The One-Year Deadline Has Arrived

Jiang Yao was not a man of indecision. Since he had decided to accept the suggestion of the Taihuan Token Envoy to cultivate the profound and mysterious Xu Yuan Opening, he would not look back or hesitate.

Although the Envoy claimed that with his guidance, Jiang Yao could cultivate the Seven Turns of Heaven's End to a profound realm, Jiang Yao knew his own talent was limited. To split his focus would be overestimating his own abilities, so he did not intend to waste any more time on the Seven Turns of Heaven's End.

Instead, he would put on a show of listening to his teacher explain the Seven Turns of Heaven's End in the morning, while spending the rest of his time holed up in his room under the Envoy's guidance, practicing the secret technique for rapid soul amplitude growth. He hoped to reach a 10-fold soul amplitude as quickly as possible so he could begin cultivating the Xu Yuan Opening.

Of course, in reality, Jiang Yao devoted the majority of his energy to practicing the soul amplitude secret technique even while in class.

Naturally, Jiang Yao's perfunctory attitude in class could not escape the notice of the teacher responsible for explaining the Seven Turns of Heaven's End. However, the teachers responsible for these lectures were all basically Stellar Level experts; who would care about a student who might never even touch the threshold of the Stellar Level in his entire life?

In a sense, the teachers lecturing them were even more carefree and irresponsible than the university professors of Jiang Yao's past life. They were merely completing a task for their clan; otherwise, who would have the leisure to teach Planetary Level students a secret technique for Planetary Level telepathic amplitude?

Prose had offered Jiang Yao a few pointers, but seeing that Jiang Yao was unwilling to be taught, he gave up. After all, Jiang Yao was not his disciple; it had merely been a momentary impulse of appreciating talent.

Jiang Yao also never participated in the gatherings, sparring sessions, or exchanges of cultivation insights organized by the other youths in his cohort, as he viewed these as a waste of time.

Because of this, from his teachers to his classmates, Jiang Yao was essentially in a state of being self-abandoned, which also caused great dissatisfaction.

Of course, this was not out of concern for Jiang Yao, but rather resentment that he was wasting resources.

The resource allocation for those with top-tier talent was quite generous; who wouldn't be envious?

Jiang Yao's behavior was equivalent to occupying a latrine without doing anything.

Naturally, Jiang Yao did not intend to waste them. Aside from the opportunities to use the Grade A Nutrient Pod, he claimed all his resources at once.

He hadn't used a single one of the 12 Muya Crystals; he didn't even want to spend the time to digest the Muya Crystals to cultivate his genetic energy.

The three opportunities to use the Grade A Nutrient Pod were also quickly exhausted. The rapid soul amplitude secret technique that the Envoy had developed himself indeed had significant side effects, and the nutrient pod was effective in repairing damage to his body, genetic energy, and telepathic power.

The one liter of Sangshi Liquid was the resource most helpful to Jiang Yao at his current stage.

Sangshi Liquid could improve the quality of telepathic power and nourish the soul, alleviating some of the side effects to a certain extent.

As for Mo Li, who had wanted to find trouble with Jiang Yao and teach him a lesson, he eventually gave up after Jiang Yao continued his reclusive lifestyle for a period of time.

At first, he might have been deterred by Prose's vague sense of protection toward Jiang Yao, but once Jiang Yao became "self-abandoned," that concern certainly vanished.

The real reason was that Mo Li's own sense of crisis caused him to focus his attention on his own cultivation.

Yanhe Planet gathered all the young geniuses of the Lingtong Race's Yanhe Lineage. Although Mo Li still possessed outstanding talent, the gap between him and the others was far smaller than it had been on their home planet.

Realizing the difficulty of cultivating the Seven Turns of Heaven's End and the sudden increase in competition, Mo Li realized that his top priority was to consolidate his status as a "Town-Level Genius." Maintaining his outstanding performance in the even more intense competition that would follow the three-year protection period was what mattered most.

As long as he could maintain his advantageous competitive position and stay in the lead, dealing with a straggler like Jiang Yao would be as easy as flipping his hand.

Thus, after more than half a year passed without anyone disturbing him, Jiang Yao finally reached a 10-fold soul amplitude, though he had overdrawn his potential to a significant degree and even affected his lifespan to some extent.

After drinking the last drop of Sangshi Liquid and consuming a Muya Crystal as a source to replenish his life energy, Jiang Yao sat upright, his consciousness sinking into his soul, preparing to begin the Form Casting for the opening treasure.

If the other youths knew that Jiang Yao was simply using the Muya Crystals as a supplement for life energy, their jealousy would likely increase by another thirty percent; it was simply too extravagant.

Mo Li and the other two with top-tier talent had already broken through to the third rank of the Planetary Level relying on the 12 Muya Crystals, and even the nearly 50 youths judged to have low-tier talent had mostly broken through to the second rank of the Planetary Level with the 3 Muya Crystals they had received.

Only Jiang Yao remained at the first rank of the Planetary Level.

Jiang Yao cast all of this to the back of his mind. At this moment, under the Envoy's direction, he was cautiously erupting with 10-fold soul amplitude to engrave the Yan Scripts, each one causing him unbearable agony.

As the characters used to record the techniques of the Taihuan Sect on the Tianhuang Ancient Continent, the Yan Scripts appeared to Jiang Yao more like paintings—and three-dimensional paintings at that, even exceeding the dimensions of normal three-dimensional art.

Each three-dimensional painting contained an unimaginable amount of information. When Jiang Yao first saw the Envoy write the Yan Scripts in the void of the Taihuan Token space, his brain had even crashed for a quarter of an hour, his thinking blocked by the sudden, massive influx of information.

Yet, under the influence of the supreme rules, the complex information contained in the Yan Scripts from the Tianhuang Ancient Continent was distorted into meaningless data; to put it simply, it was garbled code.

Therefore, the process of Jiang Yao engraving the Yan Scripts into his own soul was accompanied by a constant infusion of massive amounts of junk information, which could be described as torture for the soul.

Even then, that pig still said this was already under the protection of the Taihuan Token; otherwise, even if Jiang Yao had seen the Yan Scripts written by the Envoy, he would have forgotten them in an instant under the effect of the supreme rules.

This torture placed too heavy a burden on his soul. At the beginning, Jiang Yao could "work" for less than a quarter of an hour a day before falling into a coma for two or three days to give his soul time to soothe itself.

Therefore, he simply "gave up on himself" to the point of not even attending classes, staying in his room all day and relying on Muya Crystals to provide life energy.

Of course, no one held any expectations for Jiang Yao anymore, so naturally, no one came to disturb him or persuade him to turn back.

In any case, this year was almost over. When Jiang Yao faced the next assessment, which would primarily target telepathic amplitude, he was certain to fall into the low-tier category, then muddle through for 20 years before being eliminated.

This was the common thought of almost everyone.

Yet, in his day-to-day work, which was akin to torture, Jiang Yao discovered that he could persist in engraving for longer and longer periods, and his work efficiency was increasing. Although the feeling of being constantly washed over by complex and meaningless information remained painful, the pain seemed to become easier to endure.

Jiang Yao sketched out a Yan Script at a speed much faster than when he had first started.

A hollow shape, resembling an axe outlined by ancient, simple patterns, hid deep within his soul. If one were to zoom in carefully, they would see that the ancient patterns forming the axe shape were actually composed of even smaller Yan Scripts.

Jiang Yao's consciousness "looked" with satisfaction at the nearly completed hollow axe before him and asked casually, "Whew, my speed is dozens of times faster now than when I first started engraving. Is my soul stronger?"

Inside the Taihuan Token, the Envoy flapped his two large ears and shook his head: "No, it is your will."

"Will?"

The Envoy blinked his small eyes and said meaningfully, "If your first-place finish in the will assessment previously was due to my help, then if you were to take that assessment again now, it wouldn't be difficult at all to achieve an even better result than before without cheating."

After his initial surprise, Jiang Yao was silent for a moment before asking, "You knew all along? That engraving Yan Scripts could strengthen one's will?"

The Envoy chuckled twice and did not answer.

Jiang Yao recalled what Prose had once said: "The best helper for tempering one's will is pain."

In Swallowed Star, the greatest advantage of humanity on Earth was their will.

He certainly understood the importance of willpower; the higher the level, the more critical it became. Being able to acquire a stronger willpower this early was, of course, something to be happy about.

That was, as long as one ignored the unpredictable behavior of this Messenger, who oscillated between being insane and unfathomably profound.

At this moment, Jiang Yao felt as if he were a chess piece, helplessly manipulated by this cute, silly-looking piglet as it steered him toward some unknown destination.

However, he was open-minded about it. He was nothing but an ant right now; regardless of what schemes or plans this Messenger had, he couldn't resist, so he might as well lie back and accept it.

Besides, he had a faint feeling that this mysterious Messenger meant him no harm.

Once all the Yan Script were engraved, the hollow axe shape outlined by the archaic patterns was completely finished.

This axe was exactly the treasure of opening that the Messenger had spoken of.

Jiang Yao asked, eager to try, "Can we open the Xu Yuan Space now?"

The Messenger carefully observed the hollow axe through the Taihuan Token and nodded with satisfaction: "Only one step remains: Body Molding."

The opening chapter of Xu Yuan Opening was divided into four steps: God Forging, Form Casting, Body Molding, and Opening.

God Forging had been replaced by soul amplitude, and Form Casting, it seemed, was now complete.

"Does Body Molding refer to filling in the shape of the axe?"

The axe deep within Jiang Yao's soul had only been outlined in three dimensions by the archaic patterns and was currently hollow; this Body Molding was not difficult to understand.

"Correct. The axe body needs to be filled to become a true treasure of opening."

Jiang Yao couldn't help but feel a bit restless: "It seems I'll have to make a fool of myself during this assessment; the one-year deadline is almost here."

During the three-year protection period for newcomers, there was a mental power assessment every year to re-evaluate their grade.

He had thought he was about to soar, but it seemed he would have to endure humiliation for a while longer. In his current state—with his body, soul, and mental power all depleted—and having barely touched Seven Turns of Heaven's End, he would undoubtedly be downgraded to the lowest grade, and he would certainly be the last one in the rankings.

He might even be targeted by that guy Mo Li after the assessment.

Unexpectedly, the Messenger shook its head vigorously, its pig face turning solemn: "There is no need to waste any more time."

Jiang Yao was then given a huge fright by the pig's words.

"The raw material for Body Molding is already at hand." The Messenger's round, chubby pig face revealed a smile: "Your soul."

After savoring Jiang Yao's reaction, the Messenger finished its intimidation with satisfaction: "The treasure of opening is naturally the soul of the opener itself; everything else is just auxiliary. The Xu Yuan Space is built upon your soul, your conviction, and your willpower. How could such a profound and mysterious divine ability be completed by someone else on your behalf?"

Having been pushed to the edge of a cliff, Jiang Yao had already paid the price of his potential and even the depletion of his life essence, so he couldn't possibly give up halfway. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Is it dangerous?"

"Of course it is dangerous. Opening the Xu Yuan requires the courage to forge ahead, the resolve to succeed or perish. Without this mental preparation, you have already failed before you have even begun."

The Messenger's eyes narrowed, as if it were examining Jiang Yao's soul, willpower, and determination through the Taihuan Token.

Jiang Yao's reaction, however, was somewhat beyond its expectations.

"Haha, if I die, I die; if I don't, I have eternity." Jiang Yao felt a sense of vastness instead: "I've already profited by living this life. Which path of the strong didn't originate from seeking life amidst death?"

He thought of how Luo Feng and other Earth heroes had perished together with the Golden Horned Beast in the original Swallowed Star, which then led to that genius entering the Primordial Secret Realm.

Besides, he had already paid so many sunk costs; was he really going to let himself muddle through for twenty years under the scornful gazes of others?

The Messenger's small eyes widened a fraction: "Good! Good!"

Having said that, it informed Jiang Yao of the final Body Molding step and cautioned: "Pay attention: open the Xu Yuan Space within your eyes."

Jiang Yao was puzzled: "Isn't it said that the Xu Yuan Space exists between reality and illusion, between existence and non-existence? Can it be fixed within a specific organ?"

The Messenger continued to act mysterious: "Precisely because of that, if you believe the Xu Yuan Space is in your eyes, then it naturally is in your eyes. The process of opening is the process of strengthening your conviction."

Jiang Yao suddenly looked up: "You want me to open it in my eyes—could this be related to the Lingtong Race?"

The Messenger chuckled: "I had this idea after I looked up the bloodline divine abilities of your Lingtong Race in the Virtual Universe. When I saw that guy named Kuman use his Lingtong ability during the willpower assessment, I confirmed my theory.

This is closely related to the cultivation technique you need to practice after reaching the Stellar Level. Rest assured, when has your great Messenger ever harmed you? In the future, your Lingtong Race might even have to rename themselves the God Eye Race."

Jiang Yao rolled his eyes. He hated this kind of pretentious, charlatan-like behavior more than anything in his life, but he had to bow his head while under someone else's roof. After cursing the stupid pig in his heart, he pulled back his thoughts, once again exerted 10 times soul amplitude, and, following the method the Messenger had explained, focused all his attention on the archaic patterns of the hollow axe.

The archaic patterns composed of Yan Script seemed to generate a certain gravitational pull. Before long, it was as if they had transformed into a black hole, sucking in all of Jiang Yao's willpower and soul.

Then, the hollow giant axe gradually had its body filled with gold. Under the instinctive manipulation of Jiang Yao's willpower, it slashed forward toward an unknown direction without hesitation.

With a boom, all things fell into Nirvana!

It felt as if an instant had passed, yet it also felt like eons had gone by. A world separated the chaos, and a will gradually awakened along with the unfolding of the world.

That was a supreme deity!

It felt like the master of the world!

The deity's will permeated every corner of the world, then transcended the world, reached into the chaos, and spread from the chaos throughout the entire body.

"Am I... Jiang Yao?"

An annoying voice pulled the consciousness of the newly awakened Jiang Yao back: "Hehe, since it is you who opened the Xu Yuan Space, then the master deity of this Xu Yuan Space is naturally yourself."

Jiang Yao's soul, having returned from the ignorance of the void, stood like a deity in a vast, empty world, and then, wielding its power, broke through the limitations of his body from his eyes.

The power spread rapidly, like the domain of a deity, penetrating the walls, ceilings, and floors made of B5-grade or even stronger alloys with almost no resistance, instantly radiating across the surrounding hundreds of meters.

It was currently the middle of the night.

Everyone in the rooms covered by this power, without exception, was jolted awake from their meditation, training, or leisure, feeling as if an incredibly heavy burden had been placed upon them, making every movement a struggle.

Occupying the entire 92nd floor of the Starry Sky Building was a burly man, none other than Prose, who had received Jiang Yao and the others a year ago.

Prose gave his body a shake, and all the pressure dissipated in an instant. He frowned and released his telekinesis to investigate, his expression somewhat annoyed: "Who is throwing their domain around recklessly? It doesn't feel like Kuman's domain..."

The entire Starry Sky Building was in chaos.

After Jiang Yao realized what had happened, he retracted his overflowing power at lightning speed, his expression a mix of shock and joy: "Could this be..."

"Xu Yuan Control!" The Messenger within the Taihuan Token said with a smile, enunciating each word clearly: "The power of control you possess now is roughly at the first level of the Control Chapter in the middle section of Xu Yuan Opening. The Control Chapter is divided into five levels in total, but even the first level is comparable to the third level of a normal domain."

Jiang Yao turned to look out the window; the sky was beginning to turn pale, and dawn was approaching.

The one-year deadline had arrived.