After Lin Yuan condensed his past self, he only slightly tried exploring past timelines.
But he merely skimmed the surface without delving deeply, and only considered the present self as an anchor point, making it easy to lose oneself.
Many Time Lords disappeared without a trace, mostly getting lost in the past timelines.
Otherwise, considering the other two paths of transcendence, 'Infinite Calamity'—even if one fails at tribulation, before the consciousness of the Supreme Rule Dao descends to wipe out, there's still some ability to arrange for aftermaths.
And the Perfect Life? The movement upon entering the Fourteenth Rank is enormous, with that transformation phenomenon from a time life to a Perfect Time Being, even if the final result fails, it leaves a profound impact, even ruins.
Only the Infinite Origin Source seems much safer than the other two paths, but its true dangers aren't much lower.
But now? The future self is formed, the past, future, and present seem like one.
Even if Lin Yuan isn't a Lord, he is better able to resist the peril of getting lost than ordinary Lords.
And the peril of getting lost can only be encountered at extremely ancient past time nodes.
Lin Yuan merely explored a bit, nothing would go wrong.
The timeline continuously flows backward, and Lin Yuan becomes more cautious.
"Except for me, everything is illusion?"
Lin Yuan glanced around, at this moment, he was situated in a past timeframe two Great Extinction Cycles away from the present.
"Must not leave any trace."
Lin Yuan thought to himself, leaving traces or influences in the past timeline could be big or small.
If small, it wouldn't bring changes to the future, and there'd be no trouble.
But if it's significant, like affecting the occurrence of a major event, the backlash force originating from the timeline would be a headache even for Lords.
"Blue Cliff Mountain."
Soon, Lin Yuan arrived at a past timeline twelve Great Extinction Cycles away from the present, gazing at a blue icy mountain that doesn't fit in with the surrounding phantom objects.
In the eyes of non-time beings from this timeline, this blue icy mountain is very apparent, every Lord who explores this timeframe can discover it.
For those at the Third Realm level Lord, the means to influence the past, establishing a place in the past timeline for 'interaction' that only Lords can find and enter isn't hard.
"Go in."
Lin Yuan's mind slightly moved.
He directly stepped in.
Establishing an 'interaction' place within the past timeline, besides being sufficiently covert, is also for safety reasons.
After all, this type of 'interaction' place, those who entered are from non-present timelines, they wouldn't act rashly.
For two beings at Lord level, unless they're crazy, they definitely wouldn't dare to fight in the past timeline, as the shockwaves from their combat would affect and eventually accumulate into overwhelming backlash…
Inside Blue Cliff Mountain lies a vast world, a terrifying presence gathering in threes and twos, all of them Time Lords.
Basically, every Time Lord leaves a spiritual avatar in Blue Cliff Mountain, facilitating exchange with other Time Lords at any time.
After Lin Yuan entered, he didn't draw attention from other Time Lords.
In the outside world, Time Lords are extremely rare, hard to find in vast dimensional gap areas.
But here… those who can enter are all Time Lords, time beings below Lord level can't even discover it.
Of course, Lin Yuan is an exception, though not a Time Lord, he's indistinguishable from them.
"Spacetime Shop?"
Lin Yuan approached a structure with 'Spacetime Shop' carved into its surface.
Since Blue Cliff Mountain is a place for Lord level 'exchange,' naturally there's a place for transactions too.
Lin Yuan stepped inside, quickly greeted by a creature with twelve eyes.
"May I ask what you seek?"
The twelve-eyed creature spoke gently.
"Such a strong oppressive feeling?" Lin Yuan was startled; this twelve-eyed beast's spiritual avatar alone gave him an oppression stronger than the Three-Life Immortal Emperor.
"I want some Third Realm materials." Lin Yuan hadn't forgotten his purpose.
To evolve the Origin Clock into a Lord-grade weapon, it requires a large amount of Third Realm materials.
"Please take a look."
The twelve-eyed beast didn't say much, flipping its hand to form layers of light screens.
Recorded on them were numerous Lord-grade materials.
Prices ranged from low to high, with the lowest being ten thousand Time Sand, and the highest reaching billions of Time Sand, some couldn't be exchanged with Time Sand and require barter.
"Too expensive." Lin Yuan realized he was very poor.
Although possessing Lord-grade battle power, ultimately his accumulation time was too short, poorer compared to normal Second Realm time beings.
A typical Lord, having gone through long years of cultivation and gradual accumulation, is never as poor as Lin Yuan.
"I'll consider a bit more."
Lin Yuan said.
"No problem."
The twelve-eyed beast had no objections.
Lord-grade materials are valuable, naturally comparing among different shops is necessary.
"I see you're here at Blue Cliff Mountain for the first time, surely you just stepped into the Third Realm, right?"
The twelve-eyed creature looked at Lin Yuan, smiling while inquiring.
"Yes."
Lin Yuan nodded.
Most seasoned Lords leave a long-term spiritual avatar within Blue Cliff Mountain.
Lin Yuan hadn't appeared here before, evidently his first time, which usually happens to newly ascended Lords.
"We time beings undergo countless tribulations, finally reaching the Third Realm, only to discover how arduous the path of transcendence is." The twelve-eyed creature couldn't help but express some emotions.
In the eyes of First Realm and Second Realm time beings, Time Lords are lofty, traversing past timelines with incredibly inconceivable methods.
But in reality, the path faced by the lords is far more despairing than that of First Realm and Second Realm Time beings.
Three paths to transcendence, a single misstep and it means total annihilation.
"Indeed."
Lin Yuan nodded.
In truth, if the Time Lords choose to 'slack off', they can live quite comfortably.
However, with the three paths to transcendence there, aside from the Perfect Life path, can any Time Lord resist the temptation to try the other two?
Yet once they try, problems are easy to arise.
For instance, the Infinite Origin, when exploring an ancient time segment, perhaps moving further leads to transcendence, who can resist not continuing to explore?
And by continuing to explore, one might end up lost in disaster.
There are endless calamities too, perhaps you feel the next calamity is not a big problem, but what if the difficulty suddenly surges and you fail, the outcome is being erased by the Supreme Rule Dao consciousness.
Moreover, lords who have cultivated to the Third Realm are all deeply eager to transcend. The higher the realm, the keener the vision, the greater the desire to break their own grand destiny, ultimately they will keep trying the paths to transcendence, and eventually die on these paths.
From a certain angle, as long as there is no transcendence, the end of Time Lords is extinction, merely a matter of time.
Life under the Thirteenth may vaguely continue living, but not Time Lords. They have already seen through some of the essence of the infinite dimensional space.
…
"Having just stepped into the Third Realm, presumably the sands of time are not abundant, would you be interested in earning some sands of time?" The twelve-eyed beast mused for a moment, then suddenly spoke.
"Earning some sands of time?"
Lin Yuan's interest was piqued, "How to earn?"
"Not long from now, the Wanwei Space is about to open. Many lords are preparing to join forces for exploration. I just happen to know a few lords who are looking for a Third Realm partner to explore within. Would you be interested?"
The twelve-eyed beast said.
"Wanwei Space?"
Lin Yuan's heart fluttered.
"Wanwei Space is a special space-time formed by the Wanwei Lord before falling after failing to become a Perfect Time Being, gathering all of his essence."
The twelve-eyed beast paused, continuing to explain: "The Wanwei Lord has reportedly reached the third level on the 'Endless Calamities' path to transcendence, and has crossed the second hundred million calamity on the third level. It's just unclear what affected him in the end, making him abandon the 'Endless Calamities' path to transcendence and instead attempt to become a Perfect Time Being."
The twelve-eyed beast's expression was quite complicated.
The path of Endless Calamities to transcendence is divided into three levels.
The third level is the final stage, with a total of three hundred thirty million calamities; the Wanwei Lord crossed the first two hundred million, clearly reaching the later stage of this path.
Yet ultimately, he didn't choose to continue this path to transcendence, instead opting for the life-fated path of Perfect Time Being?
In fact, if there's no assurance, no Time Lord will willingly attempt Perfect Time Being, relying not on effort on this path, which leaves many lords feeling uneasy."
"Wanwei Lord."
Lin Yuan was inwardly amazed.
Each calamity crossed on the Endless Calamities path strengthens one's power level by a fraction, having traversed the third level of calamities, and within this level crossed two hundred million times.
How strong is this Wanwei Lord's power level?
Due to the uniqueness of the Endless Calamities path, the strength hierarchy among Time Lords is essentially based on this path to transcendence.
The more Endless Calamities one has crossed, the stronger one's power naturally is.
A Time Lord passing through the first phase of Endless Calamities normally is already considered a veteran lord.
A Time Lord reaching the last eight thousand calamities of the second phase is already regarded as a truly terrifying existence, not mentioning the lord's own power, merely the enhancement derived from passing tens of billions of earlier calamities is enough to distance other lords.
As for lords entering the third level of Endless Calamities? They are already legendary, lords at this level have basically seen the hope of transcendence, and their power level undergoes a qualitative transformation compared to the previous two levels.
"The Wanwei Space, formed from all of the Wanwei Lord's essence before he fell, contains many secrets of the Wanwei Lord, including the reason for his final choice to attempt Perfect Time Being."
The twelve-eyed beast said: "Furthermore, the Wanwei Space also holds all treasures of the Wanwei Lord, who is too ancient, the treasures he amassed, any few can drive ordinary lords crazy."
"So every time the Wanwei Space opens, it attracts many lords to explore."
The twelve-eyed beast glanced at Lin Yuan.
"I see."
Lin Yuan nodded.
"I wonder what the requirements are?"
Lin Yuan inquired.
"Wait a moment; I'll let them speak to you."
The twelve-eyed beast promptly made contact.
Before long.
A figure entirely composed of white mist entered.
"Ye Wu, I have found you a lord." The twelve-eyed beast greeted.
"Hm."
The white mist figure looked at Lin Yuan, speaking: "You can call me 'Ye Wu'. Regarding exploring the Wanwei Space, I trust the shopkeeper has spoken to you."
"He has mentioned some things."
Lin Yuan nodded.
"With your joining us, there's not much you need to do, only need to strike at critical moments. If causing the main battle body to fall, we will provide additional compensation." Lord Ye Wu said.
Effectively a 'sentry'… Lin Yuan immediately comprehended his position.
"During this period, you must act according to our orders. If any losses occur, we can provide compensation." Lord Ye Wu emphasized again.
"Hm."
Lin Yuan nodded.
The requirements don't seem high.
"Once the deed is done, I will give you ten thousand pounds of sands of time as payment." Lord Ye Wu declared.
"Ten thousand pounds of sands of time?" Lin Yuan felt quite satisfied.
Currently, his entire assets came to just two or three thousand pounds of sands of time, ten thousand pounds of sands of time, many Second Realm endless years of accumulation amounts to just this.
And this is merely payment for a single act by a lord.
"How long does exploring the Wanwei Space roughly take?" Lin Yuan thought for a moment and asked.
"A million to ten million years." Lord Ye Wu said.
"A million to ten million years?" Lin Yuan slightly furrowed his eyebrows, "Need to follow your orders this entire time?"
"Yes."
Lord Ye Wu nodded.
"The time is too prolonged."
Lin Yuan stated directly.
According to his current cultivation speed, in at most a hundred thousand years, he could become a lord.
And with Lin Yuan's accumulation, once he becomes a lord, he certainly positions himself among the strongly tiered lords.
Expending ten thousand pounds of sands of time to employ a newly minted lord for a million, ten million years, no problem.
But employing a strongly tiered lord for a million, ten million years? That price far exceeds this.
"Then how long do you propose?" Lord Ye Wu queried.
"No more than fifty thousand years." Lin Yuan said: "If exceeding fifty thousand years, an increase in sands of time is necessary."
"Then forget it."
Lord Ye Wu immediately shook his head.
A million, ten million years is as brief as a moment for a lord.
"Shopkeeper, I'm leaving now."
Lord Ye Wu turned and left the Time-Space Shop.
Since both sides cannot accept each other's proposed requirements, the deal naturally fails.
…
Outside the Time-Space Shop.
In front of Lord Ye Wu, a figure of the twelve-eyed beast condensed.
Precisely the shopkeeper of the Time-Space Shop.
"Ye Wu, you should have offered more." The twelve-eyed beast looked at Lord Ye Wu, "The demands you proposed, and yet fooling these newly appointed Time Lords, compensating for losses during Wanwei Space exploration? If truly encountering irreversible losses, what compensation can you offer?"
"Wanwei Space's opening attracts some terrifying lords to enter, demanding a lord completely heed your orders, yet merely offering ten thousand pounds of sands of time?"
The twelve-eyed beast shook its head.
"Attempting to earn ten thousand pounds of sands of time over a million, ten million years, how could there be no risk involved?" Lord Ye Wu spoke with indifference: "If I were to offer more sands of time, why wouldn't I find a seasoned Time Lord instead?"
"Shopkeeper, you are too compassionate; he mentions adding a bit, and you'd wish me to add a bit?" Lord Ye Wu chuckled, "In my view, that newly appointed Time Lord is worth only this price."