Chapter 643 - 427: Reincarnation Trial

As this thought crossed his mind, Hu Qi’s gaze swept casually around, landing on a passing Spirit Realm creature in the distance.

It was an immense black turtle, its back wreathed in a swirling gray mist that never dispersed.

Within the hazy mist, one could vaguely make out purple crystals jutting from its shell like sharp blades.

It slowly swam forward.

Carrying its massive shell, it looked as if it were shouldering a continent, inching its way forward.

Upon closer inspection, the aura it radiated barely reached the Early Stage Apostle Level.

In other parts of the Spirit Realm, such power would be enough to dominate an entire region.

But here in the Deep Dark Zone, where True Gods roamed, it was merely average.

Hu Qi quickly searched his mind.

But he found no information regarding this giant turtle’s species.

He wasn’t surprised, though. The Spirit Realm was boundless, its lifeforms too numerous to count. New species could emerge at any moment, so it was perfectly normal to have never seen a turtle like this before.

Hu Qi took a single step.

In an instant, he appeared on the turtle’s back.

In that moment,

the Purple Crystal Giant Turtle, which had been swimming forward, seemed to sense something.

"Hmm? Who is it?"

A spiritual ripple spread out.

The next second, however,

a sliver of True God aura leaked from Hu Qi.

It caused the giant turtle to shudder.

"So it is Your Excellency, a True God..."

"Pay me no mind. I need to stay here for a while,"

Hu Qi said calmly.

With that,

he passed into the misty expanse on its shell.

The mist swirled thick and heavy within.

To Hu Qi’s surprise,

there was life on the turtle’s back.

But these weren’t lifeforms in the human sense.

They were a collection of palm-sized, multicolored stones.

They all seemed to possess their own consciousness and had even created a civilization of their own.

In a way, this giant turtle was more like a small, mobile world.

It just went to show how vast and full of wonders the Spirit Realm was.

Hu Qi gave them a single glance

and paid them no further mind.

Ignoring the curious gazes from a distance,

Hu Qi waved a hand, setting up a Restriction around himself to prevent the little creatures from bothering him.

Then, he sat down cross-legged and began to inspect his condition.

First was the state of his Pocket World.

After absorbing the Reincarnation Dao Rhyme earlier,

he had noticed some subtle changes in his Pocket World.

But because of the matter with Black Erosion, he hadn’t had time to investigate.

Now, Hu Qi focused his mind, performing Introspection.

He immediately perceived that the Power of Origin within the Pocket World had become much denser.

The Power of Rules within it had also been significantly enhanced.

What caught his attention most, however, was that the Reincarnation Realm on his Reincarnation Yin Yang Disc had grown even more profound.

Furthermore, he saw an illusory river emerge from the Reincarnation Yin Yang Disc and wrap around the entire Pocket World.

Its waters churned.

Within its currents, he could see different scenes unfolding in various worlds.

’The River of Time?’

The thought suddenly surfaced in Hu Qi’s mind.

This thing before him seemed more like the world’s timeline.

He even had a strong feeling

that he could make his Pocket World Space, just like that Mecha World, undergo destruction and Reincarnation.

He could even interfere with the reincarnation of the beings within.

This also meant that, if he so wished, he could destroy the dozen or so different worlds within his Pocket World and start anew, even making them develop according to his will.

Everything inside the Pocket World—from the planets themselves to the beings living on them—had become mere playthings in Hu Qi’s hands. He could even reset their timeline at will.

If he didn’t like something, he could tear it down and start over.

It was as if he had become an omnipotent Creator.

This feeling could easily become intoxicating.

However, Hu Qi only experienced it for a moment before withdrawing his will.

The feeling was pleasant,

but it wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

Because he wanted more.

He didn’t just want to control his Pocket World. He wanted to become a Daoist Lord and grow ever stronger.

To manipulate all, to control all.

Desire is the driving force for progress.

If one truly had no desires,

there would be no motivation to advance.

Hu Qi had always been greedy by nature, a fact he never denied.

With this in mind,

he turned his gaze inward—to his abdomen, to be precise.

A mass of silvery-white light was currently twisting there.

As his gaze fell upon it,

a stream of information instantly surfaced.

"Oath Dao: make an oath, complete the oath, obtain power..."

This was Black Erosion’s Dao.

Combined with the memories he had obtained from Black Erosion,

Hu Qi gained a clear and direct understanding of the path his former foe had walked.

The Extraordinary path he had walked was called Ascetic Practitioner, and it was an exceptionally peculiar one.

It was different from normal Extraordinary paths, which required sufficient aptitude and methodical cultivation to increase one’s strength.

An Ascetic would restrain themself by making oaths to the heavens, the earth, or even the Spirit Realm itself. The content of these oaths could be anything from abstaining from a certain desire to completing a mission or adhering to a specific code of conduct.

Each time an oath was fulfilled, the Ascetic would receive a corresponding reward from it.

This reward could be a physical enhancement, a spiritual boost, or a specific Extraordinary Ability.

Oaths were divided into different Levels. The higher the Level, the stronger the binding force, and the more generous the reward upon completion.

For example, the most Basic Level oaths were simple constraints, such as quitting a bad habit or meditating for a set period each day.