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For the Abyss of Demons Progenitor, be it the Immortal Realm or the Abyss of Demons, there were practically no secrets.

Locking onto a particular life-form—no matter where it might be, even in the origin of the Immortal Realm—was supposed to be impossible to evade.

But now?

When the Abyss of Demons Progenitor tried to pinpoint Lin Yuan's exact location, he discovered that it was impossible to determine the coordinates at all.

This made the Abyss of Demons Progenitor both frustrated and perplexed— like seeing a person right in front of you, yet never being able to touch them.

The more elevated the life-form's level and power, the more confusing it was to encounter something like this.

"What is going on?"

The Abyss of Demons Progenitor's expression grew serious. Originally, only a portion of his awareness had awakened; now it began to stir further to life.

Initially, he had simply been curious about the deaths of his Fiend Emperors, whom he regarded as his own children.

He intended to find whoever killed them, take revenge, and then return to slumber—nothing more.

But now, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor found his interest thoroughly piqued.

"Cause and effect…"

Before the Progenitor's eyes, countless causal lines appeared.

As a Dao Ancestor-level existence, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor's comprehension of the rules of cause and effect ran deep.

Even though he had never met Lin Yuan directly, the latter had slain six Fiend Emperors and a horde of fiends.

Since Fiend Emperors and ordinary fiends were all part of the Progenitor—especially the Fiend Emperors, akin to his offspring or incarnations—the death of a Fiend Emperor was tantamount to forging a direct causal link with him.

By leveraging that causal link, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor could normally pinpoint Lin Yuan's precise location.

Swish…

The Abyss of Demons Progenitor had innumerable causal lines tied to every corner of the Immortal Realm and the Abyss of Demons, some even extending beyond the Immortal Realm.

Right away, he found the line connected to Lin Yuan and tried to follow it.

"Huh?"

"It's still not detectable?"

Surprise flashed across the Progenitor's face.

The causal line's presence proved the target was still alive. But though the target wasn't dead, he couldn't lock onto the area where they were.

Next, the Progenitor employed dozens of different methods in rapid succession, all in an effort to track Lin Yuan's coordinates, yet each one failed.

Even with absolute certainty that Lin Yuan was alive and indeed in the Immortal Realm, in the Xuantian Immortal Domain, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor still found it akin to a flower reflected in a mirror, or the moon shimmering on water— something intangible.

"It's time-space. A deeper layer of time-space."

Seated on his throne, the Abyss of Demons Progenitor furrowed his brow.

From multiple attempts, he reached a conclusion: the being who had slain the Fiend Emperors was situated in an extremely deep layer of time-space, so deep that even he could not forcibly peer inside and lock on.

"To enter that sort of time-space depth, one's comprehension of time-space must exceed my own…"

The Progenitor pondered this silently. He himself was a Dao Ancestor-level existence. Someone surpassing him in time-space insight? Could it be that the Immortal Realm had produced another Dao Ancestor?

But how could that be? The celestial phenomenon caused by a Dao Ancestor's ascension could never be concealed, and given the current conditions of the Immortal Realm and Abyss of Demons, there was basically no chance for anyone to reach Dao Ancestor.

"It's not a Dao Ancestor," the Progenitor said to himself with certainty.

"What on earth has gone on during my slumber?"

Though he was sure the assailant wasn't a Dao Ancestor, he couldn't pinpoint their location either—so he had no way to deal with them.

"All of you, return."

Unable to figure Lin Yuan out, and realizing that whoever this mysterious being was didn't seem to like fiends from the Abyss of Demons, the Progenitor immediately began recalling all the fiends and Fiend Emperors who had invaded the Immortal Realm and were rampaging across it.

After all, the so-called Immortal-Demon War was merely a game to the Abyss of Demons Progenitor;

even if those fiends and Fiend Emperors devoured countless immortals, it brought him no real benefit.

…

Canghai Immortal City.

Four formidable Fiend Emperors overlooked a vast city from on high. Beneath them, limitless fiends attacked the city, which now teetered on the brink of destruction.

The City Lord and the top-tier Jade Immortals fought desperately, but in vain—before absolute might, any resistance was futile.

"Hahahaha…"

"What a delicious feast!"

The four Fiend Emperors stared greedily at the city below.

Devouring immortals and devouring same-race fiends were two different experiences, and offered their bodies entirely different benefits.

But just then—

"Return."

A low voice echoed in the minds of the four Fiend Emperors.

"It's Father God! Father God has summoned us?"

They were all stunned; they sprang from the Abyss of Demons Progenitor, so in their consciousness, he was like their Father God.

"Then let's go back."

"If Father God is calling us back, it must be something important."

Filled with regret, the four Fiend Emperors glanced down at the city below. They had been moments away from feasting on such mouthwatering morsels. But none dared to disobey the Progenitor's order, which was ingrained in their deepest instincts.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The four Emperors retreated. The countless fiends scattered.

In a matter of seconds, the fiends outside Canghai Immortal City vanished without a trace.

"What… what just happened?"

The City Lord, certain of his impending death, was dumbfounded. Even if he had stashed away revival methods in some other location, if he died at the hands of a Fiend Emperor, the dreadful soul-level pollution might invalidate those methods anyway.

Yet now?

All the Fiend Emperors withdrew?

"We… we survived?"

Within Canghai Immortal City, numerous immortals wept with joy. They never imagined they might live to see another day; those vicious fiends had simply… left.

…

Qianxing Immortal City.

The same scene played out: wave upon wave of fiends besieged the city. Towering Fiend Emperors had their jaws open wide, waiting for the city's final defense to crumble so they could devour everyone inside.

But in the next moment, those Fiend Emperors received an order from the Abyss of Demons Progenitor, forcing them to lead the countless fiends away and back into the Abyss.

…

Chuyu Immortal City, Shaohao Immortal City, Tianlun Immortal City…

In every corner of the Thirty-Three Immortal Domains, endless fiends under the command of Fiend Emperors surrounded one Immortal City after another.

Yet simultaneously—

All of them retreated. Even if a given city was one step from annihilation, the Fiend Emperors did not go that extra step.

"What's going on?"

"Why did the fiends leave?"

"It doesn't matter. Now we don't have to die."

"Right! Being devoured alive is said to be unimaginably painful—plus your memories get polluted…"

After the initial rush of confusion, the survivors rejoiced. No one wanted to die, especially not such a gruesome death as being eaten by fiends.

"Why did the fiends leave?"

"Was it the Dao Ancestor? Did he make a move?"

"But according to our sect's line, the Ancestor hasn't acted."

"If it wasn't the Dao Ancestor, then who could it have been?"

City Lords and high-level officials across the Immortal Realm speculated. The most plausible guess was that the Dao Ancestor had intervened, but the Ancestor's disciples knew nothing of it. Logically, if the Dao Ancestor truly took action, they should have at least heard rumors.

…

Back in Cangwu Immortal City, in front of the A-grade cave dwelling, the City Lord and numerous top officials waited respectfully.

Suddenly, word arrived that in all corners of the Thirty-Three Immortal Domains, the infinite fiends had withdrawn.

It was no small feat for news to travel so quickly across such vast territory. Even for Jade Immortals, physically crossing every domain might require tens or hundreds of thousands of years. But sending messages works differently, harnessing cause and effect, plus the power of Golden and Jade Immortals, enabling "instant communication."

"All the fiends have retreated?"

"They left on their own, with no other experts intervening?"

"Why did every fiend simply withdraw?"

The City Lord and the others were at a loss. Typically, an Immortal-Demon War would last millennia, or tens of thousands of years. Barely a few decades had passed since its start, nowhere near the point of ending. And in earlier Immortal-Demon Wars, after thousands of years, if the fiends truly began to retreat, they would do so gradually.

In no prior era had all fiends—Fiend Emperors included—suddenly quit the Immortal Realm in unison. It was as though… as though they had all received a single command.

And who could command Fiend Emperors?

The City Lord and his fellow high-level figures shuddered. The same name crossed their minds in unison: the Abyss of Demons Progenitor. Aside from him, who else could issue such an order? And if the Progenitor himself had commanded it, why would he do so?

When their eyes flicked to Lin Yuan's cave dwelling, they simultaneously arrived at a hunch. There was no direct proof, but it felt very likely that this was linked to Lin Yuan's recent actions. It was too perfect a coincidence: the fiends withdrew just after Lin Yuan had acted.

"Abyss of Demons Progenitor…"

An enormous wave of shock rose in the City Lord's heart. If their guess was correct, that meant the individual they sought to meet could, to some degree, force even the Abyss of Demons Progenitor's hand.

Certainly, all the fiends leaving the Immortal Realm didn't necessarily mean the Progenitor had yielded. But it at least hinted at some wariness on his part.

…

Within the dwelling, in the cultivation area, Lin Yuan continued to observe everything through the lens of the seventh level of time-space.

With seventh-level time-space comprehension, the nature of time and space across the Immortal Realm, the Abyss of Demons, and indeed this entire dimension, lay open before him. An infinite interplay of time-space gave rise to a stable realm that allowed life to flourish.

Even an ordinary stone, flower, or tree was beholden to time-space. Once time-space collapsed, those things would all cease to exist. Only the synergy of time-space, with all the myriad rules, could maintain a stable reality. Watching this, Lin Yuan felt an unexpected stirring in his heart.

It was beautiful—truly beautiful.

At that moment, he felt no remaining perplexities. Countless time-space phenomena he couldn't fathom before were now all laid bare. It felt as if he were omniscient in the domain of time-space.

"Not quite," Lin Yuan murmured, quickly pulling himself together. The supposed "omniscience" was merely an illusion—a massive leap in realm that caused an information overload. In truth, on reflection, he realized countless further questions remained. The secret method "Tianhe" included references to deeper aspects of the seventh level, as well as talk of the eighth level of time-space, all of which would be highly challenging.

"Step by step," he reminded himself.

"Those dozens of probing methods just now likely came from the depths of the Abyss of Demons—must have been the Abyss Progenitor himself," Lin Yuan mused.

At this level of time-space mastery, he could sense a rank-twelve being's attempts at spying, potentially even reverse-locating them.

"Killing six Fiend Emperors must have caught his attention," Lin Yuan concluded casually. He felt no concern. Back when he first descended into the Immortal Realm, both the Abyss of Demons Progenitor and the Dao Ancestor were concerns, with a real chance of them suppressing him. But now?

The Progenitor had just used dozens of methods to track him, all fruitless—evidence enough.

"He even recalled his fiends… cautious indeed." Glancing across the entire Thirty-Three Immortal Domains, Lin Yuan shook his head lightly.

"Oh? They want to see me." He noticed that outside his dwelling, Yun Zhenzi had brought him news that the City Lord and other Jade Immortals were requesting an audience.

Inside the hall of the dwelling—

Lin Yuan's figure appeared out of thin air and slowly sat on his throne.

Below, the City Lord of Cangwu Immortal City and the other top officials stood respectfully.

"Thank you for saving our city, my lord. Without your intervention, the billions of lives in Cangwu—" the City Lord said, voice full of reverence.

"It was just a casual move," Lin Yuan replied evenly. In truth, wiping out those six Fiend Emperors was purely because they had interrupted his cultivation.

"What about the fiends withdrawing across the other domains?" the City Lord ventured, hoping for clarity. They could guess it was related to Lin Yuan, but that was all it was—speculation.

"That was the Abyss of Demons Progenitor's decision," Lin Yuan said.

It was the truth: while Lin Yuan could easily crush fiends and Fiend Emperors, he couldn't command them. Only the Progenitor could give them a universal order.

"The Abyss of Demons Progenitor…" The City Lord swallowed hard. Though Lin Yuan had not explained in detail, his referring to the Progenitor in such an offhand, equal manner spoke volumes.

"Oh, right."

Lin Yuan's gaze shifted to the top-tier Jade Immortals standing there, all anxious. Suddenly he spoke again.

"Help me spread the word throughout the Immortal Realm: from this day forward, any who cultivate the Martial Path shall belong to my lineage."

The main reason Lin Yuan had agreed to meet them was precisely this. He wanted to disseminate his Martial Evolution Path in the Immortal Realm's Thirty-Three Domains, and for that, people needed to be aware of his power. It was easiest to have the City Lord and these top-tier Jade Immortals publicize it—at least within the Xuantian Immortal Domain, nobody would dare impede the spread of the Martial Path.

Having reached the seventh level of time-space, Lin Yuan had nothing left to fear in this world, so it was time to promote the Martial Evolution Path. The Thirty-Three Immortal Domains are vast beyond measure. Should the Martial Path spread widely among them, it would offer Lin Yuan significant support in making his final leap to the Ultimate.

...

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42

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PatreonEarly on—several hundred years in the past—Lin Yuan had tasked his Yin Primordial Spirit with setting up the spread of the Martial Path. Of course, this was done in secret, and at most, the Yin Primordial Spirit gave it a little push.

Yet under the massive dominance of the Immortal Dao, the results of disseminating the Martial Evolution Path were not particularly impactful. After all, with the Dao Ancestor of the Immortal Way ahead of them, any living being with the opportunity would certainly choose the Immortal Dao first. As for the Martial Path?

With Lin Yuan still in hiding, and the Martial cultivation system lacking high-level powerhouses to safeguard it—even if its potential was unlimited—it was not the first choice for most.

"Relying on just a few centuries of buildup, spreading the Martial Path is still too slow," Lin Yuan thought to himself.

His own invincibility was one thing; promoting his own cultivation system was another. Unless he could remain in the Immortal Realm permanently and keep an eye on its progress, as soon as he departed, the development of the Martial Path could be suppressed at any time.

In the Boundless Void, the Martial Path had spread so swiftly only because of tens of thousands of years of groundwork in the Azure World. But in the Immortal Realm—so vast it dwarfed the Boundless Void—Lin Yuan had arrived to find that they had never even heard of the Martial Path. Establishing it from zero would require not just effort, but a great deal of time for it to take root.

After all, not every practitioner of the Martial Path was another Lin Yuan. Even the most dazzling Martial genius would need multiple generations to climb to the pinnacle of the Martial Path.

"In truth, the Immortal Realm isn't without the foundation for martial cultivation," Lin Yuan suddenly realized. His gaze shifted toward a certain direction—beneath the Immortal Realm, among the 3,333 lower realms, the one that included the Spirit Realm.

At the end of his eighth transmigration, Lin Yuan had basically laid the groundwork for the Martial Path in the Spirit Realm, ensuring it took root. He had left many safety measures to guarantee its steady progress.

Its underlying strength in the Spirit Realm stemmed from the even lower-level world of the Immortal World, whose Daoist Immortal Sect had made an agreement with Lin Yuan to protect the Martial Path during its vulnerable beginnings.

From there, cultivators of the Martial Path in the Immortal World would ascend via Daoist Immortal Sect's "Ascension Platform," entering the Spirit Realm and thus joining Daoist Immortal Sect. By the time Lin Yuan descended in his eighth transmigration, the Martial practitioners had already formed a group known as the "Martial Temple."

Taking time-speed ratios into account: from when Lin Yuan concluded his eighth transmigration to now, about a million years should have passed in the Spirit Realm, relative to the main universe's flow.

"It looks like the Martial Path in the Spirit Realm has done quite well," Lin Yuan remarked, his gaze piercing multiple layers of time and space to observe. Even without relying on seventh-level time-space comprehension, he could sense the flourishing of the Martial Path in the Spirit Realm.

Being the founder of the Martial Path, Lin Yuan could feel the "points of starlight" each time someone practiced it. Currently, more than half the Spirit Realm was dotted with such starlight—a sign that the Martial Path had grown into a truly colossal force there, even strong enough to keep the Immortal Dao system in check.

"Seems Li Qing and the others have performed admirably," Lin Yuan mused. Before concluding that eighth transmigration, he had forcibly nurtured his disciple Li Qing to Martial Eighth Rank.

Yet that level was only comparable to the "Tribulation Stage," and the Spirit Realm had many tribulation cultivators. Although Lin Yuan's personal renown still lingered, with him gone for a long while, Li Qing and the rest would have to maintain things on their own.

"If I brought these Martial practitioners up from the Spirit Realm, it would surely make promoting the Martial Path in the Immortal Realm much easier," Lin Yuan thought. Starting from nothing is the hardest step in any endeavor.

Over the past few centuries, with only secret efforts by his Yin Primordial Spirit, the Martial Path had only gained tens of thousands of adherents, and the strongest among them were at Martial Sixth Rank. But in the Spirit Realm, after a million years of growth, more than a thousand practitioners had reached Martial Eighth Rank, while those at Martial Seventh Rank and Martial Sixth Rank were legion.

"With my current time-space mastery, that shouldn't be an issue."

Lin Yuan observed carefully for a moment, then gave a faint nod. Technically, there was a way for people in the Spirit Realm to reach the Immortal Realm on their own: climbing all nine layers of the "Heavenly Steps" in the Spirit Realm, and if one were lucky, entering the Immortal Realm.

Yet because of Lin Yuan's presence, the Spirit Realm's top-tier lifeforms were extraordinarily powerful, and future generations, whether Immortal Dao cultivators or Martial practitioners, could get past the eighth layer but invariably found themselves crushed by Lin Yuan's imprint guarding the ninth layer. Consequently, over the million years, no one in the Spirit Realm had actually ascended.

"It's time," Lin Yuan decided. A wisp of his consciousness drifted away from the Immortal Realm, plummeting downward until it melded into the Spirit Realm.

A Dao Ancestor-level being could roam beyond the Immortal Realm at will; the Immortal cultivation systems of the Spirit Realm and the Immortal World trace back to the Dao Ancestor. Although Lin Yuan was not a Dao Ancestor, his seventh-level time-space comprehension let him accomplish something quite similar—surpassing the Dao Ancestor in certain respects.

Spirit Realm, the Eighth Layer of Heaven—

Li Qing sat before the gateway leading to the Ninth Layer.

"Even after a million years, I'm still nowhere near Teacher's level," she whispered, gazing up at the gate to the Ninth Layer. Over that span, she had advanced to the pinnacle of Martial Eighth Rank; all the secret methods Lin Yuan had left behind were fully mastered. She thus stood at the apex of the Spirit Realm.

Not even those ancient tribulation cultivators from the previous epoch could match her. Yet she could more keenly sense the gap between herself and Teacher. She could pass the eighth stage, but confronting the imprint "Lin Yuan" had left on the Ninth resulted only in her utter defeat.

"I wonder how Teacher is faring in the Immortal Realm…" Li Qing murmured, her mind drifting to memories of him. She had been Lin Yuan's disciple since his days in the Immortal World, and she still held a deep reverence for him.

"Huh?"

Just then, time-space rippled like waves. A majestic figure seemed to cross infinite dimensions, descending onto the Eighth Layer. A wave of instinctual awe surged within Li Qing; she stared, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Teacher…"

"I still meet with some resistance," Lin Yuan muttered to himself. A mere wisp of his mind had come into the Spirit Realm, and he could already sense the realm's fear and trembling.

Yet it was nothing more than fear. Even just this small portion of his spirit could level the Spirit Realm if he wished. Simply by wielding time-space mastery, he could unleash an unprecedented temporal storm that might send the realm prematurely into collapse.

So profound was Lin Yuan's aura now that the Spirit Realm's semi-sentient "will" could only quiver.

"What's the matter? Don't you recognize me?" Lin Yuan asked with a gentle smile, looking at Li Qing, whose body quaked at the sight of him.

"T-Teacher, you're… really back?" Li Qing blurted, abruptly snapping out of her stupor. Moments earlier, she thought she might be dreaming. In all of the Spirit Realm's recorded eras, once someone stepped into the Ninth Layer, no instance had been recorded of them returning to the world below. Yet here stood Lin Yuan, returning for real.

After a while, Li Qing was able to gather herself enough to accept that the imposing figure before her was indeed her Teacher.

"You've worked hard all these years," Lin Yuan said, looking her over with approving eyes. The success of the Martial Path in the Spirit Realm undoubtedly owed much to her tireless dedication.

"Teacher, now that you're back—" Li Qing started, excitement flooding her as she yearned to carry out his wishes once more.

"Nothing complicated," Lin Yuan replied.

"I plan to bring you all up to the Immortal Realm."

"Bring us… to the Immortal Realm?" Li Qing's eyes went wide. From ancient times to the present, no one had ever spoken of "carrying" others into the Immortal Realm. By all accounts, you had to climb the Ninth Layer. But here was Lin Yuan saying he would bring them up—plural.

"All of us?"

"Get ready," Lin Yuan said.

"Everyone in this realm at Martial Sixth Rank or above may come to the Immortal Realm."

After all, the Immortal Realm's environment was vastly superior, and once there, the upper limits of these practitioners' cultivation would become higher.

"All Martial Sixth Rank?!" Li Qing was startled. Martial cultivation in the Spirit Realm was flourishing, and there were countless who had reached the sixth rank. Bringing them all?

…

Deep in the Abyss of Demons—

Though the Abyss of Demons Progenitor had ordered all fiends to withdraw, he hadn't ceased watching the Immortal Realm. Owing to Lin Yuan's presence, the Progenitor's consciousness had nearly awakened in full. He kept constant watch, especially over every development in the Xuantian Immortal Domain.

"What's this?" the Progenitor muttered.

"A wave of time-space activity? That being has opened a time-space pathway linking the Immortal Realm to a lower realm?"

He was highly sensitive to shifts in time-space. The more he watched, the more startled he became.

"Such a stable time-space passage…"

Even for a Dao Ancestor, it might be feasible to roam outside the Immortal Realm or forcibly gather lower-realm beings to the Immortal Realm, but creating such a stable passage—fully piercing from a lower realm to the Immortal Realm—would mean going head-to-head with the Immortal Realm's innate "restorative" forces, requiring absurdly high mastery of time-space.

"Which lower realm is he connecting to?" he wondered, summoning wisps of devilish power to investigate. Suddenly, the Progenitor's expression shifted. Not far off, time-space energy condensed into the figure of a young man. That youth's avatar easily bypassed the many barriers of the Abyss of Demons, appearing with a smile and saying:

"You must be the Abyss of Demons Progenitor?"

"And who might you be?" The Progenitor grew tense, understanding that this was the very person he'd been trying to observe—the one who had killed his Fiend Emperors.

The young man smiled.

"I am the Martial Ancestor."

...