Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 207 A Thousand Years Later, a Breakthrough Choice (2 Updates)

The path of faith is a bottomless pit.

Integrating into existing rules is even less desirable.

But Jiang Chen was still very interested in 'elemental gods'.

In worlds where arcane magic is prevalent, especially in powerful worlds teeming with strong individuals, elemental deities are invaluable resources for arcane sorcerers, with a wide range of applications.

Under the cleansing power of the laws, the divine bodies, divine attributes, and divine souls of the elemental gods possess many unique effects and are extremely valuable.

Originally, Jiang Chen thought it was impossible to find elemental gods in this world, and he didn't even consider that possibility.

However, the discovery that he could artificially create elemental deities was a pleasant surprise for Jiang Chen.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen said, "Can I have those 'elemental gods'? The materials on them are very valuable to me."

"Materials? Value?" The founder of the giant axe guessed Jiang Chen's thoughts from these two keywords, but he did not refuse and nodded, saying, "Okay, then I'll leave it to you."

Without delving deeper into the topic, the founder of the Giant Axe quickly asked, "Have you decided which reward you want? If you can't decide right now, you can save this opportunity and discuss it later."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chen began to struggle with his decision again.

Jiang Chen wanted all four rewards.

Comparatively speaking, the clan contribution worth a thousand treasure points and the territory of a high-level universe kingdom are more attractive to Jiang Chen.

It's not that top-tier soul treasures or ten thousand immortal divine kingdoms are bad, but compared to the other two, they are not as attractive.

For Jiang Chen, who was determined to go for the legion strategy, the personal combat strength of his main body was not that important; the mechanical legion was the priority above all else.

This money-devouring tycoon requires enormous resources to cultivate.

The clan contribution equivalent to 1,000 Treasure Points can be exchanged for a large amount of precious materials, which can be used to create a batch of powerful mechanical units.

Choosing a territory of a higher-level cosmic nation as one's own domain allows for the continuous acquisition of substantial funds and relatively less valuable 'basic resources'.

Jiang Chen was really hesitant about which of the two to choose.

It's not a matter of the type of resources. Although it's true that basic resources and money can hardly buy extremely precious resources, what Jiang Chen needs are not those unique resources in the universe, but resources with a certain production scale, at least those that can be obtained stably.

Even if something is very precious, you can still buy it if you're willing to spend the money.

Ultimately, it comes down to comparing the value of the two.

In terms of resource value, in a short period of time, the resources that can be exchanged for with 1,000 Treasure Points will definitely far exceed those of a universe kingdom.

However, once a thousand Treasure Points are used up, they are gone. In contrast, the territory of a universe kingdom, if managed well, can continuously produce huge amounts of resources, making it more valuable in the long run.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Chen said, "Teacher, can I save my chance and choose later?"

“Sure.” The founder of the giant axe did not object and said directly, “When you’ve made up your mind, tell me, or you can go to Chaos. You can also save this credit and reward yourself after the race has determined the true value of arcane knowledge.”

"It shouldn't take that long," Jiang Chen shook his head.

It will take at least a whole generation to determine the true value of arcane knowledge.

The term 'generation' mentioned here is not calculated according to the lifespan of ordinary people, but rather according to the cultivation progress of cultivators.

Even for the core geniuses of the five giants, the average time it takes from the beginning of cultivation to reaching immortality is over a million years.

Those who can't even enter the core secret realms of the five giants can only be considered geniuses in the universe, so the time they spend is even longer, and the probability of entering immortality is even lower.

Wait for millions of years?

Jiang Chen himself was unsure of how much his strength would improve in millions of years.

If this system cheat is powerful enough, I might be able to conquer the primordial universe by then, and I wouldn't care about one or two thousand treasure points.

"Anyway, it's up to you. Just tell me or let me know when you've made up your mind."

As the founder of the giant axe was speaking, he suddenly remembered something and added, "By the way, your fellow villager Luo Feng, Chaos intends to take him as a disciple. Could you help pass on a message? If he is willing, let him go and pay his respects to Chaos."

Is Chaos City Lord going to accept Luo Feng as a disciple?

This is a good thing for Luo Feng and for the Earthlings as a whole.

Jiang Chen nodded and said, "I'll tell him when Luo Feng sobers up."

Luo Feng is still drunk in Chaos City right now.

Of course, Jiang Chen's main clone wasn't in much better shape either, as it was also still asleep.

Hong and Lei Shen were also sent to the secret realm of the Giant Axe Arena while they were still asleep, and they have not yet woken up.

I've been sleeping like this for several years now.

It looks like he'll have to sleep for several more years, and in total, it will take him more than a decade to wake up.

The 'Divine Intoxication,' which is effective even for cosmic venerables, is indeed a bit too much for these realm lords and cosmic-level beings.

"You little rascal!" The founder of the giant axe had a look on his face that was both funny and exasperated.

He also heard from the Lord of Chaos City about how Jiang Chen and his friends had been drinking heavily together for years.

Jiang Chen and Luo Feng are alright; they both have clones.

One clone fell into a drunken sleep, while the other clones remained unaffected and could continue cultivating or busy with other things.

Hong and Lei Shen, however, were unable to split themselves into two groups, and this drunkenness would delay their cultivation for more than ten years.

But that's not a bad thing.

'Divine Intoxication' only has the effect of intoxicating immortals and venerable beings, washing away the weariness of their souls.

However, for those below the Immortal level, especially for the two cosmic-level beings like Hong and Thor, there are many other benefits, including a slight enhancement of their soul potential.

Compared to these benefits, being dormant for more than ten years is nothing.

-

Time flies, and hundreds of years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Three hundred years have passed in Chaos City, while a full thousand years have passed in the primordial universe.

Jiang Chen's true body, however, had spent a full million years in the accelerated space of the Giant Axe Universe.

It took Jiang Chen a million years to finally master all the knowledge in the sixth layer of the system library.

At this point, Jiang Chen also realized why there was a 'rune' system in the fifth-level library.

The knowledge in the sixth layer of the system library is so complex that it cannot be clearly described in ordinary language.

Only a language with extremely high information density, such as 'rune language', can carry a massive amount of information and decipher those incredibly profound knowledge.

It was precisely because of the high information content and the complexity of this knowledge that, even with the support of numerous expertise, it took Jiang Chen a full million years to master all the knowledge in the sixth-level library.

When Jiang Chen mastered 95% of the knowledge in this library, the system level had already reached the limit of the fifth tier.

As expected, this advancement to the next level still has the same special requirements as when a Domain Lord breaks through to the Realm Lord level.

However, Jiang Chen did not deal with it immediately. Instead, he followed the original plan and waited until he had fully mastered all the knowledge before bringing up the system prompt again.

[Mystic Arts has been upgraded to Lv.110; level has been increased.]

[Current level: Tier 5, Level 9.]

[This is a special sixth-tier rank. To break through, you must choose a breakthrough path and complete the advancement quest.]

Please select a breakthrough route:

[1. Divine Body Energy Transformation: If this path is chosen, physical energy, soul energy, and extraordinary energy will merge and transform into divine power, and the body will no longer possess vital organs in the conventional sense.]

[2. Physical Ascension to Godhood: If this path is chosen, physical energy and extraordinary energy will merge, greatly enhancing physical strength.]

[3. Soul Ascension: If this path is chosen, soul energy and extraordinary energy will merge, allowing the soul to exist independently of the body and merge with any unclaimed 'body'.]

[4. Unyielding Will: Choosing this path means abandoning the physical body and soul, fusing only willpower with extraordinary energy to transform into an 'alternative existence,' and gaining the 'high-level immortality' trait. This entity can only be killed by a few attack methods such as willpower attacks, true damage, and finishing blows. (Warning: Choosing this path carries extreme risk due to insufficient willpower strength!)]

Looking at the four options, Jiang Chen fell into thought.

[Unyielding Will] was the first to be excluded.

The system warned of the enormous risks, so Jiang Chen naturally wouldn't choose that path. Besides, Jiang Chen had no interest in abandoning his body and soul to become an 'alien being' with only willpower.

This thing is mentioned in knowledge of arcane arts, alchemy and other fields. It is a very troublesome and dangerous existence. It often possesses great power and many extremely strange and troublesome abilities.

Despite his power, Jiang Chen had no interest in becoming a bizarre and unpredictable 'alien being'.

As for the third item, "Soul Ascension," for some reason, Jiang Chen suddenly thought of the term "Mechanical Ascension."

The 'body' mentioned in the description is clearly not limited to the physical body of a living being.

Creating a mechanical body should also be feasible.

Unfortunately, although Jiang Chen chose the mechanical legion strategy, he was not a fanatical follower of the Mechanical God Cult.

Creating a mechanical army is fine, but transforming one's own body into a machine is out of the question.

Jiang Chen was quite optimistic about the remaining options one and two.

Option one, [Divine Body Energy Transformation], is no different from the normal ascension to immortality in the Swallowed Star World.

Physical energy, soul energy, and extraordinary energy merge and transform into 'immortal divine power,' which in turn transforms the body into an 'immortal divine body.'

It's a very standard, but also the safest, path to advancement.

"Becoming a god through physical means" means strengthening the body to its extreme.

If Jiang Chen had chosen 'Extreme Physical Enhancement' when breaking through to the Realm Lord level, then this time he would definitely choose 'Physical Godhood'.

Unfortunately not.

However, judging from these explanations, choosing either "divine body energy transformation" or "physical body godhood" has little or no impact on the inner world.

There shouldn't be any changes in the transformation of the inner world into a divine kingdom.

After hesitating between the two options for a while, Jiang Chen decided to choose [Divine Body Energy Transformation].

The immortal divine body has no concept of 'vital points,' which is very important, as it greatly enhances its ability to preserve life.

Especially after achieving 'immortality,' one can be reborn as long as even a single cell survives.

This ability to save one's life is terrifying.

However, judging from the description, "becoming a god in the flesh" does not seem to erase the 'vital parts' of the body.

Although physical strength will be greatly enhanced, if a vital point is fatally attacked, the person will be instantly killed.

This actually means that the ability to survive has decreased.

After making a selection, the system prompt pops up again.

[The main breakthrough route has been identified: divine body energy transformation.]

Please select a secondary breakthrough route:

[1. Creator God: If this path is chosen, the inner world will grow into a complete world, expanding significantly in size and gaining extremely high growth potential.]

[2. Lord of the Planes: If you choose this route, you need to find a suitable 'demiplane' and merge your inner world with that plane.]

[3. Dimensional Domination: If this breakthrough path is chosen, the inner world will transform into an independent world, separating from the divine body and existing in a secondary dimension.]

Is there a second option?

Jiang Chen was stunned for a moment, then quickly looked at it carefully.

After analyzing for a moment, Jiang Chen concluded that the breakthrough route of [Plane Master] is the most traditional route in the Swallowed Star world, where the inner world transforms into a divine kingdom.

As for the path of the Creator God, it seems that the inner world does not leave, but continues to exist in the body, only undergoing a significant transformation and growth.

As for the [Dimensional Ruler], it seems that he also transformed his inner world into a divine kingdom, except that the space in which he existed changed from a 'demiplane' to a 'secondary dimension'.

However, there is a problem: according to Jiang Chen's observation and understanding, there is no 'secondary dimension' in the Swallowed Star world.

Jiang Chen's knowledge of various systems, starting from the fourth layer of the system library, includes knowledge related to planes and dimensions.

There are also many discussions about how to explore and utilize planes and dimensions. However, 'secondary planes' are easy to find; the spatial fragments in spatial crevices and spatial torrent layers are all 'secondary planes'.

However, Jiang Chen searched for hundreds of years but could not find any trace of the existence of the 'secondary dimension'.

Based on Jiang Chen's current knowledge and technology, it can be almost concluded that the Swallowed Star world, at least in the original universe, does not have any secondary dimensions.

This is not surprising. Different worlds, although most rules are the same as long as they are worlds of order, will still have some differences.

Since there is no 'secondary dimension', choosing the path of 'dimensional domination' is very likely to be a trap.

Either they are completely unable to break through or they fail to do so.

Or it would be even more frustrating, requiring Jiang Chen to 'create' a secondary dimension himself during the advancement mission.

With the knowledge and skills Jiang Chen currently possesses, he can easily explore and utilize secondary dimensions.

But creating a secondary dimension...

That level of difficulty is basically equivalent to fundamentally changing the underlying rules of the universe. Not to mention Jiang Chen now, even the most skilled true god in this area couldn't do it.