Yuan's Ascension

Chapter 700: Saint Prohibition Art (1)

Years ago, when Wu Yuan arrived with the spacetime battleship, it was one of her incarnations that greeted him at the entrance of the Spacetime Island.

Due to Wu Yuan's status as a Dao Master Imprint bearer, her gaze had lingered on him for a while longer than the rest. However, she hadn't paid him much attention at that time, nor did she gather information on him.

After all, during her long years overseeing the Spacetime Island, she had seen many innate Dao Master Imprint bearers. Most performed well, but weren't exceptionally monstrous.

The definition of a so-called genius or monstrous prodigy varied among different powerhouses. For an ordinary Archimmortal, someone having the potential to become an Astral Lord would be considered a monstrous prodigy; for an Astral Monarch, someone having even a sliver of hope to become a Sovereign would be deemed a monstrous genius.

And to be considered a monstrous prodigy by a Sovereign, one had to meet the benchmark of Supreme Geniuses at minimum, with a clear potential to ascend to Sovereignhood.

Supreme existences like the Spacetime Dao Master didn’t exist in the vast majority of macrocosms. Therefore, although the Spacetime Dao Realm wasn't particularly vast, it was quite special. Over countless years, it had produced geniuses and powerhouses surpassing those of ordinary macrocosms.

True Supreme Geniuses had been born here before, and those who met the benchmark for different age groups were even more numerous.

Clearly, given the current performance of Wu Yuan's qi refiner self, he stood out even among those who met the benchmark of Supreme Geniuses.

Not only is his aptitude for the Law of Space incredible... but also the Law of Time? Sovereign Lan Yan pondered silently.

She was a Sovereign of Space. Sovereigns of Space were rare in ordinary macrocosms, but within the Spacetime Dao Realm, there were multiple.

Moreover, being a follower of the Spacetime Dao Master had given Sovereign Lan Yan access to a great deal of information, allowing her to learn many secrets.

For instance, body refiners were rarely able to evolve their souls to Apotheosis Yuan Souls, as they were naturally poor at soul cultivation.

Meanwhile, among qi refiners, possessing an extraordinary soul would grant one astonishing aptitude for the Law of Space. But this was limited to only the Space Dao.

Such strong aptitude for the Law of Time as well? It's truly bizarre, this can't be explained by a mere Apotheosis Soul. Sovereign Lan Yan shook her head slightly.

Normally, one would only begin to touch upon the profundities of Time after becoming an Archimmortal.

The Law of Time was mysterious and special.

Sovereigns of Time were incredibly rare. Although the Spacetime Dao Master had spread his teachings far and wide, guiding countless cultivators to comprehend the two Greater Laws of Space and Time, the Spacetime Dao Realm had never produced a Sovereign of Time to this day.

Hmm? I can't retrace his past at all? Sovereign Lan Yan attempted to peer into Wu Yuan's past, but found it obscured by fog.

She could only vaguely perceive Wu Yuan's experiences on the Spacetime Island, confirming that Wu Yuan came from the Greenridge Macrocosm. Anything further back? She was unable to perceive it.

Even ordinary High Immortals can't resist my prying, yet retracing his past is as difficult as retracing an Astral Monarch’s past? Sovereign Lan Yan grew increasingly shocked.

The difficulty of retracing a person’s past was related not only to the strength of the subject, but also to certain fateful encounters. Even for mortals, if they were involved with existences at the Dao Master’s level, the difficulty of retracing would skyrocket.

This Ming Jian must have other great secrets. Sovereign Lan Yan thought to herself. He's from the Greenridge Macrocosm? Ah, so he's from the Bei You lineage.

She was able to glean some understanding from his records in the Spacetime Immortal Voidrealm. The fact that Wu Yuan was part of the Bei You lineage wasn't a great secret, but it was limited to certain small circles within the Taiyuan Divine Court.

Bei You is capable of nurturing such a monstrous disciple? Sovereign Lan Yan shook her head slightly. She wasn't very familiar with Sovereign Bei You, having only seen him from afar a few times.

After all, when Sovereign Bei You rose to power, she had not yet become a Sovereign herself.

Boom! A majestic aura suddenly descended, enveloping the entire world of flames. Sovereign Lan Yan's eyes flickered with surprise.

"Lan Yan." A deep voice resonated, echoing throughout the world.

"Kong." Sovereign Lan Yan bowed her head slightly.

"Ming Jian is now under close observation, undergoing the second step of inheritance. Do not disturb him, let him forge his own path. Do you understand?" the deep voice instructed.

"Yes." Sovereign Lan Yan was inwardly shocked. The second step of inheritance? This Ming Jian had come to the Dao Realm less than a thousand years ago.

Then, she realized it made sense. Such an unparalleled monstrous prodigy, if not unique in the universe, should at least catch the eye of the Dao Master.

Rumble~ The grand fluctuation quickly dissipated.

Dao Master? Inheritance? A complex expression flashed in Sovereign Lan Yan's eyes. When will I have the chance to advance to the next step?

Afterwards, she closed her eyes, once again immersing herself in layers of purple flames.

...

Proceed as usual, no need to interfere? Star Moon was inwardly surprised as she received the message. Or perhaps my master has already garnered the attention of the higher-ups?

But ultimately, she was just a spirit, unaware of certain secrets.

Master. Star Moon looked towards Wu Yuan in the distance.

On the jade platform, the majestic soul aura emanating from Wu Yuan continued to expand, already reaching the threshold of an Archimmortal.

After some time, its expansion gradually slowed. Yet Wu Yuan still hadn't awakened.

In the past hundreds of years, this was one of the rare times Wu Yuan had fallen into deep slumber due to exhaustion. He slowly regained consciousness.

Did I successfully break through to the Divided Soul Will level? Wu Yuan did a quick scan of himself, feeling better than ever before.

His soul was robust. Within his upper dantian lobe, twelve Yuan Souls all bore Wu Yuan's appearance, vaguely gathering into a cluster, merging into his soul essence.

I slept for half a month? Each of the twelve Yuan Souls is now many times stronger than my pre-breakthrough soul essence? Wu Yuan was inwardly amazed.

Normally, when an immortal cultivator's soul progressed from the Yuan Soul level to the Divided Soul Will level, they would be weakened for a long time, taking a while to recover.

As for himself? Not only was he not weakened, but his condition had rapidly stabilized and grown stronger.

Is it due to the Apotheosis Soul, or the black pagoda? Or both? Wu Yuan pondered, unable to discern the reason for now.

In any case, he now had twelve Yuan Souls, three more than the nine Yuan Souls of ordinary High Immortals, and each Yuan Soul was incomparably stronger.

Before the breakthrough, although Wu Yuan was at the peak Yuan Soul level, his soul, being an Apotheosis Soul, was slightly stronger than the souls of ordinary High Immortals.

Now? Wu Yuan's soul essence was strengthened dramatically.

It should have reached the Archimmortal level. My Soul Will can integrate into higher spatial dimensions with a thought. Wu Yuan quickly assessed, both shocked and delighted.

Archimmortal! Many unparalleled monstrous prodigies might have combat power rivaling fifth or sixth-stage Archimmortals, or in extremely rare cases, even Astral Lords.

But in terms of soul power, how could a High Immortal hope to match an Archimmortal? It was almost impossible! Yet Wu Yuan achieved this today.

My soul continues to grow stronger? With a brief attempt, Wu Yuan discovered that Visualizing the black pagoda would still cause each Yuan Soul to grow stronger.

Although the rate of growth was very slow, as long as he improved day by day, he would still make astonishing progress over time.

Wu Yuan began to explore the changes in his abilities after his Yuan Soul breakthrough.

Controlling artifacts was now easier, he could manipulate more powerful artifacts, he could cultivate stronger soul secret arts, his Soul Will's range of perception was more expansive...

Artifact and secret art cultivation can wait, there's no rush. Wu Yuan had his priorities straight.

Swiftly, Wu Yuan's Soul Will penetrated space from the shallowest Material Spatial Layer to the Fragmentary Spatial Layer, where countless streams of spatial fragments collided, faintly stirring up innumerable spatial fluctuations.

Such a clear perception of Space. The essence of the Law of Space. Wu Yuan vaguely perceived an immeasurably profound fluctuation in the vast heaven and earth.

This was the Law’s essence that could be sensed after crystallizing Space True Intent. In the past, his perception of it had been relatively vague. Now, it was over a hundred times clearer.

No wonder Senior Brother Chang Hong, who cultivated for thousands of years before deducing an Intermediate Law to the first-level Dao Field stage, is considered to be as talented as Senior Brother Jiang Huan. Wu Yuan mused. Senior Brother Jiang Huan has fully comprehended the Law of Celestial Body.

Fully comprehending an Intermediate Law was over ten thousand times more difficult than comprehending it to the first-level Dao Field stage. Yet Jiang Huan had only taken a hundred times longer.

Comprehending a Dao became exponentially more difficult towards the end, and there was also the effect of Dao Assimilation.

Yet the two are considered geniuses of the same level. Wu Yuan pondered silently.

Why? It was because the souls of High Immortals usually reached the Divided Soul Will level, far surpassing the Yuan Souls of Earth Immortals, allowing them to comprehend the profundities of the Dao much faster.

For immortal cultivators, as long as they didn't choose to forge their immortal body or merge their soul with a Dao’s essence, they would not be completely assimilated by the Dao’s essence.

Thus, countless peerless geniuses throughout history would mostly remain at the High Immortal or High Deity phase until they approached the end of their lifespans.

Many peerless geniuses who ascended to immortality could directly become Astral Lords or even Astral Monarchs, possessing eternal lifespans while simultaneously being constrained by the shackles of the Dao. The gains and losses were difficult to calculate clearly.

Hmm? Wu Yuan sensed a disturbance in the Fragmentary Spatial Layer, and suddenly, he felt as if his Soul Will had crossed some sort of boundary.

Traversing that vast torrent of spatial fragments, he arrived in another realm, where only countless threads stretched across space. Their origin and destination were unknown. It was utterly dark.

The Turbulent Spatial Layer. Wu Yuan instantly realized. This was a higher spatial dimension that normally only Astral Monarchs could enter.

My Dao comprehension is not yet sufficient to support my entry into the Turbulent Spatial Layer, but my Soul Will, rivaling that of an Archimmortal, has sensed it first.

Spatial turbulence...

The countless threads were beautiful and dazzling in the darkness, yet radiated an aura of danger.

Suddenly, Wu Yuan observed something different from what he had previously experienced while entering the Turbulent Spatial Layer with his seniors. Time?

Among the countless threads of spatial turbulence, there were faint, wondrous fluctuations intertwined inseparably.

That was—Time.

Time essence... Wu Yuan's soul faintly sensed that mysterious and unfathomable fluctuation; formless and shapeless, yet seemingly omnipresent.

How is this possible? A trace of disbelief flashed in Wu Yuan's eyes. I'm not even close to crystallizing the True Intent of Time, yet I can sense the essence of Time?

This was almost an impossibility! Yet it had occurred.

An opportunity! This is the true great opportunity that possessing an Apotheosis soul has brought me. Wu Yuan quickly realized this point.

Compared to before his breakthrough, Wu Yuan's sensitivity to the Laws of Space and Time had heightened by an unimaginable degree, all due to his Apotheosis soul.

Although the deeper the comprehension, the stronger the influence of Dao Assimilation, the power of my soul will still ensure that my comprehension progress in Space and Time will continue to proceed at breakneck speed. A gleam shone in Wu Yuan's eyes.

Other peerless geniuses would need to ascend to Archimmortality, borrowing the power of the Dao’s essence to nurture a soul as powerful as Wu Yuan's. But once they became Archimmortals, they would lose out on other aspects.

As for Wu Yuan, his natural talent was already top-notch. He already possessed a soul at the Archimmortal level, and when he became a High Immortal, his comprehension progress would not be hindered too greatly by Dao Assimilation. What a heaven-defying advantage this was!

Sovereign of Space? Sovereign of Time? Such an opportunity was enough to fuel Wu Yuan’s ambition and confidence.

Sovereigns of Space were rare, and Sovereigns of Time even rarer, but Wu Yuan saw a glimmer of hope for success in both. He still had almost a million years to go.

But to speak of surpassing Sovereigns to become a supreme existence? Wu Yuan dared not dream about it yet. As of now, he knew far too little about that level.

From what he knew, there were numerous macrocosms in the vast river of space and time. The territory occupied by the divine court headquarters alone encompassed at least a thousand macrocosms. Naturally, there were a good number of Sovereigns in their ranks.

But existences surpassing Sovereigns? Those were beings that could be called 'supreme' even in the entire river of space and time.

One bite at a time. My qi refiner self has such a strong aptitude for Space and Time, and with the excellent cultivation environment of the Spacetime Island, I must seize this opportunity. Wu Yuan thought to himself.

On the path to immortality, one should set lofty goals. Now, Wu Yuan's goal was to become a Supreme Genius, directly advancing to become a Sovereign, and even...surpass that!