Chapter 1007 - Heavenly Gates

Wang Zhong still lived at Old Cow’s flower shop. However, he now had a lot of free time as plucking weeds and delivering goods no longer involved Lao Wang. Of course, Old Cow did not need to do them either. Now, those who fought to do all these would queue from the start to the end of the street, especially the wolf goblins… who did not differ much from the dog goblins.Meanwhile, Wang Zhong had more energy to focus on continuing cultivation. The Devouring Heaven Technique was the foundation that he relied on. He definitely had to continue practicing hard. Furthermore, Wang Zhong had also come across several cultivation techniques from the divine territory to compare with.

Frankly speaking, the Devouring Heaven Technique completely relied on breathing to absorb the spiritual influence in the world. There was a world of difference between this technique and the cultivation techniques in the divine territory with developed systems, no matter whether it was in terms of process, extent of control, depth, details, or other aspects. Even though the techniques were no more than the most popularized streetside techniques, they were much more exquisite in these aspects as compared to the Devouring Heaven Technique.

However, the Devouring Heaven Technique had two extremely special advantages. Firstly, when he cultivated the Devouring Heaven Technique, it was simple and crude, and absorbed all kinds of spiritual influence. It did not lay any special emphasis on certain types of spiritual influence, unlike other techniques. For example, the cultivation method of the Titans emphasized absorbing lightning spiritual influence. However, the Devouring Heaven Technique absorbed all types of spiritual influence from the world. Furthermore, in reality, this kind of method would not work in the divine territory as spiritual influence could not be retained without the “differentiation and disintegration” process. However, Wang Zhong’s body could do it. It was obvious that this was a coincidence.

However, the Devouring Heaven Technique had a second advantage, which was also the biggest and most impressive advantage — its cultivation speed.

Every time he inhaled and exhaled spiritual influence, even though it only looked like he was breathing in and out, in reality, hundreds of millions of divine cells were carrying out repeated actions at the same time. Thus, the efficiency instantly increased by several times. In this aspect, the Devouring Heaven Technique was much faster than the ordinary techniques that Wang Zhong found. Furthermore, the amount of spiritual influence stored also increased by several times. If not, how would he have been able to break through the shackles of a level-4 civilization and achieve a Spiritual Energy Value of 100,000 in the short span of two months?

A change in quantity had also led to a change in quality. This was definitely not an easy technique he had obtained by chance, which was what he had thought in the beginning. Instead, it was a necessity and a miracle that only someone who had divine cells like Wang Zhong could create.

The divine cells and the 5 Elements formed the Devouring Heaven Technique. However, this kind of technique could not be made universal. Achieving divine cells on Earth was possible, but in the divine territory, the difficulty would be immediately increased. Such heaven-defying power was very difficult to achieve with the rules in the divine cells.

However, it was a pity that even the heaven-defying Devouring Heaven Technique only defied the heavens in terms of cultivation speed. It did not seem to provide any help in forming his Core. Wang Zhong slowly started to experience what Mugthol had said. Forming one’s Core could not be achieved by accumulating Spiritual Energy Value. Previously, Mugthol had told him to learn about elixirs and experience it for himself. However, it was a pity that the threshold for learning about elixirs was not just high.

There were people who could refine elixirs in the Heavenly Treasures Street, like Boss Sea. However, even Boss Sea only knew basic elixir knowledge and medicinal theories. Being able to refine a level-9 elixir after much difficulty was enough to excite him for several days. As for the daily pills that he sold in his shop such as the “Day Stomach Pills” and the “Blood-Cleansing Dragon Pills”, they were called pills, but they were not considered as such.

“Pills, why are they called pills? They have absorbed the essence of the divine territory and gone through extensive transformations. Then, they become like celestial bodies and turn into pills!” When Boss Sea said this, he picked out a small amount from the large pile of “mud” and rounded it. Then, he toasted it over the fire and waited for it to refine and take shape into the Day Stomach Pill that Wang Zhong and the others usually ate. “What we create is simply medicine… Creating elixirs is not that easy. The only ones that truly understand the art of doing so in the Catanlyke District are probably the Cloud Mist Faction. However, don’t think so happily. Even if you become a disciple of the Cloud Mist Faction, what you will learn is no more than what we do, including some basic pill theory, medicinal theory, and so on. They will definitely not pass down advanced pill studies to ordinary disciples. Furthermore, without a certain level of foundation, you would not be able to learn those profound things. Even if they taught you, you would not be able to understand.”

“Just like me, when I took the test to become an alchemist, I had good luck and managed to successfully form a level-9 pill with a 50% chance of success. That was the peak of my skills, but what about now? I only start up my furnace every half a month. Being able to create a level-9 pill and two pills that did not completely spoil after four times of starting up my furnace in two months is enough for me to burn incense sticks to pray. A large majority of alchemists who sell pills are around my standard. Level-8 alchemists and above who actually have skills would not own a medicine shop, right?”

Even though some of his pills had failed, as long as they did not cause the furnace to completely explode, and as long as the pills did not turn into ashes, their medicinal properties were much stronger than ordinary blends or medicines, even if they did not eventually form pills. Thus, in the eyes of ordinary experts, even this powder product had remarkable value.

“Of course, if Uncle Wang wants to learn, it’s good to understand some basics here.”

It was another path that he could not walk through, but there was nothing wrong with learning some basics. With the basics he had learned from working at Old Cow’s flower shop, it was rather easy for him to learn some pill and medicinal theories from Boss Sea.

With the cultivation of the Devouring Heaven Technique, as well as an elementary course by Boss Sea about the basics of pill and medicinal theories, Wang Zhong’s days were peaceful but fulfilling. He had a new understanding of himself or the environment in the divine territory almost every day.

The Loying Fruit was still his main source of supplementary spiritual influence, but the results were becoming worse by the day. Firstly, overuse of the fruit had caused his body to form a certain resistance to it. Furthermore, the quality of the Loying Fruit was not very high. To the weak, it might be a great supplement, but to an expert whose Spiritual Power Value had reached over 150,000, the stimulation that could be derived from the fruit was extremely insignificant.

However, Wang Zhong still did not intend to sell the remaining batch of Loying Fruit. Meanwhile, half of the so-called commission that wolf goblin Basir and the others received went to Lao Wang as well. Wang Zhong did not hold back when it came to this group of people and took what he was supposed to take from this life he had established.

He now had no lack of various seeds or seedlings to experiment with. The fluctuations in his wealth did not have a particularly large impact on him for now. It was not worth risking exposing his fragment world simply for money.

With the general knowledge and medicinal theories he had learned from Boss Sea, he planted Loying Fruits while trying to create other miracle drugs and made many conclusions from this experience. The more advanced the drugs, the more time they took to form. This probably had something to do with needing more spiritual influence supplementation. Furthermore, there was also an upper limit in doing so. Some rather rare drugs had shockingly slow growth even in the fragment world, so there was little value in growing them.

Furthermore, the concentration of spiritual influence in the outside world would affect his fragment world. He had walked near the Heavenly River at district TH43 and could clearly sense that the growth rate of the medicines in his fragment world had greatly increased. In particular, the difference in effects for several advanced medicines was massive. However, it was a pity that with his current status and wealth, he could not buy a house nearby. If not, Wang Zhong would have thought of moving there.

Regardless of whether it was in terms of cultivation outlook or environment, the restrictions in Heavenly Treasures Street were just too big. If he wanted to move upwards, he could not settle down in Heavenly Treasures Street for too long.

Shannali had represented the Cloud Mist Faction and invited Wang Zhong to join them, but after some understanding of the large Factions in the divine territory, Wang Zhong knew that this was not a very appropriate choice.

No matter what kind of Faction it was, it could give its members some convenience, but at the same time, there would be even more restrictions added. A Faction would not nurture someone for no reason. No matter how excellent they might be, or how much potential they might have in the future, if they were not useful to the Faction, no one would nurture them.

Thus, even if they were external disciples, they would still face various restrictions on their freedom when they joined a large Faction. They would sign contracts that were similar to selling their bodies, and some would even demand they cast away their status as free beings. Of course, this was something Wang Zhong could not accept.

Thus, his cultivation seemed to have reached a stalemate. He still did not know how to form his Core, and using elixirs to do so also seemed difficult. Furthermore, there was no doubt that borrowing how other civilizations formed their Core was improper. Thus, his impression of the Void Core was still stuck at a superficial understanding.

Advanced civilizations would naturally leave behind rough outlines and memories (similar to DNA) about the Void Core. To them, this was something very easy, and they did not even need to cultivate it. However, this was as difficult as climbing to the heavens for the lower civilizations. Meanwhile, achieving the Gold Core and getting their big break were even more unattainable. After all, it was said that the leap from the Void Core to the Gold Core was truly difficult.

After a muddled one or two months of accumulating knowledge, it seemed as if he had learned a lot of things. He had understood many assorted facts and even thought about walking away from the Void Core and advancing by himself. After all, the divine cells had some functions of the Void Core. They could store spiritual influence, and every cell was equivalent to one small Void Core. This was his greatest pillar of support, which he had used to defeat Yin Jiao, even without advancing into the Void Core Realm. However, this roundabout method had its limitations. The main problem was with the amount and quality of the spiritual influence accumulated. Thus, the Void Core was still necessary.

After walking one big round, Wang Zhong eventually felt as if he returned to where he had started. Without the Void Core, everything else would be useless.

No matter whether he learned pill and medicinal theories, planted various medicines in his fragment world, further developed the Devouring Heaven Technique, overused medicines, or made the mistake of forging his own path with his divine cells — in the end, everything he had done were attempts or preparations to form his Void Core.

In the past, he had seen everything literally. He saw the mountain as a mountain and saw water as water. While he completely did not understand the Void Core, his impression of the Void Core was very intuitive. It was his Soul Sea turning into an empty pill-shaped object and was very simple. This would refine the concentration of spiritual power in his body — just like how his Soul Sea had turned into a Spirit Sea, where liquid had turned into nothingness. When this nothingness accumulated and took shape, that would be his Void Core.

However, the more he prepared, the more he understood. Now, Wang Zhong felt as if he was not looking at mountains and water at their face value.

Was it only his spiritual power that would transform? Was it only his Spirit Sea that would accumulate to form a pill-shaped object? Obviously not. Just like what Boss Sea had said, the Void Core had to naturally form. If you forcibly shaped it and consciously transformed it, no matter what you did, it would definitely not reach its true ultimate and natural form. Furthermore, how would liquid turn into nothingness? It was easier to turn liquid into a solid.

It was as if various clouds confused his vision. The more he looked, the hazier it became. Perhaps the problem was in his understanding and outlook, and he needed a more visual understanding of the Void Core.

“You want to see my Void Core?” Mugthol felt slightly dizzy.

Today, when he came to Wang Zhong’s place, Wang Zhong had personally whipped up a table full of delicious dishes and prepared canned Heavenly River Wine. With Lao Wang’s current status and position, this simply made Mugthol feel overwhelmed by this unexpected favor. After drinking half a can of Heavenly River Wine, he was already drunk. “Hi! Is that a big matter? Who are the two of you? Do I not trust you? Look! Take a look! Look at it however you want to!”

Allowing others to enter his Void Core and take a look was even more uncomfortable than a virgin stripping naked and opening her legs. His Void Core was definitely a private place and a Void Core expert’s weakest place. Allowing others to use their consciousness to enter their Void Core was like entrusting their life to someone else.

Since he had this trust in Wang Zhong, Mugthol was rather carefree about this. It was not because he was an alcoholic.

Wang Zhong closed his eyes and concentrated. Then, his consciousness entered Mugthol’s Void Core, but Mugthol did not have any intention of resisting. In fact, he actively guided Wang Zhong. Then, a whole new world appeared in front of Lao Wang’s eyes.

All creatures in the divine territory definitely had a Soul Sea. However, Mugthol’s Soul Sea was not in a gas or liquid state; neither was it in a solid state. Instead, it was between solid and liquid. A strange, flowing substance formed a crystalline ball and hovered above where the Spirit Sea was supposed to be. It was full and sturdy, and had formed naturally.

The ball was crystalline and transparent. Countless wisps of pure spiritual power were released from the ball and connected to the rest of Mugthol’s body.

This was a shock to Wang Zhong. According to his understanding, the Void Core was a condensation of his Spirit Sea. The condensation would take shape and eventually become an empty, pill-shaped object. However, in reality, although the phrase “Void Core” included the word “Void”, this did not mean that it was actually a void.

This was just a concept. The Void Core was actually a flowing substance that was half liquid, half solid. It was more viscous than liquid, but it was not as stiff as a solid. It was in between nothingness and a material substance. Thus, it was called the Void Core.

When spiritual influence was accumulated in this state, there was an increase in the quality, the amount of spiritual influence stored, and the purity of the spiritual influence as compared to a liquid state.

Of course, this was simply a visual reaction. Not only did this increase the concentration of spiritual influence, Wang Zhong could also clearly sense the entirety and natural state that the half-liquid, half-solid Void Core represented. It was as if it was born completely naturally and did not leave behind any deliberate marks. The Void Core was like the Earth in outer space. When he carefully looked into the process of how this complete celestial body had formed, he realized that the realm was just too difficult to imagine.

Such a mysterious thing. The true process of condensing this definitely involved extremely massive risks and a practitioner’s understanding of the path.

But no matter what, he had widened his knowledge. The countless clouds in front of his eyes seemed to have dispersed slightly. Although he still did not have a method to condense his Core, at least he had seen a visual and accurate result. What he lacked was the evidence of the process.

This was heavy, and the path would be long. This realm was not something he could pursue if he was eager for instant success and quick profits. It was better to continue to accumulate spiritual influence and let nature take its course. Perhaps he would be able to achieve it one day if he was not so deliberate.

After taking one big detour, Lao Wang finally returned to a peaceful state of mind. However, at that moment, a very surprising piece of news arrived.

The course for the new batch of Heavenly Gates candidates had begun, and Wang Zhong would replace Yin Jiao and become part of the first batch of recruits in the Heavenly Gates array.

Joining the Heavenly Gates array? The entire Heavenly Treasures Street was in an uproar as a major figure was finally going to emerge from this street. If others had doubted because Wang Zhong was unorthodox, they completely did not have any doubts now. Who would believe that this human did not have any support behind him?

It was good enough that he had caused the Shell Shade Faction to completely disappear, but he had even obtained the right to join the Heavenly Gates array. This was simply unthinkable for a lower civilization.

Wang Zhong himself was rather confused. What the hell was this? He had never registered for this, so who had recommended him? His first reaction was to wonder whether the Holy City had submitted an application for him. After all, he had already written a letter to let them know about what had happened in the Heavenly Treasures Street. However, after some careful thought, he realized that although the Holy City had civilization privileges, they were only a level-4 civilization and bore an empty title in the Star Alliance. They did not have the right to reach the Heavenly Gates. If they actually had the ability to do so, Earthlings would not have been so oppressed over the past two years.

Of course, no matter what the truth of the situation was, Wang Zhong was rather excited about this. How he had been chosen was not a problem to him.

The Heavenly Gates was unlike ordinary Factions and was where the elites of each civilization assembled. It did not belong to any individual power and thus did not have as many restrictions. At the same time, it also provided those who joined with the best cultivation conditions and environment to interact. This kind of restricted interaction environment was much better than any individual Faction could provide. He could draw reference from others to explore a way to accumulate his Core, and there would be far too many benefits. This was simply like having something fall into his lap, and there was no reason to reject it.

Even Old Cow’s gaze seemed somewhat different. He occasionally beat around the bush and seemed as if he wanted to get to the bottom of this situation. There was no doubt that even though he had defeated Yin Jiao, he simply seemed like an ordinary but decent expert. Today, he was a boss after getting rid of Yin Jiao, but if someone stronger than him appeared tomorrow and got rid of him, they would then have the final say.

Did he have support behind him? This was no more than a guess and was never proven. Wang Zhong himself should know well. Indeed, Wang Zhong was a disciple from a lower civilization to the core. The unexpected help from the Machinery race might just be one-off, or perhaps they just did not like the Shell Shade Faction. If everyone eventually understood this, the good days of the Heavenly Treasures Street would end.

However, if he joined the Heavenly Gates array, then it would be different.

If he had emerged from the Heavenly Gates, even if his performance was poor, he would definitely be a tyrant in the Land! Regardless of whether one went to the Heavenly Gates to learn or to make friends, they would cast away their old self and become an unattainable existence to ordinary people in the Land. It could be said that as long as nothing happened to Wang Zhong, the Heavenly Treasures Street would be stable from now on. The surrounding powers would all think that this was Wang Zhong’s private land and would give him some face when dealing with them. They were also afraid that he would make friends with some super powerful aristocrat of some civilization. After all, that was the gathering point of the most powerful civilizations in the entire Land. As compared to the blurry support behind Wang Zhong, the Heavenly Gates was the greatest and most-solid support.

This piece of news had arrived very suddenly, and training for the new batch of Heavenly Gates candidates would officially start in two days. If they had only sent the news now, it was evident that this was an ad hoc decision.