Chapter 31: A World Like Home

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: A World Like Home

WHOOSH!

The empty void suddenly trembled.

A violent roar echoed through the darkness as if something ancient had awakened beneath the Sea of Knowledge. Space itself twisted around Michael, the once-motionless void churning violently as waves of invisible force rippled outward.

Yet Michael’s eyes remained shut.

A faint smile rested on his lips as memories continued to surface within his mind.

The warmth of the people he had met.

The bonds he had formed.

The moments of happiness, desire, embarrassment, and pleasure that had slowly become part of his new life.

Even Ivy.

Although he had never truly done anything with her because of the pressure from her family, the feelings he carried for her were no less real.

Those emotions joined together.

And something answered.

The entire void suddenly shook.

BOOM!

A crimson light erupted from the darkness.

Then another.

And another.

Crimson Chinese characters began appearing one after another above Michael, each character carrying a pressure so immense that the surrounding void seemed to bend around it.

They weren’t merely words.

They were laws.

Each character descended slowly, sinking into the darkness and etching itself into the very foundation of the Sea of Knowledge.

[Live a full life with no regrets, and let emotion and pleasure fill you.]

The moment the final character appeared—

BOOM!

The entire Sea of Knowledge shook.

The crimson characters shattered into countless streams of light before spreading throughout the empty void.

[Although the path of the emotionless may look glorious for a moment, it remains the path of fools and cowards.]

Another wave of crimson characters appeared.

This time, the pressure was even greater.

The darkness beneath them began cracking like glass.

[A true man never runs from his emotions. A true man accepts his desires. A true man indulges in sin. A true man repeats. Even through this, a true man would never be devoured by his desires and emotions.]

The final sentence appeared.

The entire void fell silent.

Then the last line descended.

[This is the path of a king.]

The moment those words were etched into the very fabric of the Incubus Sea of Knowledge—

BOOOOOOM!

Golden light exploded outward.

The darkness was instantly swallowed.

Space expanded.

The boundaries of the Sea of Knowledge stretched farther and farther, as though an invisible hand were forcing an entire universe into existence.

The empty void began to transform.

Points of golden light ignited in the distance.

One.

Ten.

A hundred.

Thousands.

Millions.

Stars began forming across the endless darkness.

Nebulae spiraled into existence, clouds of brilliant light stretching across the newborn cosmos.

Space itself seemed to deepen.

And then—

A familiar starfield emerged.

It was warm.

Peaceful.

Impossibly vast.

Soft constellations glittered across the darkness while gentle nebulae painted the distant reaches of the newly formed world.

It looked strangely familiar.

Almost like the sky Michael had once stared at back on Earth.

Michael slowly opened his eyes.

His breath caught.

For the first time since entering this Sea of Knowledge, he finally understood what the strange sensation of malleability had meant.

He hadn’t simply filled an empty Sea.

He had given it a law.

And that law had created a world.

’It’s... like I’m in space.’

Michael stared at the endless starfield.

Then he chuckled.

A second later, he burst into brilliant laughter.

His voice echoed through the newborn cosmos, traveling across countless stars and nebulae until it almost felt as though the world itself was laughing with him.

This wasn’t a Sea of Knowledge anymore.

It was a world.

His world.

And as Michael gazed across the endless starfield, a strange thought suddenly entered his mind.

’I could make this look like Earth.’

He could add a sun.

Planets.

More stars.

Perhaps even create humans of his own.

He could give them oceans and continents, then watch them develop civilizations and spread ridiculous theories about the universe’s complicated laws—

When the entire universe was actually nothing more than his whim.

Michael’s lips curled upward.

The idea was absurd.

And incredibly tempting.

But the moment he tried to imagine adding anything else, exhaustion crashed over him.

His body swayed.

Dark circles had already formed beneath his eyes, and his consciousness felt dangerously thin.

Michael immediately understood.

’That’s enough.’

This was the limit of what his current strength could support.

If he tried to force the world any further, his consciousness might shatter under the strain, scattering into billions of fragments.

He slowly exhaled.

’This strange energy filling the new Sea—neither pure nor truly evil—isn’t something I can casually reshape with my current strength.’

For now, this was enough.

Michael gave the newborn starfield one final glance.

Then he withdrew his consciousness.

His awareness returned to the familiar Astral Space platform.

Almost immediately—

Ding!

[You have successfully acquired Demonic Qi.]

Ding!

[You have successfully created your first Sea of Knowledge and successfully integrated your second.]

Ding!

[Your three bloodlines are now fully established and stabilized under the True Treble Physique.]

[Congratulations, Host.]

Michael lowered his exhausted head, his hair spilling over his face as he clenched one fist.

’I’m nowhere near Seraphine’s level yet... but with this foundation...’ A bright smile slowly spread across his face. ’No one should dare question my talent anymore.’

Another crisp chime suddenly rang through the Astral Space.

Michael looked up.

Three enormous status panels materialized before him.

They hovered in the darkness like three pillars representing the very foundations of his existence.

One for his Dragon.

One for his Human.

And one for his Incubus.

Michael’s gaze immediately shifted to the first.

[Creator Dragon Bloodline]

Purity: [42%]

Current Strength: [Qi Refining — Stage 1]

Output: [33%]

Michael’s eyes narrowed.

’Forty-two percent.’

Considering he still lacked Dragonic skeletal bones and a Dragonic soul, Michael considered that a fairly impressive amount. His current strength wasn’t particularly surprising either.

His gaze moved to the second panel.

[Human Bloodline]

Purity: [100%]

Current Strength: [Rank 9 — Peak]

"Well, I was born human, so obviously it would be one hundred percent."

Despite the joke, Michael’s expression soon became thoughtful.

Compared to his other bloodlines, the Human Bloodline’s raw strength was... pitifully low.

The power he could produce with only 33% of his Qi Refining — Stage 1 strength was already nearly twice what his Rank 9 Human Bloodline could produce.

If he had to make a rough comparison, that level of output was probably closer to a Rank 7 (Mid).

But still, his Human Bloodline wasn’t completely useless. His Quest System was primarily linked to it, which meant that if he could keep developing it, perhaps the gap between his three bloodlines wouldn’t remain a gap forever.

Especially once he entered the Second Heaven.

Michael’s gaze shifted.

The third panel slowly brightened.

[Incubus Bloodline]

Purity: [88%]

Current Strength: [Quasi Qi Refining — Stage 1]

Michael’s expression changed.

’Eighty-eight percent.’

That was already far beyond what he had expected.

However, unlike his Dragon and Human Bloodlines, which at least possessed their own abilities—his Dragon Bloodline having Dragon Heart and his Human Bloodline possessing the Fire Rune Skill—the Incubus Bloodline seemed almost completely bare.

Aside from sharing Dragon Intuition and Versatile Fighter with his other bloodlines, it had nothing else.

And where the list of bloodline traits should have been, there was only a single sentence.

[Be an Incubus and you shall understand.]

Michael stared at the status panel for an extra-long moment.

His eyes twitched.

"...That’s it?"

The System remained silent.

Michael stared at the line for another few seconds before finally dismissing the panels.

Right now, he didn’t have the leisure—or, frankly, even the strength—to figure out what any of this meant.

There would be plenty of time to investigate later.

For now...

He needed to level up all three bloodlines.

"System, send me back."

[Alright, Host.]

Michael leaned back as his body began dissolving into countless sparks of light.

Then his eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, right. I’m supposed to get a squad, aren’t I?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Michael could already guess that the conversation Raven wanted to have with him most likely had something to do with that.

He sighed and closed his eyes. ’Seems the war is happening no matter what.’

As for his squad...

He already had the people he wanted to choose in mind.