Projection of the Heavens: I prove my immortality through slaughter.

With the arrangements for the Underworld complete, the Nine Netherworld Guardian Array was fully activated, transforming this sacred land of reincarnation into a hidden and heavily guarded forbidden zone within the sea of ​​stars.

Layers upon layers of dark yellow light shields acted like the most loyal guardians, isolating the inside from the outside, leaving only the path to the underworld open to the unclaimed souls of the universe.

Lin Xuan's main body did not rush to tear through space to teleport long distances.

With the transformation into a god imminent, what he needs is no longer simply the accumulation of spiritual power, but a deeper understanding of the fundamental laws of the universe, especially the relationship between time, space, and causality.

He strolled through the starry sky like a most patient hunter, seemingly at ease. His dark robes remained motionless in the vacuum environment, with only a trace of the Dao of Reincarnation occasionally flowing around him, proving his close connection with this starry sky.

His divine sense, however, was like an invisible net, centered on the Netherworld, spreading out into the endless, distant void, sensing those subtle fluctuations originating from the very source of the laws that were imperceptible to ordinary people.

This was not a aimless search, but rather a search following the primordial aura of the Time Beast from the "Time Realm" within the body, and the increasingly clear spatial and temporal Dao pattern in the mind's eye, pointing in the direction of the unseen.

The vast starry sky is often characterized by deathly silence. Countless stars, some burning brightly, others lying coldly still, move along predetermined trajectories, enacting the unchanging laws of physics.

However, after wandering for countless days, in a desolate edge of a starfield far from life and where even stardust was scarce, Lin Xuan's divine sense finally caught a faint ripple that resonated strongly with the spacetime imprint within him.

The ripples were neither energy fluctuations nor material existences; they were more like... folds of rules, scars of time, existing silently in the background of the void. Unless one had a considerable understanding of the laws of space and time, even an immortal venerable would only regard them as ordinary spatial ripples and ignore them.

"Found it."

Lin Xuan stopped and hovered in the void, his gaze sharp as torches, piercing through billions of miles to precisely target the darkness that appeared to be devoid of anything.

At the level of his primordial spirit's perception, there existed an extremely fragile "point," constantly arising and disappearing like bubbles in water, a spacetime node connecting to an unknown land.

Around the node, the light is slightly distorted, as if observing the world through frosted glass, subtly revealing an unusual sense of time that is out of place with the surrounding starry sky.

"Time boundary..."

He murmured to himself, a hint of reminiscence and anticipation flashing in his eyes, which were as deep as the ancient starry sky.

The last time it projected into this world, it transformed into a solitary orchid rooted in the sea of ​​time and light through the profound mystery of transcendence. It absorbed the precious initial understanding of the laws of time and fed back to its original body. This not only stabilized the foundation that had been shaken by the creation of reincarnation, but also promoted the fusion of reincarnation and transcendence. It can be said that it benefited a lot.

However, due to my limited understanding of time and space, I was mostly passively receiving and observing that projection, like watching a fire from across the river. Although I could see the momentum, I could not grasp its essence, and many mysteries of time remained shrouded in mist.

Now, his nascent soul is perfect and flawless, the order of reincarnation is initially established, his foundation in the underworld is solid, and his transcendence is more firm and pure after being tempered in the battle with the Immortal Venerable. His understanding of time and space is far beyond what it used to be.

It is time to once again proactively engage with the mysteries of the origin of time and conduct a deeper and more proactive exploration.

Without hesitation, Lin Xuan sat cross-legged in the void, his body as steady as a rock, as if he had merged with the silent starry sky.

His hands naturally formed a mudra in front of him, not some earth-shattering technique, but it contained his most essential understanding of the Dao.

The spacetime runes between his brows suddenly lit up, emitting a hazy and cool glow, like a miniature star in the night sky.

His divine sense was highly concentrated, transforming the illusory into the real, becoming a strand of thought that was thousands of times thinner than a hair, yet contained his entire understanding and power of space and time. It shimmered with an almost imperceptible chaotic hue, cautiously probing towards that ever-changing space-time node that seemed on the verge of collapse at any moment.

Unlike the hardness or flexibility of ordinary world barriers, this spacetime node felt "slippery" and "fragile" to him, as if he were touching flowing mercury or holding a piece of easily broken glass. If he exerted too much force, he would not only lose his coordinates, but might even trigger a small-scale spacetime turbulence that would backfire on him.

He had to control every single bit of power output with extreme precision, so that the fluctuation frequency of the divine consciousness thread itself could achieve a dynamic and perfect resonance with the chaotic yet uniquely regular fluctuations within that time-space node.

"Buzz—"

A barely audible tremor, seemingly originating from the depths of the soul, was heard as the thread of divine consciousness successfully connected to the node, like a key being inserted into a lock.

In an instant, Lin Xuan felt his main consciousness being pulled by an irresistible force, instantly detaching him from most of his perception of his own body and entering a bizarre and fantastical passage that transcended the ordinary understanding of the material universe.

The familiar starry sky was no longer around, but instead, countless distorted, broken, and kaleidoscope-like, rapidly shifting, colorful lights and shadows.

Fragments of the past and future are like bubbles churning in a torrent, constantly arising and ceasing, sometimes revealing familiar or unfamiliar scenes, and sometimes transforming into pure lines of law.

A vast, chaotic yet orderly torrent of time washed over his consciousness with unprecedented intensity, attempting to erase his individual imprint, assimilate him, and sweep him into the endless, turbulent flow of time, making him part of the nourishment of this river of time.

"Certainly."

Lin Xuan's mind stirred slightly, but remained undisturbed. The power of reincarnation originating from the very core of his consciousness spontaneously activated, spreading rapidly like the most solid foundation, transforming into a miniature yet incredibly solid phantom of the underworld, firmly protecting his vital core of consciousness within it.

Within the illusory image, the Yellow Springs flowed, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation slowly rotated, emanating a majestic Daoist aura that suppressed everything and regulated order.

No matter how turbulent the outside world may be, I remain steadfast within the cycle of reincarnation, the past, present, and future unchanged, my true self undimmed.

At the same time, the transcendent mark hidden deep in his soul trembled slightly, emanating a transcendent realm that transcends all laws and worlds. This allowed him to observe and analyze the composition of this time channel, the flow of energy, and the specific manifestation of the omnipresent laws of time with a calm perspective akin to that of "God" or the creator, stripping away the interference of emotions.

With this extreme focus and dual protection, his understanding of the laws of time is improving at an astonishing rate.

Many things that were previously obscure and difficult to understand have now become clear in this place where the most fundamental laws are manifested.

It is unknown how long this state lasted. Perhaps it was only a moment to the outside world, or perhaps tens of thousands of years have passed. In the time tunnel, time itself cannot be measured by common sense.

Just as he gained a new understanding of a certain characteristic of the laws of time, a stable light, radiating a soft and pure white light, finally appeared in the endless chaotic light and shadow ahead.

The light gave people a feeling of both "home" and "source".

"arrive."

With a highly concentrated consciousness, like a divine sword forged through countless trials, it actively pierced towards that layer of light membrane.

A familiar feeling of weightlessness, as if penetrating a layer of warm water, came over him, but it was instantly soothed by his powerful control. Lin Xuan's "gaze"—the perception of this wisp of consciousness projection—quickly scanned the surroundings.

He descended once more, appearing in the temporal realm as a more condensed projection of pure consciousness, imbued with the true meaning of reincarnation and transcendence.

The scene before him seemed not much different in a macroscopic sense from when he last left. The sky was still that eternal, chaotic color, as if composed of countless colors constantly mixing and separating, without the outlines of the sun, moon, and stars, yet it emitted a uniform and strange halo, illuminating the earth.

The vast earth, mountains, rivers, and even the shapes of plants and trees all exude a strong sense of unreal fluidity, as if they are not fixed matter, but some kind of solidified illusion of time, which will change its appearance in the next moment, or simply dissipate into time.

However, Lin Xuan's extremely keen sense of space and time immediately told him that this "descent point" was definitely not the same space-time coordinate as the last one.

The "flow of time" in his surroundings felt completely different to him, even worlds apart.

Last time, he arrived in a region where the flow of time was relatively "normal," roughly synchronized with or slightly faster than the outside universe. This gave him the opportunity to observe the entire process of that small tribe's rise and fall from a relatively calm perspective, and to gain a preliminary understanding of the ruthlessness of time. But this time…

He hovered in mid-air, his gaze falling on a seemingly vibrant primeval jungle below, which in fact was a testament to extreme speed.

In his perception, everything below was unfolding at an almost frenzied pace the entire process of life's birth, growth, competition, reproduction, and decay.

A plant that seemed to have just sprouted from the soil, with tender green buds, had grown wildly in the short three breaths he was "watching," spreading branches and leaves, its roots penetrating deep into the earth, its trunk rapidly expanding, and it had grown into a towering tree with lush foliage that required several people to encircle!

Beside it, another equally enormous ancient tree, seemingly standing for a thousand years, was decaying at a visible speed. Its emerald green leaves turned yellow and withered in a few breaths, falling one after another. Its bare branches quickly lost moisture, becoming dry and brittle, and its bark peeled off. Finally, it collapsed with a crash in an invisible gust of wind.

The massive torso crashed to the ground, kicking up countless specks of dust, which were then quickly covered and decomposed by the wildly growing fungi and moss, turning into nutrients that nourished a new wave of life in the surrounding area.

In Lin Xuan's perception, the entire process of this ancient tree going from flourishing to complete decay and dust lasted only about ten breaths!

In the jungle, a strange-looking, six-legged, scale-covered small beast cautiously emerges from its cave.

It nimbly darts among the rapidly growing vegetation, foraging, fighting with its own kind, inflicting wounds on its body, which then heal rapidly under its powerful vitality. It emits courtship calls, finds a mate, reproduces, and then its movements become sluggish, its scales lose their luster, and finally it staggers and collapses deep in the jungle. Its flesh is quickly decomposed by other fungi that grow and reproduce at an astonishing rate, and its bones are exposed, rapidly weathering and crumbling under the accelerated erosion of wind and rain, eventually merging into the soil.

In Lin Xuan's perception, the entire life of this six-legged little beast, from its birth to its complete return to dust, lasted less than half an hour!

"A day is like a hundred years..." Lin Xuan felt a chill run down his spine, confirming his judgment once again. This was by no means an exaggeration, but rather the cold, undeniable rule of time that was truly unfolding before his very eyes!

The flow of time here is tens of thousands of times faster than in the normal universe outside. One day outside is probably a hundred years, or even longer, here! This is a rate that would make any life accustomed to the normal order of time feel despair and suffocation.

Although his projected avatar was composed of a highly condensed consciousness and an understanding of the laws of space and time, and was not limited by the lifespan of his physical body in this place, he could still clearly feel the omnipresent and frantically flowing power of time.

Like countless fine, scorching grains of sand, they relentlessly eroded every "thought" formed by the incarnation, attempting to accelerate the projection towards its end—dissipation.

"No wonder there are few traces of civilization left in this world." Lin Xuan pondered, his understanding deepening.

At such a terrifyingly rapid pace of time, it would be virtually impossible to ignite any spark of civilization that requires the accumulation of knowledge, the inheritance of technology, and the continuation of generations.

Living beings are born in the morning and die at night; individual wisdom has no time to settle before it is annihilated in the long river of time.

Occasionally a flash of inspiration would appear, but it was quickly swallowed up by the tide of death.

Those who can survive in this world are perhaps only special races or individuals whose life forms are extremely adapted to this time environment (such as having a very short lifespan but super reproductive capacity) or who are born with a near-eternal lifespan, enough to leave traces and form memories even in "accelerated" mode.

He tried to move the projection. With a thought, his figure appeared a hundred miles away.

Movement speed itself does not seem to be greatly affected by the time acceleration in this place, because this involves spatial rules.

But when he tried to mobilize a sliver of energy to simulate casting a small spell, he immediately discovered that the entire process—from the condensation of energy and the activation of laws to the formation of the spell and even the final explosion—was extremely compressed under the acceleration of time.

If one were to engage in combat here, and the enemy were also accustomed to this time sequence, then the contest of moves, the clash of spiritual senses, and the confrontation of laws could be completed in a fraction of a second. This would pose an extreme and even harsh test to the cultivator's instantaneous reaction speed, the strength of their spiritual sense, and their precise control over the instantaneous use of laws.

He raised his "hand," formed from consciousness, and carefully felt the flow of the laws of time at his fingertips, which seemed to have a tangible touch.

The laws here are no longer obscure ripples that require effort to capture, but rather like a roaring, surging river—clear, magnificent, and full of primal and savage power, yet also more chaotic, violent, and full of unpredictable variables.

The last time he was projected, he had to rely on the power of transcending the mark to slowly and carefully absorb it, like a delicate orchid.

At this moment, he felt as if he were standing directly near the source of the laws. The chaotic and mighty torrent of time was about to instantly destroy and assimilate his projection avatar, which was ten times stronger than before.

"Reincarnation is the boat, transcendence is the rudder."

Lin Xuan's thoughts shifted again, and the projected avatar flashed slightly, becoming even more solid.

The Dao of Reincarnation flowing within his body surged forth, transforming into a seemingly thin yet incredibly resilient halo that enveloped his entire being. On this halo, countless tiny Reincarnation runes appeared and disappeared, cleverly guiding and diverting most of the chaotic torrent of time that was rushing towards him to both sides, like a pillar in the middle of a stream, firmly guarding the foundation of his own existence.

The transcendent realm, however, acts like a stabilizing force, maintaining the absolute clarity and independence of his consciousness, preventing him from being misled by the rapidly changing and dazzling scenery, and from indulging in the sensory impact brought about by any kind of time speed.

Like a determined traveler going against the current, he began to wander through this terrifying area where "a day is a hundred years".

He saw mountains rise rapidly amidst thunderous roars, only to collapse in the next moment; he saw rivers rush wildly before quickly changing course, eventually drying up and exposing their riverbeds; he saw species evolve explosively in a short period of time, occupying ecological niches, only to become extinct on a large scale soon after due to drastic environmental changes or internal competition… Everything was repeating, with a suffocating, almost wasteful efficiency, the geographical and ecological changes that the normal universe would take tens of thousands, millions, or even longer to complete.

In this extreme environment, through firsthand experience and calm observation, his understanding of "time" was forcibly elevated, broadened, and deepened to a completely new level.

"Fast and slow, life and death, prosperity and decline... all are relative." He understood more deeply, as if a layer of fog had been lifted from his heart.

"For a mayfly, a day is a complete life, brilliant yet fleeting; for creatures in this world, a hundred years is as fleeting as a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall, leaving no time to ponder its meaning; for the stars and the universe, billions of years are but a blink of an eye, cold yet endless."

Reincarnation transcends the linear timescale of a single life, encompassing the cycle of birth and death at all rates, witnessing the joys and sorrows, the formation, existence, decay, and emptiness of life at different temporal velocities. To transcend this, one must attain enlightenment, realizing one's true nature and remaining steadfast in one's essence regardless of the pace of time.

He no longer merely passively observed and defended; he began to actively guide and interfere with the chaotic time laws within a certain range around him.

The projected avatar subtly adjusted its internal structure, transforming into a miniature, controllable spacetime vortex. With the Transcendence Mark at its core, it slowly but firmly absorbed and analyzed the violent and primal power of time.

Each active absorption and analysis is like drinking the most intense and primal wine of law, bringing intense "intoxication" and shocks to the soul. It's as if countless fragments of time are exploding in his consciousness. But all these shocks are resolved, smoothed out, and absorbed by his now indestructible Dao heart and the freely operating power of reincarnation, transforming them into the most fundamental understanding of time.

These extremely precious and profound insights into the changes in the "rate" of time transcend the boundaries of dimensions and ignore the barriers of space and time, continuously and increasingly clearly feeding back to the original entity that resides at the core in the underworld.

The underworld, the deepest part of the underworld palace.

Lin Xuan, the true form of the body, sat cross-legged on the futon where the Dao of Reincarnation was concentrated. His aura, which was originally like a dragon lurking in the abyss or the vastness of the starry sky, rippled slightly before returning to calm. However, in subtle ways, it seemed to become even more restrained and profound.

The process of fusion of the primordial spirit, which had stabilized after the initial enlightenment of the origin of time, now seemed to be infused with a brand new, vibrant, and ever-changing source.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, the blurry yet majestic outline of the primordial spirit, and the illusory image of the river of time that runs through all the heavens and myriad realms reflected in the left eye, seemed to have lost its constant flow. It showed subtle signs of acceleration and deceleration, becoming more dynamic and closer to the unpredictable nature of the laws of time.

Our understanding of "time" is no longer limited to its uniform flow, but has begun to delve deeper into the infinite mysteries of its "rate" changes and the profound mechanisms by which it affects all things.

In the realm of time, the projected avatar slowly opened its "eyes" formed from consciousness. It "looked" into the deeper part of this area, into a place where even the chaotic sky seemed more distorted and the earth's shape changed more frequently.

The flow of time there felt several times more terrifying to him than the "one day is a hundred years" place beneath his feet. The fluctuations of the laws of time were also more chaotic and primitive, filled with an extreme aura of destruction and rebirth.

"This place is indeed an excellent place to temper one's spiritual awareness, comprehend changes in the rate of time, and hone one's Dao heart."

A faint smile curved his lips, and his eyes, instead of showing fear, ignited an even stronger desire to explore and a hint of fearless excitement.

Crisis contains opportunity, and this extreme time environment is exactly the whetstone he needs right now.

The projected avatar no longer lingered. Its surrounding halo of reincarnation and transcendent intent merged, transforming into a more condensed, strange stream of light that seemed to be able to ignore the erosion of time to a certain extent. No longer afraid of the more violent laws, it instead took the initiative to rush towards the depths of the realm where the flow of time was more frantic, chaotic, and dangerous.