A Flower, A World

The myriad races have studied artifact refining for countless epochs, and long ago formed a mature system.

Below the Undying level, equipment is nothing to speak of. The most representative examples are the Nine Great Divine Weapons, showing that the races have reached a certain level in their research between laws and secret patterns.

As for the level above Undying, at most it reaches the standard of ordinary treasures.

But for Chen Qing, this was already enough to study, since it was only meant to assist his own cultivation.

He could look into it properly when he had time later. In the Universe Ocean, finding materials should be easier than finding treasures.

"The rest is learning secret patterns. Once I finish the fourth layer's training, I'll pick suitable secret patterns and complete the overall equipment design."

Chen Qing thought as he planned out his steps. Creation was the foundation, but secret patterns couldn't be neglected either.

"I heard you've pretty much mastered the inheritance on artifact refining lately?"

Chen Qing stared blankly at the suddenly appearing Original Ancestor. You're a living corpse, what do you mean "heard"?! Coming into the study without even knocking—

Wasn't it just that he felt he'd wasted nearly three hundred years and was afraid Chen Qing had strayed from the right path again, pushing him to cultivate? His own disciple still gave Luo Feng a few thousand years to make mistakes.

No, wait. Only his wife knew about this. And if his wife knew, that meant Palace Master Biluo knew. So he really had "heard" it from someone.

"Not bad. I'm planning to try my hand in reality soon."

Thinking of Palace Master Biluo, Chen Qing couldn't help getting cheeky.

"Is that so? Then you'll have to go out and find materials. But it doesn't seem like you've improved much?"

Original Ancestor sat casually across from Chen Qing. A tea set appeared on the desk, and soon steam began to rise.

"Right now you can't even get past the Cloud Mist. Are you planning to take a detour?"

Chen Qing put down the book in his hand. It floated back to the bookshelf on its own. Spirit Butterfly really seemed to be evolving lately.

"I at least need a weapon I can show off!"

Chen Qing answered nonchalantly, leaving Original Ancestor speechless as he busied himself making tea.

These three hundred years, he hadn't just gained from artifact refining. Solving equipment problems had always been a side objective.

To better inscribe secret patterns, Chen Qing had practiced repeatedly in his own world. Instead, he created a top-tier overlord-level secret technique in the soul aspect.

Now, Chen Qing's soul also sat cross-legged on a small Green Lotus. Within the lotus seed pod, secret patterns crisscrossed.

Thirty-six key nodes were designed as illusion worlds. Any soul attack would be dispersed and absorbed here.

Outside the seed pod were nine layers, each with thirty lotus petals. The petals could attack or defend. When defending, they merged into a bud, forming the first line of defense.

When attacking, each petal could split into thirty-six small swords.

After the small swords broke through defenses, they could form a lotus seed. The more swords, the stronger the seed.

When it bloomed, it would be in a single thought. A flower, a world—this was a top-tier enslavement secret technique.

For now, it was only the first layer. Once Chen Qing grasped more laws and secret patterns, the technique could be further perfected.

By then, with Chen Qing's will, even without a soul-type treasure protecting them, a Universe Master wouldn't be able to withstand it.

As for the fourth layer of Creation, he had already mastered all nine segments.

Even without Original Ancestor, he was ready to break through. It was just different from what they thought.

"With your strength, fifth-tier equipment is useless. At the Undying level, you need corresponding power to refine it."

"That's not necessarily true. I have the Primal Universe helping me."

Original Ancestor was choked speechless. In the past, it was fine—the victor writes history, the loser is the bandit.

But ever since meeting Chen Qing, even with Original Ancestor's state of mind, he always felt a pang of bitterness. The Primal Universe's will had leaned so far it reached the Universe Ocean.

"You little rascal. I can't argue with you. Just know what you're doing."

Original Ancestor placed the poured tea in front of Chen Qing. He couldn't understand it anyway, so a reminder was enough.

Chen Qing took a satisfied sip of the fresh tea, slowly savoring the taste in his memory.

In the end, Original Ancestor didn't say much more. Talking too long just made his heart ache—it was purely rubbing salt in his wounds.

Inside Chen Qing's inner world, a body tens of thousands of kilometers long still seemed tiny before the Green Lotus.

"This feeling isn't bad. But without 'Ruyi', life would probably lose a lot of fun."

Glancing around, Chen Qing stretched his body, his expression turning serious.

Though he had simulated it many times in his mind, when actually cultivating, he still had to be careful.

He extended both hands, using will as a brush and soul as ink, beginning the fourth layer's training.

After completing each segment, his soul felt a wave of weakness, requiring a period of quiet recuperation.

With the final stroke finished, the secret patterns formed a complex diagram, flickering with a soft, multicolored light.

With each flicker, the secret pattern diagram grew larger, directly ejecting Chen Qing from the world.

Feeling the ever-expanding secret pattern diagram, it finally touched the inner wall of the world and merged directly with it.

In that instant, countless illusory patterns appeared within his body—the secret rune diagrams of the first three layers of Creation.

These secret patterns began to split, recombine, and finally extended into every cell of Chen Qing's body.

As the world within him vibrated, a torrent of origin power poured in, and Chen Qing instantly felt as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

Every cell of his body was breathing, and with each breath, it absorbed a substantial amount of origin power, then evolved and split.

With each successive breath, Chen Qing's genes were continuously optimized, rearranged, and their tier grew higher and higher.

Two hundred times, three hundred times... his body also rapidly expanded along with the genetic changes.

It only stopped when his genes reached a thousand times and his body measured thirty thousand kilometers; the influx of origin power also slowed.

Once everything stabilized, Chen Qing hurriedly restored his body and examined his world.

The illusory Green Lotus had also grown larger, its roots beneath it denser, and its speed of absorbing origin power was now dozens of times faster than before.

"A thousand years of gestation time!"

In an instant, he instinctively received the information from the Green Lotus; now, at last, there was a definite time.

Next was the world within him, which had already expanded three or four times and was still growing as it absorbed origin power, with an estimated limit of around one billion kilometers.

Chen Qing casually clenched his fist, and a violent air burst rang out from his palm. With a thousandfold genetic tier, his strength had directly increased tenfold.

With a thought, he once again sensed the laws, and they were much clearer than before.

"Boom"

Before the tide of origin power had even passed, a lightning-covered maelstrom appeared in the sky.

A moment later, a single golden droplet fell, leaving a lightning mark beside the droplet on Chen Qing's forehead.

"Acknowledgment of the Law of Lightning"

Because of the two women, water and lightning were the laws Chen Qing had comprehended most deeply, so this acknowledgment was not unexpected.

"Little Qing, was that your normal size just now?"

The two women, long since alerted, stood to the side. Yao Rao covered her mouth and let out a sharp voice.

"Underestimating your man, are you? I'm a true dragon—I can be big or small!"

Jiang Fang swallowed and quietly reminded him, "Don't talk nonsense; the Virtual Universe is syncing."

Hearing this, Chen Qing instinctively shrank his neck, then felt something was off and quickly straightened his body, which made Yao Rao burst into giggles again.