Chapter 1227: Tearing the Universe, Black Hole Engine

Xu Zhi didn't know if it was fate or not; he just felt it was a great coincidence!

So, Nu Yi was planning to create the multi-verse, and she was the mastermind behind it all? No wonder the old woman's expression was so strange when Xu Zhi previously mentioned that a multi-verse might emerge in the future.

How could her expression not be peculiar when this was a secret she had been planning for many years in the dark?

Xu Zhi had considered that this was a historically inevitable development, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

"It's so early, severing the late stage of the Primordial Chaos Divine Demon era and the early stage of the Post-Heavenly beings."

Xu Zhi frowned. "Perhaps this was originally meant to happen in the same era? Are they all part of the dividing line between the Primordial and Post-Heavenly eras?"

The difference between Primordial and Post-Heavenly beings: lifespan.

The difference between Primordial and Post-Heavenly universes: fragmentation.

"This means that the Post-Heavenly era might not have fully arrived yet. The true Post-Heavenly era begins only when the universe, currently a unified primordial chaos, fragments into a multi-verse!" Xu Zhi whispered to himself. "However, it makes sense when you think about it, as such drastic cosmic changes should occur in the very early stages!"

Yet, Xu Zhi couldn't have imagined it would be Nu Yi!

But on second thought, it was obvious.

Nu Yi was a fervent and devout follower of her master, Yi Mang. Yi Mang, before his death, desired "a splendid demise," and Nu Yi likely chose to emulate her predecessor, aiming for something monumental.

"Creating the multi-verse... I never thought we would ultimately reach this historic moment."

The God of Creation's expression was incredibly calm, showing a rare hint of nostalgia. "Although I was once the God of Creation of the entire universe, witnessing all history, ancient and modern, I had no self-awareness back then; I could only silently observe the course of history."

Nu Yi nodded, stating seriously, "Master, you severed the lifespan of all beings to extend the universe's life. I, however, will sever the universe itself to extend the lifespan of the Saints."

"Extend the lifespan of Saints?" Xu Zhi's expression remained calm, but he was utterly puzzled. How could splitting the universe into several pieces extend the Saints' lifespan?

"Do tell."

At this moment, Nu Yi's expression was reflective and somewhat lost in thought as she said, "Over the long years, I too sought the possibility of breaking through to the eleventh order, but there was no opportunity whatsoever. Like Master, I could only dedicate the remainder of my life to the completion of the entire universe, hoping to leave something behind in my final moments."

"I discovered that Master Yi Mang, while severing the lifespan of all beings for the universe, was unfair to the Saints!"

"Previously, with eternal lifespans, any being living long enough would almost certainly become a Saint. But now that all beings face birth, aging, sickness, and death, the state of Sainthood becomes a struggle against heaven for life, an incredibly arduous path!"

"In the Post-Heavenly era, becoming a Saint is as difficult as ascending to heaven!"

Xu Zhi indeed agreed with Nu Yi's words.

Because Saints truly had a terrible existence; they fought against heaven for life, undergoing arduous cultivation their entire lives just to reach that ultimate realm. Yet, no sooner had they arrived than they were assimilated by the Grand Universe, which was indeed tragic!

What was the purpose of all that painstaking cultivation to reach such a state?

Rushing tirelessly, not daring to rest, working busily their whole lives, only to reach the end and face death without enjoying anything.

Severing the lifespan of all beings was indeed unfair to the Saints, or rather, to all cultivators, as they were plagued by lifespan limitations at every stage of their cultivation.

"Master sought benefits for mortals, but it burdened the Saints. Ultimately, one cannot favor one side, so I thought of seeking benefits for the Saints," Nu Yi murmured. "And there are fundamentally only two ways to extend the Saints' lifespan: first, by strengthening the Saints themselves, and second, by weakening the universe's assimilation power."

"As for strengthening the Saints, Master Yi Mang has already reached the limit on that path, seizing the Grand Dao of other Saints to enhance his power, transforming from a One-Dao Saint to a Five-Dao Saint! That is the utmost extent of the first method, so we can only start with the second."

"And what is the method to weaken the universe's assimilation of Saints?"

Nu Yi mused aloud.

A thought suddenly flashed through Xu Zhi's mind, and he completely understood the principle and truth behind the creation of the multi-verse:

The way to reduce the Grand Universe's assimilation of beings was to strike a blow at the universe, weakening it!

By fragmenting the Grand Universe into nine multi-verses, its power would be weakened, drastically slowing down the Saints' assimilation rate and allowing them to live much longer!

"So that's it. I should have thought of it earlier."

Xu Zhi's mind reeled as he listened. "So, this is the truth of the multi-verse: striking a blow at the universe, making it incomplete, and thereby extending the Saints' lifespans."

From this perspective, the multi-verse was indeed an inevitable era.

Any Saint, to survive, would sooner or later have to transform the universe into a multi-verse, weakening the Grand Universe's power by splitting it into nine continents, thus allowing themselves to live longer.

It simply depended on which era's Saints would choose to initiate this historical juncture!

"Causing the universe to split is an incredibly difficult task; the universe is too vast, and no brute force can fragment it. Although this plan was my idea, it was conceived in collaboration with several remaining ancient divine demons, and we even cultivated a new batch of Saints individually."

"This current batch of newly emerged Saints—apart from a few naturally occurring anomalies—are largely our disciples. They were cultivated to embody the rules of the multi-verse, prepared to attain their Dao."

After all, this was far too complex and immense.

It would require over a dozen Saints to jointly attain their Dao to completely form a perfect closed loop, with countless rules acting simultaneously, to alter the cosmic structure.

"Our primary inclination for the laws is to make the universe split itself, starting with spatial rules, allowing it to displace and tear apart on its own, much like the movement of planetary continental plates."

"To make parallel universes move, power and currents are needed. But this requires immense energy. Where does this energy come from? The universe's largest energy source is, naturally, its celestial bodies!"

"Therefore, we began to focus on celestial bodies, causing some stars in the universe to enter their twilight years!"

"In their final moments of decay, they would instantly collapse, transforming into black holes. These imperfect celestial bodies, utilized as waste, would emit their last residual heat. By drawing in and expelling matter, they would serve as propulsion for a universe to slowly move through the chaotic ocean, like jets inhaling and exhaling."

"Regarding this point, I did indeed find a similar Dao attainment position on the Grand Dao chart you just provided," Nu Yi said, her eyes sparkling. "The prehistoric cosmic era was also like this!"

Xu Zhi was completely dumbfounded, utterly bewildered and somewhat shocked by what he heard.

Black holes, these imperfect, catastrophic celestial bodies, truly should not exist within the Saints' completion of universal rules. The Saints' completion was meant to make the universe more habitable!

The existence of black holes had seemed extremely illogical to Xu Zhi until now.

But now, it sent shivers down his spine—it was like a vast territory with tens of millions of super-engines installed beneath, propelling it in different directions, ultimately causing the plates to shift and tear apart on their own.

This was the most convenient method, using a small leverage to move a heavy weight. By simply altering a few rules, the universe could self-fragment as ages passed!

And this was also like a fleet of large ships, with black holes acting as engines beneath them, drifting on the chaotic currents, facilitating the subsequent movement of the plates.

"This is truly amazing!"

"This is the true principle of the Grand Dao!"

"This is the true history of the universe. If this were to get out, wouldn't all the Saints in the entire universe go mad? To think such a method exists!"

Xu Zhi exhaled deeply, suddenly reminded of *The Wandering Earth*, that massive project involving countless engines, and found a strange similarity in the ingenuity.

Nu Yi continued, "The creation of the multi-verse is equivalent to transforming the universe into nine continents, with little connection between them. Thus, their Grand Dao charts can develop independently after our era. The number of Saints in the future can increase ninefold, extending the universe's lifespan and providing more Saintly positions."

Hearing this, Xu Zhi couldn't help but marvel at the Saints' calculations; this was an action with nothing but benefits.

Nu Yi then added, "However, once the universe fragments, its power weakens, and the Saints' power also weakens accordingly. Their ability to resist the universe diminishes, so it appears their lifespans haven't extended."

Xu Zhi understood this principle.

If you divide into nine continents, your power proportionally becomes one-ninth, and your lifespan still doesn't increase.

"However, if that Saint enters the multi-verse, their lifespan will extend," Xu Zhi easily thought of this and replied.

Nu Yi nodded. This was a new realm they had opened for the Saints of the universe: the Multi-dimensional Saint. "After all, the Tenth Order is the limit, too uninteresting. Unlike Master, I didn't find the path to the Eleventh Order, so I could only take it upon myself to open another Tenth Order realm, giving the Saints something to aspire to."

Xu Zhi was moved by Nu Yi's grand aspiration; she was truly a being worthy of being called a sage.

The ancient woman, Nu Yi, further explained, "Saints of later generations can only cultivate in a single universe, but we are different. Once we fragment the universe into nine parts, each multi-verse will contain our rules. We will instantly ascend to become Multi-dimensional Saints. Our power will remain unchanged, while the universe's fragmentation will reduce the pressure on us."

Xu Zhi took a deep breath, feeling immensely enlightened, yet increasingly unnerved the more he listened!

This was the truth of history!

So, even the Saints' power had been severed!

Nu Yi's power now, or that of all Saints in this era, once they attained their Dao, would be equivalent to a fully realized Multi-dimensional Saint.

Saints of the multi-verse in later generations would only possess one-ninth of the current power. They would have to enter the multi-verse and attain their Dao in all nine universes to rival the complete Saints of this current era.

Xu Zhi thought to himself:

"So, it's not just the deities whose power was drastically reduced! Even the Saints suffered a version nerf, left with only one-ninth of their strength. Only later generations of Saints who attain their Dao in all nine multi-verses, in all nine fragments, can become complete Saints comparable to those of this current cosmic era!"

They were dealt a blow, and a new realm was added.

Xu Zhi suddenly thought of something.

Nu Yi's scheme, involving all the remaining Chaos Divine Demons and some newly ascended Saints, should have established the multi-verse's structure by now.

Xu Zhi secretly glanced at Nu Yi.

"I previously thought she was nearing death, which is why I isolated her from the mundane world, had her settle everything, and come with me to evolve here, believing she only had a few thousand years left. But now, with the multi-verse splitting, even though she came with me, her lifespan would instantly extend countless times over. Wouldn't my taking away the Saint who was creating the multi-verse mid-process have already altered the cosmic trajectory?"

Xu Zhi had been cautious all along, but he hadn't realized he had still caused a change.

However, after some thought, he decided it didn't matter.

Once the multi-verse was established, the nine cosmic continental plates would undoubtedly develop independently. The structure was already fully formed, and individual power could hardly influence the grand scheme anymore. From this point on, for the next ten billion years, there would be no significant changes.

At this point, the future could no longer be influenced, as it was already too close to the present.