SWOOSH—
Within the Star Sea.
Outside the star cave known as the Civilization’s Backbone, a false Dark Cosmos channel materialized.
This false channel, a product of warped rules, was forcefully constructed and extremely unstable. Amid its fluctuations, a lone boat stumbled out from within.
The old man on the boat was none other than the Angler, who looked utterly wretched at this moment.
PTOO!
He spat out a mouthful of old blood.
Under the pressure of the backlash, the lone boat beneath him developed a deep crack and was on the verge of collapse. The Angler suppressed the instability of the power within his body, focused his mind, and barely managed to help his boat withstand the impact.
Another spray of old blood erupted from his mouth.
"Cough, cough."
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
The crimson liquid turned into energy and completely dissipated.
’The Cave of the Stars is truly bizarre! The price I paid for twisting the rules to create this false channel, a mere 0.00013 light-years long, was far greater than I imagined! No wonder the new gods never turn their attention here, even though they know a great treasure lies within.’
He had no time to lament his injuries.
His attention was immediately drawn to the massive star cave not far away.
The star cave was about a hundred meters in diameter, hidden within a dense nebula and extremely well-camouflaged. Having learned from his past mistakes, the Angler didn’t hesitate this time. He stepped directly into the star cave, abandoning his nearly destroyed boat.
WHOOSH~
Passing through the semi-liquid barrier of the star cave, the Angler arrived in a space dominated by a pillar that held up the sky.
’A pillar?’
He froze for a moment.
Then, his breathing became rapid!
A youthful flush, like that of a young man experiencing something for the first time, spread across his brown, wrinkled face, which resembled the bark of an old tree!
"A fortune!"
"A monumental fortune!"
"I am the one truly favored by Destiny!!!"
The power within the Angler’s body began to boil.
’This is the skeleton of a god!’
’It’s so massive, capable of supporting a small world. There must be divine substance left inside! No wonder the treasured hook caught such a big fish. This fortune is simply world-shaking.’
"Hahahahaha."
"Little Ron, even with your grasp of Destiny, even as the current Sovereign who gathers the treasures of the entire Cosmic Country to nurture yourself, you could never obtain the skeleton of a god. Evolving into a new god is nothing more than a foolish fantasy."
"The future belongs to me."
"I will be taking this fortune!"
The Angler wasn’t proficient in the spiritual path, but he still spread out his Spiritual Power to search the world for other anomalies, finding nothing of note. Then, breaking into a run, he reached the sky-supporting pillar in just ten breaths.
His sallow, withered hand caressed the surface of the skeleton’s midsection.
’This is a god’s skeleton!’
’I, the Angler, can actually touch a god’s skeleton up close!’
Even after eons of erosion, the surface of the skeleton was still pure white, without a single crack. The Angler focused his senses, certain that divine substance must remain within.
’How should I extract it?’
Spatial Treasures couldn’t be used within the Cave of the Stars, but the Angler carried his foundational resources with him. He fumbled inside his robes, produced a small, dark dagger with a concealed edge, and tentatively tried to cut the surface of the giant pillar.
The time-eroded surface of the bone only showed a half-centimeter-deep mark.
Compared to its roughly three-hundred-meter diameter, the mark was laughably shallow.
’Don’t panic, don’t panic,’
’I’ve wandered in solitude for a thousand years. Now that this opportunity is before me, there’s no need to rush.’
’I just need to watch out for any little thieves.’
So he said, but how could a wanderer who stumbles upon a mountain of gold not feel a sense of urgency?
The Angler’s heart was pounding with excitement.
He told himself not to rush, but his heart betrayed his true feelings.
He scrambled with both hands and feet, as excited as an eighteen-year-old virgin meeting a seasoned seductress, unable to resist giving her everything he had saved up!
He circled the pillar at extreme speed.
Finally, near the top of the bone pillar where it almost reached the clouds, he discovered a natural crack half a meter long, which would save him a lot of time.
’Time to dig!’
The Angler transformed the sharp blade in his hand into a more manageable digging tool and, following the fracture in the bone, focused his power to excavate inward.
’I just need to break through the bone layer and get to the marrow. After that, things will be much easier.’
The Angler was full of confidence. Having learned his lesson, he kept half of his Spiritual Power active, constantly on alert for any potential thieves outside the bone pillar.
’If any other creature approaches, I’ll definitely be the first to know!’
...
...
...
Shi Ming was incredibly efficient. In less than half an hour, he had already traveled from the bottom of the spine to the middle, successfully taking the third mass of spinal marrow.
Two more to go.
He continued to dig, dig, dig inside the massive pillar.
The spine belonged to a deceased god, so Spiritual Power was heavily suppressed within it. However, relying on the senses from the crimson patterns on his borer-moth form, Shi Ming had built-in navigation and could sense the general location of his targets without needing Spiritual Power.
Moving in a straight line toward the direction he sensed was the most efficient use of his time and energy.
Separated by bone, the Angler outside couldn’t sense Shi Ming inside, and Shi Ming inside couldn’t sense the Angler outside. The Eye of Destiny wouldn’t proactively mention such a minor matter that it couldn’t interfere with.
Time passed, second by second.
The fourth piece!
Shi Ming was full of energy!
The Borer’s utility truly showed its maximum value in a situation like this. If it were Bai Yimo, who had mastered Desire, he could only stare helplessly under these circumstances.
He pushed on with a final burst of effort.
The fifth piece was just ahead!
Phew~
Finally, Shi Ming saw the last piece of spinal marrow. It was much larger than the previous four. Shi Ming reverted from his borer-moth form to his human form and, repeating the process, transformed his Spiritual Power into a sharp blade and began to cut away the section containing the marrow...
...
...
...
The Angler finally broke through the hard surface of the skeleton.
When his dark blade touched the soft, dry marrow, he breathed a sigh of relief. Next, this Nirvana Powerhouse could enter and search within!
"Even though this marrow is dried up, it’s still good stuff!"
"And this bone powder!"
"A god’s entire body is a treasure."
"I’ll take it all!"
The Angler explored deeper into the skeleton, gleefully using a pouch to collect some of the better-quality bone powder. He deeply regretted that he couldn’t use a Spatial Treasure inside the star cave, which meant he had to leave a lot of the powder behind.
"Huh?"
’There’s a faint but rather tyrannical aura up ahead.’
’Is that a fluctuation of divinity?’
With a great treasure ahead, the Angler abandoned the dried marrow that still looked decent and delved downward. After traveling just over a hundred meters, the Angler frowned.
’Something’s not right.’
’Something seems very wrong.’
His spiritual intuition screamed that something was amiss.
The very next moment, the sight that met his eyes made him grind his teeth in fury!
He saw a young man next to a marrow structure that had already been completely hollowed out. Like a calf scrambling for fodder, the young man was rapidly severing the last connection to a piece of golden marrow before storing away the head-sized piece of divine marrow.
In an instant, the Angler felt his mind go hot as blood rushed to his head.
The veins on his forehead bulged as if about to burst.
Crimson veins abruptly appeared in the whites of his eyes!
"You... you little thief!"
"How... How dare you???!!!"