Published at 28th of January 2026 6:24 am

Chapter 1742: Strategic Resource

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Kong was genuinely baffled. As someone with a great destiny, he understood that his luck would ebb and flow like the tides. However, there is usually a period of peace, and when the low tides arrive, it usually comes one at a time, but this time around, he felt like he was experiencing tsunamis after tsunamis.

’Is this because of an anomaly created by coming to this timeline, or is someone plotting against me?’ Emperor Kong thought about it for a few minutes but could not come up with an explanation. With so little information to go with and the failure to divine or calculate anything, he had no choice but to put it in the back of his mind.

Emperor Kong exhaled before looking around. "Hmm? What is this?" He noticed a small puddle on the floor, in the exact spot where the creature died. As soon as he gazed at this liquid, Kong’s body released an uncontrollable thirst; every cell in his body screamed that it wanted to absorb this thing.

Intrigued, Emperor Kong placed the liquid inside a jade bottle before analyzing it. Despite his vast knowledge, he was clueless about what this could be. But this couldn’t be blamed on him. He lacked unique knowledge about this timeline. Even in the Merit List, although there is a [Spiritual Herb Collection], this thing is a bit too pricey for its worth, and it did not contain unique knowledge from worlds in the Reverse Black Stone Array.

Emperor Kong cast a few spells, and the preliminary analysis indicated that this liquid posed no threat. The next step was the primary test. Without wasting much time, he cast a Literary Technique, to be specific, a technique from the School of Medicine called [Testing Tongue]. With this skill, not only can Kong understand the effect of this spiritual liquid, but he can also taste if it’s poisonous before it reaches his system.

’What? This thing can heal [Existence Injuries]?’ Emperor Kong was shocked by this discovery. An instant urge to swallow the liquid almost overwhelmed his mind, but reason eventually conquered his chaotic mind, allowing him to continue the test. Only after checking for poisons or any harmful substances did the great scholar finally ingest the substance. Without knowing it, he swallowed everything in that bottle.

"That small bottle healed my injury by 5%. If only I could have more," Emperor Kong muttered before a light of excitement shone in his eyes. As someone blessed with destiny, it’s written in the stars that he will be rewarded after surviving any calamity. So, he swiftly scanned this cave.

"As expected," Emperor Kong laughed before teleporting deep into the cave. Gazing at that pool of shining liquid, an uncontrollable grin appeared on his face, which ruined his gentlemanly air of a respected scholar. "Such a vast quantity of this spiritual liquid: how many of those creatures are needed to create this pool?"

Emperor Kong frowned as he felt something was wrong. The cave, which contained such a robust seal, does not seem like something innate; it looks more like it was artificially created. ’At first, I thought this was a seal,’ Emperor Kong thought. ’But now, I’m starting to think this is a rare resource hub created by someone or a faction.’ Human greed is endless, and that saying is even more so for cultivators. After knowing that killing that creature would leave such a valuable spiritual item, no decent cultivator would hesitate to farm these creatures for their materials — no matter how powerful or inherently dangerous they were.

Emperor Kong cast his [Sage Eyes] to observe his surroundings. As expected, he discovered a few hidden arrays and swiftly analyzed them, demonstrating his expertise in Array Dao. Although he needed to adapt to the Array Dao’s rules and philosophy in this timeline, Emperor Kong still managed to decipher these arrays within a short period.

As the saying goes, all paths lead to the same destination. The history of this timeline has diverged during the Chaos Demon Gods, but the development of cultivation still has many similarities. And in the entire Chaos Universe, must the law or Dao converge at the Great Emperor Realm; that’s why they cultivated the Grand Dao Source, the source or origin of the Dao. The only difference in those timelines is minor, like different philosophies, ideals, approaches, or goals.

"This one should be the main formation to create this material. Is that an egg?" Emperor Kong murmured. The central array contained a black egg surrounded by a brilliant array. "I was right. These cultivators used this egg as a medium to cultivate these creatures and kill them for their materials."

Emperor Kong could not stop a smile from creeping on his face. The existence of this egg means his academy will have a natural resource capable of healing [Existence]. From what he knows, only the Demon Race has such a thing. While other Overlord Factions have pill formulas with the same ability, refining even one pill takes too much time, effort, and a terrifying spiritual herb system to grow the materials.

Emperor Kong calmed himself down to study and remember the formation. Once he was done, he raised his hand to draw runes in the air, but suddenly stopped. ’Wait, how come the analysis was so fast?’ He was a genius and quite accomplished in the Dao of Array, but even talent could not explain the sheer speed at which he understood this array.

Where there are screams, there are demons; where there is smoke, there is fire. Such an improvement would not appear out of nowhere, as a teacher, Emperor Kong, understood that remaining ignorant is never the solution to a problem. A brief scan of his body and soul revealed the truth: the unknown liquid not only heals, but also provides a significant — albeit temporary — boost to the soul’s comprehension.

’My soul has been optimized, but the thing still granted me such a significant boost,’ Emperor Kong thought with a grin so wide that he almost resembled a glow with a slit mouth. ’I can’t waste time.’ Now that he knew the true value of this liquid, he knew it was only a matter of time before its owner came to retrieve it

Runes after runes were perfectly etched in the air, setting up the stage for Kong’s grand robbery. Once everything was in place, he did not hesitate. The first step was to block all alarm arrays to prevent anyone from knowing what was going to happen in this cave. The second step was to steal all the liquid in that pool; it was the key to his subsequent recovery. Such rare material requires the perfect container, and Emperor Kong would not be considered a Primal if he did not have ample of these in his space ring.

The third step was to move the egg from the central array. The best approach would have been to take the entire array, but Kong had already noticed a pretty nasty backup that would blow the entire thing if he tried to do that. There is even a similar backup on the egg, but that one was easier to deal with, so he first placed a seal on the egg before putting it away.

The final step is a clean and swift escape. This sealing formation of this cave had a tiny flaw, which is why the creature successfully pulled Emperor Kong — who was in a strange state of matter — into this space. Now, he was using that same flaw to run away after a successful heist.

"Everything has a cause and an effect," Emperor Kong muttered. "The flaw of this formation means this creature would have escaped eventually. I save countless lives, and these rare materials that can be used as strategic material for my academy are my reward."

After teleporting a fair distance, Kong did not immediately enter a secluded place to recuperate. The looming threat of possible bad luck could not grant him peace. Instead, he continued his teleportation while injecting the new spiritual liquid directly into his body and soul. His destination was the nearest Fortune Dynasty; he wanted to use their luck to suppress his possible bad luck.

The search was immediately successful, but Kong was not happy. In his area, there were three massive dynasties, but every time he thinks about using their Qi Luck, his divinations are all ominous. Emperor Kong then changed area. He found a domain ruled by one dynasty, but the sense of danger remained the same.

’There seems to be a lot of sects around here, should I use them instead?’ Kong thought. Fortune Dynasties have a vast population, which makes their Qi Luck more stable and a better resource for dealing with the danger of bad-luck backlash. ’However, something is wrong. 99% of these lineages seem to practice Taoism. Is this a world ruled by Taoism?"

Emperor Kong remembered the two people fighting that old demon. So far, all signs indicate that Taoism reigns supreme in this world. ’If that’s true, I might know how to summon the core node,’ Emperor Kong analyzed.

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