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Deep within the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, a mysterious yellow crystal slowly floating in front of him.

At this moment, Lin Yuan was only a tiny step away from fully refining the core of this secret realm.

It could take as little as half an hour or as long as a few days, but soon it would be completely refined.

By then, Lin Yuan would have control over the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm, achieving something even the Strongest Ones had longed for but could never obtain.

The Strongest Ones of the peak races in the main universe, along with lone Strongest Ones, all Twelfth Rank beings, had their eyes set on the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm.

Every time the secret realm opened, several Strongest Ones would attempt to lock onto its coordinates.

Even those who didn't make a move would observe in the shadows.

If anything changed, they could arrive in an instant.

The importance that the Strongest Ones placed on the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm was obvious.

This included the nine Strongest Ones of human civilization.

This was also why Lin Yuan didn't want to reveal that he was the new master of the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm.

Even to human civilization, he didn't want to say too much.

It wasn't that he was wary of human civilization, but some things are better left unsaid to avoid unnecessary trouble.

When Lin Yuan stepped into the Twelfth Rank, he would announce it to the world without any concerns.

"This Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm is not a separate, complete world." As he was on the verge of fully refining the core of the secret realm, Lin Yuan could already sense the essence of the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm.

The Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm exists by relying on the main universe, sharing the time rules of the main universe.

"His Majesty, the Mysterious Sovereign, truly had unfathomable methods."

Lin Yuan felt it carefully for a moment, marveling in awe.

The Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm was hidden deep within the gaps of countless space layers in the main universe, even the Strongest Ones couldn't lock onto it.

What did it rely on?

It relied on the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm being almost fused with the main universe.

It was by borrowing the vastness of the main universe that those Strongest Ones returned empty-handed.

With the Mysterious Sovereign's methods, he could certainly create a complete, independent world.

But if he did that, it wouldn't be able to fuse with the main universe, and it would be only a matter of time before the Strongest Ones locked onto its coordinates.

It's like a white sheet of paper suddenly appearing with a black dot; it would be quickly noticed, no matter how small the black dot was, the contrast with the surrounding white was too great.

But if a white dot appeared on a white sheet of paper, it would be hard to notice under the same light and dust.

In front of a Twelfth Rank being like the Strongest Ones, once the coordinates were locked, it wouldn't matter whether the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm was an independent, complete world or not.

"Huh?"

"I can sense that in other extremely distant locations, there are also Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realms?" Using the core of the secret realm, Lin Yuan gained some insight.

The Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realms had a certain connection with each other.

But it was just a connection; each secret realm was in a different universe, too far apart.

Unless one was a Strongest One, even an Eleventh Rank being couldn't cross over.

And once they reached the level of a Strongest One, after mastering one Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm, the others wouldn't be of much use to them.

The most attractive thing about the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm to the Strongest Ones was the legacy left by His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign, the three great guardian secret techniques.

As for the others? Some mysterious emperor crystals, or Ninth and Tenth Rank secret treasures? They weren't worth a Strongest One crossing one universe after another.

"The Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path has not produced an ultimate being since His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign disappeared," Lin Yuan stroked his chin, his thoughts fluctuating.

The Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path had too high a threshold, making it impossible to spread. To make the ultimate leap, one could only rely on oneself.

In the era of His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign, there was no concept of spreading one's evolutionary path.

The idea of using the power of all beings to aid in the ultimate leap was born in the era after His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign disappeared.

Whether or not the Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path produced an ultimate being didn't matter much to Lin Yuan.

He had no intention of becoming a Strongest One through the Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path.

To Lin Yuan, the Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path was at most something to study and learn from.

He would extract its essence and integrate it into himself.

In Lin Yuan's view, the Mysterious Emperor's evolutionary path had many uncertainties.

For example, what if one became a Strongest One through this evolutionary path and then His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign suddenly 'returned'? What would happen if there were two ultimate beings on the same evolutionary path?

Would there be a conflict of the ultimate principles between the two ultimate beings?

Would one ultimate being become the nourishment of the other?

Of course, this possibility was very small, almost negligible.

The hope of His Majesty the Mysterious Sovereign 'returning' was nearly nonexistent.

But a hidden danger was still a hidden danger.

Lin Yuan had his own martial evolutionary path that he had created from nothing, so naturally, he wouldn't choose the former.

Although the martial evolutionary path was currently only at the Ninth Rank, Lin Yuan, with his Unrivaled Insight, was confident he could deduce it to the Twelfth Rank.

Or even higher.

"Continue cultivating the 'Mysterious Emperor's Body.'" Lin Yuan flipped his right hand, and a fist-sized mysterious emperor crystal appeared, then disintegrated into powder and fused into his body.

Cultivating the secret technique 'Mysterious Emperor's Body' didn't consume much mental power.

Lin Yuan only needed to keep running the secret technique, absorbing the mysterious emperor crystal and various secret treasures and weapons.

Moments later, the fist-sized mysterious emperor crystal was completely absorbed.

Lin Yuan flipped his hand and took out another piece.

"This 'Mysterious Emperor's Body' really consumes a lot." Lin Yuan sighed inwardly.

In the past five years, just the amount of mysterious emperor crystals Lin Yuan had consumed to cultivate this secret technique exceeded a million square units if converted into universe crystals.

A million square universe crystals were equivalent to the entire wealth of a Ninth Rank expert at the peak of their level.

Yet, in front of Lin Yuan, it had only lasted for five years.

Of course.

He consumed so much.

But the results were extremely gratifying.

Now, although Lin Yuan's 'Mysterious Emperor's Body' had not yet reached minor completion, his physical strength had directly doubled.

It must be known that Lin Yuan's physical body, after being enhanced by the mysterious gourd, was already nearly twenty times stronger than a normal expert of the same rank.

On top of that twentyfold, his physical strength had doubled again. Lin Yuan had a feeling that just relying on the immense power of his physical body's blood and qi, he could penetrate numerous space layers, suppress and open up several million heavy space layers of special Ninth Rank beings.

The martial evolutionary path was originally better suited for physical strength, making the body stronger than other evolvers of the same rank, not to mention the enhancement from the mysterious gourd.

Additionally.

The increase in physical strength was just one aspect.

After cultivating the 'Mysterious Emperor's Body,' an instinctive field called the 'Mysterious Sovereign's Protective Light' would extend from the physical body.

Although this field couldn't directly immunize ninety percent of attacks from the same rank like the 'Elemental Body,' as long as the Mysterious Sovereign's Protective Light remained unbroken, Lin Yuan wouldn't be harmed by anything, whether physical attacks, rule-based attacks, or even other more mysterious attacks.

They would all be blocked by the Mysterious Sovereign's Protective Light.

Mysterious Sovereign's Protective Light, blood rebirth, Elemental Body, Divine Sealing Bead.

These were Lin Yuan's four main defensive methods at the moment.

Of course, the Divine Sealing Bead was with his true body, but even relying on the other three, Lin Yuan's defense had almost reached the peak of the Ninth Rank.

Even ordinary Tenth Rank beings probably couldn't break Lin Yuan's defense.

In the virtual world.

Lin Yuan was chatting with his parents.

"Oh, right, Little Yuan, Yiyi is planning to get married." His mother, Lin Qiong, immediately shared this good news with Lin Yuan. (Yiyi is mc's little sister's nickname)

"Lin Yi is planning to get married?" Lin Yuan was slightly taken aback. "So soon?"

He had indeed heard before that his younger sister had found a boyfriend and that they got along well, but he hadn't expected things to progress so quickly to the point of discussing marriage.

"Soon?"

"She's already in her nineties."

"And you, Little Yuan, are already over a hundred."

His mother, Lin Qiong, rolled her eyes and mentioned Lin Yuan.

"Over a hundred years old," Lin Yuan felt a moment of daze.

Evolvers had long lifespans; even a First or Second Rank evolver, with the help of biological technology, could easily live for several hundred or even thousands of years.

But his parents had been ordinary people, and in human civilization, ordinary citizens generally lived over two hundred years. Getting married at ninety-something was considered a 'late marriage.'

"Is Lin Yi's boyfriend that boy from the Xia family?" Lin Yuan asked.

"Yes, Little Xia is honest and reliable. Yiyi will surely have a good life," his mother, Lin Qiong, said cheerfully.

"Honest?"

"Reliable?"

Lin Yuan remained silent.

The Xia family was a prominent family in human civilization, officially known as the 'Human Xia Family,' with a history of producing citizens of the Eighth Rank and above, and this generation had an Eleventh Rank expert.

A family like that couldn't really be associated with being honest and reliable.

It was possible that the marriage was a 'political marriage' meant to benefit from Lin Yi's brother, Lin Yuan himself.

However, Lin Yuan didn't care about these things. At his level, with countless forces watching him, finding a peaceful relationship was almost impossible.

Moreover, the Xia family had always had a good reputation, and marrying Lin Yi meant that even if something happened to Lin Yuan, his parents would have a strong backing.

"Let Lin Yi's boyfriend come and see me," Lin Yuan thought for a moment before speaking.

Generally, he didn't bother meeting people from other forces; it was too troublesome and complicated.

But since it concerned his sister's marriage, Lin Yuan decided to take an interest.

Soon.

In less than ten minutes.

A handsome young man appeared alongside Lin Yi.

"Brother." Lin Yi smiled brightly, calling out.

"Xia Keran, greetings, Milky Way Star Lord." The handsome young man beside her greeted him respectfully, with some nervousness.

As a member of the Xia family, Xia Keran had always been confident, even in front of Seventh and Eighth Rank evolvers. But facing the Milky Way Star Lord?

Before approaching Lin Yi, Xia Keran had been personally summoned by the Eleventh Rank elder of the Xia family, who had repeatedly warned him: "If it's just for fun, don't even fucking think about getting involved with the Milky Way Star Lord's sister."

With so many women in human civilization, and even many female aliens to choose from, the Xia family wouldn't care.

But if it involved the Milky Way Star Lord's sister, there must be no negative consequences.

Otherwise, it could bring catastrophic consequences to the Xia family.

The Eleventh Rank elder of the family had been so cautious that Xia Keran understood the true weight of the Milky Way Star Lord.

"Xia Keran?" Lin Yuan smiled slightly. "Your Xia family has made great contributions to human civilization."

"That's all in the past," Xia Keran quickly replied, without any hint of boasting.

Although Xia Keran was from the Xia family, he had received a good education since childhood and didn't give off any impression of arrogance or pride.

"Lin Yi may not be as refined as the children of your big evolver families, but after you get married...

Surely she won't be wronged. Right?" Lin Yuan smiled at Xia Keran, his thoughts unknown.

Facing Lin Yuan's gaze, Xia Keran felt an invisible pressure, and even through the virtual world, his heart trembled.

"I will treat Yiyi well," Xia Keran immediately promised.

At the same time, he couldn't help but think: "Why does the Milky Way Star Lord give me the same feeling as our family elder? No wonder the elder told me to be cautious with Yiyi."

When he pursued Lin Yi, he did consider the Milky Way Star Lord, but most of it was because he genuinely liked Lin Yi.

If it wasn't pure affection, the Eleventh Rank elder of the Xia family would never have allowed Xia Keran to continue seeing Lin Yi.

A powerhouse like the Milky Way Star Lord didn't have 'mind-reading' abilities, but seeing through a person's heart was very easy.

Not genuinely liking Lin Yi but still marrying her would immediately incur the Milky Way Star Lord's wrath.

So, even if the Xia family wanted to form ties with the Milky Way Star Lord, they would carefully consider the choice, not making any mistakes.

"Brother, Keran really likes me," Lin Yi quickly said.

"I know." Lin Yuan nodded.

Through the brief interaction, Lin Yuan could tell that Xia Keran had true feelings for Lin Yi.

But feelings were destined to be fleeting. As Lin Yi's brother, it was necessary to give a little warning and reminder.

The Xia family likely understood this as well.

Lin Yi and Xia Keran's wedding was held the next day.

The venue was in the virtual world, and many forces of human civilization, countless guests, all came to attend.

It wasn't just because one side was the sister of the Milky Way Star Lord. The human Xia family was deeply rooted, and both sides were strong, making their union highly influential.

"The Xia family really struck gold, didn't they? They actually managed to form ties with the Milky Way Star Lord."

Guests at the wedding discussed endlessly.

As the news of the Milky Way Star Lord in the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm spread, even a fool could see that the Milky Way Star Lord had potential, at the very least, to reach the Eleventh Rank.

The greatest genius in the history of human civilization, killing the invincible Eighth Rank as easily as killing chickens when at the Eighth Rank, and slaughtering special Ninth Rank beings just as easily when at the Ninth Rank.

Such an extraordinary person would undoubtedly receive the full support of human civilization, and would likely have the chance to challenge becoming a Strongest One.

If he successfully became a Strongest One, the Xia family, as his in-laws, would rise to unimaginable heights.

Of course, becoming a Strongest One was no easy feat, but even if he couldn't reach the Twelfth Rank, he was still likely to become an Eleventh Rank pinnacle expert.

For the Xia family, there was no downside.

Because of this, many guests felt that the Xia family had hit the jackpot.

On the surface, the Milky Way Star Lord was only at the Ninth Rank, while the Xia family had an Eleventh Rank expert.

But in reality, many forces with the 'Human' prefix in their names wanted to form ties with the Milky Way Star Lord, but it was the Xia family that ultimately succeeded.

Lin Yuan chatted casually with the senior brothers of the Red Kun Lineage.

"Master is in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Ninth Rank?" Lin Yuan nodded.

This time, Lin Yi's wedding had been without the presence of the Red Kun Lord because he was in seclusion.

Seclusion for a critical breakthrough was crucial and couldn't be interrupted.

In fact, the Red Kun Lord had entered seclusion more than twenty years ago. It was normal for an Eighth Rank evolver to stay in seclusion for decades or even a century, especially when it involved a breakthrough to a higher realm.

"I wonder if Master will successfully break through to the Ninth Rank." The peak masters of the Red Kun Lineage spoke with some concern.

The Eighth to Ninth Rank transition was a leap from a single-space life form to a multi-space life form. Although Lin Yuan had made it look easy, in reality, completing this transition was not simple.

If one successfully integrated the pillar rule with ordinary rules and broke through to the Ninth Rank, it would be a gradual process, but the Red Kun Lord's seclusion was for completing the final step of rule fusion.

As for the final step of breaking through from the Eighth to the Ninth Rank, once the prerequisites were met, it was the least risky and least likely to have any surprises.

"It'll definitely be fine," Lin Yuan said.

The Red Kun Lord's true form was a Star Sea Kun, a 'favored child' of the main universe's space origin, with deep insight into space rules. There should be no major bottlenecks in the integration of space rules and fire rules.

"That's the Milky Way Star Lord."

"The Milky Way Star Lord rarely shows up, always staying on the Milky Way main star."

"Finally, we get to see the Milky Way Star Lord in person."

Many guests focused their attention on Lin Yuan, with little interest in the Xia family.

The Xia family had great influence, and its prominent figures frequently appeared in public, so those who wanted to meet them had mostly done so.

But the Milky Way Star Lord had risen so quickly and so legendarily that many evolvers wanted to meet him but couldn't.

"This time, the Milky Way Star Lord's performance in the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm was so impressive that my family's elder said that when the Milky Way Star Lord reaches the Tenth Rank, he'll likely reach the 'Beta' level within a few centuries, and the 'Alpha' level within five thousand years."

"My goodness, that's terrifying!"

A few guests widened their eyes. They knew how formidable the 'Beta' level at the Tenth Rank was, let alone the 'Alpha' level. Many Tenth Rank evolvers spent hundreds of thousands or even millions of years stuck at the 'Delta' and 'Gamma' levels.

And yet, the Milky Way Star Lord could reach the 'Alpha' level so easily?

The 'Alpha' level at the Tenth Rank. Even on a large alien battlefield, such a strong person could significantly influence the outcome of a localized battle, without the need for an Eleventh Rank being to intervene.

"I don't even know when I'll reach the Seventh Rank, and you're already discussing when the Milky Way Star Lord will reach the Alpha level at the Tenth Rank."

"Sigh, we're all human, so why is the Milky Way Star Lord so much more talented? I heard that the Milky Way Star Lord's bloodline is quite ordinary?"

More evolvers felt a bit disheartened. At the Milky Way Star Lord's age, they were probably still stumbling through the First or Second Rank, while the Milky Way Star Lord was already at his peak.

At the wedding.

Lin Yuan was casually chatting.

At that moment.

Lin Yuan's expression changed slightly.

He looked up in a certain direction.

Because at this moment, in the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm, the Yang Essence had completely refined the core of the secret realm.

Buzz, buzz, buzz.

In the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, with the earth-yellow core of the secret realm spinning before him, merging into his brow.

In an instant.

Lin Yuan's mind soared infinitely, viewing every aspect of the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm from a higher perspective.

At this moment, Lin Yuan was like the creator of the Mysterious Emperor's Secret Realm, overseeing everything happening within it.

The Ninth Rank alien races and human Ninth Rank evolvers within the secret realm were unaware, but the native life forms in the secret realm vaguely sensed something.

"Awoooo～～～"

"Roarrr～～～"

On the three continents, countless powerful native life forms knelt down, their expressions full of reverence, showing their submission.

The Mysterious Sovereign reigns above!

...