Li Yun stared at the empty space where they had disappeared.
“Two more Dao Resonance Realm experts...”
His shock kept building as he wondered what kind of place this was. He had only just arrived, and he had already run into three Dao Resonance Realm cultivators.
Feng Xuan shook his head.
“You’ll get used to scenes like that. Those two are Elder Han and Elder Gu. They’ve been enemies for longer than most people here can remember, and they start fighting every few days. If they suddenly stopped, everyone would probably get worried.”
His smile faded, and his expression turned a little sad.
“They’re rather pitiful, too. I’ve only been trapped here for about two thousand years. Those two have been on Chronospace Island for nearly eighty thousand.”
Li Yun stopped. “Eighty thousand?”
Feng Xuan nodded.
“Eighty thousand years. They reached the peak of the Dao Resonance Realm long ago, but they could never cross the next barrier, so they’ve been here ever since. After tens of thousands of years stuck in the same place, unable to leave and unable to advance, it’s already remarkable that they’re still sane. Their constant fighting is probably one of the few ways they’ve found to relieve the boredom.”
Li Yun was truly shaken. Even a Rebirth Realm expert had a lifespan measured in thousands of years rather than tens of thousands, yet these two had lived for eighty millennia. Even if he added his previous life to his current one, the number was almost impossible to grasp.
Feng Xuan noticed his expression.
“You think living for eighty thousand years sounds incredible? In truth, Elder Han and Elder Gu probably stopped seeing it as a blessing a long time ago.”
His eyes darkened.
“On Chronospace Island, dying isn’t easy. Even if someone desperately wants to die, this place may not allow it.”
Li Yun’s expression grew more and more serious.
“What exactly is Chronospace Island?”
Before Feng Xuan could answer, a cold voice suddenly spoke.
“Chronospace Island was created by my Master as an inheritance ground for selecting successors to the Chronospace Lineage.”
A small figure appeared right in front of them. It was a child, but three curved crimson horns grew from his head.
The moment he appeared, Feng Xuan’s expression changed completely, and he bowed at once.
“Greetings, Lord Crimson Rift.”
The horned child barely acknowledged him. His gaze settled on Li Yun.
“I am Crimson Rift, the guardian and controller of Chronospace Island. Everything that happens here falls under my authority.”
Li Yun stayed silent, and Crimson Rift went on.
“You are here because I pulled you across space and time. If I had not stepped in, you would most likely have died.”
Li Yun understood immediately.
“So you were the one who brought me here.”
He had been wondering how Mo Yuanxiu’s strange devouring vortex could have carried him to such an impossible place. Apparently, the vortex had not decided his final destination. Crimson Rift had interfered.
“I saved your life,” the child said, with the same indifferent expression. “Whether you can ever leave Chronospace Island, however, is another matter.”
Li Yun’s gaze sharpened.
“My Master is known as the Chronospace Sovereign,” Crimson Rift continued. “There is an ancient saying that space reigns as king while time stands supreme.”
His voice carried unquestionable confidence.
“Across the vast universe and its countless worlds, my Master stands among the greatest beings. This Chronospace Island is only one of many introductory inheritance grounds that he set up throughout those worlds. Every person who enters has at least some talent related to time, space, or both. There are three possible ways to leave this place.”
“Wait,” Li Yun cut in before he could continue. “Countless worlds?” He looked shocked. “You mean the Martial Dragon Continent isn’t all there is?”
Crimson Rift looked at him as if he had asked something foolish.
“Of course not. You really are a frog at the bottom of a well. The universe is unimaginably vast, and your Martial Dragon Continent is only one tiny place among countless worlds. Even the so-called Rebirth Realm experts who dominate your continent would not count as supreme beings when measured against the universe as a whole.”
Li Yun fell silent. The revelation was enormous, and his whole understanding of the world had suddenly widened. There were worlds beyond the Martial Dragon Continent, and there were realms above the Rebirth Realm. Even the beings he had once thought of as the peak of cultivation were only powerful within one isolated world. Although his soul had come from another life, he still found the scale hard to take in right away.
Feng Xuan put a hand on his shoulder.
“Shocking, isn’t it? I reacted the same way. But it’s true. Otherwise, how could people from completely different worlds all end up here?”
Li Yun slowly let out a breath. His surprise had not faded, but another feeling soon rose beneath it, and that feeling was battle intent.
If the Rebirth Realm had truly been the end of the Martial Dao, then reaching it would have been his destination. Now that he knew it was not, he would simply aim higher. He had never really cared about the name of any particular realm. What he wanted was the summit. If the summit lay far beyond what he had understood before, that only meant his path was longer.
Crimson Rift watched him.
“You accepted that quickly, and better than many who arrived before you.” He gave a faint nod. “Since you have recovered, I will continue. There are three ways to leave Chronospace Island. The first is to comprehend even the faintest trace of the Chronospace Dao. If you manage that, you may leave immediately. In addition, an expert from the Chronospace Lineage will come down in person and take you to our sacred land, where you would become my Master’s direct disciple.”
Li Yun’s eyes flashed, but Crimson Rift poured cold water on the idea right away.
“You should not seriously consider that possibility. Comprehending space alone is extraordinarily hard, and comprehending time is even harder. Combining the two and touching the Chronospace Dao is so hard that calling it impossible would not be much of an exaggeration. Across countless worlds and countless generations, innumerable geniuses have entered inheritance grounds like this one, and not a single one has succeeded by that method.”
Li Yun frowned. “Then what’s the second?”

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