Chapter 1358 Origin Energy

Origin Energy was one of the fundamental resources maintaining a realm's existence and development.

It wasn't something that could be casually replenished.

By sacrificing a sufficient quantity of it, a Major Realm could provide the conditions necessary for an individual to ignite their Divine Fire and ascend.

Naturally, this meant that the realm itself would suffer a tremendous loss.

However, this wasn't even the biggest reason why the method was so difficult to employ.

First, although the universe contained countless realms, Major Realms capable of supporting the development of Demigod-level existences or even stronger beings were relatively rare.

More importantly, most of these realms had already developed powerful civilizations. And civilizations capable of occupying such realms generally didn't lack individuals like Yū Meng.

Why would those individuals willingly allow an outsider to sacrifice their realm's foundation for personal advancement?

Even if they had no intention of using the Origin Energy themselves, damaging their realm's foundation would threaten its future development and their interests.

Furthermore, there was another problem.

The wills of these established Major Realms.

Unlike the wills of newly awakened worlds or minor realms, which operated largely through instincts, the wills of mature Major Realms had already developed genuine intelligence.

They were no longer merely collections of rules responding mechanically to outside influences. They were genuine individuals in their own right, possessing their own thoughts and considerable power.

Even without a Realm Master, a sufficiently developed Major Realm's will could defend itself against beings like Yū Meng.

Of course, this didn't mean suppressing such a will was impossible. Given sufficient preparation and overwhelming strength, a powerful cultivator or group might still succeed.

However, the realm wouldn't simply wait for its destruction. If its existence was truly threatened and it hadn't already produced enough powerful beings capable of defending it, the realm's will could select a Realm Master.

This individual would receive authority over the realm and gain access to a portion of its power. With the realm's assistance, even someone who had previously been considerably weaker could become a tremendous obstacle to an invading Demigod.

And that was assuming the realm hadn't already nurtured several powerful Demigods of its own.

In other words, forcibly extracting Origin Energy from an established Major Realm was almost always more trouble than it was worth.

For an Immortal Ascension cultivator like Yū Meng, the most practical alternative was to find a Major Realm that had only recently awakened.

Or, even better, one that remained undiscovered by the wider universe, with extremely weak inhabitants, allowing her to take her time extracting its Origin Energy without attracting unwanted attention.

Such a realm would possess the foundation of a Major Realm but wouldn't yet have developed the powerful civilizations and intelligent will necessary to protect that foundation effectively.

Its native supernatural beings would still be weak. Its will would operate primarily through instincts. And most importantly, it wouldn't have produced a Realm Master capable of wielding its authority against outsiders.

That was the kind of opportunity people like Yū Meng searched for when they couldn't advance naturally. And Earth was precisely such a world.

"…"

Yū Meng's completely white eyes narrowed.

She had spent a considerable amount of effort locating that world. Even after finding it, taking control hadn't been easy.

After all, she wasn't the only one who had discovered its value. Two other individuals whose strength was no weaker than hers had also set their sights on Earth.

Ultimately, the three had reached a temporary arrangement that allowed each of them to maintain a measure of control over the realm.

It wasn't an ideal outcome, since Earth possessed enough Origin Energy for only two True Immortal advancements, and exhausting that energy would leave it a ruined world.

However, none of them could easily eliminate the other two, and allowing their conflict to escalate would only risk destroying the opportunity they had discovered.

Thus, maintaining a temporary balance had become the most reasonable option. At least until one of them obtained an advantage, or two could work together to push the third party out.

As for why Yū Meng didn't simply extract Origin Energy from the Tianluo Realm itself…

That was even more unrealistic. Putting aside the possibility of attracting the attention of those forbidden existences, the Tianluo Realm was home to numerous powerful cultivators. Some were her peers.

There was no possibility that they would simply watch while she burned away a significant portion of their realm's foundation. Doing so would be equivalent to declaring herself an enemy of almost every powerful existence within the realm.

And even if she somehow succeeded, the consequences would be disastrous. For all practical purposes, using the Tianluo Realm's Origin Energy was no different from having no method of advancement at all.

That was why Earth mattered so much. It was a newly awakened Major Realm whose foundation had yet to be claimed by a powerful civilization. Such an opportunity might not appear again for countless years, even if she searched the universe.

And now, just when her preparations were progressing, an insignificant creature had dared to interfere with the fate surrounding that world.

Yū Meng's expression darkened.

How dare it?

However, Yū Meng had only just begun to calm down when she suddenly sensed something unusual.

"…!"

Someone was interfering with her fate again!

The sensation was unmistakable. Someone had once again reached into the connections surrounding her fate, attempting to investigate matters that should have remained beyond their reach.

Again?!

Yū Meng's completely white eyes narrowed sharply.

"How dare you!"

Just as she was about to retaliate, a strange image suddenly appeared before her. It was the figure of a young man. He looked remarkably similar to the previous pest who had offended her, although he appeared slightly older and more mature.

His features were handsome, and there was something unusual about the calmness with which he appeared to be observing her.

Naturally, the figure before her was none other than Michael.

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A/N: Author is pumped!!! Add fuel!! Thank you for the continued support!!! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ