Chapter 955: Lifespan Issues

In the Celestial Court of the Seven Realms.

Akina Speed was busy working, and one by one, extravagant golden plug-ins clinked and clattered to the ground. Suddenly, he turned his head, grinning. "You abandoned me for so long, and now you're finally back."

Mengmei walked over, exasperated. "We didn't mean to abandon you; you've just always been working overtime and couldn't get away.... This time, we also brought you gifts." With a flick of her hand, Mengmei tossed him a spatial ring.

Akina Speed looked at the ring, saw it contained enough for some cultivation, and was quite satisfied. This brute hadn't completely forgotten him. "By the way, what's the situation now? You weren't beaten to death by Emperor Qi, were you?"

Mengmei's face darkened, and she said, "How could I possibly be beaten? Emperor Qi always seeks opponents, so I just relied on my speed to travel the world for him, finding new adversaries. He's ecstatic now, with new opponents appearing and new cultivation methods to study... Life is about movement; life is about transcendence."

Akina Speed looked skeptical, still unconvinced. "You really weren't beaten?"

Mengmei beaten to death? That was unlikely. After all, it wasn't Mengmei's first time doing such things; if she were going to be killed, she would have been killed long ago.

In reality, Emperor Qi had always turned a blind eye, letting this Earth Mother Goddess go out and stir up trouble so he could learn new cultivation methods. Emperor Qi had always hoped for stronger enemies to appear. But this time, it was too much!

Although the benefits Emperor Qi gained this time were considerable, all brought to him by Earth Mother Qingteng, logically, Emperor Qi would have wanted more such occurrences. But the most unbearable thing was Zhou Meng...

Could you tolerate it? Any powerful individual would find it unbearable. That crazy, white-haired old man, always dreaming big dreams, was as sticky and annoying as taffy.

"Cough, cough, cough. This fellow was beaten thoroughly, and only because Ru Yun Niangniang interceded was he not beaten to death.... After that, Emperor Qi went into seclusion to cultivate." The Alchemist Emperor coughed twice. "He seems to be in seclusion, organizing all his gains, which are indeed quite substantial.... But I suspect even more that he's eager to study quantum martial arts, preparing to find Zhou Meng's dreaming place and beat him to death."

Akina Speed found this reasonable, nodded, and gave a thumbs-up. "Quantum martial arts, still so potent! By the way, did you get the genes from the opposing civilization? I want to cultivate them too!"

Mengmei shook her head, spreading her hands in a helpless gesture. "The other side's world is also terrifyingly powerful, a cosmic garden. Even if their overall foundation isn't as deep as ours, it's not far behind. We haven't managed to get our hands on their bloodlines; those powerful individuals have ways to defend themselves.... Honestly, it's impossible to obtain bloodlines directly from them unless we kill them instantly, before they can even react, and then extract it from their corpses.... The simplest way to steal bloodlines would be to secretly enter their world and acquire their genetic bloodlines from their ordinary people."

Akina Speed nodded. "That's true!" In reality, Pan Xuexian, the Thirteenth Prince, and others had indeed given them quantum genes, but not from their original race. It would be impossible to perform a secondary extraction from them.

"However, they haven't gotten our genetic bloodlines either... We also need to prevent them from entering our world, as they could obtain bloodlines from our ordinary people!" the Alchemist Emperor said. "They're also eyeing our Nine Revolutions Profound Art! And various powerful bloodlines!"

Those four great Quantum Grandmasters, seeing Emperor Qi's exaggerated combat power, must surely be extremely envious.

"The other side might already know our world coordinates, but we must shield them to prevent them from sneaking in!" It seems now that every transcendent world has means to shield itself, preventing others from entering their core world and stealing their civilization and wisdom!

And any foreign entity that steals a race's bloodline will be relentlessly hunted down with wanted posters issued throughout the cosmos! They would face retaliation from a powerful super-civilization!

"Bloodlines and cultivation methods, both are extremely important."

Akina Speed pondered this, knowing it well, as he ran a gene factory. "But if we can't get the real thing, I can clone quantum genes. Just stick an antenna-like hair on your head, and you can achieve quantum entanglement... Everyone, want to 'pay to win' and get stronger?"

"It's not the original. A gene plug-in might look good, but it's really nothing special." Mengmei pursed her lips and shook her head. "It would take an immense amount of time to cultivate a new system of cultivation methods, and it's not even your inherent bloodline. Who has that much energy? Except for a monster like Emperor Qi...."

Normal people simply couldn't do it. Just cultivating their own existing gene-based methods was already overwhelming and too much to handle.

"By the way, did you meet those Asura Dao players?" Akina Speed suddenly asked, extremely curious about this.

"Yes, we did meet." The Alchemist Emperor smiled. "It was our first true face-to-face interaction.... Their numbers were terrifyingly vast, well-ordered, and with clear divisions of labor, forming a very precise and strict organization. I also have to say that the Asuras' physical talent is incredibly formidable, with infinite potential. I even helped them refine and evolve their Twelve Asura Battle Gods.... In truth, they've done quite well; they have many people, and also much wisdom."

Akina Speed chuckled. "It sounds like they're quite formidable."

"They're alright, just a tiny bit worse than us. Their innate talent isn't as good as ours, given our proper origins." Mengmei thought for a moment and said, "After all, their lifespan isn't even a tenth of ours, so their accumulated knowledge is naturally insufficient.... However, despite their weak foundation, their wild and imaginative ideas and creativity left me dumbfounded."

The individuals before him were all prominent figures in this field, having lived for thousands of years and established themselves through their expertise. Naturally, the others were still far from being able to compare.

"Those at the forefront, now that they've become gods, aren't they going to die of old age soon?" Akina Speed's voice was calm.

"More or less." The Alchemist Emperor took a deep breath. "I've checked, and their lifespans are indeed only about a tenth of ours. However, due to differences in evolved species, there's variation: the longest-lived is a plant deity, with a lifespan of two thousand years... the shortest is a beetle deity, with only eight hundred years. Other ordinary deities live for about a thousand years."

A thousand years seems like a long time. In reality, it's just over a week in the real world.

The Alchemist Emperor said, "The shortest-lived deity, with only an eight-hundred-year lifespan... is already past their halfway point. In three or four more days, their life will end." Becoming a god also meant facing imminent death.

Akina Speed's expression darkened, and he sighed with emotion. "It seems things are starting to become uncontrollable now. What we've always wished to avoid is still going to happen. This group of people, top talents from Earth, who pioneered and expanded our territory, are now facing extinction."

"There's no helping it. That's just the nature of the Asura Dao. Don't they know this themselves? But they still chose to break through! After all, if they hadn't broken through, they wouldn't even have become deities, and it would have been impossible for them to participate in the previous minor cosmic war, or the current giant octopus's home world.... For a civilization to rise again, it requires generations of blood and effort to compose its anthem."

The Alchemist Emperor said, "We are already quite fortunate... For those people, I've left enough primordial essence; they should be able to last a few more days... This is the last thing I can do." Mengmei nodded.

They were racing against time, sacrificing themselves one after another.

"We still need to keep it a secret from the outside, though the top Asura Dao players surely know.... After all, they might joke around normally, but none of them are fools. On the contrary, each one is extremely intelligent, top talents in various fields in the real world." The Alchemist Emperor thought for a moment, unsure how to put it.

The few of them could be considered leaders, pioneers, and decision-makers within the player faction. However, many developments were inevitable. At the same time, they had truly lived for thousands of years, albeit in another world. Such a long and eventful lifespan should be satisfying enough.

"There's nothing to worry or fret about."

"To transcend, one must pay an equivalent price. To become a strong individual who surpasses all, one must be prepared for death."

The Alchemist Emperor smiled and said, "There's no need for sadness or discomfort... As it's said, in the unseen, all things are balanced.... We must also work hard. My lifespan is still young; I've only just arrived. You two, on the other hand, don't have much time left."

"What do you mean we're dying soon? Listen to yourself, is that something a person says?"

"You should worry about your Armin first." Mengmei glared.

The Alchemist Emperor: "....."