In Lin Yan's previous life, he had watched Fang Yuan rise step by step over five hundred years. He had witnessed with his own eyes how Heaven's Will constantly manipulated him, forcing him down a path paved with blood and hardship. Because of this, Lin Yan had always remained deeply wary of Heaven's Will, never daring to underestimate it.
Even so, none of that was his greatest concern.
No matter how vast Heaven's Will was, how powerful the Demon Venerable might be, or how chaotic the coming era became, as long as he remained hidden, Lin Yan was confident he could survive. With Self Dream Gu concealing his existence, Dream Derivation Immortal Gu hiding his secrets, and battle strength comparable to a peak Rank Seven Gu Immortal, he possessed more than enough means to protect himself.
The real challenge, however, was surviving the next five hundred years. Before Fang Yuan's rebirth, Lin Yan still had to overcome the two greatest obstacles standing in his path: the ever-growing tribulations of his immortal aperture and the limits of his own lifespan.
Five hundred years in the outside world meant more than twenty thousand years inside his blessed land.
If there were no obstacles, that amount of time would have been enough to survive every tribulation, advance to the peak of Rank Eight, transform his blessed land into a grotto-heaven, and even have a chance of becoming a Rank Nine Venerable.
Reality, however, was far crueler.
As long as Fate Gu still existed and Heaven Dao maintained its blockade, advancing to Rank Nine was impossible. At best, he could reach the peak of Rank Eight, possessing battle strength comparable to a Pseudo Venerable, before facing one Myriad Tribulation after another. Each would be more terrifying than the last, until one eventually claimed his life.
But surviving the tribulations alone was not enough.
A Gu Immortal's strength did not grow through cultivation alone. They still needed to comprehend the Great Dao to raise their attainment, deduce new killer moves, refine Immortal Gu, develop resource points, and manage the countless affairs within their blessed land. Every tribulation devastated the blessed land, destroying resources, immortal materials, and even entire ecosystems. If those losses could not be restored before the next tribulation arrived, the blessed land's foundation would steadily decline, making every future tribulation even harder to survive.
Because of this, many Gu Immortals intentionally slowed the flow of time within their blessed lands, giving themselves enough time to recover, rebuild their foundation, and prepare for the next calamity.
The only reason Lin Yan had been able to sustain such astonishing progress over the past two years was because of the foundation he had accumulated before becoming a Gu Immortal.
As a Flame Path Grandmaster, his understanding had long surpassed that of the vast majority of Rank Six Gu Immortals, reaching the level of a Rank Seven expert. The countless years he had spent researching Flame Path as a Gu Master now bore fruit, allowing him to develop Flame Path resource points and arrange them with remarkable ease.
Dream Derivation Immortal Gu was equally indispensable.
Although an Earthly Calamity descended every three months, leaving him almost no time to recover, those three months became three hundred months within the Dream Realm. That gave him decades to conduct deductions, perfect killer moves, and simulate countless development plans before implementing the best one in reality.
Yet even these advantages were gradually reaching their limits.
During the early stages of developing Flame Sovereign Blessed Land, his Flame Path and Refinement Path attainments gave him an overwhelming advantage. Most of his work revolved around individual resource points, something well within his capabilities.
But as the blessed land continued to expand, the problem was no longer a single resource point. Every mountain, river, forest, lava field, and resource point influenced one another. A small adjustment in one region could trigger changes throughout the entire blessed land. Managing everything has become vastly more complicated.
Today, Flame Sovereign Blessed Land contained more than fifty Immortal Rank resource points and hundreds of mortal rank resource points. Even with countless simulations inside the Dream Realm, Lin Yan could no longer account for every variable. He could only improve the blessed land step by step, constantly adjusting his plans as new problems emerged. In the end, what he lacked was no longer time or effort, but the broader vision needed to oversee the long-term development of an entire blessed land.
Unable to plan every aspect himself, he had no choice but to rely on the natural adjustments brought about by each tribulation. However, relying entirely on Heaven's Will to shape his blessed land was not necessarily the best choice. At the very least, it was not the most suitable path for Lin Yan. The reason was simple. His Wisdom Path attainment was still too low.
That was why, in his previous life, his highest priority had been finding a way to slow the flow of time within his immortal aperture.