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--- Chapter 469 ---
"Perfect."
Han Yuan nodded in satisfaction, evaluating Hanlong Nuji's flawless work on sealing Glory City. Her absolute mastery over the Law of Ice was truly a terrifying sight to behold.
Turning his gaze slowly back toward Xu Deming, Han Yuan then said with a measured tone. "Although I have the means to bring you back to your original timeline, we can't do it right away."
"There are a few things I need to gather first."
"What exactly do you need? Is there anything I can get for you, Brother Han?!" Xu Deming responded eagerly. The burning desire to return to his home era thrummed fiercely within his modified soul.
Han Yuan gave him a momentary, deadpan look before answering. "First, I require the genetic data and bloodlines of rare, ancient, or powerful Spirit Beasts unique to this current era."
"They will become priceless tools in the future timeline, especially once the Spirit Pagoda is established and the demand for artificial Spirit Souls skyrockets."
"Consider it done!"
With a flick of his wrist, Xu Deming pulled an intricate, gleaming amethyst ring right from his sleeve. "During my travels across the Douluo Continent, I made it a personal mission to harvest rare bloodlines, genetic marrow, and intact remains from the most formidable Spirit Beasts of this age."
He grinned, a flash of pride crossing his face. "I even managed to secure the genetic blueprints of Di Tian and several other Ferocious Beasts without them ever catching wind of it."
"Then, again, most of them are still asleep."
"You... actually managed that?" Han Yuan stared at him, impressed by the time traveler's audacity.
To pull a fast one on the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon, Beast God, required a level of bravery that bordered on courting death.
Hanlong Nuji's expression soured as an unpleasant memory surfaced. "Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, I recall you trying to siphon a sample of my own blood using some devices."
"And if I am not wrong, I kicked you out of my palace before you could even blink because of it!"
"Ahem... let's not dwell on ancient history, Hanlong Nuji..." Xu Deming coughed into his hand, awkwardly averting his gaze.
The dragon lady rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Hmph! Count yourself lucky, iron human."
"I only spared you back then because I found your sheer shamelessness mildly amusing." She crossed her arms, her chin tilting upward. "In any case, my lineage isn't something a mere mortal can replicate or steal."
"Yes, and that is precisely what makes it so fascinating, Hanlong Nuji..." Xu Deming sighed softly, raising both hands in mock surrender.
As a researcher, he hadn't been able to help himself. Hanlong Nuji was arguably the most powerful Divine Beast he had ever met, and walking away without attempting to record her genetic sequence would have haunted him for the rest of his life.
But as she rightly pointed out, a primordial dragon's lineage was bound tightly to her divine will. The moment an outsider tried to manipulate it, her consciousness would immediately trigger a violent backlash.
Chuckling wearily, Xu Deming shook his head at her. "Setting aside her blood, I also managed to unearth several high-grade spirit bones from powerful spirit beasts that have long gone extinct in my era."
"Since they were impossible to find back home, I couldn't bear to let them rot in this timeline."
"Here, Brother Han," He extended his left hand, presenting the amethyst storage ring to Han Yuan as casually as if he were handing over a pouch of worthless copper coins. "Everything I have harvested is preserved perfectly inside this ring."
"Hmm..." Because Han Yuan now lacked a solid physical vessel to grasp the object, a visible ripple of immense spiritual energy radiated from his phantom form.
Utilizing precise telekinesis, he caused the ring to float gently into the air, hovering beside him. Delving into the storage space with his divine sense, Han Yuan's eyes subtly widened.
He immediately detected a vast array of familiar auras. Neatly organized inside specialized, stasis-locked boxes were the pure genetic strains of the continent's top spirit beasts: Bi Ji, Di Tian, Bear Lord, Scarlet King, even Yao Wang.
"You have truly outdone yourself, Brother Xu..." Han Yuan couldn't help but praise Xu Deming sincerely.
It was obvious that as a peak Spirit Engineer, Xu Deming's insatiable thirst for knowledge and his relentless pursuit of a higher cultivation realm were completely unquestionable.
With this hoard alone, the foundations for their plan were already vastly superior to anything he had anticipated.
After all, Alpha and Beta couldn't provide him with too many things, which was a shame, considering both of them had some good stuff.
"Do you need anything else?" Xu Deming asked earnestly.
"There is one more thing..." Han Yuan said slowly. Everything he planned to execute would take a few days, but now that he didn't have to waste time gathering genetic samples, he could focus entirely on his final objective.
"I need to check the Small Plane left behind by Beta."
"A Small Plane?" Xu Deming and Hanlong Nuji exchanged glances. They certainly hadn't expected Beta to leave behind a literal plane for Han Yuan.
Han Yuan nodded. "Yes. The plane had been attempting to invade Glory City before Beta cleared through it and conquered it for me: the Small Demon Grotto Plane."
Hanlong Nuji's eyes flashed with sudden realization. "Oh, that place! It is actually quite a decent small plane with a steady supply of spiritual energy."
"It isn't the type from a higher realm, but rather natural energy produced by the universe itself. Leaving it in your hands is a wonderful move. It can sustain your cultivation until you reach the Realm of Gods—well, at least this world's god realm."
Xu Deming's mouth twitched. "You say that as if this level of plane isn't impressive."
"It really isn't," Hanlong Nuji scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Given the energy level of that plane, it could never naturally give birth to a true divine powerhouse. If you don't believe me, ask Han Yuan."
Han Yuan gave Xu Deming a weary smile. "Unfortunately, she isn't lying, Brother Xu."
"The Small Demon Grotto Plane is brimming with natural spiritual energy, but precisely because of its isolated nature, its inhabitants could never reach a higher realm."
"The concentration of ambient energy simply isn't dense enough to break through the divine threshold. Even if someone managed it, the energy cost would cause the plane to collapse by itself."
He paused, his eyes gleaming with an idea. "Beta left this plane to me not just to use as a glorified energy battery. He wants me to cultivate it. I am planning to let my Spirit Souls reside inside, allowing them to slowly grow and breed into something far greater than mere spiritual lifeforms."
"This plane of yours... is sheer genius," Xu Deming sighed heavily, a wave of envy washing over him. If only he had possessed a resource like this in the past! Instead, the Slaughter God had been too devious, trapping him for ten thousand years.
"Alright, let's check the plane."
Accessing the authority Beta had imprinted into his consciousness, Han Yuan opened a portal to the Small Demon Grotto Plane. A jagged, spatial rift tore open before them.
Han Yuan led Xu Deming and Hanlong Nuji through the threshold. On the other side, all they could see was a vast, blinding expanse of white. The plane was a completely blank canvas.
Beta had thoroughly purged the realm, slaying every single Demon Spirit inside and only leaving behind nothing but an immense, purified sea of spiritual energy.
Hanlong Nuji burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "I have to admit, it's impressive! He really threw you under the bus to develop this blank world into something usable."
"But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, is it?" Xu Deming countered. "An empty pocket dimension full of pure energy itself is an invaluable resource."
"If developed correctly, this place will be vastly superior to the Spiritual Ascension Platforms the people of my future era use, which are just built upon unstable dimensional fragments."
"I suppose... but I am naturally lazy," Han Yuan mumbled.
He lifted his hand, summoning a tiny, radiant artifact that throbbed with a bright, green hue—the Sky Poison Pearl. He commanded it to bind and devour the Small Plane.
Swoosh!
Under Hanlong Nuji and Xu Deming's completely disbelieving gazes, the Sky Poison Pearl didn't just consume the Small Demon Grotto Plane; the latter merged with it.
The split artifact rapidly evolved, retaining and strengthening the small plane's innate ability to absorb and contain massive reserves of natural spiritual energy.
Ultimately, a portion of the space inside the Sky Poison Pearl expanded into a brand-new plane—a small world that Han Yuan could completely dominate, shape, and control at his whim alone.
"You... none of Han Yuan's avatars are ordinary after all..." Hanlong Nuji gazed at Han Yuan with a newfound, solemn respect.
Han Yuan chuckled softly. "Just standard operating procedure. I happen to be quite skilled in the laws of space-time."
Xu Deming didn't know the origin or history of the Sky Poison Pearl, but to see it casually swallow an entire Small Plane and instantly evolve meant only one thing in his mind.
A Divine Artifact? No, an Ultra Divine Tool!
Han Yuan actually possessed an Ultra Divine Tool!
'It seems... I really am finally going to make it home!' Xu Deming thought, clenching his fists tightly as a surge of excitement raced through his very core.