Source Essence

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Source Essence
Original Name	源质
Classification	Soul-derived renewable energy resource used to fuel Godheads and divine authorities 1 168
Status	Naturally produced, harvested through divine systems, and circulated through the Internet economy 1 136 183
First Appearance	Chapter 1

Nature and Generation

Aspect	Details
Origin	Source Essence is hidden within every soul. Stronger souls naturally produce greater quantities. 1
Natural yield	Even a god's soul produces limited amounts; saving for ten days to half a month may only permit a shallow Godhead activation. 1
Renewability	It is classified alongside mana and Soul Power as a renewable resource, though most individuals lack the capacity to store their excess energy. 168
Extraction	Only gods can extract Source Essence directly through a Godhead. 168
Creation limit	The Wealth Divine Spark can create souls, but those souls cannot produce Source Essence. Source Essence cannot be transformed from other matter or energy. 316 328
Dimensional limitation	In regions with thin Dimensional Force, Source Essence may be cut off, leaving Soul Value as the more useful resource. 360

Acquisition

Proselytizing

Gods can collect Source Essence in bulk by establishing prayers and receiving the offerings of believers. This is one of the two mainstream collection methods, but it exposes a god to conflict with rival faiths and missionary zones. 1

Divine Arts

Divine arts temporarily lend a Godhead's authority to mortals in exchange for Source Essence. Yu Sheng'an bases the Internet Divine Art on this model, using its users' activity to create a large-scale and recurring source of income. 1 60

Internet and Conquest of Sub-Plane

• Internet users contribute Source Essence while using divine-art services; user activity is especially valuable at night, when entertainment use peaks. 60 208
• Players in Conquest of Sub-Plane can earn Merit Points through combat and exchange them for Source Essence. 136 137
• The presence of Source Essence rewards caused organized groups to enter Conquest, form Mercenary Corps, and hunt Orcs for Merit Points. 141 144
• Undead avatars controlled through the Dark Web also generate Source Essence, leading Yu Sheng'an to consider expanding the Internet among the God of Death's followers. 150

Cultural Content

Internet Film proved that entertainment could collect extraordinary amounts of Source Essence. The God of the Underworld's film The Prince's Revenge generated a surge exceeding the Dark Web Opera House's former peak period. 210

For the Goddess of Pleasure, the earnings from a single night of film distribution nearly equaled a year's savings from maintaining her missionary zones, while requiring almost no comparable operating costs. 217

Uses and Effects

Fueling Godheads

Source Essence is the energy required to operate Godheads and exercise their authorities. Its reserves directly influence a god's effective power and ability to sustain divine actions. 1 160 221

• Thorne burned centuries of accumulated Source Essence to cast the Summoning Divine Art that brought Yu Sheng'an from Blue Star. 1
• Contracting a powerful creature, such as a dragon, requires an enormous expenditure of Source Essence. 1
• Yu Sheng'an maintains Divine Perspective, defensive arrays, and teleportation preparations through Source Essence expenditure. 78
• Seric attempted to convert Source Essence into immediate offensive power and Soul Power during his battle with Wordsworth, but the conversion required time. 222

Strengthening Souls

Source Essence can strengthen a soul, improving aptitude and making it possible to return to—or advance along—the path of magic. 136

• Improved soul quality increases magical learning efficiency. 144
• Yu Sheng'an claims that sufficient Source Essence would raise Darnell's chance of reaching the Magic God realm by at least thirty percent. 144
• One million Standard Units of Source Essence was offered as payment for Darnell's twenty years of service. 144

Supporting High-Cost Authorities

Complex or large-scale uses of divine authority can consume extreme amounts of Source Essence.

• Analyzing the Contract Godhead through the Virtual Prophecy Godhead cost Yu Sheng'an 86% of his reserves. 121
• Real-time weather prediction across multiple regions requires extensive Source Essence and Divine Projection deployment. 121
• The Gene Godhead requires continuous Source Essence to maintain edited bloodlines; cutting the supply causes genetic chaos and irreversible death. 288
• Yu Sheng'an spent a massive amount to deduce the Contract Godhead's fragmented soul authority, ultimately obtaining Binding and Curse. 155

Standard Units and Exchange

System	Rate / Rule	Notes
Conquest Item Mall	1,000 Merit Points for 1 Standard Unit of Source Essence	Introduced as a purchasable item in Conquest of Sub-Plane. 137
Standard Unit scale	Approximately the Source Essence consumed by logging into the Internet for the duration of a cup of tea	The amount is small enough that even high-level mages struggle to profit from combat-based farming after accounting for login consumption. 137
Internet Coin exchange	10,000 Internet Coins—or one Kevil Gold Coin—for 10 Standard Units	Yu Sheng'an established direct currency-to-Source-Essence exchange and renamed Kevil Currency as Internet Coin. 183
Internet Film revenue	50–50 profit-sharing arrangement with participating gods	Source Essence became the incentive used to recruit gods as film producers. 213 216

Banking Proposals

Source Essence Bank

Wordsworth proposed a Source Essence Bank after witnessing the success of the Mana Bank. His concept would allow users to store Source Essence and convert it into other forms of energy when needed. 236

The proposal carried major risks: it would reveal vulnerabilities connected to the Transformation Godhead, and Wordsworth could not ensure that the God of Death would allow him to control the system after its creation. 236

Soul Power Bank

The God of Death ultimately chose to launch a Soul Power Bank through the Dark Web instead of a Source Essence Bank. The service was intended to compete with the Internet's Mana Bank. 243

Story Role

• Thorne exhausts his accumulated Source Essence to summon Yu Sheng'an and transfer the Contract Godhead to him, leaving Yu Sheng'an with critically low reserves. 1
• Yu Sheng'an identifies mass use of divine arts as his safest path to gathering Source Essence, inspiring the creation of the Internet Divine Art. 1 2
• The Internet's spread turns knowledge, social interaction, games, and later film into sources of recurring Source Essence. 7 60 210
• Source Essence enters the Conquest of Sub-Plane marketplace, allowing mortals and gods to pursue soul enhancement through Merit Point farming. 136 137
• Aphnora provides Yu Sheng'an with the Source Essence needed to analyze the Contract Godhead's soul-related authority. 155
• Yu Sheng'an opens direct Internet Coin exchange for Source Essence, transforming it into a central instrument of his financial and political influence. 183
• By the era of the Main God Space/Sovereign Space, Yu Sheng'an identifies the continued supply of Source Essence as the essential condition for sustaining his expanding systems. 294