The serpent didn't stop. Its enormous body slipped into the water, creating waves that crashed against the shore before it continued deeper into the underground sea.
Yu Weiwei looked down at the primordial dragon beast cub in his arms. The little creature was staring at the water with obvious excitement, its tiny body already flapping toward the surface. If Yu Weiwei weren't holding it, it probably would have flown into the water long ago.
Yu Weiwei couldn't help but smile.
"You can feel it too? It's a pity you can't use it."
The cub hummed in response, but its attention remained fixed on the water.
Yu Weiwei shook his head helplessly before stepping into the underground sea.
The moment his body entered the water, he felt an extremely pure spiritual energy surrounding him. It was so dense that he could almost feel it flowing directly through his skin.
More strangely, the water didn't restrict his breathing at all.
Yu Weiwei quickly realized that the spiritual energy dissolved in the water was continuously entering his body, allowing him to breathe normally without any difficulty.
The little cub floated on the surface of the water, looking blissful, like an intoxicated drunkard who had completely forgotten everything around him.
Yu Weiwei looked toward the serpent with increasing curiosity before dragging the cub along and following it deeper into the underground sea.
The deeper they descended, the stronger the spiritual energy became.
A hundred meters.
Then several hundred.
Then even deeper.
The darkness around them gradually became so complete that Yu Weiwei could no longer see the cave above. Only the faint golden glow radiating from the serpent allowed him to distinguish its enormous silhouette as it moved through the darkness.
He had no idea how deep they had gone when a faint blue light suddenly appeared in the darkness ahead.
Yu Weiwei narrowed his eyes and continued forward.
As they approached, the blue light became brighter, and the enormous object hidden within the darkness slowly revealed itself.
At first, Yu Weiwei thought he was looking at a mountain.
But as he drew closer, he realized that it was far too smooth and perfectly shaped to be one.
It was enormous, almost beyond his ability to comprehend, and its surface pulsed with a faint blue light. With every pulse, waves of spiritual energy spread through the surrounding water, causing the entire underground sea to tremble faintly.
Yu Weiwei's eyes widened.
"The planetary core..."
Every planet had a core. Without it, the planet itself would cease to exist.
Yu Weiwei stared at the core in amazement. He had never expected the core of Sea Sky Planet to look like this.
Instead of the molten mass he had imagined, like the cores of most F-ranked planets, the planetary core resembled a gigantic crystal suspended within the underground sea. Countless luminous veins extended from it in every direction, disappearing into the surrounding darkness.
The spiritual veins he had been searching for.
Yu Weiwei released his spiritual sense and carefully followed those veins.
His expression gradually changed.
The spiritual veins weren't limited to the underground cavern. They extended throughout the entire planet, passing beneath mountains, forests, rivers, cities, and oceans before connecting everything back to the planetary core.
It was an enormous network that covered the entire planet.
Yu Weiwei stared at it in disbelief.
"This wasn't naturally formed."
The serpent remained silent, but its reaction was enough to confirm his suspicion.
Yu Weiwei's gaze became complicated as he looked at the planetary core.
Sea Sky Planet had always been considered an insignificant F-ranked planet. Its environment was ordinary, its resources were poor, and its ability to support large-scale agriculture had been extremely limited.
Yet the planet before him was completely different.
Something had altered it from within.
A faint spiritual fluctuation suddenly spread from the planetary core, and countless images appeared within Yu Weiwei's mind.
Memories.
Memories from before the planet had been connected to the spiritual veins.
As the memories began, Yu Weiwei saw a barren piece of land covered in sparse vegetation. Hive-like structures and their eggs were scattered across the surface, and the entire planet appeared lifeless. It was a dying planet, barely clinging to existence.
Then he saw Lin Zhe.
He was much younger than the man Yu Weiwei remembered, and he stood alongside Yu Chen, who was supporting him from behind.
Lin Zhe placed one hand against the ground.
Spiritual energy flowed from his palm into the earth.
The scene changed.
The spiritual veins beneath the planet began shifting according to an intricate pattern. One formation after another appeared beneath the surface, connecting the planet's natural spiritual energy to its core.
The barren land gradually changed.
The soil became richer.
The vegetation became more vibrant.
The planet's spiritual energy slowly increased.
When Lin Zhe was finally done, his body collapsed from exhaustion, but Yu Chen caught him and held him firmly.
The memories ended there.
Yu Weiwei watched the scene in silence, and a realization gradually surfaced in his mind.
Sea Sky Planet had never naturally possessed the ability to support the crops he had been growing.
Lin Zhe had modified it.
He hadn't simply improved the soil or planted some special spiritual plants. He had changed the planet itself, creating an enormous circulation system that connected the planetary core to the entire surface.
It was almost as if he had transformed the planet into one gigantic cultivation formation.
"So that's what you did..."
"But why?"
Yu Weiwei's voice was quiet as he stared at the planetary core.
The serpent slowly moved forward and stopped before the enormous crystal.
A faint golden light appeared on its forehead. The moment that light touched the planetary core, the entire underground sea began to tremble.
At the same time, the ancient brocade box in Yu Weiwei's hand began glowing.
The patterns engraved across its surface illuminated one after another before the box slowly opened.
There was no weapon inside.
There was no ancient spiritual artifact or treasure.
Instead, a single translucent crystal floated quietly within the box.
Yu Weiwei stared at it.
He immediately understood that this was what the serpent had been waiting for him to find.
The crystal slowly floated out of the box and moved toward the planetary core. The moment it touched the enormous crystal, a powerful wave of spiritual energy erupted through the underground sea.
Yu Weiwei instinctively raised one hand to protect the cub in his arms.
Before he could react, the translucent crystal suddenly flew toward him.
His expression changed, and he instinctively tried to defend himself, but the crystal passed directly through his spiritual barrier and entered his body.
An enormous amount of information flooded into his mind.
Yu Weiwei's body stiffened.
Countless complicated spiritual pathways appeared within his consciousness. He saw the structure of a mental core, its relationship with mental power, and the fundamental differences between mental energy and spiritual energy.
Then he saw them gradually merge.
The structure of the mental core was carefully altered without damaging the mental sea. Its internal space expanded, and new spiritual pathways were created within it. Spiritual energy began circulating through the transformed core, following a completely different pattern from mental power.
The mental core was no longer merely a vessel for mental energy.
It had become a dantian.
Yu Weiwei's breathing became heavier as he absorbed the information.
This wasn't simply a cultivation technique.
It was an entirely new system.
Lin Zhe had discovered a way to transform the mental core itself, allowing people who possessed mental power to cultivate spiritual energy without abandoning their existing abilities.
Yu Weiwei finally understood why the serpent could use spiritual power.
Its mental core had been modified.
His father had already discovered the solution to a problem that had existed in interstellar civilization for countless years.
Yet he had never shared it with anyone.
Why?
Yu Weiwei's mind was filled with questions, but before he could think about them further, his mental core suddenly formed a connection with the planet.
The planetary core began to tremble.
A deep rumbling sound echoed through the underground sea.
Then the entire planet shook.
Yu Weiwei's expression changed as enormous waves surged around him. Above the surface, mountains trembled and the ground shook, causing countless people across Sea Sky Planet to rush outside in alarm.
Yet there was no destruction.
The planet wasn't collapsing.
It was almost as though something that had been sleeping for countless years had finally awakened.
Yu Weiwei slowly closed his eyes.
His consciousness expanded.
At first, he could only sense the underground sea and the planetary core. Then his perception continued spreading outward, passing through the earth and following the spiritual veins that connected every corner of the planet.
His consciousness eventually reached the surface.
Yu Weiwei's eyes widened.
He could see Greenveil City.
He could see the people walking through its streets and the workers tending to the fields. He could see the animals resting beneath trees, the beasts moving through the forests, the rivers flowing between the mountains, and the enormous oceans stretching across the planet.