Chapter 801: Breakthrough, Medium-tier Deity

On the internet, many people were discussing heatedly. They debated the Mother River Civilization and all the possibilities concerning Ji. Some even suggested, “Brothers, this is an excellent opportunity! Let Yuan Qinghua become a Guardian, gain their trust, then assassinate the target and act as a double agent.”

“Holy moly! The heavy responsibility of saving all the heavens and myriad worlds falls upon him! He is the savior!”

“Go, go, go! If Yuan Qinghua becomes a Guardian, he could stab them in their sleep, take their place, and kill them effortlessly!”

“A Ninth-tier magnate is within reach!”

“Charge!”

Everyone was very excited. However, many people shook their heads.

This was highly idealistic. Yuan Qinghua breaking through to the Ninth-tier? Perhaps they were dreaming; anything is possible in dreams.

Currently, the fastest cultivating player was Meng Mei, who had already embarked on the Ninth-tier path. The Alchemy Emperor was a latecomer, yet he had already ascended to godhood, relying on his cultivation experience from a past life. His speed was remarkably fast! However, even with her progress, Meng Mei still faced significant challenges in reaching the Ninth-tier.

As for Emperor Qi? Having recently encountered the Three Pillar Gods, he was inspired to fully develop his own Wuzu method of enlightenment: the Three Corpse Severance method. This method involves creating three major avatars, drawing inspiration from Sword Saint A Chou’s Wuzu cultivation techniques on the ancient planet. It's a unique Wuzu true form, where the flesh and blood of the three-headed, six-armed Wuzu are separated and transformed into independent beings—three Wuzu avatars that assist in cultivation.

However, this method was not particularly powerful. While the combined cultivation speed of the three avatars effectively doubled one's progress, it didn't lead to a true qualitative leap. Yet, for Emperor Qi, it was barely sufficient. This was because his inherent cultivation speed was already very high, a testament to his formidable talent. However, for others, using the "Three Corpse Severance method" remained incredibly slow; merely doubling their speed wouldn't achieve a qualitative transformation. Consider that even a Daolord only reached 3040 before dying of old age. Doubling one's speed still wouldn't guarantee a breakthrough, and not everyone possesses the exaggerated talent of a Daolord; for most, it would be even slower!

For an ordinary deity, a rate of 1020 was considered normal. Doubling that speed? It would still be an unattainable goal.

The Ninth-tier was not so simple to achieve. The corpses of deities who fell on this cellular path piled up like mountains. After all, how could the Wuzu possibly compare to the Demonic Core Clan or the All-Clan, two races with inherent advantages for crossing the Ninth-tier threshold?

Many netizens continued to discuss rationally:

“Emperor Qi has no inherent advantage on this path; it’s a racial limitation.”

“Otherwise, he wouldn't have consistently fought from a disadvantaged position, achieving victories over stronger opponents.”

“Nevertheless, the Three Corpse Severance method isn’t an exaggerated technique.”

“Alas! The Primordial World truly holds no advantage in this realm! Their method of enlightenment is like riding a tractor, while the Demonic Core Clan and All-Clan are riding a high-speed train.”

“It’s normal not to have an advantage; not everyone belongs to those two exceptionally gifted races.”

“Moreover, those two exceptionally gifted races were specifically guided into existence by the ancient gods to find a slim chance of breaking through to the Ninth-tier. It’s simply impossible for ordinary extraordinary races to achieve that!”

“Emperor Qi will likely break through with this method because he’s already incredibly fast. He’s already integrated over 50% of his body, and with life extension qualities, doubling his speed means he’ll effectively reach 25, ensuring his breakthrough. So, Emperor Qi isn’t worried. But it’s different for others; Meng Mei, for instance, might face a dead end if she tries this.” The discussion about the current situation quickly shifted to methods for breaking through to the Ninth-tier.

At that moment, Meng Mei stepped forward, clearly unconvinced.

“Who said I can’t break through? I’m much stronger than Emperor Qi! I have a shortcut—the Incense Dragon Vein Enlightenment Method, which utilizes the power of all living beings to cultivate my Earth Dragon Vein body… similar to Caroline’s ‘Great Dream of a Thousand Years’ technique.”

“To be honest, I believe my Dragon Vein race possesses a far greater racial advantage than Emperor Qi’s! I plan to visit Sister Caroline, leverage her knowledge, and draw analogies to refine my understanding in this area.” Meng Mei felt that her path to enlightenment lay with Caroline. After all, Meng Mei had hosted Caroline upon her arrival, and their relationship was quite good. Once Emperor Qi successfully entered the Lesser Universe world, she could inquire about cultivation techniques and refine her own strategy.

“Following this trend, I have a significant advantage in cultivating towards the Ninth-tier… The second player with an advantage is Akina Mountain Speed! This individual’s primary body, the Alchemy Factory, can replicate bloodlines, and recently, he even grew a demonic core for himself—truly despicable! The third advantageous player is the Alchemy Emperor. Personally, I believe his cell population is very small, prioritizing the ‘quality’ of life essence. When he evolves species, he must already be considering his Ninth-tier path (such a schemer!).”

Meng Mei continued, “This ranking is currently uncertain. I have good reason to suspect that, in reality, the easiest to break through to the Ninth-tier is a certain tiny insect in a bottle.” Everyone was taken aback, listening to Meng Mei’s analysis of the current Ninth-tier path.

So, these seemingly unassuming magnates had already secretly begun planning their Ninth-tier paths? Were they preparing for a rainy day? And the Alchemy Emperor, while evolving species, had already considered this level? They were utterly stunned.

“By the heavens!”

“Then, when evolving species in the future, shouldn't we thoroughly research whether that species offers an advantage on the Ninth-tier path?”

“This is insane! We need to learn from the Code Racers: the smaller, the better!”

“But this is too difficult. Everyone knows a simpler structure is better, but a simple structure must also possess extraordinary potential. The Great Dao is simple, but this is putting me, Fat Tiger, in a tough spot!” (He gritted his teeth.)

“My goodness, now that I think about a certain skeleton plug-in warrior, that guy likely considered his Ninth-tier breakthrough when evolving his species! No wonder his structure is so simple, with his skeleton full of holes! It wasn’t just to insert plug-ins and create more gaps, but also to reduce his cell count!”

Everyone gasped sharply. That’s incredibly devious! They were all veteran schemers, none of whom seemed interested in diligent cultivation. Instead, they wanted to secure a good racial origin, then simply coast to the peak?

Did everyone want to emulate Meng Mei? A dragon vein lineage simply coasting through era after era? After all, this world was inherently unfair. Born into a rich family, endowed with an innate Jianmu, the very foundation of the extraordinary world—how could an ordinary race possibly compare? Only countless times the effort from an ordinary, acquired background could compensate for innate deficiencies.

“It seems everything in the world is balanced. To avoid hard work in the next life, one must work tirelessly now and secure a good reincarnation!” (An image of a headband signifying hard work.)

“The path to the Ninth-tier must begin from childhood!”

“It seems I, too, must research a race that integrates with the foundational principles of the world!”

The atmosphere within the entire online forum regarding extraordinary species suddenly shifted. They felt they needed to put in strenuous effort, as everyone knew that a top-tier, heaven-defying species could allow them to achieve massive results with minimal effort in the future!

Meanwhile, alongside the online discussions, a subtle undercurrent stirred within the private group chat of the major figures.

At that moment, Yuan Qinghua asked, “So, should we proceed with our secondary plan?”

The construction of the Mother River system was driven not only by external factors, such as locating Ji’s true form, but also by their so-called secondary plan: This plan involved using the Mother River to locate Earth and initiate a supernatural revival there. It was an incredibly audacious and insane proposal. However, they had to consider that the other party might be a hostile civilization, and many factors needed to be weighed. For instance, Ji’s disposition was a concern, but currently, they felt Ji might not target ordinary people or destroy the planet.

At the same time, they weren't expecting Earth to discover this Mother River civilization, as Earth couldn't perceive the Mother River Tree. After all, light beams in a vacuum are invisible. Therefore, astronomical telescopes were unable to observe this immense cosmic rose tree. The powerful beings, however, could perceive the energy World Tree in the cosmos because they were all extraordinary cultivators, naturally capable of sensing energy.

Furthermore, there was a crucial point. Not only was the energy imperceptible, but the Mother River also distorted universal laws. External civilizations, particularly those below the Ninth-tier, simply couldn't sense the Mother River's existence—a built-in protection mechanism for the civilization. After all, it was impossible for anyone to locate the true source of the Mother River.

Thunder Emperor: “So, the Mother River would be searching for Earth. After all, we know Earth’s coordinates within the Milky Way, allowing it to extend its branches. But do we really want to do this?”

Alchemy Emperor: “We still need to consider it! If this gets out, everyone will call us insane!” (He added a dog-head emoji.)

Akina Mountain Speed: “Don’t rush. I proposed this plan. While it might seem reckless, it definitely has safeguards! It's important to remember that this cosmic rose tree doesn’t instantly appear through spatial jumps. Despite growing at 1.4 times the speed of light, its expansion is still quite slow. For it to grow into such a colossal entity, with branches stretching to our side and opening a Silk Road, who knows how long that will take? By then, what will the overall situation be? No one knows. We might already be incredibly powerful; this is merely a future contingency.”

Alchemy Emperor: “Indeed! Yuan Qinghua can secretly influence the World Tree’s growth direction. Whether the Mother River’s tributaries extend this way or are subtly shielded, he maintains the initiative!”

Dragon Wuming: “Yuan Qinghua, we’ve acquired the technology you provided. Besides the Sun-Drenched Mirror, there are many formidable civilian and military technologies that will be of great use to us. However, it will take at least two to three years to fully comprehend them in the lab and implement large-scale reforms in the real world…” Everyone shook their heads.

The Alchemy Emperor was, in fact, also working to revive martial arts in the real world, but progress was very slow. Now, while they had also acquired advanced technology, two or three years was still far too slow. Keep in mind, only half a year had passed! In those high-dimensional spaces, a single day equated to a hundred years. Time flew by, and no one knew how things would unfold in the next two or three years. Distant water couldn't quench immediate thirst. By then, the war between the two factions of ancient gods would undoubtedly have already begun, and perhaps even concluded.

Alchemy Emperor: “Damn it, our low-dimensional space-time and civilization are too primitive. Even with access to advanced technology and the extraordinary, rapid development remains incredibly difficult.”

Xu Zhi lay in the living room, silently observing the comments. He even watched the discussions in the private group chat of the major figures.

“These guys are truly audacious, desperately stirring up trouble and doing whatever they please.”

Xu Zhi shook his head, speechless. However, their actions were entirely understandable. From their perspective, stirring up trouble was the normal course of action.

“However, no matter what they do, as they themselves admit, they can’t keep up with the times… after all, things are evolving daily.” Xu Zhi shook his head, set down his tablet, and sensing the energy surging within him, murmured, “For instance, I’m about to break through again…”

Boom! He felt the rush of energy within him.

“This galactic civilization has just begun to mature, and I’m about to break through to the rank of an Intermediate Deity.”