Chapter 547: God Seed Emerges, Time-Space Ark

Within the Inner World, the Yin-Yang Galaxy.

Zhao Xing's gaze was fixed on the green planet, which was now emitting a faint, expanding glow.

"The Primordial Seed is finally about to sprout."

"I've waited almost ten thousand years for this."

Zhao Xing was a little excited.

The Divine-grade Primordial Seed was born when he cultivated his Inner World using the World-Splitting Divine Stone, at the point when his Self-Path broke through to the Samsara level.

Since its birth, it had been in the form of a seed planet, constantly gestating.

It had absorbed the power of the World-Splitting Divine Stone, the Time Particles given by the Boundless True God, and the essence condensed by the Primal Chaos Dao Tower. Even slightly lower-grade resources were at the level of World Hearts!

Additionally, a large number of realm stones fed into his Inner World also benefited the seed, and Zhao Xing had been feeding it with seven-colored magic power for years. Among the three cultivation paths, he had invested the most in his Self-Path. A significant portion of the wealth gained from developing the Extinguished Star Ancient Path, becoming the head of the Primal Hills, defeating the Carlos family, and completing Evil God tasks, had been used to nurture it.

Even the legendary Spirit-Devouring Trees could only consume what it discarded; as for other Emperor-grade units? They were left with mere scraps.

"Zhao Xing, you seem quite excited," Hua Li, the Divine General, remarked, watching alongside him.

As the hidden fourth Guardian Divine General, Hua Li had always resided within Zhao Xing's Inner World.

She was different from Bowei; she could roam freely throughout Zhao Xing's Inner World, whereas Bowei was restricted to specific areas on the Boundless Continent.

In terms of trust, Hua Li was more trusted by Zhao Xing. Bowei, Yan Ao, and Lu Ya were all protecting his path due to high-level missions, but Divine General Hua Li had proactively stepped forward to guard Zhao Xing after Gu Luohe's inquiry.

"You must understand how I feel." Zhao Xing rubbed his hands. "I've invested so much for ten thousand years, and now the seed is finally sprouting, it's like, it's like..."

"Like a child is about to be born?" Hua Li asked with a smile.

"Exactly," Zhao Xing laughed, "that's precisely it."

"Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species – Five Elements, Wind, Thunder, and Space-Time. What kind of child do you wish for? What talents do you hope it possesses?" Divine General Hua Li inquired.

Before the Primordial Seed hatched, its type was unknown; it would only be revealed after gestation was complete.

"How can one pick their child? Whatever it is, I will nurture it well and help it grow," Zhao Xing chuckled.

"Excellent," Divine General Hua Li praised. "Only a Steward Farmer with such a mindset can properly raise their destined Primordial Seed."

As they chatted, the Primordial Seed finally completed its gestation. With a resonant hum, the last wave of divine light diffused, then all the auras abruptly converged.

Eventually, the planet vanished, replaced by a tiny sapling.

The sapling floated towards the sun within the Yin-Yang Galaxy, stopping at its periphery.

This instinctive action delighted Zhao Xing. It absorbed the sun's essence rather than the moon's brilliance – could it be a Solar Treasure Tree?

Zhao Xing and Divine General Hua Li quickly followed.

Since gestation was complete, checking the panel quickly revealed its information.

**Kewyang Divine Tree****Type:** Solar Treasure Tree, Time-type**Quality:** Divine-grade**Status:** Sapling Stage**Innate Divine Skill (Active):** Time Stasis; The Kewyang Divine Tree can temporarily root itself in the River of Time, slowing down or even completely halting the flow of time.**Innate Divine Skill (Passive):** Phase Fire Reversion; The Kewyang Divine Tree's roots can absorb the sun's essence for growth.

"Wow, it's actually a Solar Treasure Tree with time-based talents!" Divine General Hua Li exclaimed immediately.

Zhao Xing was also stunned; he hadn't expected such a sudden surprise.

"Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species – Five Elements, Wind, Thunder, and Space-Time." This was a phrase Steward Farmers of the Self-Path often recited when cultivating Primordial Seeds.

Because cultivating a Primordial Seed was like opening a blind box, with both its talents and type determined by two separate 'rolls'.

Getting a tree-child was always better than a grass-child; among all plants, tree-types undeniably had the strongest foundations.

Next were the talents: Five Elements, Wind, Thunder, and Space-Time referred to the types of innate abilities.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth – the Five Element talents – were the baseline and most common.

Wind and Thunder talents were more advanced; it was rare for plants to possess abilities in the wind and thunder series.

The top-tier talents were Space and Time!

Time-types were the strongest, followed by Void-types.

Back then, a single Moyun Vine could easily defeat peers and even battle those beyond its rank.

However, as a vine, Moyun's foundation was slightly weaker. There were many Void-types stronger than it; for example, if the Kontong Tree and Moyun Vine were of the same rank, the Kontong Tree would be superior to the Moyun Vine.

Of course, the advantage of vine-types was their rapid growth and less time and energy required for cultivation.

"Its roots step on Yin and Yang; a Solar Treasure Tree appearing as a Primordial Seed signifies a top-tier foundation, and its talent being time-based means your Primordial Seed has reached its full growth potential!" Divine General Hua Li couldn't help but exclaim.

"Congratulations, Zhao Xing! You've got a fantastic, plump baby boy!"

"Hahaha, thank you for the praise, I'm just lucky." Zhao Xing was so happy he even wanted to give Divine General Hua Li a red envelope.

Time Stasis and Phase Fire Reversion, both active and passive talents, were divine skills. It was still only in its sapling stage. More innate divine skills would emerge in the future. Once this great tree matured, he could confidently traverse the endless realms of space and time.

"That's not just luck; you must have fed it many good things, right?"

"Yes, I fed it Time Particles, the divine power essence of a True God," Zhao Xing said.

"You truly put your heart into it," Divine General Hua Li praised.

Investing time-based treasures as nutrients didn't guarantee the emergence of time talents. Zhao Xing's willingness to do so clearly showed his dedication.

The Time Particles given by the Boundless True God were worth two hundred million contribution points. If he used them himself, they could grant him four chances to achieve godhood. Feeding them to the Primordial Seed? That was a rather extravagant approach.

"But you'll be quite busy from now on," Divine General Hua Li laughed. "One wrong move, and your tree-son might just eat you out of house and home."

"Indeed." While happy, Zhao Xing also felt a touch of melancholy. Raising his tree-son would undoubtedly require a high-quality growth environment and food.

It already needed Divine-grade treasures before; now, it probably wouldn't settle for anything less.

"Divine General Hua Li, you have experience, what should I feed it?"

"I don't know either," Divine General Hua Li said. "But you have so many divine artifacts; you could place a few before it and observe. As a Solar Treasure Tree, it should be able to pulverize ordinary divine artifacts and absorb the divine essence within power artifacts or Dao artifacts."

"Okay!" Zhao Xing gritted his teeth and pulled out seven of the less useful treasures from Wei Tianchen's legacy. He had previously possessed nine marketable items, two of which he had traded for a Space-Time Valley Rain Robe, leaving him with seven: five Dao Artifacts and two Power Artifacts.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

With a push of his hands, Zhao Xing sent all seven divine artifacts towards his tree-son.

Crack~

Indeed, as Divine General Hua Li had said, the Kewyang Divine Tree immediately began to destabilize the foundations of these divine artifacts, absorbing their power.

"It's not as hard as the World-Splitting Divine Stone, nor as mighty as the Time Particles. If it can absorb the power of those two, crushing these lower-tier divine artifacts is no difficult task."

"It has a great future ahead," Divine General Hua Li remarked, watching the divine tree devour the essence of the divine artifacts, finding the scene quite beautiful.

Soon after, all seven divine artifacts were consumed clean. The remnants were discarded onto the Boundless Continent, left for the Spirit-Devouring Grass little brother to eat.

As a Primordial Seed born within Zhao Xing's Inner World and nurtured by him for a long time, the Kewyang Divine Tree was perfectly synchronized with his thoughts and feelings.

Zhao Xing could feel that the Kewyang Divine Tree's 'spirit' was clear and warm; even in its sapling stage, it wasn't as muddled as the Spirit-Devouring Grass sapling.

"It's quite an eater," Divine General Hua Li chuckled, covering her mouth.

Zhao Xing, however, looked a bit troubled. Despite eating so much, his tree-son had only grown a single leaf.

According to the panel, it was still in its sapling stage; clearly, seven low-grade divine artifacts were insufficient to move it beyond this phase.

"After the sapling stage comes the growth stage, then maturity, and finally peak. Who knows how many treasures it will need through these phases." After the initial excitement, a wave of melancholy set in.

Although he still had many divine artifacts left, they were all very useful. His tree-son also wanted to consume the Space-Time Valley Rain Robe he was wearing, but Zhao Xing still needed it himself.

After observing for a moment, Zhao Xing moved the Primal Chaos Dao Tower closer.

Boom!

Zhao Xing now controlled the second formation layer of the Primal Chaos Dao Tower, capable of mobilizing over 1000 points of divine power. Divine power descended from the tower like rain, sprinkling onto the small tree.

"Worldly Divine Radiance!"

"Primal Chaos Divine Foundation!"

Zhao Xing cast two Self-Path divine arts; both were auxiliary divine techniques.

At this moment, the entire Inner World's power was mobilized by these two divine arts, accelerating the small tree's growth.

"You scoundrel, what are you doing?!" On the Boundless Continent, within a manor, Bowei's face was extremely grim as he looked at the large patches of dead vegetable seeds in his garden. "I cultivated these derivative species for five thousand years, and I finally managed to grow them!"

Zhao Xing's activation of divine arts naturally affected the entire realm. He was so overjoyed that he forgot Bowei was still tending to his vegetables.

As a result, almost half of the seedlings in Bowei's experimental plot withered.

It truly was a disaster for the seedlings.

"I'm sorry, Elder."

Zhao Xing hurriedly went to apologize to Bowei.

"I apologize to you."

"If apologies were useful, would I still be confined?" Bowei's face remained stern.

Zhao Xing was a bit puzzled. These seedlings weren't particularly high-grade, yet Bowei seemed to value them greatly.

"I'll re-plant them for you—"

"Hmph, no need. Get out!"

Bowei flicked his sleeve and entered the manor directly. He activated his Realm Link, indicating he had no desire to deal with Zhao Xing for the foreseeable future.

Zhao Xing was somewhat annoyed. With Bowei adopting such a business-like attitude, he might not answer his daily questions anymore.

Path guardians only intervened in life-and-death crises. Bowei's usual explanations, and even his teaching of methods, were purely out of goodwill.

"Well, luck truly balances out. I just got a divine tree, and now I've gone and angered Bowei." Zhao Xing reluctantly withdrew from his Inner World.

In the Xuanling Star Domain, there was a "Divine Selection Bureau" jointly established by the Primeval Heavenly Palace, Samsara Divine Hall, Primal Hills, Scarlet Star Empire, Ancient Kingdoms Alliance, Scholarly City, and Demonic God Hall.

This bureau selected candidates for godhood from across the entire domain. Based on their meritorious deeds, they would collectively open certain realm passages at designated times, allowing the demigod candidates to traverse space-time barriers and journey to space-time territories, granting them opportunities for ascension.

The magnitude of the opportunity and the location of ascension were determined by contribution points and ranking.

Zhao Xing's benefit from writing the Ten Directions Mountain Sutra was the ability to summon path guardians, but this was separate from contribution points. His contribution points were determined purely by merit, primarily from the Era Worm warning incident.

Even after receiving one hundred and fifty million contribution points, Zhao Xing only ranked over 800th in the contribution standings.

"With your contribution ranking, don't even think about the distant space-time territories," Little Yellow Duck said, sliding the mirror with its wing. "The top hundred are one group, 101st to 500th are another, and 501st to 1000th are a third. These three groups go to different space-time locations."

"According to the Divine Selection Bureau's contribution system, the top hundred have the greatest chances of achieving godhood. Looking at past eras, among a hundred people, more than ten can achieve godhood. In the luckiest instances, over half have become True Gods."

"Among the second group, fewer than ten succeed."

"As for those from 501st to 1000th, there might only be one or two, or even none at all; it could be a wasted trip."

"The success rate for godhood in the first tier is surprisingly high," Zhao Xing was a little surprised; he had thought it would be very low.

Even on average, the first tier's chance of godhood was forty percent, and in some exceptionally lucky batches, it even exceeded fifty percent.

"Opening realm passages to traverse space-time is, of course, done with confidence. You get what you pay for; greater contributions earn greater blessings."

"While you, Steward Farmer Zhao, are brilliant and uniquely talented, your contribution to humanity is just over one hundred and fifty million, and that's largely thanks to Qing Yu Zi. Otherwise, you'd still have to struggle for even the third-tier opportunity," Little Yellow Duck stated pompously.

"You're right," Zhao Xing said humbly. "I'm just curious; I have no complaints about the arrangements."

Over long periods, many demigods had quietly contributed to humanity, and even during the invasions of Era Worms, Heavenly Dimension Behemoths, and Chronicle Worms, many risked their lives to complete contribution missions.

For the past five thousand years, he had barely taken any risks, simply traveling to various places to observe mountains and seas. Thanks to the Ten Directions Mountain Sutra, he gained the protection of three path-guarding Divine Generals, and then acquired a massive amount of contribution points from Qing Yu Zi's warning incident. This treatment was far superior to that of other demigods, truly preferential.

Regarding the matter with Elder Qing, if it weren't for the information he incidentally provided, an ordinary demigod likely wouldn't have received so many contribution points. There was still some prestige bonus and personal favor involved.

"Before you depart, I must remind you," Little Yellow Duck said solemnly. "Space-time traversal is inherently dangerous. Do not act recklessly just because you have profound blessings and the protection of path-guarding Divine Generals."

"With your talent, comprehension, and foundation, even if you go to a third-tier opportunity location, you are almost guaranteed to become a True God. Do not be overly greedy and put yourself in a dangerous situation."

"Yes," Zhao Xing replied respectfully. "I will certainly remember that."

No risk, no harm. Lu Ya was reminding him not to get too carried away.

"Next are some rules for space-time traversal. They're all written here, take a look. If you don't understand anything, don't ask me, ask Bowei." Little Yellow Duck flicked the Star Mirror over and then closed its eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Zhao Xing took the Star Mirror and saw that its content was a set of space-time traversal guidelines.

The space-time traversal guidelines first clarified several temporal concepts.

"First, traversing space-time requires enduring backlash from the River of Time. There will always be backlash, only its magnitude varies, unless one has already achieved godhood and reached a state of complete divine concealment."

"Second, the point in time before traversal is the return point, and it's the best way to reduce backlash."

"If godhood has not been achieved, the error cannot exceed ten realm-star years."

"This means if I depart from the sixth solar year of the Barren Domain's Third Era, I must return during the sixth solar year as well, even down to the precise realm-star year, month, and day."

"Because my karmic line, fate line, and life line all begin to reverse from this solar year. If the breakthrough to godhood fails, I must revert to the correct temporal sequence."

"Assuming one becomes a god, the error can be larger because divine beings can converge the three lines from birth to the present. However, to quickly enter a semi-divine concealment state, it's still best to minimize the error in the return time point."

Since Black Robe had already explained some of the intricacies, Zhao Xing found it easy to understand now.

Assuming he travels through space-time on the first realm-star year, October 1st, of the sixth solar year, if he fails to achieve godhood, he must return to that very day.

The smaller the error, the smaller the backlash; the larger the error, the greater the price endured.

"Upon arriving in a historical space-time, one should minimize interaction with people to the greatest extent possible, thereby reducing karmic chaos."

"After traversal, there is a limited safe period. If one has not achieved godhood by the end of this safe period, they must return immediately, or problems will arise."

"What kind of problems?" Zhao Xing was somewhat puzzled, but Little Yellow Duck was asleep, and Yan Ao was rather aloof. After much thought, he concluded he could only ask Bowei, the God of Scholars.

Fortunately, it was about serious matters, so Bowei did not shut him out.

"Karma, fate, life – numerous Great Daos run through your entire existence. In the River of Time, these Great Daos are as minute as threads." Bowei tossed three threads into the river in front of his manor.

One end of the threads was fixed to a wooden stake in the river, while the other extended continuously downstream.

"The stake point is your birth point; it is fixed. Before this point, you did not exist."

"Beyond the stake, your thread floats forward in the River of Time. This process is your journey of living forward."

"Normally, this process is irreversible. As the thread itself, you are powerless to change it."

"The end of the thread is the space-time you currently inhabit."

"However, at times, external forces intervene, like this." Bowei reached out, pinched the end of the thread, lifting it from the river and folding it back.

"In doing so, you depart from the present, and at this point, you begin to be affected."

"Tell me, what kind of effects would there be?" Bowei asked, like a teacher posing a question to a student.

Zhao Xing looked at the lifted thread, thoughtfully saying, "My thread has lengthened... no, it's been stretched by an external force."

"What are the consequences of it being stretched?" Bowei pressed on.

"An additional segment of karma would appear for no reason, the fate line would be diluted, and calamities would arise," Zhao Xing replied.

"Correct," Bowei nodded. "Your karmic line originally only interacted with the sixth solar year of the Barren Domain's Third Era, with limited blessings and misfortunes. However, after traversing the River of Time, the longer your karmic line stretches, the more karma it automatically accumulates."

"Misfortunes will be borne twofold."

"Why aren't both blessings and misfortunes doubled?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Because returning to a past space-time inherently violates the natural laws of the universe's Great Dao. If too many people exist at the same time, the universe's natural laws will automatically eliminate anomalous situations because it cannot bear the strain."

"Karmic lines and fate lines must be considered together. The true feedback is that your calamities will increase, and you might even lose control over the advent of True Spirit Tribulations."

"Unless one has already achieved godhood and entered a state of divine concealment, the price is somewhat smaller."

"It seems that demigods traversing the River of Time is a dangerous endeavor," Zhao Xing mused.

"Of course, it's very dangerous. This is originally an exclusive ability of divine beings, and even ordinary divine weapons won't suffice; one needs to be at the Divine General level, or rely on external forces like divine artifacts and formations."

"Normally, demigods selected by the Divine Selection Bureau have at most three opportunities to contend for a chance at godhood. And for the same location, the success rate decreases with each attempt."

"If one fails to achieve godhood after three attempts, there's basically no hope left; by then, the backlash would be too immense for a demigod to withstand."

Bowei pointed his finger upstream from the stake. "If it's after your birth point, it's slightly better. But if it's before, then after three attempts, returning to the past is tantamount to suicide."

"Because my existence in the past space-time is, by nature, non-existent." Zhao Xing understood that the danger varied depending on the period traversed.

"Yes, but once you become a god, the problems I just mentioned are no longer issues; they are all bearable prices," Bowei said. "Therefore, the first journey through the River of Time is crucial."

"What does the 'safe period' mentioned in the guidelines mean?" Zhao Xing asked. "Also, if I can't return through normal means, can I survive on location and eventually return to the Third Era?"

"The safe period is calculated from when you re-enter the River of Time after traversal. Exceeding a certain time frame will intensify karmic, fate, and even lifespan tribulations."

"As for whether you can survive on location and live back to the Barren Domain's Third Era..." Bowei chuckled. "If you achieve godhood, there's a slight chance you could withstand the backlash. But every day you live would consume double or even more of your lifespan, and you'd face more tribulations. If you're tired of living, then yes, you could certainly try that."

"In reality, you wouldn't be able to do it."

"Why?"

"Because the time barriers jointly constructed by the two great divine factions block that possibility," Bowei explained. "Suppose you return to the Eighth Era before the Barren Domain, and then you want to return to the Barren Domain's Third Era by living on location."

"And suppose there's a time barrier in the Seventh Era before the Barren Domain. When you live up to that point, you'll find that time simply stops."

"Stops?" Zhao Xing was somewhat confused.

"The time barriers set by the two great divine factions contain many space-time traps. You'll find yourself perpetually stuck on a certain day, endlessly circling in a vortex of the River of Time."

"Or you might find everything around you has become static, unable to move, with only your thoughts remaining active, but your divine body's essence fixed."

"Until one side discovers you and either kills you or rescues you."

"And the possibility of being killed is greater."

"However, these are traps prepared for gods. As a demigod, you shouldn't worry about such matters right now."

Zhao Xing nodded, then peppered him with many scattered questions. Finally, he asked a crucial one: "Elder, if I achieve godhood, how do I converge these lines, making them fully condense into a ball of thread, no longer bound by the paths of karma and fate?"

"Heh heh."

Bowei couldn't be bothered with Zhao Xing and simply shut the door.

This fellow was trying to get his techniques for free again.

Zhao Xing felt a bit awkward seeing Bowei refuse him.

He indeed wanted to get techniques for free from Bowei, because when he asked Black Robe about this question, it required payment.

To his surprise, Bowei saw through his intentions and had no intention of letting him continue getting things for free.

"Sigh, I still haven't appeased him," Zhao Xing sighed helplessly. "I wonder when Bowei will cool down."

With his mind withdrawn from his Inner World, Zhao Xing continued to read the space-time traversal guidelines.

After understanding the rules, he awaited the Divine Selection Bureau's departure for space-time traversal.

He could then disembark at any time and choose a specific space-time secret realm.

This was both a collective action and not, as there were numerous time points available for selection.

Zhao Xing waited in the Beihai Divine Palace, located in the First Void Ancestor Galaxy of the Primeval Heavenly Palace.

The departure time of the Divine Selection Bureau was confidential; Zhao Xing himself didn't know.

However, he didn't wait for the departure, but for Ji Si first, because Ji Si had also gained qualification for godhood after returning from the Heaven's Grace Star Domain.

"Grand Steward Farmer, which space-time secret realm do you plan to choose?"

"I haven't decided yet. In any case, it's a third-tier opportunity, so there shouldn't be much difference between the space-times, right? I was waiting for you," Zhao Xing said, planning to act together with Ji Si.

"Grand Steward Farmer, there still are differences," Ji Si smiled. "The Triassic, Chaotic River, and White Glaze periods of the Mesozoic Dao Manifestation Era encompass the complete Five Emperors era."

"After the Five Emperors era, there are 365 known Spirit Domain Eras of the Cenozoic era."

"Following the Spirit Domain Eras are the three Eras of the Barren Domain."

"The two great divine factions claim space-time as their territory, establishing their dominance and constructing barriers. During these periods, defensive strengths vary, meaning even third-tier opportunities have qualitative differences, depending on whether the chosen time point is correct."

"Wait a minute, why are there known and unknown eras?" Zhao Xing wondered. "Isn't it 365 eras since the end of the Luo Emperor Era?"

"Actually, no," Ji Si shook her head. "Historical periods aren't just empty talk. After the Five Emperors era, there was a blank fault line, a period with no records. When traversing the River of Time, chronicles usually serve as guidance, so choosing where to go becomes crucial."

"In the Barren Domain's Second Era, it was still believed that only 347 eras had passed since the end of the Five Emperors era."

"However, after Bowei activated the World-Transmitting Tower, the history of 365 eras was confirmed."

"With the chronicles extended and new guidance, more locations became available for traversal. This is why stellar historians tirelessly verify ancient historical texts."

"As for whether there's an even longer period since the Five Emperors era? There's no definitive answer yet. These historical space-times are precisely what the two great factions are contending over."

Zhao Xing then remembered that Ji Si also cultivated as a Fate Officer, so he would defer to his judgment.

"I don't understand your historian's jargon, but since you're here, I'll just follow your lead," Zhao Xing laughed.

"It's rare for the Grand Steward Farmer to not have to use his brain," Ji Si chuckled.

"So, do you have any good suggestions?" Zhao Xing asked.

"It depends on which type of Steward Farmer God the Grand Steward Farmer wishes to become first," Ji Si pondered. "Do you want to become an Earth God first, or a God of Self?"

"Of course—"

Just as Zhao Xing was about to speak, Yan Ao suddenly appeared within the Beihai Divine Palace.

"Greetings, Martial God Yan," Ji Si saluted with clasped hands.

"Mm," Yan Ao nodded, then transmitted mentally, "Ji Si, Zhao Xing, the Divine Selection Bureau's Space-Time Ark is about to depart. Both of you, follow me."