Free Web NovelChapter 374: Chapter 367: Drifting Ship 001
When the ancient gods fell, they left behind four miracles.
The Eye, the Heart, the Body, and the Shadow.
Like divine blood, each could awaken a creature with a "divine skill." These skills were unparalleled in their expression, standing, and power.
The Eye of the Divine was chief among them.
At first, the captain of the *Nirvana* thought this was merely a distant legend. Then one day, he passed through a spatial Wormhole and unexpectedly arrived at this blue planet.
He became obsessed with its civilization.
And he pitied its weakness.
He had intended to be just a passerby, a brief tour in a long life. But on this weak planet, he found proof that the Eye of the Divine existed.
There were other associated remains, which had transformed into strange stone steles bearing mysterious characters, left behind in unknown corners of the world. The largest had fused with a vast mountain range and could not be moved. He found two smaller pieces to study but made no progress. The characters on them were erratic, their meanings seeming to shift dynamically at any moment.
’Interesting.’
But even so, the Star Sea was boundless, its civilizations innumerable. And now, this ultimate opportunity was about to fall into his hands.
He did not act rashly.
A place where Divine Remains lingered was bound to be extraordinary.
’Perhaps there are guardian forces at play.’
’Even if there aren’t, it must have given rise to terrifying existences.’
He took on human form and secretly explored the planet, not even daring to use his powers wantonly. Through a process of careful unraveling, he learned that the Eye of the Divine had taken the shape of a pendant. Its last appearance was one hundred and fifty years ago.
It had exploded during an escort mission.
They called it an explosion.
’But how could the Eye of the Divine possibly explode?’
The leak of a single trace of its power had spread over three hundred *li*. All life within that radius perished, and the scene was one of utter devastation. Any creature at the core of the blast was obliterated, not even ash remaining, not a single complete corpse left behind.
"Three hundred *li*."
"Tsk, tsk. A leak of divine-level energy, just a single trace, is a world-ending catastrophe for ordinary life forms."
"But the Eye of the Divine cannot be destroyed."
He continued his infiltration, probing for deeper secrets. He soon learned that the "accident" over a century ago was a premeditated plot. The mastermind’s goal was simply to collect that peerless treasure for themself.
"How laughable."
"Do mere mortals think they’re worthy of collecting the Divine Remains?"
He continued his infiltration, but beyond that, he could find no other useful information. It was as if the Eye of the Divine had truly exploded and vanished without a trace.
He began to use his own power, constantly testing the limits of this world.
Seven ancient Holy Hall-tier Sea Beasts.
’I can’t rule out other, undiscoverable secrets.’
’Otherwise, why would the Eye of a God choose this place?’
After a long time with no results, his patience ran out. Burning his bridges, he activated the dormant Unceasing Water. The situation was now a stagnant pond with no new leads. Only by stirring up the waters could he create new opportunities and changes.
BOOM!
The Unceasing Water began to rage. An undying rain fell upon the blue planet, the sea levels surged, and the continents sank.
Even the characters on the stone steles began to change.
He entered the fray as a "collaborator," bringing "salvation" to the planet. He simultaneously "helped" the major factions, using an extraterrestrial meteorite as an Energy Core to build 100,000 wandering ships. He also sourced materials locally, finding the buried "Net" of all living things in the Sahara Desert and modifying it into the Celestial Net Technology. He consolidated final authority on his spaceship, the *Nirvana*, to prevent these lesser creatures from turning on each other out of instinct during the cataclysm.
In return, the remaining survivors were tasked with continuing the search for the "Eye of the Divine" during his absence.
He, in turn, went to seek an opportunity to advance to the Nirvana Tier.
Thirty years passed.
He had reached the Nirvana Tier.
But there was still no news of the Eye of the Divine.
He was done waiting. This time, no matter the cost, he would get results. With his newly acquired Nirvana Tier skill, [Sorrow], a planet was but a speck of stardust, extinguishable with a wave of his hand.
He stood in the control room of the *Nirvana*.
SWOOSH—
The *Nirvana* initiated a resonance jump and entered the Dark Cosmos.
...
...
...
"Eye of Destiny, acquire intelligence!"
[BEEP~ BEEP~]
[Compiling intelligence...]
[Searching. Confirming detailed coordinates... Search successful. Summarizing intelligence... Intelligence report generated:]
[Star Kun]
[The Ten Thousand Forms Kun can lend or extract its surplus S-rank skill origins to cultivate avatars or offspring. The Star Kun is the third offspring of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun, but not the last. It inherited the power of the Desolate Star from among "Heguang, Wangxu, and Desolate Star." Bathing in its blood grants the S-rank skill "Desolate Star Dust."]
[Desolate Star Dust]
[Rank: 61]
[Summons the power of a Desolate Star. A Desolate Star falls from the sky to strike the target. The longer the charge time, the greater the Desolate Star’s speed and mass.]
"Holy Hall-tier Sea Beasts... each one is truly extraordinary."
"It seems the Abyss Lord also has offspring or avatars—the Deep Sea Leviathan that inherited the Abyss of Devouring. The Creation Celestial Pillar was not truly dead; before its end, it cast out its seeds, giving birth to a new *Jianmu*."
"But this Ten Thousand Forms Kun has so many offspring!"
Heguang, Wangxu, and Desolate Star—Shi Ming had now encountered all three powers.
Heguang Tongchen was the skill of Elder Zhou of the Dayu Clan.
Shi Ming could replicate and use Wangxu Guichen one-to-one, but its origin had not dropped.
As for Desolate Star Dust, its owner, the Star Kun, had just been killed.
The Attack Power of Desolate Star Dust was formidable. However, it was a single-target skill. Faced with the triple assault from three S-rank Awakened of the Da Yu clan—Wangquan Baye, Canglang Water, and Eclipse Moon Image—it stood no chance of escape and became their prize, despite its absolute advantage in size and its home-field advantage in the ocean.
Rong Bing and the other two waited gleefully for the new contribution points to be credited to their accounts.
The Da Yu clan was responsible for distributing the Star Kun’s blood.
Its corpse, however, fell into Shi Ming’s hands. Of course, it was a fair exchange; Shi Ming traded the front right claw of the Great Black Heaven Dragon for it. Not only did the Da Yu clan not lose out, they actually profited handsomely.
Shi Ming didn’t lose out either.
The Great Black Heaven Dragon’s claw was all keratin; even the three plants didn’t like to absorb it. Its greatest value was as a research specimen.
But the Star Kun corpse he received in exchange could be used to infinitely upgrade the Star Lamp!
[Star Lamp]
[Level: 10]
[A Star Lamp said to be made from a small section of core Star Marrow extracted from the star "Gouchen Yi." It can always point the way, allowing the lost to find their way home.]
[Upgrade Requirement: The entire body of the S-rank sea beast "Star Kun," or 1000g of Star Marrow.]
The Star Kun’s corpse was being towed by the King-level Wandering Ship *Dayun*, sailing across the endless ocean. In a desolate, uninhabited area, it suddenly dissolved into a cluster of starlight and vanished.
The *Dayun* continued on without pausing, as if this were a common sight.
Infinite Brain!
Activate!
The vanished Star Kun, its several-hundred-meter-long body now a cascade of starlight, flowed like a river of stars into the lamp in Shi Ming’s hand.
The Star Lamp.
Amidst the dazzling starlight, it wasn’t long before Shi Ming received a notification.
Infinite Upgrade, complete!
