Return to the Void God Hall

The light of teleportation faded, and Qin Yuan stood once more before the towering gates of the Void God Hall, ten thousand zhang high.

On the plaza outside the hall, the traces of battle were still plain to see. Black fragments left behind when the Lord of Sky Wolf fell lay scattered across the ground, the wreckage of the Sky Wolf Palace. The auras of the Lord of Silver Blades, the Lord of Mother Emperor and the others had long since dissipated; they had either been slain or had fled. The entire plaza was deserted, and only the Void God Hall still stood tall and majestic, emanating an ancient, boundless aura.

The Chaos City Lord and the others had already left the Primal Star. During the time Qin Yuan had spent undergoing the trial in the Void God Hall, the Primal Star's opening period had ended, and all the Universe Masters who were still alive had returned to the Primal Universe through spatial rifts. Before leaving, the Chaos City Lord had left Qin Yuan a message in the Virtual Universe. Its gist was that all was well with the Human Race, that Darkness and Huang Jian had fully recovered from their injuries, and that Qin Yuan should focus on cultivation without worrying.

After reading the message, Qin Yuan felt a warm current well up in his heart. Then he took a deep breath and strode toward the hall's gates.

As if sensing his arrival, the gates, ten thousand zhang high, slowly opened without a sound. The aged voice echoed through the hall once more. "Inheritor, you have returned. Have you taken care of matters in the outside world?"

"I have." Qin Yuan stepped across the threshold and answered in a clear voice.

"Very good." A trace of relief colored the aged voice. "The teleportation array on the hall's third level is ready and can be activated at any time. Before you enter the Space-Time Secret Realm, is there anything else you wish to ask?"

Qin Yuan paused, pondered for a moment, then asked, "I want to know what exactly is inside the Space-Time Secret Realm. Aside from the Void God King's Origin Divine Power, is there anything else I need to watch out for?"

The aged voice fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. "The Space-Time Secret Realm is an independent expanse of space-time that the Void God King-the God King of Jin-created with the last of his power before his death. At its core, naturally, is the wisp of a God King's origin sealed in the deepest reaches of the secret realm. But besides the origin, there are three things in the secret realm to which you must pay particular attention."

"First, the time tides. The flow of time in the Space-Time Secret Realm is not constant, but fluctuates periodically like the tides. In some areas, the flow of time accelerates to tens or even hundreds of thousands of times that of the outside world; in others, it slows almost to a standstill. You must first adapt to the patterns of the time tides in the outer region of the secret realm before gradually venturing deeper. If you rush into an area where the flow of time is extremely unstable, your divine body will very likely collapse because it cannot adapt to the drastic changes in time."

Qin Yuan made a mental note. The time tides were a danger he had not anticipated.

"Second, the Space-Time Beasts," the aged voice continued. "The Space-Time Secret Realm is not entirely devoid of life. When the God King of Jin created this secret realm, he released a group of Space-Time Beasts he had once subdued into it as another trial for his inheritor. These Space-Time Beasts have a natural affinity for the Time and Space Laws. They have multiplied in the secret realm for countless eras and formed a vast population. Even the weakest are equivalent to the Universe Master Level, while the most powerful Space-Time Beast King rivals a True God in strength."

Qin Yuan's expression grew grave. Space-Time Beasts at the Universe Master Level, and they had formed a whole population? There was even a Space-Time Beast King that rivaled a True God? This was no joke.

"Third-" The aged voice paused, its tone growing deeper. "And the most important thing. A wisp of the God King of Jin's obsession may still linger in the Space-Time Secret Realm."

"Obsession?" Qin Yuan frowned.

"The God King of Jin was besieged by the three God Kings of the Shi Kingdom on the Origin Continent, and he fell with immense unwillingness." A trace of a sigh entered the aged voice. "Although his main consciousness was reincarnated, his avatar-the Void God King-sealed that unwillingness, fury and obsession in the Space-Time Secret Realm before his death. After being nurtured for countless years, this obsession has become a bizarre thing that lies between existence and nonexistence. It is not alive, yet it has the power to erode souls; it is not a heart demon, yet it can plunge those who enter the secret realm into endless self-doubt and despair."

"If you encounter it in the secret realm, do not fight it, do not flee from it, and do not try to understand it. The only thing you can do is hold fast to your true heart and remain unmoved. As long as your heart is resolute enough, it can do nothing to you. But if your resolve wavers even the slightest bit while you are breaking through to the True God level, it will exploit that opening and utterly devour your will."

After listening, Qin Yuan remained silent for a long time.

Time tides, herds of Space-Time Beasts, and a God King's obsession-each of these three things was enough to leave a Universe Master with only a hair's breadth between life and death. Yet the Void God King had stuffed them all into the Space-Time Secret Realm as the ultimate trial for his inheritor. How was this a trial? It was clearly sending someone to their death!

But he had no way back.

Breaking through to the True God level and fusing with the God King's origin was the path he had chosen for himself. No matter how dangerous, he had to keep walking it.

"I understand," Qin Yuan said in a low voice. "Thank you for telling me, senior."

"There is no need to thank me. I warned you of these things in the hope that you would survive the trial," the aged voice said. "Go. The teleportation array is on the third level of the hall. Step into it, and you will be sent into the Space-Time Secret Realm. Remember-the flow of time in the secret realm is ten thousand times that of the outside world. For every ten thousand years you spend inside, only one year will pass outside. You have enough time to adapt, cultivate and break through. But do not think that having ample time means you can grow complacent. The dangers in the Space-Time Secret Realm will not spare you because you have let your guard down."

Qin Yuan nodded and strode toward the depths of the hall.

He passed through the ruins of the nine Gates of Time and Space on the first level, then past the altar and trial ground on the second, and followed the passage leading to the third level upward.

The third level was much smaller than the first two. It was a circular stone chamber no more than ten zhang across, with an extraordinarily intricate teleportation array engraved on the floor at its center. Its dense, overlapping lines radiated a pale silver light. Even with Qin Yuan's current attainments in the laws, he could barely make out that it contained applications of the Time Law and Space Law at their highest levels. The rest was entirely beyond his comprehension.

Qin Yuan took a deep breath and stepped into the very center of the teleportation array.

Silver light flared, swallowing his figure whole. An irresistible force of space-time swept him up, pulled him out of the Void God Hall and cast him into an unknown expanse of space-time.

Qin Yuan felt as though he were racing through a tunnel woven from time and space. Light and shadow streamed rapidly around him, dazzling as a river of stars one moment, black as an abyss the next. After an unknown length of time-perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years-his feet finally touched solid ground.

He opened his eyes.

A world of bizarre and dazzling sights spread out before him.

The sky was pale purple, with no sun, moon or stars. The light seemed to come from the sky itself, falling evenly upon every inch of land. The ground was covered in silver-gray sand and gravel of a kind Qin Yuan had never seen before. It was soft underfoot, like walking on clouds.

Most bizarre of all was the flow of time. Qin Yuan could clearly sense that, right where he stood, the flow of time was constantly fluctuating by an extremely slight degree. It grew a little faster, then a little slower, like a heart beating in rhythm.

"So this is a time tide?" Qin Yuan murmured to himself.

[Host detected entering the special environment 'Space-Time Secret Realm'.]

[Current area: outer region of the secret realm. The flow of time is approximately 10,000 ± 10 times that of the outside world.]

[System notice: Some system functions will be affected by time fluctuations in the Space-Time Secret Realm. The effects of functions such as shop exchanges and law acceleration may be delayed or fluctuate. Host, please use them with caution.]

Qin Yuan frowned. The system's functions being affected was an unexpected complication. Still, the impact was not great. He had ample points in reserve, his Gene Level had reached 3,200 times, and with the various secret techniques and insights he had obtained from the Void God Hall, surviving in this secret realm should not be much of a problem.

He first took a few tentative steps outward. The silver-gray sand and gravel rustled faintly underfoot, and the scenery around him remained unchanged, as if the entire outer region shared the same monotonous terrain. But he knew this was only the surface. The Space-Time Secret Realm's true face had to be hidden somewhere deeper within.