Chapter 450: Cognition 2

The newly-born flame lasted no more than three seconds before it split into two faint wisps of fire: one black, one white.

The black wisp of flame suddenly disintegrated and merged into the endless gray surroundings. Like a drop of ink, it rapidly dyed everything around it a grayish black.

The other white wisp of flame flickered a few times, about to merge into the surroundings as well, but it suddenly trembled and turned, shooting towards Lin Hui.

HISS.

The white flame shot into the center of his forehead, entering his very soul.

Only at this moment did he instantly understand. That white flame was the true form of the Yin Time Self-Origin Skill. It was the yang fire, differentiated from the fire of chaos that existed before the birth of all things—the source of all that is yang.

The tens of millions of years he had waited in chaos was, in fact, the process of cultivating the Yin Time Self-Origin Skill.

This process was the construction of the most fundamental Yin-Yang Observation, originating from the division of yin and yang from chaos.

The final white flame was the finished product of his cultivation—the Fire that Ignites All Things.

‘Weave chaos, nurture the primordial fire, divide yin and yang, and incinerate all things.’ Lin Hui frowned slightly, rubbing his throbbing head, which ached from the sudden influx of memories and information.

‘What does “a supreme Cultivation Technique based on the Yin-Yang Observation” mean?’ This description was part of the information flooding his mind.

He faintly sensed that it seemed to contain some kind of higher-level information he didn’t understand.

Taking advantage of the Blood Seal being idle, he immediately used it to appraise the concept.

‘Yin Time Self-Origin Skill: One of the supreme Cultivation Techniques of the Yin-Yang Observation. A unique technique that allows one to cultivate the supreme yang fire, incinerate all things, and convert them into personal sustenance…’

Skipping the parts he already knew, Lin Hui first glanced at the number of available evolution branches. It was indeed 0.

He was somewhat disappointed, but he quickly set a new target: the Yin-Yang Observation.

Since he had completed the evolution, he had theoretically obtained the experiential memories of successfully beginning his cultivation of the Yin Time Self-Origin Skill. So, he searched through his memories and then used the Blood Seal to simulate the evolution of this “Yin-Yang Observation” concept.

This was the most absurd aspect of the Blood Seal: it could directly evolve any concept he possessed.

As long as he knew and understood something, it would form a concept. And as long as a concept existed, the Blood Seal could detect and evolve it.

Lin Hui had had this idea for a long time, ever since the Blood Seal had evolved the abstract concept of a sect.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to directly evolve the related concepts and experiences within my own mind?’

‘In theory, all sorts of Cultivation Techniques and Swordsmanship enter my mind in a similar, conceptual way… These are all just deductions of pure knowledge. In that case, other forms of pure knowledge and skills should also work!’

As Lin Hui continued to clarify the evolutionary target in his mind, the Blood Seal finally reacted in his vision after a few seconds.

‘Warning: Evolution of a purely cognitive nature may lead to unpredictable consequences for your personality. Please proceed with caution.’

This was the first time the Blood Seal had issued a warning before he even began. This sent a chill through Lin Hui’s heart, but it also piqued his curiosity even more.

‘Evolution of a purely cognitive nature…’

‘Does this warning mean that my previous evolutions didn’t affect my worldview and personal values?’

It was common knowledge that cognition was a complex synthesis of existing experience, knowledge reserves, and thought patterns.

‘For the Blood Seal to issue a warning before the evolution even starts…’

Lin Hui paused. But the faint sense of threat from the outside world was growing stronger, gradually drawing closer.

He knew he was running out of time. If he let this opportunity pass, he had no idea when he’d be able to enter the Divine Domain again.

After this invasion, the Endless Divine Race would definitely react swiftly, implementing detection and screening measures against the Power of Calamity.

The next time he wanted to absorb Divine Food Statues so recklessly, it would likely be much more difficult.

‘So…’

‘Continue!’

He no longer hesitated and directly confirmed his decision to proceed.

The Blood Seal flickered, and lines of brand-new, peculiar text he had never seen before appeared at the bottom of his vision.

The text was not any symbol Lin Hui had ever seen before. Instead, it was made of bizarre characters that were constantly changing, flickering in and out of existence, their very forms twisting.

Even more bizarrely, although the characters were moving and changing at every moment, their arrangement consistently presented the exact same meaning with every shift.

Lin Hui was certain he had never learned this language, yet he could understand it at a single glance.

And in some inexplicable way, the characters also conveyed a feeling to him: that these were sentences only he could understand.

The new characters alone made his curiosity grow even stronger. As the characters continued to arrange and present themselves, information about the Yin-Yang Observation gradually flowed into Lin Hui’s mind.

‘Yin-Yang Observation: A subset of the Chaos Observation. It is one of many worldviews that living beings form to perceive the universe. Others include the Explosive Creation View, the Monotheistic View, the Good-and-Evil View, the Nihilistic View, and the Primordial Existence View.

‘The height of a living being’s development and its own strength are often related to its perception of the universe. The more comprehensive the worldview, the greater the strength and the more complete the evolution. There can be vast differences in power between different worldviews. Some worldviews have developmental limits and extremely low potential. Choose your evolution with caution.

‘Evolvable Branches: 3.’

‘…It really can be evolved!?’ Lin Hui quickly opened the branch options.

‘1—Chaos Observation: The origin of the Yin-Yang Observation, the theory that all things come from chaos. Evolution grants the Eye of Discerning All Things.’

‘2—Extreme Yin Observation: All things originate from a fundamental matrix. Over countless years, a pure flame was accidentally lit within the matrix, from which differentiation and all of creation arose. Evolution grants the Matrix-Transferring Stomach.’

‘3—Eternal Flame Temple: All things originate from an eternal, undying, supreme flame. The flame transmits heat, covers all, and bestows the right of movement to everything. Evolution grants the Undying Perpetual Motion Mechanism.’

Looking at the three options, Lin Hui opened the detailed descriptions for each.

The required time for evolution started at two hundred thousand years for each, but that wasn’t the most crucial part…

…it was the line of warning the Blood Seal had added below each evolution branch.

‘Warning: Upon successful evolution, you will form a connection with a powerful existence corresponding to the chosen worldview. The nature of this connection’s influence—positive or negative—is unknown.’

This immediately made Lin Hui think of Qimei, the Heart Source Demon Emperor, and the Celestial Father Eternal Life Sect Leader.

‘Obviously, for the Blood Seal to issue a special warning this time, the entity I might awaken with this evolution is likely far from the small-scale powerhouses of before.’

And judging from the required years for this evolution, the scale was also far beyond anything previous.

At this very moment, standing in a sea of fire, he felt the threatening aura of the encroaching Black Domain.

Lin Hui took a deep breath and hesitated no longer. The principle of the Yin Time Self-Origin Skill was to transform oneself into pure, supreme yang that incinerated all things. This was actually quite compatible with the final option, the Eternal Flame Temple. Furthermore, the Undying Perpetual Motion Mechanism also struck a chord with him.

Of the three associated abilities, this one seemed the most powerful.

He immediately confirmed the evolution into the Eternal Flame Temple.

‘Eternal Flame Temple: All things originate from… Required Resources: 230,000 years of stored energy.’ There was no Heart and Spirit requirement, but the 230,000 years alone made Lin Hui wince internally.

It was only because he had the Endless Divine Race as a super-sized “blood bag” that he dared to evolve so recklessly.

ROAR!!!

Just then, thick smoke billowed in the sky. From within an enormous, unseen rift, Sea Abyss Bone Devils extended giant hands, clawing upward.

At the same time, massive silver warships from above, each wreathed in a ring of Golden Divine Power, descended like thunderous spikes, piercing down into this spherical Realm.

The warships and the bone devils’ giant hands collided near the Realm’s barrier. The giant hands instantly shattered, while the warships’ surrounding rings of Golden Divine Power merely dimmed significantly.

As the silver spikes pierced the sky one after another, the thick smoke was forcibly torn apart, and rays of golden light shone down.

Accompanying them were countless, densely packed, golden, cross-shaped Divine Race fighters.

The fighters fired dense barrages of golden lasers and transparent bullets, hammering the swarms of Calamity monsters below.

The monsters took to the air, pouncing on the golden, cross-shaped fighters.

There were no announcements, no pointless chatter. The moment they met, a brutal battle of flesh and blood erupted.

The smoke gradually thinned. Lin Hui continued to absorb one Divine Food Statue after another, occasionally relying on the concealing power of the Heart Source Demon Emperor Crown to evade the fighters’ searches.

The Purgatory flames on the ground were swiftly extinguished and faded under the bombardment of the fighters’ Divine Power.

The Power of Calamity in the air was rapidly diminishing.

The two massive rifts in the sky now echoed with tremendous, continuous roars.

Dazzling clusters of golden light, as bright as suns, periodically bombarded the edges of the rifts, forcibly shattering and purifying immense amounts of the Power of Calamity.

Numerous saucer-shaped golden ships surrounded the edges of the rifts, releasing a continuous golden beam that, like glue, was rapidly filling and shrinking the two tears in space.

“I didn’t expect them to have such methods. But these are mere parlor tricks… Shatter for me!” The Chaos Emperor’s voice reverberated through the imprint.

The next moment, Lin Hui sensed countless Purgatory flames on the ground transform into streamlines, soaring into the air and converging into a colossal, spiraling firebird.

The firebird had a sharp head, countless flame-like wings sprouting from its sides, and a seven-colored spine running from its head to its tail.

Furthermore, its eyes continuously emitted a golden-red smoke. Within the smoke, a regal male phantom faintly coalesced on the left, and a glamorous female phantom on the right.

As soon as it formed, the firebird shot into the sky, lunging toward the saucer-shaped ships that were sealing the rifts.

At the same time, behind the ships, a terrifying golden face that blotted out the sky slowly materialized, its eyes looking down.

The face was like a sculpture, occupying every inch of the sky. Even the two rifts could not compare to it in size.

“An evil god from the Outer Realm…” the face murmured, its brow furrowing slightly.

FWOOSH!

The next moment, a golden fissure split open on its forehead. From within the fissure, a massive, transparent, rainbow-colored pillar of light crashed down, aimed squarely at the firebird.

The pillar of light was brilliant and magnificent, cleaving the entire Realm in two as if slicing an apple in half.

Seeing this, Lin Hui’s expression changed drastically. He instantly flashed away, rushing above a patch of ruins. With a single grasp of his hand, Yan Qiushi, who was hiding in a cavity underground, felt his body go numb. His vision blurred, and he was already pulled through a Wind Calamity rift, escaping the Divine Domain.

He had only just left, and the rift behind him hadn’t even closed yet, when a massive torrent of destructive golden and red energy burst out. It forcibly blasted through the Wind Disaster Energy at the rift’s edge and slammed into Lin Hui.

THWUMP! THWUMP! THWUMP! THWUMP!

The Wind of Surrounding quickly intercepted the blast, its layers collapsing one after another. The torrent finally stopped just short of injuring Lin Hui’s physical body.