At the summit of Myriad Gods Mountain, unfathomable darkness veiled the sunlight.
Passing through this darkness would allow one to return to the Old World, and now, that darkness was gradually shrinking.
This was partly because the connection between the New World and the Old World was slowly severing, but also because the exploitation of the Old World by the Primordial Tree of Origin and the Three Thousand Celestial Federations had gradually reached the bottom line of the Old World's World Will. The weakening of the Old World had also led to the decline of this darkness.
Rosen walked out from the Mysterious Study Room and used the Eternal Information Source to condense a spacetime fishing rod.
Though information isn't as adaptable as Mimicry—unable to perfectly convert into other Source Essences—its plasticity far exceeds Mimicry. While one can't edit Eternal Spacetime Source using the Eternal Information Source, crafting an Immortal-level Spacetime Source that's one tier lower to form a spacetime fishing rod isn't difficult.
The hook dropped toward the ground, where spacetime ripples formed a temporal pool.
Reflected on the surface of the water was a view of the distant Void beyond the New World. Soon, a swarm of Void Worms appeared within the scope of the spacetime pool. The fishing hook, as if alive, burrowed into the body of a True God-level Void Worm, and with a sudden yank, the worm was hauled out of the pool.
The spacetime worms that Rosen once had to painstakingly search for could now be casually fished up.
The Void Worm struggled on the hook, but layers of sealing traps quickly pacified it.
The commotion caused by its resistance, unsurprisingly, alarmed the Immortal Godfiends hidden in the sea behind Myriad Gods Mountain.
But Rosen hadn't arrived in person—only a Bronze Dragon Avatar was fishing at the mountain's peak.
This avatar was just one step away from True Godhood. All it needed was sufficient time and extraordinary materials of the Spacetime attribute to concoct a potion and ascend. The Void Worm was the perfect spatial material. As for temporal material—that was far more difficult to come by.
After catching the Void Worm, Rosen shifted focus to real fishing.
This time, his target was the All-Spirit Bone Fish, a legendary creature said to dwell only in the deep sea. This fish appeared to be made only of bone; its flesh was actually a transparent soul body. The bones could strengthen one's own, and the flesh could repair the soul—even Great True Gods could benefit from its effects.
The All-Spirit Bone Fish was extraordinarily rare. Rosen had only located a few through the Main God Network.
Once one was hooked, Rosen released Divine Fire of Spacetime and began to roast it.
The light roasting melted away its divinity, and the ingredient was sent into the Radiant Kingdom.
Li Shiqing quickly sliced the soul into sashimi and boiled the bones into soup. With this legendary ingredient, she immediately consumed the potion she had long prepared and began ascending toward Sequence 0. Relying on the power of the All-Spirit Bone Fish, she would become an Immortal Sequence with a Source Growth of 14 points.
Seeing that the fish had disappeared, Rosen waited half a day without seeing the food served.
At last, the Immortal Godfiends hidden in the shadows could no longer hold back. One of them flashed into view on the other side of the spacetime pool, gazing at the water's surface.
Rosen cast his line again and caught another All-Spirit Bone Fish. This time, he prepared to cook the delicacy personally.
With the Gourmet Sequence mastered through his Creator-Scholar status, his creativity was far inferior to Li Shiqing's—but when it came to simply following a recipe, the culinary skills of a True God-level Gourmet could still surpass hers.
The fish slices and bone broth were divided into two portions. One portion floated toward the Immortal Godfiend across from him.
"You knew I love All-Spirit Bone Fish the most… Seems like you've nearly gathered all of the Source Seeds of Eternal Omniscience."
The Immortal Godfiend—whose appearance resembled an old fisherman—sighed as he savored the aroma of the fish bone soup.
"I don't know that much—at the very least, I don't know your origin."
Rosen replied modestly.
"I was once the progenitor of the Dragon-Bore Giants in the Old World. Just call me the Old Fisherman."
The elderly fisherman said casually, "You've come in peace, either to form an alliance or to seek information. If it's to form an alliance, there's no need—because the truth of the world is simpler than you think. If you're here to seek information, then fish for the kinds of catches I request, and I'll answer you."
"Then it's a deal." Rosen nodded after weighing his options.
The old fisherman bluntly listed all kinds of legendary catches. Even the lowest among them wasn't inferior to the Myriad-Spirit Bonefish. They were all ultimate trophies scattered across the far corners of the New World, nearly impossible to find.
With each catch delivered, Rosen would receive a piece of the information he sought.
The final fragment of the Eternal Omniscient Source Seed was, unsurprisingly, in the hands of the World Will.
The World Will had already formed a temporary alliance with several Immortal Godfiends.
Beyond the end of the New World was indeed the Cosmic Dark Sea. Besides that, there was also the Cosmic Void. Heading to the Origin Dark Sea was a dead end, while venturing into the Cosmic Void required a vessel on the level of the Doomsday Ark—and the dangers there were no less than those of the Origin Dark Sea.
In the end, Rosen learned one more thing: it was forever impossible to ascend to the rank of Immortal Godfiend within either the New World or the Old World.
Only in the Origin Dark Sea could one gain the chance to become an Immortal Godfiend.
Among the current Immortal Godfiends, excluding the Immortal Evil Gods, all had originated from the Cosmic Void. Normally, it wasn't easy for Immortal Godfiends to return to the New World. This time, only with the World Will's initiative and assistance did a few manage to return.
Rosen still wanted to know more about the Origin Dark Sea and the Cosmic Void, but the old fisherman refused to speak.
It wasn't that he was unwilling to say it—it was that the cost of speaking was too high.
The fact that Immortal Godfiends who had already gained freedom were willing to return to the New World—whether for the power and treasures of the ancient gods, or because the World Will had promised irresistible benefits—proved that the World Will had some confidence. It dared to betray the ancient gods and had the means to convince the Immortal Godfiends to cooperate.
At last, Rosen asked the most pressing question in his heart. "Why don't you all just directly seize the Source Seed of the Eternal Game?"
"There are many reasons," the old fisherman replied with a chuckle. "Simply put, a few stand out. The more Source Seeds you hold, the harder they are to cultivate. Unless it's perfectly compatible with the Eternal Source you already control, having more Source Seeds isn't necessarily better. Also, the Source Seeds are condensed from the divine essence of Immortal Godfiends. If the Source Seed remains, the Godfiend cannot die.
So the Source Seeds come with inherent risks. The more you possess, the stronger you must be to suppress them.
It's clear you hold many Source Seeds. I suggest you merge them into artifacts to control them indirectly.
As for why we old relics haven't acted to seize the Eternal Game's Source Seed—it's because if an Immortal Godfiend goes all out, it would only provoke the slumbering ancient gods. With your current strength, you're already qualified to ask the World Will for benefits.
There are many things we can't say without disturbing the ancient gods—but the World Will has its ways of doing so without alerting them."
Once the transaction ended, the old fisherman vanished without a sound.
Rosen had achieved half of his goal. Though the alliance failed, he had gained the information he needed.
Through the Main God Network monitoring the New World, he quickly discovered that the World Government had revoked its internal bounty on him.
It was clear that the old fisherman had communicated with the Immortal Godfiends behind the World Government. The three mysterious Immortal Godfiends had learned that Rosen possessed power comparable to their own, so they viewed him as an equal and believed he was qualified to join their plan with the World Will.
The moment Rosen slipped into the Spirit Realm, the Immortal Godfiend possessed by the World Will had already sensed him.
It was obvious. While the World Will did not have absolute control over the deep sea of the Spirit Realm, it had complete authority over the surface.
"The old fisherman has spoken with me." When the World Will appeared, it handed Rosen a chip without joy or sorrow.
Rosen accepted the chip and read its contents through the Main God Network. As he read, he began to forget the contents.
So there's still a gap between me and the Immortal Godfiends... The old fisherman simply couldn't say it. I can't even remember it.
Within his sea of consciousness, the secret bronze book opened and recorded the information from the chip.
Only then did Rosen understand what the World Will was truly planning.
Those Ten Tribulation Civilizations had indeed been thrown into the Origin Dark Sea by the World Will.
But it wasn't because the World Will intended to exterminate them—it was because Forbidden Godfiends needed the power of the Origin Dark Sea to ascend to Immortal Godfiends. Also, while the World Will was all-powerful within the New World, outside of it, it was nothing. It couldn't even send someone to the Cosmic Void.
Throughout history, Ten Tribulation Civilizations were rare, but Forbidden Godfiends were not few.
Almost every Ten Tribulation Civilization could escape the Origin Dark Sea. Even ordinary Forbidden Godfiends had a thirty percent chance of escaping. Those three Forbidden Godfiends who perished when the Doomsday Ark capsized back then—those were deliberately sabotaged by the World Will.
Because the Doomsday Ark was of great importance to the World Will, and those three had stolen it from the World Will.
Though the survival rate was only thirty percent, anyone who survived could become an Immortal Godfiend.
So far, at least fifteen Immortal Godfiends had survived from the Cosmic Void.
However, the number of Forbidden Godfiends who escaped the Origin Dark Sea and became Immortal Godfiends was far more than just fifteen. Most of the rest perished in the Cosmic Void.
If the Origin Dark Sea belonged to eternal beings and Origin Beasts, then the Cosmic Void belonged to intelligent civilizations.
In the universe, there were more than just the Old God and the World Tree as Eternal Beings—they were merely the two oldest among them.
In the eyes of all Eternal Beings throughout the universe, the Old God and the World Tree were textbook examples of what not to do.
And yet, there's a saying among humans: "The only lesson mankind learns from history is that mankind learns nothing from history."
The same applied to Eternal Beings. Though they knew that fighting other Eternal Beings would only lead to mutual destruction...
As the ages passed, more and more Eternal Beings still died from conflict.
Some wanted to become stronger in order to transcend the universe. Some had lived too long and were bored, seeking entertainment. Some were simply tired of existence and wanted to experience death. For all sorts of reasons, Eternal Beings continued to repeat the same mistakes.
Now, there were no active Eternal Beings in the universe.
They were either half-dead like the World Tree, or asleep with wounds like the Old God.
Thus, the rulers of the Cosmic Void were Immortal Godfiends—each capable of claiming an entire supercluster as their dominion.
Each supercluster held as many stars as grains of sand in the Ganges. Compared to the Cosmic Void, the New World was but a speck of dust.
And yet even ten thousand superclusters might not outweigh a single New World in terms of value.
Because the Cosmic Void was primarily void—stars were just embellishments. Almost all were mundane, lacking supernatural energy. Stars capable of birthing Beyonder lifeforms were exceedingly rare. Let alone Immortal Godfiends, even True Gods were unlikely to be born with the meager mystical resources available in the Void.
To cultivate, Immortal Godfiends had no choice but to brave the Origin Dark Sea and hunt Origin Beasts.
Of course, the Cosmic Void wasn't completely without benefits. Though Beyonder life was difficult to produce, ordinary life could thrive on ordinary life-bearing planets. That meant every Immortal Godfiend ruling a supercluster had countless believers providing a constant stream of faith.
Though the spirituality of such believers was weak, and their faith paled in comparison to that of intelligent life in the New World, enough droplets could still form an ocean.
But if life was so comfortable in the Cosmic Void, why would the old fisherman and the others risk returning to the New World?
The answer was obvious—they coveted the power of the Old God and the World Tree. As the two oldest Eternal Beings, the Old God's Eternal Plunder and the World Tree's Eternal Compatibility far surpassed most Eternal Sources in terms of hierarchy.
Even a fragment of their Plundering Source Seed or Compatibility Source Seed would be enough to let one plunder and fuse the source seeds of other Eternal Beings.
Only then could one have the chance to inherit an Eternal Being's body and attain the possibility of promotion to an Eternal Being.
Ascending from Immortal Godfiend to Eternal Being required an astronomically large amount of resources.
Using both the Old and New Worlds as a measure—even if they were drained dry, even if the slumbering Old God were extracted of everything—at most, they could produce three Eternal Beings. In short, the number of Eternal Beings in the universe could only decrease, not increase.
Only from the corpse of a deceased Eternal Being could new Eternal Beings possibly be born.
However, even after death, the corpse of an Eternal Being was untouchable for Immortal Godfiends.
The Old World that Rosen casually destroyed was, at best, remnants of an Eternal Being's corpse.
Even so, it wasn't easy to destroy. A complete, intact Eternal Being's body was entirely immovable.
A powerful True God could easily shatter the continents of the New World, but was utterly helpless before the New World itself.
Even though the destructive power of an Immortal Godfiend was a hundred times greater, to the New World, the most they could cause was superficial damage.
The rate of destruction likely couldn't even keep up with the New World's self-healing speed.
That was why, even with many Eternal corpses in the universe, Immortal Godfiends could only extract minor benefits at most.
To fully absorb the power of a corpse and ascend to an Eternal Being through their own means—that day would never come, no matter how long they lived. But sentient life needs goals to survive. That's why Immortal Godfiends racked their brains trying to return to the world of the Old Gods.
However, even if the Ancient God was asleep, trying to steal fragments of the plundering and compatibility origin seed was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. Without the help of the Will of the World, the chances of success were almost nonexistent.
Especially since the dangers hidden within the Ancient God World were far more complex than just the slumbering Ancient God.
Even a mere group of Immortal Godfiends had set their sights on the sleeping Ancient God—naturally, the Eternal Beings who had once roamed the cosmos were no exception.
Some were slain by the awakened Ancient God while coveting its power, and others, severely injured, had chosen to hide within the Ancient God World.
Eternal Mimicry, Eternal Evolution, and Eternal Miracle all originated from the Eternal Beings who had died in the Ancient God World.
And that was only what the Will of the World knew—who knew how many more it didn't.
Because whenever the Ancient God awakened, the Will of the World would undergo a reset. It had no idea what happened during that period of awakening, nor where the corpses of those Eternal Beings had been placed by the Ancient God.
But one thing was certain—those Eternal Beings, like the World Tree, were dead yet not truly lifeless.
The information provided by the Will of the World held immeasurable value for Rosen.
He didn't fear a difficult path forward; what worried him most was not being able to see the road ahead, blindly stumbling forward. Now that the path lay clearly before me, as long as the Will of the World isn't lying, if I continue cutting through all the obstacles, I'll eventually reach the end and fulfill my wish. The question is—how are they going to acquire fragments of the Eternal Plundering Origin Seed?
After all, that would be like pulling a tooth from the jaws of the Ancient God—it was nearly impossible not to alarm it.
Once the Ancient God awakened, even if still injured, it could roam the cosmos and easily reclaim the lost fragments.
So not only did they need to steal the fragments, but they had to do so before the Ancient God awoke. Then they would need to use the seed's power to seize the corpses of other Eternal Beings, and afterward, even return the fragments to the Ancient God. Though it sounded simple, in truth, every step was like dancing on the edge of a cliff.
Rosen had wanted to know how the Will of the World planned to achieve this, but no matter what, the Will refused to tell him.
Because while he had the combat power of an Immortal Godfiend, he utterly lacked their eternal will.
A Great True God could possess the will of an Immortal—naturally, an Immortal Godfiend was expected to wield eternal will.
When it came to willpower, the gap between Immortal Godfiends and Eternal Beings wasn't one of quality, but of quantity.
Eternal Beings were born powerful, whereas Immortal Godfiends had grown stronger step by step through countless life-and-death trials.
In terms of origin, Immortal Godfiends were far inferior to Eternal Beings, but when it came to willpower, the difference wasn't so drastic.
And without eternal will, Rosen wasn't even qualified to know about some of the arrangements made by the Will of the World.
Thus, even though he had been accepted by the Will of the World and a few Immortal Godfiends, he still wasn't truly qualified to participate. The Will of the World merely believed he could become an Immortal Godfiend before the plan began—so it revealed a little, just to give him some pressure to grow.
At the same time, it was also meant to calm him down, in case he unintentionally messed up the plan with his Immortal-level power.
Even though he hadn't learned the rest of the plan, Rosen still had other gains.
The Eternal Omniscience Seed Fragment in the hands of the Will of the World was given to him as a gift to win him over.
Once Rosen obtained it, he immediately fused it into the All-Knowing Devil Eye. With the seed now complete, his ability to discern all things had no more blind spots. He couldn't claim to see through the essence of absolutely everything, but at least anything below the Eternal level couldn't hide many secrets from him.
Originally, he had planned to clash with the Four Major Forces—but it seemed that fight wasn't going to happen after all.
Without him even saying anything, the Four Major Forces directly gave up portions of their territory to him.
Although the total area was less than half of each faction's domain, it was enough for Rosen to resettle the Celestial Humans. What troubled him most now was—should I still use the Virtual Source Realm to poach their talents?
After deep consideration, Rosen decided to put that on hold, and instead shifted his focus to the Starshot Ballista.
At least fifteen Immortal Godfiends had survived and escaped. Clearly, only a few had returned to the Ancient God World. Some may simply have been unwilling to take the risk, while others were likely scheming from the shadows, hoping to reap the benefits. Whoever was behind the Starshot Ballista was most likely the latter.
Moreover, Rosen would never fully trust the Will of the World or those old fishermen. If I want peace of mind, I need to prepare my own backup plan.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even know if he was being set up. Only with a proper fallback would he dare to gamble everything.
(End of chapter)