Before Lin Yan knew it, an entire year had passed.
Over that year, Lin Yan completely explored the four Mo Family Dream Realms, Split Divinity's Dream Realm, Fire Thunder Divine Lord's Dream Realm, and the Information Path Dream Realm. He also practiced the killer moves contained within the various true inheritances and gained a much deeper understanding of all twenty-nine Immortal Gu in his possession.
Normally, one year in the outside world meant roughly forty years within Flame Sovereign Blessed Land. Had its time flow remained unchanged, his third Heavenly Tribulation would have arrived long ago, forcing him to advance toward Rank Seven before he was ready.
To prevent this, Lin Yan had used a variation of Autumn Before Winter Immortal Killer Move. By slowing the passage of time within Flame Sovereign Blessed Land until it approached that of the outside world, he postponed the arrival of his third Heavenly Tribulation.
There was another reason he refused to undergo the tribulation in the Eastern Sea.
Gu Immortals normally underwent their calamities and tribulations within the region where they had ascended. The heaven and earth qi of the Five Regions possessed subtle differences, and absorbing large quantities of foreign heaven and earth qi during a tribulation could disturb the immortal aperture and affect the resource points within it. Even Gu Immortals possessing one of the Ten Extreme Physiques could not completely disregard this restriction. The Sovereign Immortal Fetus Gu was the only exception.
Within the isolated space surrounded by turbulent currents, Lin Yan slowly opened his eyes. The final scene of Fire Thunder Divine Lord's Dream Realm had ended.
"Finally." Lin Yan let out a deep breath. His soul had once again suffered considerable damage, and the exhaustion accumulated from exploring the Dream Realm was clearly visible on his face. During the past year, he had repeatedly strengthened his soul before consuming that foundation through Dream Realm exploration, maintaining its peak at around one million man souls. His cautious pace was the main reason it had taken him an entire year to finish exploring all these Dream Realms.
The gains, however, had been well worth it. Several of Lin Yan's path attainments had risen considerably, but Flame Path had undergone the greatest transformation. Fire Thunder Divine Lord had cultivated Flame Path as his primary path and reached Rank Eight.
By completely exploring his Dream Realm, Lin Yan had gained an enormous amount of his accumulated understanding. The barrier that had held him back for so long had finally broken.
His Flame Path attainment advanced from Grandmaster to Great Grandmaster, becoming the first of Lin Yan's paths to reach the Great Grandmaster realm.
This was the combined result of exploring the Flame Path Dream Realms of two Rank Six Gu Immortals and Fire Thunder Divine Lord. The former two had possessed Flame Path attainment approaching quasi-Grandmaster.
Neither Dream Realm had brought a tremendous improvement on its own, but both had deepened Lin Yan's understanding. Fire Thunder Divine Lord, a Rank Eight Gu Immortal who primarily cultivated Flame Path, had possessed quasi-Great Grandmaster attainment.
Lin Yan himself had already been a Flame Path Grandmaster. Over more than a hundred years spent within various Dream Realms, he had continually studied Flame Path, practiced its killer moves, and applied what he learned.
Even before exploring these three Dream Realms, he had been relatively close to quasi-Great Grandmaster. Their combined gains had finally pushed his Flame Path attainment across the threshold to Great Grandmaster.
Next was Wisdom Path. Split Divinity's Dream Realm had been exceptionally dangerous. Old Man Split Divinity had suffered severe cultivation backlash in his later years, leaving his mind unstable. The effects were clearly reflected in his Dream Realm.
Many scenes were chaotic and absurd, their logic changing without warning. Lin Yan had nearly become trapped several times. Exploring it had taken him no less time than Fire Thunder Divine Lord's Dream Realm.
Fortunately, his Dream Path attainment had been high enough to overcome these dangers. Old Man Split Divinity and Zheng Jingshen had both possessed profound Wisdom Path attainment, approaching the Great Grandmaster.
By absorbing the experiences within their Dream Realms and combining them with his existing foundation, Lin Yan had raised his Wisdom Path attainment to quasi-Great Grandmaster.
His gains in Earth Path and Information Path were equally substantial.
Mo Guang's Dream Realm had provided most of his improvement in Earth Path. Mo Guang had possessed quasi-Grandmaster attainment, and the true meaning within his Dream Realm had been enough to raise Lin Yan's Earth Path attainment to Grandmaster.
His progress in Information Path had been even more dramatic. Before obtaining the Eastern Sea Information Path true inheritance, he had possessed almost no attainment in the path. After fully exploring its Dream Realm, he had reached Grandmaster directly.
Lin Yan's attainments across the various paths had now recovered to roughly one-third of his previous life's peak. Flame Path stood at Great Grandmaster, Wisdom Path at quasi-Great Grandmaster, and Formation Path, Earth Path, and Information Path at Grandmaster.
Refinement Path and Dream Path were at quasi-Grandmaster, while Flying Path and Thunder Path were at Master. Heaven Path and Human Path remained at quasi-Master.
These attainments allowed him to resolve problems that had previously been beyond him. As Lin Yan examined his Immortal Gu, ideas accumulated over the past year began coming together, revealing several ways to put his gains to use.
The first problem he intended to solve was undergoing calamities and tribulations outside the Western Desert.