Del sat alone on the floor of black mineral crystal.
The fall of the Holy Cross Church had created a vacuum. Outside affairs were temporarily left to Allen and Eagle. This time belonged to him.
He sat cross-legged, hands resting on his knees, eyes closed.
After the third stage of the Black Buddha Core finished parsing, he had expected some kind of sudden clarity. There was none. What remained was only a deeper stillness — like moving from a shallow well to a deep one. The surface of the water hadn't changed. Only the distance beneath his feet had grown.
"Chip."
Acknowledged.
"After the third stage of the Black Buddha Core completed, has the system detected any new evolution paths?"
Scanning——
Scan complete.
Anomalous data package detected: origin unknown, not locally generated, suspected to have been written in during the transit event. Package has been automatically decompressed. Contents: five independent cultivation system fragments. Format incompatible with local database — translation complete.
Note: The above five fragments are not the product of local computation, but externally written data. The host may regard them as — in a certain sense — an "inheritance."
Del opened his eyes.
"Display."
[Evolution Node One: Nine-Merit Sect · Heaven-Splitting Palm · First Form Fragment]
Background Archive——
Nine-Merit Sect. Founder: the Nine-Merit Ancestor. True name unknown, preserved only as "Nine-Merit" within fragments of cosmic history.
The Nine-Merit Ancestor was born on a fringe planet on the verge of destruction by stellar consumption. Alone, over a lifetime, he derived the Heaven-Splitting Palm. Its core principle was "splitting" — splitting mountains, seas, heavens, and realms. Each form was a forced tearing of material boundaries. With this palm art, he swept across more than ten planets, invincible, without a single equal.
Yet the Heaven-Splitting Palm carried an unavoidable fundamental flaw: its power was drawn from the destruction of boundaries, and the wielder himself was a being with boundaries. Every palm strike simultaneously tore at the boundaries of his own existence.
The Nine-Merit Ancestor understood this flaw clearly and chose an extreme path: using his own body as a forge, he forcibly condensed decades of accumulated Heaven-Splitting power into a divine rank, hoping that "divinity" could repair his ever-fragmenting existence boundaries.
The divine rank did emerge. But it was unstable. It was rampant.
For hundreds of years afterward, the Nine-Merit Ancestor was ceaselessly devoured by his own divine rank — every strike burned himself first before reaching the enemy. The self-inflicted damage could not be avoided. He could only kill faster to reduce his own losses.
Finally, on the thirteenth planet, the Nine-Merit Ancestor used his last palm to wipe all surface life from that world, then died of exhaustion. Before his death, he sealed a fragment of the First Form into the void and left behind a single line:
"Strength can split the heavens — yet the heavens reside within me."
Technique Properties: Upon activation, the Black Buddha Core absorbs the "boundary-breaking" trait of the Heaven-Splitting Power — attacks can forcibly tear through the opponent's energy defense boundaries, ignoring all shield-type defenses. The Nine-Merit Ancestor's side effect is also inherited: each use of the Heaven-Splitting Power inflicts 12% of total attack damage as backlash upon the host.
Black Buddha Core Fusion Trait: Extinction Gravity overlaid with Boundary Tearing — the gravity field can act directly upon the opponent's existential layer, not merely the physical.
Current Parse Progress: 0%
Estimated Full Parse Time: approximately 47 days
Combat Power Increase Upon Completion: current baseline ×520%
Note: The 12% backlash side effect is permanently attached and cannot be removed through subsequent upgrades.
Del stared at that last line for a moment.
Side effect permanently attached.
He made no immediate reaction. He simply noted the cost in his mind and continued reading.
[Evolution Node Two: Taixu Sect · Void-Extreme Sword Intent · Fragment]
Background Archive——
Taixu Sect. Xianxia lineage, inherited from an ancient immortal cultivation civilization in a long-collapsed plane.
The Taixu Sect was founded on "void." Its core principle drew from the Tao Te Ching: "Attain the utmost void; hold fast to stillness" — the belief that the ultimate extreme of all power is not fullness, but total emptiness. Every successive sect master trained in the Void-Extreme Sword Intent, spending their lives pursuing the compression of their own presence to near zero.
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Those who reached full mastery would have an existence trending toward "nothing" — no aura, no weight, no presence, as though erased from the world. Yet for that very reason, any attack, perception, or lock-on that targeted "existence" would fail against them.
On the eve of the plane's collapse, the last sect master of Taixu engraved a fragment of the Void-Extreme Sword Intent into a void fissure through consciousness inscription, scattering it across the cosmos on the shockwave of the collapsing plane.
His final words were:
"I have become no-self. Therefore, no one can harm me."
Technique Properties: Upon activation, the Black Buddha Core absorbs the Void-Extreme Intent — the host can actively compress their own aura and presence to an extremely low level. In this state, any active attack relying on perception, lock-on, or tracking has its hit rate reduced to 8% of normal. Furthermore, when the host strikes from within the void-extreme state, the opponent cannot sense the origin of the attack in advance.
Black Buddha Core Fusion Trait: Extinction Gravity overlaid with Void-Extreme Intent — when gravity is released in the void state, the opponent cannot determine the direction of its source and can only passively endure the pressure.
Current Parse Progress: 0%
Estimated Full Parse Time: approximately 39 days
Combat Power Increase Upon Completion: current baseline ×380%
Note: While in void-extreme state, the host's active attack power simultaneously decreases by 22%. Concealment and output cannot operate at full capacity at the same time.
[Evolution Node Three: Blood Abyss Cult · Soul-Devouring Blood Sea Art · Fragment]
Background Archive——
Blood Abyss Cult. Demonic lineage, originating from an alien space known as the "Blood Sea Plane." The physical laws of that plane differed entirely from the standard universe — life energy was carried in liquid blood, and the strong could achieve rapid evolution by devouring the life energy of others.
The Blood Abyss Cult's founder, the "Blood Abyss Holy Ancestor," refined this planar law into a technique: the Soul-Devouring Blood Sea Art. Its core principle was four words — the strong devour the weak.
The Soul-Devouring Blood Sea Art had no elaborate philosophy behind it — only the most naked of rules: the more you kill, the stronger you become. The stronger the opponent devoured, the faster the evolution. The Blood Abyss Holy Ancestor ruled the Blood Sea Plane for three thousand years with this art, never ceasing to fight, never once being defeated.
In the end, his own disciples joined forces to trap him in the deepest depths of the Blood Sea, sealing him with the full force of the plane's laws. After the seal was complete, the Holy Ancestor's voice carried out from within:
"You have only fed me. When I emerge, the Blood Sea will not be enough to quench my thirst."
Technique Properties: Upon activation, the Black Buddha Core absorbs the Soul-Devouring Trait — each enemy killed allows the host to absorb 40% of their life energy and convert it into Black Sand Vigor. The stronger the opponent, the higher the conversion yield. As kill count accumulates in battle, in-combat power continues to rise with no upper limit.
Black Buddha Core Fusion Trait: Siphon Seed overlaid with the Soul-Devouring Trait — absorption efficiency rises from 91% to near 100%. Energy of any attribute can be converted without loss.
Current Parse Progress: 0%
Estimated Full Parse Time: approximately 55 days
Combat Power Increase Upon Completion: current baseline ×460%, continuing to rise with kill count during battle, no theoretical ceiling.
Note: After the Soul-Devouring Trait activates, the host's craving for combat itself will be mildly amplified. This is a technique side effect; the degree is controllable.
Del paused for one second on the words "degree is controllable." The corner of his mouth shifted slightly. He said nothing and continued reading.
[Evolution Node Four: Star Spirit Ancient Pact · Source Force Resonance · Fragment]
Background Archive——
Star Spirits. A non-human intelligent species occupying the upper tier of the cosmic life hierarchy. Their civilization was built not on technology or force, but on perception of and harmony with the universe's fundamental energy — Source Force.
The Star Spirit race believed the universe itself was conscious, and that Source Force was the flow and expression of that consciousness. A cultivator should not oppose the universe, but become part of its will — borrowing, not plundering.
The Star Spirit Ancient Pact · Source Force Resonance was a legacy left by the last Star Spirit elder before the extinction of the species, sealing a lifetime of insight into a stellar core shard. Before sealing it, the elder said:
"Our people perish, but Source Force does not. If one with affinity finds this fragment, may you walk further than our kind ever did."
Technique Properties: Upon activation, the Black Buddha Core absorbs the Source Force Perception Layer — the host can directly sense cosmic Source Force flowing through the surrounding environment and naturally channel it into their own energy system without active absorption, continuously and passively restoring Black Sand Vigor reserves. Simultaneously, the host's perceptive precision toward all energy-type attacks greatly increases, allowing prediction 0.5 seconds before an attack fully forms.
Black Buddha Core Fusion Trait: Extinction Gravity overlaid with Source Force Perception — the gravity field can expand silently by riding the natural flow of Source Force, extending the pressure range from the original five meters to thirty, with the boundary position undetectable by opponents.
Current Parse Progress: 0%
Estimated Full Parse Time: approximately 28 days
Combat Power Increase Upon Completion: current baseline ×210%
Note: This node carries no side effects and no cost. Its combat power increase is the lowest of the five, but it has the highest compatibility with all other nodes and can serve as a foundational stacking layer for any of them.
[Evolution Node Five: Void Forger · Nameless Fragment]
Background Archive——
Origin: Unknown.
Species: Unknown.
Civilization type: Unknown.
Chip Note: This fragment differs from the previous four. It cannot be traced to a source and cannot be classified. The only readable metadata in the package is a severely damaged self-account fragment——
"…I once had a name, but the name perished before I did. I once had kindred, but they fell silent before I did. What remained in the end was only this one technique — and the void that is all that is left after it is used."
"If you are reading these words, it means you are alive. Being alive is enough. Take this technique. Live well."
Technique Properties: Upon activation, the Black Buddha Core absorbs the Void Forging trait — the host can externally materialize Black Sand Vigor into "void constructs," whose form, density, and attributes are entirely determined by the host's will. They can be shields, weapons, domains — anything the host can imagine. The strength ceiling of the constructs is tied to the host's total Black Sand Vigor and rises without limit as the host grows.
Black Buddha Core Fusion Trait: Extinction Gravity overlaid with Void Forging — the gravity field can be forged into a materialized pressure structure, no longer an invisible domain but a physical force that can be shaped, directed, and concentrated.
Current Parse Progress: 0%
Estimated Full Parse Time: approximately 33 days
Combat Power Increase Upon Completion: current baseline ×290%, ceiling grows with total Black Sand Vigor, no theoretical limit.
Note: No side effects recorded for this node. However, the chip cannot rule out unknown risks. Host is advised to assess independently.
