Arceus's reckless use of the Innate Clone Secret Technique, undertaken without regard for long-term cost, had from the very beginning planted enormous hidden dangers within both his past and present selves.
The root of the problem lay in a single, unavoidable truth: the Original Universe he was gestating had never reached true perfection.
Because that origin body was incomplete, the clone formed by forcibly splitting off thirty percent of his god power was likewise flawed. Its divine body barely exceeded one hundred thousand kilometers in height—far from what a genuine, fully matured Universe Lord should possess. From the perspective of the Primordial Universe's laws, this clone was born with inherent defects, lacking the absolute completeness that true god power lifeforms required.
Yet to Arceus, none of this mattered.
As long as the clone allowed him to move freely, to escape the eternal stillness of confinement, then even crippling his own foundation was a price worth paying. Compared to endless isolation—aware yet unable to act, conscious yet immobile—any sacrifice was acceptable.
After the clone was created, Arceus's path forward unfolded with terrifying smoothness.
Because his origin body was directly connected to the Universe Origin Law Ocean, comprehending laws for him was no different from breathing. Where ordinary cultivators required inheritances, guidance, and countless life-and-death trials, Arceus simply understood. Laws flowed into his consciousness as naturally as water flowing downhill.
Undying.
Universe Exalt.
Universe Lord.
Each realm was crossed in succession, without obstacles, without bottlenecks, and without doubt.
By the time he stabilized his cultivation, Arceus believed he had already grasped everything the Universe had to offer. Having never encountered higher-level guidance, never glimpsed the broader structure of the Primordial Universe or the Universe Sea, he mistook the limits of his own vision for the limits of existence itself.
And so, he declared himself the Genesis God.
From that moment onward, Arceus began to "play" with life in the Nebula World.
He wandered across star fields and continents, observing civilizations rise and fall, watching mortals struggle, flourish, and perish. Whenever he encountered beings with sufficient talent, he would bring them back to the space where his origin body lay dormant, allowing them to cultivate under the faint radiance of the Universe Origin. Once they reached a certain level, he would send them back into the world to temper themselves.
Most failed.
Some died along the way.
But a small fraction endured—and those who survived almost without exception rose to become Universe Exalts, the beings later revered by the Nebula World as Overlords.
Time flowed on.
Eras blurred together.
Arceus traversed nearly every corner of the Nebula World, experienced joys and sorrows, observed countless destinies intertwine, and even subtly manipulated events from behind the scenes. Yet as centuries turned into millennia, and millennia into epochs, novelty faded.
No matter how grand the spectacle, nothing stirred his heart anymore.
Eventually, Arceus withdrew.
He reduced his appearances, then ceased them entirely. He spent most of his existence returning to the space where his origin body was located, guarding its slow gestation while ensuring no intruder could disrupt its formation. Having reached what he believed to be the pinnacle of existence, and fearing the crushing weight of boredom, he sank into prolonged slumber.
Perhaps fate had always intended it this way.
For just as the Original Universe was about to complete its formation, Bai Yue appeared.
What followed was everything that had already transpired—Arceus stabilizing Bai Yue on the surface, concealing his true intentions, patiently waiting for the final moment while preparing to sacrifice this defective clone to eliminate what he perceived as a dangerous variable.
Beyond the Innate Clone Secret Technique, Arceus possessed a second, even more terrifying talent.
Origin.
This innate ability allowed him to exist infinitely close to the Universe Origin Law Ocean itself, almost as if he were a favored child of the universe. In practical terms, it increased his god power conversion efficiency by hundreds—sometimes thousands—of times.
On its own, this seemed unremarkable. Even ordinary origin treasures possessed similar effects.
But Arceus's talent did not function in isolation.
When used in conjunction with an origin treasure, its effect multiplied dramatically.
And Arceus's origin body was not merely an origin treasure—it was the Universe Heart itself.
The result was nothing short of monstrous.
For an ordinary Universe Lord, losing thirty percent of their god power would require tens of thousands—sometimes hundreds of thousands—of years to recover. For Arceus, the same loss could be restored in mere minutes.
Even more horrifying was the implication.
His clone limit was three.
That meant Arceus could, in theory, detonate a Universe Lord–level divine body measuring over seven hundred thousand kilometers in height every few minutes.
In the Universe Sea, where there was no suppression from the Primordial Universe's consciousness, such explosions could easily reach the peak of the seventh tier.
In a very real sense, Arceus was already a seventh-tier existence—far more terrifying than most so-called heaven-defying Universe Lords wielding supreme treasures.
Yet fate is rarely kind to those born with excessive fortune.
Born in the Nebula World, cut off from higher cosmic knowledge, Arceus misjudged the outside world, misunderstood the Primordial Universe's restrictions, and fatally underestimated Bai Yue. Just as his origin body was newly formed and not yet fully developed, he encountered an opponent even more unreasonable than himself.
That single mistake cost him everything.
His treasures.
His freedom.
And eventually, even control over his own consciousness.
Space rippled.
A Universe Exalt from the Great Alliance emerged cautiously from the void.
This was Venerable Jian Zhao, who had been exploring the outer Thunderstorm Star Region. Sensing violent law fluctuations, he hurried over, believing a powerful treasure had been born.
The scene before him froze his thoughts.
"Lord of Hunyuan!"
He bowed instantly.
Bai Yue acknowledged him with a calm nod.
When Jian Zhao's gaze drifted toward the colossal figure absorbing god power beneath a law vortex, his voice trembled.
"Lord of Hunyuan… is that… a Universe Lord breaking through?"
"Sort of," Bai Yue replied evenly. "This is the Genesis God of the Nebula World."
Jian Zhao fell silent, utterly speechless.
When the law vortex dissipated, a divine body exceeding a million kilometers stood in the void, radiating boundless might. Jian Zhao felt his soul tremble, an instinctive urge to retreat surging from the depths of his being.
Then, before his incredulous eyes, the being restrained its divine might, reduced its size—and knelt.
"Greetings, Master."
Jian Zhao's worldview shattered.
Without further explanation, Bai Yue took Arceus and vanished.
Only then did Jian Zhao recover enough to exhale shakily, realizing he had witnessed something that could never be spoken of lightly.
Within the Feiyuan Divine Boat, Bai Yue tested Arceus's abilities directly.
When Arceus assisted him, Bai Yue's connection to the Universe Origin Law Ocean surged by more than one hundred thousand times. When Arceus further activated his innate talent, the effect multiplied again, reaching a near-unbelievable level.
God power that should have taken thousands of years to recover returned in little more than a minute.
Only then did Bai Yue fully understand the terrifying synergy at play.
One ability amplified extraction speed.
The other opened the floodgates of the Law Ocean itself.
Together, they formed a perfect cycle.
With Arceus's existence, even Bai Yue's Nine Nether clone could rapidly expand and stabilize its god power ocean. This benefit was not limited to Bai Yue alone—other Human Race Universe Lords could also make use of it, making Arceus's value surpass that of ordinary supreme treasures by orders of magnitude.
After arranging everything, Bai Yue guided the Feiyuan Divine Boat back to the space node and waited.
Nearly ten years had passed.
The Human Race's Universe Exalt army had harvested the Nebula World extensively. Although countless treasures had been obtained, most gains remained hidden, quietly stored away.
The Nebula World's true scale was finally revealed—an elliptical secret space exceeding seventy million light-years in diameter, ranking among the largest known secret realms.
Yet even after a decade, less than one percent had been thoroughly explored.
Danger zones were cataloged.
Low-level.
Intermediate.
High-level.
Extreme.
Three regions were marked as lethal even to Universe Lords.
The Nebula World remained vast, untamed, and brimming with opportunity.
And for the Human Race, this was only the beginning.