Start from the God of Death and break through the world.

Chapter 1162 Desire to Collect the Spirit Seed
Lu Li followed Hei Baihe forward, and couldn't help but ask her who the leader of the botanical garden was.

Black Lily's explanation surprised Lu Li, because Black Lily said that the botanical garden did not have a leader before, so Manjusaka was nominally the deputy leader, but in reality, she was the only manager.

Lu Li felt that there might be some hidden reasons behind this, otherwise why would the botanical garden have such strange rules? Moreover, he learned that it was only after the great catastrophe ended a hundred million years ago that Manjusaka returned and was officially recognized.

Before long, he arrived at the headquarters of the botanical garden for the first time, or rather, at the home of the strongest person in the End Space.

The top floor of the End Vine consists entirely of detached manors, each a different world inside. Therefore, there aren't many houses here; at a glance, the number of houses is equivalent to the number of ninth-tier powerhouses in the End Space today.

Among them, the manor in front of Lu Li is the largest, which shows its status in the End Space.

After Hei Baihe led Lu Li inside, Lu Li saw this legendary big shot who had helped him many times for the first time. However, perhaps because his current level was already quite high and he had already seen stronger people, he was not surprised at all.

"I have met Senior Manjusaka."

Lu Li politely bowed.

The woman sitting at the tea table also got up to greet him. She was unusually tall, over 1.7 meters, and her bright red dress was somewhat eerie, reminiscent of blooming spider lilies.

Looking at her face again, she didn't have that eerie feeling. She was pure and refined, without the slightest hint of seductiveness. Lu Li felt that she would look better in a white dress.

It's impolite to stare at someone's face, so Lu Li only glanced at them a few times before looking away.

"Prisoner of Demons, is this our first meeting? Please have a seat."

Manjusaka invited Lu Li to sit down, while Hei Baihe, who was standing nearby, tactfully began to pour tea for the two of them.

"To be honest, I often wondered what kind of person you were back then."

Lu Li said somewhat embarrassedly that he was indeed very curious about what kind of woman the strongest in the End and the third strongest in the Void Arena would be.

Manjusaka smiled sweetly upon hearing this, "What, are you disappointed after seeing the real person?"

"No, I only feel that the senior is exceptionally talented and truly deserves to be called the strongest in the end."

Lu Li quickly replied.

Manjusaka smiled. "How come I didn't notice back then that you were quite the smooth talker? Let's not talk about that. The reason you called me here, or rather, the reason I waited for you, is because I have something important to discuss."

"Please enlighten me, senior."

Lu Li said respectfully, regardless of strength, the other party was an elder in the space and had helped him a lot, so he would treat them with courtesy.

"That's right. What happened on the Divine Martial Continent was not my intention, but it was a way of tricking you. If you were in the Primordial God Realm, perhaps everything would be different."

"Manjusaka said with emotion."

"Senior, there are no 'what ifs' in this world. Besides, if it weren't for that day, I wouldn't be who I am today. Senior, you don't know that the shadow that day was not so much plotting against the Divine Martial Continent, but rather targeting me."

Lu Li said, "So whether I go to the Divine Martial Continent or the Primordial God Realm, as long as I'm not in that space, I'm afraid I'll suffer a calamity."

This was something Aizen had analyzed for him afterward. The destruction of the Divine Martial Continent by that shadow was just a side effect; the real key to the game was actually with him. Otherwise, Lu Li would have been doomed in the end.

Yes, after Lu Li told Aizen about his doubts, Aizen said that Lu Li's survival was not due to the efforts of the demon god within him to save him, nor solely due to the power of the spirit seed, but because the shadow never intended to kill him in the first place.

Whether the shadow intended to hide Lu Li or had foreseen this situation and allowed Lu Li to escape, it's hard to say.

After all, even if that shadow came from the future, Lu Li had broken free from his own causal loop and changed everything. So strictly speaking, from the shadow's perspective in the future, the present Lu Li could not have been seen before.

"Is that really the case..."

Manjusaka seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this. Seeing her like this, Lu Li knew that Manjusaka probably didn't know as much as he did, at least she didn't know the deeper details of what happened back then.

Thinking back, Lu Li had already asked all his questions when he met Grandma Xue. Theoretically, he was the one who knew the most ancient secrets in the End Space.

"In that case, let's not dwell on the past and talk about the present."

After regaining her senses, Manjusaka said, "Since you've been to the Origin Space, you must already know a lot about the past. What do you think of the current situation in the space?"

Lu Lixin said I would sit and watch...

No, sister, I'm someone you've watched grow up, don't you know me? You're asking me this kind of question? Why don't you ask Sōsuke, who came to your place before?

Lu Li thought for a long time before speaking, "Senior means... the layout of the space needs to be changed?"

"Yes and no."

Manjusaka said, "Previously, Kunxian and Longshe Qilu both consulted with me. We believe that it is time for the nine spaces to be unified again, including the unruly Paradise, which also needs to be taken back."

"That's not right..."

Lu Li was somewhat confused. "Although I have heard of the theory of spatial unification and that it is a trend, even though I am still young, I understand that on the scale of the World Ocean, space has only been divided for nine epochs, which is not a long time. If it is to be unified, what was the reason for the separation in the first place?"

"This……"

Manjusaka's delicate eyebrows furrowed. "The original, intact space has been transformed into an academic exchange venue, involving many complexities. In order to create a competitive environment, we had no choice but to separate the space and cultivate explorers anew."

"Have we trained enough explorers yet? What are the benefits of merging them?"

Lu Li asked, puzzled. Although he knew that even in the same space, people could kill each other, this was not uncommon in the early mission worlds. As long as the missions conflicted, no one cared which side you belonged to.

But he didn't understand the point of all this separation and reunion. Although Lu Li himself wasn't a particularly smart person, he could analyze problems from a broad perspective. He felt that since the space had to separate back then, there must have been a reason for it, rather than going around in circles and then reuniting.

"After merging, the space can utilize the power of the tenth-order laws, and at that time, a new tenth-order law may be born."

"Manjusaka said."

This was something Lu Li didn't know before, but after hearing it, he seemed to be thinking about it. "That's not right... After the space was unified before, there should have been a tenth level, right? I also know that the origin of space was created by the tenth level. If we can use this path as a reference to find a tenth level path, then in the long history of the space being unified, there haven't been many more tenth levels."

"What do you think?"

Manjusaka did not refute Lu Li's words. Although she was the Supreme Taboo, she knew that Lu Li was now quite powerful and did not regard him as a weak junior.

“I think that following other people’s paths might lead to a certain level, and even if it’s forbidden, it might not be impossible. But reaching the tenth level is unrealistic. So I don’t think that the supreme expert who attained enlightenment during the Great Catastrophe relied on the power of spatial unity to reach the tenth level,” Lu Li said. “Conversely, spatial unity cannot create the tenth level; it only increases the energy level of space. The final path can only be walked and understood by oneself.”

Manjusaka seemed to understand what he meant. “You are right. In that case, go and collect the remaining spirit seeds.”

"what?"

Lu Li hadn't expected the other party to agree with him so easily, and he certainly hadn't expected a task to suddenly fall on his shoulders. "Why me? With your senior's strength..."

"I can not."

Manjusaka shook her head and said, "This matter requires your presence."

Seeing Lu Li's confusion, she explained, "You might find this a bit far-fetched, but actually, within the nine spaces, among those who have risen to power after the reopening of the space system, there are only three of us who are forbidden-level experts."

"Ah? But... on the Divine Martial Continent that day..."

Lu Li was a little confused, thinking to himself, "Is the space really that bad?"

"To my shame, during this period, all the powerful beings who had reached the forbidden realm in other dimensions have defected and become violators, namely the Wings of Freedom you saw before."

Manjusaka said, "In the early years, because I received some instructions, I did not take action to hunt them down. Longshe Qilu was very keen to hunt down violators, but it was easy to win or lose in the Supreme Realm, but difficult to really kill them. He did not actually achieve outstanding results. At most, he only hunted down some people who had nowhere to go."

"So now... after those people were killed, only the three of you forbidden pioneers remain in the nine spaces?"

Lu Li's mouth dropped open. He had previously thought that the spatial power was enormous, but now it seemed that this single spatial entity was far inferior to the Divine Martial Continent and the Primordial God Realm.

Let alone one family, even if all nine families were combined, that would only amount to three forbidden families, which wouldn't be enough to defeat them.

"There is one more in Paradise, who may be the strongest, but Paradise and Space don't get along, so it's not realistic to ask Him to do things."

Manjusaka added.

"Hold on, wait a minute. Although I now know that the Space Realm is currently weak and the strongest of this generation have not yet grown up, what does this have to do with the topic we were just talking about?"

Lu Li asked, puzzled.

"Of course there is a connection. First of all, what I was trying to say was that the New Era Space does not have that many high-level combat forces. In other words, the End Space must, under normal circumstances, always have a forbidden being ready to be deployed at any time."

Manjusaka explained.

"So last time..."

Lu Li started to speak subconsciously, but then realized it wasn't quite right halfway through.

Manjusaka also showed a hint of embarrassment, "The three of us actually went out together, but we were stopped by Shadow."

"Your kindness is truly admirable, senior. I have yet to express my gratitude."

Lu Li immediately bowed, which helped him to ease the embarrassment of his slip of the tongue.

"Well, I didn't make it either, so there's no need to thank me. Speaking of which, because we're short-handed, it's actually inconvenient for us to move around. To put it bluntly, the space needs someone to stay and oversee things, right?"

Manjusaka said, "That's why I didn't deal with the amusement park issue before."

"I understand, junior. And what is the second reason?"

Lu Li asked.

"Secondly, there's no need to elaborate, right? Your battle on the Divine Demon Continent shook the entire world, and you single-handedly intimidated more than twenty experts of the same realm, forcing the usually arrogant Paradise to pay a ransom. In terms of peak ninth-order strength, at least within the space and Paradise, no one can surpass you."

Manjusaka said, "Therefore, I can say frankly that I believe you have unparalleled forbidden potential and are the most promising talent to quickly break through to the next realm. Moreover, only those who are not forbidden can nurture a spirit seed."

"You flatter me, senior. But what do you mean by what you said afterward?"

Lu Li said modestly.

"Firstly, the forbidden path was largely established from the moment it was created; secondly, the concepts grasped by the forbidden conflict with the fundamental power of the spirit seed, or rather, they affect the natural development of the spirit seed."

Manjusaka explained, "You have cultivated the spirit seed to its full potential and obtained the End Spirit Seed. Have you noticed anything unusual?"

Lu Li thought for a moment, "Could it be that the appearance of the spirit seed after it grows up is the same as that of the space?"

Manjusaka nodded. "That's right. We believe that if we gather all nine spirit seeds and cultivate them to their full potential, and then concentrate them on the same person, they will unleash the same tenth-order power as when space is unified."

"This……"

Lu Li fell into deep thought, "But how is this any different from merging the nine spaces and the Paradise into one?"

"The difference is that although these seeds are cloaked in the guise of the nine great spaces, they are not actually created by those spaces; this is a different path."

Manjusaka said, "You just said that once someone has walked the same path, it becomes difficult to produce another supreme expert. Therefore, we believe that the Spirit Seed is another way out."

Lu Li seemed to be thinking about what Manjusaka said. He actually felt that there was some truth to what she said, but there were also some things that were wrong.

For example, since this spirit seed was also created, the path within it must have been walked before, only it is different from the tenth-order path of space that was referenced by predecessors.

However, he agreed on one point: collecting the spirit seeds would definitely be very beneficial. Even if one didn't follow that path, it would be good to use them as a reference to learn their mysteries.

Moreover, Grandma Xue also said that it is beneficial to keep the spirit seed with you at all times.

Thinking of this, Lu Li nodded, "Okay, I'll take care of it."

Manjusaka smiled upon hearing this, "If you were to collect them now, you would naturally encounter less resistance. However, you must remember to fully comprehend the power of the spirit seeds before breaking through to the supreme realm."

"You make it sound like reaching the supreme realm is easy..."

Lu Li complained, but he didn't really think that realm could stop him. Rather, as he traveled through the heavens these past few days, he had already come up with several ideas on how to break through to the supreme realm.

However, he felt that it would be too frivolous to step in so easily.

(End of this chapter)