Su Ping frowned and asked, “Is there any way to keep the other bloodlines too?”

“The only way is to upgrade all your other bloodlines to the chaotic mythical degree; that can prevent them from being swallowed. Even though our bloodline is powerful, it’s impossible for it to swallow bloodlines of the same level; they can coexist inside your body for at least 100,000 years before they finally swallow each other.

Diqiong added, “However, you must find corresponding treasures to activate each and every one of your bloodlines to achieve this, so that their primitive power can be restored. Haven’t you asked the Chief Elder? What did he say?”

“He said he would help me and asked me to wait.”

Su Ping remembered what the Chief Elder had told him. The help he mentioned was probably unrelated to the rite of passage. So to speak, the elder was indeed planning to help him activate all his bloodlines.

This made Su Ping feel rather guilty and touched. They didn’t know each other well, and yet the great crow was willing to bestow such a great favor!

“We’ll see about that. This is my palace.”

Diqiong landed with agile moves. Her palace was immense, but Su Ping felt it was more like a bird nest with golden threads. Still, it was quite glamorous; smaller Golden Crows worked there as servants.

“You’ll stay here for the time being; don’t go anywhere else,” Diqiong instructed.

Su Ping nodded. The crows observed him curiously while he asked, “Is there a place where I can cultivate?”

“Right over there; there’s an array set by the elders to gather the tree’s essence. You did cultivate there before… Have you forgotten already?”

Diqiong took Su Ping to the cultivation platform.

“Sure.”

Su Ping found a place to sit down and took out the treasures acquired from the Superior Gods, then summoned the Little Skeleton and his other pets. Those treasures were mostly of Ascendant grade and rare cultivation resources, including unusual crystals, fruits, ultimate techniques, and many others.

The training area was quite vast; Su Ping took all those items out, forming a sizable hill.

Diqiong was intrigued by all those things. She examined some of the items and remarked, “Their patterns are delicate, but their power is too weak. The circulation is terrible too… Are they weapons from humankind?”

“They’re items for gods.”

“Gods?”

Diqiong was taken aback. “What are gods?”

Su Ping was even more surprised. “You know human beings, but not gods?”

Diqiong said, “Is it strange that I know humans? Although your kind is weak on average, you once had a Heaven Master anyway. I was born here; I had never seen a real human, but it’s said that most mythical creatures reproduced by mating in primordial times, except for natural-born mythical creatures like us.

“Some of the mythical creatures caused strange bloodlines that didn’t have much power of chaos left during reproduction, ending up as slaves or food. Of all those bastard species, only one gave birth to beings as strong as those born from nature. That is, human beings.”

Su Ping was surprised. “There are no Heaven Masters among the gods?”

“I had never heard about gods before.” Diqiong shook her head.

Su Ping was amazed. Were Heaven Masters stronger than Ancestral Gods? Were gods born after humans? Or was Diqiong unaware of gods because she had never left that world?

If humans were born before the emergence of gods, then why are humans living such a hard life in the Archean Divinity?

Su Ping’s eyes glittered. He thought that ancient history was rather blurred.

“Complete book edition of A History of All Species in All Universes. It costs ten million energy points. Interested?” asked the system with an enticing tone.

You’re eavesdropping again… Su Ping cursed and quickly declined the offer.

He would rather pay the ten million energy points for other treasures. The history book couldn’t be used as a weapon anyway; it was worthless for him at the moment.

“Was all this garbage… forged by the gods you mentioned?” Diqiong rummaged through the pile of secret treasures and picked some of the beautifully crafted weapons. She played with them showing great interest.

Even though crudely made, she liked those weapons because of their appearance; they were almost toys for her.

“If you like them, just grab them.”

Su Ping wasn’t petty. Diqiong had guided him during the two visits and given him a lot of help.

Diqiong went and picked secret treasures with great delight, like a girl in a jewelry store. She tried them one after the other. One of the items was a necklace able to block an Ascendant-level strike, but she merely saw it as a normal necklace.

Diqiong picked up an earring and asked curiously, “How do I use this?”

Su Ping waved a hand, and a few more earrings flew out. He summoned the Dark Dragon Hound, and set one of the earrings on its ear while it was still unaware.

“Woof?”

Diqiong looked at them and understood. She carefully put on the earring and looked at herself in the water mirror; she was delighted. “The gods’ gadgets aren’t bad at all.”

Su Ping chuckled. That Ascendant treasure would have probably never expected it would be picked because of its appearance.

It’s true that being good-looking means everything. Good for me. Su Ping shook his head with mixed feelings. He threw some spiritual fruits to Little White and the Dark Dragon Hound so they could cultivate too.

“Is that your food?”

Diqiong was astonished to see that Su Ping was also eating the spiritual fruits given to the pets. She had thought that the food was only intended for his pets.

“?”

“There’s so little energy in the fruits. They won’t help you at all, even if you eat ten thousand of them, don’t you think?” said Diqiong in disdain. Then, she took out two fruits that looked like pineapples. “These are hundred-year-old Fire Heart Fruits, a favorite for us Golden Crows. Try them.”

“So young?” Su Ping was astonished. Most fruits he ate were ten thousand years old. Could fruits mature in just a hundred years?

He quickly ate one of the fruits and his eyes widened; he felt that a scorching power was filling up his body. A valve of sorts seemed to have been opened in his head, and infinite information surged in. There were all kinds of mysterious laws too, with the law of fire quickly surfacing. Su Ping had already attained such law to perfection, and yet he achieved a deeper understanding.

My law of fire would have probably been perfected after swallowing the fruit, even if I hadn’t perfected it or even grasped before… Su Ping was shocked. That Fire Heart Fruit was too powerful, and it was only a hundred years old!

What would happen if he ate a thousand-year-old fruit?

“Too young, is it?” Diqiong was quite angry after hearing him mumble. “This is one of the older ones; only I am qualified to eat it. The others can only eat the ten-year-old ones.”

Su Ping couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you eat them so soon? The fruit would have been more effective after letting it mature for a thousand years, right?”

Diqiong wasn’t angered by the question. She heaved a sigh and said, “Of course, the thousand-year-old fruits are better. However, they are always in demand; nobody can wait a thousand years. It only grows around the ancestral holy tree. Maybe in a few thousand years even the hundred-year-old fruits will become rare.”

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“So, they’re all eaten up too soon…” Once enlightened, Su Ping asked, “You only have this food variety?”

“Of course there’s more, but it’s not as delicious. This one is our favorite; it is said that we had sunflowers in the past, but they’re extinct now,” said Diqiong.

Su Ping understood the situation, but there was nothing he could do about their problem.

Having already eaten one, Su Ping threw the other fruit to the Inferno Dragon, as it would be helpful in understanding the path of fire, the planned direction he had for his pet. Even though all his pets had skills in every aspect, it would be better to let each of them have a specialty. Being good in every aspect wasn’t doable.

Diqiong said goodbye to Su Ping and left after taking some of the secret treasures.

Su Ping encouraged his pets to eat the treasures looted from the Superior Gods and cultivate.

The young Chaos Beast was the most diligent of the lot. It actually ignored the loot, apparently uninterested; instead, it sat close to the trunk of the tree to absorb the power of chaos within.

Su Ping didn’t disturb the young Chaos Beast. He also cultivated inside the ancient array.

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Purple Python and the Inferno Dragon became Star Lords; they had absorbed more treasures than the other pets. The Inferno Dragon was previously at the peak of the Star State; it expanded significantly in size after breaking through, becoming even scarier. The Fire Heart Fruit made the dragon’s skin patterns even more intimidating.

To Su Ping’s surprise, breaking through in that place didn’t cause any tribulation, which seemed to have been due to the barrier protecting the planet.

“You don’t have Heavenly Tribulations if you break through?” asked Su Ping curiously when Diqiong showed up on the seventh day.

She asked in return, “What’s a Heavenly Tribulation? Why would there be tribulations when we grow?”

“Well…”

Su Ping didn’t know what to say. At the same time, he thought that his mind had somehow been opened.

Breakthroughs were normal parts of a Golden Crow’s growth.

It was just like humans turning into teens and adults.

Why was the Heavenly Tribulation necessary?

That’s right… Shouldn’t breakthroughs be natural? Why did they have to be tested by the Heavenly Tribulation?

Why was the Heavenly Tribulation qualified to test them?

Diqiong bore a piece of good news. “The Chief Elder summons you.”

Su Ping’s eyes glittered. He immediately put away the remaining fruits and medicines laying on the ground, then sent his pets back to the contract space to follow Diqiong.

He soon found himself in front of the magnificent tree hole again.

Su Ping flew inside with Diqiong again, and saw that the Chief Elder was still standing there, like a huge mountain.

“The required materials are ready. Are you ready?” The Chief Elder’s voice was gentle and caring.

Su Ping asked, “How long will it take?”

“Depends on yourself. Maybe a year, maybe a hundred,” said the Chief Elder. “It’s impossible to estimate. There are too many bloodlines inside your body; it’s hard to tell how strong you will be when all the bloodlines are upgraded.”

Su Ping nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ll entrust everything to you then, Chief Elder. I’ll be eternally in your debt!”

The Chief Elder smiled and accepted his gratitude; he was doing all that exactly because he wanted Su Ping to owe him a favor. He wanted Su Ping to become the bridge between the Golden Crows and humanity, as well as the mysterious backer.

“Come inside.”

The Chief Elder shook and transformed from a magnificent Golden Crow into a gentle and caring old man covered in golden feathers.

He waved a hand and a furnace appeared out of thin air. The artifact looked ancient, with eternal flames floating about.

Su Ping felt that an external power made him approach the furnace.

He didn’t resist, slowly making his way over.

The heat sensation became stronger as he approached. His body appeared to have been set ablaze, on the verge of melting.

Once in front of the furnace, Su Ping saw that the air close to the flames was twisted and full of cracks. Each crack was as tiny as a hair, but there seemed to be a brilliant sea of stars on each.

“Let’s go!”

The Chief Elder roared, and Su Ping found himself inside the furnace. He had somehow passed right through the furnace walls.

The furnace was hundreds of meters tall; there was plenty of room inside. A lot of materials had been stacked inside the furnace too. It was shocking to find a small Golden Crow’s body, like that of a newborn.

Su Ping saw all kinds of unusual materials; some looked like vines, while others looked like trees soaked in blood.

The blood wasn’t unusually fragrant, unlike the pungent odor one would expect. It seemed to contain highly-condensed energy.

These are the necessary materials for the advancement of mythical bloodlines? Su Ping’s eyes were solemn.

The little Golden Crow’s body made Su Ping feel conflicted.

The fires surrounded the furnace outside. Su Ping immediately felt he was wreathed in the suffocating fire.

Power mist was spread out of Su Ping’s body and dispersed in the air. At the same time—the herbs and bodies of mythical creatures were melting in the scorching fire.

Su Ping felt that his body began to crack.

The vapor from the blood pooled below turned into energy and fixed every crack. His body burned, cracked and was then fixed, on and on… A balance was reached eventually.

“Gods…”

Su Ping detected his body had automatically turned into that of a god, then into a soul, and then into that of an ancient deity.

A tremendous amount of smoke would disperse in the fire every time he switched his constitution, like expelling impurities.

Su Ping felt that streams of pure power were emerging all over his body as it constantly cracked and healed.

Once the Sorcerer’s Constitution appeared, Su Ping saw that a rotten humanoid corpse a couple of meters tall rose from the blood and dashed towards him.