Chapter 646 598: A New God

"Mo Ji, why isn't he here yet? I've been waiting for 72 seconds... I can't wait any longer."

"Soon, soon."

Bai Yimo fended off Paradise Heaven's fierce assault, all the while murmuring soft reassurances to himself. Suddenly, with a CREAK, a sliver of natural light appeared at the entrance of the secret chamber.

The door to the secret chamber was opened from the outside.

The five-meter-tall leader of the Star Rock Race, Blast River Rock, stood outside the door, calmly watching the absurd scene before him.

Paradise Heaven beckoned to him, signaling for him to hurry over.

The fragrance of flowers filled the air.

Within Paradise Heaven's domain, any creature without complete control over its desires would act solely on instinct, devoid of all reason. Blast River Rock walked over, one step at a time. He ignored Bai Yimo's meaningful glances, and as if he had lost all self-awareness, slowly bent down.

...

...

...

"Mm."

"Though he's a bit subpar, not exactly top-tier, he's full of power."

Paradise Heaven finished her assessment and was just about to bestow her pleasure when suddenly, thorns sprouted from nowhere. Like sharp swords, they violently pierced through her body. Everything before Paradise Heaven's eyes rapidly faded, then was dyed with a profound darkness. In an instant, the scene around her was no longer the secret chamber, but an unfamiliar, boundless starry sky.

Paradise Heaven's reaction was incredibly fast.

The parts of her body pierced by the thorns were tainted with the aura of suffering, which repelled her own aura. Paradise Heaven acted decisively, instantly severing the parts of her body steeped in suffering. Then, large patches of poisonous flowers resembling the faces of beautiful women grew beneath her feet, forming her unique domain to serve as a foundation for combat.

But in this boundless starry sky, there seemed to be no other living beings.

She faintly heard a strange conversation.

...

"Boss, thank you for your help."

"Well done. There's nothing more for you here. You may leave."

...

...

...

Of course, the one who entered the secret chamber was not Blast River Rock, the leader of the Star Rock Race, but Shi Ming, who had used a time leap to arrive quickly.

In an instant, he used [Ever-Killing Thorns] to pierce through Paradise Heaven's body, then used [Time] and [Space] to transport the unprepared ancient evil into the starry sky.

A pre-arranged battlefield was waiting there.

As he left the secret chamber, he specifically peeked at the trajectory of fate for his "cheap employee," Bai Yimo, to prevent the numbered Nirvana skill [Desire] from being corrupted by Paradise Heaven and becoming another of the ancient evil's bound spirits.

Thankfully, it had been a close call, but no harm was done.

A long time ago, Shi Ming had used the Supreme Treasure of Ten Thousand Flowers Jade to glimpse three branches of fate on Bai Yimo. Among them, the branch of fate called [Long Star Returns to the Abyss] had come to an abrupt end. Instead, another branch of fate, [The Gulf of Desire is Filled], had now connected from end to end, completing its echo.

At that time, Shi Ming couldn't fully interpret the meanings of these fate entries,

Looking at it now, [Long Star Returns to the Abyss] referred to the numbered skill [Desire], which came from the stars, submitting to the ancient evil representing the abyss. On the other hand, [The Gulf of Desire is Filled] was a path leading to redemption.

Different fates lead to different endings.

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The power of suffering was like maggots clinging to the bone.

Even after severing parts of her body, Paradise Heaven found it difficult to immediately escape the corrosion of the [Ever-Killing Thorns]. Soon, a second being appeared in this starry sky.

He emerged from a rift, holding a sword forged from Stone.

Thorns clung to his left arm, blood-red runes covered his right, his eyes were as clear as lake water, and on his forehead was a bloody lightning bolt symbolizing slaughter.

The moment she saw this being, Paradise Heaven felt fear for the first time.

Back when she was just a seedling, even seeing Annihilation Heaven, who had already become a complete ancient evil, hadn't made her feel this way. The man before her possessed the powers of suffering and sin she found most repulsive, an aura of slaughter very similar to Annihilation Heaven's, and the auras emanating from the crimson runes on his right arm and his pure eyes made her heart palpitate with dread.

Beneath Paradise Heaven's feet, the poisonous flowers with the faces of beautiful women bloomed, little by little.

The being opposite her moved his lips and smiled.

His gaze was as gentle as a spring breeze, yet a black armor as cold as absolute zero began to coalesce around his body. His voice, too, was icy and emotionless.

...

"One short of five."

...

This was the last sentence Paradise Heaven heard.

The current Shi Ming possessed the power of the complete ancient evil, Original Sin Heaven, had devoured the deceased Annihilation Heaven, and had also absorbed the incomplete "Flower of Malevolent Thoughts." This was all combined with the standing of the Eye of the Divine and the methods of the Apocalypse Divine Artifact.

This last ancient evil became another source of nourishment.

Nourishment for a new god.

...

...

...

After the hunt came a long period of digestion.

This continued until new information surfaced in Shi Ming's consciousness—a notification from the Eye of the Divine.

In truth, at his current realm, he didn't need any notifications; he could already clearly perceive these changes. But as a long-standing ritual, he still acknowledged the prompts.

[You have absorbed and fused all the ancient evils' Origin Power.]

[Your Vitality has broken through the threshold of the Nirvana level and entered a new range. Your previously suppressed power has been released, and your Vitality has increased dramatically. You are no longer limited by the 9,999-point cap of the Nirvana rank and have entered an entirely new realm.]

[Attack Power: 19,281]

[Defense Power: 18,101]

[Endurance: 19,111]

[Vitality: 20,112]

[Spiritual Power: 37,628,193]

[...]

All five of his attributes had broken through the threshold.

And that wasn't all.

With his eyes still closed, Shi Ming clearly perceived how different he was now. It was the feeling of completely shattering his shackles, the difference between a speck of dust and the vast sky. It was a leap from zero to one, an evolution from finite to infinite.

He opened his eyes,

and the world seemed to brighten.

Everything in the Star Sea now had a different analytical perspective in his eyes. With a mere thought, he could grant them intelligence. By stroking a piece of Stone with his hand, he could spark a civilization.

'Is this the feeling of breaking past the Nirvana rank?'

'The power of a true god?'

The starry sky was the same as ever, only more brilliant. Shi Ming strolled through the Star Sea, his mind involuntarily drifting back through his past experiences: from the explosion of the Eye of the Divine Pendant, to the slave ship more than a hundred years later, to the boundless Endless Ocean, and then to the even deeper cosmos. The path he had traveled was clear and easy to look back on...

"Sigh."

"In any case, I can finally rest a bit. Along the way, I've killed sea beasts, killed Nirvana-rankers, killed ancient evils... Regardless of whether I'll face new challenges or new enemies in the future, at least I can have a period of peace for now."

"To the god who has already passed, I have satisfactorily completed your commission."

Shi Ming smiled, and his figure vanished into the void.

With all the ancient evils dead, Shi Ming had now nominally become the one and only King of Chaos. He could sense the power of the remaining aberrant species lying dormant in the Star Sea. There was still cleanup work to be done.

But that was a massive undertaking.

For now, he found himself missing the delicious food on the Endless Ocean. He missed that deep, boundless sea, and he missed the celestial pillar that stood tall in the middle of the vast waters, Mount Everest.

First, a long sleep.

He would deal with the rest later.