Chapter 710: The Essence of Learning

Chapter

By now, how could Mengmei not understand?

Everything seemed like a coincidence, as Emperor Qi's path subtly aligned with Taoist philosophy.

Chemical Taoism.

The way of myriad transformations and learning.

Isn't constant "learning" exactly what's happening now?

"Could Emperor Qi truly be fated for this, a predetermined struggle between the 'Physical Buddha' and 'Chemical Tao' playing out once more?"

Her expression had completely changed.

Buddha and Tao — weren't these Hermes' two major legacies? Was this truly a battle for succession?

Though not publicly disclosed, she had subtly pried the truth of history from Caroline: Hermes was an ancient Earthling from thousands of years ago who ascended to the myriad heavens and worlds. Such a great being would have different names in various civilizations. If he was called Hermes in the West, what was he called in the East?

The Jade Emperor? Hongjun? The Buddha?

None of that mattered now.

What mattered was that a lineage of ancient Earth powers, led by Hermes, had founded both the Buddhist and Taoist traditions. Before the invasion of unknown enemies, these two traditions constantly fought among themselves. Now, the struggle between Emperor Qi and the Three-Pillar Gods was like a battle between these two paths... It left her utterly stunned!

The more she thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

"It's as if they are secretly vying for Hermes' inheritance, aiming to become guardians of the path like Caroline?" The more Mengmei thought, the more terrified she became. "Is this the succession struggle between Buddhism and Taoism?"

"Could it be that the Super Ancient Gods are orchestrating this from behind the scenes?" A shiver ran down her spine.

How many potential successors were there?

Caroline?

The Three-Pillar Gods?

And the mysterious Lord of Reincarnation?

Even Emperor Qi now?

All of them were candidates to break through to the ninth rank. Was one of them meant to emerge as the true successor?

"Unbelievable." She felt that the Super Ancient Gods were becoming even more unfathomable. Perhaps they had already been in this world since the most ancient, prehistoric era?

The Super Ancient Gods were terrifying!

Mengmei stopped thinking about it. In any case, it was highly probable that the civilizations in this vast region of the myriad heavens and worlds were still under the dominion of the Super Ancient Gods.

By this point, she was completely weakened.

After all, she had "hacked" hundreds of times, enduring the agonizing, tearing pain.

At this moment, she had barely managed to divert trouble, finding Emperor Qi. As expected, the Three-Pillar Gods instantly abandoned the harmless Mengmei and turned their attention to annihilating Emperor Qi.

However, at this time, two formidable enemies from other worlds had invaded the Six Realms. Regardless of who triumphed, it would bring horrific destruction upon them.

What they faced was merely a delay of their inevitable demise.

"I'll rest for a bit. I don't know how this war between the two will turn out... I might have to 'hack' again later... hundreds or thousands of times, and keep running."

Rest for a while, then continue "hacking" later?

Her expression changed several times. She felt that this statement contained immense sorrow, a pain more excruciating than the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty.

The pain was unbearable.

Yet, no one wanted to die, no matter how much it hurt. Moreover, she was forcefully carrying the burden of all living beings in the Six Realms, though she didn't know if they would truly survive.

"But at least I can rest for a while." She let Almin take control of her body. After all, there was no need to run now, so she silently checked the situation on the external network.

Spore Evolution Forum.

The netizens were in an uproar. Emperor Qi had finally returned, causing a stir among many.

This was the greatest catastrophe of the era.

The era was about to face tumultuous waves; it was a historical turning point, as someone was on the verge of becoming a Rank Nine existence.

It was about to fully enter the Age of Myriad Heavens!

This was akin to a true "Heaven" descending, subjugating the mortal deities of the land. The structure of the era would be completely transformed, but what would the future hold?

It was unclear.

But at this point, merely surviving was almost a luxury.

In the presence of such terrifying Three-Pillar Gods, even ordinary deities were as weak as mortals, easily devoured to replenish their energy.

After all, the true birth of a Rank Nine existence meant the devastation of an entire world.

Transforming oneself into a world.

Naturally, it required devouring energy comparable to a world's worth...

Meanwhile, the Alchemist Emperor was also very anxious, constantly communicating with Qiu Mingshan's Speed to find a way for the Six Realms to survive this deadly predicament!

This was an unprecedented crisis for the entire world.

Screenshot.

Screenshot.

A gold-colored demon core.

And numerous gold-colored earth vines.

Alchemist Emperor: "Well, explain this to me. How did Emperor Qi suddenly pull out something like this? It looks a bit like the gold-colored slime someone copied back then? (grinning)"

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "It's hard to expose others, and you've already guessed it anyway (drawing circles.jpg)"

Everyone fell completely silent.

Given this situation, how could they not understand?

With the products of this alchemy factory present, it was clear that someone else had already arrived in the Six Realms and was inside Emperor Qi's body, acting as a biological replication and processing plant.

While it wasn't possible to directly copy bloodlines onto oneself, cloning and implanting certain special "bloodline" organs as external devices, allowing access to the corresponding bloodline's cultivation techniques, was feasible!

Alchemist Emperor: "Under these circumstances, are you still hiding things?! Didn't you say you didn't know where Emperor Qi was? You only told us he had gone in ahead of time."

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "I really don't know (shivering)."

Everyone's face darkened.

Thinking about it, it was true; how could one know the exact location while inside someone's body?

A netizen asked: "As a contract factory, do you get paid for your processing? Is Boss Emperor Qi a big spender? Is his money easy to earn?"

Direct interrogation was too serious.

Someone tried to lighten the mood.

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "Waaah, how could I dare ask money from the 'Imperial Army'? Usually, the bigshots copy others' bloodlines and physical structures, give me the analysis blueprints, and make me a free processing plant. I only collect money from other people's gacha pulls (my heart is bitter.jpg)."

In reality, though his species, Qiu Mingshan's Speed, seemed similar to the 'Quan Clan' in their ability to create beings, they were fundamentally different.

His species genuinely mimicked and cloned similar biological structures, possessing similar biological bloodline functions, even if they were inferior products.

The Quan Clan, on the other hand, while seemingly able to create any living creature, only possessed the shape; their essence was still ceramic, like a lump of molded clay.

Even if you created an Ancestral Witch, it would have the Quan Clan's ceramic bloodline, not the Witch Clan's.

But Qiu Mingshan's Speed was different; he truly cloned.

His claim to have "taken down" Emperor Qi back then wasn't just a joke.

The Alchemist Emperor immediately resigned himself. "You've really doomed us! Emperor Qi could only copy cultivation techniques before, but with your little trick, he's started copying bloodlines. Now it's copying both bloodlines and techniques!"

Everyone fell silent again.

To what extent had the Grand Luo Heavenly Sutra evolved now?

Implanting external "bloodline organs" was like installing mods.

If this continued, it wouldn't stop at four-gene life forms or the distant five-gene life forms; creating multi-gene life forms with over ten genes was also highly probable!

The Grand Luo Heavenly Sutra, developed by Emperor Qi, encompassed everything. Its terrifying power would likely far surpass even heaven-defying cultivation methods like the "Nine Revolutions Profound Technique."

It was a pity, however, that the Grand Luo Heavenly Sutra was a conceptual technique unique to Emperor Qi. No one else could learn to cultivate it in the same way he did.

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "Cough, cough. Don't panic, everyone. Let me tell you a surprise! Do you think Emperor Qi has already shown his full capabilities?

Not at all!

His current copying is merely to replicate the opponent's bloodline foundation. With the demon core and dragon veins implanted, I estimate he's now officially starting to learn their cultivation techniques!"

"What do you mean?" someone asked.

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "How can you learn someone else's cultivation technique if you don't have the corresponding bloodline? Even Emperor Qi couldn't do it! Why was Emperor Qi able to learn the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique back then? Because Emperor Qi was originally a member of the Witch Clan!"

Everyone realized that this was indeed the case.

"The world has changed and become more complex now. Many cultivation methods require native transcendent races from their respective worlds to practice... Without the bloodline, even if Emperor Qi learned the knowledge, he couldn't practice it. That's why he's currently cloning and replacing parts of the bloodline."

Everyone: "..."

They were instantly dumbfounded!

So it was you!

You total scammer!

You went and learned Emperor Qi's copy-pasting, claiming to replace him, and ended up in this situation...

Emperor Qi's learning ability originally couldn't cross racial boundaries and wasn't that exaggerated. It was you who enabled him to bypass the racial bloodline isolation...

Allowing him to learn cultivation techniques across bloodlines.

Qiu Mingshan's Speed: "Cough, cough. I know you want to hit me, but I have to explain this beforehand to prove I'm a good person! Anyway, with the bloodline, Emperor Qi is probably starting to learn now, right? Learn what? Of course, with the demon core, he'll learn the arcane arts of the demon core lineage... With incense, he'll start to condense incense-based true gods, grotesques... Something like that, I guess?"

"Oh, I almost forgot. Emperor Qi, our 'dad,' is a genius at super-improving things. Any cultivation technique in his hands will be directly improved, new variations will emerge, surpassing the original versions, and he might even merge different techniques. Perhaps we can look forward to it?"

Look forward to what, for heaven's sake?!

You're asking for a beating!

Everyone's minds went blank instantly. This guy was utterly reckless, scamming people into spending money everywhere, and now he'd gotten himself into trouble and dragged them down with him?

At this moment, Mengmei, already exhausted, instantly widened her eyes. Seeing this, her legs turned to jelly, and she couldn't help but exclaim,

"This... this is just the beginning?"