In the Quijin Realm, Qi Yuan, clad in a dark robe with white hair flowing in the wind, watched as his avatar in the Blue Mountain Realm dissipated into nothingness.

"Indeed... cultivating diligently... can''t compare to the speed of plundering."

With just that one move, he had slain tens of thousands of Specter Gods. A single domain in the universe contained far more than tens of thousands of worlds.

The massive influx of experience was far faster than slowly cultivating.

Shangguan Qingteng and Shangguan Qingmiao stared at Qi Yuan in shock, their countless thoughts condensed into silence.

Because, at this moment, they couldn''t digest or comprehend what had just happened.

Qi Yuan glanced at the two of them casually and asked, "Do you know what lies within the Divine Wood Abyss?"

The blind maiden in the Divine Wood Abyss had once given him eight wooden tablets inscribed with forging techniques.

The tablets had long since disappeared, but the eight forging techniques remained in his mind.

The eight techniques were: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Cloud, Rain, and Thunder.

Shangguan Qingteng was surprised that Qi Yuan would ask such a question.

He furrowed his brows, thinking carefully. "The Divine Wood Abyss... is a void, devoid of any living beings. Some of the oldest Ancestral Gods have said that the Divine Wood Abyss... might be the origin of the Divine Wood Universe."

"The origin of the universe?" Qi Yuan murmured. "No living beings inside?"

"None," Shangguan Qingteng said. "Since ancient times, many Ancestral Gods have entered the Divine Wood Abyss to investigate, but none have found any living beings."

In the Divine Wood Universe, the Divine Wood Abyss existed in almost every world.

Earlier, Qi Yuan had split into countless avatars and entered nearly every Divine Wood Abyss in the universe, but he had found nothing.

"If Senior wishes to learn more about the Divine Wood Abyss, you might consider visiting the Tai Star Domain. There, you can find the original text of the Origin Secrets," Shangguan Qingteng said cautiously.

No matter how strange or bizarre Qi Yuan''s appearance was, he was still a member of the Divine Wood Universe. Moreover, he had just taken action against the Specter Gods, making him someone worth recruiting.

Originally, they had thought that once Qi Yuan grew to Yuan''s level, he could become a seed to wield the Light of Human Enlightenment.

But now... he was far more than just a seed.

"The Tai Star Domain?" Qi Yuan''s gaze deepened. "I will go there, but not now... Once I complete my mortal seclusion, I will visit the Tai Star Domain and see Sheng Nu as well."

With a wave of his sleeve, his figure disappeared once more.

Only Shangguan Qingteng and Shangguan Qingmiao remained, looking at each other in confusion.

"We need to report this to Yuan as soon as possible!"

...

"Mortals, experiencing the myriad trials of the mortal world..."

In an unknown world, Qi Yuan sat alone in a desert, fishing.

His straight hook sank into the sand, buried a hundred meters deep.

Qi Yuan fished quietly, his thoughts calm.

"For the white-haired Qi Yuan, mortal seclusion is a path to breaking through to the Ancestral God realm.

For me... mortal seclusion is a means to comprehend the rules of the world."

All things in the world operate in an orderly manner, hiding the truths of the Great Dao.

The path of cultivation requires both tension and relaxation.

The tension lies in slaying Specters to gain experience.

The relaxation lies in comprehending the rules of the Great Dao, understanding all things.

"So... why am I fishing in the sand?"

"What can I catch?"

"I can catch... a grain of sand."

Suddenly, Qi Yuan''s fishing line twitched.

A grain of sand was lifted into the air.

This grain of sand was ordinary, no different from any other grain.

Qi Yuan looked at the grain of sand and reached out his hand.

"Finally found you, or rather... myself."

Since becoming a Realm Master, he no longer needed to act.

He only needed to recover.

Recover himself.

By "himself," he meant the blood he had invested when the game collapsed.

His blood had merged into the Divine Wood Universe, becoming part of all things.

This grain of sand was one such part.

As the grain of sand touched Qi Yuan''s arm, it disappeared.

Qi Yuan''s eyes were calm, as if he had seen ten thousand years.

The life and memories of the grain of sand flowed through his mind.

It had once been buried deep in the muddy ocean floor, in utter darkness. It had seen a fish grow legs and climb onto land; it had also seen a finger bone, white as jade, fall into the depths of the ocean.

Countless cultivators and powerful beings had fought to find that finger bone.

Later, the ocean dried up, and the water turned to stone.

The area became a desert.

"Is this the life of a grain of sand, or rather... my life?"

Once, the Heavenly Clan had also faced an invasion by the Black Heaven and Black Earth.

The Heavenly Clan''s Human King was a Realm Master powerhouse, possibly even on the verge of transcending to a higher realm.

The Human King had attempted to forge a Divine Light Treasure to fight the Black Heaven.

But in the end, he failed, and the Divine Light Treasure was never completed.

The Heavenly Clan was destroyed.

The civilization of the Heavenly Clan was extinguished, with only a few survivors escaping.

Some of them came to the Divine Wood Universe.

The forging techniques of the Divine Wood Universe originated from the Heavenly Clan.

"Who else?" Yuan asked again, acknowledging the Heavenly Clan member.

"I have reached the second layer of the Ancestral God realm. I can join," Sheng Nu said, her expression as cold as the moon.

She was a seed to wield the Light of Human Enlightenment.

"Approved," Yuan nodded, scanning the rest of the hall. "Anyone else?"

The others remained silent.

Most felt they weren''t strong enough, fearing they would taint the Divine Light Treasures.

In the entire Divine Wood Universe, seven Divine Light Treasures had been forged, but there weren''t seven powerful enough individuals to wield them.

"Sigh, if Qi Yuan were here, he would be the most qualified to wield the Light of Human Enlightenment," Shangguan Qingmiao said.

Hundreds of years ago, after meeting Qi Yuan once, he had regarded him as a celestial being.

After all, Qi Yuan was a Realm Master.

The Realm Master level was unfathomable, beyond comprehension.

Hearing this, Sheng Nu''s expression shifted slightly. "He alone could probably wield two, maybe even three Divine Light Treasures."

"Unfortunately, this lord is elusive. We can''t find him," the white-browed elder sighed.

Over the years, the Tai Star Domain had tried repeatedly to locate Qi Yuan.

But they had failed.

It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Yuan looked around the hall, his voice devoid of emotion. "We have five days to choose the remaining four. Meeting adjourned."

Yuan''s figure disappeared.

The others left in small groups.

The grand hall became empty and quiet.

About half an hour later, three people entered the hall, heads bowed.

All three carried brooms, led by an old man with white hair.

Entering the hall, they didn''t look around but began cleaning.

The cleaning wasn''t about removing dust but about purging the lingering aura of Specters.

These Ancestral Gods had been fighting on the front lines for years, and their bodies were tainted with the aura of Specters.

If left unchecked, this aura could give birth to Specter Gods.

The three cleaned in silence, not speaking a word.

The hall was vast, and cleaning it took a long time.

The old man wiped a table clean, his gaze falling on a slender figure sitting in a seat meant for a Yang God. He frowned. "Hey, Xiao Qi, why aren''t you cleaning? What are you doing sitting there?"

The handsome young man named Xiao Qi sat in the Yang God''s seat, his eyes filled with an indescribable emotion.

"Sigh, I wonder if I''ll ever get to meet these Yang Gods. I have so many questions I want to ask them," Xiao Qi said, his eyes distant.

"Those great figures aren''t people we can just casually ask questions," the old man chuckled, thinking Xiao Qi was being naive.

Xiao Qi was the orphan of a frontline soldier, and the old man had raised him.

"And your questions are just too strange!" the old man added.

"How are they strange? I just want to ask them what a mountain is, what shoes are, what a bug is," Xiao Qi said casually, his gaze unfocused and confused.

"Father''s right. Your questions are too strange," the third person said with a smile. "What''s the point of asking those things? You might as well ask how to become a god."

Xiao Qi shook his head. "Life is hard, and there are too many unknowns. It''s too difficult, too difficult."

"Why don''t you write a book called One Hundred Thousand Whys?" the old man suggested.

This world also had the concept of One Hundred Thousand Whys.

"Xiao Qi, what''s the point of thinking about these things? You should focus on earning money to buy wine for Father," the third man said.

"What''s wine?" Xiao Qi asked, puzzled. "Isn''t there plenty of wine here?"

He reached for a wine jug, shook it, and frowned in disappointment.

"Who''s the cheapskate who took all the wine?"

"You''re too bold!" the old man said, relieved that there was no wine left.

This was wine for Ancestral Gods. Even if there were leftovers, it wasn''t something they could touch.

Since the half-empty jug had been taken by another lord, Xiao Qi wouldn''t get into trouble.

"Stop daydreaming and focus on earning money to buy wine for Father!" the tall man said.

"This isn''t daydreaming. I just want to understand what these things are," Xiao Qi murmured. "If I can figure it out, maybe I can brew wine for Father every day."

"Alright, I''ll be waiting for that day," the old man said with a hearty laugh.