Chapter 4647: Choices

[Roan,] Sister Orb called out. [This is the place we need. Try to acquire as many Cultivation Techniques as possible. We can work out a version for the Law God Realm afterward, which should reduce the number of Orb Points required.]

Roan nodded slightly. ’I was intending to do exactly that.’

He then turned toward Rean, Celis, and Kentucky. ’You three will do the same. Feed Sister Orb with as many techniques as possible. If all four of us work on this simultaneously, we can finish much faster.’

Since all four of them used the same cultivation technique, none of them had any objections.

Howard led them deeper into the building, eventually bringing them to a spacious area where various cultivators remained still, their minds apparently focused on something. Above them floated a sphere of bright blue light, rotating slowly as countless runes shone beneath it. The runes shifted and rearranged themselves in intricate patterns, giving the entire place an almost mechanical appearance despite the lack of any visible machinery.

The moment they entered the area, the group understood how it worked. Its operating principles were practically identical to those of their Ring Communicators. They could control the sphere through Godly Sense, and as soon as they established a connection, a user interface appeared in their minds, allowing them to interact with the system directly.

’Seems like all of you understood how this works,’ Howard said. ’Good. Just take your time and find something that matches your requirements. In Tobao’s case, you can feed it your current Cultivation Technique, and the system will pair it with relevant techniques that you can switch to going forward.’

’Thank you,’ Tobao replied, already delving into the interface with his Godly Sense.

Howard began crawling toward the exit shortly afterward, although he paused to leave them with a few final instructions. ’I’ll be outside, looking for a spot near the crystals. There’s no need to worry about finding a place for yourselves. During the night, there’s never a shortage of space to use them. I’ll explain what you need to do once you come out. Find me there.’

With that, Howard continued crawling out of the building, leaving the group to explore the repository on their own.

—

Tobao’s attention was entirely focused on the interface. It didn’t take him long to locate the section where he was supposed to submit his cultivation technique, but that discovery left him feeling conflicted.

The technique was a closely guarded secret of his monastery, one that only a select few monks were permitted to learn. It wasn’t that the monastery refused to share its knowledge out of pure selfishness. The technique was exceptionally difficult to master, and attempting to cultivate it without the proper foundation could result in severe backlash. For that reason, his master had repeatedly warned him, even long before Tobao became a Law God, never to allow the technique to spread beyond the monastery.

Now, however, he was faced with an uncomfortable choice. If he wanted to make proper use of the cultivation technique repository, he would have to hand over the very technique he had spent so much of his life protecting.

’Sigh... This place should be heads and shoulders above my Besgol Region in terms of development. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to share my technique.’

After a moment of hesitation, Tobao finally made up his mind. He used his Godly Sense to submit the entire technique, ensuring that not a single word or detail was left out. Within his monastery, it was known as the Zen Thunder Technique.

Yet, the moment the submission was complete, the interface lit up, and a new message appeared before him.

-Technique found.-

-This is the 57th variation of the Heaven and Earth Lightning Connection Cultivation Technique, designed for use in Protected Areas with lower overall cultivation prospects.-

-Locations where it has been spread: Tormou Lands, Sozai Expanse, Lincau Hulli Territories...-

Tobao froze.

The system proceeded to display hundreds of names, each identifying a location where the fifty-seventh variation of his supposedly secret technique had already been distributed. He stared at the list for a long moment, finding it increasingly difficult to believe what he was seeing.

’So much for my monastery’s secret...’

The Grasslands were among the listed locations, appearing remarkably inconspicuous among the hundreds of other names. Tobao already knew from the twins just how enormous the Grasslands were. Millions of Regions were controlled by a single power, and there were millions of such powers in Grasslands, each ruling over millions of Regions of their own.

And yet, the Grasslands were merely one name among hundreds. Worse still, this was only the fifty-seventh variation of a single cultivation technique. How many other locations had received its earlier or later variations? How many cultivators were using completely different versions of the same technique?

For the first time, Tobao began to truly grasp the scale of what Duze had told them. The entire Grasslands, with all its countless Regions and unfathomable number of cultivators, wasn’t even a speck of sand in a Great Void made entirely of sand.

The thought made him feel rather small.

Thinking about it further also made the situation during the Cover Hour easier to understand. Countless Region Gods appeared in Granfel whenever that period arrived, and most of them were seemingly destined to die.

Considering what he had just witnessed, there were simply too many places from which those cultivators could come. The Grasslands alone could supply an astonishing number of newcomers, yet it probably contributed only a tiny fraction of the cultivators arriving in Granfel each day.

Perhaps this city received more cultivators from a single location comparable to the Grasslands than the Grasslands itself could provide.

Tobao shook his head, deciding to stop thinking about it before the thought made him any gloomier. Besides, he had little time to dwell on such matters.

The system had already begun presenting him with several hundred cultivation techniques. Every single one was capable of controlling Godly Pressure, and all of them were compatible with the fifty-seventh variation he had submitted.

Obviously, the original version of the technique was also there. From the looks of it, the Original was perfectly capable of using Godly Pressure. Their various techniques’ descriptions, advantages, disadvantages, and potential applications appeared one after another, leaving Tobao with more choices than he had ever imagined possible.

’Amithaba... There are so many of them. How am I even supposed to choose the right one?’

Tobao wasn’t the only one facing that dilemma. Arcis and Kachia were struggling with the same problem, although for a different reason. Both were Demon Beasts, and while certain Demon Beast races in Besgol had cultivation techniques, their Arctic Arcurio race wasn’t one of them. They had spent their entire lives cultivating through their natural racial abilities, without ever needing a conventional cultivation technique.

In a certain sense, that actually worked to their advantage here. Neither had an existing technique that needed to be replaced or adapted, so they simply provided the system with information about their natural cultivation processes and their race. The system immediately generated a form for each of them to complete, requesting further details about their bodies, elemental affinities, and cultivation characteristics.

Once they finished filling everything out, they were presented with tens of thousands of possible choices! Tobao only got a few hundred....

Every technique came with its own advantages and disadvantages. Some offered greater control over Godly Pressure but were more difficult to cultivate. Others were easier to master but provided less immediate benefit, while certain techniques seemed to prioritize long-term growth over short-term adaptation.

The system even separated them according to cultivation difficulty, with more than ten different grades available. The repository was truly overflowing with cultivation techniques, and every single one had been designed to make use of Godly Pressure in some way, much like the twins’ own technique.

’Fa-Father...’ Kachia couldn’t help contacting Arcis through Godly Sense. ’Just... how am I even supposed to choose?’

Arcis could only offer a bitter smile. ’Damn me if I know... I’ve never used a cultivation technique in my life either.’

Meanwhile, Kentucky was busy recording everything he found into Sister Orb’s database. He had been doing so nonstop since they entered the repository, and the sheer quantity of information available was enough to keep him occupied for quite some time. However, when he noticed Kachia’s predicament, he turned toward Roan.

’Roan...’

Roan narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly what Kentucky wanted him to do. ’Fine. I’ll help them choose the right techniques. Their future capabilities are linked to our group’s strength, after all. You, Rean, and Celis can keep feeding Sister Orb with every technique you can find.’

Kentucky was delighted by the answer. ’Sure! I’ll work very hard.’

’The only hard belief here is my disbelief that you will work hard, but we will see,’ Roan replied dryly.

Kentucky ignored the jab and returned to his task, his attention already absorbed by the endless stream of information entering Sister Orb’s database.

Roan, meanwhile, turned his attention toward the two Arctic Arcurios and began examining their available choices. If he could identify the most suitable techniques for Arcis and Kachia, they would be able to adapt to the Godly Pressure more efficiently. And since their survival and future strength would also affect the group’s plans, helping them was hardly a waste of time.