Chapter 628 580: The Path to Godhood

BOOM!

The nest that once belonged to the String Beast was now torn to shreds by a violent spiritual storm. Within the boundless Sea of Chaos, a vacuum vortex was forcibly created!

The subordinate aberrant species that had been lying in ambush, created and tamed by the String Beast, were all killed.

As Shi Ming's main target, the Flower of Evil Thought at the center of the vortex had all its roots severed. Its source of power suffered a devastating blow. In an instant, it was ground to pieces by the immense Spiritual Power storm. The status bestowed upon it by the ancient abomination was rendered useless, unable to help it in the slightest.

The Flower of Evil Thought exhausted all its power just to barely maintain the last sliver of its consciousness, preventing it from dissipating completely. Yet, it was like a candle flame in the wind, in danger of being extinguished at any moment.

'How can he be this strong? The difference is so vast!'

'How could he be so precise? Striking right at my vital point?'

The Flower of Evil Thought now abandoned all its evil thoughts. It focused its remaining consciousness and power entirely on how to escape, desperately trying to find a sliver of hope amidst the storm. Unfortunately, its opponent was Shi Ming, a young yet seasoned Hunter from the Star Sea. He had a precise grasp of his prey's psychology. And after mastering the complete Eye of the Divine, he could predict everything that was predictable.

'Escape?'

'Can I even escape?'

'Nutrients!'

Shi Ming stretched out his right hand. Blood-red markings spread from his arm into the void, resembling a crimson dragon that could devour chaos itself. As these markings left his right hand, they split into nine different branches, manifesting as a Nine-headed Giant Dragon. It furiously coiled towards the center of the evil thoughts' source. Wherever it passed, all the severed roots that had belonged to the Flower of Evil Thought were devoured and absorbed, then transmitted through the dragon's body into Shi Ming.

'Purify, absorb!'

"Not bad."

"This is far more precious than Source Blood. If not for the complete status suppression from the Eye of the Divine, purifying and absorbing it would have been extremely difficult, even with my mastery of [Pollution] and [Purification]!"

The Flower of Evil Thought felt its very essence, which had existed for over a hundred thousand years, being devoured, stripped away, and seized.

Its branches, leaves, and buds had long since dissipated. Now, only its severed roots remained at the center of the vortex. At this moment, it finally understood: from the instant it had agreed to cooperate with this human, failure was already a foregone conclusion.

With its power being rapidly stolen, it steeled its heart and resolved to self-destruct!

'I'd rather be destroyed than let my opponent benefit!'

'Self-destruct?'

Unfortunately, even self-destruction was an extravagant hope.

As if he had predicted it, Shi Ming used his numbered Nirvana skill, [Time]. It was as if a pause button had been pressed, and time fell into a state of absolute stasis. Without its advantage in status and on the verge of death, the Flower of Evil Thought had no ability to resist. Its thoughts and movements were frozen solid. Its power, however, was unaffected by [Time] and continued to be frantically siphoned away by the blood-red markings, converted into energy that Shi Ming could use.

His word was law.

And from that moment, one with reality.

...

...

...

'So strong...'

In Shi Ming's Sea of Spirit, the Colorful Insect replayed the battle that had just occurred, its heart still pounding with fear. All the extravagant hopes and wishful thinking it once had vanished in that instant.

'Who was the opponent?'

'The Flower of Evil Thought, which inherited the power of an ancient abomination!'

'Its own status was extremely high, and it had been recuperating alone in the Sea of Chaos for over a hundred thousand years. It bore the responsibility of reviving the Evil Thought Heaven. If nothing unexpected had happened, it would have surely become—or cultivated—a new ancient abomination in a future timeline, sweeping through the Sea of Chaos and invading the Star Sea!'

But now,

it had all come to nothing.

'And I was one of the participants who brought about this end...' After feeling guilty for 0.001 seconds, the Colorful Insect naturally accepted this reality. As Shi Ming had said, survival depends on knowing how to adapt. A power like that couldn't even stand up to this human. What could it, a mere Calamity-tier aberrant species, possibly do?

'Being flexible is the wisest course of action.'

'I can only hope that when the time for reckoning comes, the human will remember my small contribution and not eradicate me completely. No... our species are different, our standpoints are different. This human is so cunning, so ruthless and decisive. If he truly decides to settle accounts, it seems I can only stretch out my neck and wait for the blade, completely helpless.'

'My life and death are entirely in his hands.'

The Colorful Insect was plunged into endless anxiety.

...

...

...

The vortex in the Sea of Chaos grew larger and larger. From a distance, it looked like an expanding nebula, filled with danger and oppressive power. But at its center, it was now silent and calm, like the surface of a windless, waveless sea.

The blood-red dragon, having devoured all of the Flower of Evil Thought's power, reverted to markings and flowed back onto Shi Ming's right arm.

Shi Ming closed his eyes and began to digest this immense power.

...

...

...

Time seemed to stand still, yet it was forever moving forward.

Hoo~

Shi Ming let out a light breath.

'As expected of a remnant of Evil Thought Heaven.' Devouring and digesting this power had taken him nearly two months. The power of an ancient abomination was fundamentally incompatible with that of a Star Sea creature, making it difficult to tame completely. Shi Ming's method was to treat it as nutrients—to devour and absorb it, not to utilize it, but only to digest it.

This prevented him from inheriting the Flower of Evil Thought's skills, but it brought an unexpected surprise.

[Congratulations, you have absorbed the power of an aberrant species and severed the lineage of the ancient abomination, Evil Thought Heaven. Your Stamina has broken through the threshold of the Nirvana Tier and entered a new range. The power that was once suppressed has been released, and your Stamina value has increased significantly.]

[Attack Power: 9,999 points]

[Defense Power: 9,999 points]

[Stamina: 13,821 points (+3,822 points)]

[Vitality: 9,999 points]

[Spiritual Power: 37,613,082 points (+2,271 points)]

Shi Ming opened his eyes, contemplating the difference between thousands and tens of thousands.

The increase seemed to be just over three thousand points, but in terms of what that Stamina felt like, it was like ascending from the earth to the clouds. It was a completely different sensation. Not only that, but the most precious thing that came with the increase was breaking through his shackles, gaining room for further growth.

"Just as I guessed."

"In the Star Sea, the peak of the Nirvana Tier is called the [Pillar Stone]. All who reach it face a state of no further advancement. The [Pseudo-Gods], who are even stronger than the Pillar Stones, have only gained the power of authority. To advance to a true god, one must break this limit and take another step forward."

"But taking that next step is incredibly difficult."

"One path is to follow the road of the departed gods, fusing the four types of Divine Remains to recreate the power of the old gods. The other is to shatter the rules with brute force, find one's own path, and break through the shackles of the threshold."

"I have rejected the first path."

"The second path requires exploration from scratch. Now, by devouring the remnant power of Evil Thought Heaven, I have already helped my Stamina break through its threshold. By this logic, if I devour the remnants of other ancient abominations, my other three attributes can also break their thresholds. Breaking all four thresholds would be another way of shattering the rules with brute force. That will be the time I leave the Nirvana Tier and ascend to an even higher realm."

Truth comes from practice.

Understanding suddenly dawned on Shi Ming.

"To think that the key for a Star Sea creature to ascend to godhood lies within the Sea of Chaos."

"Perhaps Nirvana and Calamity are two sides of the same coin. There are shadows even in the light. Mastering the light, utilizing the shadow, correcting evil thoughts, and binding malice... that is the true principle of the universe."

...

...

...

The voice of the Colorful Insect echoed in Shi Ming's Sea of Spirit.

"Um, Shi... oh, no, Master."

"This essence of the Bicolored Celestial Calamity... you are indeed more suited to possess it than I... In the years to come, I hope you will personally safeguard it..."