Chapter 879: Becoming a God, The Price of Life

Everyone was shocked and deeply stirred.

Silently, they thought: *Awesome!*

"Holy moly!! Actually, their entire empire, after tens of thousands of years of terrifying technological exploration, failed to develop the 'God Factory' that could turn mortals into gods. It was completely lost. But we've known about it all along!"

"We've already mastered the core technology?"

"Those country bumpkins don't know, but we do. We truly are the center of the universe, aren't we? (Confirmed)"

"Hermes told us this secret a long time ago?"

Everyone was discussing animatedly, incredibly excited.

The Alchemist Emperor said, "Please calm down, everyone. Let me continue. I've been studying this 'God Fitness Center' and found that they are widespread, just like our Earth's gyms.

Now, here's the strange part: such an advanced and mysterious place should be extremely rare and precious. How could it be everywhere? My guess is that they might be empty shells. Their core secret lies in a central factory that transports 'fitness energy fluid' to all the branches..."

Everyone nodded. It was a very reasonable speculation.

"So, this energy fluid is likely the key. What could it be? Does anyone want to guess? Something we already know."

At this point, who didn't understand?

Everyone got goosebumps:

The Primal Essence!

The legendary Door of Alchemy.

It could exchange everything: one essence pleasing another, one essence overcoming another, one essence dominating another...

The Alchemist Emperor said, "Yes, you've guessed it. It's the supreme substance of the Door of Alchemy, said to be the mysterious substance that unlocks alchemical supremacy... But what exactly *is* this 'Door of Alchemy' that can be unlocked? Back then, we didn't quite understand, we were confused. Now that I think about it, it must be the Ninth-Tier Door.

This Ninth-Tier Door is not a door to the transcendent path, it's the Ninth-Tier Door to breaking through the technological path.

Because as I said before, alchemy is very likely a path on the technological side. We almost embarked on it back then. The Door of Alchemy, being a Ninth-Tier threshold, fits perfectly, as it should!"

Everyone fell silent instantly.

It was indeed logical, and now, thinking about it, it seemed inevitable.

Hermes had, in fact, long ago handed down the ancient civilization systems to them.

They looked back at their entire history and had a sudden realization.

Teaching about the Door of Alchemy, the sole essence, was the Ninth-Tier path of the technological side.

Teaching about the power of faith from all beings, twisting laws with the strength of flesh and blood, was the Ninth-Tier path of the transcendent side.

—These corresponded to the two fundamental essences!

Perfect, simply perfect!

No one had imagined such information was still hidden.

As they grew, the information left by Hermes, their civilization's enlightener, proved still worth deeply exploring, containing many incredible secrets.

"My goodness! Hermes long ago separately imparted to us the ancient paths to breaking through both great cosmic road systems!"

"It's just that we've always followed the transcendent path and overlooked the other side!"

"Yes, a cosmic overlord of that level would certainly know all paths of both systems, and likely, like Renimansgar, would have both transcendent and technological civilizations under their command."

"We truly are the center of the universe! These country bumpkins are still fighting tooth and nail, having researched for tens of thousands of years without discovering this ultimate secret."

Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of superiority surged forth.

This is the essence of true heritage and profound legacy!

We already knew the path to breakthroughs on the technological side; we just didn't use it!!

In fact, our civilization was too lazy to bother with it, while those country bumpkins researched for tens of thousands of years without knowing, remaining trapped, their civilization's technological level completely stagnant...

The Alchemist Emperor said, "Ahem, you should know that I seized the opportunity to revive the 'Primal Essence' in the Creator God's courtyard, thus finding the Door of Alchemy, this incredible cosmic energy.

But am I the only one who found it?

Certainly not. Since it exists, there must be even older and more powerful civilizations that discovered it—specifically, civilizations on the technological side.

This tiny bit of energy extracted from life possesses terrifying power.

It's the purest, unaligned primal energy of life. If a drop falls on a stone, it will be absorbed, even granting the stone intelligence.

If it's transformed into an energy fluid, it should be absorbed without hindrance, integrating into the body to become cultivation. It truly allows for advancement without traditional practice."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi had a slight epiphany.

He roughly understood what it meant.

He mused silently:

"So, I'm also on the technological path. I've never cultivated conventionally; I just absorb energy and instantly raise my cultivation."

"Now that I think about it, it's exactly the same."

The 'Essence' is like the feedback energy from the extinction of the Zerg race; it's absorbed without hindrance and directly boosts cultivation.

"This must be the black technology left by the Zerg. After all, they also followed a technological path back then. I've been unknowingly reaping the benefits of their civilization." Xu Zhi looked at the Zerg sub-brain and said faintly, "Knowledge truly is power. I'm beginning to understand the Zerg sub-brain's energy feedback mechanism..."

However, clearly, the Zerg's methods were far more advanced.

Typically, integrating the Essence would result in cultivation without combat power.

After all, it wasn't gained through arduous cultivation. Yet, Xu Zhi experienced no such side effects; his foundation was extremely stable. Moreover, his three avatars helped him learn and acquire knowledge...

The stability of his cultivation was no less than that of those who diligently cultivated in seclusion, like Emperor Qi or Medusa.

At this moment, the entire network was in an uproar.

The Alchemist Emperor continued his analysis, "Yes, it's the Essence. The Ninth-Tier civilization of that time must have had a central imperial factory that the entire civilization protected, and inside it, the Essence was being produced... But how was the Essence produced?

This process is very complex. As I said before, for an alchemist to extract a single drop of 'Essence,' it requires immense effort and the sacrifice of countless new lives, as only a tiny trace is born at the very moment of a life's creation.

So, the question is, how did this empire's factories produce it?

Their technology must have reached a certain level of advancement. Let me propose a hypothesis; their process was roughly as follows:

First, they would find a life form with an extremely fast reproductive rate, perhaps like chickens or ducks, and breed them on an assembly line. You know those chicken farm assembly lines in the US?

It's that kind of industrialization.

Assembly line breeding, large-scale slaughter, extraction, and reproduction—only then could they obtain even a small amount of Essence... In other words, their ability to gain power without cultivating, and the widespread establishment of fitness centers, was built upon the slaughter of countless billions of lives."

Upon hearing this, everyone's scalp tingled.

Everyone knew that the technological path was a major consumer of resources, exploiting planets and plundering the cosmos, but they never imagined the consumption would be so horrifying!

Even in such a highly advanced Ninth-Tier great cosmic civilization, life itself was an enormous consumable resource!