Chapter 697: The Story of Eternal Life

At this moment, even Xu Zhi had to admit that stuffing a quadrillion magic cores into cells was far more convenient than stuffing a million souls into cells. For instance, a cell nucleus has no capacity to contain a soul, so it's like building a house on an empty plot. A magic core is different because it inherently possesses the ability to hold a soul; it is, in itself, a house. This is the advantage of the magic core lineage. Changing from a Ninth-Rank method of splitting souls to splitting magic cores... this is the legendary path of nuclear fission!

“The Three Pillar Gods are truly formidable,” Xu Zhi thought. “Their terrifying computational power actually found the most suitable path for the magic core lineage to achieve breakthroughs.” Xu Zhi felt immense satisfaction and a huge surprise. This wave of discoveries was definitely worth it! The path to Ninth Rank! The path of complete life transcendence!

“Can I expect something within a week?” Xu Zhi’s breathing became uneven. Ninth-Rank behemoths, galaxy-level cosmic overlords – even Xu Zhi found it hard to imagine their true power! And he himself was just over three months into this. The Three Pillar Gods were truly a treasure trove. Looking at the Three Pillar Gods, these three ‘mining magnates’ suddenly seemed benevolent and adorable to him. They toiled hard, but in the end, the fruits of their labor would still land in his hands. Although they kept their secrets hidden, acting as elusive, intangible destinies, whatever was in his bottle would eventually be revealed.

Whoosh! Xu Zhi took a deep breath, slowly closed the arcane tome, and placed it into his spatial ring. “I can’t believe the magic core race has such a method for breakthroughs! The correct breakthrough method of the Overlord of Ancient Gods has actually been researched by you – it’s simply inconceivable! You must understand that even in that most ancient era, this remained an unimaginable secret!”

The Humanoid Pillar God smiled. “Indeed, it is extremely powerful and top-secret knowledge. Researching this cultivation method cost us an unimaginable amount of effort and resources. However, we are merely latecomers. The truly great one is the Overlord of Ancient Gods. We didn’t ‘research’ it so much as rediscover it, because there is only one orthodox path for magic core beings to break through to Ninth Rank. The Overlord of Ancient Gods found it back then, and we have merely followed in their footsteps to find it again.”

The Three Pillar Gods were also filled with awe. They could barely imagine what kind of astonishing talent an individual life form would need to achieve such a feat. It was simply incredible! What a brilliant, magnificent, and splendid Overlord Lava Civilization that must have been! The Overlord of Ancient Gods, after breaking through to Ninth Rank, left the Myriad Worlds. They likely ruled countless worlds and, even among Ninth-Rank overlords, were surely among the strongest and most supreme. As the destiny of a race, they felt pride and respect, but even more, a deep longing to reach such heights themselves in the future.

“Then, could you tell us about ancient times?” asked the Beast-Type Pillar God.

“Of course,” Xu Zhi replied. He sat down and looked at the Three Pillar Gods, his expression suddenly becoming solemn. It seemed the ancient history of the lava civilization, and indeed the entire ancient and splendid mythical history of the Myriad Worlds, was finally going to be truly discovered by the beings of this era. Fortunately, Caroline’s recent deductions, combined with the ancient mythological interpretations of the Buddhist and Taoist players in the Six Paths of Reincarnation World, had collectively filled in the historical truth and formed a complete outline.

“That was a very long time ago,” Xu Zhi began. “In the era of the Overlord of Ancient Gods, which was the civilization before yours, and even before the Isu civilization, countless powerful beings existed. Ultimately, the Overlord of Ancient Gods transcended and broke through to Ninth Rank.”

The Three Pillar Gods remained silent. History is always cruel; a single sentence could gloss over all the heroes defeated and the hymns created in the era that birthed the Overlord of Ancient Gods. Yet, before them, their own civilization was still experiencing that very stage.

“In the era of the Overlord of Ancient Gods, they broke through to Ninth Rank, becoming incredibly powerful in the process,” Xu Zhi continued. “The path to Ninth Rank is extremely long; the further one progresses, the harder the breakthrough becomes, but the higher the life-level and the greater the power upon achieving it. You should know that Ninth Rank represents the fusion of soul and body, and the accumulation of life-level.”

“Subsequently, the Overlord Lava Civilization slowly expanded, coming to rule many worlds and countless indigenous civilizations.”

“Gradually, in a clash of civilizations, the Overlord of Ancient Gods encountered another powerful Ninth-Rank entity,” Xu Zhi narrated. “That ancient being belonged to a civilization that practiced the Buddhist and Taoist systems. The two exchanged knowledge, eventually becoming friends. They even explored various places together and debated the Dao, ultimately discovering a certain dream realm within a certain universe, where they obtained the Creator God’s Immortal Blood.”

A gasp escaped the Three Pillar Gods as their expressions subtly shifted. Creator God? Mysterious cosmic secret realm? Immortal Blood? The sheer volume of information was enough to profoundly unsettle them!

The Humanoid Pillar God asked, “How did that secret realm, the Immortal Blood, and two Ninth-Rank entities come to be in such a place?”

“Because the identity and origin of the Ninth-Rank entity the Overlord of Ancient Gods befriended were extremely mysterious,” Xu Zhi calmly explained. “That secret realm was, in fact, their homeland. They returned there by following some fragmented clues, and that ancient Ninth-Rank entity even witnessed their own parents, still alive as ordinary mortals, in their homeland.”

“What?!” The Pillar Gods remained outwardly composed, but their hearts were greatly shocked. How was that possible? To break through and become an ancient Ninth-Rank entity, enduring countless lonely millennia, and still be able to see one’s parents, who were ordinary mortals? Was it a grand dream spanning tens of thousands of years? What kind of terrifying and mysterious place was that, where the ancient bloodline of a Creator God resided? This information alone made them feel that the exchange of knowledge about the Ninth-Rank path was entirely worth it!

Xu Zhi continued, “After enduring countless perils, they obtained two portions of Immortal Blood. After these two Ninth-Rank entities left, their lifespans became infinite; they had virtually achieved eternity!”

The Three Pillar Gods became utterly discomfited.

“And then?” the Humanoid Pillar God asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice. “Do not ancient beings with eternal lifespans symbolize the ultimate destiny? With infinite lives to explore everything, would they not once again rule the world? What kind of brilliant and flourishing super-overlord civilization would that be?”

Xu Zhi glanced sideways. “Yes, by then, the two Ninth-Rank entities, who had achieved eternity, had completely established a powerful world system. Their lifespans far exceeded those of ordinary Ninth-Rank beings; over hundreds of thousands of years, while some ordinary Ninth-Rank entities had already passed away, they remained alive. They even came to rule many worlds. At that time, almost every day, various creatures from different realms were brought to the main world and subjected to various experiments. These subordinate researchers came from all walks of life—some were gods, some ancient gods, some heavenly demons, various divine systems.” From this simple description, they could almost imagine what kind of brilliant and eternal realm of Myriad Worlds that must have been.

It was vast and boundless, something truly yearned for.

“However, the Immortal Blood also came with powerful side effects: slumber,” Xu Zhi explained. “It is said that everything in the world’s hidden workings is balanced, and obtaining immortality always comes with severe costs. So, typically, one of them would sleep while the other was awake, alternating their rule and guarding each other. However, this eventually attracted the covetous gaze of a terrifying monster.”

“War broke out,” Xu Zhi paused.

*War broke out.*

That brief statement suddenly left the Three Pillar Gods speechless. Xu Zhi also fell silent. Everything he had spoken so far was history deduced by Caroline, and now Xu Zhi himself remained quiet. For a moment, there was a dead silence in the air; neither side spoke.

Xu Zhi asked, “For ancient, great overlords whose existence is measured in tens of thousands of years, how long do you think this war across the Myriad Worlds lasted once it erupted?”

The Three Pillar Gods paused slightly, calculating furiously.

“Less than a century,” they said in unison.

So that was it. A world war of that magnitude lasted less than a century?

Xu Zhi continued, “Yes, for ancient beings of that level, they understood clearly that once war broke out, there was no room for negotiation; it instantly escalated to an all-out confrontation. In less than a century, the entire Eternal Realm was virtually shattered. Almost every year, powerful ancient deities and extraordinary worlds rapidly crumbled. This was an extremely short time, like a magnificent, brilliant fireworks display in the night sky—countless years accumulated, but the explosion of splendor lasted only an instant. In the later stages of the war, the most powerful civilizations under their command were utterly destroyed, countless gods perished, and even many great Ninth-Rank behemoths fell. Only the most fragile, still-developing, weakest worlds, lacking combat power and still in primitive civilizations, managed to survive.”

“During their final moments, the Ninth-Rank entities frequently visited those worlds, instructing the ignorant mortals on the surface, hoping they would grow and carry on the torch of civilization.”

“But in the end, war erupted again, and the Overlord of Ancient Gods’ friend, an immortal Ninth-Rank entity, directly perished.”

*Perished!*

The Three Pillar Gods silently savored the word. They felt an overwhelming sadness at that moment; a Ninth-Rank entity had simply fallen. Even with easily acquired eternal life, it was difficult to truly be immortal.

“This is the story of immortality,” Xu Zhi said, slowly exhaling and standing up. “The story ends here. Do you understand?”