NOVEL WEB CHAPTER 359
CHAPTER 359: Endless Compression and Refinement
The small island wasn’t large, roughly the size of a small city.
The buildings on the island stood tall and impressive, but upon closer inspection, certain details were missing, revealing that they had been constructed in haste.
After landing on the island with Zero’s clone, Jiu Han glanced around.
Aside from the visible structures, Jiu Han could sense a mysterious, hidden, yet powerful energy fluctuation deep beneath the island.
“Looks like you’ve already noticed the key points here,” Zero said, leading the way.
The two arrived at an elevator, stepped inside, and began descending.
The outer shell of the elevator was transparent, and as it descended, Jiu Han could see the seawater outside, along with the strict security measures in place beneath the surface.
Sea beasts patrolled the depths, and among them, Ascendant-level creatures were not uncommon.
On the surface, this small island didn’t seem like much, especially given its size. But the more Jiu Han observed, the more he realized just how important this place was to the subverters.
The elevator continued down until it reached the depths of the sea.
After passing through the crust, they arrived at a dark underwater cave. As the elevator doors opened, two figures stood waiting at the entrance.
“Welcome, Teacher Jiu Han,” the first figure, a young and beautiful woman, said warmly.
Jiu Han studied her for a moment before recognizing her.
“Lady Insect Mother?” he asked, somewhat uncertain.
The woman smiled and nodded. “Just call me Ona.”
The Origin Insect Mother was the Guardian God of the Insect Clan and the absolute ruler within their ranks. Judging by her tone, she seemed to be in a good mood.
Beside her, another figure greeted him with a simple, “Hello.”
The low, deep voice made Jiu Han turn and study the figure more closely.
After a long pause, Jiu Han spoke in a hushed tone, “Bai Zhe.”
“It’s me,” the man replied.
Bai Zhe, a Divine Realm expert, was also a well-known figure. He was a rogue god whose tribe had long since been lost to the passage of time. Still, his strength had remained that of a true god among his people.
With Bai Zhe present, this small island unexpectedly hosted three clan Guardian Gods, including Zero and the Origin Insect Mother.
However, Zero and the Insect Mother standing before Jiu Han were merely clones. Bai Zhe, on the other hand, had his true body guarding this location.
Zero smiled and gestured.
“Follow me.”
They walked deeper into the cave, the path gradually opening up to reveal a spacious area.
The cave’s ceiling was lined with light stones, illuminating the entire space as brightly as daylight.
The walls had been carefully repaired, giving the cave a primitive yet orderly appearance.
In the center of the cave was a massive Array Formation, nearly 100 meters in diameter.
With Jiu Han’s knowledge of array formations surpassing a thousand levels, he quickly recognized the precision and intricacy of the formation. It was only slightly less complex than a Divinity Array Formation.
Unfortunately, the formation was incomplete.
Various scholars from different races were gathered around the array, writing, sketching, and frequently engaging in discussions.
Among them were several individuals Jiu Han recognized—some of whom were considered experts in the field of formations.
Jiu Han even noticed two individuals whose mastery of formations rivaled—or perhaps even surpassed—his own.
Zero’s voice broke the silence again.
“Teacher Jiu Han, this is the crux of our agreement. You help me perfect this Array Formation, and I’ll rescue your two disciples.”
Jiu Han nodded in understanding and asked, “So where are my disciples?”
“We’re still searching for them. You have to understand the complexity of this task.”
Zero wasn’t trying to deceive him. He had indeed sent people to look for Lu Ming and Shufang, but they hadn’t been located yet.
However, Jiu Han had his own method of confirming whether Lu Ming and Shufang were alive—and for now, he was certain they were still alive.
After a brief pause, Jiu Han nodded once more and turned his attention back to the Array Formation in front of him.
Soon, his eyes narrowed.
“This is a teleportation formation...” he said slowly. “And there are array patterns embedded with the functions of Bloodline Summoning and the Descent of Consciousness...”
Zero smiled. “That’s correct.”
Stroking his beard, Jiu Han mused, “While I’m quite curious about what exactly you intend to do with this formation... I doubt you’ll tell me.”
Zero nodded, still smiling.
Jiu Han chuckled lightly. “Alright, I’ll do my best.”
Glancing at the other Array Formation masters gathered around, Jiu Han’s confidence grew.
“With so many like-minded individuals studying this together, the formation shouldn’t be too difficult for us to perfect,” he said. “It just requires time.”
✦✧☠︎✧✦
Xuanshui City – Lu Ming’s Safe House
Inside the void space, the surge of Origin Power guided the outline of the Divine Origin. Under the influence of the Origin Power Array Formation, the Divine Origin gradually took shape, its exquisite lines forming a precise design.
These intricate lines were meticulously arranged on the grape-seed-sized Divine Origin, which began to wriggle and merge bit by bit.
Finally, as the Divine Origin became round and flawless, a burst of golden light erupted from within.
Lu Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“It’s done!” he exclaimed.
Indeed, it was complete.
After ‘ten days’ in the outside world—equivalent to nearly 15,000 days within the void space—Lu Ming had finally succeeded in his experiment.
His gaze burned with intensity as he stared at the artificial Divine Origin, watching as the golden light spread outward, then retracted at an astonishing speed.
The Divinity spun in mid-air.
A second later, a violent surge of Origin Power rushed toward the Divinity.
In an instant, nearly 80% of the Origin Power within the entire Boshi Tower was drained.
The Origin Stone mine, along with the various treasures that held Origin Power within the tower, lost their luster—an unmistakable sign that their Origin Power had been completely depleted.
Even some of the extraordinary beings in the tower felt their Origin Power dissipating, on the verge of losing their cultivation or even being demoted in rank.
Reacting quickly, Lu Ming controlled the Array Formation, cutting off the Divinity’s absorption of Origin Power just in time.
But what he saw next intrigued him even more.
The massive influx of Origin Power had been compressed within the Divinity, first transforming into a gaseous state.
The gaseous Origin Power then condensed further, turning into liquid form.
And then, even the liquidized Origin Power was compressed again...
This time, the compression happened faster, but the power it generated was far greater.
Before Lu Ming’s eyes, the liquidized Origin Power transformed once again, reverting to a gaseous golden light.
This was the Divine Origin!
The gaseous Divine Origin compressed itself again, drawing in the massive amount of Origin Power it had absorbed, and condensed it into half a drop of liquid Divine Origin, which finally seeped into the inner layer of the Divinity. Only then did the process stabilize.
“The core array pattern of the Divinity is compression and refinement!” Lu Ming realized, his eyes gleaming.
“Endless compression and refinement.”
It violently compressed and refined Origin Power into Divine Origin!
Suddenly, Lu Ming’s gaze sharpened with understanding.
“So the essence of Divine Origin is simply Origin Power compressed to the extreme?”
This realization revealed to Lu Ming that Origin Power and Divine Origin were fundamentally the same, differing only in their degree of condensation.
If Origin Power was like cotton, then Divine Origin was like a black hole, formed by the collapse of an immense pile of cotton.
The difference between the two was vast—so much so that they seemed incomparable. And yet, at their core, they were one and the same.
His gaze penetrated the layers of the Divinity, reaching its core.
Lu Ming could see that the Array Formation in the innermost layer of the Divinity had been activated by the liquid Divine Origin. The formation began to operate, its patterns fluctuating as if they were trying to extract something from the liquid Divine Origin.
But before long, the array patterns halted.
The amount of liquid Divine Origin was too small to extract what the array needed.
And...
“We’re missing a core,” Lu Ming muttered, frustration evident in his voice.
End of Chapter 359