Chapter 217 – The Totem of Destruction
The process of the universe's birth unfolded just like before.
Yet because each evolution was driven by a different fundamental law, every viewing brought new and unique insights.
Each performance of Primal Evolution was an unimaginable fortune.
The primordial universe itself was the manifestation of the origin of life.
—The birth of a universe was the birth of Life; its annihilation was the destruction of Life.
At his current level, without having comprehended all ten fundamental laws, Jiang Zhe would gain nothing from witnessing the creation and destruction of a complete primordial universe.
But when it was his inner universe that expanded and collapsed under the guidance of the secret art Primal Evolution, the experience was just right.
—With a single law as its foundation, it evolved into the mysteries of both life and destruction.
It was like breaking down advanced mathematics into elementary school problems, explained clearly and systematically.
Whether it was aligning Jiang Zhe more closely with the ultimate origin of Life and Destruction, or assisting him in creating his own secret techniques, the benefits were beyond measure.
In the beginning of creation, the origin of the universe first derived the space of cosmic essence.
Within that space was a single "Primal One," a core of origin, spraying out countless points of light. Those lights split into a hundred thousand factions, orbiting the Primal One.
Each rhythm of those light points connected with the outer space, giving birth to plane after plane, their total number also a hundred thousand. Around them clustered endless space, creating new worlds.
—From the One came the Ten Thousand Heavens, spreading into infinity.
The primordial framework of the universe was complete.
The moment the "Earth Universe" was born, an endless tide of energy from within his inner cosmos surged back into the silver-robed Jiang Zhe's divine body. Immediately, he activated his innate secret art, Source, refining his god-body.
His true form emerged.
The Eternal Serpent's massive body expanded once more, divine power within him swelling madly…
After fully digesting the feedback energy, Jiang Zhe coiled his serpent body around an unremarkable "little rock" beneath him, and carried it into his inner universe.
Eat first, pack up later—a good habit indeed.
Of course, this "little rock" was none other than Thunder Island. In the future, it would be placed in his true body's inner world or divine kingdom.
In a cosmos twelve light-years wide, placing an island nine billion kilometers across was nothing.
Though his silver-robed body's inner universe was large enough, it had to constantly undergo "birth—evolution—destruction." Only during the stage of evolution could it safely store things.
Jiang Zhe retracted his unwieldy true form, returning to the disguise of a middle-aged man with short curly hair, and quietly assessed his strength.
"My base power has reached two hundred million times that of a World Lord. Among Universe Overlords, that's mid-to-upper tier."
"The Thunder Universe took nearly five thousand years to evolve, from its creation in year 2290 of the Hanxia calendar to its destruction in year 7064. That was only possible because of my clan's full support…"
"But honestly, much of that time was wasted. My true body was stuck in Chaos City without trusted aides to deliver resources. Real progress only began around year 4700."
"Realistically, with ample support, two to three thousand years is enough for one cycle of cosmic evolution. If Teacher gathers more attribute materials from the Universe Sea, the process could be even faster."
"Earth-type materials have already been requested from the clan and the Hong Alliance."
"Even if not said outright, Teacher and Martial Uncle must have already guessed that my avatar requires devouring diverse attribute materials to grow stronger."
Scratching his curly hair, Jiang Zhe muttered, "But I've already exhausted my reserves. My true body must hurry to comprehend another lower law, or there'll be a gap."
"Either wind, or light."
"These laws would complement my research into the demonic avatar's innate art—Origin Demon Qi—and, combined with my insights into cosmic destruction, deepen my grasp of Destruction."
Having sorted out his condition, Jiang Zhe departed once more.
His ship accelerated to lightspeed, diving into the Dark Universe, heading toward the star map's mark: Phantom Forest.
Soon, the vessel exited the Dark Universe.
Ahead loomed another continent, vast and boundless, floating in the void.
Projecting his cosmos outward, he spread his phantom godforce, mapping the land's condition.
This continent stretched nearly three hundred billion kilometers in diameter. Lifeless.
The colossal trees that blanketed its surface had all withered, their decay held back only by some lingering external force.
That force, under godforce probing, was revealed to be remnants of the Wood Beast God's flesh.
Thunder Island and Phantom Forest were like Bloodfall Continent—ecosystems shaped by the remnants of ancient beast gods.
Of course, it wasn't that the Thunder and Wood Beast Gods had died here. Rather, when they fell in battle, Herod seized fragments of their remains, crafting these strange lands.
Thunder Island produced blue diamonds, as valuable as Bloodfall Crystals.
The Phantom Forest's colossal trunks each held a Jade Heart, treasures of equal value.
So, Jiang Zhe had no hesitation swallowing Thunder Island whole into his inner cosmos.
Here too, he crushed the defenders—a Universe Overlord and an invincible King—before sweeping the floating land into his inner world.
Without pause, he set course for Darkstar.
Darkstar.
A planet like a giant sphere of obsidian, nearly a million kilometers across, ringed with towering steel-like structures. Its scale rivaled Earth's sun.
Stepping from his ship, Jiang Zhe did not dare recklessly extend his cosmos-projection.
"Herod had avatars. Though I don't know what befell him in the Universe Sea, to erase him completely, his will must have perished. His divine body may well remain… Perhaps even transformed into a puppet."
His face darkened.
"A living puppet forged from the body of a fifth-order Universe Master… Even without law attacks, raw divine might alone could crush me like an ant."
Murphy's Law struck—what he dreaded appeared.
Without warning, space rippled.
A colossal figure, tens of thousands of kilometers tall, appeared before him.
The suffocating weight of its divine power froze even space itself, pinning him down.
A shadow loomed—like a collapsing sacred mountain, a titanic pillar crashed down.
Knowing he could not resist, Jiang Zhe didn't even try to resume his true form. His god-body shattered instantly.
Only his Life Core endured—the crystalline essence tough enough to withstand the blow, though it was hurled billions of kilometers away.
Even so, he could still feel the monster's lock on him. Without hesitation, he triggered his failsafe.
"Restart! Restart! Restart!"
Beside the Life Core, a silver serpent of eternity manifested, its coils framing a phantom clock whose hands spun backward at impossible speed.
Chaotic currents swirled, shaping into the deer-headed humanoid Jiang Zhe had once seen deep within the Silent Wind Belt—the first "living" being he had encountered there.
This was the record of his innate art—Restart—which preserved the state of his body at the moment he transformed species via Life Sovereign.
That state had been no living creature, but a puppet crafted from the corpse of the Pi Xie race.
The towering figure reappeared.
But this time, it halted. Motionless, as if it had lost its target.
Jiang Zhe let out a shaky breath. "Damn puppets… nearly scared me to death."
His suspicion was confirmed—its command protocols did not allow it to attack one of its own kind.
And there was no mistaking it.
That figure was Herod himself.
Half man, half deer—like a centaur, with human torso and deer lower body. A pair of bizarre horns crowned his head: half a dragon's amethyst horn, half a deer's branch-like antler.
Scales of violet and green overlapped across his flesh, exuding both vitality and ruin, the aura of a Beast God.
"Strange…" Jiang Zhe muttered. "For his divine body to remain intact, what exactly befell Herod in the Universe Sea? Was he erased in some inheritance trial?"
Before he could ponder further, Herod's figure vanished.
Unfazed, Jiang Zhe unfurled a beastskin map—markings showed the vaults and treasures hidden within Darkstar. Perhaps, one day, descendants would return to claim them.
All the more proof that Herod had foreseen his death.
Jiang Zhe shook his deer-head form and flew deeper into Darkstar.
At Darkstar's pole, a white tower rose.
"Well now… a top-tier treasure? Beast God Hall?"
The deer-headed figure appeared upon the plaza, gazing at the towering structure ahead—a white tower, Western in style, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
This was no ordinary structure. It was a supreme treasure, Herod's seat of power, where he once summoned his lieutenants.
Touching its wall, Jiang Zhe etched his soul mark.
"I'll call you Whitefang Tower."
He vanished—then reappeared in a circular arena within.
Above was open sky, the stands climbing upward in tiers, while at the center lay a shrunken Herod, motionless, in standby mode, ignoring his intruder.
Jiang Zhe marveled once again.
"If not for Life Sovereign, I'd have had to battle this puppet head-on just to step foot here."
His brows furrowed.
"Darkstar lies at the heart of the Silent Wind Belt. If its origin lies anywhere, it should be here. Yet I've found nothing…"
The planet itself was refined treasure-material, capable of withstanding even battles at the Universe Master level. Its vaults had yielded plenty of earth-elemental resources, but no true clan-inheritance treasures.
"Damn… could Herod have hidden everything in his god-kingdom, like how humanity locks its greatest treasures within the Chaos City of the Initial Universe?"
His gaze darkened as it fell upon Herod's slumbering half-deer form.
"A fifth-order Universe Master's body… You must be wearing at least one top-grade armor treasure."
He approached, intent on stripping the corpse—when something else caught his eye.
A towering white totem pillar stood beside Herod, etched with carvings of hideous little monsters.
Jiang Zhe froze.
"Strange… Why didn't my phantom godforce detect this?"
Herod's posture was not lying flat, but kneeling, his head bowed toward the pillar.
Zhe's eyes narrowed.
"Cursed thing…"
On closer inspection, the creatures carved upon the totem stirred a vague familiarity.
Naked, grotesque beings with two heads front and back, each with a single glaring eye, a nose and mouth, but no ears or brows. Utterly deformed.
The Totem of Destruction.
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