The Attempt to Break Through to True God

The thirty-seventh year in the Space-Time Secret Realm.

Qin Yuan sat cross-legged in the deepest part of the ancient ruins, faint fluctuations of the Time Law and Space Law swirling around him. Three items floated before him.

The first was the "True God Breakthrough Assistance Card" he had exchanged for in the system shop. It was a special product the system had temporarily unlocked in the shop after detecting that he was preparing to attempt a breakthrough to True God. It cost a staggering ten thousand points and provided one instance of "rule protection" during the breakthrough, greatly reducing the risk of failure. Qin Yuan had bought it without hesitation.

The second was a fist-sized fruit that gave off a pale blue glow. It was a treasure he had found in the nest of the True God Level Space-Time Beast King after slaying it in the Space-Time Secret Realm. The system had identified it as a "Space-Time Dao Fruit." It contained an exceptionally pure origin of the Time Law and Space Law, making it an irreplaceable auxiliary treasure for an expert about to attempt a breakthrough to True God.

The third was the scroll of the "Void God King Inheritance: Core Chapter." Its final few pages recorded the Void God King's own experiences and insights from his breakthrough to True God. Every word was worth a fortune.

Qin Yuan took a deep breath, drew all three items into his body, and slowly closed his eyes.

For a Universe Master, breaking through to True God was the greatest obstacle on the path of cultivation. Universe Masters cultivated laws, products of the rules established by True Gods. A True God, however, had to transcend those laws, place his own "dao" above the Universe Origin Law, and create a Miniature Universe of his own.

No description could overstate the difficulty of that step. In the Primal Universe's history of over ten billion years, tens of thousands of Universe Masters had been born, but those who had entered the True God realm could be counted on fewer than ten fingers.

Qin Yuan sank his divine sense into the deepest part of his divine body, arriving at the "Origin Sea" that belonged to him.

Every Universe Master opened up an Origin Sea within his body at the moment of breakthrough. What flowed through that sea was not ordinary divine power, but the Universe Master's most fundamental "Life Imprint" and "Law Mark." To break through to True God, one had to use that Origin Sea as a foundation to open up an entirely new Miniature Universe outward from it.

In Qin Yuan's Origin Sea, the marks of the two great laws of time and space shone most brilliantly. Like two giant dragons, they churned and intertwined in the sea, forming the core of Qin Yuan's cultivation system. Besides them were the marks of the Five Element Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. They had come from Luo Feng through cashback. Though not as powerful as the Space-Time Law, they had already reached the threshold of the mastery level.

"Let's begin."

Qin Yuan set the Origin Sea in motion, and the marks of the two great laws of time and space erupted with dazzling light at once. Two pillars of light shot up from the sea and met at the very top of Qin Yuan's Internal World, then expanded violently outward!

Rumble-

Qin Yuan's body shook violently. An indescribable force was expanding outward from within him, attempting to open up an entirely new cosmic space in the void. But the resistance of the void itself was immensely powerful. Every expansion was firmly suppressed, unable to truly break through that critical point.

This was the first hurdle in breaking through to True God: breaking the barrier.

Only by amassing enough power in the Origin Sea to smash through the void's restraints in one stroke could the embryonic form of a Miniature Universe truly be born.

Qin Yuan gritted his teeth and poured all the divine power, all the Law Comprehension, and all the will in his Origin Sea into the two intertwined pillars of light. At the same time, he swallowed the Space-Time Dao Fruit. A cool, vast power of the Space-Time Origin merged into his Origin Sea, and the might of the two pillars of light surged!

"Break!"

Qin Yuan roared, and the expanding force of his Internal World reached its peak at that moment.

Crack-

A crisp shattering sound rang out in the void, as though some invisible barrier had broken. Immediately afterward, Qin Yuan felt his Origin Sea begin to "grow" outward in a mysterious way. It was no longer a simple expansion, but something akin to the Big Bang-a brand-new Miniature Universe, entirely his own, was being born in the void!

But just then, a sudden change occurred.

A hazy gray figure had appeared in Qin Yuan's Internal World at some unknown point. Its face was indistinct, but the aura it gave off made even Qin Yuan's Origin Sea tremble.

The God King's Obsession!

It had come after all!

The gray figure said nothing. It simply stood at the edge of Qin Yuan's nascent Miniature Universe, looking down at the Chaos Space that had just been opened up. Then it extended a hand.

In an instant, countless negative emotions flooded into Qin Yuan's consciousness like a tide. Resentment, anger, despair, fear, doubt... All those negative emotions were magnified to their limits, battering Qin Yuan's mind.

"You can't possibly succeed."

A voice sounded in Qin Yuan's mind. It did not come from the gray figure, but seemed to come from the depths of his own heart.

"Look at yourself: a transmigrator, a lucky bastard who took shortcuts. What are you without the system? Are you worthy of breaking through to True God? Are you worthy of inheriting a God King's origin?"

"Give up. You can never become a true expert. Your foundation was built up by the system, your laws were stolen through cashback, and your combat experience was farmed in a simulation space. Everything about you is fake."

"The real Qin Yuan died the moment you transmigrated. You're nothing but a system puppet wearing Qin Yuan's skin."

Every sentence was a sharp knife, stabbing viciously into the softest part of Qin Yuan's heart.

Qin Yuan's body began to tremble violently. He wanted to argue back, but found that he could not come up with a reason to refute it. It was true. Without the system, how could he have gone from the weakest Universe Master to what he was now in just one short year? Without the system, he would not even have been able to touch the threshold of a Universe Master.

The system had given him everything. He himself... was nothing.

Once that thought arose, it became as uncontrollable as a flood bursting through a broken dam. Qin Yuan's Miniature Universe began to shake violently. Countless fine cracks appeared in the newly opened Chaos Space, which could completely collapse at any moment.

If the Miniature Universe collapsed, not only would the breakthrough fail, but Qin Yuan's Origin Sea would also suffer irreversible damage. At best, he would lose all his cultivation; at worst, he would perish on the spot.

Just then, a faint point of light suddenly appeared in a corner deep within Qin Yuan's soul.

That light was extremely faint, utterly insignificant compared to the hazy gray aura given off by the God King's Obsession. Yet it was exceptionally steadfast. No matter how the God King's Obsession's negative emotions battered it, they could not snuff it out.

Was that... Luo Feng's voice?

"Teacher, I'll definitely grow stronger! When you come back, I won't let you down!"

More images and voices flooded into Qin Yuan's mind.

The trusting look in the Chaos City Lord's eyes when he handed over his entire collection of Supreme Treasures.

The Lord Peng Gong's hearty smile as he patted Qin Yuan on the shoulder and said, "You little bastard, you're damn fierce."

The grateful looks the Lord of Darkness and Lord Huang Jian gave him as they solemnly bowed to him after being rescued.

The trace of tenderness hidden in the Lord of Ice Peak's cool voice when he said, "Come back alive."

And the excited expression on the face of that young man on Earth, who had knelt before him, kowtowed three times with the utmost respect, and said, "Your disciple Luo Feng respectfully welcomes you back, Teacher."

Those people, those events, were all real.

The system had given him the chance to grow stronger, but he was the one who had seized it. The system had given him resources and cultivation techniques, but he was the one who had turned them into strength. The system had given him Law Comprehension through cashback, but he was also the one who had mastered and integrated those insights, creating a secret technique of his own.

He was not the system's puppet. He was Qin Yuan.