Chapter 1032: Nine-Level Difficulty, Our Fallen Pathmakers (Combined)

Chapter

At this very moment, witnessing this scene, the Mother River Civilization and the emergence of the Moon God Season, they too began to make their decisions. They fully realized that a new era had dawned.

“To improve the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, have you already succeeded in your cultivation?” Qiu Mingshan Cheshu said softly. At this moment, they were remarkably calm and composed. Though thousands of years old and still fond of jokes, their inner minds were clearer and more transparent than anyone else’s.

Meng Mei rolled her eyes and looked at the Alchemist Emperor beside her, huffing, “Of course I succeeded! Almin has already reached 100% nascent Ninth-tier and is refining her genes. I followed Caroline’s path, which is the Dao Attainment Method of All Beings in Dreams—how could I not succeed?”

“So, you’re going to break through?”

Qiu Mingshan Cheshu fell silent, understanding the implications.

Meng Mei was speechless. “If I don’t break through, how can I improve the new Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art? The Dragon Veins of ordinary Eighth-tier gods were already insufficient back in the old era of the Ninth-tier Path Law... not to mention now, in the true complete Ninth-tier era.”

The Alchemist Emperor also suddenly said nothing.

100% nascent Ninth-tier is just the beginning. The beginning of perfected genes. Once one breaks through to the Ninth-tier as an incomplete Dao Attainer, they will face a dark lifespan of a hundred thousand years. Meng Mei’s talent was already considered genius level. After all, she was a person of great fortune, but her genius only elevated her to the level of an Eighth-tier god, which was still insufficient to break through to the Ninth-tier.

She wasn't skilled in combat or cultivation. Her talent, like that of the Alchemist Emperor and others, was in being an extreme research-oriented prodigy, the kind of powerhouse who could emerge from *Spore Evolution*. She was already an expert in evolving species, improving Dragon Vein array diagrams, and arranging formations, but was that useful? Her talent points were invested elsewhere; there was nothing she could do about it. This was the brutal reality.

Over these years, for just over ten thousand years, after frantically using Primordial Matter to prolong her life and applying Caroline’s previous Dao attainment method—the Dao of All Beings in Dreams, allowing all beings to help cultivate her body cells—she had successfully reached 100% nascent Ninth-tier. She was utterly stuck, struggling with an intense will to survive.

Meng Mei, however, was unconcerned. She smiled, “Don’t worry. I’ve just perfected two genes, which can be considered a complete success. I genuinely feel this is my limit. The third one’s difficulty increases geometrically. I feel it’s utterly impossible for me, let alone a fourth one. There’s no end in sight... Moreover, my ‘resistance’ to Primordial Matter has been growing stronger recently. Continuing to rely on it would require a massive, exponentially increasing amount, leading to excessive consumption and diminishing returns. It’s better to save some for your Almin’s breakthrough; she’s the one with hope...”

Meng Mei smiled, her gaze filled with emotion. “The two perfected systems I cultivated have completely fulfilled the duties of the Earth Mother Empress. The other two don’t matter much.”

Name: Green Vine.1. Infinite Growth2. Energy Siphon3. Inner Space Bloodline4. Ancestral Witch Bloodline

She was originally a two-gene life form. Like Emperor Qi, long ago, unaware of the broader cosmic order and the myriad worlds, she had integrated the ancient Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art and the Ancestral Witch Bloodline. Emperor Qi’s combat strength was weakened as a result, but she herself was already weak, so it didn’t matter. She felt that cultivating one Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was sufficient. After all, having two genes dedicated to “serving” others meant her combat power could never be strong. The Alchemist Emperor and Qiu Mingshan Cheshu’s alchemist factories also faced this issue due to genetic problems... acquiring certain heaven-defying abilities inevitably came at the cost of some combat power.

But she wasn’t wrong. The latter two bloodline systems were irrelevant. The first two extraordinary bloodline systems, which were part of her fundamental Earth Mother duties, when cultivated to perfection, would not cause the Earth Mother’s abilities to regress after she broke through to the Ninth-tier. In terms of authority, the effect of her two perfected systems was equivalent to achieving perfection with four genes.

“Then, once you enter the Ninth-tier and a new Dragon Vein emerges, the third version of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art can begin,” the Alchemist Emperor said, smiling without elaborating further.

Meng Mei’s situation was difficult now! And wasn’t Almin in the same boat? The path of cultivation relies on struggle! On seizing!

Currently, Almin had already perfected three genes and was still sustained by massive amounts of Primordial Matter, making her final push for the fourth gene. The daily consumption of this Primordial Matter was enough to distress any other civilization! It was all bought with money... Almin could break through to the Ninth-tier, but achieving a perfect Ninth-tier Dao foundation was very difficult for her. So, when talent wasn’t enough, money made up for it.

Before this, Emperor Qi had acquired a portion of the Tyr Empire’s energy from Caroline, as well as energy continuously collected from various locations on the Ancient Tree Planet. Over the past millennium, all of it had been poured into Meng Mei and Almin... One could say both of them were bottomless pits! Even a civilization at the weak Ninth-tier level, like the Tyr Civilization, would find this sight shocking and unimaginable. And this was while they maintained their ant-like forms. If they were to assume normal human sizes, thousands of weak Ninth-tier Tyr Civilizations wouldn’t be enough to sustain them!

Theoretically, Primordial Matter could allow someone to live indefinitely. However, the further one progressed, the stronger the resistance became, and the energy required would reach astronomical figures, making any civilization afraid to even attempt it. Other civilizations wouldn’t do something so foolish, nor could they. Spending Primordial Matter they couldn’t even produce themselves for an ordinary Ninth-tier individual—this was originally a highly valuable reserve treasure.

So why did Emperor Qi help the two of them? Opening the entire national treasury of the Soaring Heaven Court to them? Because Emperor Qi was pragmatic: Meng Mei couldn’t die, and Almin also had to be sustained because of the Alchemist Emperor. Furthermore, Almin indeed had the potential for a perfect Dao foundation.

The Alchemist Emperor sighed. “Then I must thank you. If you give it to Almin, she should be nearly there with the remainder, plus the energy from selling Primordial Matter just now, it should be enough...”

“Without a breakthrough Dao attainment method, forcefully breaking through like Dao Lord back then, who was only in his forties, is almost impossible. However, if one possesses their own Dao attainment method, there’s a chance to break through. Emperor Qi, Caroline, and others broke through in this way. As for those who possess a Dao attainment method but still cannot break through, the gap in talent isn’t actually large—perhaps only two or three thousand years. But it’s precisely these two or three thousand years that make the difference... countless people die of old age, their lifespans cut short. To sustain Almin’s life during this brief period... racing against time, who knows how much was spent.”

It was a losing battle, but it had to be done. If he hadn’t specifically evolved the “Essence Worms,” within these two or three thousand years, Almin and Meng Mei wouldn’t even have had a chance for a perfect Dao foundation. They wouldn’t have waited for Emperor Qi’s Severing the Three Bodies or Caroline’s Dao of All Beings in Dreams; it would have been fundamentally impossible for them to even break through to the Ninth-tier; they would have died. The path to the Ninth-tier was truly that brutal. From this perspective, one can understand how precious the “Immortal Bloodline” is, hailed as the rarest and most heaven-defying extraordinary bloodline system. Every breakthrough in cultivation was a struggle against fate itself! But in reality, even if Meng Mei and others acquired the Immortal Bloodline, they couldn’t integrate it because their genes were already full.

Meng Mei broke through directly. A vast aura instantly enveloped the area. A great Dao Attainer, transcending the laws of the universe, had fully arrived!

“So, time to begin the new Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, then?”

Meng Mei sensed her body, feeling no joy, but rather a strange sense of being lost. But she soon clearly realized that the Ninth-tier Dragon Vein was fundamentally on a different magnitude than before!

“Indeed, with your Dragon Vein, the cultivation art should be able to be improved,” Qiu Mingshan Cheshu said.

Previously, the first version of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was researched by their group of players, using the ancient spatial bloodline to open spatial apertures within the body. The second version was improved by Dao Changsheng back then, utilizing immense energy to regenerate limbs and construct a colossal exoskeletal flesh body, known as the Pangu True Body.

“Theoretically, the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art has already reached its limit; it’s a very perfect systemic state with no further possibility of improvement,” Meng Mei took a deep breath. As the original developer of the cultivation art, she understood this better than anyone. Otherwise, after tens of thousands of years, how could there not have been powerful individuals improving the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art? It was already too perfect. They had even foreseen the future path. In the future, once one possesses truly terrifying, earth-shattering combat power, they could even move a sun to serve as the world’s power furnace!

“The third version of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art can only involve external bloodline enhancements to increase its energy endurance, because the Inner Space Ancient Bloodline has already been developed to its limit,” Meng Mei looked at the two. “And this enhancement comes from my Dragon Vein! Using the Dragon Vein as the meridians for the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art...” This point had actually already been applied by Emperor Qi. However, while there was an enhancement, it wasn’t particularly noticeable.

“The weak effect was due to my weak cultivation realm, not because my Dragon Vein was weak...” Meng Mei smiled, a flicker of pride in her eyes. “My Green Vine Dragon Vein race essentially has only one function: it’s a super energy transmission channel and a super energy absorption channel. That’s why it can spread across the entire ancient land and absorb vast amounts of faith energy...”

The two nodded. Meng Mei wasn’t proficient in other areas, but her species was truly extreme. It had no combat power, yet this extremism made it incredibly strong. An energy absorption channel, a super vacuum cleaner, draining all energy and nutrients—what did that mean? It meant it was the bane of elemental beings. Even scattered emotional energy drifting across the ancient land could be forcibly absorbed by the Dragon Vein’s root-like channels, converging into faith energy. What about those energy-gathering elemental beings? From the very beginning, the Green Vine Dragon Vein was the nemesis of “energy-type beings.”

“The third version will further enhance the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art’s endurance and recovery capabilities by siphoning the opponent’s spiritual power! It can be called the North Nether Divine Art!” Meng Mei took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming as if she were talking about her own child. “I spent thousands of years creating a new Dragon Vein Array Diagram, so intricate and subtle it’s hard to imagine... rooting itself in every corner of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art’s body, forming precise capillaries within the Pangu True Body to absorb external energy... Any energy or Dao magic striking the body’s surface will be instantly absorbed, thereby achieving an alternative form of elemental immunity! This truly reaches the pinnacle of shamelessness... an invincible secret art! Not only does it provide infinite endurance for oneself, but it also siphons your energy during combat, completely achieving endless sustainability!”

The two also had gleaming eyes. Just how strong was Meng Mei’s Dragon Vein siphoning ability? Absorbing all external energy was equivalent to elemental immunity, forcing you into close-quarters combat with them! And close-quarters combat? Compared to the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art’s Pangu True Body, such a fierce pure melee and defensive combat system, engaging in close combat? In reality, the best way to deal with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was to bombard it with distant Daoist magic... But now, that path of Daoist magic strikes was directly severed, forcing the opponent into your preferred melee range, then beating them to death! Moreover, this method was a perfect counter for the Mother River Civilization. Their elemental-clad bodies, when they attacked? However much came, it would be absorbed! This third version of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art was truly a persistent nuisance, sickeningly hard to kill, and it forced you into melee. If you were a Dao Attainer specialized in Dao magic, then you’d have to run...

As for this bloodline imbalance? This was reality. What was balance or imbalance? Some bloodlines were inherently unequal, and the effects of certain system counters were greater than one could imagine. Indeed, many powerful, heaven-defying Dao Attainers, with perfectly coordinated combinations of four gene bloodline systems, could produce even more unimaginable, heaven-defying effects, perhaps even surpassing the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art. The universe was vast and wonderfully spectacular. There were all kinds of extraordinary bloodline systems one could never imagine. Precisely because of this, they offered endless fantastical possibilities, making them so yearned for and aspired to.

“It seems I’m to become the ultimate foundation, even the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art will begin to incorporate my faith energy service system.” At this moment, Meng Mei looked out at the ancient, azure sky, standing in the pavilion and gazing out the window, a little emotional. “I too have become a fallen Ninth-tier Dao Attainer... Life is all about struggle. If I didn’t break through, I’d die, and then there’d be absolutely no hope left. I’m quite self-aware of my own talent in this regard. Moreover, if I break through, there’s still hope. Aren’t there some heaven-defying treasures that can temporarily reopen gene slots, allowing one to re-cultivate and potentially achieve perfection? It’s just resources. If I can throw money at it, I’ll throw enough to kill for it. Money can be earned; that’s how Little TV came about... At worst, if I can’t get heaven-defying treasures, I’ll just figure out a way to kill a weak Tenth-tier being, then seize their Dao Seed and walk their Tenth-tier path.”

Their faces were a picture of dismay. Meng Mei had truly become a fallen Dao Attainer now. She was already like those others, with no retreat in the darkness, chasing every shred of hope, even planning how to take down a weak Tenth-tier being? This was a bit too audacious, wasn’t it?

However, the era of Ninth-tier civilizations naturally operated this way. At this level, the killing and bloodshed were far more intense than at any previous stage... Or perhaps it could be said that the higher the realm, the more contention and slaughter there would be, requiring one to step over countless fellow Daoists to continue forward.