Chapter 4725: I Am the Catalyst
The soul particles were the "real" side of the soul, but their way of holding power was unusual, and ordinary soul force did little for them.
Lin Moyu had already packed his soul full of these particles, completing the fusion of real and unreal, changing the soul's nature and solidifying its foundation.
Yet the particles themselves were still in deficit, holding very little actual power.
What they needed was world force, and not just any kind only pure, attribute less, brand free heaven and earth power would do.
Such power appeared only when a world first opened, or when it crossed its first great tribulation, the life or death world calamity.
For others, that was nearly impossible to obtain, but for Lin, birthing new world force was not hard.
Reenacting the rebirth of the Eighth Cycle world provided a perfect chance.
During that process, a vast ocean of world power would emerge, more than the Linguistic God World could likely absorb, leaving enough to feed his soul particles.
He had planned all this beforehand and now saw that his earlier calculations were correct.
Outside the World Source Spring, massive black clouds appeared out of thin air as the world's rules descended in punishment.
Baizhong and Boyang were startled; they understood immediately that Lin had done something to provoke the punishment.
"Back!"
The two exchanged glances and retreated, leaving this dangerous region behind.
Even as Supremes, they had no wish to clash with the rules of heaven and earth there was nothing to gain and much to lose.
Baizhong smiled bitterly.
"In all the worlds, I fear only Daoist Lin dares to do such a thing. We've lived countless years for nothing compared to him."
Boyang agreed completely.
"Indeed, all these years might as well have been wasted. I can no longer understand what Daoist Lin is doing, but I faintly sense he has a far higher goal."
Baizhong nodded deeply.
"Yes, I feel the same. He seems not to be content with merely ruling this world."
Boyang laughed softly.
"For many people, their end point does not even match Daoist Lin's starting line."
From afar, they watched the World Source Spring as black clouds massed and thunder brewed.
"Begone!"
With a cold shout, light flashed, and a giant fist surged up, sweeping the World Source Spring along like a waterfall reversing upstream.
The surging spring shot into the clouds with boundless momentum.
Thunder shattered, black clouds disintegrating to ash and vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Once more, Lin overturned their understanding not only did he dare trigger punishment, he directly smashed it apart.
They themselves could never manage such a feat.
The more they thought about it, the more it seemed that aside from Lin, no one else would even dare to try.
As the punishment was scattered, the world's rules clearly became enraged, summoning even more immense clouds until the sky became a sea of lightning.
Just as that sea formed, another massive fist burst from the spring and smashed it apart again.
Clouds gathered, Lin shattered them; over and over this cycle repeated.
He did not give the rules any face at all.
"So long as you gather, I'll keep hitting," his actions declared.
Eventually, the punishment reached its own maximum: storm clouds blanketed trillions of kilometers but ceased growing.
Lin continued casually dispersing them with his fists, relaxed, hardly expending effort.
Baizhong and Boyang could tell he was not using his full strength.
A thought suddenly struck them both.
"Could Daoist Lin be… testing the world's limits?"
They looked at each other and saw the same shock in one another's eyes, as though this guess were simply the truth.
And they were right Lin was indeed testing the world's limits.
By doing so, he could roughly gauge the Primal Chaos Wilds' true strength.
He could then compare it to the Linguistic God World and use that knowledge to plan his next steps.
Inside, the inner world continued swallowing the newborn power, growing ever stronger, and Lin could feel it nearing transformation.
"Almost there. It's almost there."
He muttered to himself as the soul particles likewise drew in world force and Primordial Qi.
Compared to the inner world, they were even more direct they needed no extra refinement and could absorb everything on the spot.
Tiny though they were, they were like bottomless pits that never filled.
Lin had no intention of limiting them; the more they devoured, the stronger they became, and the firmer his soul's foundation grew.
Ten full years passed, yet the rebirth of the Eighth Cycle world still continued.
The Linguistic God World finally reached its current limit; its raw strength no longer increased.
But it did not stop absorbing.
Instead, it began pushing past that limit, starting its qualitative transformation.
On the World Tree inside it, a new branch sprouted, bearing three bright green leaves and greatly strengthening the little tree.
One leaf turned translucent, revealing a spatial passage within; the tree had found another shattered world.
Lin did not spare that much attention.
He could not afford to be distracted when the Linguistic God World was at such a critical juncture.
Outside, the skies above the Primal Chaos Wilds lay thick with clouds while Lin repeatedly shattered them, smashing the punishments again and again.
Yet the world's rules remained tireless, constantly condensing new clouds.
Once he had measured the punishment's maximum power, Lin simply stopped caring.
Thunderbolts pierced the World Source Spring and struck his soul avatar.
The avatar stood unmoved amid the lightning, ignoring the blows entirely.
The punishment was powerful enough to grievously wound a Supreme yet it could do nothing to this soul body of his.
Baizhong and Boyang were shocked once again.
They finally understood that Lin had already stepped into a realm they had never touched.
Another decade went by, and the Linguistic God World again felt stuffed with accumulated strength.
Lin believed it had enough excess power to transform but that something was still missing.
"It's lacking a catalyst."
"A catalyst must be found."
He fell into deep thought.
A catalyst was not easy to locate, yet without one, the inner world would always be short of that final spark.
He considered every possibility he could, simulating and deducing again and again, until his thoughts finally settled on the soul particles.
At that moment, the Linguistic God World ceased absorbing the world force.
All world power and Primordial Qi generated from the Eighth Cycle rebirth now flowed entirely into the soul particles instead.
They truly were bottomless pits, swallowing an uncountable amount of pure power without ever feeling full.
The Eighth Cycle world's evolution neared its end, and even such a mighty world seemed unable to "feed" these particles.
Gazing at the unnumbered floating specks, Lin narrowed his eyes.
"Perhaps I am the catalyst."
"The soul has real and unreal.
Once the two merge, my soul power should transform in kind."
"With that transformation, I can trigger the world's own transformation, scattering my soul and will into every corner of the Linguistic God World."
Having thought it, he acted.
The soul particles accelerated, devouring at full speed until the Eighth Cycle world's rebirth finished and stopped producing world force.
Though they were still not completely saturated, they were full enough for Lin to attempt his plan.
This attempt was safe; even if it failed, nothing important would be lost.
He could therefore proceed boldly and without fear.
With a thought, the countless soul particles flew outward, filling every last corner of the Linguistic God World.
In only a few minutes, they covered all of it.
Through them, Lin gained what felt like countless eyes, letting him see every inch of his inner world with crystal clarity.
Then he stirred his soul force; real and unreal fused, and all the power they had just absorbed erupted in a single instant.