Chapter 864
Advancement to Demigod
Beneath the leaden sky, ripples of time, like invisible waves, silently reverberate between heaven and earth.
Yang Fan stood on the balcony of Linjiang Residential Area and looked up at the oppressive sky once again.
An Eye of Time, formed from pure, powerful laws of time, suddenly materialized before his eyes.
This eye spans the void, capable of piercing through billions of time and space barriers, presenting scenes from distant times and spaces to Yang Fan's vision without reservation.
He clearly saw a massive bone ship, entirely carved from dark gray divine remains, tearing through the barriers of space and time and hurtling toward this historical time and space at an almost insane speed.
The bone boat was a thousand feet long, and its hull was covered with twisted runes.
It was surrounded by an intensely thick crimson mist, and its tail trailed a crimson streak that stretched for hundreds of kilometers, resembling a crimson meteor falling from hell.
Just by looking at it from a distance, Yang Fan could smell a familiar yet chilling aura—the unique decay and rage of the fallen ancient god's remains, mixed with indescribable resentment, piercing straight to the soul.
Clearly, this is a top-tier time-based artifact created by the Eternal Alliance using the core remains of a fallen ancient god of time, at a tremendous cost.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Yang Fan's lips as he muttered to himself, "No wonder I felt such intense resentment."
With a slight thought, a rhombus-shaped crystal, half-real and half-illusory, shimmering with silvery-white divine light, appeared out of thin air in front of his palm.
This is precisely the Time God Power Crystal.
Fine ripples of time also swirled around the crystal, within which countless fragmented images flashed by rapidly.
Each image precisely reflects the approaching bone ship.
The reason for this resonance is that the divine crystal and the bone boat originated from the same source—the ancient time-based supreme god who fell in the ancient civil war.
In the extremely distant ancient times, before the primordial world had taken shape, a civil war broke out among the supreme ancient gods, engulfing the entire chaos.
This war is so ancient that even time has erased it. In addition, the Eternal God Alliance deliberately covered up the truth, so Yang Fan still hasn't figured out the real cause of the civil war.
But he had a suspicion in his mind—everything was still inextricably linked to the "cage".
In order to resist the "cage" from swallowing them up, the core ancient gods of the Eternal Alliance may have decided to sacrifice a portion of the ancient gods.
This decision directly ignited a civil war among the ancient gods.
Ultimately, the faction led by the Eternal Alliance won the war, but many of the ancient gods who participated in the war were also severely weakened.
The surviving ancient gods, having learned their lesson, changed their approach and joined forces to create the primordial world. Instead of fighting amongst themselves, they began to offer countless beings as sacrifices, continuously supplying them to the "cage."
Based on the clues Yang Fan found, there is at least a 90% chance that this conjecture is true.
such as:
The consciousnesses of the various secret realms who cooperated with him harbored almost insane malice towards the demigods under the command of the Eternal God Alliance.
He believes this is a hatred that originates from antiquity and is etched into the very source.
For example:
The Time Divine Power Crystal sensed the Bone Boat of the same origin and instantly erupted with an unusually strong wave of resentment.
This is undoubtedly a lingering "poison" from the ancient war between the gods, and even after millions of years, the resentment remains.
Yang Fan snapped out of his reverie, his eyes turning as cold as knives: "Since you dared to come, don't even think about leaving."
If this demigod group knew that the bone boat artifact they relied on to travel through time and space was of the same origin as the powerful future law that Yang Fan was currently integrating with.
Even the remnant souls of the ancient gods within the bone boat, who constantly yearn for revenge against the Eternal God Alliance, would never dare to use this divine artifact, even if they had a hundred lives.
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs" in life.
The remnants of the ancient god of time had already secretly deceived the demigods' senses, making them mistakenly believe that the bone boat was absolutely safe.
In other words, this is a fallen ancient god using Yang Fan to carry out a revenge spanning billions of years.
Even in death, He will still deliver a devastating disaster to His enemies, the Eternal Alliance.
Without further hesitation, Yang Fan threw the Time Divine Power Crystal in his hand straight into the sky.
"Snap—!"
The crystal shattered in mid-air, turning into billions of streams of light that coalesced into a towering pillar of light visible only to him.
The beam of light shot straight into the sky, piercing through the entire snow-covered airspace.
The next moment, a bizarre scene unfolded—the black snow covering an area of 300 kilometers receded at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Every piece of gray snow mixed with stone turned white and sparkling again, dancing in the air.
To the ordinary people and soldiers of Azure Star, this terrifying black snow disaster seemed to have subsided and the crisis resolved.
But only Yang Fan knew that this was not the dissipation of the strange phenomenon.
Instead, he triggered an extremely terrifying historical rewriting power, directing this destructive force towards the invaders.
To achieve this, two core conditions are indispensable.
First, one must have a demigod-level understanding of the laws of time and be able to precisely control the flow of spacetime.
Second, the initiator must be a part of this history in order to become a "guide" for the force of historical correction.
Yang Fan was originally a Canglan person, and at this moment he was at a historical juncture of the Canglan civilization, which naturally fit this condition.
Looking across the entire primordial world, only he could do it.
But simply triggering it is not enough.
The power to correct history needs a clear target, a culprit who distorts history.
And this futuristic bone boat artifact is the perfect target.
More importantly, the ancient god's remains in the bone boat, harboring billions of years of overwhelming resentment, cooperated perfectly by opening themselves up, willingly becoming the outlet for the torrent of history.
One second later.
Through the Eye of Time, Yang Fan saw it with perfect clarity—just as the bone boat was about to break through the barrier of time and space and step into this historical space-time.
The space where the bone boat was located suddenly caved inward.
It was completely locked in by the power of historical correction.
Under Yang Fan's precise guidance, the mighty torrent of history, spanning billions of years, determined that this foreign skeletal vessel was the culprit that disrupted the order of spacetime.
"BOOM—!!"
"BOOM—!!"
A series of thunderous booms, beyond mortal comprehension, resounded in the void; they were not sound waves, but the roar of collapsing time itself.
In an attempt to correct its altered course, the torrent of history launched its most frenzied and violent attack.
The power accumulated over billions of years on Azure Star has far exceeded the limits of this demigod group's understanding and their ability to withstand it.
The attack method of the torrent of history is simple and brutal—a time storm.
In the blink of an eye.
The bone ship was caught in the heart of the storm, and time in the area flowed forward for millions of years. The demigods on board aged and decayed at an alarming rate.
These demigods originally believed that the bone boat was a time-based artifact, sufficient to protect them as they traversed any time and space, and its safety was beyond doubt.
But at this moment, the bone boat had completely become a prison.
The remnants of the ancient gods sealed off all exits, trapping them within the storm of time, with nowhere to escape.
Moreover, none of them were time-based demigods, so they were powerless to resist the tearing of the time storm and could only watch helplessly as they were repeatedly ravaged.
In the tide of time and space, only the most piercing, desperate, and mad cries echoed endlessly, eventually being swallowed up by the torrent.
In just a few breaths.
One after another, the once mighty demigods turned to ashes, their divine souls, laws, and origins all annihilated in the torrent of history, leaving not even a trace of their remnants behind.
Thirteen demigods perished en masse, none surviving.
This is the last mobile demigod force that the Eternal Alliance can muster on the current front.
It's important to understand that demigods are not as common as cabbages.
A vast realm containing hundreds of thousands of civilized worlds may only have two or three demigods, or even none at all.
The gathering of thirteen demigods was enough to sweep across dozens of realms, yet they were utterly powerless before the torrent of history and were all annihilated.
Not long after.
The storm of time slowly subsided, the void returned to calm, leaving only faint aftershocks of time.
Yang Fan breathed a long sigh of relief: "Finally, I can focus on my promotion."
The Eternal Alliance suffered a devastating loss of thirteen demigods in one fell swoop, severely weakening its strength. They would absolutely not dare to send anyone else to their deaths anytime soon.
His last worry was completely gone.
Otherwise, once he faces the most vulnerable moment of the "cage" temptation at the final stage of his promotion, the Eternal Alliance will launch a sneak attack.
He is very likely to succumb to the dual pressures and be completely swallowed up by the "cage".
Yang Fan reached out and grabbed at the air.
A faint speck of blood-red light flew out from the shattered spacetime and hovered in front of him.
At the center of the light spot, a tiny bone boat, no bigger than a fingernail, was suspended—the core that remained after the time artifact shattered.
"This is quite a trophy." Yang Fan smiled slightly and put it into his body.
Next.
He then stayed in the Yuewan residential area of Linjiang City, fully preparing for the first stage of advancement—forging the pillars of the twelve laws.
To avoid triggering another spacetime anomaly, Yang Fan directly used the powerful laws of time to "throw" all the fluctuations caused by the growth of the pillar of laws back to the ancient Azure Star hundreds of millions of years ago.
At that time, Azure Star was a wild and untamed place, devoid of civilization.
Even if the power of laws rages, it will not have a significant impact, as the power of historical correction can quickly "correct" it.
He steadily advanced at a rate of one strand per day.
The twelfth day.
As the last pillar of law crashed to the ground, all twelve pillars were completed, forming a perfect circle.
Yang Fan clearly sensed a profound power, surpassing even that of a Venerable, rapidly forming within the core of his primordial spirit. This power was vast and boundless, permeating the past, present, and future.
at the same time.
The secrets gleaned from the Eternal Trojan Horse flooded my mind like a tidal wave:
"The earliest batch of supreme beings who advanced to demigods used the Twelve Laws Divine Pillars Technique."
"This method was only revealed after the ancient war between the ancient gods."
"This is the oldest, most solid, and least risky method of promotion."
“If the Supreme Beings had not been tempted to take the final step and become prisoners of the ‘cage,’ they would never have ended up like this.”
Yang Fan's eyes darkened slightly as he pondered, "The temptation of a 'cage'?"
Even the supreme ancient gods who have stood in chaos for billions of years could not resist it, which shows just how terrifying this temptation is.
Without waiting any longer, he activated the twelve pillars of law with a thought.
"Om-!!"
The deafening vibrations of the laws resounded deep within space and time.
The twelve divine pillars emitted twelve different colored lights, intertwining to form a magnificent sea of laws.
Deep within his spiritual sea, an incomparably wondrous spiritual palace, surpassing all others, began to slowly condense and take shape.
This step is the core key to forging the divine palace and becoming a god.
The essence of forging a divine palace is to forcibly seize a portion of authority from the fundamental laws of the primordial world and make it for one's own use.
Such actions will inevitably trigger a fierce backlash from the primordial laws.
next moment.
Yang Fan felt as if he had suddenly fallen into an endless, absolute darkness.
There was no light, no sound, no up, down, left, or right, no passage of time, and even the perception of "self" was rapidly disappearing.
He lost his five senses, his perception of the laws, and his control over time, as if he had been completely abandoned and erased by the entire world.
He didn't know how much time had passed; it might have been a second, or it might have been billions of years.
This emptiness and despair is the most terrifying torment, enough to break the soul of any venerable being and drive them completely insane.
This is the Law Imprisonment—the most brutal counterattack of the primordial laws.
Of the hundreds of high-ranking Venerables who dared to challenge for demigod status, perhaps only one could ultimately survive the confinement of the laws.
The remaining ninety-nine will disappear silently, their bodies and souls completely devoured by the primordial laws.
Just as Yang Fan was about to be completely swallowed by the darkness.
"Tick-tock! Tick-tock!"
The ring formed by the twelve pillars of law slowly rotated in the Sea of Mind, like an ancient clock, emitting a faint yet firm divine light with each rotation.
With each rotation, the boundless darkness is pushed back a little.
But the cost was equally heavy.
Large patches of black spots quickly appeared on the surface of the twelve pillars of law, as if they were rotten and decaying.
This is the erosion of the laws of imprisonment, the primordial world forcibly reclaiming the power that has been seized, and the painful price that must be paid to become a god.
The sound of the eternal Trojan horse echoed in my mind once more:
"This is essentially a tough negotiation."
"If you want to share in the primordial authority, you must first prove yourself powerful enough to withstand suppression and render the Primordial helpless. Secondly, you must relinquish a portion of your power in exchange for the Primordial's concession; otherwise, it will never give up."
As Yang Fan watched the dark spots on the pillar of law continue to expand, his own power of law was being permanently lost and could never be recovered. Although he felt regret, he remained unmoved.
This is an inevitable path, one from which there is no escape.
I don't know how much time passed.
The twelve pillars of law rotated a total of 1,183,721 times before finally coming to a slow stop.
The boundless darkness that had enveloped everything receded like a tidal wave.
The law of confinement has ended.
Yang Fan opened his eyes and looked around, letting out a soft sigh.
Of the twelve pillars of law, nine were completely eroded and shattered.
The remaining three were also badly damaged, and their law level had dropped from strong law to weak law.
But the next moment, boundless joy swept over him.
Because—the Divine Palace has already been completed!
He—no, it should be said that "He"—clearly sensed that his relationship with the laws of time had completely changed.
It's no longer about "controlling time," but about becoming one with it.
He is time.
Time is Him.
Past, present, and future are all within a single thought; the barriers of time and space are as fragile as paper.
Yang Fan's smile lasted only a moment before it vanished abruptly, replaced by an unprecedented level of seriousness.
A terrifying intuition, originating from the very core of the being, was frantically warning within the shrine:
An unimaginable, all-powerful being is approaching at an unstoppable speed.
no doubt.
This is—a cage.
The ultimate warning of the eternal Trojan horse resurfaces:
"To create a primordial artifact, you need to collect the 'Dew of Eternal Laws,' which is essentially bait thrown into the 'Cage.'"
"If you integrate it into a divine artifact, your soul will be completely eroded by the 'cage'. Although you can use the divine artifact to resist the backlash of the laws, you will become its slave for all eternity."
"Without relying on the power of the 'cage,' at the final moment of advancement, one will face the ultimate temptation of the cage, and no one can escape it."
A moment later.
Yang Fan saw an extremely dim and insignificant point of light, suspended in the depths of the void.
This feeling is extremely eerie:
It is so close, yet so far away;
It may be extinguished at any time, yet it is endlessly regenerated;
It may seem small and insignificant, but it harbors a terrifying power capable of devouring everything.
Even though Yang Fan had become a god and a demigod of time, he still couldn't see through its true nature, which shows how terrifying it was.
Immediately afterwards, an infinitely ancient and weathered voice, seemingly existing since the beginning of chaos, slowly descended.
Do you wish to ascend to the highest point?
Every word of it carries an ultimate allure that penetrates the soul.
"Do you want to dominate the primordial world?"
Every single word of it strikes at the deepest desires of the heart, making one unable to help but scream wildly—I want it! I want it! I'm willing!
Do you want to trample everything under your feet?
Yang Fan's will trembled violently, his soul was almost devoured by temptation, and he was about to completely lose control.
At this critical moment.
Countless distant yet familiar voices drifted in from all the heavens and the myriad realms, from the hearts of billions of living beings, converging into a torrent:
"Mr. Spirit Raven!"
"Mr. Ghost!"
"Mr. Yang Fan!"
"Long live the Raven! Long live the Ghost!"
"The great savior!"
"You are the hope of Meijia people!"
"Azure Ghost!"
"God-Slayer!"
The sound was initially faint and intermittent, but in an instant it grew into a powerful and unstoppable voice of faith that transcended time and space.
Yang Fan felt a jolt in his soul, and the allure of the cage of light faded at an astonishing speed.
The words of the eternal Trojan horse have been proven true once again:
"The only way to deal with the temptation of being trapped is through a spiritual anchor."
"The voices of those who truly admire, worship, and trust you will pull you back from the edge of the abyss."
"But that's just a pull back; you'll be entangled in the cage for eternity, and it will tempt you again at any time until you give in."
"This process was extremely painful."
But you have no other choice.
"Power, in essence, is a shackle. The greater the power, the heavier the shackle."
"This world is ultimately fair."
Yang Fan pursed his lips, his eyes cold and resolute.
He could clearly sense that the "cage" had not left, but was hidden in the shadows of time and space, silently watching like a venomous snake.
Waiting for the moment when His will weakens, the "cage" will launch its next devouring attack.
Just then.
More ultimate secrets surfaced from the depths of my mind:
"If you resist temptation, you will be able to see the truth of the world."
"That's an unsolvable ultimate mystery; I've never seen it with my own eyes..."
Yang Fan held his breath and waited quietly.
next moment.
A blur appeared before my eyes, and a wondrous scene, beyond all comprehension, slowly unfolded in the void:
In the boundless, absolute darkness, floats an incredibly ancient wooden box.
The wooden box was covered in cracks, and the lid was shaking violently, as if some terrifying entity was pounding inside, trying to break free.
But the wooden box remained sturdy, firmly suppressing what was inside.
Tens of thousands of black threads burst forth from the cracks in the wooden box, extending in all directions and connecting to hundreds of enormous, extremely twisted, and agonizing beings.
Each distorted being was manipulated like a puppet by having hundreds of black threads inserted into its soul core.
Manipulated by the silk threads, they writhe and thrash against the wooden box in agony, as if trying to break it open.
Yang Fan was completely dumbfounded.
What is a wooden box?
What's inside the box?
What are black threads?
What does all of this mean?
Countless questions flooded my mind, but there were no answers.
A moment later.
The image vanished without a trace.
Yang Fan stood there blankly for a long time, vaguely remembering some fragments, but unable to piece them together completely, as if some supreme power had erased the key information.
a long time.
He sighed softly.
Yang Fan banished his distracting thoughts, took a step forward, and time seemed to fold in an incredible way beneath his feet.
No transfers or preparations are needed; in an instant, one can travel from billions of years ago back to the present.
And it descended upon the giant lava lake of one of the original perilous places—the Infernal Hell.
Before ascending to demigod status, He needed at least two time-space travels to traverse such a vast distance;
And now, He is time itself, all-encompassing.
In the center of the lava lake stands a white jade succubus statue several kilometers high, exuding an ancient allure.
Atop the statue's head stands an exquisitely beautiful and alluring figure.
With just one glance, even Yang Fan, who was already a demigod of time, couldn't help but feel his heart beat slightly faster.
It is a kind of allure that penetrates to the very source, yet it makes the world pale in comparison.
Yang Fan naturally knew her name—the succubus demigod, Kasha.
Kasha smiled charmingly, her beauty natural, yet filled with genuine reverence: "Your Majesty, the moment you ascended to godhood, the thirty-odd demigods who were besieging the Infernal Hell were all so terrified that they scattered and fled in all directions."
He sincerely praised: "The mighty name of God is destined to resound throughout the entire primordial world."
This is the truth.
He was besieged by dozens of demigods and struggled to hold on with the remnants of an ancient god, but was always at a significant disadvantage.
They could only barely defend themselves and were completely powerless to counterattack.
Even before Yang Fan appeared, the mere aura of his godhood caused the enemy army to flee without a fight.
This is the gap.
Kasha's beautiful eyes sparkled, and she suddenly whispered an invitation: "Your Majesty, would you be willing to be my partner?"
Having fought alone for centuries, He truly needs the strongest allies and a solid backing.
The succubus's unique nature also makes her instinctively inclined to attach herself to the strongest.
Yang Fan glanced at Him, neither refusing nor agreeing, but instead asked a question that went straight to the point: "Tell me, how can we save the primordial world?"
Kasha was not disappointed, and still smiled gently: "My God, please look."
next moment.
An incredibly realistic illusion unfolded before the two of them:
Below the illusion lies the full panorama of the Fiery Hell—countless volcanic caves, churning lava, and an environment of extreme harshness.
A pitch-black shadow, obscuring the sky, hovered above the Fiery Hell, exuding a terrifying pressure.
Thousands of black threads extended from the shadows, penetrating deep into every inch of the fiery inferno.
Kasha's voice was serious: "This shadow is the Supreme Ancient God controlled by the 'Cage,' who has sent down three thousand two hundred destructive divine power tentacles, which are constantly eroding the foundation of the Infernal Hell."
"Once this erosion reaches a critical point, the Fiery Prison will be completely destroyed, and countless lives within it will become sacrifices."
"As long as we sever a single tentacle, the rate of the ancient god's erosion will decrease by one point, and the Fiery Hell will be able to heal itself by one point."
"The ancient god is firmly trapped in the 'cage' and cannot take action himself, so there is no need to worry about a strong counterattack when attacking the divine power tentacles."
He then offered a compliment: "With your abilities, you should be able to handle this with ease."
Yang Fan instantly understood: "So our mission is to sever all the ancient gods' power tentacles?"
Kasha nodded seriously: "Yes, this is an extremely difficult and incredibly long war."
Yang Fan frowned and pressed for an answer: "How long would it take for the two of us to sever a divine power tentacle together?"
Kasha paused for a moment, then answered truthfully, "About six to nine months, at most a year."
Yang Fan also fell silent.
The Eternal Alliance has hundreds of ancient gods, who together unleashed millions of divine tentacles.
Considering that the ancient gods also possess powerful regenerative abilities, a divine tentacle severed from a divine power might regrow in a few hundred years.
Without a doubt, this is destined to be a protracted tug-of-war with no end in sight.
Kasha's tone carried a hint of optimism: "Under the gods, the will of all beings has never ceased in searching for the chosen ones. I believe that as time goes by, more demigods will rise and join the ranks of those fighting against the Eternal Alliance."
He then added, “Now that God has grown up, you may be the most powerful demigod of the original time, and time will surely be on our side.”
Yang Fan sighed softly, "I hope so."
Without the slightest hesitation, his eyes were resolute: "No need to wait, let's begin now. We'll sever the first divine power tentacle."
Kasha bowed deeply, her tone respectful and submissive: "Your will will surely be fulfilled."
The difference between demigods is astonishing, so the succubus demigod quickly adjusted her position.
Lava surged and black threads spread.
Deep within time and space, the "cage's" gaze has never ceased.
A long war, fought in the name of all living beings against the supreme, to break free from the cage, may be endless, and it begins from this moment.
(The End) (End of Chapter)