Archean Eon Art

Chapter 742: Three Thousand Years of Traveling

Translator: CKtalon

Nine Tribulations Planet was very famous, but no one knew who its creator was. Was it an Eighth Tribulation Eminence from their universe? Or was it a foreign Eighth Tribulation Eminence who had traveled here and had been inspired to produce the painting?

Everything was possible.

With Meng Chuan’s realm, he could determine the nine paintings’ order just by looking at them. By using the Eternal mystic technique—the six-stroke runic seal—he could see the changes in the nine paintings from afar.

Whoosh.

Meng Chuan landed on the first painting. It was also the first painting drawn by the mysterious Eighth Tribulation Eminence on Nine Tribulations Planet.

This painting was composed of five large lakes, four swamps, a large plain, and rivers that connected between them. This painting was the most ordinary of the nine paintings. When Meng Chuan landed on the plain, baneful aura immediately surged toward him.

Whoos.h.!.+

Three thousand tiny Dark Chaos Holes floated around Meng Chuan; they only protected him for 500 kilometers. They only defended and didn’t attack, allowing the baneful aura to strike at them.

If one falls into the Nine Tribulations Painting, they will be attacked. However, this is ultimately a baneful aura that’s triggered by the painting. It’s not deliberately set up by the Eighth Tribulation Eminence; it’s not very powerful. Even a newly-advanced ordinary Seventh Tribulation Eminence can withstand the first five paintings. A top Seventh Tribulation Eminence can also walk through all nine paintings.

This is the crux of the first painting. Meng Chuan studied it for an hour. His Essence Soul avatar—which was far away on Dry Origin Mountain—had instead been studying it for more than a day.

After comprehending the first painting completely, he took a step and walked to the crux of the painting. This seemed like an ordinary region, but the baneful aura’s influence had weakened to a negligible level for up to a kilometer.

The second painting. Meng Chuan flew toward the second painting.

…

Meng Chuan stayed in the first painting for an hour. He stayed in the second painting for six hours.

Meng Chuan stayed in the sixth painting for a month and a half.

Meng Chuan stayed in the seventh painting for three years.

Meng Chuan had stayed in the eighth painting for ten years. Considering the 33-fold faster time flow on Dry Origin Mountain, Meng Chuan had truly spent an astonis.h.i.+ng amount of time.

Boom!

Dark waves surged in the vast ocean as the baneful aura shook the world.

The ocean and over 3,000 islands formed the terrifying eighth painting. Just the baneful aura contained in the eighth painting required a top Seventh Tribulation Eminence to resist it with all their might.

What a powerful spear art. In Meng Chuan’s eyes, the ocean and islands were in the form of a spear.

The spear danced as the universe trembled.

Time for the ninth painting. Meng Chuan had stayed here for ten years. After gaining some insights, he couldn’t help but walk toward the ninth painting.

The ninth painting was the highest mountain range on Nine Tribulations Planet.

The towering mountain controlled everything in the river and land. When Meng Chuan walked in, he felt the pressure the ninth painting exerted on him. However, the baneful aura was scattered and unsystematic. The threat it posed was greatly reduced; it was far inferior to the eighth painting’s might.

A pity. Meng Chuan was very disappointed. He shook his head gently. That Eighth Tribulation Eminence wanted to create a spear art of a higher realm. He wanted to attempt creating a spear art at the ninth Heavenly Tribulation realm, but he clearly has flaws. It’s inferior to the eighth painting. The first eight paintings are a complete set of spear arts, while the ninth painting is flawed.

Although Meng Chuan could use Painting Dao mystic techniques to supplement his cultivation with regards to textual legacies, it would still be very difficult for him to cultivate them. But if the creator fused their insights into a painting, it would be easier for Meng Chuan to understand it.

He was more sensitive to paintings.

Meng Chuan had only roughly comprehended the spear art contained in Nine Tribulations Planet’s first eight paintings after staying there for more than ten years. He settled down in Nine Tribulations Planet for 30 years before he truly comprehended a complete ultimate technique.

What an amazing spear art. It’s the most domineering and strongest ultimate technique I’ve ever seen. Meng Chuan already had a complete set of spear arts in his mind. He had completely extracted the spear art from the painting, but he still couldn’t completely comprehend some of the moves. After all, he was only a top Seventh Tribulation Eminence.

It’s no wonder he dared to attempt to create a spear art at the Ninth Tribulation realm. This Eighth Tribulation Eminence… might not be far from Dragon Ancestor. Meng Chuan had seen Dragon Ancestor and other existences create universes. He had also comprehended the complete spear art from the nine paintings. Therefore, he could roughly determine the level of this mysterious Eighth Tribulation Eminence’s strength. At the same time, he guessed that the creator of Nine Tribulations Planet’s paintings wasn’t from his universe.

This was because the strongest person in his universe was Dragon Ancestor. Next were Fiend Mountain’s owner and the others. None of them were famous for their spear arts.

Although I’m an Essence Soul Seventh Tribulation Eminence, I can fuse the spear arts into my Essence Soul World and the array formation. Meng Chuan was rather delighted. He never expected to learn the strongest mystic technique he knew to date from Nine Tribulations Planet. Although the Eternal mystic technique—six-stroke runic seal—was the most valuable, it was a supplementary formulation and not used for combat.

Meng Chuan determined that this spear art was nearly comparable to Dragon Ancestor’s universe creation. After all, he had learned many Eighth Tribulation mystic techniques over the years, but none of them could match this spear art.

…

After staying on Nine Tribulations Planet for 43 years, Meng Chuan headed to the ruins left behind by other Eighth Tribulation Eminences.

Sword Refinement Cave—which contained thousands of swords—Nightmare Planet, which could trap Seventh Tribulation Eminences, and the strange Black Mountain Cave Abode on a black mountain that floated in the void… Most of the ruins left behind by Eighth Tribulation Eminences weren’t dangerous to the current Meng Chuan.

He roamed around and studied the traces left behind by Eighth Tribulation Eminences. Although he didn’t comprehend a powerful ultimate technique like the Nine Tribulations Spear Art, he gained many scattered insights.

Meng Chuan traveled across his home universe for over 100 years, covering all the Eighth Tribulation Eminences’ ruins.

After all, there were too few ruins; there were only a few dozen of them. Meng Chuan spent the most time at the painting ruin—Nine Tribulations Planet. He spent much less time elsewhere.

As Dry Origin Mountain’s time flow was 33 times faster than his home universe, Meng Chuan’s century of traveling actually resulted in him cultivating for more than 3,000 years. A significant portion of the time was spent at Nine Tribulations Planet.

I’ve gone to all the Eighth Tribulation ruins that I can find in my home universe. Meng Chuan stood above a huge handprint and recalled his travels over the years. He had been following the Eighth Tribulation Eminences’ footprints, and these different footprints… ultimately had something in common—the s.p.a.cetime law.

Meng Chuan’s understanding of the temporal law became clearer.

Without focusing on how to fuse them, just the large number of scattered insights made his overall understanding gradually become clearer.

Meng Chuan understood that he would probably be able to completely grasp the temporal law in 10,000 to 20,000 years if he continued acc.u.mulating insights, even if he didn’t experience any additional stimulus.

Although Hall Lord White Avian had reached the half-step Eighth Tribulation realm in less than 30,000 years, he should perform better after obtaining an Eternal opportunity.

But Meng Chuan also understood a principle—cultivation was not a compet.i.tion.

He couldn’t rush it! More haste, less speed!

Oh right. Meng Chuan recalled another Eighth Tribulation ruin—Fiend Mountain!

I’ve been studying the temporal law all these years. I haven’t been to Fiend Mountain in a long time. I wonder if I can reach the peak. I wonder what’s on Fiend Mountain’s peak? With this in mind, Meng Chuan took a step toward Fiend Mountain.

Chapter 743: Epiphany

Translator: CKtalon

Fiend Mountain World.

Meng Chuan walked on the path of the mind and looked up at the tallest mountain peak. Over the years, generations of cultivators had replaced one another on this path. However, Fiend Mountain remained unchanged. The loud voice on the mountain peak remained eternal and indestructible.

Swoosh.

He advanced step by step along the path of the mind. With each step, he traversed 50 kilometers. Meng Chuan quickly arrived at the limit of his previous journey—49,000 kilometers.

Oh? Meng Chuan stopped. The mountaintop’s voice echoed in his Essence Soul like rolling thunder; the pressure was immense. It looks like my willpower hasn’t improved much since the last time I was here.

The last time he came, he had grasped the Chaos Hole law and created his Essence Soul formulation, Painting World.

Compared to his previous visit, he had only grasped an additional Origins law—the Heaven Splitting law. Although he had studied the temporal law for many years, he ultimately hadn’t broken through. It was within his expectations that his willpower hadn’t improved much.

So many years have pa.s.sed after all. After transcending the tribulation and grasping an additional Origins law, my Essence Soul World is even more stable… Perhaps I have a chance of reaching the mountaintop. With this in mind, Meng Chuan advanced step by step.

The voice on the mountaintop became louder.

49,500 kilometers, 50,000 kilometers, 50,500 kilometers…

As Meng Chuan walked slowly, his view of the mountaintop became clearer. He could even see a faint golden glow on the mountaintop.

The moment he saw the golden light, Meng Chuan felt an endless attraction. His instincts told him to rush over!

It’s getting harder and harder. Meng Chuan persisted.

The mountaintop’s sound now had an increasing impact on his Essence Soul, but he didn’t gain anything. At his current realm, it was very difficult for his mind and willpower to improve at all.

51,000 kilometers, 51,500 kilometers, 51,750 kilometers…

I can’t go any further. Meng Chuan stopped. At the moment, he was around the 51,950 kilometer mark. This is my current limit. It looks like there’s still a gap between my willpower and Senior Realm Ancestor’s. Senior Realm Ancestor has long reached the top.

Meng Chuan was confident. This was because he had been focused on cultivation in recent years; he didn’t spend much effort on the Essence Soul formulation. As long as he fused the Heaven Splitting law and the temporal law’s three foundational aspects into his Essence Soul formulation and continued perfecting it, he believed that his mind and willpower would improve. That way, he would definitely be able to reach the mountaintop. He was only a short stretch away from the mountaintop.

Looking up, Meng Chuan could confirm that he was 550 kilometers away from the mountaintop.

With his current realm, even though he was suppressed by Fiend Mountain, the distance of 550 kilometers was already very close. Meng Chuan could clearly see the mountaintop.

A faint light barrier covered the entire mountain peak. A large number of golden runes flowed across the barrier’s surface as they emitted a faint golden glow.

The golden glow—which Meng Chuan had vaguely seen—originated from these textual runes.

These textual runes are the words I heard from the mountaintop. Meng Chuan looked at the words. The dozens of words connected into one sentence. The words flowed and appeared one after another. They were in a mess, and Meng Chuan couldn’t distinguish the order of each sentence. However, he could at least see a complete sentence.

Meng Chuan didn’t recognize the words, but every sentence was like a vast world blasting into his mind. He gained many insights.

These golden textual runes had the same sentence. Different cultivators gained different insights from seeing them. They could understand them in diverse ways… It was like the source of all truths.

This sentence was very profound.

The profundity of the sentences formed by the flowing textual runes on the mountaintop shocked Meng Chuan. He vaguely felt that if these textual runes could be combined into a complete volume, it would probably surpa.s.s any ultimate technique he had seen before.

One sentence, two sentences, three sentences…

Meng Chuan raised his head and looked at the mountaintop. He looked at the words and sentences. When he saw the fifth sentence, many insights surfaced in his mind. One of his newfound insights was like a burst of light in the darkness, completely illuminating Meng Chuan’s puzzled mind. It allowed Meng Chuan to gain a new direction for his already great acc.u.mulation of temporal law insights. He quickly consolidated them.

Whoosh.

Meng Chuan’s Essence Soul avatar dissipated like a bubble. Here, he would constantly be affected by the mountaintop’s sound. At that moment, he had to eliminate all interference and grasp this inspiration.

…

In a mountain forest on Dry Origin Mountain.

The black-robed, white-haired Meng Chuan sat cross-legged on a thick, soft, and withered leaf. Making use of his inspiration, he quickly consolidated his insights.

The three basic elements of the temporal law: the past, present, and future laws. These three laws were very naturally integrated. Each had the other as a part of itself, and they gradually fused together.

It was just like how the three primary colors could form a large number of colors when combined.

These three laws—the past, present, and future—could similarly fuse into a large number of outcomes. Only one was perfect; that was the true temporal law.

Finally, I’ve grasped its essence. Meng Chuan opened his eyes. His eyes were filled with endless colors as he extended his hand and gently clenched it.

A small, complete s.p.a.cetime naturally appeared in his palm. The s.p.a.ce was stable, and the time flow was only 1% of the outside world. It operated steadily.

Meng Chuan looked around greedily. His hierarchy in life clearly hadn’t changed, but the way he looked at things became different. Everything in the world became ten times more dazzling in his eyes.

Take a distant wild flower for example. In the past, Meng Chuan could see the smallest leptons in the wild flowers. The plant lifeform with countless fluctuations, the various effects it had on s.p.a.ce, and the billions of naturally existing particles pa.s.sing through the wild flowers—nothing could hide from Meng Chuan. He could even easily see the wild flowers’ entire timeline—growth from the past to their future withered days. The wild flowers in his eyes were a complete life cycle.

However, the scene Meng Chuan saw had now changed.

Billions of particle threads? Countless fluctuations? Impact on s.p.a.ce? A single time period? These were too superficial.

Meng Chuan saw the laws represented by these superficial appearances, and the countless complicated laws originated from time and s.p.a.ce.

Time and s.p.a.ce were the two cornerstones of all laws.

Meng Chuan could see that the temporal law and spatial law’s influence formed countless microscopic laws. Only by combining these countless laws did the beautiful world appear.

Laws. Meng Chuan looked at the mountain, the trees, the flowers, the flowing water…

He was looking at mountains, rivers, and trees, but in reality, he was looking at countless laws. He also saw countless laws formed by time and s.p.a.ce. This feeling was wonderful.

There was no more confusion!

Omniscience!

He seemed to know the essence of everything.

No. Meng Chuan woke up when he saw the endless fog around Dry Origin Mountain. The fog contained endless profundities and was terrifying. Even Eighth Tribulation Eminences would be courting death if they dared to barge in. The profundities contained in the fog were countless times more complicated than flowers and trees.

Meng Chuan clearly knew that the endless profundities contained in the fog definitely stemmed from time and s.p.a.ce. However, it was too complicated; he couldn’t understand it.

Only then did Meng Chuan wake up. He was still far from being omniscient.

Although everything in the endless s.p.a.cetime originates from the two cornerstones—time and s.p.a.ce—the more profound something is, the harder it is to comprehend. For example, I can’t comprehend Physical Body Eighth Tribulation Eminences and Eternal treasures. Meng Chuan understood this point.

Even if an Eternal existence was known for being omniscient, it was very difficult to create an existence like Senior Brother Thousand-Hands—who was comparable to an Eighth Tribulation Eminence.

At the very least, I’ve taken the most important step today. I’ve truly grasped the two cornerstones of all laws—time and s.p.a.ce. Meng Chuan smiled.