Chapter 265 – Second Authority: Early Update

Lu Yan’s heart trembled violently.

Among the three answers given by the Longevity Heavenly Venerable, the first two were within Lu Yan’s expectations.

A complete Heavenly Dao, holding dominion over an entire version, indeed possessed the capability to suppress a This World’s Only One.

For instance, the Endtimes Heavenly Dao and the Supreme Will clashed precisely because of this. If not for the Supreme Will’s control over the cultivation system of the Endtimes Version, it would’ve been impossible for it to stand against the Heavenly Dao that held home advantage.

As for the second, the World-Opening Treasure—so far, the only one Lu Yan was aware of was the Gate of Mystery Womb.

A World-Opening Treasure carried a status comparable to a host of Immortals. Even among the Immortals, not all possessed such a treasure. It was only natural that whoever held such an item could resist a This World’s Only One.

However, the third answer—the Pantheon of the Heavens—was entirely outside of Lu Yan’s expectations.

In essence, the Pantheon of the Heavens was a second Heavenly Dao that had already taken shape, its name renowned across countless versions. Heavenly Courts, Paradises, Hells, and Abysses were all categorized under it.

Lu Yan believed that the masters of these pantheons, each standing at the summit of the This World’s Only Ones, could indeed oppose others of their kind. But if one stripped away those figures and examined the Pantheon itself—could it really contend against a This World’s Only One?

Lu Yan remained skeptical.

Just then, the will projection’s lightly amused tone rang out once more.

“Are you curious, young friend, about the Pantheon of the Heavens?”

“Across all versions of this world, those capable of forming a Pantheon are exceedingly rare.”

“And due to the Pantheon’s unique nature as a second Heavenly Dao, it is almost impossible for someone to establish one before achieving the status of a This World’s Only One. As a result, little is truly known about the Pantheon’s deeper properties.”

“The Heavenly Dao’s ability to resist a This World’s Only One stems from its command over order. A Heavenly Dao, wielding the sole authority over one version’s order, possesses a status that rivals a This World’s Only One.”

“As a second Heavenly Dao, the Pantheon of the Heavens similarly wields its own divine order. Under that order, even a This World’s Only One may be suppressed.”

“But there’s a flaw—the Pantheon is composed of numerous gods and the authorities they wield. Most of these beings cannot transcend and are restricted to a single version, lacking the chance to cross versions like the This World’s Only Ones.”

“Thus, the Pantheon’s suppressive effect on a This World’s Only One only works when they are within their own version. In that sense, it’s a rather chicken-rib ability—something that looks powerful but is of limited practical use.”

“After all, within their home version, even without that trait, a Pantheon Lord is nearly invincible.”

Then, the will projection spoke meaningfully:

“However, the Pantheon’s inability to cross versions… is a thing of the past.”

“With your unique nature, young friend, if you were to establish the Pantheon of the Heavens, you could preserve divine order across multiple versions. Even without attaining the status of a This World’s Only One, you would have the potential to rival them.”

“The Netherworld under your command will also become the most unique domain within the Pantheon.”

Hearing this, Lu Yan fell into deep thought.

According to his understanding, the Longevity Heavenly Venerable’s explanation had no loopholes. Even his Crafting Fate divine ability gave no warnings, indicating the words were likely truthful.

But the most important question was—why would the Longevity Heavenly Venerable voluntarily reveal such a secret?

“You’re not seriously this generous, are you?” Lu Yan asked bluntly after a moment of silence.

The will projection burst into hearty laughter, the sound booming like thunder through the cosmos. The entire void trembled with it.

Massive swaths of shattered space surged like ravenous beasts toward the will projection, greedily stretching forward. Countless spatial fissures interwove into a net, seemingly ready to devour it completely. The starlight in the void twisted, reflecting the blurred outline of a face behind those eyes.

“You overthink things, young friend!”

“I didn’t say all that for your sake—it’s for mine!”

Lu Yan frowned slightly, puzzled, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the Human Emperor Banner. He stared at the entity across from him, waiting for a further explanation.

Those eyes, now riddled with cracks, shone like two shattered moons, deep and ancient. And behind them—undisguised hostility.

“This Broken Calamity Domain connects to many versions. Although all the version fragments were erased in the end, my actions, combined with your uniqueness, still caught the attention of some old monsters.”

The will projection looked toward the heavens. Though the sky of the Broken Calamity Domain had returned to normal after the collapse of the Longevity Heaven, when Lu Yan followed its gaze, he could faintly sense countless eyes beyond the heavens peering into this realm through spacetime itself.

A chill climbed up Lu Yan’s spine.

“This battle—one step misplayed. Jiang Zhiwei’s Timeless Sword struck me a second time. I am powerless to interfere with you for now.”

The projection’s form gradually turned transparent, though its cracked eyes grew even brighter, like gazes piercing through eternity.

“What you face next will be the probing of more This World’s Only Ones.”

“Before I return, I’d rather not see you become food on their banquet table.”

With that final sentence, the projection was at last erased by the residual power of the Supreme Sword Intent. Its undying spirit scattered into the void and vanished without a trace.

As the will projection completely faded, the invisible suppression that had blanketed the Broken Calamity Version seemed to finally lift.

The shattered Heavenly Dao of the Broken Calamity reappeared. The Dao Map spread out once again, covering all things within the domain.

Without the suppression from Longevity Heaven, the Broken Calamity Heavenly Dao finally achieved completeness. Its exalted status continued to rise.

But Lu Yan had no time to care.

He was still processing the Longevity Heavenly Venerable’s final words.

Lu Yan would never blindly trust anything said by the Longevity Heavenly Venerable. He’d been tricked by him too many times. In the face of a This World’s Only One who had lived countless eras, every word and phrase had to be treated with extreme caution.

Yet the warning stirred memories—of the Main God who descended with an erasure rule, of the This World’s Only Ones lurking behind the version fragments.

After the Broken Calamity Version, Lu Yan becoming a target was inevitable.

Even without the reminder, Lu Yan understood that he had to quickly obtain the power to contend with them.

The Pantheon of the Heavens, the Second Heavenly Dao—these were his only chances.

“Fortunately, my pact with the Broken Calamity Heavenly Dao is fully sealed. With the remaining time in this version, building the Pantheon should be achievable.”

“And there’s also the new authority it promised me. That will give me some added leverage.”

As Lu Yan pondered silently, a version update screen suddenly appeared before him.

[Version Change Value has reached 100%. Now initiating Version 1.0!]

[Broken Calamity Version 1.0 is: The Great Transmigration Version!]

Back when Lu Yan began destroying the version fragments, the version change value had already started fluctuating greatly. Especially after he shattered all the Nine Heavens fragments, the value had skyrocketed to 90%.

But the presence of Longevity Heaven had always held the update back.

Now that Longevity Heaven had collapsed and the Longevity Heavenly Venerable’s projection had dissipated, with the Heavenly Dao of the Broken Calamity fully restored, the change value finally reached 100%.

This realm had officially ushered in Version 1.0.

Across the land, countless beings who had just been celebrating the defeat of Longevity Heaven suddenly felt their consciousness dim.

Within their minds, all memories related to the Broken Calamity Domain and other versions were being silently rewritten and assimilated. The supreme power of the Heavenly Dao was rewriting their cognition.

Previously, the Broken Calamity Version had been incomplete. So when version updates occurred, they couldn’t overwrite memories. That allowed explorers from other worlds to retain their prior memories and recognize this as a foreign realm.

But now, with all the fragments destroyed and their core laws gone, the completed Broken Calamity Heavenly Dao was born.

The Broken Calamity Version had become a fully independent version, and those people had now become its native residents.

The newly perfected version possessed the power to rewrite memory and cognition during version updates. Dual-memory phenomena would no longer occur.

In everyone’s memory, following the destruction of the version fragments, they had lost the right to return to their original worlds.

Their identities had changed—from explorers to transmigrators. They were now people who had crossed over from other realms and had become settlers of the Great Transmigration Version, destined to thrive here and turn this barren land into a flourishing world.

Under these conditions, the lifespan restriction of a hundred years would also cease to exist.

Heaven and earth were overturned. All creation was renewed.

Lu Yan, the only one unchanged, stood still and silently observed the changes unfolding in this realm. His Crafting Fate divine ability strained to capture every nuance of the version’s transformation.

But the information contained within this world was far too vast. Even empowered by the Great Dao Golden Core, he could barely glimpse a fraction of it.

Unlike the Spiritual Energy Revival Version, the update into the Great Transmigration Version lasted a full day.

When the Dao Order that shrouded the heavens finally receded, Lu Yan awoke from his comprehension.

He slowly raised his right hand, and a faint strand of version-altering energy appeared in his palm.

Though extremely faint, Lu Yan could feel the power of universal renewal within.

“This law shall be named: Innovation.”

Lu Yan whispered.

The Innovation Rule gained from observing the version update had no particular combat utility—but in certain versions, just a whiff of it could ignite a spark that triggered upheaval on a massive scale.

With this rule, one could forcibly initiate a version transformation and even shake the very foundations of the Heavenly Dao itself. It was a trump card against the version’s own law.

“Useful enough,” Lu Yan murmured to himself.

Though he usually had no reason to oppose the Heavenly Dao, mastering the Innovation Rule was still good preparation.

“To think that just one version change could allow me to comprehend the Innovation Rule… this Crafting Fate divine ability is even more profound than I imagined.”

Lu Yan turned his awareness inward and gazed at the divine ability forming within his Great Dao Golden Core.

Though he had already seized Crafting Fate, this ability was far too deep and vast. Even someone like Lu Yan couldn’t comprehend more than a fraction of it in such a short time.

At its core, Crafting Fate was about creation. As long as what one wished to create did not exceed their understanding, cultivation, or status, it could be created.

When he repaired the broken sword, it was this principle that allowed it.

The sword was an ordinary item. Even though it had long decayed in other versions, Crafting Fate ignored cause and effect, ignored time and space, and restored it by force.

If it had been a magical artifact instead, something of higher tier, the difficulty would have risen ten-thousandfold. That would’ve exceeded Lu Yan’s current limit.

Beyond crafting objects, Crafting Fate could also condense laws and create rules.

The Innovation Rule was one such creation—born of Lu Yan’s observation of version change, though his current status limited its effectiveness.

In addition, Crafting Fate, like the earlier Divine Seed abilities, could empower all techniques.

But while those seeds merely added Heavenly Level boosts to existing laws, Crafting Fate could conjure entire laws from nothing, shaped entirely by Lu Yan’s will.

“If I obtained the status of a This World’s Only One… wouldn’t Crafting Fate make me practically omnipotent?”

At that moment, Lu Yan recalled what the Longevity Heavenly Venerable had said:

“To create something from nothing, to reverse heaven and earth. All things in the myriad worlds of Yanfu shall be under its dominion—nothing unknown, nothing impossible!”

He had once dismissed it as hyperbole. But now… if a This World’s Only One truly mastered Crafting Fate, omniscience and omnipotence might not be far off.

“I must explore Crafting Fate more deeply. If I can master it… defeating a Nascent Soul expert while still at Golden Core might not be a dream.”

“And if I can solve the issue of status and forge a complete Pantheon…”

A wild notion flashed through his mind. Even Lu Yan couldn’t help but be stirred.

Just then, the version update screen before him changed once again.

[Restore foreign fragments from the Broken Calamity Version to receive authority rewards!]

[Current Progress: 800%]

Lu Yan immediately refocused, locking his attention onto the version update interface.

This fragmented message—without a doubt—came from the Great Transmigration Heavenly Dao.

Back when he destroyed Machine City, the Great Transmigration Heavenly Dao had once tried to bait Lu Yan with a fake mission. After he saw through it, he’d ignored such tricks since.

But to his surprise, now that all was said and done, the Broken Calamity Heavenly Dao had brought those “fake missions” back into play.

He watched as the interface changed once again:

[Mission complete. Second Authority Unlocked: Early Update]

[Early Update: Freeze spacetime causality and forcibly initiate a version update.]

(End of Chapter)