It's time to improve the strength of the infinite world

Chapter 495 Will you break through to the Heavenly Origin Realm?
— "Hecatel Lapislazuli".

—"She is the goddess who governs the three realms of the moon, earth, and hell."

The moment Xia Zhi read the relevant information, she subconsciously made some connections.

The main suspicion is that the other party may have another identity, namely Hecate, the Greek goddess of the underworld and the triad.

She is said to be the Queen, the Goddess of Roads, the Queen of the Underworld, the Goddess of Opportunity...

Among the powers assigned to the gods by Zeus, Hecate enjoyed a special place.

This goddess is not clearly classified as either a celestial or terrestrial deity. In the world of gods categorized by attributes, she represents a kind of game, joy, and chance, and the randomness of fate.

Therefore, her privileges are unrestricted.

From this perspective, she is indeed a goddess of extraordinary status who cannot be ignored.

Its image is truly hard to accept.

According to mythology, Hecate was a goddess with three faces and three bodies, which were combined into one.

This will more or less cause people to lose their senses, enough to shatter the rationality of ordinary people...

However, the Hecate that appeared before Xia Zhi at this moment was not like that.

The Qi cultivator read the goddess's information without any hesitation.

It was discovered that she possessed three bodies, existing simultaneously in the Moon, Earth, and another hellish realm.

Moreover, their core souls reside in hell, where they usually live.

She can switch between her manifested bodies as freely as changing the strings of a musical instrument, and can also manifest three bodies at the same time. This elegant use of power adds a touch of divine composure compared to the mythological accounts.

"Hmm! That's strange, your gaze is quite rude..."

At this moment, Hecateya came to the Qi practitioner.

She tilted her head, blinked, and a playful smile appeared on her lips.

"Was it because I suddenly appeared that you were startled?" The goddess suddenly leaned closer, a mischievous smile blooming on her face.

Before she could answer, she giggled and leaned back, her movements exaggerated as if she were performing an impromptu waltz.

"However, being looked at with such strange gazes is actually quite pleasant!"

"..."

"..."

Why does it feel like someone is spouting some kind of outrageous opinion?
Shiki Eiki couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth, but that was just her nature—free-spirited and unrestrained.

She was also able to somewhat understand the other person's psychology.

If I had to pinpoint it, it would probably be the novelty... Yes, the novelty.

The other party's status is too high, and their strength is too great. It's probably been a long time since I've encountered something like this, being treated casually by a sufficiently powerful being with a relatively equal attitude.

"This is Lord Hecatel Lapislazuli..."

The green-haired Enma girl didn't dwell on it too much. Instead, her mind raced, and she turned around to introduce herself to the young man beside her quite readily—

"He was a ruler of Hell, but far more ancient than the current Hell system..."

"Lady Hecate existed as the goddess of hell even before the Hall of Right and Wrong was established..."

"As for the establishment of organization and order in Hell, that came later..."

In a sense, the current order of the afterlife is thanks to the tacit approval of this goddess of hell, though more accurately, she simply doesn't care.

Shiki Eiki's introduction was not without reason; she was also staring intently at the young man in front of her, scrutinizing his expression.

If only someone could stop this guy...

Hecate is definitely one of them, at least that's how Shiki Eiki sees it...

Whatever the reason, the goddess of hell has finally noticed the commotion here, and perhaps a turning point lies within it.

“Oh dear, let’s not talk about things from the past, and there’s no need to emphasize how ancient it is,” Hecate said with a smile.

"As for who this person is..."

Shiki Eiki remained unmoved and instead began to introduce the young man.

"I am Xia Zhi, I am seventeen years old this year, and I am at the Nascent Soul stage."

Xia Zhi smiled slightly and took the initiative to speak: "I'm just a Qi practitioner passing by out of interest."

"Hmm? Seventeen? That seems a bit suspicious..."

Because she wasn't very familiar with Gensokyo, Hecate didn't realize the flaw in that statement.

She simply frowned, looking at the person in front of her with a hint of suspicion, her eyes full of disbelief.

"And what do you mean by 'just passing by a Qi practitioner'?"

"It means exactly what it says. I'm just passing through, simply making a brief appearance in this world..." Xia Zhi explained modestly.

"Ha, could simply passing by cause such a commotion..."

The goddess couldn't help but chuckle.

She looked at the person opposite her and said with interest, "Pure Fox came to me again earlier, trying to persuade me to join forces with her to deal with the Moon Capital..."

"Before we could even exchange a few words, we discovered that the Moon Capital was gone..."

"Oh, I should say the Lunar Capital is still there, but it has completely transformed into something else..."

Xia Zhi listened patiently at first, and then politely asked a question: "Who is Chunhu?"

—It seems to be yet another character I've never heard of.

Just like the Hecatel Labislazuli standing before him, he didn't have much of an impression of him.

—Does this mean I'm getting old?

No, that's not right. It's because my world has stopped moving forward that some things are forever stuck in the past.

Ah, time waits for no one.

"Oh! You don't know her? I'll introduce you to her another time—"

The goddess of hell waved her hand dismissively, then became interested again and moved closer to him.

"Speaking of which, what is that power all about?"

"you mean……"

“Don’t play dumb, I mean… spiritual energy, umm, that should be the name, right?” Hecate thought for a moment.

That name seemed like a given.

From the moment she sensed the surging energy and the resulting tide of energy, this realization naturally arose within her.

certainly--

It is also known by other names such as "Yuanqi" and "Lingji".

However, it is perfectly acceptable to refer to them collectively as "spiritual energy." At least within the many realms encompassed by the energy of Qi practitioners, this term can be used uniformly.

—In a world without spiritual energy, it will appear as a form of spiritual energy.
—In a world that inherently possesses the concept of spiritual energy, it will assimilate the Great Source and gradually integrate into it…

Ultimately, they gradually replaced its ecological niche!

Although he was able to do all this, it was only after a careful and meticulous assessment beforehand that he roughly confirmed there was no extra-level power in the other world.

At least from the perspective of rules and common sense, there is no indication of anything exceeding the scale.

Only in this way can one successfully channel one's magical energy into the corresponding mortal world, encompassing all things.

However, it must be said that these are universal laws that are currently being applied in all the worlds where Nascent Soul cultivators are projecting their power.

"So, what exactly happened?" Xia Zhi smiled gently and asked with interest, "What are your thoughts?"

"My impression...very strong."

Hecate pondered for a moment, then nodded with certainty, expressing a direct and clear opinion.

Very strong.

very strong.

To be honest, it was precisely because she sensed the surge of spiritual energy and the changes in the laws of heaven and earth that she noticed some changes happening on Earth.

Otherwise, you wouldn't even notice it.

From Hecate's perspective, the process of the aura appearing was even more awe-inspiring.

An unprecedented, magnificent aura, connecting origin and end, rose up.

It has come from time immemorial, is moving towards eternity, and has evolved in countless ways.

Like the vast net of heaven, it covers the three realms.

Moreover, Hecateia could clearly sense that it was not simply "power," but rather an existence akin to a law—

It is constantly evolving and flowing.

Like the pulse of life, and like the trajectory of fate.

It is the breath of life, the foundation of all things, and even subtly transcends the power of the gods.

This is very interesting.

The goddess, instantly intrigued, followed the trail of spiritual energy and eventually found the Qi practitioner who had not concealed his presence.

The latter was visiting hell at the time.

Strictly speaking, that was precisely the domain controlled by Hecate, so she simply swapped the space in front of her—

I'm going to get to know this person better.

"Very powerful..." the young man mused. "Has Lady Hecate tried to embrace this power?"

"We'll talk about that later..." the goddess replied with a smile. "I need to observe carefully what you're going to do first."

Although her perspective was also greatly affected by her strength, she was unable to see the whole picture.

—There was no way to realize that the spiritual energy was not an ordinary power.

— Rather, it is a fishing line that exists in a higher realm.

Any living being that breathes in spiritual energy and uses it to cultivate is like a fish that has taken the bait; it can never escape this invisible net.

Their fate, their path, and even the trajectory of their soul are all woven into this vast and boundless order.

Although, in reality, this is a matter of shared prosperity and shared loss, since Xia Zhi had no intention or plan to exploit the masses.

He's not Goetia, he doesn't have any grand plans to realize, but he doesn't have enough fuel, so he can only push the energy of all humanity forward, repeatedly squeezing out the heat of life...

That's not possible.

His magical power is inexhaustible and limitless; its scale and output are beyond that of ordinary people...

No, it is something that ordinary life forms, and even ordinary civilizations, cannot even imagine.

If there is anything that he cannot accomplish with his magical power, then it is certainly not something that can be made up for by harvesting some low-level intellectual beings and squeezing out their life energy.

Therefore, such a thing is absolutely impossible.

Xia Zhi's actions seem more like providing a platform and convenience, and then using that as a means to collect users' account information.

For example, he has now begun to analyze the "power of realms"...

In a sense, it's an exchange of benefits...

However, not everyone can be so objective and look at things from another person's perspective, which easily leads to associations with conspiracy theories.

Hecate was like that; even though she couldn't observe the spiritual energy swirling through the realms, she still felt there must be some ulterior motive behind it.

In short, she had no reason to act hastily, so she planned to wait and see.

"Oh, we should really take a good look—"

Xia Zhi had no intention of forcing a sale, and casually changed the subject: "So, let's talk about that matter from before..."

"Lord Hecate, would you be interested in joining us? To help manage order in my afterlife or something?"

"Oh? That's an interesting suggestion—not only are you planning to poach Eiki, but you're also planning to poach me?"

The goddess wasn't angry; she just asked seriously, "You don't have a collecting habit, do you? You want to snatch every outstanding girl you see and put her in your own bowl?"

"how come--"

Xia Zhi would certainly not admit it:

"I just happened to run into them and asked them casually. Besides, if Hell in this world were to completely shut down, Lady Hecate would be bored, wouldn't you?"

"That's not necessarily true..."

The Goddess of Hell snorted twice, "But let me ask you this: if I really go to your world, what kind of treatment do you plan to give me?"

"Of course, it's a senior management position, and the benefits are absolutely top-notch!" The Qi cultivator gave a thumbs up and readily made the promise.

"Just senior management?"

Hecate frowned in dissatisfaction: "Shouldn't it be something like I'm in charge of the entire afterlife?"

"..."

"..."

"Well..."

Xia Zhi stroked her chin, the image of the underworld mistress she served as conjuring up before her eyes.

Then, he looked at Hecate in front of him with a troubled yet sincere expression.

"If I may ask—" the Qi cultivator looked directly into the goddess's eyes, "Do you possess the Heavenly Origin Breakthrough ability?"

(End of this chapter)