Swallowing the Stars: The cheat system only comes when I'm almost a god?

Time slips away quietly.

Outside, other inheritors from the Light Domain Secret Realm also entered the temple one after another.

The thirty-two heritage temples were gradually enveloped by the light shield, and the secret realm returned to peace.

Three peak-level King-level experts from the Mengyan Clan hovered silently guarding the entrance to the secret realm.

"Among this generation of inheritors, the Chaos King of the human race will probably be the biggest dark horse," a King whispered.

"Not necessarily." The leading king shook his head. "The Lan Guang inheritance depends on the compatibility of the soul with the laws of light and time. Although the Chaos King is strong, he mainly cultivates fire and space, which may not be compatible with the Lan Guang inheritance."

"Yan Kai suffered a loss at his hands. Will this affect the relationship between our race and the human race?"

"Rock Armor brought this on himself, so he has no one else to blame but himself. As long as the Chaos King doesn't break the rules of the inheritance, we don't need to interfere."

As the three talked, their gazes occasionally swept over the temple where Lin Yuan was, as if they were deep in thought.

……

Inside the Inheritance Temple where Lin Yuan was located.

In the first hundred years, he only climbed more than 600 light steps upwards, and his soul amplitude did not increase.

He could feel that his understanding of the laws of light and time had improved somewhat, but it was still far from a qualitative change.

In the third hundred years, he stepped onto the 1500th floor.

In the six hundredth year, he stood on the 3000th step of light.

Upon arriving here, the complexity of the inherited secret techniques increases dramatically once again.

Each light level contains more than three times the amount of information as the previous one, and it begins to involve a deeper level of interweaving and evolution of the laws of light and time.

Lin Yuan had to slow down and spend more time repeatedly studying and digesting the information.

His soul was being slowly transformed by that pale golden energy, which was trying to bring it closer to the essence of light and time.

In the 1200th year, Lin Yuan finally stepped onto the 6000th light staircase.

Standing here, he could vaguely see the outline of a magnificent hall in the distant mist—that was the Hall of Rewards on the 6666th floor.

"Too slow..." Lin Yuan sighed inwardly.

When he received the Blazing Cloud inheritance, he reached the end of the second stage in just two years, but now, more than a thousand years later, he has only reached the 6000th floor...

"My compatibility with this Lan Guang inheritance is indeed lower than I expected," Lin Yuan admitted helplessly. "If it weren't for my enlightenment ability, I probably wouldn't even be able to reach level 5000."

He suppressed his restlessness and continued climbing.

In the 2,500th year, he ascended to the 7500th floor.

The 3200th year, the 8000th floor.

……

The 4,800th year, the 9000th floor.

Standing on the 9000th step of light, Lin Yuan let out a long sigh, but there was not much joy in his eyes.

It took 4,800 years to get here, which is more than a thousand times slower than when the Blazing Cloud God General was passing on his legacy.

Moreover, he could clearly sense that he was approaching the limit of his current compatibility.

Starting from the 9000th floor, the complexity of the inherited secret technique soared once again, and the golden energy surging from both sides of the light staircase began to become violent, melting his soul and bringing tearing pain.

"This is the stage mentioned in the data where 'the soul will be dissolved by boundless light when approaching the limit.'" Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and continued upward.

Floor 9100, Floor 9200, Floor 9300...

With each level you ascend, the pain intensifies.

The golden energy pierced his soul repeatedly like millions of fine needles, causing it to dissolve and slowly heal under the influence of the rules passed down from the gods.

Dissolve, heal, dissolve again, heal again...

This extreme pain, which acts deep within the soul, is enough to break the will of any powerful king.

With his strong perseverance and the support of his enlightenment ability, Lin Yuan continued to climb upwards at a slow pace of one level every few years or even decades.

When the total time of inheritance reached 5,400 years, Lin Yuan struggled to step onto the 9673rd floor.

At this moment, his soul had endured nearly six hundred years of annihilation, and every moment felt like being in purgatory.

The secret methods passed down are extremely obscure and difficult to understand; even those with the ability to comprehend the Dao find them exceptionally challenging to grasp.

He was almost at the end of his rope.

"Not enough...not enough..." Lin Yuan knelt on one knee on the light steps, his body trembling violently from extreme pain, and his consciousness began to blur.

But he did not give up. With his indomitable will, he continued to endure the increasingly severe wounds to his soul as he struggled to climb the steps of light.

Floor 9674, Floor 9675, Floor 9676...

Nearly two hundred years have passed.

When the total time of inheritance reached 5,600 years, Lin Yuan finally stepped onto the 9699th floor.

It took him a full two hundred years to climb from the 9673rd floor to the 9699th floor!

At this moment, his soul amplitude had reached 96.99 times, but the pain in his soul had also reached its peak.

The golden energy, like billions of red-hot steel needles, pierced into every corner of the soul.

Lin Yuan felt as if his consciousness was being constantly torn apart by a naughty child, his thoughts were fragmented, and he could hardly maintain even the most basic thinking.

"I'm...going to break down..."

Just as consciousness was about to completely dissipate—

"boom!"

It was as if the universe had just begun, and chaos had exploded!

Under the painful tempering, Lin Yuan's consciousness, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly condensed and sublimated. His originally fragmented thoughts were reintegrated and began to operate at an unprecedented speed.

His spirit and will broke through an invisible barrier and entered a completely new level.

A will as vast as the starry sea erupted from the depths of the soul, and the originally violent golden energy became docile in the face of this will.

The pain of the soul dissolving receded like the tide, replaced by a sense of clarity, lucidity, and complete control.

"My will has broken through!" Lin Yuan realized.

With the blessing of the will of a cosmic sage, the originally obscure and difficult-to-understand inherited secrets became clear, and the efficiency of his soul's acceptance and transformation of golden energy was greatly improved, allowing him to accelerate upwards.

Floor 9700, Floor 9800...

However, when he stepped onto the 9851st step of light, he finally had to stop again.

It wasn't a lack of willpower or comprehension, but rather that the soul's connection with the divine inheritance had reached its limit.

Lin Yuan could sense that the core essence of the inheritance of the Lan Guang God General lay in the perfect resonance between the laws of light and time.

Although his will broke through and his soul essence improved, his main cultivation was the fundamental law of space, and his compatibility with the inheritance was ultimately a little lacking.

This slight difference is an insurmountable chasm.

That's enough.

Lin Yuan sighed softly and decided not to press the matter further.

It took a total of about 5,600 years.

Although he was far from reaching the end of the inheritance, his soul amplitude had increased to 98.5 times, more than 12 times higher than when he entered, and his spiritual will had also broken through to the level of a Cosmic Venerable. This gain had far exceeded expectations.

If Lin Yuan were to unleash his divine power and activate the Soul-Slaying Blade now, even an ordinary Universe Venerable without a soul-type treasure would likely be severely injured by his attack. It's even possible that his opponent, if too weak, would perish.

Just then, the light staircase in front of them began to dissipate, and the inheritance ended.

Lin Yuan was enveloped by a gentle force, and the next moment he appeared in the square outside the Temple of Inheritance.

The white light surrounding the temple slowly dissipated, revealing the outside world.

Lin Yuan looked up and saw that the light shields of the other thirty-one inheritance temples had disappeared, and the square was empty except for him.

"Looks like I'm the last one to come out."

With a thought, he took flight and headed towards the entrance of the secret realm.

They hadn't flown far when several streaks of light came straight at them.

Leading the group was the peak-level King of the Mengyan Clan who had previously received the inheritor. Several other Kings of the Mengyan Clan were with him, including Yan Kai.

When Yan Kai saw Lin Yuan, a look of shock flashed in his eyes.

He emerged two thousand years earlier than Lin Yuan, and thought that the other had already failed and left, but unexpectedly he persisted until the end.

"Chaos King." The peak-level King of the Mengyan Clan spoke, his tone much more respectful than before, "Congratulations on completing your inheritance. Lava Venerable is waiting for you at the Flowing Moon Palace. Please follow me."

Lin Yuan nodded: "Thank you for your trouble."

The group flew towards the exit of the secret realm.

Yan Kai followed behind, looking at Lin Yuan's back with a complicated expression.

He only lasted three thousand years with this inheritance, reaching his limit after his soul amplitude increased 64 times, while Lin Yuan persisted for over five thousand years. The difference...

"Human genius, truly lives up to his reputation." Yan Kai sighed inwardly, his previous hostility vanishing in the face of the absolute difference in strength.

Upon exiting the secret realm, Lin Yuan saw the Lava Venerable conversing with a Mengyan Clan Venerable whose entire body was deep blue.

Upon seeing Lin Yuan emerge, the Lava Venerable greeted him, a smile playing on his lips: "Chaos King, how was your harvest?"

"It's acceptable," Lin Yuan replied with a smile, but did not specify any particular improvement.

Upon hearing this, Venerable Lava had a guess in his mind. He thought that Lin Yuan had not said anything because he felt that the gains from this trip were not as great as the inheritance of the Blazing Cloud God General. However, since he had been able to persist for more than 5,000 years, the other party must have reached at least the 8,000th level, and the increase in soul amplitude was also quite considerable.

At this moment, the Venerable of the Mengyan Clan also looked over. His aura was much stronger than that of the Venerable who had guided them to sign the contract earlier. He was none other than Venerable Yanluo.

"Young friend Lin Yuan," Venerable Yan Luo spoke, his voice much gentler, "I heard you are Yan Cang's grand-disciple?"

"Indeed." Lin Yuan bowed respectfully. "Junior Lin Yuan greets Venerable Yan Luo."

"No need for formalities." Venerable Yanluo nodded. "Your grandmaster and I have a very close relationship. You managed to persevere to the end in this inheritance, which is a great honor for your grandmaster."

He paused, then said, "Now that the inheritance has ended, you can stay in the Flowing Light Realm for a few more days. There are still some young disciples in my clan who would like to exchange and learn from you."

Lin Yuan understood that this was a gesture of goodwill from Venerable Yanluo, intended to ease the awkward situation caused by Yan Kai's provocation to the Mengyan Clan.

"It would be my greatest honor!"

……

Inside the Flowing Light Realm, in the Flowing Moon Palace.

Just as Venerable Lava and Venerable Rockfall were about to invite Lin Yuan to sit down, a streak of light flew in from outside the hall. It was a peak-level King-level expert from the Mengyan Clan, whose expression was solemn.

"What is it?" Venerable Yanlu asked.

"Your Excellency, we have just received intelligence that the demon race is making another move." The powerful king bowed and said, "They seem to have discovered that His Excellency the Chaos King is passing on the legacy of the Divine General of the Azure Light in our race."

The atmosphere inside the hall tensed slightly.

The Lava Venerable frowned: "It's the demon race again... those persistent ghosts."

Venerable Yanluo looked at Lin Yuan and said slowly, "Young friend Lin Yuan, you are a guest in my clan's territory, so your safety is naturally not a concern. But now that the demon race knows you are here, I'm afraid they won't let this go easily."

Lin Yuan remained calm: "This junior anticipated this, but I wonder how the demon race will act this time?"

Venerable Yanluo pondered for a moment: "Based on my understanding of the demon race, they won't directly attack within the territory of my Mengyan clan—that would be tantamount to declaring war on my race. But... they might ambush you after you leave my territory."

"Moreover," Venerable Lava added, "given the demon race's consistent style, if they really wanted to make a move, they would definitely deploy a force at the level of a Universe Venerable."

Lin Yuan nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Venerable Ones."

Venerable Yanlu waved his hand: "Since you are Yan Cang's grand-disciple, I will naturally take care of you. You can stay here in my Flowing Light Realm as a guest. If the demon race dares to invade, my race will deal with it."

"Chaos King," the Lava Venerable interjected, "How about this, you wait a while longer, and I'll invite a few friends to meet us at the border of the Mengyan Clan's territory. Then we'll go back together."

When facing higher-level powerhouses, the teleportation of the divine kingdom would be intercepted midway, so it would be extremely dangerous for Lin Yuan to return to the human territory alone. The Lava Venerable was using his personal connections to help him.

But to everyone's surprise, Lin Yuan refused.

He smiled and said to the Lava Venerable, "No need. I didn't bring any treasures with me when I came out with this clone, so I won't feel bad about losing them."

Moreover, my strength has improved considerably during the inheritance process. If the demon race were to send a Universe Venerable to assassinate me, I might be able to give them a big surprise.

Previously, I asked Venerable Lava for help mainly because I was afraid that something might go wrong in the Mengyan Clan. Now that the inheritance has ended, there is naturally no need to trouble the other party to do me a favor.

"This..." Seeing the resolute look on Lin Yuan's face, Venerable Lava had no choice but to nod helplessly, "Alright then!"