Breakthrough

Another ten years passed in the blink of an eye. Chen Qing opened his eyes and looked at the detector. The two women were tens of millions of kilometers away.

Judging by the life signs around them, they were fighting Star Spirit Bees. It looked like they wouldn't be back anytime soon.

Now that they had a fully cultivated Cloud-Touching Vine, the two of them no longer needed him to draw out monsters.

The Cloud-Touching Vine grew beneath the Green Lotus and had ample resources. After years of investing without regard for the cost, it had not only developed perfectly into a Peak World Lord but had also undergone a beneficial mutation.

Its 360 green main vines unfurled, each reaching up to 120,000 kilometers. After spending a few hundred years in this Origin Land, it would probably have a good chance of breaking through to immortality. By then, its strength should rival a King-Rank without any problem.

Jiang Fang and Yao Rao had both reached the peak of Universe Level. Once they grew familiar with the environment, they explored the edges of the sea of flowers, going back and forth. They were much more experienced at this than Chen Qing.

They could also synchronize with the Virtual Universe, and with the Original Ancestor guiding them, Chen Qing no longer needed to worry about them.

Seeing that his wives had everything under control, Chen Qing relaxed. He didn't interrupt their fun; he simply told the Original Ancestor to look after the two women, then logged off.

Thanks to the Origin Land, he had already finished building up his reserves ahead of schedule. There was no need to waste any more time. It was time to break through!

His consciousness returned to the Origin Core. He passed through the illusory Green Lotus and slowly sank into the gray Lotus Seed.

The illusory Green Lotus began drawing in its countless roots. Then its petals contracted, turning it into a green bud.

At that moment, the Inner World suddenly shook. It began to crumble from the outside in, transforming into the most primitive forces. Genetic energy and spiritual power began to merge.

When the world became a vast chaos and the first wisp of World Power emerged, the Lotus Seed swallowed it at once.

Chen Qing immediately felt as if he were at the very source of creation. Countless streams of Origin Energy poured toward him. Most of it was absorbed by the Green Lotus, while only a small portion began to form his Internal World.

Under the Green Lotus's radiance, a world nearly 100 million kilometers in diameter quickly took shape, followed by the Central Continent, which spanned 36 million kilometers.

Eight landmasses, each 12 million kilometers across, surrounded it. Endless seas stretched between them.

On the Central Continent, eight towering mountain ranges enclosed an inland sea of unfathomable depth. The bud arrived at its center and, amid a gentle glow, unfolded once more into an illusory Green Lotus.

A green Origin Bead floated quietly above the Green Lotus. Soon, it sank and disappeared into the world.

"The world is formed!"

Now that the world had taken shape, vast amounts of Origin Energy formed mountain ranges of universe crystals, sprawled across the nine continents!

Chen Qing explored his new world with wonder. The Green Lotus absorbed Origin Energy dozens of times faster than before, and its speed was still increasing. The world, too, was slowly expanding outward.

Even here, however, it would probably take hundreds of years to reach Peak World Lord. Fortunately, as his genes and laws improved, the Green Lotus would grow faster still.

He had now grasped the essence of the laws of water, thunder, and wood. With the boost from the world's resonance and the Origin Land, he believed he could comprehend all the lower-level laws in a few decades.

With the lower-level laws as a foundation, he expected the essence of space and time to be much easier to understand. How long that would take, though, was hard to say. Chen Qing sighed and let the thought go.

"First, let's see how effective cultivation is at World Lord!"

On a hill beyond the sea of flowers, Jiang Fang and Yao Rao had just finished resting. They were still sitting on a boulder, admiring the spectacle in the distance.

"Sister Fang, had enough rest?"

"More or less. What, don't want to go back?"

Jiang Fang flicked her blade, clearing away the scraps stuck to it, and looked at Yao Rao beside her.

"You want to go farther in?"

Yao Rao licked her lips. "We've both been at the peak for a while now. My fundamentals have been stuck at the Seventh Form for over ten years. Are you really content with that?"

Jiang Fang nodded. The two of them had been fighting constantly, but with the Cloud-Touching Vine there, the strain on their minds and bodies wasn't too great.

They had grown quite familiar with their secret techniques, but they were still missing that final little something needed to break through. That tiny gap had kept them in a state of restless yearning.

The senior had told them that what they needed now was a fierce battle to bring about a breakthrough. After all, their natural talents were only so-so.

If they were outside, there would be ways around it. Their race had plenty of treasures on hand, and with Chen Qing's wealth and authority, getting some would be no problem. Unfortunately, they couldn't get their hands on anything here.

Chen Qing had now broken through to World Lord, and his progress would only get faster from here. She had been mentally prepared for this, but how could she possibly be content with it?

"I'm Moon Demon! I faced monsters back then without acting like some obedient little girl. How could I be content now?"

Yao Rao laughed at that. She had even started swearing, so she must have been at her wits' end. She had reached Planetary Level very early, yet now she was constantly getting pinned beneath some young man. Just thinking about it made her chest ache.

"The queen bee is usually the strongest in a swarm. She should be a World Lord, while the other guards are probably Domain Lord Level. With the Cloud-Touching Vine protecting us, we shouldn't be in too much danger.

"Besides, we're stronger than these bugs. We can go a little deeper and take on a Domain Lord or two."

Jiang Fang looked at Yao Rao, who had planted her hands on her hips and was ready to blow up. She gently stroked the blade with her right hand, feeling its chill beneath her fingertips.

"Star Spirit Bees are manageable. Those strange flowers are the problem. Their scent and colors can both cause hallucinations.

"Combat isn't what worries me. I'm afraid we'll fall under their spell without realizing it. The Cloud-Touching Vine doesn't have a good way to deal with that. It'd be humiliating if we exhausted ourselves to death."

"Then let's ask the senior to keep an eye on us. If things get bad, we can have that brat come help."

Yao Rao gritted her teeth as she said "that brat," then broke into a grin.

"If that brat dares to laugh at us, I'll grab him by the balls and see if he still has the nerve to act up!"

Jiang Fang turned away and clicked her tongue, but she didn't object. It seemed she had been tormented plenty herself.

They quickly made all the arrangements, then flew toward the sea of flowers at top speed. Even when they saw the strange flowers up close, they couldn't help stopping to admire them.

After a short while, they exchanged a knowing glance. Jiang Fang produced a spacecraft and left it there under the control of its AI, ready to provide backup at a moment's notice. Only then did they draw their weapons and slip into the flowers.

Since their target this time was the hive, they didn't make a commotion on the outskirts. Instead, they quietly made their way deeper into the sea of flowers.

In the Virtual World, the Original Ancestor lounged leisurely in his seat, watching the screen before him with interest.

"It brings back memories. I went through the same thing back then. Perhaps Mother Ancestor... Mother Ancestor!"

The Original Ancestor let out a deep sigh. The powerful figures of today all knew him as the strongest person in the Human Race, but how many remembered the predecessors who came before him?

When the universe first began, the Human Race had been born relatively late and hadn't stood out in the universe. But it was also a race capable of creating the greatest miracles.

When the race first struggled to survive in a remote corner, she had emerged from what was now called Mother Ancestor Planet and shouldered the fate of an entire people.

If he was the first supreme powerhouse of the Human Race, then Mother Ancestor was its first Universe Master, protecting the race for countless eras.

"Reincarnation! Is there really no way?"