Five Years of Time

"Naturally." Grand Celestial Master Zhang nodded. "But in the history of our Celestial Master Palace, even the most accomplished ancestor who studied the Rhino Emperor Game only managed to solve over 2,500 rounds. That may be of limited help to you, young brother... to the Palace Master."

As he spoke, Grand Celestial Master Zhang removed a pouch from his waist and took out an ancient, somewhat worn book. "Aside from storing books in the highest-grade libraries across our various strongholds, the Celestial Master Palace also compiles all inherited knowledge into such a Complete Canon. This is to prevent situations like the present, where the Palace's knowledge might be severed entirely."

"This Complete Canon is made of the same material as the Rhino Emperor Game Array Books distributed to our disciples. One can sink one's consciousness into it—it is the optimal method of preservation."

Yan took the book and looked down. Indeed, just like the Rhino Emperor Game Array Book, he could directly immerse his consciousness into it.

Putting the book away, Yan nodded to the three Grand Celestial Masters. "The Celestial Master Palace's accumulated knowledge over the years should be of considerable help to me. I will devote myself to studying it in the coming days. As for order in the Jing Kingdom, I leave that to the three of you. If you encounter problems you cannot solve, you may come to me."

"Very well." The three old Grand Celestial Masters also inclined their heads.

"Senior Brother, are we really staking everything on this youth of unknown background?" Grand Celestial Master Lu could not help asking Grand Celestial Master Zhang after they left Yan's resting courtyard.

"This is the only option now, Junior Brother. You know as well as I do that among all the Celestial Master Palace strongholds in the various kingdoms, ours in Jing is the strongest. If even we have suffered such heavy casualties, it would be no surprise if the other palaces have been completely wiped out." Grand Celestial Master Zhang shook his head with a sigh. "This youth has boundless potential, and from what I can see, he does not seem to be of evil nature. If I have misjudged him, then perhaps this is simply humanity's fate..."

Grand Celestial Master Zhang's words filled the other two with a chill of desolation, but they had to admit that relying on the three of them—old men well past their prime—and the mediocre disciples left in the Celestial Master Palace to deal with these monsters was nothing short of a fool's dream.

And so, Yan became the new leader of the Jing Kingdom's Celestial Master Palace. Yet as its Palace Master, he made no further moves. Instead, he once again threw himself into studying the Rhino Emperor Game.

His strength now left him unmatched among humans, but compared to that White-Gold Horned Lizard, he was still far behind.

Yan did not know how the monsters attacking other kingdoms compared in strength to the White-Gold Horned Lizard, but to be safe, he felt he needed at least strength on par with that lizard before attempting to trouble the other monsters.

However, to Yan's and the Celestial Master Palace's surprise, once the White-Gold Horned Lizard was gone, the ordinary monsters truly seemed to become mere beasts, their powers stripped clean.

Under the leadership of the three Grand Celestial Masters and the ordinary members of the Celestial Master Palace, the monsters infesting the Jing Kingdom were swiftly dealt with in less than two years.

And no new monsters appeared.

This only confirmed to Yan and the others that the core of this calamity was likely those eight super-monsters.

With the crisis in Jing resolved, the three Grand Celestial Masters discussed with Yan the possibility of aiding the other kingdoms, or at least relocating as many survivors as possible to Jing.

The Jing Kingdom had suffered immense population loss from this disaster, but that also meant it was not short on land. After two years of farming, the granaries had some reserves again, so taking in a batch of survivors would not be too great a strain.

After some discussion, they ultimately decided to extend their reach into the kingdoms bordering Jing—namely Yong, Liang, Wu, Yue, and Song—to see if any survivors remained.

As for the distant Qi and Yan kingdoms, Jing currently lacked the strength to help them.

Exploring the neighboring kingdoms was not like clearing out the degenerated monsters in Jing. The super-monsters of the other seven kingdoms were still active, and even the ordinary monsters each retained their powers, making them no easy foe.

Thus, Yan no longer cultivated in seclusion full-time. Instead, he occasionally joined the Jing expedition teams on their missions.

After two years of secluded study, Yan's progress in the Rhino Emperor Game was smooth. He had now solved over 2,800 rounds, far surpassing the strongest figure in Celestial Master Palace history.

In truth, given his speed in solving the first 2,000 rounds, he should not have advanced so quickly in just two years. But ever since fusing with the White-Gold Horned Lizard's body, Yan gradually discovered that his thinking and comprehension had undergone a leap.

It was as if some part of him that had always belonged to him had been completed. Combined with the support of the Celestial Master Palace's accumulated knowledge, this was the main reason his pace in studying rounds 2,000 to 3,000 was even faster than before.

Otherwise, every additional thousand rounds of the Rhino Emperor Game presented a massive bottleneck. At his original solving speed, he would have been lucky to reach 2,200 rounds by now.

His repeated displays of strength rapidly built Yan's prestige as the mysterious new Palace Master of the Celestial Master Palace.

Even the surviving Grand Celestial Masters rescued from other kingdoms and brought to Jing, after witnessing Yan's power and terrifying rate of improvement, were thoroughly convinced.

By now, Shi Yan had achieved complete control over the newly reorganized human kingdom.

"At this pace, once I've dealt with all seven remaining monsters, I'll be the ruler of the world... Then I'll see what happens." Yan calculated silently in his heart.

"Rhino Emperor Game, round 3,000—solved!"

In the Jing Kingdom's capital, Yan had long since moved into the newly rebuilt Celestial Master Palace. As for the original palace city, it had become like the swallows of old Wang Xie's halls, now flying into the homes of common folk.

On the site of the former palace city, large numbers of ordinary people's houses had been built, leaving no trace of the old royal majesty. The original palace grounds had been vast, and after reconstruction, they could now house tens of thousands of residents.

As for the former royal families, after this monster calamity, the royal lines of each kingdom had largely met their end. Even in the Jing Kingdom, which had suffered the least damage, the direct and close branches of the royal family had all died. The few distant branches left were already indistinguishable from commoners.

Thus, after internal discussion, the Celestial Master Palace simply decided to maintain the status quo, having the Palace directly organize the people to rebuild order, avoiding further complications over the royal succession at such a time.

Yan was happy to go along with this decision—it only benefited him.

"Back in Bauhinia Village, it took me a full five years to solve up to round 2,000. Now, in just another five years, I've broken through to round 3,000... Has the White-Gold Horned Lizard body truly brought me such a great boost?" Yan mused to himself.

Though he rarely transformed into that form, over the years Yan had come to understand that the White-Gold Horned Lizard had likely always been one with him. His origins were probably far more complicated than those of a simple youth from a remote mountain village.

But over these five years, Yan had not only progressed in solving the game. Through frequent exchanges with the old Grand Celestial Masters, repeated expeditions to other kingdoms, taking in refugees, and hunting monsters, he had gained much experience. Now, five years older, he had matured considerably and was no longer so quick to get stuck on a single train of thought.

"Now that I've solved round 3,000, it's time to deal with the other monsters." Pushing aside stray thoughts, Yan rose and walked out of his meditation chamber.

In five years, the reborn Jing Kingdom had developed a mature new system centered on the Celestial Master Palace. As its current Palace Master, Yan did not handle mundane affairs, but his strength and prestige made him unquestionably the highest leader of Jing.

Summoning the seven remaining Grand Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master Palace, Yan informed them of his plan to deal with the other monsters.

"As you all know, each kingdom's capital has those pillars of light connecting heaven and earth. Their purpose is unknown. Though the monsters' progress has slowed since the pillar in Jing shattered, if we delay too long, there may be unforeseen changes."

It did not take much effort for Yan to convince the Grand Celestial Masters. In the end, three decided to accompany him: Grand Celestial Master Zhang, who had supported him from the very beginning, along with Grand Celestial Master Lu from Liang and Grand Celestial Master Han from Yong.

Yan's first target was the Liang Kingdom. If things went smoothly, he would then deal with the super-monster in Yong, and afterward, take on the monsters infesting the other kingdoms one by one.

A cyan whirlwind spiraled beneath their feet as Yan led the three Grand Celestial Masters swiftly toward the Liang Kingdom's capital, Luo City.

Combining Teleportation and flight along the way, their speed far exceeded what Yan had managed when he first left his village.

"No wonder the White-Gold Horned Lizard said back then that my spatial power lacked force... It seems only by mastering the complete spatial power can its full might be unleashed." Yan felt the application of his Teleportation now and sighed inwardly.

The power he had gained upon solving round 3,000 was Spatial Lockdown. Only after mastering it did Yan realize that Teleportation, Spatial Rend, and Spatial Lockdown were the three aspects of spatial power.

Once fully mastered, the power it could unleash alone far surpassed what it had been before.

"But that White-Gold Horned Lizard had mastered the complete authority of time back then—did it really have the skill to solve 3,000 games?"

Yan recalled his battle from that time, yet doubt crept into his mind. Now that he had solved 3,000 Rhino Emperor Games himself, he felt that the White-Gold Horned Lizard's strength back then hadn't seemed nearly that formidable.

So how had it managed to grasp the complete authority of time?

"Maybe it was just lucky? The time authority didn't appear when it had to crack an integer-number game?" Yan speculated silently, but then furrowed his brow.

This reasoning struck him as rather flimsy, but the White-Gold Horned Lizard was already dead, and at the time of that battle, his own strength hadn't been enough to gauge how many games it had solved. So this question was destined to remain unanswered.

"How truly strange."

Still, with all these doubts piling up over time, Yan had come to accept it. As long as he could eliminate all these monsters that had brought about the catastrophe, those mysteries should gradually unravel.

Four days later, Yan and the three Celestial Masters arrived at Luo City, the former capital of the state of Liang.