Chapter 426: Organizing the Gains

The milk tea shop in the ruins was empty; the pianists and the hazy male and female dancers who had been there were gone. Everywhere lay withered branches, fallen leaves, and blooming flowers, lending the scene an air of desolation.

“You are no longer alone; you are a tomb, the very grave of the Ishdar Protoss—a resting place for all beings of an era.”

Looking in the direction where Emperor Sakura had vanished, Xu Zhi felt as if he had witnessed the end of an epoch. The profound sense of shock remained immense, especially given her exceptionally startling departure.

“As a grave keeper, the memories in your mind inter the ancient civilization and history of the Ishdar people—that vibrant, passionate, machine-obsessed Protoss race who loved to say, ‘However, I refuse.’”

Xu Zhi smiled, touching his nose as he recalled the recent scene. “Before, this race rejected me several times with their ‘However, I refuse’ attitude, even when it was clearly for their own greater good and happiness. So, does this mean I used their own character against them, effectively ‘However, I refusing’ her back?”

Whoosh— A faint, ethereal breeze stirred, as if dreamlike space-time surged within it. Emperor Sakura’s elegant back, umbrella in hand, gradually distorted.

At the Mikia Grand Ranch, the coffin adorned with exquisite cherry blossom patterns slowly closed. Earth swept in, gradually leveling the ground, and a tombstone inscribed “Caroline” was slowly erected, just like the “Levi’s” tomb beside it. Neither bore any biographical details or dates of birth and death.

These two tombstones stood in the desolate cemetery, exuding an ancient, weathered aura, as if erected upon the eternal river of time, becoming a perpetual monument—the final resting place of a civilization that had once reached its magnificent zenith.

Space slowly twisted.

Trees, land, and sky seemed to transform into a slow, inverted vortex. It was as if that patch of pasture had been obliterated; the legendary Mikia Grand Ranch vanished completely into the ancient lava earth.

“Could it be that a mere thought, an undoubtedly leaked idea from a deep dream within the mind, is transforming the entire vicinity into a storm of consciousness? Twisting space-time so that this land becomes invisible?”

Xu Zhi’s expression grew solemn as he gazed at the land.

Was this the immense power of a high-level deity?

He had come this time precisely to gauge the astonishing combat power of this realm. As it was the first time such a level had appeared, it was essential to enter the ‘sandbox’ for on-site assessment and observation.

Even this single display of power was baffling. She hadn't even utilized her own abilities; it was merely a passive overflow, a brainwave storm from her mind.

Whoosh!

A gentle breeze caressed his ears.

Xu Zhi remained seated on the chair amidst the ruins, his expression calm.

He was now tallying his gains and assessing the overall outcome of this civilization's conclusion.

“Undoubtedly, the ‘Eternal Life of the Death God’ path is truly astonishing in its terrifying implications and groundbreaking nature. It involves evolving a world within the mind’s dream, creating a real network world, and allowing the entire Ishdar race to reside and seek refuge there, thus escaping racial annihilation.”

Even he, who had personally created this race and equipped them with silicon-based brains, found their current development utterly terrifying, let alone others.

“By having all beings cultivate and grow stronger within their brains, she is essentially cultivating her own spiritual power. After all, every single being is a memory stored in her ‘computer’s’ RAM. As long as these beings grow and cultivate, she is continuously ‘meditating’ and strengthening herself.”

“She herself possesses little direct combat power; all her energy has evolved into the internal world of her mind—its flora, fauna, mountains, and rivers—and is dispersed among the powerful beings within that mental world, primarily divided among the four deities in her mind. Her combat method, however, is to summon these deities from her mind to fight. After all, she acts as a world consciousness, a Gaia, with all her energy invested in the creatures within her mind.”

Compared to the inner space of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, this could indeed be considered a special inner space, where she ‘herds’ all sentient beings.

“A Creation Summoning school? Summoning creatures from a fantasy world within one’s mind?”

Xu Zhi continuously organized his thoughts.

He suddenly realized that this new path to godhood, deduced by this civilization, was practically a boon for otaku: the ability to create an anime world within one’s mind?

No need to do anything, just sleep in your room to grow stronger. Simply watch anime and dramas in your free time, and even summon fantasy two-dimensional characters, cute girls, from within your body to serve you?

The more he thought about it, the more uncanny the resemblance became!

The hot-blooded, passionate, and hospitable Ishdar people had actually created a method of becoming a god that seemed so ‘lewd,’ ‘lazy,’ and ‘moe-wasteful’?

Even he felt a tinge of envy.

For no other reason than its sheer convenience!

However, it was currently impossible for him to cultivate this ‘Eternal Life of the Death God’ divine technique. Even with the integrated system genes, the starting point was too high; he could only cultivate it upon achieving godhood, a stage he was still far from reaching.

Although he appeared to have reached the Seventh-Order Heavenly Emperor realm, seemingly just one realm away from the Eighth-Order Mythic realm, this was, in fact, only the true threshold. The path ahead stretched unimaginably long.

In reality, this path might be fundamentally similar to the original ‘Wizard System.’

The essence of a wizard also involves ‘meditation’ within the mind, expanding spiritual power by ‘visualizing’ things within the brain and cultivating oneself. This is distinctly different from cultivating through external energy absorption from the Heaven and Earth, Ancient, or Star systems.

Similarly, this path to godhood, the culmination of countless Ishdar people’s wisdom, also involves ‘meditation’ within the mind. By meditating on a world within the mind and continuously visualizing it, one expands their spiritual power, likewise cultivating the self.

“Both civilization systems involve ‘meditation’ and visualizing things within the mind, yet they are fundamentally different.”

He continued to organize his thoughts, even picking up a pen and paper to jot down some conjectures—a thinking habit he had developed long ago. “Perhaps this is an advanced form of the wizard meditation system? Using powerful spiritual energy to create a world within the mind?”

Xu Zhi pondered further, “But traditional wizards cannot achieve this because they lack the chips in their brains to create something so meticulously refined. This is a system unique to the Ishdar people, combining the wizard meditation of the supernatural with the internet technology.”

It must be said that this fusion of the supernatural and technology achieved a perfectly balanced integration.

This magic-energy mechanical civilization indeed pioneered the research outcome Xu Zhi had desired: the ‘Online Game Godhood Method.’

A new alternative for internet humanity.

Creating an online game within one’s mind, where the game itself becomes a new world.

“Undoubtedly, this is a massive harvest!” Xu Zhi’s eyes gleamed.

Calling it a ‘great harvest’ isn’t even enough; this is an absolute windfall!

What had he gained?

First, the mechanical battle armor system, including the vacuum mecha custom-built for him. This technology far surpasses Earth's current technological civilization! With this knowledge, he could, if he wished, rapidly advance Earth's development. These technologies—in genetics, mechanics, and general science—are hundreds of years ahead of Earth's.

Second, a unique method of achieving godhood: cultivating sentient beings and establishing an online game within one's mind to become a ‘Creator God.’ Among previous methods, only the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique and the Cthulhu Evil God could rival its potential.

After all, the ultimate realm of the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique involves transforming into Pangu, containing a material universe within oneself.

The Cthulhu Evil God, however, represents the strongest, purest combat power, born for slaughter. Its more than 129,000 divine organizations embody an entire epoch, perfectly suiting Medusa, the pure battle fanatic.

Of course, neither of the above are true Creator God paths; this current one is.

Third, the energy equivalent to fifty to sixty divine beings. This tremendous gain instantly propelled him to the next new realm, the Seventh-Order Heavenly Emperor.

At this point, he was finally no longer a weakling!

This feeling was profoundly satisfying, akin to the joy of a farmer celebrating a bountiful harvest after meticulously tending to a field of wheat.

“Regardless, the era of one civilization has ended, and it’s time to begin studying the entirety of its accumulated wisdom.” Xu Zhi looked toward his Hermes clone, the ruthless learning machine, far away in the Wizarding World.

“Everything is in your hands again.”