Chapter 575 - 530: The Infinite Brain Evolves Again
???
This is what you call a rebirth?
Hearing this, the Colorful Insect was overcome with rage. Its very origin, already unstable from being overdrawn and burned, finally gave way, and it plummeted from the [Celestial Calamity] realm to the [Disaster] realm.
It had been forcefully regressed a whole tier!
’Cunning human!’
’I, the Bicolored Celestial Calamity, will never rest until you are dead!!!’
Shi Ming sensed the Colorful Insect’s emotions and spoke in a calm tone:
"If you’re not satisfied with this rebirth, then regressing from Celestial Calamity to Disaster also counts as one. This means you can once again experience the process of growing from weak to strong, making your insect life all the more fulfilling."
"Two rebirths. What more could you ask for?"
He didn’t have time to bother with this Colorful Insect that had supposedly "seen the light." A creature like this, which would inevitably cause disaster if released, could only be kept under control. Besides, Shi Ming had never promised it freedom in the first place.
He had merely tampered with a few tributaries of fate.
Right now, Shi Ming had more important things to attend to.
His gaze was fixed on the new abyss carved out by the Sword in the Stone—a strike that had cost him 90% of his Spiritual Power. Huang Ji’s remains had been torn into fine fragments, but her origin was indestructible, slowly coalescing within the abyss.
Just then, a notification from the Eye of Destiny appeared before him.
[Congratulations!]
[You have completed the Eye of the Divine’s mission: Slay the False God!]
[One of the false gods who blasphemed against the divine has received the punishment of death. The Divine Blood within its veins will soon return to true tranquility.]
[Reward: Evolve the Infinite Brain]
Two types of energy separated from Huang Ji’s corpse and gathered together. There was also an abstract authority that failed to coalesce and was on the verge of dissipating.
These were the origin of the numbered Nirvana Skill [Life] and Huang Ji’s other Nirvana origin, [Grace]. There was also the divine authority, the [Gift of Proliferation]. The [Gift of Proliferation], being an authority, could not be repurposed. As it returned to the Star Sea, it precipitated a strange energy. This energy was absorbed by Shi Ming’s Right Arm Red Pattern, becoming the key to evolving the Infinite Brain.
Shi Ming felt his thoughts become hundreds, even thousands of times clearer. The power of his Brain Domain was activated to a much greater extent, as if he had undergone an evolution that spanned multiple tiers.
It felt like seconds, yet also like hours had passed. Finally, a notification of a successful evolution flashed before his eyes. At last, the final component, the Brain of Creation, had also evolved to its third tier, catching up to the same level as the Eye of Destiny and the Arm of Judgment.
[Brain of Creation, evolved.]
[Infinite Brain, evolved.]
[Brain of Order, activated.]
[...]
[The end of infinity is order.]
[Congratulations. You have not only mastered the path of infinite evolution through upgrading, but also the path of reverse regression through downgrading. This is the order of balance, an eternal law of the universe.]
[As before, the Brain of Order inherits all the powers of the Infinite Brain and adds three new abilities.]
[Downgrade: The counterpart to the ’Upgrade’ ability of the ’Brain of Creation.’ ’Downgrade’ allows the Brain of Order to make a targeted object lose most of its abilities for a short period, regressing it to its original Level 1. The longer the downgrade lasts and the more levels it spans, the greater the consumption of the user’s Spiritual Power.]
[Finite: The counterpart to the ’Infinite’ ability of the ’Infinite Brain.’ ’Finite’ allows the Brain of Order to lock a target’s current upper limit, preventing it from being enhanced or receiving any buffs. This lock is a form of confinement. Only by dismantling it with equivalent power or eroding it with time can the ’Finite’ lock be broken.]
[Balance: ’Balance’ exists between ’Infinite’ and ’Finite.’ ’Balance’ can forcibly raise or lower a target locked by the Brain of Order to a level roughly equivalent to the user’s for 3-30 seconds. The greater the disparity between the target and the user, the shorter the duration of the balance, with a minimum of 3 seconds.]
[...]
Shi Ming blinked.
The text vanished.
The abilities of the Brain of Creation’s third form completely exceeded his imagination. He had originally assumed that the final form of the brain—the most difficult part to evolve among the Arm of Power, the Brain of Creation, and the Eye of Intelligence—would simply be an extension of its previous abilities. He never expected it to be the complete opposite, leading in a contrary direction.
Where there is Upgrade, there is Downgrade.
Where there is Infinite, there is Finite.
And the ambiguous domain between them is Balance.
Among them, "Downgrade" could only be used on objects, while "Finite" and "Balance" could be used on living beings. "Finite" could prevent an enemy from receiving buffs and lock their upper limits. "Balance" gave Shi Ming a "50/50" ability. No matter how absurdly powerful the enemy he fought, or how weak the ally he worked with, he could achieve an even match for a short time, dragging powerful enemies down to a level he was comfortable with, or raising weak allies to a level on par with his own.
Truly balanced.
With just a few rough ideas, Shi Ming had already devised several strategic uses for the "Brain of Order."
With the completion of the [Slay the False God] mission, two of the Eye of the Divine’s three missions were now complete. Only the final one, [Ascension Ladder], remained. The requirement for [Ascension Ladder] was for Shi Ming to bypass the exclusivity restriction of Nirvana Skills and obtain the numbered Nirvana Skill 18. He then had to use it as a catalyst to fuse the Eye of Destiny, the Arm of Judgment, and the Brain of Order, evolving them into the final "Eye of the Divine."
Shi Ming now had some leads on how to bypass the exclusivity restriction.
He had been constantly optimizing the method from Bai Yimo and now had a concrete, workable prototype. However, as for the numbered Nirvana Skill 18, he had still never heard of it, had no idea where it might have ended up, and didn’t even know its name.