Chapter 882: Terror, the Shocked Empire

Everyone beheld this beautiful spectacle of light and shadow, vast and soaring above the clouds, towering over the land, imbued with a profound sense of mystery.

Just at first glance, an endless stream of information flooded their minds. This was a law, a principle that distorted the very fabric of the universe. An incredible thought arose: Was this another mysterious trace left by a Ninth-Tier Cosmic Dao Creator?

"Oh my God, a great disaster is upon us!""My heavens, what is this?""What incredible entity has descended now?"People wailed, recalling the most ancient eras of destruction. Only after the fall of Reinimansga had so many Ninth-Tier cosmic entities descended upon this land. The scene before them was eerily similar to those days, prompting the terrifying question: Did this mean destruction was imminent once more? Of the thirty-seven planets that once existed, only six remained. Was this new cataclysm poised to annihilate them completely? Endless despair enveloped their hearts.

An old woman and a child, also incredibly excited, peered from their balcony at the goddess outside. She noticed that just by looking, a pale blue virtual screen instantly appeared before her eyes.

"Divine Devil Alchemist"These five words slowly materialized in her mind.

A clear, detached voice of the beautiful woman echoed: "I, the Alchemist, am the ultimate product of a cosmic high-dimensional civilization's supreme law, established with the goal of pursuing and eliminating the Cosmic Forbidden Existence Number One: the Pillar God Tathagata." Yet, subtly, there was a strange, almost irresistible urge in her posture, as if she were about to flex her arm and show off her muscles.

The voice continued: "The Pillar God Tathagata possesses immortality, an eternal cancer of the myriad universes, having already destroyed countless Dao Creator civilizations. Whenever the Pillar God Tathagata descends, the Divine Devil Alchemist will follow."

Below this text, a game store interface appeared, filled with a dazzling array of exchange items.

"Pursuing the Pillar God Tathagata? Chasing that 'virus'?" The old woman's expression subtly changed. She now fully grasped the terror of this forbidden entity. Countless cosmic Dao Creator civilizations were hunting it; clearly, it represented a profound, utterly forbidden, and horrifying terror! It had already annihilated an unknown number of Ninth-Tier Dao Creator civilizations. Most crucially, the Pillar God Tathagata was immortal! Even she understood the implications. They couldn't wait for its demise, because with eternal life, this monster would likely destroy countless Dao Creator civilizations across the entire universe. Therefore, they had no choice but to forcefully find a way to eliminate it! Thus, the mysterious Divine Devil Alchemist, birthed into existence, seemed perfectly logical.

She looked closer. "Why does this look so much like a virtual online game?" The old woman was startled. She had naturally played such games and was intimately familiar with them, as almost everyone had grown up playing online games. In the Empire, this was a common form of entertainment for ordinary citizens. "What exactly is this? Let me see..." The old woman's gaze swept over it, and the more she looked, the more alarmed she became. There were various mysterious supernatural artifacts: Tesla coils, Gatling Buddha staffs. What was most terrifying? It was even possible to directly purchase life tiers! By paying a sufficiently large price, one could directly break through to an Eighth-Tier God! She scrolled down further, her astonishment growing! One could even... purchase a Ninth-Tier realm.

"Oh my God, this, this, this... is this really possible?!" The old woman turned pale with shock, feeling her entire body tremble. The information presented was too immense. Everything could be exchanged, everything could be bought. "Even in virtual online games, it's not this exaggerated... Directly buying levels, bloodlines, instantly reaching max level in a game is essentially a cheat!" Her heart pounded wildly. "And this is the real universe!" "Is this how advanced Dao Creator civilizations in the universe operate? Their technology, civilization, methods, and foresight are already unimaginably powerful!"

Upon closer inspection, she realized it was incredibly expensive. Each tier consisted of ten levels: Gods were Level 80, and Cosmic Dao Creators were Level 90. To directly purchase the status of a God, even with her limited knowledge, she could roughly gauge the terrifying resources required: the energy output of a central planet for three hundred years! "My heavens, is this truly an equivalent exchange?" Her voice trembled; she found the figure too horrifying. Such resources, if applied to the neighboring Borde Supernormal Planet, could likely produce thirty Gods! She scrolled further. Breaking through to Ninth-Tier was an astronomical sum. Selling the entire accumulated wealth of the advanced Tier Empire, amassed over tens of thousands of years, would still be nowhere near enough!

"This must be a lie, it must be a lie..." Her expression became calm. She looked at a "Six-Dollar First Recharge Discount Pack," gritted her teeth, and thought, "But to test if this is truly the work of gods and devils, all I need is the First Recharge Pack." This would digitize her own data and display a system interface. This so-called "six dollars"—she silently calculated its value—was equivalent to nearly half a year of her work income: a staggering seventy thousand Tier Empire energy coins. It was simply too expensive! Energy coins were the universal currency among advanced civilizations. They were refined pure energy, allowing seamless trade even with unknown civilizations. But the old woman eventually fell silent. In ordinary times, a thrifty person like her would deeply regret such an expense, but now, she didn't know how much future remained. With this thought, she silently tapped the first recharge button.

A strange thing happened: a beam of light drew in the energy coins she had placed, and they instantly vanished into the colossal figure. "Payment confirming—" "Payment complete. You may now draw. Proceed with draw?" "Draw!" The wheel spun. "You have received a 0.5-dollar Tier 5 Life Discount Coupon." The old woman's expression subtly shifted. She reopened the system store and viewed her personal interface.

Race/Bloodline: Horned Deer (No cultivation method)Strength: 0.3Agility: 0.4Spirit: 0.6(Normal value is 1)Tier: 0 (VIP0, Tier affects VIP level, affects purchase permissions)

The old woman found this interface quite normal. While some high-ranking imperial officials practiced supernatural systems, their tiers weren't high, typically Tier 3 or 4. Some commoners chose to train at martial arts dojos, mostly reaching around Tier 2. She, however, was reluctant to spend money and had to work, so she had gritted her teeth and didn't cultivate.

"Right, purchase a tier!" The old woman's breath quickened. She quickly checked the price for tiers: "To reach Tier 2 instantly costs 648 dollars..." Her heart ached completely. This was her life's savings, the largest sum most ordinary families could accumulate. But after a moment of silence, she quietly chose to recharge.

A beam of light descended. "Please silently activate either the Martial Dao or Soul Dao cultivation system." As a commoner, she was familiar with these two common cultivation methods. She felt something vaguely infuse her body, warm and gentle, and her body gradually began to rejuvenate. After an unknown period, the boy next to her was completely stunned. "Grandma, you—!?" She suddenly walked to the mirror, looking at the incredibly beautiful and young girl reflected there—it was her younger self. "My appearance?" "I'm Tier 2? VIP2?" The old woman was utterly astonished. After a moment, she very seriously began searching for valuable items in her home.

Meanwhile, the Imperial Council had erupted into chaos."Oh my heavens, what in the world is this?""Another mysterious Ninth-Tier civilization has descended?""Pursuing the Pillar God Tathagata?""It seems this 'virus' is far more terrifying in the eyes of true cosmic high civilizations than we imagined! We're saved! We are not alone in resisting this natural disaster!"

Countless corporate executives were highly agitated. They were initially extremely skeptical and highly vigilant, but naturally, they had tested it and discovered that it truly allowed for successful exchanges. Some corporations had even directly exchanged up to Level 70 Epic tier in one go. Although the combat power for their tier was weak and the breakthrough was relatively slow and gentle, taking a month in high-dimensional spacetime, it was indeed a successful breakthrough!

"This is a lost technique of our ancient civilization!""Yes, it's life essence energy liquid, but its purity is even higher than what's recorded in our ancient civilization. Our records state that converting cultivation to break through to the same tier takes three months, but here, it only takes one month!" Many of them were in tears. How many years, how many tens of thousands of years, had it been? They had been stuck at their civilization stage, unable to progress. They wanted to revive the God factories, but there was no sign of how. To this day, they were almost in despair, feeling that perhaps their civilization had reached its limit and could never take that next step.

"This is a formidable technological civilization. Their life essence liquid has an unimaginably high purity. You must understand that any life extraction process is always accompanied by impurities!""But this one has virtually no impurities!"