Cangshi King next taught Chen Ao how to shrink his body. As an Undying, this was a basic ability.
But Cangshi King knew that Chen Ao, the Ten-Thousand-Wood Vine, "didn't understand anything"!
Cangshi King patiently taught him several times, and Chen Ao successfully transformed.
He became a ten-meter-tall lifeform that looked somewhat human, but had tiny vines growing over his body.
"Is this okay?" Chen Ao asked haltingly, like a child learning to speak.
After nearly a year of communication, Chen Ao had "just begun" to learn a little of the language.
"Good, good. This is very good. Now come with me!"
With that, Cangshi King took Chen Ao straight to the core territory of the Ancestral God Religion.
The enormous Five-Colored Aurora Lake enveloped all of Purple Thorn Island.
Deeper within, beyond the palaces above Purple Thorn Island, lay the place where the Ancestral Gods resided.
Before long, through internal channels, Cangshi King reported that he had found a special lifeform born as an Undying.
The Two-Faced Ancestral God, one of the Three Ancestral Gods, soon saw the report.
"Oh? A special lifeform born as an Undying? It has been a long time since such a powerful special lifeform appeared in our Ancestral God Religion!"
The Ancestral God Religion placed great importance on special lifeforms. Since it had no race of its own, it could only rely on these special lifeforms to expand its influence.
Inheritors who belonged to their own races could not possibly devote themselves wholeheartedly to the religion. At most, they would exchange benefits.
These special lifeforms were the foundation and future of the Ancestral God Religion.
With the Two-Faced Ancestral God's permission, Cangshi King soon brought Chen Ao deep into Purple Thorn Island.
"This is the inner region of Purple Thorn Island!" Cangshi King explained. He had come here before, but his aptitude had been judged average, so he had never had another chance to return.
Now, thanks to the opportunity to recommend Chen Ao, Cangshi King had come here once again.
"Is there lots of tasty food here?" Chen Ao asked, looking every bit like a little fellow who cared about nothing but eating.
"Hahaha, of course! As long as you pass the Ancestral God's test, you can have as much as you want!"
Only after many attempts had Cangshi King learned that Chen Ao liked eating green rock crystals containing the Law of Wood. To coax Chen Ao along, he had brought out his entire stock. Those green rock crystals were already worth as much as an ordinary heavy treasure.
For a peak King Rank expert like him, that was a considerable sum.
"If I don't get a Supreme Treasure as a reward, I'll have taken a loss!" Cangshi King was full of anticipation.
Chen Ao followed patiently. Those wood rock crystals earlier really were good stuff and could increase his size, but they were far too expensive. He simply could not afford to eat them.
A dozen or so crystals were worth a heavy treasure, yet could only increase his size by a dozen or so kilometers.
Even consuming a Supreme Treasure would only add tens of thousands of kilometers. Compared to his size of over ten million kilometers, that was negligible.
It was more economical to slowly absorb cosmic energy and grow that way.
Before long, Cangshi King led Chen Ao farther into the depths.
Brilliant colors filled this place, even more dazzling than outside.
In an instant, Chen Ao felt an indescribable comfort throughout his body, just like the first time he had entered Chaos City!
Could this be where the universe origin resides?
The place where the universe origin resided was far superior to any Initial Universe. If he could comprehend laws here, his progress would likely be several times faster than in Chaos City.
Moreover, grasping the basics of the laws would be almost effortless.
The laws manifested everywhere here. It was practically like standing within the sea of laws.
When I get the chance, I'll sleep here. My strength will definitely soar!
Slowly, Chen Ao followed Cangshi King to a palace.
The Overlord Palace stood here, surrounding the multicolored mountain peak in the center.
That mountain is probably where the Ancestral Gods communicate with the consciousness of the Primal Universe, and the place closest to the law ocean!
They reached the palace entrance.
Chen Ao put on a wooden expression, looking a little dim-witted.
He looked no different from an ordinary Plant Life.
"Cangshi pays his respects to the Two-Faced Ancestral God!" The Two-Faced Ancestral God nodded. "Is the one beside you the special lifeform you mentioned, the Ten-Thousand-Wood Vine?"
Special lifeforms had no names at birth; they were named afterward. Whoever first called them by a name gained the right to name them.
"Yes. This Ten-Thousand-Wood Vine was born an Undying, and he is very powerful. I once fought him, and he sent me flying with a single vine!"
Hm?
The Two-Faced Ancestral God was somewhat surprised. That powerful?
Although Cangshi King was only average among special lifeforms, the fact that Chen Ao could send him flying with a single vine immediately after birth was enough to prove how powerful this Ten-Thousand-Wood Vine was.
"Let me examine him!"
The Two-Faced Ancestral God looked at Chen Ao.
"Child, come here. Come here!"
Even Chen Ao felt an immense warmth at the Ancestral God's call, and his body could not help moving toward him.
As expected of an Ancestral God. He's far more skilled than Cangshi!
Thinking about how he had spent the past year acting like a child in front of Cangshi made him want to retch.
This time, Chen Ao needed almost no guidance. He naturally followed the Two-Faced Ancestral God's instructions.
The Two-Faced Ancestral God took control of the surrounding space-time and soon began examining Chen Ao.
Because Chen Ao was an Undying, even if he had a soul, it would have merged into his divine body, making it difficult to assess.
But as representatives of the Primal Universe, the Ancestral Gods naturally had their methods.
Life aura tracing!
If he were a clone, there would certainly be an invisible thread of life aura.
Yet after examining him, the Two-Faced Ancestral God found no such Life Aura thread.
At that moment, the Two-Faced Ancestral God also discovered that Chen Ao actually had perfect genes!
"How is this possible? How can he have perfect genes!"
Being born with perfect genes put him on the same level as a Beast God.
Never mind an Undying-even a Universe Master would most likely fail to attain perfect genes.
"Born with perfect genes! So there are other lifeforms besides natural-born Beast Gods that are born with perfect genes?"
Generally speaking, the stronger a lifeform's genes, the higher its starting point. Those born as Undying usually had a gene multiplier above two thousand, while those born as Venerables generally exceeded five thousand.
Of course, a five-thousandfold multiplier did not necessarily mean being born a Venerable. The Sunken Water Vine had a six-thousandfold gene multiplier, yet started at the Universe Level.
At present, the Ancestral God Religion only knew of natural-born Beast Gods being born as Universe Masters.
Of course, the universe was unfathomable and contained countless lifeforms, but perfect genes were still enough to make an Ancestral God lose his composure.
"Pale, come take a look!" the Two-Faced Ancestral God called.
Suddenly, the Elder Ancestral God arrived.
"Two-Faced, what is it?"
"Take a look at this little fellow!"
Hm?
The Elder Ancestral God looked at Chen Ao and soon understood.
"Pale, go to the place where this Ten-Thousand-Wood Vine was born and rewind space-time. See if anything is wrong!"
The Two-Faced Ancestral God needed to remain here and could not leave, so he could only send the Elder Ancestral God.
"All right. I'll be right back!"
The Elder Ancestral God quickly headed to the place Cangshi had identified as Chen Ao's birthplace.
If Chen Ao truly had been born with perfect genes and was not a spy from another faction, then the Ancestral God Religion would certainly devote great resources to nurturing him.
Thus, they had to investigate thoroughly.
Before you continue