This time, Lin Yuan did not choose his own remote little cave dwelling for seclusion.
He had just returned to Golden Turtle Island.
Golden Spirit Holy Mother had already received word.
Upon learning that the Three Cloud Sisters' death ordeal had been resolved and that Lin Yuan had gained new insights, she directly had someone take him to the cultivation grotto with the densest spiritual energy in the Jin Ling Lineage.
"The fluctuations in your internal mana are intense."
Jin Ling stood outside the grotto.
"Break through first."
"We can discuss everything else after you come out."
Lin Yuan did not stand on ceremony.
"Yes."
After entering the grotto.
The stone door closed.
He was met by heaven and earth spiritual energy so dense it was nearly mist.
Lin Yuan sat cross-legged.
He did not immediately swallow any pills.
His problem now was not a lack of spiritual energy.
It was that he had accumulated too much.
Three top-tier abilities had just arrived.
His formation insights from the Ten Ultimate Formation were being reorganized by the Innate Formation Core.
Daluo Combat Insight was also continuously merging with Primal Battle Intuition.
Every ability within him seemed to be converging in the same direction.
That was also why his cultivation bottleneck had loosened so quickly.
Cultivation had never been something built purely by absorbing spiritual energy.
Once one's understanding of the Dao had reached the necessary point.
Once one's mana had reached the necessary point.
Once one's foundation was stable.
One would naturally advance.
Lin Yuan closed his eyes.
He began with formations.
The Ten Ultimate Formation unfolded one formation after another within his sea of consciousness.
Heaven Ultimate.
Earth Fierce.
Wind Roar.
Cold Ice.
Golden Light...
Though these formations had previously been forcibly linked together, they were still fundamentally ten separate formations.
Now that he possessed the Innate Formation Core.
For the first time, Lin Yuan truly understood what "wholeness" meant.
He was still far from reaching the level of the Nine-Twist Yellow River Formation.
But within the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation, he could now see more natural ways to redirect power through certain formerly rigid nodes.
Then came battle.
His past fight with Nezha.
His clash with Xiao Sheng.
The pressure he had faced from the Twelve Golden Immortals while controlling the formations within the Ten Ultimate Formation.
All of it replayed.
Primal Battle Intuition continuously gave him the most direct judgments.
Daluo Combat Insight, meanwhile, broke those judgments apart.
Why?
How should he do it?
Where could he save more effort?
Wind-Thunder Escape and Nine-Heavens Qi Mastery were also incorporated into it time and again.
By the end.
Lin Yuan no longer deliberately distinguished which abilities had come from whom.
They were beginning to truly become his own.
Boom!
The Mid-Stage Golden Immortal barrier was the first to break.
But it did not stop there.
Late-Stage Golden Immortal.
Golden Immortal Peak.
His mana rose at a terrifying speed.
Had an ordinary Golden Immortal broken through so continuously.
Their foundation would have long since developed problems.
But Lin Yuan was different.
The Blackstone Dao Body and Vajra Immortal Bone supported his physical foundation with extreme stability.
The Supreme Clarity Immortal Scripture was also an orthodox method passed down by a Saint.
More importantly, every rise in Lin Yuan's cultivation was accompanied by genuine Dao insight.
He was not simply force-feeding himself with pills.
After reaching Golden Immortal Peak.
A true major bottleneck appeared.
Taiyi Golden Immortal.
For the first time, Lin Yuan felt as if all the mana in his body had struck an incomparably sturdy, invisible barrier.
He charged once.
It did not budge.
He charged again.
Still nothing.
He did not rush.
Instead, he stopped.
He began sorting through his own Dao anew.
What exactly was he good at?
The sword?
Formations?
The physical body?
Escape arts?
All of them counted.
But the true core that had run through his entire path had actually been only one thing.
Survive.
Keep himself alive.
And keep those who should live alive as well.
Spot danger.
Avoid it in advance.
If he could not avoid it.
Find a way to dismantle it.
If one person could not solve it.
Find help.
Lin Yuan suddenly found it a little funny.
Others cultivated the Dao to comprehend the unity of heaven and man.
Yin and yang, the five elements.
The cycle of birth and death.
Yet after all his enlightenment.
His core principle was surprisingly down-to-earth.
If you can avoid dying.
Then do not die.
Yet it was precisely this simple thought.
That had kept Shiji alive.
Kept the Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island alive.
Kept the Ten Heavenly Lords alive.
Kept Zhao Gongming alive.
And now, the Three Cloud Sisters were alive as well.
All the system rewards he had gained along the way.
Had in turn made Lin Yuan stronger and stronger.
"So..."
Lin Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
"Why must I follow the predetermined path?"
Investiture of the Gods said the Interception Sect should lose.
So it should lose?
Fate said these people should die.
So they should die?
Why?
Since he had already changed so much.
What difference would changing a little more make?
The instant this thought truly settled.
The barrier that had blocked him for so long suddenly trembled.
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.
There was a chance.
All his abilities activated at once.
The Innate Formation Core made the paths of his mana incomparably clear.
Nine-Heavens Qi Mastery drew in the pure spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The Blackstone Dao Body stabilized his body.
The Vajra Immortal Bone endured the impact of his mana.
Daluo Combat Insight compressed all his power onto the most suitable point.
Primal Battle Intuition gave only the simplest judgment.
Now.
Charge!
Boom—!
The entire Jin Ling Lineage grotto realm suddenly shook.
A vast amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy was dragged by a massive vortex.
It surged in madly from every direction.
On Golden Turtle Island.
Interception Sect disciples who had been cultivating raised their heads one after another.
"Who is breaking through?"
"That disturbance is no small matter."
"Over at Senior Sister Jin Ling's place."
"Lin Yuan?"
Zhao Gongming had not yet returned to Mount Emei.
Upon hearing this, he immediately laughed.
"Most likely him."
Bixiao had likewise remained on Golden Turtle Island.
Her first reaction upon hearing it was:
"He broke through again?"
"Wasn't he only a Golden Immortal not long ago?"
Qiongxiao thought for a moment.
"It really hasn't been long."
Bixiao fell silent.
"Big Sister."
"Do you think we've given him too many rewards?"
Yunxiao: "..."
When had you ever given him a reward?
Elsewhere.
Jin Ling had already appeared outside the cave dwelling.
Feeling the increasingly powerful aura within.
The corners of her lips gradually lifted.
Boom!
The second wave of spiritual energy erupted.
An immortal might clearly surpassing the level of an ordinary Golden Immortal spread from deep within the cave dwelling.
Taiyi Dao resonance took shape!
The stone doors slowly opened.
Lin Yuan walked out from within.
The aura around him had completely stabilized.
Early Taiyi Golden Immortal.
Jin Ling looked him over.
"Not bad."
Lin Yuan smiled.
"Thank you, Master, for lending me the cave dwelling."
"You had accumulated enough on your own."
Jin Ling did not take credit.
"Teacher asked you to go to Biyou Palace after your breakthrough."
"He summoned me again?"
Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised.
"Not just you."
Jin Ling looked toward Biyou Palace.
"Duobao."
"Wu Dang."
"Gui Ling."
"Gongming."
"The Three Cloud Sisters."
"The Ten Heavenly Lords, and the rest."
"All Core Disciples who could return have already arrived."
Lin Yuan's gaze tightened slightly.
It seemed Tongtian truly intended to discuss the Interception Sect's next course of action again.
That was far more important than simply granting him the status of Dao Child.
He had just been about to go with Jin Ling.
When his steps suddenly paused.
It was not because something had gone wrong here in the Primordial World.
It was Blue Star.
Almost at the same time.
The Dragon Kingdom Secret Realm Monitoring Center.
Jiangcheng No. 1 Transcendent High School.
And every special Monitoring Stone in the world capable of detecting the [Primordial World · Investiture of the Gods Secret Realm] simultaneously displayed an unprecedented anomaly.
Bzzzz—!
The massive stone monument shook violently.
The staff on duty rose to their feet at once.
"What's happening?"
"A secret realm fluctuation?"
"No!"
"All Primordial Secret Realm Monitoring Stones are moving!"
Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.
Chen Qingshan looked toward the student rankings almost reflexively.
Lin Yuan remained in first place.
Chen Yue was second.
Nothing had changed.
Yet a line of blood-red text that had never appeared before emerged above the stone monument.
[Warning!]
[Detected large-scale deviation in the established history of the Primordial World · Investiture of the Gods Secret Realm!]
The entire hall instantly fell silent.
"Historical deviation?"
"Has there ever been a notification like this before?"
"No!"
"Not once in Dragon Kingdom's thirty-year records!"
An utterly absurd premonition suddenly rose in Chen Qingshan's heart.
The next second.
A second notification appeared.
[Current Historical Deviation Rate: 17.3%!]
The instant the number appeared.
The monitoring hall erupted completely.
17.3%!
It sounded like less than twenty percent.
But what was this?
The Primordial Investiture of the Gods!
Over the past thirty years, countless students had entered.
Some joined the Elucidation Sect.
Some entered the Human Sect.
Others stubbornly chose the Interception Sect.
At most, they could obtain opportunities within local regions.
Change one or two minor events.
Never had anyone caused the entire secret realm to display a global notification like "Historical Deviation Rate."
Much less a direct seventeen percent!
"Who did it?"
Someone asked that question first.
No one answered.
Because there was simply no way to confirm it directly.
But before long.
A third notification appeared.
This time.
The moment Chen Qingshan saw its contents.
His entire body froze.
[Detected alteration in the Interception Sect camp's predetermined trajectory of destruction.]
[Recalculating the camp's probability of survival...]
No one in the hall spoke.
Everyone remembered one number.
The probability of the Interception Sect's destruction.
100%.
Over the past thirty years.
It had never changed.
Even if someone survived ten years in the Interception Sect camp.
Twenty years.
And cultivated to the Profound Immortal or Golden Immortal realm.
That number had remained one hundred percent.
Because in the later stages of the Investiture of the Gods.
The Interception Sect was destined to lose.
The camp's fortune would collapse.
Not a single trainee who chose the Interception Sect could return.
But now.
That bright-red [100%] on the stone monument suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The number changed.
[99%]
Chen Qingshan stopped breathing.
It jumped again.
[94%]
[88%]
[79%]
People in the monitoring hall had already begun to gasp sharply.
The number was still falling.
[71%]
Finally.
It slowly stopped at—
[63%]
It had not fallen to zero.
It was still an extremely high risk.
Yet it was as though every sound had been pulled from the entire hall.
Thirty years.
For the first time.
The probability of the Interception Sect's destruction—
Had fallen from one hundred percent.
Chen Qingshan stared at that 63%.
His mind was completely blank.
He suddenly recalled what he had said on Lin Yuan's first day entering the secret realm.
"Don't choose the Interception Sect."
He had said it three full times.
Because this was the answer verified with the lives of more than four thousand students who had chosen the Interception Sect in the past.
The teacher beside him, who had teased him every day lately, was silent as well.
After a long while.
He slowly turned his head.
"Old Chen."
Chen Qingshan's face was wooden.
"Don't say it."
"I haven't even opened my mouth."
"Whatever you want to say, I already know."
The teacher held it in for a long time.
In the end, he still could not resist.
"Tell me..."
"This historical deviation..."
"Could it possibly..."
He pointed at the very top of the rankings.
That blood-red name.
[Rank 1: Lin Yuan.] [Affiliation: Interception Sect.]
He did not finish what he was saying.
But the meaning was obvious enough.
Chen Qingshan looked at Lin Yuan's name.
This time, he could no longer say, "The Interception Sect was originally strong in the early stages."
An early advantage...
Could it reduce the fate of an entire faction being wiped out to 63%?
That was no longer called an advantage.
That was called someone entering the Primordial World with a plot outline and starting to rewrite it on the spot.
At the same time.
Other schools.
The Dragon Kingdom's officials.
Even the Overseas Realm forces that controlled Primordial Secret Realms.
All of them were thrown into upheaval by this notification.
Meanwhile, in the Primordial World.
Lin Yuan still had no idea that Blue Star was about to explode over this historical deviation.
He followed Jin Ling to Biyou Palace.
The moment he entered the hall.
He found that there were indeed far more people here than last time.
Duobao sat at the front.
Wu Dang and Gui Ling were both present.
Zhao Gongming and the Three Cloud Sisters sat to one side.
Though the Ten Heavenly Lords and the Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island held somewhat lower status, they too had been permitted to enter the main hall.
These people shared one extremely obvious trait.
At least more than half of them—
Should not have survived until now.
Tongtian sat above them.
His gaze slowly swept across his disciples.
Finally, it fell upon Lin Yuan, who had just broken through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
"You're here?"
"This disciple pays respects to Grandmaster."
"Sit."
Lin Yuan was taken aback.
Whenever he had entered Biyou Palace before.
He had always remained standing.
But this time.
Tongtian had told him to sit.
And his seat—
Was right beside several Core Disciples.
Lin Yuan had only just sat down.
When Tongtian spoke.
"I summoned you here today."
"To discuss only one matter."
"The Investiture of the Gods will continue."
"The Interception Sect's next step—"
His gaze paused on Lin Yuan.
"How should we proceed?"
Before you continue