Immediately, a hoarse voice rang out.

The voice was sycophantic to the extreme, and it came from the strange fish below.

However, it didn’t speak aloud; instead, the words were transmitted via fluctuations of its Divine Soul.

As a Spirit Level creature of the Spirit Realm, its power was comparable to a Refining God Venerable, so it naturally possessed sentience.

Behind him, Ouyang Shuokong watched this scene with a calm expression, showing no surprise. Similar situations had occurred frequently over the past month.

He had gone from being shocked at first to simply being numb to it now.

After eating this little dessert, Hu Qi once again suppressed his aura, not revealing the slightest trace of it.

The Sea of Sumeru was home to all sorts of Spirit Realm creatures.

Spirit Realm creatures were terrifying existences, even to the powerhouses of the various worlds.

But in Hu Qi’s eyes, they were nothing more than some delicious snacks.

This was one of the reasons he was using the strange fish as a mount.

Its power was unremarkable, just enough to attract other Spirit Realm creatures.

These Spirit Realm creatures, like Mother Earth, also contained Modification Points.

It was just that the Modification Points they provided couldn’t compare to those from an Apostle Level Spirit Realm creature like Mother Earth.

’The Spirit Realm creatures I’ve been encountering recently are getting stronger and stronger. I must be getting close to the Shallow Wave Zone!’

Hu Qi’s eyes flashed.

Then, with a thought, he summoned the panel before him.

———

[User: Hu Qi]

[Status: Normal]

[Age: 137] 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

[Bloodline: Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent (Mutation 56%) △]

[Talent: Spirit Devouring, Twisted Light, Primordial Eye]

[Divine Techniques: Water Control, Intention Sword, Celestial Silk, Ten Thousand Thunders, Buddha Realm, Heart Inference]

[Skill: Taiyu Serpent Cosmos Ring Scripture (Void Realm Chapter: Ninth Layer) Main Life Map: Taiyu Serpent Life Map]

[Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique (Energy Storage: 36,510 Days)]

[Unknown Technique △ (Incomplete 1%)]

...

[Modification Points: 83,681 (31%)]

The panel had undergone some changes compared to when he left the Earth Star World.

His Bloodline had risen again to 56% from devouring Spirit Realm creatures during this time.

Additionally, the Taiqing Immortal Slaying Sword Technique had reached its limit; its Energy Storage duration could not be increased any further.

This was to be expected. Everything has its limits. And while this Sword Technique was heaven-defying, it couldn’t grow indefinitely.

His gaze didn’t linger, instead falling to the line at the very bottom: ’Unknown Technique’.

’It finally appeared!’

His gaze shifted.

He had reached the end of the Void Realm, but in the Spirit Realm, this was not the limit—it was merely equivalent to the Apostle Level.

Above that level was the True God, the embodiment of the Immortal.

According to all known methods, there was only one way to become a True God: to enhance one’s own essence and give birth to Divinity.

This was from Mother Earth’s memories.

As time passed, Hu Qi also received information about these matters, a gift from the Sea of Sumeru itself.

Ouyang Shuokong had received it as well, and the contents were likely not very different.

There wasn’t much new information; it was largely the same as what he’d learned from Mother Earth’s memories, just with a few added details.

For example, the currently known Level divisions in the Sea of Sumeru were Mayfly, Spirit Level, Apostle, and True God.

Mayfly and Spirit Level were both divided into early, middle, and Late Stage.

But the Apostle Level was different. After reaching the Late Stage, the only way to advance further was to accumulate essence.

However, this process was like crossing an insurmountable chasm.

Accumulating and strengthening one’s essence required an immense amount of time. The time span was so vast that even an Apostle Level being, despite their long Lifespan, could die of old age before succeeding.

Hu Qi didn’t know about other beings.

But from what he understood, the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent, as an Overlord Level creature of the Spirit Realm, was a species known to have produced True Gods.

And its method for accumulating essence was singular: to continuously devour other Spirit Realm creatures, and even entire worlds.

It would continuously grow its own essence until it met the requirements for birthing Divinity.

This was also why the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent was called an Overlord Level creature.

Because as long as it didn’t die prematurely and continued to devour, it possessed the potential to become a True God.

However, while the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent’s method was simple and brutal, it wasn’t suitable for Hu Qi.

The price for a Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent to become a True God was the destruction of countless worlds, turned into nourishment for its own growth.

This was also why the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent was called the Snake of Destruction, the incarnation of death.

The Three-Eyed Primordial Serpents’ way of doing things seemed to have provoked some kind of powerful existence, causing them to be erased from their very source.

Today, there were no traces of the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent left in the Sea of Sumeru.

He had obtained all this from Mother Earth’s memories.

Although there were no explicit records of this in the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent’s inherited memories, he had found some information that verified it.

Those beings were capable of completely erasing the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent. By simple deduction, he could understand that something must have also happened to the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpents that had already achieved the rank of True God.

He didn’t know if they were killed or something else had happened.

But the terrifying existence that did all this was definitely not something he could afford to provoke.

Therefore, he couldn’t use the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent’s method.

Instead, he needed to find another way to accumulate and grow his own essence.

During this time, he had synthesized information from Mother Earth’s memories, the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent’s Bloodline inheritance, the Earth Star World, the teachings of both Dao and Buddha, and the knowledge gifted by the Spirit Realm.

He now had a vague concept of what this "essence" was.

Essence was something on a deeper level than a creature’s physical body or its Light of the Soul.

It was the foundation of consciousness, an imprint of one’s very existence.

During this time, he had been continuously attempting to develop a new method.

Now, he was finally seeing some initial results.

This Unknown Technique was the result.

However, this Dharma Gate was extremely incomplete. At only one percent, it was little more than a bare framework.

For any other being, completely perfecting it would take an unknown amount of time, perhaps an eternity.

But for Hu Qi, as long as it could appear on the panel, it was enough.

Thinking of this, his gaze fell on the Triangular Rune behind the Unknown Technique.

’Crimson! Consume Modification Points! Deduce and create a Dharma Gate that is most suitable for me to grow and accumulate my essence, to give birth to Divinity!’

As Hu Qi’s thought command was issued, the panel trembled slightly.

A large number of Modification Points began to rapidly decrease, transforming into a red light that poured into the "Unknown Technique" entry, causing it to blur.

Simultaneously, Hu Qi felt his own will being constantly elevated and enhanced.

His processing speed, already comparable to a supercomputer, was now multiplied exponentially.

Information from his surroundings converged on him, allowing him to grasp and comprehend it all in a single glance. It was as if he had entered a strange state where everything he perceived was instantly understood.

In this state, the Dharma Gate, which had been only one percent complete, was now being rapidly perfected.

In the outside world, as Hu Qi’s consciousness, elevated by the panel’s power, entered that strange state to develop the Dharma Gate, an inexplicable fluctuation began to emanate from him.

The strange fish and Ouyang Shuokong, sensing this, froze completely, unable to move a single inch.

The waters of the Sea of Sumeru around them seemed to turn solid, freezing in place.

’Th... This is... what?’

Ouyang Shuokong wailed and groaned internally. He felt his body, and even his thoughts, grinding to a halt. The terror in his heart was immense, far surpassing what he had felt the first time he faced death.

Fortunately, the phenomenon didn’t last long. After just a single moment, everything returned to normal.

When Hu Qi came to his senses, he had already exited that state.

Noticing the strange states of Ouyang Shuokong and the fish below, Hu Qi paid them no mind.

His gaze fell upon the panel.

————

[Spirit Seed Technique (100%)]

...

[Modification Points: 11,211 (3%)]

The Unknown Technique was completely perfected, becoming the Spirit Seed Technique.

As for the Modification Points entry, Hu Qi’s gaze shifted downward and his eyelid twitched. He’d had over eighty thousand Modification Points, and now just over ten thousand remained.

He had expected the development process to be costly, since he’d only had a vague idea to start with, but he hadn’t thought it would be this expensive.

’Did the Crimson Modifier deliberately take a cut?’

The thought surfaced in Hu Qi’s mind, but he immediately dismissed it.

After all, even with his current strength, he still couldn’t perceive the Crimson Modifier’s location.

As his strength improved and his knowledge grew, Hu Qi understood the power of this Crimson Modifier even more.

Even if it really did take a cut, there was nothing he could do about it.

Putting the thought aside, he closed his eyes and examined the new Dharma Gate.

The technique itself wasn’t actually that complex. To put it bluntly, essence was the mark and imprint of one’s own existence, the very root of consciousness.

Every living being possessed it. It was just that the weaker a being was and the lower its Life Level, the more minuscule and fragile its essence would naturally be.

And as one trained, grew stronger, and made leaps in their Life Level, their essence would naturally grow as well.

However, even upon reaching the limit of the Apostle Level, there was still a huge gap to meeting the requirement for birthing Divinity.

The Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent’s act of devouring everything to nourish itself was a way of plundering the essence of other living beings.

It was just that this method seemed far too crude now.

A plundered essence would never be as compatible as one’s own. Even if one managed to become a True God this way, it would leave behind hidden flaws.

But this Spirit Seed Technique was different.

It blazed a new trail by separating a sliver of one’s own essence and sending it into other worlds.

It would either possess a body or reincarnate, then grow and cultivate anew. After reaching its limit, it would condense its entire being into a Spirit Seed and return to nourish the main body.

This method of accumulating essence was far superior to that of the Three-Eyed Primordial Serpent, because the Spirit Seed was, in essence, himself.

The accumulated and strengthened essence would be perfectly compatible with his own, leaving no hidden flaws.

And this method of separating one’s own spiritual spark seemed to have incorporated the Divine Soul Technique for self-division from the Earth God Hall’s Inheritance Secret Martial Arts, but was far more perfected in comparison.

According to the Spirit Seed Technique.

Accumulating just five Spirit Seeds should be enough to strengthen his essence to the point where it could birth and condense Divinity.

And what he needed to do now was enter the Shallow Wave Zone, find a world that possessed Extraordinary Power, and use the Spirit Seed Technique.

...

「Another half month passed.」

On this day, after casually devouring a small snack that had delivered itself to his doorstep, Hu Qi’s expression suddenly shifted, and he gazed in a certain direction.

’Have we finally arrived?’