Bang! The instant Lin Moyu entered the thin mist, his body shattered to dust. That scene marked the official start of his "courting death." In the heartbeat after death, Lin Moyu lost control of his body. The formation neutralized the vortex's force so his shattered remains wouldn't be flung into mishap. Under a flash of violet light, the fragments reassembled and Lin Moyu began rebirth. Rebirth takes about one second, but after half a second—when only half reformed—Lin Moyu exploded again. The Forbidden Zone of Life permits no living being to exist. Once rebirth reaches the halfway point, Lin Moyu already counts as a living being, so he is erased outright. That is the rule of the Forbidden Zone: harsher on beings than on objects. World-origin treasure-materials may linger a few breaths; something like the Primordial Chaos Gem can remain safely as long as it likes. But even someone as mighty as the Sky-rending Emperor-Lord lasted only ten breaths. With Lin Moyu's current strength, never mind one breath—he couldn't last a tenth of a breath.
He died and lived, lived halfway and died again, cycling without end. The Primordial Chaos Gem watched, clicking its tongue in wonder. This ability was unheard-of. It has seen countless worlds and never once seen anything like it. There are many forms of resurrection—nearly every world has a few freaks who can be "born again." Some great beings can even be reborn from a drop of blood; losing the body doesn't matter. But without exception, if the soul is annihilated, they die; and even if they revive, either their strength plummets or they can only revive once or twice. None are like Lin Moyu—body blown apart, soul destroyed, even ground to dust—yet still able to revive and be reborn. The gem also sensed no time displacement, which means Lin Moyu's soul-rebirth isn't pulled from some other timeline. To the Primordial Chaos Gem, this rebirth power defies belief. What it cannot fathom most is that after a certain number of rebirths, Lin Moyu's power actually increases—both body and soul strengthen together. Words failed it; "heaven-defying" wasn't enough, "monstrous" didn't fit—there was simply no term.
The gem's little face screwed up oddly. "Why do I remember someone else also having this ability? …Can't recall. Strange. And there are other things I can't remember." It knew full well there were many blanks—why it ended up in the Forbidden Zone, how it knows its own name is "Primordial Chaos Gem." It had wondered before, to no use; thinking only added vexation. Now Lin Moyu's death-trial faintly tugged at some memory, a déjà vu it still couldn't place, and at last gave up.
Soon Lin Moyu reached five hundred rebirths; body and soul hit the first step of enhancement. One percent per step shows little; he still died as before. Under the shroud of the Forbidden Zone's power, he couldn't condense a body; even his consciousness stayed scattered for long stretches. He could only let rebirth continue. The Primordial Chaos Gem, however, sharply sensed the change. "He really is stronger—just a sliver. If this continues… unimaginable. But after dying so many times, won't Master get a psychological shadow? Most beings fear death after once. Master treats death like drinking water."
Five hundred was only the beginning. Every hundred rebirths thereafter, Lin Moyu's body and soul rose by one percent, compounding on the last—interest on interest—the later the step, the bigger the gain. After he advanced to great completion in the Chaos realm, the stock of stored rebirths also rose; right now he had one hundred thousand in reserve. Plenty to "play" with.
Death and rebirth alternated; violet light flashed incessantly, brimming with life—stark against the deathly still of the Forbidden Zone. As the death count climbed, every hundred brought another uptick: body and soul strengthening in tandem. After dying over a thousand times, his body-and-soul power had already grown by thirty percent. The gem's face turned odd again—"Why like this?"—for by its measure Lin Moyu's body and soul had already reached a limit—call it the limit of the Chaos realm. In theory, a bit more would break into the Supreme tier (大尊): body and soul both stepping into Supreme, then up to the Supreme limit and into the domain of the true supremes (至强者). That had been its judgment, and it prided itself on never mis-seeing after watching so many worlds and beings. Yet what unfolded overturned it—until, after more watching, the gem realized and cried out, excited: "So that's it! I wasn't wrong—only the environment is different."
Delighted that it hadn't erred, the gem now had a new answer to old questions. In the Ancient Wilds (not the Origin Continent), Lin Moyu's body and soul had indeed reached the Chaos-realm limit; one more step would have been Supreme, enough to bare-knuckle a Supreme—maybe not win, but not lose instantly. But that was inside the world. Now he stood in World's Genesis, the deepest Ancient Wilds, inside a Primordial Dawn Vortex—which contains destructive power from the Forbidden Zone. This is a junction of world and Forbidden Zone; world-rules don't hold here. Lin Moyu's limit was the world-internal limit, not the Forbidden Zone limit. So here, his body and soul could still strengthen, adapting to the Forbidden Zone's rules.
The gem now understood why true supremes die as soon as they enter the Forbidden Zone: their adaptation—and their body-soul limit—is bound to world-rules (many not even at the limit). The Forbidden Zone runs on another rule set. Like a whale that rules the sea but dies on land—crude analogy, far more complex in truth, yet close enough.
Lin Moyu's body and soul were adapting. If he returned to the world, he might find he hadn't grown much—world rules would suppress it—but this laid a foundation for later entry into the Forbidden Zone. "Perhaps one day," the gem murmured, "the Forbidden Zone won't be 'forbidden' anymore." Using its destructive power to fuel endless rebirths, Lin Moyu was gradually assimilating a thread of that power; body and soul rose, most gains effective only in the Forbidden Zone (somewhat usable in the Ancient Wilds' deepest place, but largely suppressed back in chaos). No matter—he wasn't after mere adaptation; he wanted a root-level breakthrough. Adaptation was a bonus and would be useful later.
Unwittingly, Lin Moyu was laying a never-before foundation—truly unprecedented. After three thousand deaths—body and soul up by thirty percent—his death rate began to slow. During rebirth he could snatch a split-second of awareness—enough to sense changes. Each death yielded that blink, enough to feel a fragment of change. "Strange… why no breakthrough?" Over and over, he sensed his body and soul up by about thirty percent, yet still no break. With only a blink of consciousness he could not resolve it; even forming a single complete thought took several rebirths.
The gem, unaware of his inner ripple, stared unblinking. "Thirty percent—this must be the cap. Time to break through. Even the Forbidden Zone cap—above world rules—should be at its limit now." In the last hundreds of cycles, Lin Moyu's increase had stalled; within the scattered flesh and powdered soul, some invisible force was brewing, waiting for an explosion. The gem's eye was keen: power was accumulating to smash world-rule constraints, to burst through the Chaos realm and step into Supreme. World rules are strict and strong; breaking them is hard. But—keep at it and rules will break. In all its ages of watching, the gem had learned: outside and inside the world, anything is possible.
Lin Moyu himself didn't know this; he'd recovered only a thread of perception, and then no further. Rebirth continued, again and again. The power that began brewing at death three thousand fully erupted at the instant of rebirth number five thousand—a vast detonation like stars bursting and the first dawn of heaven and earth. The shattered body and powdered soul—every grain—shone. The vortex flooded with unspeakable terror; even the Forbidden Zone's power gave way. Not because it was weak, but because Lin Moyu had adapted to a thread of it; at his breakthrough, that thread was pushed aside naturally.
In violet light Lin Moyu completed rebirth. The Forbidden Zone's force struck him and could no longer deal a killing blow. Body and soul erupted with world-shaking might. In that instant, it was as if an unrivaled god descended. In the Ancient Wilds' deepest place, near the core—inside a Primordial Dawn Vortex—a being was born whose body and soul both reached the Supreme tier. This had never happened before.
His aura spread from the vortex and was sensed by countless beings—but none drew near. The Primordial Dawn Vortex inspired instinctive fear, and Lin's aura now carried not only world-rules, but also the flavor of the Ancient Wilds' deepest place, and, at the deepest layer, even a thread of Forbidden Zone power. The gem clicked its tongue: "So it can even fuse Forbidden Zone power. If he entered the chaos-world now, he could probably fight a Supreme head-on."
Lin finished his breakthrough; a current surged through him. He had to vent—he casually threw a punch.
Boom!
The Primordial Dawn Vortex collapsed on the spot. With one punch he shattered the vortex and severed its link to the Forbidden Zone; even the formation he'd set up was destroyed. Perched on the Heaven's Calamity Scepter, the Primordial Chaos Gem flew over. "Master, you okay?"—though it knew he was fine; it asked out of concern.
Lin checked himself; joy welled boundlessly. "Finally made it." He shook his head. "I'm fine. Let's find another Primordial Dawn Vortex." This tiniest vortex was gone, but it wasn't his limit. He would keep looking and keep courting death. Five thousand deaths was only a start; of the tens of thousands he aimed for, he'd done less than a tenth.
The gem was already searching; this time Lin joined in. With both body and soul now in the Supreme tier, he no longer needed extreme caution. So long as the vortex wasn't too large, whether push or pull, he could handle it easily. The difference between pre- and post-breakthrough was immense—tenfold at least by his feel. Tenfold was enough to ignore all in the Chaos realm—consummate or not—one punch to explode them; even a top consummate might only take a few more blows.
Soon the gem locked onto a vortex, and Lin almost simultaneously found the same one—about a hundred meters across, ten times the previous, its volume far more than tenfold, its inner force stronger, and the Forbidden Zone power in its core denser. Lin flew straight over. No need for the old delicacy—he had advanced right here in the Ancient Wilds' deepest place, and was already adapted. He felt like a fish in water. Unless the force was extreme, he could cope with ease. He reached the target vortex smoothly, sensed a moment, and began arranging a formation—to protect his powdered state and raise safety.
When it was ready, the gem—very cooperative now—carried the Heaven's Calamity Scepter into the vortex as the formation eye. It stabilized quickly; the Balance Gem gleamed, matching the formation and vortex until they were as one. Lin then entered, sank to the bottom, and faced the Forbidden Zone's destructive power. Here it lay as mist, thicker than before, its destructiveness much greater.
"Second round of courting death—let's hope you don't disappoint me."
With neither joy nor sorrow, Lin flew into the mist—and in less than a tenth of a breath, turned to powder.