"Third, a mind as clear as water and an unshakable will."
"Fourth, one’s Spiritual Power must be exceptionally strong."
"Fifth, one must harmonize the conflicts between the different origins, balancing and fusing them without the slightest deviation."
"Sixth, one must be a life form born within this Star Domain."
"The six conditions increase in difficulty. Each one is a monumental task on its own; together, they are nearly impossible."
"This is why it has remained unclaimed until now. Heh, a few thousand years ago, a cunning old fellow saw through all this. He knew he could never obtain this origin, but he was unwilling to accept it. So, he set a trap, hoping to find an opportunity to steal the prize over the vast expanse of time. What he didn’t expect was that a trap can also be turned against its creator, becoming a cage that feeds its prey."
’A trap?’
’Could it be the one who wrote the great stone stele?’
’He left behind information on the eight-skill combination, [Zero], as a way to find an opportunity to steal it for himself? But he never imagined that the Eye of the Divine was watching this place all along?’
"We will speak of the trap later."
"Since you have come here, your purpose must be to fuse with Zero. You are indeed the most suitable person the River of Destiny has produced in one hundred and twenty thousand years. Of the six prerequisites for fusing with [Zero], you have already met nearly five. All that remains is balance and harmonization, but this is by no means an easy task."
"It is far more difficult than you can imagine."
"If the fusion succeeds, you will possess the Nirvana Skill that once belonged to me. By inheriting the eye and the skill, you will, in a sense, become my true successor. I will then tell you the coordinates of my home, the First Civilization Cosmic Country, where you can find more secrets and opportunities."
"But if the fusion fails, your body and soul will be annihilated. The Eye of the Divine will shatter completely, dissipating into the void of time and space. The eight Holy Hall Origins will separate once more, transforming back into eight different ferocious beasts."
"The moment has arrived."
"But I must ask you one last time: have you decided?"
...
He thought Shi Ming would need a long time to consider it.
But to his surprise, the man before him nodded resolutely. Conviction radiated from him, as if he had made this decision long ago.
This was an opportunity that would not come a second time.
Once missed, it would be gone forever.
The old man nodded.
The flowers and leaves of the Cyan Lotus planted in the pool transformed into cyan threads, which flew up and connected to Shi Ming from all angles. Upon contact with his skin, a purifying power surged into him. It poured into his body in a saturating flood. Unlike his absorption of the other seven Holy Hall Origins, this process was passive, almost like being force-fed. Still, the invading energy remained within his control.
*WHOOSH~*
Shi Ming accepted and absorbed the Origin of Purification.
But he noticed that the old man before him was starting to fade.
"My time is extremely limited. I cannot offer you any more advice; I can only tell you the things I have about Zero. The coordinates of the First Civilization Cosmic Country and the details of the trap will reveal themselves to you after you complete the fusion. As for the Eye of the Divine, the other three remains, and all the other secrets, you must discover them for yourself..."
"Remember, you must walk a different path, or else..."
"...you will repeat my mistakes."
As the last word faded, the figure vanished. In this Dream Space, a reflection on the water, all that remained was Shi Ming, enveloped in cyan threads, and clusters of Cyan Lotus.
The threads slowly wrapped Shi Ming into a cocoon.
In a parallel space deep within the Earth Core, a metamorphosis was taking place.
...
Absorbing the [Purification] Origin was not particularly difficult. During the force-fed devouring, Shi Ming could feel that with the help of his Right Arm Red Pattern, he had completely absorbed [Purification] in just two hours.
This was far faster than any of the previous absorptions.
The difficult part was the balancing and fusion that came next.
Balancing and fusing just two origins required immense consideration. Simultaneously balancing and fusing eight increased the difficulty a hundredfold. Fortunately, Shi Ming had been practicing fusion drills for some time, gaining an understanding of the balance between [Life] and [Death], [Destruction] and [Eternity], and [Destiny] and [Spacetime]. Adding Bai Yimo’s outside-the-box insights further reduced the difficulty.
However, the entire process still demanded meticulous precision.
It was like trying to build a high-tech, precision instrument with one’s bare hands. There could be no room for error. A single mistake meant failure!
And failure was an outcome Shi Ming could not, and would not, accept.
Under these circumstances, Shi Ming discovered the benefit of entering the Dream Space with his consciousness: freed from the constraints of his physical body, he entered a state of pure simplicity.
He now understood why all six conditions were indispensable:
His Nirvana-rank strength gave him a higher-dimensional level of control over the Holy Hall Power;
His understanding of the eight Holy Hall Origins was key to the fusion and balance;
A mind as clear as water and an unshakable will allowed him to cast aside distracting thoughts;
His high-intensity Spiritual Power enabled him to precisely balance every single thread of origin power;
As for why one had to be a life form born on this planet, he now had a clear answer. The Eight Holy Halls had been subtly influencing the creatures here for ages. Only a being who was born and raised under their constant influence would not be rejected by the Holy Hall Powers during fusion.
An outsider or a possessed being would, by their very nature, have no chance of success.
Fusion was a slow process.
If the mental toll and pressure Shi Ming endured when using the Infinite Brain to upgrade the Creation Star Core was a 1, then the difficulty of this long, tedious, and intensely focused fusion process was a 10, or even a 100! With no margin for error, the internal pressure inevitably and slowly grew, and constantly overdrawing his limits was a form of mental torture.
The pain of his death in his past life had been but an instant.
This crushing torment was long and of unknown duration...
...
...
...
"Elder Zhou, the Unceasing Water on the Jiuzhou Platform has vanished..."
The secretary knocked on the door.
She brought news that was expected, yet it filled Zhou Huaijin with extraordinary joy. Although Elder Zhou had guessed that Shi Ming would be able to do it, he couldn’t contain his delight when the news finally arrived as anticipated!
’This is wonderful!’
The wondrous artifact, the [Jiuzhou Platform], was a reflection of the Endless Ocean.
Its Unceasing Water vanishing meant that the crisis of proliferating seawater that plagued the Endless Ocean was completely eliminated. Even if the sea was still boundless, it was no longer a threat. With humanity’s current capabilities, it would become a true treasure trove, giving birth to all things to nourish mankind!
Elder Zhou returned from the Wall Point to Da Yu and confirmed this fact for himself.
’Wonderful!’
For over thirty years, humanity’s fate had been far too fraught with hardship... The arrival of the Age of Floods had left less than one in ten of the old world’s population alive. In the thirty years that followed, even with the drifter ships as their base of survival, the struggle against the ocean and its beasts was a history written in blood and tears, too painful to recount. The return of the mastermind, the [Nirvana], was another great hurdle. And now, the final threat had at last been neutralized.
He sat jubilantly in his well-worn, lacquered armchair, in the best of moods!
The stone slab that once hung behind him was long gone, replaced by a layout map for an artificial continent!
Dawn was in sight!
The day of Shi Ming’s return would be the day of the greatest victory celebration on the Endless Ocean!
...
...
...
The exorbitant, ever-increasing consumption of Spiritual Power caused Shi Ming, lying flat in his canoe, to knit his brows tightly.
His body was still in the Earth Core.
His consciousness had entered another space.
He had long been immune to heat and cold, but now, a constant stream of fine sweat beaded on his forehead. The droplets merged, forming thick drops that fell one after another.
The fusion of the eight origins was far more difficult than he had imagined.
But now, there was no way back...
Or rather, there had never been a way back to begin with!
At this moment, Shi Ming finally understood. He was the water in a sponge, being squeezed again and again. Compared to this, the methods he had used against the Colorful Insect were mere child’s play!
The Colorful Insect also suffered collateral damage.
It had become a small power bank. Whenever Shi Ming’s Spiritual Power reserves were on the verge of depletion, he could only turn inward. This restrained anomalous creature was squeezed and ravaged over and over again, until not a single drop was left. After a brief respite, it was squeezed once more.
It cursed. It raged.
Ten days, twenty days, thirty days...
Dawn had not yet arrived.
And yet, it seemed to be just within reach.