WHOOSH—
Within the Earth Core, an invisible ripple emerged.
The Unceasing Water, sealed within the star-dusted specimen, was forcibly broken down into tens of millions of streams under the power of the Infinite Brain. They surged toward the massive Creation Star Core. The Unceasing Water, which had entered a dormant state, seemed to sense that something was wrong, but stuffed full of Xirang, it was powerless to stop the strange force and ultimately ceased its struggle.
Water and earth blended, like a thousand rivers flowing into the sea...
Under the harmonizing influence of Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power, the two supreme marvels slowly made contact, fused, evolved, and upgraded.
Just as he had expected, a massive amount of Spiritual Power was consumed at a rapid rate, kicking up a violent tempest in Shi Ming’s Sea of Spirit.
This gave the listless Colorful Insect a glimmer of hope.
It was trapped beneath the ninety-nine-story Heaven-Reaching Tower, while from the highest point, a cold and merciless eye stared fixedly down at it. This Celestial Calamity-level creature had long since sensed how extraordinary this place was but had always been powerless to resist. Now, it vaguely realized that Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power was draining away at an incredible rate, making this his weakest moment in recent memory.
’This seems like a good chance to escape...’
Unfortunately for it.
A previous, all-out suppression had left it without a shred of strength to resist. Its own [Bicolored Celestial Calamity] ability had also stopped responding. Now, it could only watch in agony as the best opportunity it ever had slipped away.
The Colorful Insect silently made a wish in its heart:
"My 718th wish is for this robber to fail at whatever he’s trying to do!"
The Wishing Star of All Worlds no longer belonged to it,
so its wish could not be granted.
Upgrading the Creation Star Core was the most Spiritual Power-intensive process Shi Ming had undertaken since his Brain of Creation evolved into the Infinite Brain. It was also the longest, with no end in sight.
One day, two days...
Three days...
Fortunately, Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power had once again been significantly developed and expanded. The power he could draw from his Sea of Spirit was more than three times what it was when he first reached the Nirvana Rank. In addition, his Sealed King-level strength and his [Supreme Sanctuary] allowed him to constantly replenish his spent Spiritual Power. With the added support from the effects of his companion treasure, the [Wishing Star of All Worlds], this immensely draining infinite upgrade was able to continue.
Five days, six days...
The Creation Star Core was like a bottomless pit.
The thousand rivers of Unceasing Water had long since seeped into it, yet the Creation Star Core’s demand for Spiritual Power seemed endless.
’It’s already been seven days!’
’How much longer will this take?’
His Spiritual Power, which had once seemed bottomless, was beginning to show signs of running dry. While his Sea of Spirit was indeed infinite, the amount of Spiritual Power Shi Ming could command was nearing exhaustion. He took a fruit from the Immortal Tree out of his personal inventory and swallowed it whole.
The fruit of the Immortal Tree could restore his condition to its peak. For a Nirvana Rank being, the effect wasn’t as potent, but it was still a decent supplement.
The Supreme Sanctuary also maintained its healing state.
The Wishing Star’s power was depleted, but the "project" wasn’t over, so it diligently continued to provide support.
On the thirteenth day...
BEEP!
It was like hearing the music of the heavens! Before Shi Ming’s eyes, in front of the scorching-hot Creation Star Core, a notification flashed, indicating a successful upgrade!
[Infinite Upgrade Complete.]
[Creation Star Core]
[Level: ???]
[The perfected core of a planet, the cradle of intelligent life, the origin of all possibilities.]
’What’s with the three-part epic title?’
’And the level...’
’It’s just question marks now?’
Although he had many questions, the completion of the infinite upgrade meant his mission was a success. He temporarily suppressed his curiosity to investigate with the Eye of Destiny. All he wanted was to rest for a moment and recover from thirteen straight days of supreme fatigue.
A being with 3,000 Endurance!
Even he couldn’t withstand such a strain!
At this moment, he felt he could understand the Colorful Insect’s previous state.
Shi Ming felt his Spiritual Power suddenly relax. Amidst his fatigue, he felt as if he could vaguely touch the upper threshold of his power. He had a strange sense of déjà vu—it was a number composed of several nines. But just as he was about to see it clearly, the threshold seemed to shift, once again becoming impossibly high. The string of nines became abstract and indecipherable once more...
WHOOSH—
’What a pity!’
’I was so close to completing the Eye of the Divine’s second mission!’
His relaxed Spiritual Power tensed up again, then relaxed once more. An unprecedented wave of exhaustion rushed to his head. The high-intensity consumption of Spiritual Power, which had pushed him past his limits, left his Sea of Spirit in complete silence. An overwhelming drowsiness washed over him.
He leaned against the inside of the canoe and fell into a deep sleep. In the final moment before he drifted off, he checked the seal on the Colorful Insect one last time... ’Good.’ Although his Spiritual Power was depleted, the suppression of the 99-story Heaven-Reaching Tower was still foolproof, and the pressure from his Sea of Spirit remained. The insect had absolutely no way to escape.
The canoe moved without any wind,
drifting slowly through the silent energy ripples outside the Creation Star Core. Like an untethered boat with the Ten Thousand Realms as its sea, it sailed into the interior of the "marvel" that was the Creation Star Core.
This was a place Shi Ming had never reached before.
...
...
...
In the deepest part of the Earth Core was solid, dense matter, compressed to the absolute extreme. Sight was useless here; relying on one’s eyes would reveal nothing but pitch-black darkness.
But if one were to probe with an exceptionally high level of Spiritual Power—
they would discover two overlapping layers of space.
They coexisted like parallel dimensions. One layer was the oppressive reality of the Creation Star Core’s ultracompressed, dense matter. The other was a pure and tranquil lake of flowing, fiery-red liquid. Cyan Lotuses bloomed within this lake. Growing in the extremely hot liquid, they remained elegant and serene. Their leaves and blossoms clustered together, swaying gently with the ripples created by the canoe’s arrival.
If Shi Ming hadn’t been fast asleep, if he were conscious, he would have surely sensed its presence!
The Origin of Purification!
The [Purification] Holy Hall Origin, existing in plant form! This was the very thing Shi Ming had been longing for—the last piece needed to synthesize [Zero]!
With it, he would essentially have [Zero]!
However, the Cyan Lotus was not the "main character" of this overlapping space at the moment. Beside it, a transparent figure sat cross-legged amidst the fiery red, scooping up a handful of the scorching liquid with a lotus leaf and "watering" the Cyan Lotus with it.
The Cyan Lotus seemed to benefit immensely.
The figure was so transparent it was invisible to the naked eye.
Colorless, traceless, thoughtless, bodiless. It seemed to have lost everything, leaving only a lingering wisp of consciousness that a single breath could disperse. And yet, it was supreme, magnificent, mighty, and immense. A mere remnant shadow, it supported this entire stable and hidden space.
"Hehehe."
"It has been too long..."
"I perished one hundred twenty-one thousand, four hundred and twenty-three years ago. My remnant will deceived the heavens to cross the sea, hiding within this star’s core. Here, I have witnessed it transform from barrenness to prosperity, from mulberry fields into a vast ocean. Finally, I once again see an intelligent being who has reached this realm..."
"Neither the delusional, self-proclaimed pseudo-god from five thousand years ago, nor that little Nirvana Rank youngster from the Dark Star Race thirty-one years ago, ever made it here. They couldn’t even discover the mysteries of this place. Yet, unexpectedly, they too became two driving forces of destiny, allowing a native born here to arrive at this place through a fateful confluence of events."
"And he has even obtained..."
"My eye."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Although this figure had no eyes, it stared at Shi Ming’s eyes for a long time before finally sighing, as if utterly exhausted.
He was now just a remnant shadow,
unable to see through destiny or even create a ripple.
He could only be an observer, watching the great upheavals on a planet in a so-called barbaric Star Domain, one that belonged to no advanced, civilized Cosmic Country.
"Life, Death, Time, Space, Destiny, Destruction, Corruption, Eternity, Purification... [Zero] is merely the outer shell. Its core is like the initial evolution of the Star Sea; it is not just a simple name."
"This [Initial Zero],"
"let it be a small test..."