Golden light surged like a tide, churning without end.
Chu Mo formed seals with both hands. Dusky light flickered at his fingertips, turning into intricate silver patterns that flowed into the golden sphere. The sphere trembled slightly, then softened like liquid.
Streams of golden liquid peeled away from the sphere, gathering strand by strand in Chu Mo's hands like flowing fireflies and overflowing water, without pause or end.
At the first touch, Chu Mo sensed the vastness of Jin Yu's core. The Heaven and Earth and creation within it seemed inexhaustible. No matter how much he extracted, there was no sign of it diminishing.
"This won't do."
Sensing the uninvited visitors drawing ever closer outside, he frowned slightly. Then, with a thought, Myriad Selves descended upon him, intensifying his extraction.
In an instant, the golden liquid peeled away far faster, pouring into his hands like rivers bursting their banks.
In just a short while, the enormous, star-sized sphere visibly shrank. It trembled slightly, and its golden radiance abruptly stabilized, no longer leaking out.
Chu Mo estimated that he had extracted roughly a tenth, so he stopped.
It was not that he did not want to keep extracting it.
For one thing, a tenth was already enough for his purposes. For another, as he continued extracting, Jin Yu's core grew increasingly solid, and peeling away even a single strand required tremendous effort.
As for the remaining nine-tenths, even if he gave it everything he had, he could extract only three or four strands. He also risked being caught red-handed with the spoils. It was not worth it. Putting away the portion of creation in his hands, Chu Mo was about to turn and leave the hall when suddenly-
Clang!
Someone kicked the hall doors open from outside with brutal force, producing