Chapter 1280: The Expanse Again

I saw an enormous mountain range stretching across a vast land. The mountains were ancient and covered with thick clouds, and deep within one of them was a hidden chamber. The chamber itself was simple, almost completely empty except for an ancient teleportation circle engraved into the floor. Beside it rested a strange stone that contained a faint Origin fluctuation.

The vision disappeared.

I opened my eyes.

"That should be it."

I immediately expanded my perception across the Primordial Beast Universe. With my current Space Origin, the distance that had once seemed impossible to cross had become almost meaningless. I searched through countless planets, galaxies, and spatial layers until I finally found the mountain range from the vision.

It was located on a distant planet far from the Beastheart Galaxy.

I stood up and reached toward the void.

Space tore open beneath my fingers.

I stepped through and appeared directly above the mountain range.

The mountains stretched beneath me for thousands of kilometers, but I did not waste time exploring them. My perception immediately located the hidden chamber shown in the vision. I descended toward it, passed through the mountain itself, and arrived inside the ancient chamber.

The teleportation circle was exactly as I had seen it.

I walked toward the strange Origin Stone beside it and placed my hand against its surface.

The moment my Soul Force entered the stone, the entire chamber trembled.

Ancient runes across the teleportation circle began lighting up one after another, and an immense spatial fluctuation filled the chamber. The Origin Stone rapidly dimmed as its stored power was transferred into the formation.

Then the center of the circle twisted.

A deep, mysterious portal slowly opened.

I could feel something completely different on the other side.

It was not ordinary Space.

It was not another pocket dimension.

The moment I sensed the Origin Essence beyond the portal, my entire body reacted instinctively. Every Origin within my Divine Core began resonating.

I smiled.

Without hesitation, I stepped into the portal.

Space distorted around me, and for a brief moment, I felt as though I was passing through an endless river of Origins. Then the sensation disappeared, and my feet touched solid ground.

I had arrived.

The Origin Expanse of the Primordial Beast Universe.

The first thing I felt was the sheer density of Origin Essence.

It was everywhere.

Space, Time, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Darkness, Blood, Resonance, Polarity, and countless other Origins existed in their most primitive forms throughout this dimension. They were not merely floating around like ordinary energy. They formed the very structure of the Origin Expanse itself.

I took a slow breath.

Even my Divine Core trembled.

I had come here to increase my Origin Resonance.

Now that I had finally arrived, I had no intention of wasting a single moment.

I would go all out.

I would absorb as much Origin Essence as my body and Divine Core could withstand, comprehend every Origin I could touch, and push my resonance upward as quickly as possible.

If the Origin Expanse truly contained the most original Essence of the Origins, then I would use everything this place had to offer.

I had already reached the High Demi-God realm.

Now I wanted to see how far I could push it.

I sat down in the middle of the endless black expanse and allowed my body to settle into a state of complete stillness. There was no ground beneath me in the normal sense, nor was there any sky above, yet I could somehow remain suspended within this strange dimension as countless traces of Origin Essence drifted through the darkness around me. The moment I released a small amount of my Space Origin, the entire Expanse reacted.

A deep tremor passed through the darkness.

Then another.

The black void around me began to ripple as though I had dropped a stone into an endless ocean. The fluctuations quickly spread farther and farther until the entire region seemed to respond to my presence. I had only released a spatial fluctuation, yet the reaction was far greater than I had expected.

I narrowed my eyes.

Something was coming.

The darkness above me suddenly split apart, and an enormous silver claw emerged from within it. The claw was so massive that it seemed capable of covering an entire world, and every single scale covering its surface contained extremely pure Space Origin. It descended toward me with terrifying speed, carrying enough spatial pressure to crush ordinary Demi-Gods instantly.

I grinned.

"I am going to take it all."

The Origin Expanse was not simply a peaceful place filled with Essence waiting for me to absorb it. The moment I disturbed an Origin, the Expanse itself would respond, producing manifestations of that Origin and forcing me to deal with them before I could deepen my comprehension.

The silver claw continued descending.

I could have fought it.

With my current strength, I could combine several Origins and destroy it, but that would only waste the opportunity in front of me. If this claw was formed from the purest Space Essence of the Origin Expanse, then destroying it would mean throwing away exactly what I had come here to obtain.

A different thought entered my mind.

I opened my Divine Core.

A black hole slowly emerged from within it and appeared above my head. The moment it manifested, the surrounding Space distorted violently as its terrifying attraction force spread throughout the Expanse.

The silver claw suddenly trembled.

The black hole had locked onto it.

Instead of resisting the claw directly, I allowed the black hole to devour it.

The gigantic silver structure struggled violently as countless spatial fluctuations erupted from its surface. The claw tried to pull itself away, but the attraction force only became stronger. Cracks began spreading across its enormous body, and brilliant silver light poured from them.

Then the first piece broke away.

It was immediately dragged into the black hole.

Another fragment followed.

Then hundreds.

Thousands.

The enormous claw began collapsing faster and faster as its structure was dismantled by the black hole, each fragment being refined and absorbed into my Divine Core. I could feel pure Space Origin entering me with every piece.

My Space Origin Resonance began rising.

Fifty-eight percent.

Then fifty-nine.

The increase continued as more of the claw disappeared.

I remained seated beneath the black hole, watching calmly as the manifestation that had initially seemed capable of crushing me was gradually reduced to countless fragments and consumed.

By the time the final piece entered the black hole, the silver claw had completely vanished.

The darkness became still once again.

But inside my Divine Core, the newly absorbed Space Essence was already spreading through its structure, reinforcing the Origin patterns embedded within it.

I closed my eyes and felt the change.

The Origin Expanse had just given me my first taste of what it truly contained.

A faint smile appeared on my face.

If every Origin reacted like this whenever I disturbed it, then I had found the perfect place to increase my resonance.