Chapter 720: Decoding Mode, The Great Path (Two-in-One)

What on earth happened?He actually used this to research a path to the Ninth-Tier?

Staring at the serious Hailan Winter, Xu Zhi felt a mix of shock and bewilderment! Even after experiencing countless trials and tribulations, he found himself somewhat unnerved, his mind racing with various thoughts.

So that's how it is.

A mind without obfuscation, naturally high-definition?Is this the secret to the Ninth-Tier path?!

"It seems this time, through your re-cultivation and experience of life, you've made a remarkable discovery."Standing in the corner of the simple room, Xu Zhi, filled with admiration, spoke calmly, "The methods of achieving the Ninth-Tier path are endless. While they all point to the same essence—the path of billions of cells where soul and flesh unite—each individual's journey is unique."

Hailan Winter, standing by the bed, also sighed with emotion.

Indeed.

The Ancient Gods, having personally witnessed countless geniuses throughout the long, ancient mythical era, were naturally aware of this.

Simply walking this path, step by step, is unfeasible because the journey is too long.

The path of fusing hundreds of trillions of cells is so long that a normal Eighth-Tier deity might not achieve it in their entire lifetime! Someone like Emperor Qi, who could barely complete half of it by nearly exhausting his lifespan, was already an extreme exaggeration.

Therefore, a shortcut must be found for this path.

If breaking through by conventional, step-by-step means is like walking, then one must find a way to ride a bicycle or board a mechanical lava war chariot to speed along this path!

These shortcut methods for traversing this path can be called: the Methods of Attainment.

Hailan Winter organized his thoughts and said:

"Although the ultimate goal of the path is essentially the fusion of hundreds of trillions of cells, along the way, various astonishing and brilliant breakthrough methods have emerged. These diverse paths all lead to that one road. The Three Pillar Gods achieved nuclear fusion, centering on the cell nucleus, while Caroline transformed into an entire race where all cells lack nuclei, thus creating the method of enlightenment through dreams!"

Hailan Winter's expression was one of yearning and fervor.

At that moment, he seemed to see countless brilliant figures on a shimmering golden path, each demonstrating their unique abilities like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, showcasing their astonishing techniques, striving to reach the destination in a spirited chase!

Even he couldn't help but marvel at the power of these splendid, mythical figures.

Hailan Winter said, "Pixel creatures, with only hundreds of thousands of cells, are the individuals with the fewest cells among all known transcendent beings, giving them the shortest Ninth-Tier path."

This, of course, is inevitable.

You have hundreds of thousands of cells, while others have hundreds of trillions—the difference is astronomical.

They are not on the same order of magnitude.

Can the population of seven billion on 15,000 Earths be compared to the population of a single town?

It's no exaggeration to say that with hundreds of thousands of cells, even the slowest and least talented deity could complete the entire path in just a few years!

And then they could break through to the Ninth-Tier?

Even if they have the fewest cells and are the weakest Ninth-Tier, they are still Ninth-Tier!

Xu Zhi fell into contemplation.

Hailan Winter continued, "Initially, we envisioned that pixel creatures would have no threshold for breaking through to the Ninth-Tier. However, our actual derivations revealed many challenges. The Heavenly Dao maintains an unseen balance. According to Pillar God Caroline's deductions of future worldlines, this Ninth-Tier path, though the shortest, is precisely *because* it's too short that it cannot allow a breakthrough to the Ninth-Tier!"

Pixel creatures couldn't break through to the Ninth-Tier so easily? Xu Zhi was stunned.

"There are two challenges," Hailan Winter said, looking like a true Ishtar scientist, his eyes gleaming. "The first challenge is that we discovered a minimum cell count for the Ninth-Tier path. Cells below this number cannot break through to the Ninth-Tier."

"The principle is quite simple: The Ninth-Tier is a world; one transforms oneself into a world. A world contains hundreds of trillions of beings, but if these 'beings' number only a few hundred thousand, can they truly be called beings? Can it even be considered a world? At most, it's just a tribe, much like the incense-nourished beings in the Ancient Barren World—their numbers are too few, with only tens of thousands of people worshipping, which is insufficient to form fundamental laws..."

Xu Zhi frowned.

From the perspective of the Ninth-Tier world's principles, this was indeed true.

Only at this moment did he realize that he should have discovered this much earlier.

"And this minimum Ninth-Tier cell count, according to the Pillar God's future derivations, is 1.08 million. Only at this number can the most basic fundamental laws emerge.""This is the lowest threshold; it can indeed form the weakest Ninth-Tier beings. But how weak? So weak that even with replenished energy and full spirits, they are only comparable to the weak Ninth-Tiers of the Three Pillar Gods."

Such a fully formed Ninth-Tier would be truly too weak, merely on par with the current Eighth-Tier Emperor Qi. They would be susceptible to cross-tier battles from geniuses like Emperor Qi.

Xu Zhi fell completely silent.

Was there an unseen balance in all things of the world?

Just like the Immortal Bloodline, there were hidden fatal flaws in everything!

In the entire universe, there were no truly heaven-defying or powerful bloodlines, only heaven-defying and powerful individuals.

But even the weakest of the weak Ninth-Tiers was still Ninth-Tier.

It was about the crushing power of a higher realm.

How many people of Emperor Qi's caliber could there be?

"The second challenge," Hailan Winter continued, "is that this weak Ninth-Tier cannot be considered a stable world at all! They cannot even achieve the energy self-circulation that a strong practitioner does—recovering stamina through rest and meditation... They must constantly consume external energy to prevent their realm from falling."

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi's frown deepened.

One must understand that even ordinary creatures can recover their own energy through rest, sleep, and eating. As for powerful cultivators, they can even abstain from common food, entering a state of 'bigu' (abstinence from grains), absorbing energy from the void, light, heat, and various other sources to restore their vitality.

Only then could one be considered a normal creature.

Yet, these incomplete creatures couldn't even manage the most basic internal energy circulation. To continuously maintain the Ninth-Tier realm without falling, they would have to frantically absorb external energy and constantly feed!

Thinking about it, these pixel creatures, weak and incomplete even after breaking through to the Ninth-Tier, were truly more trouble than they were worth!

"I've thought long and hard about these two difficulties and believe there must be a solution," Hailan Winter stated. "I researched extensively, even acquiring information about ancient digital creatures. They often said that mosaics covered all truths in this world... I thought there must be some astonishing secret hidden within!"

"Then later..." Hailan Winter's voice gradually lowered, his expression solemn, as he continued, "I vaguely realized something; their words clearly contained two meanings."

Xu Zhi's expression also grew solemn.

He was filled with curiosity.

The Ninth-Tier of pixel creatures.

Xu Zhi had a strong feeling that this Ninth-Tier path would influence the foundation of tens of thousands of years of civilization in the entire mini-universe era, and even impact the wars waged by the three great worlds outside!

If it could be successfully resolved, more Ninth-Tiers could emerge.

Even if they were the weakest of the weak Ninth-Tiers.

"Firstly, Super Saiyan... this is precisely the solution! As incomplete and fragmented worlds, they require constant energy replenishment to maintain their state. So, by transforming, they can reduce energy consumption, only transforming into Ninth-Tier during combat. Normally, they would revert to an Eighth-Tier deity state." Hailan Winter declared, "This is Super Saiyan!"

Xu Zhi's mind went blank.

This truly broke through a blind spot in his thinking.

Even he had to admit that this method perfectly solved the problem of lacking internal circulation. The transformation mode was akin to a deity's mortal form.

"At that time, once I realized that transformation could solve it, I was greatly astonished!" Hailan Winter exclaimed, unable to suppress his admiration.

"Those otherworldly dimension-travelers indeed brought publications from the Underworld, the Nine-Revolution Profound Art, various histories of civilization—mysterious, unknown beings who had visited several civilizations... Even recalling it, I still feel a shiver of fear! Their dreadfulness is astonishing; their words always contain information so terrifying that even deities would be shocked.""They often said: 'Mosaics obscure all truths in this world; mosaics conceal the mysteries of biological structure.' That... that's a world! The physical structure of a Ninth-Tier world!"

Xu Zhi remained silent, lowering his head in deep thought.

He felt they were probably not talking about the same world, let alone the same dream.

"...They also said that 'benzi' could see through mosaics."

At this point, Hailan Winter couldn't help but dedicate himself to the path, his face filled with yearning and anticipation, saying, "The 'benzi' they spoke of must be some kind of world secret text, containing the truth of the entire 'world' hidden by mosaics!"

"Perhaps," Xu Zhi said noncommittally, falling into distant memories, recalling long ago.

Hailan Winter's expression instantly became serious and solemn as he continued to speak eloquently.

"Even without seeing that legendary book, I have fully deduced it. And the second phrase: 'A mind without obfuscation, naturally high-definition'... this is precisely the mindset and method for breakthrough. The mosaic pixel race, if they are deceived by appearances, can transform and see the entire world clearly."

"Oh?" Xu Zhi was startled.

He suddenly had an increasingly strong premonition.

History might remember this moment, etched into mythical murals.

This digital planet, once enslaved, and this Ninth-Tier path, would ignite a revolution across the entire cosmic civilization!

"1.08 million cells is the minimum Ninth-Tier critical point. So, normally, maintain the fusion at 99% of the Ninth-Tier path—1.07 million cells fused. Then, break through to 100% during combat. After the transformation and battle are complete, self-sever a portion and fall back from that realm..."

Xu Zhi was deeply moved.

"This method of transformation could be called decoding," he said softly.

De! Coding!

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhi's mind exploded.

So that's how it is.

Blockchain symbolized arcane civilization.Physics and chemistry symbolized Buddhism and Taoism.Mosaics and various decoding software symbolized a Ninth-Tier transformation civilization!

All things in the world are predestined in the unseen.

Even on the tiny Earth, all creations that developed naturally and adapted to their times implicitly contained certain cosmic truths.

After deducing several transcendent civilization sandboxes, Xu Zhi became even more certain of this.

"And would this mean they would be limited to the weakest Ninth-Tier for their entire lives?"Hailan Winter replied, "Not at all. Pixel creatures initially have sparse cells. After breaking through to the Ninth-Tier, they can then gradually divide their cells, continuously increasing their cell count to achieve a second stage of decoding transformation, and a third stage, corresponding to 10.8 million cells and 108 million cells, respectively..."

"Ultimately, as their cell count continuously increases, they can enter a permanent transformation state capable of normal Ninth-Tier self-circulation, even reaching the hundred-trillion-cell form of a normal Ninth-Tier being! Achieving the normal combat power of the Ninth-Tier!"

Xu Zhi's mind was profoundly shaken.

It was as if, in an instant, dense layers of mist had completely lifted, revealing the moon after the clouds had parted.

He felt a sense of exhilarating comfort.

Xu Zhi mused internally, "Normal beings are born with billions of cells, so the threshold for breaking through to the Ninth-Tier is naturally enormous and long. However, the advantage of pixel creatures is their small cell count—hundreds of thousands of cells. They can first break through to the Ninth-Tier, forcibly crossing the threshold to become the weakest of the weak Ninth-Tiers, even unable to maintain a constant Ninth-Tier state. Then, they can gradually increase their cell count, continuously dividing their souls and cells, ultimately becoming normal Ninth-Tiers?"

This was an advantage other creatures lacked.

Ordinary creatures couldn't increase cells in this manner, but pixel creatures were particles, capable of decomposition and synthesis!

Xu Zhi's eyes instantly blazed with infinite light. The more he thought, the clearer his ideas became, and his surprise grew immeasurably.

"This is simply... this is simply a perfect path with immense potential! It truly is the most perfect breakthrough path for pixel creatures!"

"The prospects of this path are incredibly formidable; it will completely shatter the Ninth-Tier threshold, compartmentalize the difficulty of breakthrough, and then truly form genuine Ninth-Tiers!"

Only the cellular structure of the entire race, the pixel creatures, could achieve this; it was this civilization's unique method of breaking through to the Ninth-Tier.

Just like the Demonic Core race, using their demonic cores as cell nuclei, serving as a unique racial breakthrough method for nuclear fusion and fission!

"Every civilization has its own unique Method of Ninth-Tier Attainment."

Xu Zhi was involuntarily excited. At this moment, as he thought about the Ninth-Tier, from its genesis—the most primitive, brutal path of cells—to the current shortcuts and breakthrough methods of various civilizations, he found it truly dazzling.

This was the complexity of the myriad worlds.

This was the truly vast and expansive universe, with civilizations possessing infinite possibilities.

Even if they walked the same path, leading to the same Ninth-Tier destination, the scenery of each civilization was entirely different!

"This is a very promising path," Xu Zhi sighed sincerely.

"Yes, this path will trigger an unprecedented era of change. The racial advantage is too great, which is why we are currently in dormancy. I ultimately believe that war will come in the future; Frieza will definitely be wary of our rise."Hailan Winter continued, "After all, the ancient legend of the Super Saiyan is a double-edged sword: it has facilitated our breakthrough, but it also makes others wary of us. That's why I'm still concealing my Sixth-Tier realm."

Xu Zhi naturally understood.

Hailan Winter, as the strongest in the spiritual universe, was already a deity who had begun stepping onto the Ninth-Tier path, significantly stronger than Sheng Lin's daughter and others. After all, he was the sea clan overlord of the previous civilization era. With thirty years of secret re-cultivation and sufficient energy, he was now at the peak of Heavenly Emperor and could break through to a deity at any moment if he wished.