Chapter 574: Source of Mutation, Deity's Inheritance (Two in One)

"You—what are you doing—I'm warning you—ah!!!!"

Agonized screams echoed endlessly across the pitch-black mountain range. Tang Tian's eyes swam with tears of despair and bitter resentment.

He had abandoned the stability he had enjoyed for most of his life as a domain lord, surrendered his power and status, and gambled his very survival, all for the chance to march into the Central Region and escape this marginalized frontier.

Now, everything was ruined.

His future, his past, his cultivation—all of it was gone.

His heart turned to ash. Face pale, he looked at Long Quezhou, his lips trembling. "Just kill me."

"No, I can't do that."

Long Quezhou wiped the blood from his hands with clean, efficient movements, his expression calm. "Since you refuse to believe that Domain Lord Wang and I didn't consume the Crystal Stones, Domain Lord Tang, we have to give you a chance to see for yourself."

"Of course, you can choose to kill yourself, but if you do, I'll take that as an admission that you believe us."

Tang Tian finally raised his head, his eyes hollow as he stared at Long Quezhou. "How exactly did you do it?"

His voice carried not a single ripple of emotion, as still as a pool of dead water.

He looked at Long Quezhou, staring fixedly at him.

It was as if this one answer was the only thing he still wanted to know.

"We drank Domain Lord Yan's blood."

Long Quezhou's face remained placid. "It isn't without side effects. From now on, we have no way to defy Domain Lord Yan's commands, and our strength can never surpass his."

"It's just that Domain Lord Wang and I both felt those two issues weren't exactly troublesome."

After all, they had never possessed the ability to defy Yan Jing in the first place, nor was their strength ever going to surpass his.

Given those circumstances, he and Wang Yu had accepted Yan Jing's proposal without much hesitation.

At the time, the two of them had simply treated it as a gamble.

But looking at it now, the payoff was absolutely exhilarating!

Never before had they felt so invigorated.

A smile crept onto Long Quezhou's lips at the thought.

Seeing the smile revealed on Long Quezhou's profile, the words of doubt died in Tang Tian's throat.

There was no need for the other man to lie.

It would be pointless.

So—they really just drank that man's blood?

It was that simple?

"Heh."

A despairing smile touched Tang Tian's face. In the next second, under the watchful eyes of Wang Yu and Long Quezhou, he violently threw his head forward, smashing it against the silver-white ground. It split open like a cracked watermelon.

Bright red fluid spilled across the floor.

And so, a formidable domain lord of Qitian met his end.

Looking at Tang Tian's corpse before them, the two felt a flash of grim satisfaction, but far more profound was their sense of lament.

Searching their souls, they knew they weren't much different from Tang Tian.

It was just that one had chosen the left path, and they had chosen the right.

At this Tier, perhaps choice truly had become the most important factor, second only to talent and luck.

If they had been the ones to choose wrong, their fate might have been far more miserable than Tang Tian's.

"Let's go. From what they said, the Dog and the Ox are both nearing the Ninth Tier. We shouldn't delay," Wang Yu said.

Long Quezhou nodded. The two turned around and vanished into the veil of night.

In the night, Yan Jing and the Rabbit sat across from each other in the First Office Building, freshly poured tea set before them.

"If you want to step into the Tenth Tier, it won't be as simple as just possessing divinity," the Rabbit said, taking a sip of tea.

"I have already forged my own path," Yan Jing said softly.

"It's still not enough." The Rabbit lowered its eyes. "That is merely the most basic requirement. You also need a Deity's recognition."

"Only then is it possible to receive a Deity's inheritance."

Yan Jing nodded. "Which Deity's inheritance did you receive back then?"

"Magic," the Rabbit replied. "But it wasn't an inheritance, only recognition."

"Are recognition and inheritance not the same?" Yan Jing asked humbly.

"Of course they are different." The Rabbit sighed. "Recognition just means the Deity feels you have the potential. But a Deity's inheritance is strictly limited. Even for Deities with abundant inheritances, they have at most ten or so portions to pass down, and the recipients are exclusively chosen from among those they have recognized."

"Are there really that many Divine Envoys in this world?" Yan Jing asked, somewhat puzzled.

Within the Inner World, it seemed that even across complete First Level Domains, there weren't many Divine Envoys.

Even accounting for the ones hidden away, the numbers still shouldn't be that high.

"They would rather go without than settle for mediocrity. Do you think Deities are eager to hand out their inheritances? Not necessarily," the Rabbit said. "The vast majority of inheritances remain vacant."

"Instead, they are waiting for the right moment."

Hearing this, Yan Jing's heart stirred.

"Like the Day of Godhood?"

The Rabbit nodded. "That is what the Surface World calls it."

"No wonder they say this is an era of great conflict." Yan Jing silently took stock of the current major powers.

The Inner World held the five great First Level Domains, and the Surface World had the Six Great Councils of the Central Region. Outside of those two, there were those Within the Great Curtain, as well as figures from distant eras who had slumbered until now.

Those latter two groups were relatively antiquated, but no one could guarantee they didn't hide true monsters.

He shared these thoughts with the Rabbit. The creature nodded, but then shook its head. "You missed one category."

Yan Jing was taken aback. "Which one?"

"Mutation," the Rabbit said softly. "The Source of Mutation also needs a Deity's seat."

The Rabbit's words struck Yan Jing's blind spot.

He had always harbored doubts about the Source of Mutation, and since the opportunity had presented itself today, he asked for guidance. "What exactly is the Source of Mutation?"

At Yan Jing's question, the Rabbit's expression grew solemn. "Truthfully, no one can provide a complete definition for that kind of entity."

"They appeared before the severed era, but after the distant ancient epochs. The moment they surfaced, they began to affect the world we inhabit. The original spiritual energy, immortal qi, and even demonic qi were gradually replaced by weird energy. The paths of the predecessors were severed, and the paths for future generations remained unopened. You could say that was the darkest era of the Inner World."

"At first, the multitudes of powerful cultivators merely thought the Source of Mutation was akin to otherworldly demons, believing that as long as they killed them, the world would return to normal."

"They gathered a group of experts and launched a crusade against the Source of Mutation. But they soon discovered that the so-called Source of Mutation wasn't as powerful as they had imagined."

"They could die. They could be defeated. However—they could never be fully exterminated."

"People had always assumed the Source of Mutation brought about the mutations. Only later did they realize something else was driving it all. The transformation of the world was irreversible. The Source of Mutation was merely a medium. If you killed one medium, whatever stood behind it would simply forge another."

"So the question arose: if killing the Source of Mutation was useless, why waste the effort? Just like that, countless experts chose to give up, and the remaining crusaders slowly withered away with the passage of time."

"The Source of Mutation gradually vanished without a trace as well. They hid their forms and chose a different method to watch over the Inner World."

"Before I entered the great curtain, I had never encountered the Source of Mutation. But I advise you—if you ever do meet one, you must run immediately."

"They have been accumulating power for far, far too long. Perhaps their sheer strength isn't as fearsome as imagined, but if their mutation taints you, your future path might be completely warped, or even severed outright."

"Is that so..."

Yan Jing sank into deep thought. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "To be honest with you, Senior, I once had a brief encounter with a Source of Mutation."

!!!

The Rabbit's paw jerked violently, spilling a good portion of the tea it was holding.

It glared at Yan Jing with its ruby-like eyes. "This isn't a joking matter!"

"Of course it isn't."

Yan Jing's expression was calm. "I really did meet one. It attacked me, but I managed to escape by a stroke of luck."

The Rabbit took some time to digest this shocking news before asking, "Did your body undergo any changes back then?"

Yan Jing thought for a moment.

Ever since encountering that eye at Minhu, he really hadn't felt any changes.

Only now, in hindsight, he realized that he had only managed to repel the eye back then by relying on Luo Sheng manifesting the body of a Saint.

If he quantified the power of that finger strike back then, it would be just a bit stronger than the Ninth Tier.

So the Rabbit was completely right; the Source of Mutation was not as horrifyingly powerful as one might imagine.

Seeing Yan Jing shake his head, the Rabbit fell deep into thought.

This didn't quite match the information it had received.

Within the Great Curtain, there were quite a few entities who had encountered the Source of Mutation. Some had even fought them in battle, and without exception, their fates had all been to suffer severe contamination from the mutation.

It gave Yan Jing a few examples. For instance, many of the entities who had previously left the great curtain through Yan Jing had actually dueled with the Source of Mutation. That was why they had mutated so severely, becoming the first batch unable to endure any longer.

"Take the first one, Cheng Wendao. He was hailed as the foremost genius of enlightenment in ten thousand years. At less than a century old, he reached the Near-Deity Realm, which is what you now call the Ninth Tier. Unfortunately, as one of the earliest beings to clash head-on with the Source of Mutation, he slayed three of them but fell gravely ill from the contamination."

Yan Jing recalled that elegant figure in a green robe and nodded. "When I returned this time, I searched for those seniors, but they all seemed to have disappeared."

"They've likely all entered the river." The Rabbit's face was calm, not treating it as a major event. "Most of them had lingering obsessions they couldn't let go of. Once they knew I was staying here to keep watch over you, they all went off to enter the river."

"The River of Time..."

The Rabbit murmured, a look of reminiscence flashing through its eyes. Ultimately, it let out a sigh. "In the end, no one can explain it clearly anymore."

It looked at Yan Jing. "Perhaps once you climb a bit higher, you can give me some sort of answer."

Yan Jing smiled. "This junior will do his best."

The Rabbit nodded. "Returning to our original topic—divinity is just the foundation, and having your own path is merely the threshold. Ultimately, you must gain a Deity's recognition, and that requires specific traits."

"What does 'traits' mean? It means your interests must align with the Deity you wish to pursue."

"If one receives a Deity's inheritance, what traits would they have?" Yan Jing asked.

"I'm still talking about recognition." The Rabbit rolled its eyes at Yan Jing. "Don't bite off more than you can chew."

"But, I think I might—"

"I know, your path has been too smooth, so sometimes you oversimplify things. But the truth is, the situation is much more complicated than you think. Take it step by step. You are already at the very forefront."

"No, Senior, you misunderstand. I'm asking about inheritance because—"

"See? You're still fixated on inheritance. You can't be impatient." The Rabbit shook its head, wearing an expression of someone who had seen it all before. "At times like this, you must keep your composure."

"Alright, Senior, you're right." Yan Jing even felt a little embarrassed by the Rabbit's lecture.

He started to reflect on whether recent events had genuinely made him too impatient.

Perhaps the Rabbit was right. A Deity's inheritance was the hardest step; he needed to temper himself a while longer.

"It seems a Deity's abilities and a Deity's inheritance are still miles apart..."

He sighed, his mood settling into tranquility.

But beside him, the Rabbit's eyes went wide again. "What did you say?!"

"—"

Yan Jing blinked.

"I said, you're right."

"Not that part, the part before that! No, wait, the part after that!"

The Rabbit's whiskers twitched wildly in agitation.

Yan Jing hesitated even more, blinking. "I said—a Deity's abilities and a Deity's inheritance are still—"

"You have a Deity's abilities?"

The Rabbit's eyes turned red—not red from anger, nor from envy, but purely bloodshot because it had bitten its own tongue from speaking too fast.

It felt like tearing up a little.

"I do." Yan Jing nodded.

Receiving this affirmative answer, the Rabbit dropped to the floor with a thump.

"You do? What do you mean you do—"

It began pacing back and forth, acting so strangely that even Yan Jing found it unsettling.

"You either do or you don't! You do! So you have them?! You have a Deity's abilities—a Deity's abilities—do you even know what a Deity is?!"

It looked up at Yan Jing as if entering some bizarre trance. "It's not about you beating him to death, or him beating you to death, and then you refusing to die and beating him to death again!"

"It's—it's that incredible kind of—do you know what I mean?!"

It recalled the time it had received a Deity's recognition. The abilities the Deity had demonstrated to it—conjuring a massive mountain out of thin air—had been nothing short of a miracle.

"I do have them."

Yan Jing blinked. "Has Xiao Xin ever delivered a letter to you? He is my Deity ability."

As he spoke, Xiao Xin came babbling and bounding out. "That's right! Xiao Xin is Lord Zhu Leng's ability!"

Xiao Xin flapped his wings.

The Rabbit blinked. It had never seen this little creature before.

But as its ruby eyes flashed, it saw straight through to Xiao Xin's true nature.

Instantly, sweat beaded on its forehead, and it flopped back into its seat.

"It's real..."

It took a full ten minutes to accept this reality. Then, it looked up, staring at Yan Jing in sheer excitement. "Then your breakthrough to the Tenth Tier is set in stone! No, even the Demigod Realm is highly likely!!!"

"If that's the case... then the path I prepared for you won't be needed after all."

"Path? What path?" Yan Jing asked curiously.

Seeing Yan Jing's expression, the Rabbit finally remembered its identity as a 'senior.' It quickly pretended to casually smooth out its puffed-up fur. Then, with utter seriousness, it picked up its tea and spoke in a mysterious tone. "Let me ask you this, and give me the honest truth."

"Did you know you have an unopened treasure trove sitting right beside you?"

"A treasure trove?"

Yan Jing blinked.

He felt he had a few too many treasures on him, and he had no idea which one the Rabbit was referring to.