Book of Three Lives

"Hm? He made it through the Void Corridor?"

In the City of Metal, the Green-Robed Being, who had been watching Shi Yan, sounded somewhat surprised. For a moment, he seemed a little more animated.

"Since coming to this Universe Ocean, he's the first little fellow to make it through the Void Corridor, isn't he? Let me take a look..."

The Green-Robed Being, who had been somewhat numb to everything, grew interested. Two beams of purple light shone from his eyes and fell upon the Bronze Octahedron before him. Inside it, Shi Yan's figure abruptly stopped.

Then, everything began to run backward. Shi Yan's past played across the octahedron like a movie in reverse.

Hunted by the Five Great True Lords and the Blood Orchid Ancestor... cultivating in the Black-Veined Stone Pillar Space... fighting the Monster Beast Progenitor... painstaking cultivation in the Primal Universe.

The images continued until the moment Shi Yan had been born, nurtured by the Universe Origin.

The mysterious Green-Robed Being wanted to keep tracing his past, but suddenly, an immense power descended for an instant. The images on the octahedron abruptly blurred, then Shi Yan's flying figure reappeared.

"The Primal Universe Origin?"

The Green-Robed Being frowned. He had used a treasure to perform a secret technique, but the Primal Universe Origin had repelled it.

Then he quickly calmed down again. "Oh, well. I didn't expect this little fellow to be a Natural Beast God, born from the Universe Origin. No wonder I couldn't peer into the time when he was being nurtured."

The Green-Robed Being was only slightly interested. "Making it through the Void Corridor is certainly impressive for a life-form from the Universe Ocean. Unfortunately, you still have to pass the test of the Book of Three Lives, and that's much harder than the Void Corridor. This little fellow probably has no chance... Perhaps, given the circumstances of a life from the Universe Ocean, he wouldn't make it even if he waited until the world was destroyed."

The Green-Robed Being sighed and sank into solitude once more, just as he had through the endless ages of the past.

Meanwhile, Shi Yan knew nothing of the mysterious powerhouse's thoughts.

After passing through that "ghostly loop," Shi Yan encountered no more strange obstacles along the way. Before long, he arrived at the feet of the three statues.

"Hm? What's that?"

It was only when he reached the statues that Shi Yan noticed a stone pedestal about half a person's height in front of the headless statue in the middle. On it lay a huge book made of stone.

Golden sand swirled around the stone book. Under its influence, none of Shi Yan's sensory methods could detect it; only his naked eyes could see it.

At a glance, the space and time on the stone book's pages began to warp. Then an invisible wave swept toward Shi Yan. It was a will attack, far beyond what he could withstand.

Shi Yan realized something was wrong, but before he could react, the will attack struck him.

"Not good!"

Under the powerful will attack, Shi Yan promptly lost consciousness and fell to the ground, transforming into his white-and-gold Beast God form.

Strangely, though, this Will Secret Technique was far beyond his limits, yet it only knocked him unconscious instead of destroying his soul.

The huge stone book then shone with golden light, and its pages flipped rapidly. Golden radiance enveloped Shi Yan where he lay, while a great quantity of sand stretched toward him and began to swirl around him.

"Whoosh!"

Shi Yan was sucked into the stone book. As he vanished, the open book slowly closed, and the golden sand settled as well.

The empty Divine Temple returned to the silence it had known for countless ages.

"So it begins—the test of the Book of Three Lives. Even back when we were on the continent, with the Three Saints Palace's strict standards for selecting disciples, a qualified candidate would only occasionally emerge from among a great many of our most elite disciples after endless ages." The mysterious Green-Robed Being had watched Shi Yan get sucked into the stone book and sighed softly.

"If you pass, it will indeed be a great opportunity for you. But the hundred-year test offers little hope... And given the situation now, if you fail the Book of Three Lives, no one will be able to save your life. What a pity." As he spoke, the Green-Robed Being slowly closed his eyes and waited quietly for the result.

At the very moment Shi Yan entered the Book of Three Lives, something happened in the Origin Land of his Miniature Universe.

The Origin of One, which had operated without pause for countless years, gradually began to slow down.

At first, the change was barely noticeable. But as time passed, Qing Huan—who was cultivating in the Miniature Universe and had been granted authority by Shi Yan to control the Universe Origin—gradually noticed something was wrong.

"Hm? What's going on?"

An incredulous expression appeared on Qing Huan's face. His figure shifted, and he went straight to the Origin Land of the Miniature Universe.

"It really has slowed down?" Seeing the Origin of One before him, Qing Huan was aghast. He hurriedly called out, "Teacher? Teacher? Are you there?"

Over the past eighty thousand or so eras, Qing Huan had occasionally spoken with Shi Yan. Things had always been this way for such a long time, and he had gradually gotten used to it. He had instinctively assumed that Shi Yan was relatively safe in the core region of the Universe Boat.

But today, Shi Yan still wasn't answering him.

Qing Huan realized that his teacher had likely fallen into some sort of crisis. Judging by the abnormal response of the Miniature Universe, it was probably serious.

The Origin of a Miniature Universe was directly connected to the True God Heart, which held a True God's soul.

Now that the Miniature Universe's Origin had become abnormal, it likely meant that something had happened to Shi Yan's soul.

For instance, when the Original Ancestor had been completely suppressed, his Miniature Universe's Origin had nearly stopped, leaving his Initial Universe in its early stages of evolution despite the passage of countless ages.

Shi Yan's Miniature Universe Origin hadn't stopped, but compared to how it used to be, its sluggishness was like a person going from vibrant and spirited to drowsy and listless. There was clearly something wrong.

"...No. I have to reach the True God Realm as soon as possible and go to the Universe Boat to save Teacher!" Qing Huan's expression darkened at the thought.

He was deeply worried about Shi Yan, but he was still far from the True God Realm. At present, he was only a Fourth Order Universe Master, and even with a Supreme Treasure, he could barely reach Fifth Order strength.

What was more, under Shi Yan's guidance, he had already decided to pursue the Divine Power Path. To achieve anything on that path, he was bound to remain at the Universe Master stage for a long time.

"I can't keep taking it easy... Right, I'll venture into the Universe Ocean, find my path to the True God Realm through adventure, and then save Teacher."

Qing Huan quickly made up his mind and left Shi Yan's Miniature Universe.

"..."

Outside the Miniature Universe, Qing Huan looked back at the vast celestial body. Its immense power showed that the universe's master was still alive.

That calmed his agitated heart a little. Whatever happened, there was still hope.

"Xiao Yan, Xiao Yan, wake up!"

A voice seemed to echo faintly beside him, as if from an infinitely distant place.

Shi Yan slowly forced open his heavy eyelids. Light fell into view, but his vision was blurry.

It was an entirely unfamiliar experience. As a naturally born Universe Master, Shi Yan had never known the sort of physical reaction that made an ordinary person's vision grow blurry.

Hm? Wait, what was a Universe Master? And... who was he?

Unfamiliar words flashed through his mind, bringing even more questions.

"Xiao Yan, you're finally awake!"

Before he could think any further, a girl with a ponytail and bright eyes appeared in front of him, blocking his view. Her appearance seemed to trigger something in him. Memories, at once familiar and strange, came bubbling up from deep in his mind, one after another.

If another True God had been there, they might have noticed that the True God Heart within Shi Yan seemed to be veiled in a hazy gray glow. It had grown utterly still, no longer shining as brightly as before.

The gray light quivered faintly, and images continued to appear in Xiao Yan's mind. Under its influence, his appearance changed into that of a gray-haired boy.

"Who are you?"

Shi Yan—or rather, Yan—parted his lips and managed to speak, but his voice was abnormally hoarse. It sounded like an old, rusty bellows wheezing, a heartrending sound.

The girl looked panicked. She hurriedly poured a glass of water with clumsy hands and passed it to Yan. "Don't talk yet, Xiao Yan. Have some water first."

Yan's throat felt as though it were being scraped by a small knife. He didn't bother thinking about anything else and took the glass, gulping down the water.

After finishing the glass, Yan felt much better, but memories were still popping into his mind one by one, giving him a terrible headache.

Enduring the discomfort, Yan looked around. It was a somewhat shabby wooden house. Even from a single glance, the feeling of familiarity mixed with strangeness grew stronger.

Seeing Yan frown, the girl with the bun looked furious. "Just look at you. I told you that Mountain Ghost wasn't someone you could afford to provoke. Our Purple Bauhinia Village has lived in these mountains for generations, and we've always been fine. That Mountain Ghost only asks for some livestock as a yearly sacrifice. Why go looking for trouble?"

Mountain Ghost? Purple Bauhinia Village?

Those two words seemed to stir up more memories. Images played in his mind like a movie, gradually falling into a continuous stream of recollections.

Yan remembered.

"How could we let that stand?" Yan retorted stubbornly. "Whether our village goes out into the world or stays in Purple Bauhinia Village should be our decision. Why should Mountain Ghost get to decide? Besides, Sister Yun, aren't you curious about what's beyond the mountains?"

"Not at all," Xi Yun answered without hesitation. "I think life in the village is just fine. Besides, the outside world may not be prosperous. Otherwise, how do you explain that ten thousand Rhino Emperor Games? I think you're just bored with staying here."

"Uh..."

Yan was at a loss for words.

The Rhino Emperor Game was a book of endgame puzzles passed down through the generations in Purple Bauhinia Village.

According to legend, the Rhino Emperor Game had been left behind by the creator of this world. It contained 10,081 games, each with countless solutions, and no two people had ever come up with the same solution.

As something left behind by the creator, the Rhino Emperor Game possessed mysterious and unfathomable power. With every game one solved, one gained a higher level of "authority" in this world, allowing one to draw upon the power of heaven and earth and wield extraordinary strength.