Chapter 565 - 521: Heart of Chaos, Manifests?
This meant that in the short 12 days since the First Civilization Cosmic Country returned to the Star Sea, 51 Nirvana Powerhouses from various Cosmic Countries had already entered this lost country.
But almost all the outsiders were currently confined to the outer regions.
Some Nirvana Powerhouses didn’t even have enough Cosmic Crystals to experience a Teleportation Vortex a single time, forcing them to explore this lost corner of space using the most primitive methods. As for the top explorers who had made more progress—even the five Pseudo-Gods—they couldn’t afford to use the Teleportation Vortexes freely after being stripped of their original Mortal titles.
It couldn’t be helped.
Shi Ming had taken absolute control over every method of obtaining Civilization Stones.
This made the title of "Pioneer" all the more important.
Eighteen Nirvana Powerhouses had already donated one million Cosmic Crystals each to the Cosmic Country to obtain the "Pioneer" title, increasing their daily income of Civilization Stones from 100 to 1,000.
Without even lifting a finger, Shi Ming effortlessly raked in a massive amount of Cosmic Crystals, experiencing for the first time what it felt like for money to flow like water.
"Heh heh."
’It’s still not enough.’
’According to the exchange rate and a few workarounds, these 18 million Cosmic Crystals can only be exchanged for a total of 180,000 Civilization Stones. Although I can use my authority as Regent to bypass the daily exchange limit and convert these Cosmic Crystals quickly, 180,000 Civilization Stones is only enough to trade for a treasure ranked in the top 50, or perhaps just the top 100, of the Divine Treasure Vault.’
’I need more.’
Fortunately, as time passed, more and more powerhouses traveled from tens of millions of light-years away to throw money at him.
Shi Ming’s passive income would only continue to grow.
The exorbitant cost of the Teleportation Vortexes made Civilization Stones an absolute necessity for "Commander" and "Sealed King" level powerhouses;
The Divine Treasure Vault, filled with countless priceless yet hard-to-move items, was like a carrot dangled before a donkey, tempting the "Pillar Stone" powerhouses to go to any length to acquire Civilization Stones;
And Shi Ming himself was an irresistible temptation, enough to make even the "Pseudo-Gods" burn with desire.
There’s a different way to tether every monkey.
Though it was an overt scheme, all the monkeys had to work for Shi Ming.
No, not work for him.
It was a win-win.
...
...
...
With nothing to do that night, Shi Ming took out a lamp from his storage.
The Star Lamp.
Before she was "exiled" from the Tomb Star Realm, Ah Li, the woman in the Star Skirt, had told Shi Ming that if he had questions, he could either return to the Scorpion King’s Pyramid above the Endless Ocean or light the Star Lamp.
Right now, returning to the Scorpion King’s Pyramid was temporarily impossible.
And because the Star Lamp had been upgraded so many times, its connection to the woman in the Star Skirt was completely severed. Even if he lit it, he probably wouldn’t be able to contact her.
But that wasn’t a problem for Shi Ming.
’Moth!’
Shi Ming began searching for a loophole—one that would restore the Star Lamp’s "old version" functionality.
He opened his eyes, and ethereal worms swam and darted between his pupils and the Star Lamp. Before long, he had keenly located a vulnerability he could exploit.
WHOOSH~
In an instant, the lamp’s light flared.
The flame of the ancient lamp in Shi Ming’s hand surged violently before transforming, as if a star-filled curtain and the night sky had descended simultaneously. Countless stars began to shine, connecting in the darkness to outline a massive ring of stars, roughly three hundred meters in diameter.
Inside the ring of stars, a connection seemed to open to an infinite, desolate cosmos.
The bridge of communication was now established.
Shi Ming waited patiently.
Finally, a layered voice drifted out from it, carrying an echo that seemed to originate from an impossibly distant place. Moreover, an unknown, esoteric power completely enveloped the sound. The instant Shi Ming perceived it, the voice dissipated entirely, leaving no possibility of it ever being leaked.
Numbered Nirvana Skill, Conceal.
The First Civilization Cosmic Country had no Dark Cosmos. Even with the Star Lamp as a bridge, Ah Li, or even Amonev herself, could not descend. They could only communicate by voice.
But this was enough. It wasn’t as if Shi Ming was summoning her for a fight.
All he needed was "communication."
A secret communication—
"Ahem. This whole time, I’ve been wondering how you managed to grow to such a terrifying degree in such a short period. You completely mastered the Civilization Prologue and advanced from the Legendary rank to the Nirvana rank in less than two years. You also had the audacity to confront five New Gods at once and even became the sole successor of the First Civilization Cosmic Country. I have to say, I’m truly impressed."
"In a sense, you have fully matured into a qualified collaborator, one that any New God would have to treat as an equal."
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
"The effect of ’Conceal’ lasts for thirty minutes, enough for us to have a frank exchange. As a show of good faith, I will hold nothing back."
The voice of Ah Li, the woman in the Star Skirt, was ethereal and distant.
Shi Ming thought for a moment, then asked his first question.
"Back at the Undersea Pyramid, you tied me up, took me to that mysterious space, and forced me to learn those obscure and difficult languages. What exactly was your purpose?"
The voice of the woman in the Star Skirt returned without much delay.
She seemed to have already anticipated that Shi Ming would ask such a question.
"As I’ve said, we’re searching for potential collaborators. The basic threshold for a collaborator has two requirements. First, one must either be a creature born on that planet or possess a natural affinity for a certain something. Second, one must master the Civilization Prologue. Only by satisfying both conditions is it possible to seize the fruit cultivated by a certain ambitious individual."
"I trust that by now, you understand what I mean by ’fruit’."
In the eyes of Ah Li, the woman in the Star Skirt, Shi Ming could only have achieved what he had today because he had obtained the "fruit" cultivated by Bertutan. Otherwise, how could he possibly have advanced from the Legendary rank to the Nirvana rank in such a short time?
It was a truly heaven-defying fortune.
But she had no idea that Shi Ming possessed the Eye of the Divine—the ultimate cheat. With it, he had learned the Civilization Prologue in just one week. He had then slain several S-rank Holy Hall Sea Beasts, fused them to create the Fallen Sanctuary, and used that as a foundation to kill the Seven-headed Holy Hall Sea Beast and even defy his rank to kill the Active Wormhole from the Star Sea and Rui Liang of the Dark Star Race...
Even if Bertutan had never existed, he still would have become a true Numbered Nirvana Powerhouse!
As for the Divine Rune he obtained later, that could be considered an arrangement of fate. Possessing the Eye of the Divine, it was only natural that he would attract the Divine Rune; in essence, it was an inevitability.
"Collaborators? What kind of collaboration are you proposing?" Shi Ming asked his second question.
The lonely echo soon returned.
"If we were to follow the original plan, our collaboration would be to find the fruit cultivated by that ambitious individual and attempt to intercept it."
"But now,"
"the scope of our collaboration can be upgraded. We need to kill certain usurpers from 120,000 years ago. This will complete an extremely difficult task and activate a god’s core remains."
"The Heart of Chaos."