Lu Yin and the others did not ask when Di Qiong might come to God’s Domain again. There was simply an unspoken understanding.
Even so, that did not mean that they could wait indefinitely. There was a limit to how long they could wait for, and it all depended on how long it took Lu Yin to be recognized by the parallel universes that were controlled by God’s Domain.
As years passed, Lu Yin spent over a century in parallel universes where time flowed faster. During this time, only four years passed for the Origin Universe.
During those four years’ time, Jiang Qingyue and the rest were not always with Lu Yin. After all, they did not benefit much from the universes that he needed to visit.
In particular, Jiang Qingyue focused on exploring the energy that the Divine Maiden used in God’s Domain, and she completely ignored the parallel universes. Jiang Qingyue was far more intrigued by the power of the four elephants, and she preferred to spend her time with the Divine Maiden.
She knew that Lu Yin used the Immovable Heavenly King Elephant, one of the four elephants, in his visualization method.
Arch-Elder Zen also stayed in God’s Domain. Seeing this place was equivalent to seeing his lifelong dream be fulfilled. Though, whether or not the dream was worthwhile remained to be seen.
Zhao Ran accompanied Arch-Elder Zen, as did Ghost Monkey.
Lu Yin did not need anyone around him during this period of training.
Only the jiao obediently followed Lu Yin around, as nobody else could control it. While the Divine Maiden technically could, if she intervened, the jiao would simply slip away.
During these four years, Lu Yin visited five parallel universes where time passed more quickly.
He had not expected God’s Domain to have access to so many of these universes. It was a bit surprising, but more was better, as far as Lu Yin was concerned.
When he returned to God’s Domain after gaining the recognition of the sixth parallel universe, the Divine Maiden hesitated for at least half a day before leading Lu Yin to yet another universe. Astonishingly, time flowed 110 times faster than in the Origin Universe in this particular parallel universe.
This was the most extreme difference that Lu Yin had ever encountered.
He looked at the Divine Maiden in surprise, only to see that she did not appear to be too happy about the situation. This was clear even through her thin veil. “We obtained this place after God’s Domain experienced a battle. Take your time cultivating here.”
Lu Yin could sense her sincerity. She genuinely wanted him to train slowly.
“Thank you,” Lu Yin said before entering the universe.
The Divine Maiden’s expression was rather conflicted. This was God’s Domain’s last parallel universe where time passed more quickly. If Di Qiong did not attack before Lu Yin finished training in this universe, she was not sure what else she could do to convince Lu Yin and the others to stay a while longer.
Even though the Divine Maiden had developed a good relationship with Jiang Qingyue over the years, Lu Yin was the leader of the group. He was also the most powerful of them.
God’s Domain had never considered seeking outside help before, but the Divine Maiden saw Lu Yin’s arrival as fated. It was possible that he could help, but it was not guaranteed.
As Lu Yin glanced around the universe where time passed 110 times faster than in the Origin Universe, he found that it was extremely small; even the Frostwave Weave was about ten times larger than this place. This universe was inhabited almost entirely by creatures that resembled pangolins. The creatures were covered with enormous stone shells, which made it impossible to quickly determine their exact numbers.
While the universe was miniscule and only had a few planets, each and every planet was inhabited by the pangolins.
Lu Yin’s first move was to try to learn more about these creatures, as they were the key to him gaining the universe’s recognition.
However, after several years of exhaustive efforts, Lu Yin came to realize that the creatures had no desires at all. They simply slept or crawled around, moving from one planet to another in a rather peculiar manner even though they had no cultivation or any real strength. They had an ability to crawl through outer space by relying on a unique breathing method.
Lu Yin learned their breathing method, but it held little value as it was only suitable for these creatures.
Even after learning about the pangolins, the question remained unanswered; just how could Lu Yin receive this universe’s acknowledgement?
Violence was not an option, and persuasion was similarly impossible. Bringing in a foreign species would be entirely meaningless. Even if the indigenous creatures were eradicated, Lu Yin would not gain the universe’s recognition. Instead, he might even be rejected by the universe.
This was the last situation that Lu Yin wanted.
He much preferred a survival-of-the-fittest sort of universe, or one with undeveloped life forms. In fact, even a universe without any kind of life would be preferable to dealing with this one.
As far as Lu Yin was concerned, these creatures were essentially blocking Lu Yin’s progress without contributing anything to the universe. He somehow needed to gain their cooperation in order to receive the universe’s acknowledgment. Unfortunately, he did not see any realistic way to do so.
Finally, Lu Yin decided to copy the creatures in order to be recognized by the universe.
He altered his appearance so that he looked identical to the creatures, and then he joined them in their crawling and sleeping as he headed into an unknown future. The creatures did not care enough to understand what awaited them.
In the blink of an eye, an entire decade passed. Lu Yin looked back, only to sadly realize that he had only managed to crawl a few thousand kilometers. Determined, he persevered. The fact that time passed 110 times faster in this universe meant that gaining its acknowledgment would grant him an additional 110 seconds when peering into the past with Lightstream. This would undoubtedly be worth the effort needed.
After all, only a bit more than a month had passed in outside universes.
The only thing was that Lu Yin could not let Jiang Qingyue or anyone else see him in such a manner, especially not Ghost Monkey. The monkey might flatter Lu Yin when they were together, but Ghost Monkey would not hesitate to gossip about Lu Yin behind his back. If he was seen in his current form, the Ghost Monkey would mock Lu Yin for the rest of his life.
In the God’s Domain, Arch-Elder Zen leisurely enjoyed a cup of tea that had been brewed by Zhao Ran. To the old man’s surprise, he had noticed that Zhao Ran’s tea had started to gain a better appearance.
“Girl, what’s with this tea?” Arch-Elder Zen asked.
Zhao Ran nervously replied, “Is it not good?”
“Not at all, it’s simply different from before.” Arch-Elder Zen held his teacup as he observed the particles floating inside.
No one would be able to accept Zhao Ran’s teas the first time they encountered them, but everyone who traveled with Lu Yin had long since gotten used to such things. Before they arrived in God’s Domain, even Arch-Elder Zen had found the the girl’s teas to look quite intimidating, but that appearance had toned down significantly.
Zhao Ran blinked. “I feel like the tea I was brewing before didn’t look very appealing.”
Arch-Elder Zen gave Zhao Ran a strange look. “You only realized that now?”
Zhao Ran pursed her lips. “So it’s true?”
“Are you still not sure?” Arch-Elder Zen retorted.
Zhao Ran shook her head as she stared at Arch-Elder Zen.
Arch-Elder Zen sighed. “It’s fine, just do whatever you want. Brew your teas however you like.”
Zhao Ran stared at Arch-Elder Zen, hope appearing in her eyes. “Does it taste good?”
Arch-Elder Zen laughed. “Of course it does! Every tea you make is always delicious.”
Zhao Ran smiled happily.
Elsewhere, Jiang Qingyue was in the Divine Maiden’s residence. She had been granted access to the place six months ago, but she was the only one who had been invited over. After all, they were both girls, so there was no reason for the Divine Maiden to be cautious.