Not long after, the wooden carving in Bai Yijun’s hands slowly took shape. It was the likeness of a stern man, with deep, resolute eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, and features carved as cold and sharp as if by a blade. His expression seemed caught in contemplative thought, his posture and demeanor so vividly rendered they resembled a miniature person brought to life.
Her clear, bright gaze was fixed upon the small wooden figure, tracing the features engraved upon her heart. The yearning within her seemed to momentarily ease. After a long while, she silently rose and walked to a nearby wooden rack, placing the small carving beside others already there.
“Ten years…” Bai Yijun murmured inwardly. She surveyed the room filled with wooden figures, her eyes flickering slightly, hesitating for a moment before gathering her courage and walking toward the center of the collection.
She opened her arms wide.
And breathed in deeply.
It felt as though she could inhale the familiar scent of those bygone years.
A stunning smile slowly bloomed across her cheeks, like a lily opening in the midnight hour. Her white dress billowed and swayed as she turned, beautiful and graceful.
Surrounded by the wooden carvings, it felt as if he had encompassed her entire world; everywhere she looked, there he was.
Her movements were graceful and captivating as she spun, transforming into a transient white Epiphyllum blossom before coming to a halt. Her eyes gazed upon the surrounding wooden figures, staring intently for a long time without making a sound.
Just then—WHOOSH!
A sound so powerful it made the entire wooden cabin tremble echoed from the distant horizon, sweeping in with a terrifying, earth-shattering momentum. Immediately, the whistling ceased, hanging directly above the divine peak. A voice, laced with boundless surprise and excitement, called out rapidly: “Sister-in-law, hurry! He is about to emerge!”
Hearing the news, Bai Yijun’s heart strings vibrated; she felt her breath catch in her chest. Without a second thought, she darted out the door, her movement a flash of white light, instantly appearing in the sky. Seeing Shao Hao rushing toward her, she urgently demanded, “Quick, take me there!”
“En!” Shao Hao’s face was alight with joy. He nodded immediately, sweeping his great hand outward. The mysterious spatial energy enveloped both their bodies, and with a slight shimmer, they vanished.
A straight path ascended to the summit of the divine peak.
Within the Pangu Creation Spirit Pool.
The originally milky-white Creation Spirit Pool had, after ten years, become somewhat pale, as if much clearer. There was no white mist floating above the pool, allowing one to faintly glimpse a phantom figure suspended within.
Beside this phantom figure floated a small, chubby shadow. If one looked closely, they would notice this small shadow had two ears, drifting near the larger shadow, occasionally twitching, or swimming playfully around the great phantom.
At that moment, the large shadow slowly opened its eyes.
Splash!
The Creation Spirit Pool water before him parted automatically into two streams. His body, embraced by the flowing water, slowly ascended. It was a face carved as coldly as a blade, with dark, icy eyes. His skin was fair and delicate, covered in a layer of crystalline, divine radiance.
Soaked for ten years in the milky-white Creation Spirit Pool, his skin was incredibly fair and possessed immense elasticity.
Ye Chen’s body floated up automatically, seemingly unaffected by gravity, drifting gently beside the Creation Spirit Pool. As his soles touched the cool ground, his consciousness slowly cleared. Observing the changes in his body and feeling the surging life force and genetic alterations within, his eyes narrowed slightly, his heart filled with a measure of shock.
“This… is the wondrous effect of the Creation Spirit Pool?” Ye Chen clenched his fist, still finding it hard to believe. Since entering the pool, his mind had been entirely focused on his self-created secret manual; he hadn't bothered to check the changes in his body. He was utterly stunned when he finally examined himself now that he was out.
“My gene multiplier… it has actually, actually reached 900 times!” Ye Chen’s heart pounded fiercely. He recalled that his gene multiplier only reached Yu times after the inheritance training in the Demon God Palace and the devouring of ancient dark matter. To have it surge to Xi times after merely soaking in the Creation Spirit Pool was truly frightening in its speed of increase.
Ye Chen stood in a daze for a long moment before snapping back to awareness. He clenched his fists, feeling the explosive, terrifying power within his muscles, feeling as if he were floating among the clouds.
During this period, the Ancestral Dragon Secret Manual within him had been consuming the energy from his heart, having chewed through about 10% of it, elevating his physical constitution to 9.99 million times—just a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the Divine Realm!
With a constitution of 9.99 million times, combined with his internal gene multiplier of over 900 times, his true power actually reached 8.991 billion levels! What terrifying strength this was!
At this moment, Ye Chen’s inherent gene multiplier already surpassed that of Ant-Man Superman. After all, Ant-Man Superman at the fifth tier could only achieve a 400-fold increase, whereas Ye Chen himself already exceeded 900 times!
“Now, Ant-Man and Flash Superman are of minimal use to me; only Sky Beast Superman remains truly valuable!” Ye Chen mused for a moment, muttering, “Now, with the efficacy of the Divine Blood, I can fuse one more creature’s genes. After breaking through to the Divine Realm, I can fuse two!”
“When I reach the Divine Emperor stage, I should be able to fuse another. If so, I can control a total of six Superman genes. When these Superman genes break through to the fifth tier and enter the gene segmentation level, I will have six Superman avatars!”
Ye Chen’s eyes shone brightly. He understood that while each Superman avatar shared his secret manuals and soul, their gene amplification multipliers would differ, effectively granting him six subordinates of equal strength.
“With my current power, even compared to powerhouses at the level of the Light Hall Master, I can hold my own in a pure contest of strength. However, someone at the Light Hall Master’s level has surely acquired significant ancient dark matter, allowing them to amplify their own gene multiplier, perhaps making their multiplier no less than mine.”
Ye Chen did not become complacent. He tested the strength in his body, feeling a surge of excitement, and then discovered seven new energies within him!
These were seven streams of peculiar energy, indescribably profound, even beyond his ability to describe.
“Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hate, Desire!”
From these seven special energies, Ye Chen sensed the impressions of these seven consciousnesses. They corresponded to seven distinct colors: the energy representing ‘Love’ was red and shaped like a heart; the one for ‘Fear’ was shaped like an exclamation mark; the one for ‘Hate’ resembled an eyeball. Each one was different, radiating a unique light around his core.
“Is this my talent of Spiritual Civilization?” Ye Chen’s eyes gleamed. He had read descriptions of Spiritual Civilization talents from the ancient ruins on Earth.
The talent of Spiritual Civilization was the control of various emotions; each emotion could grant different powers. For instance, Sorrow could cause one’s willpower to wane, leading to listlessness—a weakening energy. However, upon awakening the talent, one could freely wield these emotions. The Sorrow emotion could be directed at an enemy, diminishing their fighting spirit and thus weakening their combat power. The Joy emotion could boost allies, enhancing their fighting spirit and thereby increasing their combat power.
“The talent of Spiritual Civilization is divided into three tiers: Initial Awakening, Intermediate Awakening, High Awakening, and the legendary Complete Awakening. This Complete Awakening level is documented across various civilizations, existing only in ancient myths, much like how people on Earth once considered dragons mythical creatures.”
Ye Chen scrutinized his own level of awakening and was surprised to find he had instantly reached the High Awakening tier!
“This Creation Spirit Pool… No wonder only a few individuals have bathed in it over countless years. To awaken talent directly to the highest tier, High Awakening!”
Ye Chen’s eyes shone, his heart pulsing with excitement. Initial Awakening talents could amplify combat power by 1x! Intermediate Awakening could amplify it by 5x! High Awakening could amplify it by 10x!
Imagine facing an enemy and directly casting the Sorrow emotion upon them: their entire secret manual amplification would be weakened tenfold. Someone whose secret manual amplified their power by one hundred million times would only have a ten-million-times amplification under the influence of Sorrow. And if he simultaneously cast the Anger talent upon himself, he would gain a tenfold increase in power. The resulting gap between them would be vast!
“With these Seven Emotions talent alone, my combat strength has soared several levels!” Ye Chen’s eyes radiated divine light. Suddenly remembering something, he couldn't help but lick his lips. “I wonder what the talents of other civilizations are like? With the Myriad Heavens God-Forging Art, I can now cultivate the first stage—devouring the talents of ten civilizations!”
The thought filled him with an uncontrollable excitement. He could almost envision the terrifying level he would reach once he fully mastered the Myriad Heavens God-Forging Art, incorporating the enhancements from numerous civilization talents, and layering them on top of the Heavenly Dao Sutra!
“This seclusion has yielded immense gains!”
Ye Chen’s mood was uplifted. He was confident that with his current formidable strength, even if the entire continent besieged him, he could guarantee an escape!
“Now, with the combination of my many secret manuals, plus the one I created myself, I wonder if I can contend one-on-one against a peak Divine Emperor-level powerhouse using only my own strength?”
Ye Chen pondered this deeply. During this seclusion, he had not only awakened his innate talent but also forged his own secret manual! The origin and primary catalyst for this manual stemmed from the insights he accumulated after Shao Hao took him to view the Moster Tower. Proceeding from that perspective, and interweaving it with the Path of Life and Death, the laws of nature, the cycle of the Heavenly Dao, and other principles, he finally formed a secret manual entirely his own!