Chapter 1015: Harvest in the Remnants of Civilization, and Upheaval

The fleshy remains of more than a hundred enlightened beings lay before him.

Xu Zhi calculated the number, his expression slightly calm.

“According to their descriptions, this represents all the accumulated resources from their surrounding generation, and their tribe’s influence covered one-tenth of the ruins. This means that over hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, the entire ruins have likely only accumulated around a thousand such remains. For such a vast ancient ruin, this number is barely acceptable.”

As for the deeper parts...

Even these surviving inhabitants couldn't enter it, so it was probably very difficult for outsiders to reach the core.

In fact, in other ruins, even if a Rank 9 being was killed, it would be almost impossible to leave behind the remains of an enlightened being. This was because their souls and bodies had long merged into one, and they could regenerate from a single cell. Only through a special soul energy shock could their spiritual imprints be removed from their flesh, leaving behind their bodily remains. Creatures of elemental civilizations, being almost "physically immune," naturally couldn't perform "physical attacks." It was precisely their "pure elemental attack" methods that could erase an opponent's soul imprint, thus leaving behind some flesh and corpses.

“Only in these ruins, due to those elemental guardians, could so many remains be left behind… Otherwise, even if they died in other ruins, not a speck would remain.” Xu Zhi continued his search, frowning slightly. “But what if complete remains were left? They aren't of much use.”

These genes... they weren't very good!

Essentially, they were all very common power- or speed-type bloodline talents, or basic wind, fire, and lightning manipulation types. After all, in the early stages of civilization development, power- and speed-talented races, as well as civilizations of psychics awakening various elemental talents, would certainly rise more easily.

After a quick scan, not a single one of the more than one hundred genes caught his eye. It seemed luck wasn't on his side for any rare miracles or unexpected finds.

“Indeed, picking up the remains of enlightened beings and hoping for miracles or heaven-defying talents is too reliant on luck.... It's better to pick locks and take advantage of existing resources, yielding more stable gains.”

Perhaps the genes of these enlightened beings did indeed incorporate one or two heaven-defying genetic bloodlines; after all, who among them reached this point without some fortunate encounter or opportunity? However, he could only research their original racial genes. He couldn't re-extract and integrate the foreign genes they had incorporated.

He glanced at them, secretly assessing the gains. “They can only enrich the Mother River civilization's bloodlines, but having bloodlines without corresponding cultivation methods won't work…”

Xu Zhi looked at the remains and slowly opened their spatial storage items, sorting through them. He discovered that more than thirty of the enlightened beings carried large sub-spaces with them. Inside were countless ordinary people from their respective races. Carrying their civilization with them like this could be considered a tiny nomadic civilization... But so much time had passed, and the gods outside had fallen, so the sub-spaces were already filled with nothing but skeletons...

Within the sub-spaces, the corpses and their postures within the cities made their tragic end palpable. In the cities and corridors, there were banners and writings of encouragement, but now, they were mottled with the vicissitudes of time.

“What a pity… A galactic being, transcending the laws of the universe, carried an entire civilization of hundreds of millions or even tens of billions of people within a sub-space. They ventured into the ancient ruins, paid a hefty entrance fee, and fought with their backs against the wall, hoping for a better future… And here, all the people within that civilization were cheering, encouraging their god… only to ultimately fall here.”

Xu Zhi shook his head, a trace of pity flashing across his face.

“How truly tragic…”

Xu Zhi flew through the air, looking down upon the entire world. Within one enlightened being's sub-space, looking at the widespread ruins and remains, some corpses still held expressions of despair, with parents and children embracing, fallen in their homes, frozen in their death poses.

“Anthems of civilization, anthems of history… I never believed that the anthems written by our civilization were the most thrilling: Dao Changsheng, Azure Sky and Scarlet Sun, the destruction of the Wizarding World, the glory of the Isu people… They are no different; we have never been unique.”

Xu Zhi mused that every civilization must have experienced thrilling histories and anthems. “It's just that these civilizations have fallen, while I am still moving forward…”

Whoosh.

He landed in the sub-space's library. Among their ancient civilization texts, he found their corresponding racial cultivation methods. “Force field cultivation methods? For power-type genes, to reach this level, it's quite mature, and there are good gene combinations…”

“As expected, all internal civilizations have them.” Xu Zhi closed a book, his expression calm. “It seems that the more than thirty sub-space civilizations carried by these beings all have corresponding cultivation methods… That’s not bad. Even if they're quite ordinary, this is all accumulation… To fully develop and perfect them would require difficulty and time no less than the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art.”

Xu Zhi pondered for a moment, carefully organizing his thoughts, and said softly, “They can be used as a scripture repository, allowing people to absorb bloodlines and cultivate the methods…”

He looked at the others. The remaining seventy-plus enlightened beings generally didn't carry their civilizations with them, nor did they have many resources or corresponding cultivation methods… Clearly, their civilizations were hidden, and they traveled light.

Having bloodlines without cultivation methods... For Xu Zhi, that was meaningless. These common bloodlines were not worth expending immense effort to deduce cultivation methods for.

Soon, leaving these sub-spaces, Xu Zhi put aside these remains and the so-called ruin treasures, gaining a deeper understanding of the universe's cruelty and desolation. He sat in a room within the crystal labyrinth, and seeing these ruins and relics, he truly grasped a certain terrifying truth.

“It’s too arduous. In the vast universe, across countless worlds, for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years, who knows how many extraordinary civilizations have progressed cautiously, only to fall and perish along the way… Even the previous generation of the Zerg Mother Queen was one of them.”

“In fact, I have also developed for over ten thousand years; I am a civilization over ten millennia old…”

Xu Zhi organized his thoughts. He had to admit that these remains had broadened his horizons, allowing him to fully comprehend the entire cosmic landscape. Enlightened beings who transcend the laws of the universe, with lifespans of hundreds of thousands of years—how magnificent are they? Chinese civilization is only five thousand years old! To such beings, that's merely the blink of an eye… Yet such beings, in the context of the entire vast universe, are still like specks of dust in an ocean. Even the Azure Blue Divine Realm, which has struggled for its final existence for 570,000 years, is but a fleeting moment in history…

“It’s too tragic.”

Suddenly, the word spontaneously emerged in Xu Zhi’s mind: “Rank 9 enlightened beings, if they cannot step onto the path to the ultimate Rank 10, are merely historical dust in the universe.”

“And our race is indeed powerful… Our talent allows us to evolve any terrifying bloodline, but other races will absolutely covet us! They will try to seize our various heaven-defying bloodlines.”

“The stronger we are, the more likely we are to be hunted and envied… The Azure Blue Divine Realm is already like this, and we will certainly be even more so!” He saw the sparse bloodlines and systems in the outer universe, only then realizing how rare and precious they were. Just throwing out a Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art would likely lead countless terrifying super-civilizations to besiege and annihilate him, just like they are besieging the Azure Blue Divine Realm.

“Hiding, absolute hiding, is still necessary. I should release a not-too-powerful yet widely applicable incense system within the Azure Blue Divine Realm to help them resist pressure, lend them a hand, and incidentally see if there’s any hope for Rank 10… I'll use this civilization to test the outside world and its structure…”

The Azure Blue Divine Realm, it's strong enough, right? Terrifyingly strong! His own top-tier experts, Di Qi, Caroline, and others, number in the hundreds at that level, not to mention the three mysterious and supremely powerful Azure Blue Heavenly Venerates. It is a colossal immortal civilization that could easily crush him.

Xu Zhi planned to secretly observe how this enlightened civilization progresses, how they resist the Fallen civilizations, and how to truly walk the path of the pseudo-Rank 10. “As for the incense system, it can diligently play its role as a subordinate civilization within it… but it absolutely cannot expose its true nature or core genes… And these players are more meticulous than anyone, with layers upon layers of nested schemes… so there’s not too much to worry about…” Xu Zhi gave a half-smile, beginning to examine the gains before him. Venturing outside is fine, but the genes must absolutely not leak out.

The resources in the sub-spaces weren't abundant, but combined, they amounted to the energy level of 14 complete Rank 9 beings. They were indeed very poor. If these enlightened beings were powerful, they wouldn't have fallen here.

A hint of delight flashed in Moon God Ji’s eyes. “This is an unexpected bonus… It can continue to supply energy to the Tower World and Caroline, enabling all its inhabitants to reach Rank 9…”

Other enlightened beings, perhaps ordinary ones, might lack energy, but the top-tier, heaven-defying enlightened beings generally do not. But Xu Zhi did! He needed to nurture people, develop the sandbox; no amount of investment would be enough! A super bottomless pit.

Just as Xu Zhi was organizing his thoughts, the player community erupted into chaos and uproar. Yuan Qinghua’s remarks on the forum caused a huge stir, and countless players of the Asura Path stopped their leveling and cultivation.

“What?! Dao Monarch Phoenix, it turns out he’s a semi-elemental creature, and actually on the enemy’s side?” The news began to spread.

“Damn it!”

“The Super Ancient God is terrifying! Not only did the enemy scheme against his bloodline, but he had also long ago schemed against theirs, radiating physical Buddhas, saving all sentient beings—awesome!”

“So Di Qi is actually from the Moon God Ji bloodline of the enemy, possibly even a grandchild? Doesn't that mean there's a possibility of betrayal?”

All the players grew anxious; they were stunned and scared. The four great giants: Caroline, Di Qi, the Three Pillar Gods, and Emperor Zun. Undoubtedly, Di Qi was extremely powerful and held great promise to walk the pseudo-Rank 10 path, but such a heaven-defying potential candidate actually…

“Brothers, this is bad news!” They started to panic.

“We need to find a way to keep Di Qi firmly on our side!”

“It's fine, his original elemental flame gene isn't strong. Di Qi doesn't rely on his native lineage for his power; in fact, his current strength based on his own race's bloodline… he's already one of us, localized. Moreover, his inner space cultivates ancient systems, Buddhist and Daoist systems, and Moe and the Alchemy Factory play an indispensable role for him. He wouldn't be so foolish, would he…?”

“He wouldn't… probably!?”

Everyone was still very flustered. After all, the Alchemy Factory, Moe, and the original essence of the Alchemy Emperor were all indispensable cores for Di Qi. As a player inheriting the Buddhist and Daoist systems, as long as all three expressed their stance, it was highly unlikely he would self-sabotage…

“Brothers, it’s not good!” At that moment, someone else shouted. Everyone looked and saw that Balloon Fish was speaking.

“What happened?”

“It’s about the Three Pillar Gods, chasing the Machine Pillar God—have they gained anything? Have they broken through to complete Rank 9?” Everyone wasn’t too concerned about the Three Pillar Gods. They assumed they would definitely merge. If the Machine Pillar God couldn't win, it would be devoured. If it was too troublesome, the Three Pillar Gods might make it the Fourth Pillar God, treating it equally.

However, Balloon Fish was agitated and brought news that shocked everyone even more: “The Three Pillar Gods have betrayed us! They killed off the Machine Pillar God, secretly joined the Fallen civilization, and are preparing to make a big move in the ruins!”