Chapter 223: Promoted to Wuliang Sea! Emperor's Watch and Protection! Building the Immortal

Chapter 223: Ascending to the Boundless Sea! Imperial Gaze and Shelter! Forging an Indestructible Projection!

The thunderous, irrefutable two strikes that Qin Feng had just delivered did not stir up a lasting storm.

In this void, where five star regions and hundreds of thousands of top-tier prodigies converged, there were no eternal enemies—only eternal interests.

When the crowd realized that this fearsome champion from the 117th Galaxy had targeted only those two unlucky souls with whom he held old grudges, and had no intention of breaking the grand rule forbidding slaughter here, the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere gradually dissipated.

Of course, after this battle, nearly every elite from the other four galaxies had mentally equated the name "Qin Feng" with "extreme danger."

They all deeply understood that this was a ruthless, decisive, and unfathomably powerful brute.

Once the storm had settled, Qin Feng’s figure flickered, and he silently melted into the dense crowd, finally stopping beside a familiar, slightly plump silhouette in an inconspicuous corner.

It was his ally, the intelligence broker, Huo Yuan.

"Heh heh…"

Feeling the newcomer’s presence, Huo Yuan turned his head, his face instantly breaking into his trademark grin. "Qin Feng, you’re truly fierce! It’s only been a short while since we parted, and now you’ve become the top champion of the 117th Galaxy!"

"Just luck," Qin Feng replied with a faint smile, neither confirming nor denying.

Huo Yuan lowered his voice, his tone brimming with satisfaction: "Luck or strength, those two shots just now really finished off Wolf Seven and Temur! How satisfying! If those two hadn’t ambushed us back then, how could we have lost the ‘Heavenly Vine Fruit’!"

Qin Feng smiled but said nothing.

Huo Yuan glanced around, ensuring no one was paying them attention, then continued in a mysterious tone: "By the way, Qin Feng, let me fill you in on the general situation here."

"Right now, this is the unspoken rule.

All the top elites are maintaining order. No one makes a move; everyone waits quietly for the first batch of those who entered the library planets to come out."

"In other words, they’re letting others scout ahead, to see what exactly lies inside these nine planets."

Huo Yuan explained, "Don’t think the posts on the forum are all that accurate. That information was scraped from old imperial archives. Apparently, in a few past editions of the Cosmic Genius Tournament, this place was used as a trial ground, so some scattered info could be found. But times have changed—who knows what it’s like inside now?"

"Especially regarding difficulty—no one’s sure yet.

The post only says you need a ‘River Realm’ baseline, but that standard is too vague. What exactly awaits inside, how the difficulty scales across each planet—we’ll only know once the first batch comes out."

"Time’s about up. The earliest entrants have been in for nearly three months now. Someone should be emerging from the first planet soon."

Listening to Huo Yuan’s detailed analysis, Qin Feng nodded slightly in understanding.

These top prodigies were indeed no simple-minded brutes.

Beneath the seemingly calm waiting lay the safest and most efficient strategy.

A few months meant little to them.

So, like Huo Yuan, he found a spot in the void, sat cross-legged, and waited quietly.

Time flowed slowly through the dead cosmic vacuum.

Wolf Seven and Temur, slain again by Qin Feng, did not return to this cluster of library planets after rebirth.

They knew well that with Qin Feng’s vengeful nature, if they dared show their faces here again, they would be instantly killed on the spot.

Back when the Genius Tournament had just begun, they had joined forces to steal ten of Qin Feng’s "Heavenly Vine Fruits" and even hunted him down to death.

Now the tables had turned; their strength was inferior, and being targeted by Qin Feng like this was unavoidable—they had no one to blame.

Rather than return to suffer further humiliation, it was better to hurry elsewhere and seek other opportunities.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed silently.

Finally, one day, at the smallest of the nine planets, the divine entrance shimmered faintly, and a slightly weary figure stumbled out.

This instantly drew everyone’s attention.

After briefly adjusting to the outside environment, the figure steadied itself.

Seeing the tens of thousands of gazes fixed on him, he first paused, then seemed to understand, and a friendly smile spread across his face.

"Friend, would you mind sharing what you saw inside the first library planet?"

Immediately, a strong contender stepped forward and asked politely.

This martial artist was a prodigy from the 115th Star Sector, named Han Yu.

He was quite amiable and, facing the crowd’s inquiries, did not hold back but freely shared his personal experience.

"Everyone, the first planet’s interior is an enormous mental labyrinth."

Han Yu’s voice, transmitted through mental waves, reached every person present clearly.

"We enter through the only entrance. Once inside, we must rely on our own mental strength, amidst endless forks and torrents of information, to find the sole exit."

"Within that library maze, there is a massive, chaotic flood of knowledge—data streams far beyond imagination.

At the same time, various mental pressures of shifting intensity assault us from all directions. To advance, we must constantly drive our mental power to analyze, filter, and process the nearly infinite data, to find the one correct path to the exit."

He paused for a moment, as if searching for a better analogy.

"Hmm… simply put, the whole process is like an ultra-high-difficulty educational puzzle game.

As you continuously solve the maze and process information, your total mental capacity, control precision, and resilience all unknowingly improve."

"As for the larger planets beyond,"

Han Yu pointed to the distant giants, "I speculate their core principle is the same.

Only, the larger the planet, the more internal data streams and the stronger the mental pressure, naturally providing a greater tempering effect on our mental strength."

"Oh, and one more crucial point."

Han Yu added, "You needn’t worry about conflicts when entering together. Inside the library maze, you will always be alone, as if isolated in an independent spatial dimension—you never encounter any other martial artist."

"I see!"

"Thank you for the clarification!"

After hearing Han Yu’s detailed explanation, everyone present nodded, their doubts dispelled.

After that, a few more martial artists emerged from the first planet’s exit one after another.

The information they shared was largely the same as Han Yu’s, confirming his account.

As for those who entered earlier but had yet to emerge, their fate was self-evident.

They likely failed even the first and simplest library planet and were forced to commit suicide to respawn.

Thus, everyone fully understood.

This was indeed a rare treasure ground—requiring no killing or conflict, much like the Enlightenment Stele in the small war zone—where one could purely rely on their own effort to hone their mental strength.

Only, it contained no inheritance of killing techniques.

Once the operating principle of the library planets was confirmed, the previously silent void instantly became lively.

Figures, without any further hesitation, transformed into brilliant streams of light, like weary birds returning to their nests, darting toward the entrance of the first and smallest planet.

“Let’s go, Qin Feng! This is a rare opportunity!”

Huo Yuan’s face also revealed an expression of excitement and anticipation.

“I’ve only just stepped into the ‘River and Ocean Realm.’ If I can successfully traverse all nine of these library planets, perhaps I can truly push through in one go and complete fifty percent of the ‘Infinite Sea’ path!”

“Let’s go.”

Qin Feng nodded slightly.

His figure, too, turned into a stream of light, shooting straight into the entrance of that first planet.

Light and shadow shifted, space transformed.

When Qin Feng’s vision cleared once more, he found himself within a vast, boundless, and magnificent labyrinth.

The walls of the labyrinth were not made of any known substance, but were tightly piled from thick, ancient books.

These walls soared into the clouds, their tops hidden in a hazy mist, with no end in sight.

Qin Feng roughly estimated that even this ordinary wall before him, stretching from his position to the first corner in the distance, was composed of at least tens of thousands of books.

And these books, exuding an air of antiquity, were not physical entities.

They were, in fact, condensed from the purest and most immense spiritual energy!

Hum—

From all directions, the endless walls of books constantly emanated a spiritual pressure vast as a sea of smoke.

This pressure was not directly aggressive, but like an invisible ocean, it tightly wrapped and squeezed those within from every dimension and corner.

“In such an environment, relying solely on physical intuition to find a way out is utterly useless.”

With just a brief perception, Qin Feng immediately grasped the core rules of this place.

“The only way to break through is to actively emit one’s own spiritual energy, to contact and analyze the spiritual will and vast data contained within these books—like playing an ultra-high-difficulty puzzle game, unraveling threads to gradually find the one correct path to the exit.”

With this thought, he hesitated no longer.

He slowly closed his eyes, and his spiritual energy, already refined like a river, extended forward like invisible tentacles, cautiously touching the nearest wall of books.

Boom!!!

In the instant of contact, a torrent of information, violent and indescribable, rushed along his spiritual tentacles and slammed into his spiritual sea!

It was countless fragmented knowledge pieces—philosophical debates of long-dead alien civilizations, intricate trajectories of celestial bodies, and utterly illogical mutterings…

All of it, in the most primitive and chaotic manner, mixed together, attempting to shatter and drown his thoughts.

In just a moment of contact, Qin Feng felt a fatigue from the depths of his soul.

But he had anticipated this.

With a thought, his internal spiritual energy began to circulate slowly according to the profound method of the *Ten Complete Hands*.

A warm, nourishing aura instantly flowed through his spiritual sea, swiftly repairing the fatigue and depletion caused by the information onslaught.

At the same time, he opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing the “spiritual mushrooms” he had prepared, which contained pure spiritual energy. They turned into streams of cool energy, continuously replenishing his consumption.

Loss, replenishment, growth.

In this delicate cycle, his spiritual energy did not weaken under the torrent of information; instead, like steel tempered through repeated hammering, it experienced an extremely slow but solid improvement through each loss and recovery.

“Just as Han Yu said, it’s like playing a puzzle game specifically for spiritual energy.”

A faint smile appeared on Qin Feng’s face.

He felt no pain, but instead immersed himself completely in the unique sensation of solving riddles and strengthening himself.

Time flew by in this monotonous yet fulfilling cultivation.

A month later, when Qin Feng finally emerged from a twisted light gate, he had successfully completed this first and simplest library labyrinth.

He could clearly feel that his progress bar toward the “Infinite Sea” had advanced by about two percent.

Without any pause, he flickered and directly plunged into the entrance of the second, larger planet.

The second labyrinth’s spiritual pressure and information flow far exceeded the first.

This time, Qin Feng spent a full half year to successfully traverse it.

His gains were equally immense, with the progress toward the “Infinite Sea” increasing by another five percent.

Two years later, he passed the third library labyrinth, and the progress rose again by eight percent.

…

Years passed silently, time flowed on.

Qin Feng shuttled single-mindedly between one labyrinth after another.

All his focus was devoted to resisting and analyzing the endless torrents of information, long forgetting the passage of time.

Twenty years later.

When Qin Feng was deep within the eighth, the penultimate library labyrinth,

his spiritual energy, which had long accumulated to a critical point, finally underwent its ultimate transformation during a deep analysis of massive data.

There was no earth-shattering sound of a bottleneck breaking, nor any violent release of energy.

Everything happened so naturally, like a dam filled to the brim, overflowing of its own accord.

At that moment, the boundaries of the countless surging “rivers” within his spiritual sea completely dissolved.

In their place was a truly boundless, vast, and ethereal ocean—with no end in sight!

The Fifth Planetary Limit, the Infinite Sea, achieved!

The so-called “Infinite Sea” refers to the “droplets” of spiritual energy’s origin, now so numerous as to be endless, like a true ocean.

When the newest droplet of spiritual energy was born at the source of his sea and merged into this ocean, it could not even stir a single ripple before dissolving completely.

In the instant of breakthrough, Qin Feng felt his entire “vision” undergo a radical change.

The spiritual pressure and information torrent that had once been as heavy as mountains and as turbulent as raging waves now, in his perception, became like a gentle breeze and a babbling brook, no longer posing any real obstacle.

He no longer needed to deliberately analyze; with just a thought, the complex labyrinth that had trapped him for years—all its structures, information nodes, and correct paths—appeared clearly in his mind, as if reading the lines on his palm.

After completing this final breakthrough, in just a few days, he easily traversed the eighth library labyrinth.

He could feel that his spiritual energy had been greatly enhanced in this last sprint.

However, because he had reached the Infinite Sea realm, the total amount of spiritual energy had reached a level difficult to measure with specific numbers.

Thus, the exact degree of improvement could no longer be seen as clearly as before; he could only rely on his feelings to perceive it vaguely.

Afterward, Qin Feng entered the last and largest library labyrinth without pause.

This time, he felt an unprecedented ease.

The terrifying pressure that could halt any peak “River and Ocean Realm” genius in their tracks was now meaningless to him.

The information torrent that could shatter any solid spiritual defense could not even raise a single ripple before his vast, ocean-like spiritual energy.

Qin Feng strolled leisurely through this ultimate labyrinth. In the end, it took him only a year to successfully traverse the ninth and final labyrinth.

When he stepped out of the light gate at the exit and returned to the familiar vacuum of space, his eyes shimmered with an unprecedented brilliance.

"So, when the spiritual force reaches the 'Boundless Sea' level, it brings not merely an increase in 'quantity,' but a leap in 'quality' as well."

Qin Feng floated silently in the void, carefully comprehending the changes within himself.

"Its core lies in the increase of the 'quantity' that can be summoned.

Simply put, before this, every use of spiritual force was like a river surging—though mighty, it had its limits.

But upon reaching the 'Boundless Sea' level, each invocation is like drawing upon the entire vast ocean!

This means that whether it is my spiritual pressure, my spiritual destructive power, or my speed of thought, computational ability, analytical capacity... everything has undergone a fundamental, qualitative transformation!

This is the enhancement of the single-use summonable quantity."

Qin Feng had completely drained the opportunities of this place.

For him now, these nine planetary libraries had lost all value for further stay.

He had already reached the pinnacle of the planetary stage—the realm of the "Boundless Sea."

Now, there was only one thing left for him to do.

That was to condense, within the formless subspace, his own eternal, indestructible—subspace projection!

With this thought, Qin Feng felt no further attachment.

His form flickered faintly in the void, then vanished entirely.

Space shifted, and Qin Feng's figure reappeared on that barren planet eternally covered in ice and snow, back inside the isolated ice cavern deep within its core.

Outside, the wind and snow howled without cease.

Qin Feng sat cross-legged, his entire aura now perfectly rounded to an extreme.

The vast spiritual force of the "Boundless Sea" level was contained within his sea of consciousness, not leaking a single trace, making him appear like a lifeless ice sculpture, completely merged with his surroundings.

He did not rush to begin, but first spent several days adjusting his state to its peak.

Then, he slowly closed his eyes, sinking his mind entirely into the foundational cultivation method he had already comprehended countless times—the "Canaan Sutra," Planetary Chapter.

According to the scripture, a martial artist at the planetary stage, after cultivating their spiritual force to the "Boundless Sea," could begin to attempt the leap to a higher life realm—the stellar stage.

The only path to ascension was within that mysterious, independent subspace beyond the physical universe, using one's vast spiritual force as "bricks and stones" to construct a unique, personal—"Indestructible Projection."

Once the projection was successfully built, it meant the martial artist's life essence had undergone a fundamental transition.

From then on, even if the physical body in the real universe was destroyed, the soul and will could find eternal refuge within that indestructible projection, truly achieving "immortality and indestructibility."

Yet, when Qin Feng truly began to follow the methods in the scripture to attempt constructing his own "Indestructible Projection," he realized he had underestimated everything.

The process was far more difficult than he had imagined!

Even the first step was like an insurmountable chasm, firmly blocking his path.

What is subspace?

According to the "Canaan Sutra," subspace is a realm purely composed of spirit and will, the collective thoughts of all intelligent life, the "other side" of the physical universe.

Qin Feng possessed spiritual force at the "Boundless Sea" level—this was beyond doubt.

But relying on this immense spiritual force to enter that mysterious "spiritual realm" was far from easy.

It was not a simple "shifting" or "entering," but a higher-dimensional "transition."

Even this first step—guiding his spiritual force to sense, touch, and merge with the "spiritual realm"—had to strictly follow the exceedingly complex instructions recorded in the "Canaan Sutra," in a layer-by-layer, unraveling manner, with extreme patience, bit by bit, to feel that elusive "presence."

This process was tedious, lengthy, and demanded near-cruel precision in controlling spiritual force.

Even with Qin Feng's current cultivation and temperament, it took him a full year before he finally captured, in this endless desolation, that faint pulse from a higher dimension—the mysterious "spiritual realm."

Another several months passed before he finally succeeded, with careful guidance from the scripture, in "diving" his vast, ocean-like spiritual force into it.

Buzz—!

In an instant, the world spun!

An indescribable sensation of weightlessness and dislocation, surpassing all physical laws, swept through his entire perception!

When his "vision" finally stabilized in this new realm, he was utterly awestruck by the sight before him.

Within his spiritual perception, this so-called "subspace" was like a boundless, deep "starry sky" equivalent to the physical universe.

The only difference was that in this "starry sky," there were no actual stars, planets, or nebulae.

Instead, there were only countless "Indestructible Projections," each radiating light of varying brightness!

These projections took myriad forms—some were sharp swords, some were majestic pagodas, some were ancient, weathered tripods, and some were smooth, jade-like mirrors...

Their numbers were infinite, their density even greater than the galaxies in the physical universe!

"So... so the Human Empire actually possesses this many stellar-level experts? This... this is beyond counting!"

Qin Feng's mind was struck by an unprecedented shock.

He knew that every "Indestructible Projection" here represented a stellar-level expert who had truly stepped into the realm of "immortality and indestructibility!"

Among these projections, as numerous as stars, some had already turned into pure, immortal gold!

According to the "Canaan Sutra," this meant that the owners of these projections had surpassed the stellar level and were even more powerful—galactic-level beings!

What made Qin Feng's heart tremble even more was that deeper among these projections, he also "saw" some "points of nothingness," like black holes, impossible to describe in form.

Those represented black hole-level experts!

Yet, all this was not the most shocking.

In the farthest and most central region his spiritual force could perceive, he "saw" a golden deity, too great for any words to describe!

That deity sat upon a magnificent golden throne of unimaginable scale; his figure seemed both infinitely large and infinitely small.

Just sitting there, a terrifying spiritual fluctuation, surpassing all of Qin Feng's understanding, radiated from him, sweeping across the entire subspace network, and at an infinite distance, formed an enormous, boundless, indestructible golden barrier!

Though this golden giant had his eyes closed, Qin Feng felt an overwhelming certainty that he could see everything in this subspace!

And the countless "Indestructible Projections" belonging to human experts all existed orderly under the protection of this golden barrier.

They were like precious artworks, carefully collected and protected, with no external, chaotic force able to disturb this "subspace sanctuary" exclusive to humanity within the barrier.

"So that's it..."

At this moment, Qin Feng suddenly understood.

He truly felt the immense contribution that the Emperor seated upon the golden throne had made for all of humanity!

Without this "sanctuary" upheld by his supreme power, the countless expert projections in subspace would have long been annihilated or corrupted by those chaotic, evil Chaos Gods!

All of humanity would never again have immortal, indestructible stellar-level experts!

The martial path beyond the stellar level would be completely severed!

After a long period of shock, Qin Feng slowly withdrew his mind, burying the reverence from the depths of his soul deep within his heart.

"Let's continue."

He began to refocus on his own cultivation.

Following the contents recorded in the "Canaan Sutra," he attempted, using his vast spiritual force, to condense his first projection within this subspace "sanctuary"—a tower.

As for the location of the construct, Qin Feng held no particular preference.

With a casual sweep of his gaze, he selected a secluded corner that appeared relatively vacant, devoid of the dense convergence of projections, and prepared to begin.

Yet, at the exact split second his initial strand of mental energy was about to coalesce into form.

A supreme, majestic force—utterly beyond his comprehension and entirely irresistible—suddenly descended!

Immediately following this, Qin Feng discovered to his horror that the very coordinates where he was about to commence building his projection had been forcibly relocated by this majestic force to an entirely different place!

—To the immediate periphery of that Golden Throne, which radiated an endless, divine brilliance!

In this region, which could well be deemed the absolute core of the entire Subspace Pure Land, there already existed a vast multitude of immortal projections whose auras were terrifying to the extreme, alongside numerous points of nothingness, each exuding a suffocating pressure that left him breathless.

To construct one's own immortal projection here was equivalent to building it directly within the innermost circle, right beside the Emperor Himself!

What... what manner of supreme honor was this?!

Who was he, Qin Feng, to deserve such merit?!

Could this be a token of special favor from the Emperor Himself, who sat enthroned upon that golden seat?

"..."

Qin Feng's mind shook violently.

He could even distinctly perceive that above the Golden Throne, the deity who resembled an eternal, blazing sun seemed to be casting a gaze across infinite time and space, quietly watching him.

After a brief moment of panic, Qin Feng forced himself to regain his composure.

"No matter!"

Hardening his resolve, he shook his head and cast aside all stray thoughts.

Since he had already been moved here, he would make his peace with it and settle in!

No longer pondering the underlying reason, he channeled the entirety of his mind and soul into the cultivation of the Canaan Scripture, commencing the construction of the nine-hundred and ninety-nine-layered—Immortal Tower!

As long as this high tower was successfully constructed, he would truly break through to the Stellar rank.

From that moment onward, he would be deathless and indestructible!

Within that Subspace Pure Land belonging exclusively to the human race, shielded by supreme majesty.

Beside that Golden Throne which radiated eternal splendor.

Qin Feng embarked upon the most critical and sacred step of his path through human martial arts.

This process proved to be a hundred times more arduous than he had ever imagined.

What he needed to do was start from the very first, most fundamental brick and stone required to sketch this magnificent tower.

This was no simple matter of imagination or visualization, but rather a creation of a higher dimension.

He had to utilize his own indestructible martial will as a carving knife, and his vast, boundless mental energy as raw material, to outline stroke by stroke upon the invisible canvas of subspace the tens of thousands of exceedingly intricate energy lines and mental imprints contained within that single brick.

Every single stroke had to achieve absolute precision, without the slightest deviation.

Each line traced felt as though it would drain a river from his sea of consciousness; the consumption of his mental energy reached an unprecedented, terrifying degree.

At the exact same time he was fully concentrated on sketching this first brick within subspace, a wonderfully bizarre sensation quietly descended.

He could clearly perceive that his physical body, currently sitting cross-legged within the ice cave of the real universe, was also undergoing a simultaneous, profound transformation!

This was a wondrous correspondence that transcended space and dimension!

A correspondence between the material realm and the spiritual realm!

Time slipped away quietly amidst this state of extreme focus.

One month later.

Accompanying the placement of the final mental imprint, that brick, condensed entirely from Qin Feng's mental energy and will, finally took stable shape, floating beside the Golden Throne.

At that very instant!

Within the ice cave of the real universe.

Qin Feng’s physical body, which had remained dormant for a month, gave a sudden, violent jolt!

The psionic core within his body abruptly erupted with a dazzling light.

Simultaneously, his boundless sea-level mental energy poured down from his invisible sea of consciousness, violently colliding and merging with that pure psionic energy in the exact manner recorded within the Canaan Scripture!

Boom!

An indescribable, agonizing pain and a sense of rebirth erupted within his body at the same time.

Through inner vision, he could clearly see the massive accumulation of psionic and mental energy within his psionic core rapidly reacting, twisting, and shaping itself, ultimately transforming into a brick identical to the one he had constructed in subspace!

The moment this internal brick took shape, a surge of unprecedented, powerful, and pure strength fed back from it, instantly flowing through his limbs, bones, and every single cell!

His physical body, at this very moment, received a massive, essential elevation!

"As expected... this aligns perfectly with what was expounded in the Canaan Scripture!"

Qin Feng slowly opened his eyes, carefully experiencing the changes within himself, his heart filled with clear understanding.

"The process of constructing an immortal projection is, in its essence, establishing a blueprint within subspace, and then using mental energy and psionic power as raw materials to conduct simultaneous construction within the physical body of reality."

"Therefore, depending on the grade of the fundamental refinement method each martial artist cultivates, the immortal projections they choose to construct will naturally vary greatly.

And the form of the projection directly determines the differences in their physical strength and capability biases after ascending to the Stellar rank."

Qin Feng's gaze seemed to pierce through time and space, once again seeing the countless projections of various shapes and forms within that Subspace Pure Land.

"Those martial artists who choose to construct projections like ancient bells, ancient towers, ancient mirrors, jade platters, giant rulers, ancient cauldrons, or giant furnaces are, without a doubt, cultivating the highest tier of fundamental refinement methods.

This type of projection possesses a stable form and a balanced structure; once successfully constructed, whether it is physical defense, strength, or endurance, they will all become exceptionally formidable, and their defense on the spiritual level will be equally terrifying, leaving virtually no shortcomings to speak of."

"And those who choose to construct weapon-type projections such as sabers, spears, swords, or halberds are also cultivating what can be considered top-tier refinement methods.

This type of martial artist may possess unparalleled specialization in pure strength or extreme speed, making them highly aggressive.

But correspondingly, they will inevitably have relatively obvious shortcomings in other areas.

This refinement method presumably wins out due to its lower construction difficulty and faster shaping speed."

"As for those... who construct all sorts of random, disorganized projections, like fishhooks, water bottles, starships, or even a piece of standard power armor... they are likely cultivating the lowest grade of refinement methods."

An involuntary sigh of emotion rose within Qin Feng's heart.

"Martial artists who choose this kind of refinement method are probably mostly those with limited talent, who had nearly exhausted their lifespan at the Planetary rank but could not find a breakthrough.

To extend their lives, they had no choice but to select the method with the lowest difficulty and the easiest shaping process to take a shortcut; this too is a helpless act born of necessity."

"But..."

The grand, majestic figure seated upon the Golden Throne emerged once more in Qin Feng's mind.

"The Emperor deeply loves the entirety of the human race.

His majestic power, His protection, is equal.

Whether it is those peerless geniuses who construct supreme divine artifacts, or these ordinary martial artists who are forced to take shortcuts because their lifespans are ending, He treats them all with the same benevolence, granting them the exact same protection, and bestowing upon them the same deathless immortality."

...

After fully comprehending the changes within himself, Qin Feng calmed his mind once more and began a new round of construction.

Time flies.

Three months passed, and under his unyielding efforts, the second and third "bricks" also coalesced into form within his subspace projection and physical body.

Yet, just as he prepared to press on and construct the fourth "brick,"

his calm, unruffled mind was abruptly interrupted by a sudden, overwhelmingly intense signal.

Qin Feng snapped his eyes open.

Not because his cultivation had gone awry.

But because of a hunger—the most primal hunger from the very core of his flesh!

This hunger was no ordinary craving for food; it was a cellular-level, extreme yearning for higher energy!

Each construction of an "Indestructible Projection" brought a tremendous enhancement to the essence of his body, and such enhancement demanded vast amounts of spiritual energy resources from the real universe as support!

At the same time, his "Boundless Sea"-level mental strength, after three months of high-intensity, high-precision "creation," had also shown clear signs of fatigue and depletion, requiring the intake of resources imbued with pure mental energy for replenishment.

"It seems... I cannot rely solely on ascetic cultivation to complete the construction of the 'Indestructible Projection.'"

Qin Feng slowly rose to his feet, feeling the waves of weakness coursing through his body, and understood completely.

"The cultivation at this realm is, in essence, the same as every previous realm.

The more resources, the faster the construction of the 'Indestructible Projection'!"

With this thought, he hesitated no longer.

Qin Feng stepped forward, leaving the ice cave that had sheltered him for decades, ready to embark once more on the path of hunting for resources.

"Hammer."

As Qin Feng flew toward the surface, he called out in his mind: "Any latest news on 'Wolf Seven' and 'Temur'? Help me look it up—I need to borrow some resources from them."

(End of this chapter)