"…Yara, since you've pinpointed the end of the world down to the second, there must be a solution."
Hearing this, Su Zhou completely calmed down, revealing his resilient spirit. His expression turned grave as he mused, 'And I'm guessing this is why you insisted on making a pact with me and wanted me to advance so quickly.'
"That's one way to put it."
Coiled in Su Zhou's palm, the Snake Spirit nodded, not denying his speculation. It raised its needle-like tail, pointing at the silver metal pocket watch. "This thing… Hmm."
"You can call it the 'Celestial God Scale'."
As it spoke the name, Yara seemed somewhat apprehensive. It appeared to have some inkling of the Silver Pocket Watch's true name but dared not speak it aloud. "Although I'm not sure what this thing's true nature is, it is undoubtedly related to the Sealing Sect. It can connect to the All Realms behind the Sealing Sect… In fact, it is a part of the Great Gate itself."
Next, the Snake Spirit directly poured a massive amount of information into Su Zhou's mind. There were far too many concepts and proper nouns to explain verbally; direct mental transmission was simply more efficient.
An ordinary person would have gone into shock from receiving so much information at once, but Su Zhou's Spiritual Power was far beyond that of a normal human. That was why Yara dared to be so direct.
All in all, after rolling on the ground with a splitting headache for a while, Su Zhou finally managed to sort through the information. He now had a rough understanding of the relationship between the Seal, the Spiritual Energy Revival, the Otherworlds, and the chain destruction of all realms.
—Each crack spreading across the Sealing Sect represented a sealed world.
And within each world, a being similar to Yara—a Celestial God or an Evil God—was sealed.
All the sealed Celestial Gods and Evil Gods had originally been in their weakest state—mere lingering spirits on the verge of Silent Extinction. But as time passed, They gradually recovered and reawakened. Yara was among the fastest of Them to do so.
The awakening of these Celestial Gods and Evil Gods destabilized the Sealed Worlds. In turn, the combined turmoil from innumerable Sealed Worlds caused the Sealing Sect that suppressed them to crack and begin to shatter.
The Spiritual Qi leaking from numerous high-energy Otherworlds, and the phenomenon of these worlds merging, is the source of the current Spiritual Energy Revival. This excessively violent fusion will trigger a chain reaction of collapse, destroying all the Sealed Worlds and the entire existing cosmos—and perhaps even more.
"Earth… I'll use your human term for this place. This planet is, in essence, the central hub of the entire Sealing Sect. In its complete form, there's absolutely no way it's this small!"
As it spoke, Yara had Su Zhou fetch a pen and paper. It coiled its tail around the pen and skillfully began to sketch diagrams and various data analyses. As it drew, it explained, "In the material world, your planet may be just a speck of dust in the entire cosmos. But in the world of Spiritual Energy, or what one might call the Extraordinary world, this place is the very axis of the cosmos. It is the Supreme Heaven, the Immortal Realm, and the Pantheon."
On the paper, the Snake Spirit drew a bizarre structure resembling large clumps of cotton fluff, then casually pointed to a spot. "This is Earth's position in the Real Cosmos—don't bother looking, it's tiny."
But then Yara drew something like a magnetic field distribution map, with patterns resembling butterfly wings, and finally pointed to the center. "This is Earth's position in the Spirit Realm… That's right, the very center."
"The Geocentric Theory is an undeniable truth in the Mysterious Extraordinary Domain. It is the place where all mysteries converge, the source to which all the Sealed Worlds are ultimately linked."
"…Thanks for the compliment, I guess." Although Su Zhou understood what Yara meant, he found it hard to accept that his home—the very ground beneath his feet—had such a history. He retorted reflexively, "So, you're saying that if those sealed, damned remnant Evil Gods break free, they'll instinctively try to run to us?"
"Watch your mouth! They're not 'damned remnants,' they're 'lingering spirits'!"
Yara frowned, seemingly insulted. "In any case, those beings, just like me, want to escape the Seal and regain their freedom. And their method is to rely on the Spiritual Energy Revival to create their own Evil Demons of the Clan to act as keys for resonance."
"But They never considered that this collective escape attempt would instead result in mutual annihilation for everyone."
At this point, the Snake Spirit's tone grew vicious. It hissed sinisterly, "And I've at least gotten half a foot out the door, putting me ahead of Them. Therefore, I absolutely cannot allow these damned remnants to bring about a mutually destructive end before I've fully escaped the Seal and regained my strength!"
'And yet you just called them "damned remnants" yourself.'
Su Zhou did not voice this internal retort.
For the moment, Su Zhou set aside the grandiose matters concerning the fate of the entire cosmos. The seventeen-year-old high schooler, who loved to debate the power levels of beasts, asked enthusiastically, "So, Yara, does that mean you're the strongest of all the sealed Evil Gods?"
"Celestial God!"
Yara tirelessly corrected Su Zhou's frequent mistake. It put down the pen coiled in its tail, a difficult expression on its face… but in the end, the Snake Spirit still said reluctantly, "While it's quite humiliating to admit, lying to a mortal like you would be even more so… I am indeed very powerful, one of the strongest among all the Celestial Gods, but I am not *the* strongest."
"However, even so! Even though my descent through the ritual failed, leaving me with just a sliver of Spiritual Energy to make a pact with you, I'm still much better off than those damned remnants who couldn't even manage to descend at all, HAHAHAHA!"
At this, Yara burst into laughter, its entire serpentine body trembling. Anyone, whether seeing or hearing it, could sense its boundless schadenfreude.
And Su Zhou firmly noted: 'Yara is on very bad terms with the other sealed Evil Gods.'
"In any case, when the Celestial God Scale forced me back into the Seal, I vaguely figured out a bit about its nature and use."
After it finished laughing, the Snake Spirit returned to the original topic. It turned its head and looked Su Zhou in the eye. "To put it one way, the Celestial God Scale is like a relay that can mobilize the power of the Seal. As long as you hold it, we can infuse it with Spiritual Power to travel to the worlds on the other side of the Seal. We can then use the various rare Spiritual Objects and Spiritual Materials in those worlds to accelerate your growth and my recovery."
Seeing Su Zhou's serious yet eager expression, as if he was about to ask a question, Yara answered preemptively, as if a Prophet. "You don't have to worry about not knowing what the worlds behind the Sealing Sect are like. That's because there's a fundamental law in the Multiverse—information exchange."
"Even without Space-Time Rifts connecting them, worlds are always exchanging information… In fact, much of the creative inspiration in many worlds—be it for poetry, novels, games, or even religion and culture—comes, in part, from information from other worlds. And in your world, there are certainly some movies, games, or novels and operas that reflect the worlds behind the Sealing Sect."
"And you will surely be familiar with the Evil Demons born from these worlds—in your world, there are creative works that are projections of information from Their worlds. Go look at these works, and you'll know roughly what those worlds are like."
At this, Yara finally revealed its ultimate goal. "Evil Demons are the keys for other worlds to invade yours, and the reverse is also true. Su Zhou, as long as you use the aura of those Evil Demons as a catalyst, you can have the Celestial God Scale take you to that Evil Demon's source world."
"And after entering those worlds, you will have the opportunity to Seal, or even completely kill, the lingering spirits of those Evil Gods. By doing so, the fusion between worlds will slow. You might even strengthen your own world while ensuring the Spiritual Energy Revival continues, thus extending the countdown to destruction."
"As for why I'm telling you all this,"
Having said this in their mental connection, Yara once again slithered up the silent Su Zhou's arm to his shoulder. It laughed softly. "Right now, I can only be considered halfway free. I have no power to speak of."
"Perhaps in a hundred thousand years or so, I could slowly accumulate enough power to return to the world in my complete form. But All Realms will be destroyed in fifteen years! Where would I find the time to recover so slowly? So, I must cultivate someone, make him grow strong quickly, and have him take my place to get rid of those damned remnant Evil Gods who refuse to rest in peace. This will extend the countdown to destruction and, conveniently, allow me to recover as quickly as possible, lest we all truly perish together."
The Snake Spirit's words were direct, just as Su Zhou had requested. It held nothing back, laying out all the information it possessed.
Then, it presented him with the choice, watching with a smile to see what Su Zhou would decide.
After a moment of silence, Su Zhou gazed at the Celestial God Scale in his hand. His expression was serious at first, but then the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward, widening into a genuine smile.
"How do I use it, Yara?"
The young man's smile was as bright as the sun. He said with unconcealed delight, "Can I go take a look at the other worlds right now? Just for a little while, I won't stay long!"
"…You're not scared at all, are you."
After a moment of silence, the Snake Spirit remarked on Su Zhou's nerves of steel, then shook its head. "As for using the Celestial God Scale? It's too soon. You haven't even had your 'Awakening' yet; you've only just had your 'Spirit Awakening.' You can't even activate it or use its minor functions, so how could you possibly use it to travel between worlds?"
Mortal World, Spirit Awakening, Awakening, Extraordinary.
This was the classification for the Basic Cultivation Level, part of the deluge of information Su Zhou had received from Yara.
He was currently at the Spirit Awakening stage—in contact with Extraordinary Power, but unable to control it at will. Examples included his Yin and Yang eyes, which could only see Spirit Bodies under specific conditions, and his physique, which was approaching or had already reached the peak of human potential, but was still just that.
Su Zhou was well aware that only through Awakening could he surpass human limits and enter the realm of Superpower Users. Only then could he be said to truly wield Extraordinary Power and transcend the mortal tier.
Yara obviously understood this better than Su Zhou. It took a small sip of the young man's blood, then commented, "Your foundation is already very solid. But even so, you must at least practice the Supreme Cultivation Method of my lineage and reach the 'Awakener' level. Only then will you have the most basic power to utilize the 'Celestial God Scale'."
"Of course, I still wouldn't recommend you use it the moment your Awakening is successful. Every Sealed World is incredibly dangerous, and contains the lingering spirits of Evil Gods… Su Zhou, do not underestimate any world that needed to be sealed away. The strangeness and power within are far beyond human imagination."
"I'm not in a hurry. We have fifteen years, after all."
Su Zhou's eyes narrowed. Compared to his initial shock and solemnity upon learning of the world's impending doom, he could now manage a natural smile. "Then how do I Awaken?"
"The Spiritual Qi contained within the four 'Celestial Dragon Eye Pearls' already meets the basic requirements for Cultivation."
Yara laughed as well, sensing the motivation and curiosity beginning to burn within Su Zhou's heart. "But that's just the basics. If you want to achieve a perfect advancement, it won't be enough. While my Cultivation Method isn't one where a weak foundation makes it impossible to achieve Perfection or the Supreme level later on, do you really want to spend thousands, tens of thousands, or even more years, to fix a problem that would take you a few days now, or at most a month or two?"
Su Zhou didn't even bother to reply. His response was as concise as 'Who is the enemy? Where? How many do I kill?': "What else do I need to prepare?"
"Gemstones, Gold, Silver, Mercury, and various other assorted materials."
The Snake Spirit's reply was equally simple. "And of course, the most important ingredient."
"A 'Core of an Evil Demon.'"