Lawful Tyrant

Chapter 360 A Great Being in the River of Time
"Thank you for your help, Lord Marquis."

Lin Qing immediately replied sincerely, "These 100,000 years have indeed been of great help to me."

"Haha, it's nothing." Marquis Xinglian laughed.

What he wanted was Lin Qing's gratitude, so he had already figured out from the beginning what method would be the most helpful to Lin Qing, but not one that would be a free gift.

He knew in his heart that such peerless geniuses were very proud and might not accept any benefits offered to them even if they were given to them for free.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing I'd like to trouble you with, young friend Jialin."

Marquis Xinglian said, “My Xinglian Prefecture has two important places that need to be guarded against by expeditionary forces sent by other prefectures, especially the Jueyuan Prefecture. One is my Xinglian Sacred Star, and the other is the transit star of my Xinglian Prefecture.”

"A transit star?" Lin Qingqing nodded slightly.

The star field where Yizhou is located is so vast that even an eternal being would need a considerable amount of time to travel across the star field of Yizhou.

During wartime, wars can break out anywhere at any time.

To quickly provide support to various locations, it is necessary to utilize relay stars that serve as administrative centers. Each state has such a relay star, connecting all first-class stars, and support can be provided at any time as long as troops are stationed there.

"With Jialin's strength, it probably won't be long before he becomes stronger than many peak Chaos beings."

Marquis Xinglian said, "If I were to entrust the position of commander of the garrison of Zhongzhuan Star to you, I could truly put my mind at ease. What do you think, young friend?"

"Commander?" Lin Qing asked, somewhat surprised.

Although he was not clear about the status of this position, he could tell at a glance the importance of this leadership role.

That transit star involves the war situation of an entire state. As the commander of the garrison, he must have great power and his status cannot be low.

"Please rest assured, young friend."

Marquis Xinglian immediately said, "This position of commander is indeed quite burdensome, but with your strength, young friend, I believe you are capable of handling it. I am willing to advance you 1 billion military merits, what do you say?"

"Ten billion military merits?" Lin Qing wasn't quite sure what ten billion military merits actually meant.

Marquis Xinglian said, "In the military merit system I have established, a drop of Star Spirit Stone Marrow is worth 1 billion military merits, while the bloodline of a second-generation Chaos creature is worth more than 500 million military merits."

Lin Qing suddenly realized the true value of those ten billion military merits.

In the Chaos Merchant Guild, the cheapest second-generation Chaos creature bloodline is worth five million points, corresponding to the five hundred million military merits set by the Star Refining Marquis.

From this perspective, Star Spirit Stone Marrow is indeed more precious than the second-generation bloodline of Chaos Creatures.

"Can I redeem it now?" Lin Qing asked.

“Of course.” Marquis Xinglian nodded. “Only with greater strength can you better guard the transit star, young friend.”

Lin Qing pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll think about it some more. Anyway, the war won't start for another million years, so it's not too late to wait."

Marquis Xinglian nodded slightly and said, "Young friend, you can contact me anytime."

He then said no more, "I won't disturb your secluded cultivation any longer."

"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Marquis," Lin Qing said.

Xinglian Hou smiled and immediately disappeared into this enclosed space-time.

Immediately afterwards, he appeared in the sky above Tianxing Island.

"Kid, you're pretty generous."

A small, red snake, about the thickness of a thumb, emerged from Xing Lianhou's sleeve and spoke in human language: "With your strength, it's not easy to help him maintain a thousand-fold time acceleration for a hundred years."

"It's alright. With the energy constantly gathered by Tianxing Island, I won't get too tired. It's no problem to persist for a hundred years," said Xinglian Hou calmly.

He has mastered the complete set of current rules.

It can speed up, slow down, stop, or even reverse time.

but……

Changing the flow of time has a significant impact on spacetime. The more powerful the beings within this spacetime are, the more difficult it is to alter the flow of time.

If he were to apply time acceleration to a vacuum region or to some weak creatures, he could achieve a time flow rate of 380 million times the limit of the universe.

However, if there were beings at the Void stage within this spacetime, it would be impossible for them to accelerate to such a speed.

As for higher chaotic beings?

Maintaining a 3,800-fold increase is the limit!

For a powerful life form like himself, at the level of eternity, the time acceleration can be maintained at a maximum of 380 times.

Moreover, it consumes a great deal of energy, so he can only maintain it for a short time.

If Lin Qing were to maintain a time acceleration of 3,800 times, he could only last for a short while at most.

With the time flow reduced to a thousand times, coupled with the special environment of Tianxing Island, he could barely hold on, but the mental strain was immense.

Even if it can last for a hundred years, it's nearing its limit.

"Ten thousand years is enough time for him to protect himself in front of Lord Xiaoying. It's worth it for me to work hard," Lord Xinglian said softly.

"but……"

The little red snake said, "If you give him such a lucrative position as the commander of the Central Star Garrison, Qian Yue will probably have objections. After all, she is Emperor Jue Xian's personal disciple. It's not good to just replace her like this."

"I am also this girl's master. In Xinglian Prefecture, do I need to ask for her consent to decide the ownership of a leader in my territory?" Marquis Xinglian said calmly.

"After that girl became Emperor Juexian's disciple, she wasn't as respectful to you anymore." The crimson snake chuckled. "Once she achieves eternity, she might even start calling you Marquis Xinglian directly."

"Let her be."

Marquis Xinglian calmly said, "There are many such people among the human race. At least Qianyue is not such an ungrateful person."

"That's quite ungrateful," the little crimson snake mocked. "You wasted so many treasures nurturing her before, and now that she's become the Emperor's personal disciple, you're too lazy to even come see her? Kid, do you regret it?"

"There's nothing to regret."

Marquis Xinglian said calmly, "Human hearts are inherently unpredictable. Even a great being like His Majesty King Guang, who can see through the future, cannot see through human hearts. He probably never imagined that the Primordial God Emperor and the Lord of the Myriad Gods would break their promise and become like this. How much more so for me?"

"There's no other way," the little red snake sighed. "If they could, who would willingly submit to someone else?"

Xinglian Hou paused for a moment, then said, "Human nature has never changed since the Stone Age of planetary civilization, and it remains the same even if one becomes a so-called myth or the ultimate..."

……

Inside the cultivation room within the manor.

Lin Qing sat cross-legged, and the vast river of time and space was faintly appearing around him.

At the same time, terrifying forces surged forth from his inner world, causing his spacetime divine body to undergo a frenzied transformation, changing from the smallest particle structure to a point where it could withstand the immense power of a world.

a few days later.

Lin Qing slowly opened her eyes, sensing the terrifying power within her body, and couldn't help but smile.

"The World Divine Body is complete..."

Once the World God Body is formed, every move it makes possesses the power of a world. Even if it doesn't understand any techniques, the terrifying power contained in the World God Body itself can easily annihilate ordinary low-level chaotic beings.

With such a powerful physique as a foundation, even the most advanced secret techniques can be elevated to new limits.

"With my current strength, even if I am no match for that Shadow Lord, I should be able to protect myself."

Lin Qing secretly assessed his current strength.

Compared to Xiaoyingbo, he only has a gap in realm, plus he hasn't yet cultivated the Supreme Secret Technique to its limit, but relying on the Illusionary World Annihilation is enough to close the gap.

At least... there is no longer a qualitative difference.

"First, comprehend your future self."

Lin Qing thought to himself, "Once the mysteries of my future body are fully integrated, I will be qualified to search for that glorious King Pearl..." After the Black Flame Avatar also transformed into a World God Body, he immediately consumed a drop of the semi-finished Star Spirit Stone Marrow.

The icy liquid instantly transformed into a strange power, spreading throughout the divine body and even the soul.

Along with the soul-stirring ease and joy, Lin Qing also felt his mind suddenly become much clearer. Both the speed of his thinking and the spirituality of his comprehension had improved considerably.

"Such a powerful effect, and it's only a semi-finished Star Spirit Stone Marrow?"

Feeling the effects now, Lin Qing couldn't help but be secretly amazed, "Even the semi-finished product is this powerful, no wonder the real Star Spirit Stone Marrow is so helpful in breaking through bottlenecks..."

He wasted no time and immediately began to have Hei Yan focus on his cultivation in seclusion.

His main body was responsible for cultivating various supreme secret techniques, and he had prepared all kinds of rare chaotic materials at the Chaos Trading Company before he came.

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, sixty years have passed in the outside world, while sixty thousand years have passed inside the manor.

"It's done."

Lin Qing suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the table placed in the quiet room.

The next moment, he flicked his fingertip, and a ray of light shot out, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Then, the black flame clone reached out, and a powerful, invisible force immediately protected the table.

About three seconds later—

Under the perfect protection of the black flame clone's power, the table suddenly vanished into nothingness.

"Changing the future in advance..."

Lin Qing smiled slightly, "The mysteries of this 'future body' have finally been integrated to a minor level."

The mystery of the future body lies in the ability to enter a static point in the future timeline upon entry, waiting for the present to arrive in the future. Only at the moment when the time points overlap will one descend into the present.

When the future body reaches a certain level of maturity, it can enter the future timeline and influence the future timeline to a certain extent.

For example... like just now, lock in the result in advance.

He sent a wisp of power into the future, where it was frozen three seconds in advance, and destroyed the table in the future. So no matter how well it was protected, the table was destined to be destroyed.

It's like the effect comes first, then the cause.

This also reflects the wonder and power of future rules.

Of course, the impact of the mysteries of the future body on the future is also limited, but the consumption is enormous.

Even the most perfect and mysterious future cannot arbitrarily change the future.

Moreover, if they encounter a terrifying being with an unclear and unpredictable future, the future that he altered may never come to pass.

"The mysteries of the future body are far from being fully realized..."

Lin Qing stood up. "Let's go find the Brilliant King Pearl first."

……

After letting the Black Flame clone continue its cultivation, Lin Qing left Tianxing Island. After asking Xinglianhou to open the space-time travel channel of the Holy Star, he departed from the Holy Star.

Upon entering the starry sky, Lin Qing sensed that the surrounding spacetime was no longer restricted by the rules of the Holy Star, and immediately a thought arose in his mind—

"Wow—"

In an instant, a magnificent, seemingly invisible river appeared out of thin air, rapidly materializing from near nothingness into a tangible reality, obscuring and obliterating everything else in the world, leaving only this incomparably majestic and vast river standing alone.

Lin Qing has already vanished into the river of time.

The river of time and space is the origin and end of everything; both the universe and chaos are encompassed within it.

Therefore... traveling through the river of time and space is also the most efficient method.

However, only advanced chaotic beings can escape into the River of Time and Space, and they cannot even bring other beings into the River of Time and Space.

Although Lin Qing had already glimpsed the River of Time and Space and even had the will to influence it, this was the first time he had truly entered the legendary River of Time and Space.

"Whoosh-"

It is evident that this vast and silent river flows forward endlessly, majestic and mighty. Every wave seems to condense an immense space and time, every undercurrent is like the operation of the universe's origin, and the endless stars in the universe are transformed into the starlight within the long river.

Traveling through the river of time and space is like the Earth becoming a tiny globe, walking on a map that has been shrunk countless times, and the speed of travel is astonishing.

"The suppression of the rules of the River of Time is truly terrifying..."

Stepping into this long river, Lin Qing felt as if he had returned to the mortal era, walking on the river and struggling against its resistance, which was extremely difficult.

He could only wander on the surface of the river, unable to dive deep. Even though he could see the riverbed filled with endless cosmic sand through the water, he was powerless to sink into the depths of the river.

If advanced chaotic beings try their luck in this long river of time, they might be able to scoop up a little bit of cosmic sand.

At the same time, Lin Qing could also see figures in the distance, just like him, struggling to walk through the river.

"Which direction is the Radiant King's Pearl?"

After stabilizing himself in the river, Lin Qing immediately activated the source power bestowed upon him by His Majesty the King of Light, attempting to sense the location of the Brilliant King Pearl.

Then, they began to move in the direction guided by the source force.

"I've heard that this river is just a tributary of the River of Time in the Realm of Kings, while the true main stream of the River of Time flows into the Endless Chaos..."

As Lin Qing struggled along, he gazed at the distant river scenery. The entire universe of the Kings Realm was contained within this tributary, and through the flow of the river of time and space, he could vaguely see those massive planets that resembled grains of sand.

During its journey, it has already traversed countless light-years.

It's hundreds of times faster than traveling in real life.

Suddenly--

"Ok?"

Lin Qing sensed something and turned her head slightly to look.

In this river formed from billions of moments of time and space, a towering and colossal figure emerged from afar, wading through the water. Each step caused the boundless power of time and space to surge and churn. Countless drops of water, collapsing like black holes, transformed into waves beneath the feet of this majestic figure, rippling and spreading outwards.

This majestic and imposing figure was of unknown size, its size being billions of times larger than Lin Qing's.

If Lin Qing is merely a mayfly in a river, then this great being is an incomparably enormous Kunpeng!

As it walked, the feet of this great being even touched the riverbed of countless cosmic sands at the deepest part of the river of time and space.

This great being, however, paid no attention to the cosmic sand and simply continued along the riverbed step by step.

Each step covered the distance of countless states, and that imposing figure quickly disappeared from Lin Qing's sight.

"Eternal existence? Or ultimate existence?" Lin Qing wondered to himself.

I've heard that terrifying, eternal beings like Lord Yu, who are worthy of being named Dukes, have life levels that are incredibly close to the ultimate existence, and they can even step onto the riverbed in the river of time and space.

Other eternal beings cannot do this; at most, they can only dive into the depths of the river.

"I am still far from being that kind of being..."

Lin Qing shook her head slightly, composed herself, and continued on her way.

I do not know how long it has been.

"arrive!"

Suddenly, Lin Qing sensed the presence of the Brilliant King Pearl through the source power bestowed by His Majesty the Light King.

Immediately, they were separated from the river of time and space.

(End of this chapter)