Volume 22, Chapter 8: The Path to Advancement
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Unexpectedly, condensing just a small crystal of earth's essence would take a whole year. Xiao Wenbing was now eager to return home. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the divine crystal to Zha, saying, "Take this one and play with it for now. I'll condense a second one for you when I get back."
The reason he was so generous was that he had already scanned the divine power crystal into his mind.
In this way, next time we only need to copy it through the Dark Infant, instead of having to go through the trouble of condensing it ourselves.
Zha Le looked at the divine power crystal in his hand with great satisfaction, but suddenly his expression changed drastically, and he shouted loudly, "Origin Crystal!"
Because he possessed the same primal power as Zha, Zha's divine realm could no longer prevent Xiao Wenbing from coming and going.
However, just as he was about to step out of the Zha Di Divine Realm, he was startled by the roar and quickly pulled back, asking, "What's wrong?"
Zha raised the crystal of divine power in his hand, his expression extremely complicated. He asked, "What is this?"
What's this?
Xiao Wenbing looked at him strangely. This thing was obviously a crystallization of divine power. Could it be that Zha was so excited that he had become stupid?
The Mirror God stepped forward gracefully and said, "That's right. This is a crystallization of divine power."
Zha nodded blankly and said, "I know."
Xiao Wenbing rolled his eyes at him. "Since you know, why are you making such a fuss? Are you a god or a ghost?"
"This is a crystallization of divine power, but the primordial power within it does not belong to my divine realm."
Xiao Wenbing exclaimed in surprise, immediately realizing that he had indeed made a mistake.
Because the process of condensing divine power crystals requires far more divine power than one could imagine, Xiao Wenbing only focused on mobilizing divine power and forgot to convert the original power.
Therefore, the primal power contained within this divine crystal is not the primal power of Zha, but rather a variant of his own power.
His face flushed slightly, and Xiao Wenbing said with a smile, "Oh dear, I'm sorry, it was my mistake."
He wanted to condense another one, but a year had already passed in the outside world, and he was thinking about Zhang Yaqi and Feng Baiyi. He simply didn't have the patience to spend another year condensing a divine power crystal.
Pounding his chest firmly, Xiao Wenbing declared confidently, "Senior, several of my good friends are waiting outside. I've been missing for a year; they must be worried sick. Don't worry, I'll go out and say hello to them, then come back and help you refine it."
As if waking from a dream, Zha shook his head and said, "Fellow God, you have misunderstood." Holding the divine power crystal in his hand, he solemnly asked, "Is this primordial crystal truly condensed by you, Fellow God?"
Xiao Wenbing took a deep breath, almost slurring his words. He had clearly refined this thing right under Xiao Wenbing's nose, and yet Xiao Wenbing still had to ask such a question… Really…
Seeing Xiao Wenbing's extremely strange expression, Zha quickly explained, "Fellow deity, please don't be offended. I'm just too surprised to believe it."
Slightly taken aback, Xiao Wenbing calmed down; it seemed there was a hidden meaning in his words.
"Senior, is there something wrong with this divine power crystal?"
Zha sighed and said, "It's not that it's wrong, it's just that this divine power crystal is too good, better than I could have imagined."
Xiao Wenbing's eyes lit up, waiting for his explanation.
"Friends, do you know which divine power is the most powerful in this world?"
Xiao Wenbing pondered for a while, then said, "It's the power of heavenly lightning, isn't it?" Anyone who has ever seen a lightning field would definitely answer that.
Zha shook his head slightly.
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat. Could there be some power even stronger than the earth-shattering power of the Heavenly Thunder?
"Senior, I have heard that the power of heavenly lightning is the most powerful offensive force in all planes. Is that true?"
“That’s right. But not all earth gods can wield the power of heavenly lightning,” Zha said calmly.
Xiao Wenbing raised his eyebrows slightly and opened his mouth as if he understood but didn't.
"Millions of years ago, I obtained the divine power crystal left behind by the first generation of gods and cultivated diligently, eventually reaching the peak of the advanced divine realm. At that time, I thought that in the world, apart from those first generation of gods, there were no other rivals. But..."
His voice was dreamlike and ethereal, as if he had returned to the past.
"But I encountered a god who had only been a deity for ten thousand years. After that battle with him, I was sealed here, and I also understood a truth."
Xiao Wenbing couldn't help but ask, "What's the reasoning behind that?"
Zha Di gave a bitter smile and said, "For gods, the most powerful force is the one that is most suitable for them."
"Huh?" Not everyone understood this seemingly nonsensical question.
After glancing at Xiao Wenbing, Zha sighed, "That deity had never come into contact with divine power crystals before becoming a god. He comprehended his own energy origin during the final tribulation of godhood, relying on his own understanding of power."
Xiao Wenbing blinked twice and asked, "Is there any difference?"
"Of course it's different. People like us who comprehend the origin of energy through divine power crystals are merely inheriting the power of the previous generation. But those who grasp the origin of energy at the critical moment of life and death can cultivate a power that truly belongs to themselves." Zha Di's expression was extremely solemn: "Only this kind of power that completely belongs to oneself is the most powerful power. We call such gods the Supreme Gods."
Xiao Wenbing nodded slightly, then suddenly asked, "Compared to the primordial gods, which of those supreme gods is more powerful?"
Zha replied without hesitation, "Of course, the first generation of gods are much more powerful."
"The first generation of gods were more powerful than the supreme god?"
"Yes, every first-generation god grew up from a supreme god, and their cultivation years were far too long, so the energy they possessed was incomparably refined, absolutely incomparable to that of later supreme gods."
Swallowing hard, filled with reverence for the first generation of gods, Xiao Wenbing suddenly recalled the image of the old tortoise god. For some reason, a sudden realization dawned on him. It seemed that the old tortoise was indeed one of the first generation of gods.
"Was the one who sealed you away the supreme god back then?"
"Yes, back then I had been a god for hundreds of millions of years, and I possessed two divine artifacts. But when I faced that unarmed supreme god, the final result was a crushing defeat." Zha's expression was extremely bitter: "Only the power that belongs to oneself is the most powerful power."
Xiao Wenbing was in a daze. What about his own power? What kind of power was that innate power?
“Once the source of divine power is fixed, there is no room for changing its origin.” Zha touched the crystalline divine power in his hand and said, “I originally thought that I would never be able to possess the source power of my own in this lifetime, but now there is new hope.”
Xiao Wenbing was startled and asked, "What did you say?"
Zha looked at Xiao Wenbing strangely and said, "Fellow God, do you know that the divine power crystal you have condensed is the rarest primordial crystal in the world?"
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Wenbing calmed down completely. He asked, "What is the use of the Origin Crystal?"
"It's incredibly useful, according to legend..."
Xiao Wenbing's lips curled slightly. Hearing the word "legend" from the mouth of a deity gave him a truly comical feeling.
"Legend has it that this kind of primordial crystal does not contain primordial power with fixed attributes."
"Impossible." Xiao Wenbing said in surprise. He remembered very clearly that he had indeed injected the fragment of the source formed by the mutant ability into it.
Zha laughed and said, "Fellow deity, do not be hasty. What I am referring to is the primordial power without fixed attributes." He held the divine power crystal and said, "The primordial fragments inside are all without fixed attributes. In other words, they can be converted into primordial power of all attributes."
"So what?" Xiao Wenbing asked, frowning.
Zha Di's eyes suddenly flashed with an intense light, making it difficult to look directly at him: "Nothing much, it just allows one to cultivate power that is completely their own."
"You can advance to the level of a supreme god through it?" Xiao Wenbing asked in surprise.
“Excellent.” Zha Di’s eyes shone with fervent enthusiasm: “With ten such divine power crystals, I will be able to completely transform the primal power within my body and advance to the throne of the supreme god.”
Ten.
“Exactly. If one is an immortal who has not yet become a god, then only a few crystals are needed to become a supreme god. However, for us high- or low-level gods who already possess the source of divine power, it takes about ten source crystals to completely convert the source of divine power.” Zha had long since abandoned his divine dignity and looked at Xiao Wenbing pitifully, his eyes filled with pleading.
Unexpectedly, his mutant ability had such miraculous effects. Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. This meant that his promise to Queenie and the others to become gods could not only be fulfilled, but he could also become an incomparably powerful supreme god.
Seeing Zha Di's expression, Xiao Wenbing was about to agree when he suddenly remembered something and said, "Wait a minute, I provided you with the divine power crystals so that you could help me advance, how come it's become me helping you advance?"
Zha was stunned, his face turning bright red. Since the other party was able to condense the Origin Crystal, it meant that he possessed at least the strength of a Supreme God. How could he have said he would help him advance? Wouldn't that have been presumptuous of him?
However, he also knew that this was his best chance to become the supreme god. If he missed this opportunity, he feared he would never have another chance.
Gritting his teeth, Zha bowed deeply to Xiao Wenbing and said, "If my divine friend is willing to grant my request, then I... then Zha is willing to obey my divine friend as my master."
Volume 22, Chapter 9: Return
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His questioning gaze inadvertently drifted towards the direction of the Mirror God.
The Mirror God's face showed neither joy nor sorrow. It merely nodded almost imperceptibly. If Xiao Wenbing hadn't known it for many years and developed an extremely tacit understanding with it, he might not have been able to notice it at all.
"Okay, I agree."
Zha lowered his head deeply, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes: "Thank you, Lord God."
"Hmm, what benefits does the Supreme God offer?"
Zha was taken aback, his figure swaying slightly. Fortunately, he remembered that the person opposite him was just a minor immortal at the Integration Realm, so it was normal that he didn't know about matters between gods.
“Powerful forces can be formed among like-minded deities, and each powerful force constitutes a faction, with the dominant one being the chief god.” Zha explained carefully, “The chief god’s commands have absolute authority among the deities of his faction and exert great control over the subordinate gods.”
"How big is it?" Xiao Wenbing asked calmly.
"Very significant. As long as it doesn't involve stripping the other party of their divine status or forcibly seizing their source power, a main god can even possess the same authority as the other party within the divine realm of a subordinate god."
Xiao Wenbing pondered for a moment, then said, "This seems to be of little use."
Zha said softly, "My friend, you may not know this, but every god possesses his own divine domain, within which his divine power is at its strongest. If one can gain equally powerful authority within another's divine domain, then one can neutralize the power of that domain and pull the other into one's own."
"Oh." Xiao Wenbing's eyes lit up. He was secretly surprised, not expecting that the main god would have such benefits.
Through understanding this divine realm and the process of creating divine power crystals, Xiao Wenbing was able to grasp his meaning.
Every god has their own divine realm, and fighting within their own divine realm grants them an unparalleled advantage.
The war between gods is a clash between divine realms. As long as one can defend their own divine domain, even if the opponent wins, they cannot harm them.
Conversely, if one loses their domain and is pulled into the opponent's divine domain, then unless their cultivation level is a whole level higher than the opponent's, they are doomed to die.
Although as long as the primordial energy exists, gods are immortal, at that point, the god's fate will be the same as that of Dizha at present: stripped of almost all power, sealed in a place unknown to anyone, and it will take billions of years before there is any hope of breaking free.
If the main god possesses the power to disregard the domains of subordinate gods, then unless their cultivation level is significantly lower than the subordinate god's, the subordinate god is essentially unable to rebel.
However, Xiao Wenbing suddenly remembered something and said, "That's not right, this ability doesn't offer any benefits either."
Zha's expression changed, and he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Xiao Wenbing pointed to the space and said, "This is your Earth God's Domain, isn't it?"