Only a few hundred years had passed.
Lin Yuan had fully formed his Past Self.
Not just for his true body in the third source world—
But also his true bodies in the chaotic void, the first source world, and the second source world—
Each had now formed a Past Self on their respective timelines.
"It's done."
A smile spread across Lin Yuan's face.
Forming the Past Self meant he now had no remaining weaknesses.
Even when facing a killing move from a Time Lord, he could defend himself.
Time Lords could travel to the past to strike at an enemy during their weakest phase—
But Time Lords who acted in the past would also be suppressed by time itself.
And the Past Self, already existing in the past and equal in power to the present self, had the home-ground advantage.
Even if it couldn't defeat a Time Lord, it could definitely survive.
"Even at the third stage, as a Time Lord, the Past Self remains a powerful technique."
Lin Yuan thought to himself.
At the Time Lord level, battles were often a clash across past and future.
Having a Past Self guarding the past timeline would make such confrontations far more manageable.
"Future Self?"
Now that his Past Self was formed, Lin Yuan began contemplating the Future Self.
The ninth physical divine ability he awakened was incomplete—containing only the Past Self.
There was no Future Self.
It was only through deduction, based on the structure of past and present, that he confirmed the existence of a Future Self.
But how to form it?
That would take time to experiment and figure out.
Unlike the fixed past, the future held endless variables—
Which made forming the Future Self far more difficult than the Past Self.
"My ninth physical divine ability most likely originates from one of the three Celestial Emperors... the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor."
Lin Yuan pondered.
Physical divine abilities originated from the foundational power within one's bloodline.
And if it was a bloodline, then there had to be a source. For instance, his eighth divine ability, Lord's Status, came from the Lord of Heavenly Radiance.
And the ninth—Past Self—likely came from the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor.
The Three-Lives Celestial Emperor was the first Celestial Emperor of the Great Desolation Source World.
It was he who viewed past and future, comprehended the Three Selves, and thereby discovered the illusory world at the end of the Immortal Path.
Among the three Celestial Emperors, his strength was almost certainly the greatest. Even among Time Lords, he ranked at the top.
"Unfortunately, after hundreds of years in the Immortal Path, I haven't seen the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor—nor the other two Celestial Emperors."
Lin Yuan shook his head slightly. If he could meet the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor and discuss the Dao with him, then with his Unrivaled Insight, he could definitely speed up the formation of the Future Self.
With the Past Self and Present Self already in hand, forming the Future Self was no longer a far-off dream.
"Step by step—there will be a chance."
Lin Yuan wasn't in a rush. The illusory world at the end of the Immortal Path contained mysteries that even Time Lords found irresistible. He planned to remain here for a long stretch of time.
"However, in the past century, the illusory world has been shaking more frequently."
Lin Yuan looked toward it from afar, thinking.
Technically speaking, the illusory world shouldn't even be located at the end of the Immortal Path.
It was only there because the three Celestial Emperors had forcibly locked it in place using immense power, making it observable to the Mortal Immortals and Celestial Kings.
The so-called "Immortal Path" was forged by Mortal Immortals and Celestial Kings, all for the purpose of drawing closer to the illusory world and comprehending more of the truths it revealed.
But since it was forcefully restrained, the illusory world naturally "struggled."
At regular intervals, it would violently thrash—
Trying to break free from the Celestial Emperors' chains.
Like a massive fish caught in a net—
Even if it couldn't escape, it would still create strong undercurrents that disturbed the net.
"Currently, there are five Immortal Paths. Each one has two or three Celestial Kings and several dozen Mortal Immortals."
Lin Yuan's path was forged by Samsara, Bai Bin, and Wushen Celestial Kings, along with over sixty Mortal Immortals.
The other four were similar.
Each Immortal Path approached the illusory world from a different angle and distance—
Which resulted in different Dao insights.
Samsara and the others were strong, so the path they opened was quite close to the illusory world—
Among the top two of the five paths.
Of course, all five originated from the original main path—
The same one Lin Yuan entered through, sealed by the Bronze Immortal Hall.
Several days later, Lin Yuan met with Samsara, Bai Bin, and Wushen Celestial Kings.
"How's the comprehension going, Brother Tianyuan?" Samsara Celestial King asked with a smile.
The other two smiled as well, and Wushen Celestial King even pulled out fine wine and filled cups for everyone.
"It's helped me greatly," Lin Yuan nodded.
The illusory world flowed with profound essence and countless origin Daos—an irresistible lure to any time being.
"When the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor first carved out the main path, there wasn't even a second Celestial Emperor yet—only six Celestial Kings," Bai Bin said with emotion.
Under normal circumstances, even in a world as special as the Great Desolation Source World, producing one Celestial King would be the limit.
Three Celestial Kings?
What, did they grow on trees?
If not for the illusory world, how could a single source world have three Celestial Kings?
"The Three-Lives Celestial Emperor was truly remarkable."
Lin Yuan nodded.
With his power and means, he could have monopolized the illusory world. Why open up the main path at all?
Why share it with so many Mortal Immortals?
But perhaps the Three-Lives Celestial Emperor understood that he alone couldn't fully explore the illusory world—
So he created the main path to cultivate more companions.
Compared to back then, when he alone had to bear the burden of sealing the illusory world—
Now, with three Celestial Emperors working together, the illusory world had become relatively quiet, struggling only occasionally.
"Based on the timing, we'll likely need to forge a new Immortal Path again soon."
Samsara said while sipping wine.
Every so often, when the illusory world thrashed violently, the five Immortal Paths would collapse.
At that point, the Mortal Immortals and Celestial Kings would need to forge new ones to continue their observation.
While troublesome, it also brought opportunity—
A new angle meant new perspectives, which led to different Dao insights.
"Forge a new Immortal Path?"
Lin Yuan wasn't surprised.
He'd already noticed the increased tremors of the illusory world in the past century. The Celestial Kings had clearly been preparing.
"With Brother Tianyuan now with us, we can pick an even better position," Wushen Celestial King's eyes lit up.
Different directions provided different insights. The closer to the core, the harder it was to open a path.
At the end of the Immortal Path, the illusory world was vast and endless.
And if you looked closely, you'd see its surface was covered in chains.
Those were what pinned it in place—
Preventing it from leaving or dispersing.
Just then—
Ripples suddenly rose within the illusory world.
The ripples quickly grew into a storm, lashing toward the chains binding it.
The chains trembled, resisting the storm—but the residual shockwaves scattered in all directions.
Boom!
The five Immortal Paths close to the illusory world instantly collapsed.
The Mortal Immortals and Celestial Kings swiftly retreated back to the main path.
"This is the illusory world's struggle?" Lin Yuan stood on the main path, observing.
Now, all Mortal Immortals and Celestial Kings had gathered here—over 200 Mortal Immortals and 15 Celestial Kings, standing in loose groups.
Lin Yuan naturally stood with Samsara, Bai Bin, and Wushen.
The other Celestial Kings occasionally exchanged glances with Lin Yuan, nodding politely—
As fellow Celestial Kings from the Great Desolation Source World, there was every reason to form good relations.
A few months later—
The illusory world gradually calmed.
The residual shockwaves also faded.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Celestial Kings and Mortal Immortals began to act.
Each group chose a direction and location, forging a new Immortal Path toward the illusory world.
Though the main path could still observe it, the distance made it of limited use.
Only a path forged close to the illusory world allowed for deep observation and comprehension.
"This time, we'll forge our path from here."
After observing for a while, Samsara Celestial King spoke.
"This path?"
Bai Bin's expression shifted slightly—this route led toward the illusory world's core region.
Forging such a path would come with much greater resistance.
"Samsara, are you confident?"
Wushen Celestial King asked seriously.
Opening a path had to match their ability—
If they failed to forge it, all effort would be wasted.
"I've made a breakthrough—and with Brother Tianyuan's help, we can give it a try."
Samsara said.
"A breakthrough?"
Bai Bin looked at him.
Samsara had already been near the peak of the Celestial King realm—had he now advanced further?
"If that's the case, let's give it a try."
Wushen nodded.
Paths leading to the core were difficult—but if successful, the benefits would be immense.
If it were just Lin Yuan's addition, this choice might be reckless. A new Celestial King wasn't that significant to them.
But if Samsara had reached the peak of Celestial King, then it was worth the risk.
"Let's begin. You all assist me."
Samsara's white hair turned black, and an aura of reincarnation spread outward.
He stepped forward, rapidly approaching the illusory world.
"Let's go."
Wushen followed immediately.
Bai Bin and Lin Yuan followed as well.
Then came dozens of Mortal Immortals.
Boom!
As Samsara drew closer to the illusory world—
A massive binding pressure descended.
Bai Bin and Wushen's expressions changed slightly.
So did those of the Mortal Immortals behind them.
Shhh shhh shhh— The closer they got, the stronger the pressure grew—permeating through layers of space-time, saturating even the timeline itself. There was no way to avoid it—only to endure it.
Samsara led the front, taking the brunt of the pressure.
Bai Bin and Wushen worked to stabilize space-time.
Forging a new Immortal Path meant creating a zone of stabilized time-space, where one could focus on comprehension without external pressure.
That's what Bai Bin, Wushen, and the Mortal Immortals were doing—
With Samsara blocking the main force, the others stabilized the path.
"Endless Samsara."
As Samsara approached, he manifested a world of reincarnation, which began converting and neutralizing the crushing force.
This took some pressure off his shoulders.
But not long after, his expression changed again—
The pressure suddenly intensified.
Even his reincarnation world began showing signs of collapse.
"Looks like I overestimated myself."
Samsara sighed inwardly and stopped moving forward.
If he pressed on, his reincarnation world would collapse—
And then, the Celestial Kings and Mortal Immortals behind him might have their bodies annihilated instantly.
They wouldn't truly die, but losing their main combat body was a huge loss.
"Can't move forward anymore?"
Bai Bin asked quickly.
"No."
Samsara answered honestly.
If his world collapsed, they'd all suffer major consequences.
"No choice, then. Let's retreat and choose a different path," Wushen said.
"Alright."
Samsara nodded.
He glanced at Lin Yuan, who had been quietly observing all this time, and casually asked, "Brother Tianyuan, any thoughts?"
He asked without expecting anything but agreement.
"I'll give it a try," Lin Yuan replied.
Having spent the whole time observing the process, this was his first time participating in forging an Immortal Path. Now that he had a rough idea, he finally spoke up.
...