master of the Miniature Universe, Shi Yan naturally "heard" his young disciple calling out to him.

Divine power gathered throughout the world. Soon, a silver-haired young man appeared before Qing Huan. It was Shi Yan's Divine Power Avatar.

"Brat, stop shouting. Your teacher's perfectly fine." Shi Yan's Divine Power Avatar looked rather helpless.

Seeing Shi Yan's Divine Power Avatar appear, Qing Huan complained, "Teacher, how can you say you're perfectly fine? That was the Core Region of the Universe Boat! Who knows how many Universe Supreme Beings have fallen or gone missing there throughout history?"

"And who knows how many Universe Supreme Beings found precious Supreme True Treasures there and greatly increased their strength?" Shi Yan countered with a smile. Before his young disciple's face could fall, he added, "All right, I know you're worried about me. But I've already entered the Core Region, so there's no point talking about it now. You, on the other hand, should stay in my Miniature Universe for the time being, to make sure no one takes this opportunity to cause trouble for you."

"Then are you all right now, Teacher?" Qing Huan pressed.

Shi Yan's expression turned odd. He hesitated for a long while before finally replying slowly, "Well, in a sense, I suppose I'm doing all right?"