Hunting for bugs was a joyous affair, but Fang You's exploit didn't last too long.
For one, he worried that lingering too long might cause the rules of heaven and earth to crash, leading to an immediate failure of Spark Oasis's promotion, rendering it impossible to ascend further. On the other hand, truly controlling three seven-star aberrations was no simple feat.
Killing a world-ending aberration was not difficult for many present; it merely required a bit of effort. However, to firmly restrain them demanded full commitment.
The red-robed and white-sashed aberrations nurtured by An Jianyou far surpassed the normal capabilities of seven-star entities.
Instead of cultivating dozens of seven-star aberrations, she had invested her strength into nurturing them further after their initial growth. Thus, the red-robed and white-sashed aberrations were inherently powerful, far exceeding conventional seven-star aberrations. However, controlling them required even greater effort. It was only with An Jianyou's amplification that these two aberrations could securely lock down the nest-type aberration before them.
Liu Shang's situation was similar.
Threads of wood cracked and broke, only for new ones to grow and fill the gaps, thus repeatedly restraining the aberration before them.
Yet, the seven-star aberration's struggle remained immense. From time to time, it spat out 'saliva' potent enough to shatter the earth, bombarding the oasis not far away. This proved troublesome to deal with.
Therefore, after exploiting the bug for a while, Fang You reluctantly gave the order to harvest these three aberrations.
The aberration resource incubator plan still had a long way to go.
As the three nest-type aberrations and the numerous smaller aberrations they had hatched were slain, an invisible, vast, and profound power of rules officially descended.
In an instant, Spark Oasis seemed to have received a powerful injection. The oasis's vital force, which had appeared to be exhausted, began to spread outwards once more at an astonishing speed.
The foul grey fog rapidly receded, giving way to bright, brilliant sunlight.
On the barren land at the outskirts of the oasis, tender green shoots visibly sprouted. In the blink of an eye, the desolate and withered ground transformed into fertile soil teeming with grass and vegetation, pulsating with life.
Within Spark City, the plants and trees that had become withered and decayed under the impact of the filth also instantly returned to their original state, even continuing to grow upwards.
Furthermore, unlike the lush forests that Liu Shang had conjured with her "Tree of Life" skill, the changes in vegetation across the entire oasis were permanent!
The crystal cornfields planted within the oasis skipped their growing period and welcomed a bountiful harvest;
In the core area of the oasis, the slow-growing golden ironwood forest transformed into robust trees in a mere instant;
Other low- and high-tier mysterious crops also showed significant changes. Some, bathed in the baptism of rules, even "evolved," advancing to higher-grade crops of the same origin.
The residents of the oasis also felt a subtle sense of comfort, as if soaking in a warm spring. Many defending soldiers miraculously discovered their fatigue easing, their arms no longer aching, their breathing no longer strained, and their bodies gradually regaining strength.
These were merely visible changes; many more were unseen.
The Heart of the Oasis hummed, conveying a very vague sense of joy and exhilaration. The entire oasis was continuously growing and expanding.
Strands of world power proliferated from the Heart of the Oasis, gathering into streams, then into rivers.
The majestic world power, like a colossal dragon, coiled above the oasis, propelling it further to expand, transform, and evolve.
Mountains rose, small rivers carved into great rivers, trees grew to form vast forests…
Even as the oasis rapidly expanded and strengthened, the surrounding regions were subtly affected, undergoing certain delicate changes.
Spark Oasis had originally existed within a small, hidden valley. As the oasis ascended and expanded, the valley underwent repeated modifications, forming a landscape that, while appearing similar at first glance, was fundamentally different.
This time, however, the changes were exceptionally profound!
Rumble—!
A low hum emanated from within the oasis.
A rumbling tremor shook the outside.
This was the transformation of the environment, a conflict between vitality and decay, and it seemed to involve a deeper change.
The transformation of the oasis was like a heavy drop falling into a lake, creating violent ripples. However, as these ripples of change propagated across the entire domain, only faint, almost imperceptible ripples remained on the lake's surface.
Everything in the entire Starfall Domain proceeded as usual.
The grey fog churned, aberrations roamed, merchants traveled, and the people of the oasis lived their lives.
Only… the myths…
The Steel City Lord, who had just surveyed a resource mining point awaiting development, suddenly frowned. "Did you detect anything?"
Despite his subordinate's bewildered expression, the Steel City Lord did not believe he was hallucinating. He diffused his divine sense, concentrating his investigation, and finally detected a subtle change in the surrounding heavens and earth.
This change was so faint it was like a gentle breeze, or the sprouting of a new seedling on the vast land.
It was almost negligible, yet absolutely impossible to ignore.
"This is…?"
The Steel City Lord vaguely recalled seeing similar descriptions. His frown deepened, and after a period of thoughtful recollection, his expression jolted. He finally located the information he sought in the dusty depths of his memory.
"It's the promotion of a super oasis!"
"When an oasis ascends to level 7, it generates immense changes capable of affecting the entire domain! So this is…"
The Steel City Lord's eyes widened.
But in this Starfall Domain, which oasis could possibly reach level seven? Their Steel City was the closest, yet still lacked many preparations.
Wait, could it be Sword Flower City or the Black Stone Alliance? If Sword Flower City could hide so deeply, it was plausible they could conceal something more.
After a moment of thought, the Steel City Lord shook his head, dismissing his own speculation.
After all, mythical beings could hide, ultimate trump cards could be concealed, but the general scale of an oasis could not be hidden. The Steel City Lord could see at a glance that Sword Flower City had not even reached level six.
Wait, could it be the Burning Fire Merchant Guild?
When the Burning Fire Merchant Guild held its auction some time ago, they had acquired the special epic ritual "Popularity Collection Ritual," which could gather popularity from other oases and then channel it to a specific oasis, accelerating its promotion.
And with the combat strength of the Burning Fire Merchant Guild, taking over an oasis to manage and develop quietly would not be difficult.
After a period of thought, the Steel City Lord shook his head again, dismissing this speculation.
He felt it was still impossible.
The Burning Fire Merchant Guild possessed both technical expertise and strength, and would undoubtedly be able to create a super oasis in the future. However, the time was too short—only a year or so. How could the Burning Fire Merchant Guild have quietly built a super oasis?
The seller had introduced the Popularity Collection Ritual at the time, and its effect seemed rather redundant to him.
Setting aside whether the Burning Fire Merchant Guild could find an oasis with millions of inhabitants to power it, even if they could, they could only create a level 3, at most a level 4, oasis.
To create a level 7 oasis in such a short time, unless the Burning Fire Merchant Guild could find an oasis with billions of inhabitants to power it—that would be a joke!
The Steel City Lord dismissed this speculation once more.
An oasis, as long as it existed, would inevitably leave traces. To manage and grow it, it would have to interact and trade with other oases. So, where did this suddenly promoted super oasis come from?
After eliminating all impossible options, what remained… were no options.
The Steel City Lord fell into confusion.
…
In Starfall City, two mythical beings were lost in confusion.
"A super oasis has been born?"
"Who is it? Who!"
"This is impossible!"
They were the overlords of the Starfall Domain, having operated and planned here for centuries. They knew nearly all the large and elite oases in the domain.
They were also well aware of which oases were strong and which were weak. Currently, no large oasis in the entire domain met the requirements for promotion to a super oasis.
Wait, thinking of the deeply hidden mythical beings—Steel City Lord, Dean Rose, and the first tower lord of Black Stone—whom they wouldn't have discovered without their voluntary confession—Brazemon felt that perhaps they weren't as thoroughly knowledgeable about the Starfall Domain as they thought.
"Could it be that one of the oases in Steel City, Sword Flower City, or the Black Stone Alliance has already been promoted?"
"No, impossible."
As soon as the thought arose, he immediately negated it.
Because if it were these oases, then as soon as they began their promotion tribulation, the spies of Starfall City, who had been placed in these oases, would have transmitted the information as quickly as possible.
Starfall City had received no news, indicating that it was definitely not these oases.
Other oases were even more impossible.
"Could it be an oasis secretly built by the Burning Fire Merchant Guild?"
"No, this is also impossible."
Starfall City's influence extended throughout the entire domain. They could not possibly fail to detect a large oasis that had already reached level 6 and was about to ascend to level 7.
Where did this oasis come from?
After eliminating all impossible options, what remained… were no options.
Brazemon and Orlando, the two mythical beings of Starfall, fell into silence.
"I still think this matter has something to do with the Burning Fire Merchant Guild. Perhaps there's another power behind the Burning Fire Merchant Guild, and they began their plans here even earlier."
Brazemon said.
Even without evidence, he had a hunch. He felt it had to be!
The more ancient mythical being, Orlando, shook his head. "Your imagination is good, but it's not realistic. We manage oases and cannot act solely on instinct."
After he eliminated all impossible options, what remained… was a barely plausible option.
That would be…
In a nearby domain, a very powerful oasis was undergoing promotion. Perhaps it was a level 8 oasis, or even a level 9 oasis, which was why the fluctuations had spread to their location.
He believed this explanation to be the most reasonable.
…
…
Besides Steel City and the two from Starfall, other mythical beings also sensed the fluctuation…
"Oasis promotion fluctuation?"
A terrifying being clad in crimson armor, with a semblance of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood emanating from him, suddenly opened his eyes.
A few months ago, the Crimson Emperor had left once to participate in the war against the evil god faction of "Eternal Night Nether Lord."
Although the mythical being Bull Demon and Flesh King both perished in this war, he, the Crimson Emperor, had not suffered much damage. Furthermore, he had received commendations from the supreme Mother Goddess for his significant achievements.
He had leveled up!
He had become stronger!
Therefore, after returning to his lair and consolidating his gains, the Crimson Emperor came to the outer perimeter of the Starfall Grotto to stand guard. Since there was nothing to do while waiting, he continued to meditate for a short while, absorbing the gifts from the Mother Goddess.
But just now, he was awakened by this faint fluctuation.
The Crimson Emperor frowned. "In this domain, there seemed to have been a level seven oasis called Starfall City before. Now there's another one?"
He did not know much about the Starfall Domain, but he knew that human level seven oases were extremely difficult to produce, and the Starfall Domain was a newly formed domain, not even as old as him.
The emergence of another level seven oasis was worthy of deep consideration, especially…
He looked in the direction of Blue Star and suddenly had a thought.
"Could it be an oasis created by the Blue Star people?"
After all, some time ago, with the departure of mythical beings like them, the blockade had loosened, making it not impossible for Blue Star powerhouses to have slipped out.
Several deeply impressive figures appeared in his mind.
A ghost-controlling girl with multiple black arms, blood-stained red robes, and a unique aesthetic.
A black-robed, black-saber commander manipulating a neat battle formation, channeling the power of hundreds into one.
And a man in white robes, surrounded by golden light, standing in the heavens!
These Blue Star powerhouses had erupted with astonishing power through external means. To gather such strength in a mortal body would surely come at a great cost.
But the Crimson Emperor's intuition told him that these individuals were not only alive but living quite well.
Given the performance of these Blue Star individuals, it seemed nothing they did would be surprising.
After pondering for a while, the Crimson Emperor shook his head, dismissing his speculation.
It was possible for Blue Star powerhouses to break through the blockade.
Blue Star powerhouses leading a large group of humans into the Aberration Realm, occupying and developing an oasis, and even building it into a level seven oasis… What kind of aberration realm joke was this!
Thinking of the ludicrous thought that had just crossed his mind, the Crimson Emperor could only laugh at himself.
Perhaps he had been surprised and angered by the Blue Star people too many times, leading to some illogical thoughts.
"But could it be that the Blue Star people are related to the Burning Fire Merchant Guild that appeared not long ago?"
After all, he had been here for some time and had naturally gathered some relevant information.
The Burning Fire Merchant Guild was one of the key targets he had marked.
After some thought, the Crimson Emperor also shook his head, dismissing this speculation.
After all, the Burning Fire Merchant Guild, despite its limited personnel, numbered in the hundreds or thousands, which contradicted his initial assessment.
However, if Blue Star powerhouses had entered the Aberration Realm, it was possible they were staying at the Burning Fire Merchant Guild.
Since he had nothing else to do, this matter was worth investigating.
The Crimson Emperor immediately summoned two mythical beings who had been promoted during this war and were essentially his direct subordinates.
One was from the Crimson Empire, and the other was from a tribe under his command, named "Qian Yu."
"This matter will be handed over to you for investigation."
…
…
It was not until a day later that Spark Oasis fully ascended to level 7.
The total land area of the oasis had expanded several times over, and its contained life force and potential resource output had increased by more than tenfold.
Now, the land of Spark Oasis enjoyed favorable weather and fertile soil everywhere.
There was also a flood of information prompts on the panel.
Fang You browsed through them one by one.
First, the oasis's four renewable resource points had been upgraded from Lv6 to Lv7. As he had expected, there was a "choose one of two" prompt during the upgrade.
Quantity or Quality?
He operated them one by one.
"Ding!"
"Prompt: Resource point 'Bright Stream Crystal Mine - Lv6' is upgrading. The upgrade branch is 'Bright Stream Jade Mine.' Subsequently, there will be a very small chance of legendary material 'Bright Stream Jade' being born in the mine."
"Ding!"
"Prompt: Resource point 'Vitality Spring Water - Lv6' is upgrading. The upgrade branch is 'Life Spring Water.' Subsequently, the spring eye will erupt with a very small amount of Water of Life, a smaller amount of Water of Vitality, and a large amount of Spring Water of Vitality."
"Ding!"
"Prompt: ..."
Currently, Spark Oasis had 5 renewable resource points, the most valuable of which were the two mentioned above. As the oasis ascended to level 7 and broke through a major tier, new resource points should theoretically be born, but Fang You did not find them on the panel.
He took out the Heart of the Oasis and vaguely perceived a piece of information.
New resource points were being born, but they were stuck, not fully formed.
This was not unexpected.
He then found two related pieces of information among the numerous prompts marked as "key."
"Prompt: New resource points are being born. You can perform the following operations:
"1: Continue birth; resource point 6 will form an aberration crystal vein."
"2: Invest 100,000 Destiny Points for slight influence. This resource point will form an aberration crystal vein with a very small chance of producing divine crystals."
"3: Invest 500,000 Destiny Points for partial interference. A legendary vein, 'Embryonic Vein,' will be born. Subsequently, the vein will produce a considerable number of normal aberration weapon embryos, a smaller number of epic aberration weapon embryos, and a chance of producing legendary aberration weapon embryos."
Fang You: "???"
There was such an operation, which was simply… wonderful!
Although 500,000 Destiny Points was a bit expensive, it would continuously produce the main material for crafting legendary aberration weapons in the future. This value was far higher than any aberration crystal or divine crystal. Calling it a money tree would be an understatement!
With a sense of excitement and anticipation, Fang You looked at the second prompt.
The first half was similar.
Common resources of moderate value.
High-grade resources of high value.
And an extremely rare, limited-edition, deluxe resource!
"3: Invest 500,000 Destiny Points for partial interference. A legendary 'Mystic Realm Stone Vein' will be born. Subsequently, the vein will produce an extremely small amount of Mystic Realm Stones. Increasing the level of this resource point can increase the output of Mystic Realm Stones."
Fang You clenched his fists, unable to conceal his excitement.
Who didn't like a money tree and a treasure basin?
A level seven oasis was indeed the most fundamental aspect of a top-tier force. The resources and effort Xin Huo invested in building Spark Oasis were well worth it!
However, the harvest season was far from over; in fact, it had just begun. Next, there was…
Fang You's gaze fell upon the Destiny Points column.
After the unprecedented aberration tide, the accumulation of Destiny Points had reached an all-time high.
It was time for Destiny's turn.