Chapter 853: Strange Garden

“Natives from nearby planets have approached here?”

In the study, the great giant, the size of half a planet, sat contemplating in his chair. His original purpose in coming here was to settle the Crystal Wall System universe and Medusa. He had intended to wait for Caroline and the others. After all, the primitive civilizations outside were relatively low-level, and they weren’t like the Zerg.

Xu Zhi naturally held them in low regard. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, there were thirty-seven planets orbiting the Cosmic Courtyard; through the ages, only seven remained. Although civilization had declined over the past 100,000 years, it had gradually recovered its peak, giving birth to its own gods and developing its own systems. It couldn't be described as crude anymore. Over 100,000 years of development, deities who were climbing the path to ninth-tier existence, beings capable of distorting laws, had emerged. Their weakness was relative to Xu Zhi, Caroline, and others. What good was an eighth-tier's power?

“We could release a Super Saiyan at random and destroy these deities still struggling to reach the weaker ninth-tier,” Xu Zhi said, shaking his head. His gaze was already fixed on the ninth-tier. One of them was what Xu Zhi called Cat Star. The species piloting the spaceship before him also seemed to be from a nearby planet. It appeared to be a purely technological civilization.

“A technological civilization? Caroline’s is a hybrid civilization, part technological, part supernatural. I’ve never truly seen a purely technological civilization before…” Xu Zhi’s expression remained calm. Purely technological civilizations were inherently powerful. However, their power usually lay not in individuals, but in the civilization as a whole. “I’m suddenly curious, as I’ve never seen the true form of a purely technological civilization,” Xu Zhi mused. After all, he had always been on the path of the supernatural, advancing at an unstoppable pace.

“Very well, this is a good opportunity to test things out… to prepare for Caroline and the others, and see how it works in advance.” At his desk, Xu Zhi slowly tapped his fingers. “Moreover, as natives, they should be more familiar with the adjacent Garden of Death.” “In that case, the gates are open for them.” He revealed a meaningful smile. “However, if such a vast expanse of land were set to extreme flow speed, even that prehistoric being couldn't manage it without revealing my hand. The garden land will have a lower flow speed; only the interior of the villa will have the extreme speed.”

A cigar-shaped, black mechanical spaceship slowly docked before the vast, dark cosmic land. “We finally caught a lone native god from the Maona Star before it could escape. We almost got caught by a strong clan god from their side.”

This was a perfect woman in a black, cinched-waist dress, with silky black hair and skin as delicate and refined as jade. However, the ‘ears’ on both sides of her head, resembling those of a large stag, were actually a pair of hands. Combined with another pair of arms growing from her neck, she was a four-armed being. If Xu Zhi were to make a comparison, these ‘ears’ were like Tony Tony Chopper’s from One Piece. Though this might sound bizarre, seeing her directly felt surprisingly natural.

The perfectly elegant woman smiled: “Those natives are primitive and inferior, worshipping so-called gods and building temples—it’s barbaric… We just attacked one of their gods, why such retaliation? And can you even call something like that a god? Ridiculous. It was crippled after just a few shots. It’s also because of the constraints imposed by these ‘gods’ that the planet’s civilization remains so low and primitive. City-states, cultivators, mighty warriors, imperial knights, dukes? It’s all quite laughable.”

The woman, who had been sitting in a chair, stretched and then leisurely lay down on the floor. Beside her, a deer-horned butler reminded, “Princess Na Shaer, those gods, barbaric as they may be, are still quite formidable…. Those few shots consumed several years’ worth of our territory’s reserves. While they are primitive, they are indeed powerful enemies of our empire.”

“Never mind that. Capturing a god should bring endless profits to our replication factories. Our lineage will prosper…” The two deer-like antlers on her head, functioning like nimble, soft hands, gripped a square, phone-like device, holding it before her eyes as if remotely controlling something. She seemed to receive some information. “How ridiculous! My idiotic Thirteenth Prince brother said he’d pay a hefty price for this god… I won’t give it to him. He probably wants to experience these gods as a mortal, conquer them—such a perverse taste. And this one is male! Aren’t ordinary girls enough for him? He wants to play with male gods too.” A flicker of amusement crossed her eyes as she imagined the fate of the native strongman if he fell into his hands. “But that guy’s mechanical talent is indeed superior to mine. Anyway, this trip has been quite good. We might as well visit the ancient forbidden land while we’re here. Let me see if I can find some good ancient life genes. That would be a huge profit.”

Her subordinates nearby dared not speak. Only they knew of Her Highness the Princess’s cruelty, terror, and capriciousness. She had been a horrific tyrant, engaging in rampant human trafficking for years, and many of her followers had met their end at her hands. Indeed, all the empire’s princesses and princes were exceptionally radical, bloodthirsty, and cruel. This was because they were raised from childhood in such an environment. Over ten thousand descendants fought each other, and now only eighty-some princesses and princes remained alive. This was a brutal competition to determine the strongest heir, akin to the ancient practice of ‘raising Gu’.

Click. The spaceship opened.

They entered the black ruins. The vast, decaying black land stretched endlessly, utterly desolate and devoid of life. Yet, it was strangely eerie; for a moment, the soil seemed to ripple like an ocean, sending up waves, then instantly became still again. “Is it my imagination? This land feels different this time,” Na Shaer said, her expression growing serious. Although she couldn't see the beings in the high-dimensional space-time, she could feel a strong sense of incongruity about the land. “Send in a sixth-tier elite clone soldier to explore,” she instructed.

Whoosh! A white, rigid soldier slowly stepped forward into the land, walking quite normally, as if nothing was amiss. “No problems?” Na Shaer frowned. Could it be her own hallucination? She thought for a moment, staring intently at the sixth-tier clone soldier, observing no abnormalities. She slightly extended her hand and looked at a subordinate nearby. “You go explore.” “Yes!” The subordinate entered, and something incredibly bizarre happened: the very next second, without even a scream, he instantly vanished from the spot!

“Vanished instantly? What in the world!?” A sharp glint flashed in Na Shaer’s eyes as she narrowed them. “Something is very wrong here. Could it be high-dimensional space-time?” Na Shaer turned to look at a white humanoid creature that followed her closely. This was a clone of a deity. It was her high-end combat power, essential for her survival. Although it didn't possess much intelligence, it had been programmed with instructions to react if any deity approached through high-dimensional space-time. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to resist those terrifying high-dimensional beings launching low-dimensional attacks on them. “But there’s still no reaction. If it’s not a so-called god, then how could…?” After a few seconds of hesitation, she put on a pair of special glasses, which connected to the neural network of the deity clone behind her. “This is a huge loss. Clone deities already have short lifespans, and now one has to help me enter high-dimensional space-time…” She muttered, looking pained, and pressed a button.

Whoosh! The view through the glasses rapidly changed. She saw an extremely bizarre scene. On what appeared to be barren black land, countless creatures and beasts were active, amidst lush green mountains, forests, flowers, and trees. It was as if, in that moment, she truly saw the inner world, a genuine world within!

Rustling… She saw the animals before her curiously observing their nearly motionless group. Even the leading beast, an ancient Mitchellian behemoth, which was highly intelligent, revealed a cunning and cruel gaze. It gestured to the other animals, instructing them to walk carefully on the ground to avoid disturbing its flatness. And it wasn’t just animals. Rustle. She actually saw a tall, verdant tree, lying on the ground. Its two branches served as forelegs, and it scurried about like a puppy, high-stepping and prancing.

“What the hell! I saw a colossal Wital Tree, extinct for over 100,000 years, frolicking around like a dog!” Na Shaer was utterly stunned!! “That was a tree! That was a *tree*!!” It had no dignity whatsoever… She continued to focus, and saw an even more bizarre sight. “Flowers striding on two small legs, heads held high… What in the world are these things!??” She stared, wide-eyed, blinking, and reconfirming that the majestic, enormous Wital Tree was indeed wriggling like a puppy, frolicking around the leading Mitchellian beast. “Send in a first-tier clone,” she said to someone nearby, taking off her glasses. A clone strode in purposefully, with a steady pace. Putting the glasses back on, she saw that this clone was moving incredibly slowly, like a nearly stationary statue. It had only just taken a few steps—and was instantly swarmed and devoured by animals.

“This is… insane!” Na Shaer murmured. She deduced that time in this high-dimensional space-time flowed at an incredibly accelerated rate – meaning her own actions appeared ten times slower here – but this was utterly terrifying. “No wonder I felt the land shifting wildly when we first arrived; it wasn’t a hallucination… These prehistoric beasts are too clever! They instantly moved stealthily, avoiding trampling the soil, just waiting for us to enter, wanting to devour us! The sixth-tier clone who went in just now was simply too tough for them to chew through; their attacks couldn't even breach its skin, which is why…”

She gazed at the entire cosmic garden, sensing an extremely sinister and terrifying power, deep and dreadful. “Prehistoric animals have reappeared, seemingly in their nascent state, with very low cultivation levels—the highest is only fourth-tier… The mythical flow of prehistoric times has also reappeared. Could it be that the forbidden entity from before civilization has not died, but has revived??” Her mind was filled with horror. In that moment, she trembled, then burst into laughter. “The ancient evil being, known as the most malevolent and cruel in prehistory, who delighted in caging civilizations, treating them as murals, and us as pets… has actually returned.” A powerful realization dawned on her. “The era of the ancient mythological cosmos has returned… The pets left over from the ancient era can no longer masquerade as great gods… The true master of this world is returning. I knew all along that the ancient forbidden being from 100,000 years ago would not perish, would not disappear!” She was extremely excited, realizing that the ancient era of sects might be dawning once more!