My Endless Life.

Chapter 603 'Treasure'

The border of the empire.

On a 'black planet' somewhere near the Darkest Star Sea.

Elena, the former successor of the Xel'Nak family, walked through the underground palace on this planet.

This dark planet is not recorded in the Empire's records; in other words, it is an illegal planet.

That's why it's called 'Black Planet'.

There are actually many planets and planetary systems of this kind in the universe. Their own star systems are either on the verge of extinction or have already been destroyed, leaving only the remnants. These modified planets do not have the value to continue to be explored, so they were abandoned and removed from the list by the Empire and became black planets.

Generally speaking, no one would willingly come to a dark planet, because such a planet could be destroyed at any time, either by natural disasters or by the Empire's occasional 'garbage cleanup'.

Unless... this dark planet itself is a 'white glove' for some bigwigs in the Empire.

"Your place still stinks as much as ever, Baker. How about cleaning it up once in a while and throwing all the trash out?"

With her white hair and red eyes, and dressed in a silver-white noble robe, Elena was completely out of place in this environment.

She made no attempt to hide her disgust, pinching her nose with one hand, looking around at the surroundings, and speaking to the hunched-over, gray-haired old man in front of her.

The old man looked very old, with half-bald hair, glasses without lenses, and a modified metal block on his forehead. He didn't look like he had many years left to live.

But this very old fellow is the current Vice President of the Empire's Council of Elders, in charge of most of the country's affairs.

The empire was a centralized system, centered on the empress, with princes who had the right of succession as subordinates, and a government system under her, including a prime minister and various ministers.

The head of the Xel'Nak family is usually the prime minister of the empire, making them the second most powerful person in the empire, and therefore the Xel'Nak family wields immense power.

In addition, the empire also has a council of elders behind it.

The original purpose was to check the imperial power and prevent the emperor from becoming too powerful and causing the country to collapse under a tyrannical ruler. However, his power has grown increasingly stronger and has gradually overshadowed the imperial family.

It wasn't until the rise of this empress that the power of the Elder Council was suppressed to its initial level, and the power it held was greatly reduced.

Even so, the power and status of many elders in the Presbyterian Council, especially the Dean and Vice Dean, are only below that of the Queen, the Prime Minister, and a few important ministers.

In other words... if this guy were to rely solely on his power, he could rank among the top ten in the empire.

As a result, he is now dressed like a grumpy old man here, and you can't see any of his former grandeur.

“Hehe, no need.” The vice elder named Baker chuckled after hearing Elena’s disdain and said, “After this meeting, this planet will be ‘cleaned up,’ so you don’t have to worry about smelling this place anymore.”

"Oh? So, your plan is almost complete?"

"It's come to an end... Please, Your Highness Elena, everyone is waiting for you."

Baker spoke mysteriously, but didn't continue. He bowed slightly to Elena, gesturing for her to enter.

Elena didn't care and didn't ask any further questions. Led by Beck, she walked deeper into the underground palace.

This underground palace is a legacy left by the civilization that originally belonged to this planet. After that civilization was taken over by the Empire, it was abandoned.

However, because the technology here is quite good, with systems such as automatic cleaning, it doesn't actually look as bad as I imagined.

Elena had been pampered for so many years, and the life of the aristocracy was ingrained in her. She would become dissatisfied if her treatment was slightly worse, and in her eyes, this place was no different from garbage.

It's amazing that Baker has been able to put up with it until now, and... those guys who chose this location for the meeting are also admirable in a way.

Elena thought to herself, but didn't say it aloud.

Here, her status as the former heir to the Xel'Nak family is of no use whatsoever; everyone here, regardless of strength or status, is stronger than her.

"Oh, Elena is here."

As Elena entered the council hall, a man sitting at the round table in the center of the hall raised his hand and greeted her with a smile.

Elena glanced at him, her expression unchanged.

The empire has three major ducal families, which firmly hold three important positions in the empire.

The political family is represented by the Sarnak family, the military by the Andreid family, and the legal family by the Calerog family.

The person greeting Elena at that moment was none other than the third young master of the military's Andreid family.

Rune Andreid.

"You're a little late, what's wrong? Did your mom scold you again?" A woman opposite Lu En greeted Elena after Lu En.

Elena didn't even glance at the person this time. She found her seat, sat down, and looked up at the head of the table.

The person who spoke next to Lu En was also a member of a major imperial family, and even a family elder, but because that family was not one of the three ducal families, Elena selectively ignored her.

After all, compared to them, the person sitting in the main seat is the focus of this meeting.

"Alright, stop arguing." The blond boy sitting in the main seat elegantly sipped the clear liquid.

He put both feet on the table, leaning back in his chair with an extremely comfortable and relaxed posture, and smiled to quiet everyone down.

It was just a single sentence, without any pressure from consciousness, yet everyone present, including Elena who already possessed an eighth-level cultivation, shut their mouths and dared not utter another word.

The reason why everyone obeyed so obediently could be guessed from the blond boy's hair color.

That's right, this blond boy is one of the nine princes and princesses who have the right to inherit the throne.

The second prince, Grisis Valenner.

He is also one of the princes who are currently the most likely to inherit the throne.

Grisis is not only the second prince, but also a ninth-tier mechanic. Therefore, even without considering his status, his strength alone is enough to silence everyone.

Once the room had quieted down, Grissith straightened up slightly, rested his elbows on the table, interlaced his fingers under his chin, and smiled at everyone, saying:

"Everyone's here, so let's get started. This is the last one before the plan goes live—"

Grissith paused, a cold glint flashing across his smiling face, before speaking, word by word:

"—Change Conference"

Upon hearing Grisis's words, Elena couldn't help but smile.

Because this so-called 'Conference on Change' is actually a rebellious council aimed at overthrowing the current Empress's regime.

In other words, for the Queen, who is currently in this situation...

They are all traitors.

……

Endless light exploded in the mysterious space.

Immediately afterwards, the dark green soul power came into contact with and merged with the exploding light, expanding the entire space even further.

Li Qi's consciousness was located at the very core of this space.

His body was glowing; apart from his face, which was barely discernible, every part of his body had turned into light.

However, this is just right. After all, in this space formed by Li Qi's consciousness, he is naked. If there were no light to cover him, the appearance formed by his consciousness would probably be completely visible to everyone.

So... there doesn't seem to be anyone else here?

"...Hey you, why are you eating all sorts of random things?!"

…Retracting the previous statement.

In this mysterious space, besides Li Qi, there was another uninvited guest... or perhaps it shouldn't be called an uninvited guest.

Although Li Qi didn't recognize the person who suddenly spoke, he remembered the person's voice.

"Xinlian?" Li Qi looked at the radiant woman with the curvaceous figure of a young girl in front of him, her pink hair, and her face, which was somewhat similar to his own but even more perfect and beautiful, and asked her name.

"It's me, how about it? Am I pretty?" The girl floated in front of Li Qi, placed a hand on her heart, and asked smugly.

Before Li Qi could ask, she said to herself, "My face is formed from the most beautiful features of all the holders of the Heart of Love throughout history. It's impossible for me not to be beautiful. How about it? Aren't you captivated by me?"

"...No, I think you're not as pretty as me."

Li Qi spoke the truth.

Although Xinlian's face seems perfect at first glance, a closer look reveals a sense of disharmony.

The face, composed of perfect features, becomes imperfect because of this incongruity. On the contrary, Li Qi's appearance may not be as good as that of the previous holders of the Heart of Love, but under the influence of the Heart of Love, his appearance is the most suitable for him.

Therefore, from a visual perspective, Li Qi is indeed much more beautiful than Xin Lian.

Is it wrong to say that a man is more beautiful than a woman...?

"Fine, since you're the holder of the Heart of Love."

Xinlian didn't offer much of a defense; she simply spread her hands, looking helpless, and acknowledged Li Qi's words.

Li Qi had no interest in arguing with her about who was prettier. He turned to look at the light mixed with black and green soul power around him, frowned, and asked Xin Lian:
"Where is this place?"

"...You're asking me about your own consciousness space?"

Xinlian's surprised question made Li Qi pause for a moment:
"You're saying...this is my consciousness space??"

"Of course, where else could it be? Look over there, isn't that your consciousness pattern?"

Xinlian pointed to a certain spot in the sky.

Behind a burst of light and dark green orbs, faint inscriptions appeared at the boundary of this space.

Those are the patterns of Li Qi's consciousness, not only the patterns after he became a mecha pilot, but also the patterns that belonged to the mechanic before the change.

But now those traces are being erased and transformed into another kind of power that is similar to consciousness, yet completely different.

Li Qi knew what that power was.

That's soul power.

All his power was being transformed from consciousness into soul power, and the consciousness inscriptions were thus erased, becoming the purest soul power.

The quality of the soul power is good. If he absorbs it all, according to the standard of consciousness power, Li Qi should be able to advance smoothly to the sixth level.

The problem is that Li Qi has never practiced any cultivation methods related to soul power, and therefore he cannot fully control the power here.

"The power that was poured into your soul was too violent and was originally meant to burst your soul, but later a powerful force helped you clean up that part of your soul power."

Xinlian explained, then looked at Li Qi:

"This power is transforming into your own, but at the same time it's changing the way you cultivate. But you shouldn't have a soul power cultivation method, right?"

"No."

Li Qi answered truthfully.

Xinlian slapped her forehead:
"That's troublesome. Right now, your entire consciousness space is transforming into soul power. Before the transformation is complete, your consciousness cannot awaken in reality... And without the assistance of a soul power cultivation method, you may have to stay in the consciousness space for decades or even centuries."

Each type of power has its own cultivation system.

Although consciousness power and soul power are of the same nature, their cultivation methods are completely incompatible.

The fading lines of consciousness on Li Qi's soul are the best proof of this.

Unfortunately, Li Qi didn't have a method for cultivating soul power...

No, there is one!
Li Qi suddenly realized that he actually had a cultivation method for soul power.

That was the soul power cultivation method that the Black Dragon left for the Soul Sect, used to harvest the local residents!
When Lucy gave this cultivation method to Li Qi, Li Qi studied it diligently. However, after encountering the Black Dragon and realizing that there were traps in the cultivation method, Li Qi forgot about it.

No one wants to practice a flawed cultivation method.

Unless he has no other choice.

Now Li Qi seems to have no other choice.

"Actually, I do have a... cultivation technique for soul power, but... I don't really want to use this manual."

Li Qi was communicating with Xinlian.

If he had access to a large number of soul power cultivation methods as a reference, and with these methods as the core, Li Qi might be able to create his own unique soul power cultivation method.

The problem is that Li Qi only has one method for cultivating soul power. Even if he disassembles and analyzes it, he still cannot escape the framework of this method.

Unfortunately, the Black Dragon had tampered with this cultivation method, and it was unclear where he had done it. Even if the cultivation method were changed, Li Qi would not dare to cultivate it.

Tell her all her worries and her feelings.

Xinlian seemed to have thought of something and asked, "So you mean that if you have a large number of soul power cultivation methods as references, you can quickly create your own cultivation method?"

"almost."

"You should have said so earlier!" Xinlian breathed a sigh of relief, then waved her hand in front of Li Qi, and countless manuals of varying thicknesses appeared before him.

Li Qi: "?"

Where did you get so many martial arts techniques?

Li Qi frowned and looked at Xin Lian. As if sensing Li Qi's confusion, Xin Lian said smugly, "My former driver was the holder of the Heart of Love. You know the power of the Heart of Love, so it's normal that it would attract cultivators from other worlds to give her things."

"...These were given to your former driver by cultivators from the Soul Realm?"

"That's right! It's not just these cultivation techniques, but also many treasures, secrets, and legends from that world. It's just a pity that I can't produce anything else except for knowledge-based items now."

Physical things cannot be passed down with Xinlian; all Xinlian can remember are these techniques.

Even this knowledge has been largely forgotten due to Xinlian's memory problems.

What lies before Li Qi now is only a small part of Xinlian's past memories.

Staring intently at the secret manuals Xinlian had taken out, Li Qi suddenly realized something, and his gaze towards Xinlian became extremely ardent.

That look even startled Xinlian: "...Why...why are you looking at me like that?"

"If I understand correctly, besides the cultivation methods of the Soul Realm, you also have the cultivation methods of the Origin Realm, right?"

"Yes, yes..."

"Give me!"

Li Qi stepped forward and reached out without hesitation: "Give me all the cultivation methods you know and can remember! No matter what world they're from!"

Li Qi has been collecting cultivation techniques or methods from other worlds, hoping to synthesize a power system that can be used in any world.

Unfortunately, the cultivation techniques he can collect are very limited, and he can only collect those from the current world. As for the cultivation methods of the Seven Origins Realm, he currently only has the consciousness cultivation method of the interstellar world and some basic immortal cultivation techniques from the Cangxuan Realm.

Li Qi originally thought that it would take him a very long time to find cultivation systems from other original realms.

Little did he know that the real treasure was right before his eyes, inside his own body!

Taking advantage of this forced 'seclusion for cultivation,' Li Qi plans to extract all the knowledge from Xinlian.

Squeeze it dry!

(End of this chapter)