"I will reverse the River of Aeons," Lu Yuan announced as he suddenly reached out towards outer space. As he reached out, he was surrounded by a flowing gray aura. It was the power of time.

Lu Yin turned back to the man, his expression firm. "Ancestor, this is my inner demon."

Lu Yuan was taken aback, and he stared blankly at Lu Yin.

Lu Tianyi spoke up. "Ancestor, let Little Seven do it."

Lu Yuan gritted his teeth. After a moment, he slowly withdrew his hand, the gray aura dispersing.

Lu Yin looked away. At this moment, the entire sky overhead was covered in gray. It looked like smoke and dust. Everyone was captivated by the phenomenon, and they all looked up, unsure of what was about to happen.

A Progenitor’s breakthrough was not a very big deal for the people who fought at the Immemorial Citadel. Who among them was not a peak powerhouse?

Ordinary Progenitors were not even qualified to step foot onto this particular battlefield.

But Lu Yin was different. Not even Ortusers could anticipate what would happen during his Progenitor’s breakthrough.

Looking back, every single one of Lu Yin’s breakthroughs had shaken the megaverse.

The gray color in the sky seeped down, dropping lower and lower. Lu Yin stared at it. He felt as though he was seeing the mist of time in the Mirari Realm. This gray might be similar to that fog, but in outer space, it simply looked like the color gray.

A massive river could be heard flowing. Everyone could hear it.

They were in outer space, on the Immemorial Citadel’s battlefield. Where was the a river?

"It’s the River of Aeons," someone exclaimed in shock.

Everyone looked up. No one could see where the gray color had come from, but they were able to see a river flowing towards them from the distance, and it was surging downward.

Lu Yin's expression remained calm. The River of Aeons. Yes, that was what his tribulation had to be. How could an inner world that involved the power of time avoid the River of Aeons? His goal was to go against the flow of the River of Aeons, and the river had appeared before him.

Lightstream formed a small boat that floated beside Lu Yin. He looked at the surging River of Aeons. Normally, he would be able to roll four pips on his die and simply avoid the river, as he had during his Semi-Progenitor breakthrough, but this tribulation was different. If he avoided the tribulation, he would fail.

The River of Aeons drew closer and closer.

There were dire consequences to falling into the River of Aeons.

Even Feng Bo had refused to do such a thing when on the verge of death.

Big Sis had fallen into the River of Aeons, and her luck could be considered extraordinary, as she had only lost her cultivation and her memories.

Such luck was incredibly rare.

In the face of the River of Aeons, Lu Yin waved a hand, sending Lightstream towards the river. Everyone watched as the small boat touched the River of Aeons and instantly almost capsized. Lu Yuan and the others held their breath.

Thankfully, the boat held on, even though it struggled to stay afloat in the River of Aeons. The boat was not carried downstream, but it also was not able to go against the current. It simply remained in place, bobbing up and down with the flow of the River of Aeons, always just barely avoiding being overturned.

Lu Yin stared intently at the boat. The waves of the River of Aeons grew increasingly fierce. This could not continue, or else Lightstream would eventually sink.

He took a step forward, and to the astonishment of everyone watching, he got onto the boat. He looked like a fisherman struggling to stay afloat on the ocean.

Everyone watching felt their pulses quicken. If Lightstream was overturned, Lu Yin would fall into the River of Aeons.

That was the River of Aeons, and no one could ensure that Lu Yin would ever reappear if he fell in. Even if he did return, there was no guessing what state he would be in.

The area around the Immemorial Citadel was no longer a battlefield, as there were no longer any enemies. Everyone watched Lu Yin’s breakthrough, holding their breath in tense anticipation.

Lu Yin stood in Lightstream as it swayed with the raging currents of the River of Aeons. He then started to move, using Inverse Step to move at the speed of time.

The Lightstream had taken on the form of a boat because, during Lu Yin’s fishing in the Mirari Realm, his inner world had devoured many moments of time that no longer belonged to the River of Aeons. Those droplets had gradually strengthened the inner world enough for Lu Yin to reshape it into a boat. That boat was now facing a grave disaster and could capsize at any moment. The only way that Lu Yin could think of to help his boat was to continue strengthening it by producing more moments of time that did not belong to the River of Aeons.

Since Lu Yin was standing in Lightstream, which separated him from the River of Aeons that was flowing by, all time would first make contact with Lightstream before joining the River of Aeons. This meant that he did not need to fish for rejected moments of time like he had in the past.

His reasoning proved to be correct. The longer he used Inverse Step to move at the speed of time, the more stable Lightstream became, though it was far from enough.

While in the Mirari Realm, the most nourishing supplement for Lightstream was the time produced by Feng Bo’s battle technique. In comparison, the time that Inverse Step was producing was insignificant.

Lu Yin released his inner universe and pulled upon the power of time that he had taken from Progenitor Ku’s Withered Bark years ago.

Far away, Progenitor Ku was taken aback. He recognized his Withered Bark. The boy had truly cultivated a great number of powers. However, not even the Withered Bark would be enough to stabilize the boat. What would Lu Yin do next?

Verdant Eternity appeared. The technique’s greatest advantage was the fact that any power used within Verdant Eternity’s bounds would not dissipate. Lu Yin continued to pull upon the power of time from the Withered Bark while simultaneously using Inverse Step and producing more time that did not belong to the River of Aeons. His goal was not for Lightstream to absorb all the time, as that time would disappear after it was absorbed. Instead, he allowed the time to linger between the boat and his inner universe, and it started accumulating. As long as he moved fast enough, he would be able to fill his entire inner universe with time that did not belong to the River of Aeons.

Lightstream slowly stabilized. The River of Aeons had diminished to just a trickle. Despite the great danger, the boat had endured the river’s waves.

Lu Yin watched as the River of Aeons disappeared into outer space, and then he let out a sigh of relief.

That tribulation had been too close. If not for Verdant Eternity, which prevented the power of time from dissipating, he would not have been able to keep Lightstream afloat on the river. Whether the boat capsized or not would have been a matter of pure luck.

Of Lu Yin’s four inner worlds, the one that had been the easiest to transform into a Progenitor’s world had turned out to be Infinity. While he had faced the Pridebeast and the Megalith, others had been able to hold the beasts off. The breakthroughs for Lu Yin’s three other inner worlds had been fraught with danger.

Everyone had been holding their breath, worried for Lu Yin.

The power of time was mysterious and unfathomable. Overcoming a Progenitor’s breakthrough with the power of time was something that was very, very rare throughout all of history.

Although many powerful beings were able to touch upon the power of time after their strength reached a certain level, that was fundamentally different from how Lu Yin had literally used the power of time itself to break through to the Progenitor realm.

At the moment, everyone was curious. What would happen now that Lightstream had become a Progenitor’s world as well?

Lu Yin was just as curious.

He stared at his little boat.

Lightstream, which had been a faint, glowing boat, slowly condensed into a solid object. Its shape did not change, but it was no longer a boat formed from the power of space chasing time. It looked like a physical object, a boat with a gray hull.

Lu Yin raised his hand, and the boat shrank, instantly appearing in his palm. It was very heavy.

He stared at Lightstream in surprise. Its weight was strange. It was heavy, yet not. It was as if the weight did not affect his body. Still, it felt as though it was incredibly, unbelievably heavy.

What was going on?

"That is extreme compression. It’s the compression of the River of Aeons," the Origin Progenitor’s voice rang out, echoing throughout the Immemorial Citadel.

Everyone turned to look at the depths of the Immemorial Citadel.

The Origin Progenitor looked up at the boat in Lu Yin's hand. “Those who have comprehended the laws of the universe and mastered sequence particles go against the River of Aeons, or else their karma will become entangled. Those who have entered the Origin realm or beyond are also unable to reverse the flow of the River of Aeons, as doing so will cause their cultivation to fall back to the Progenitor realm. Loam, Chu Yi, both of you should have felt this.”

Lu Yuan frowned. He had indeed felt that sensation when he had tried to reverse the flow of the River of Aeons for Lu Yin. The moment the gray power had appeared, Lu Yuan’s cultivation had become unstable.

However, he had not stopped because of that instability. Even if his cultivation was reverted and he fell back to the Progenitor realm, he would have preferred to do that on Lu Yin’s behalf.

“Origin Progenitor, none of that applies to me,” Lu Yin replied.

The Origin Progenitor praised the young man. “Precisely. That means that you are free.”

Everyone was astonished. Was that really how things were?

Lu Yuan was thrilled. “Master, are you saying that Little Seven can turn back the flow of the River of Aeons?”

The Origin Progenitor replied, “He can, but in doing so, he will accumulate karma. It’s just that he will not suffer as much accumulation as the rest of you. I don’t recommend for Pillar to reverse the flow of the River of Aeons, but his Progenitor’s world doesn’t need to. He can simply cross the river. Traversing and reversing the River of Aeons are completely different. Pillar, you can do it.”

Lu Yin was ecstatic. Traversing the River of Aeons; that was what Lightstream had become capable of after transforming into a Progenitor’s world. His breakthrough really had succeeded.

When he had first transformed Lightstream into a boat, he had dreamed of eventually using it to sail up the River of Aeons. He had truly achieved just that. While he was only able to traverse the river, to him, traversing and reversing were not much different.

He was so happy that he completely ignored the fact that the Origin Progenitor called him Pillar.

Just as Lu Yin was about to use Lightstream to travel along the River of Aeons, a rumble echoed across the Immemorial Citadel and its surroundings. Outer space tore open, and a familiar starry sky appeared in Lu Yin and the others’ sight. Was that the Origin Universe?

Vast amounts of stellular energy surged forth, and the gray color once again obscured everything overhead.

Lu Yin felt terribly confused; what was this?

An even more familiar sight then appeared above his head; it was the black hole surrounded by the vortex of a stellular tribulation.

Everyone was stunned.

“A stellular tribulation? Didn’t he just pass his Progenitor’s breakthrough? Why is there another tribulation?”

“Is that the Origin Universe tribulation?”

“Origin Progenitor, what’s going on?”

“Master?”

In the depths of the Immemorial Citadel, the Origin Progenitor looked up and met everyone’s stares. He casually explained, “Pillar is about to break through to become a Progenitor.”

Lu Yin wanted to curse. He had already broken through to the Progenitor realm! Why was the old man saying that this was his Progenitor’s breakthrough?

Could it be?

Lu Yin looked down at his chest. Could there be another one?

He had forgotten that his inner universe was not an inner world, and neither had it broken through. Because of this, Lu Yin had assumed that his inner universe would not transform and that he would simply reach the Progenitor realm. However, the appearance of the black hole of a stellular tribulation shattered Lu Yin’s preconceptions. Had he overlooked something? His inner universe was surrounded by a black and white mist, and stellular energy acted as its shell. If that inner universe were to also transform into a Progenitor’s World, it would certainly trigger a tribulation.

However, what Lu Yin was seeing was simply too much. Had he really drawn the entire Origin Universe onto himself?

“Everyone fall back!” Hongyan Mavis ordered sharply.

No matter why it had appeared, a stellular tribulation was something that no one wanted to get caught up in.

Anyone who knew about the Origin Universe’s tribulations fled faster than their companions.

Everyone was watching Lu Yin in shock.

Throughout history, he was most likely the only person to have broken through to the Progenitor realm five times.

The Origin Progenitor praised, “Others break through to become Progenitors in the Origin Universe, but Pillar, the Origin Universe comes to you for your breakthrough.”

Lu Yin felt bitter. He did not want the Origin Universe to visit him for his breakthrough.

He was completely unprepared for this. How was he supposed to break through at this moment? What power did he have left that he could transform? Should he just release his inner universe?

“The Progenitor realm is the culmination of all of a cultivator’s efforts throughout their entire life. To reach that realm, one must achieve completeness. No matter how many paths you have walked, no matter how much power you have cultivated, ultimately, there is no escaping the need for completeness.”

Lu Yin’s eyes flickered. Completeness. He looked into the depths of the Immemorial Citadel and met the Origin Progenitor’s eyes.

In an instant, like a great river flowing, images of great powerhouses appeared in Lu Yin’s mind: the Origin Progenitor, Mister Mu, Tai Hong, True God, the Three Realms and Six Daos, the Three Pillars and Six Skies. Each of these powerful individuals flashed through Lu Yin’s mind. Every one of them had possessed the potential to walk multiple paths, but in the end, they had all walked a single path.

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA