The incubator’s shape resembled an hourglass, with nurous runes carved on its exterior. The overall structure lacked any technological feel, brimming instead with the refined aesthetics of handcrafted art.
Li Aozi estimated that besides mithril (titanium alloy) which he could replace on his end, everything else, including the wooden materials, were purely magic side products.
Many tis, technology wasn’t about right or wrong—most of the ti, materials and environnt dictated the developntal direction of a civilization’s tech tree.
For example, so civilizations had naturally superior materials: they had tea leaves, ceramics, bamboo, mulberry leaves, distinct seasons, and diverse terrain. This led them to a different tech tree path, allowing early economic trade surpluses through these materials. One couldn’t argue with that.
The universe was vast, and different civilizations had different environnts. What seed like mundane technology to one might seem like witchcraft to the Azure Star People.
Unexpectedly, every civilization developed so "Destroyer" class of occupations, highlighting a truth: no civilization was established without slaughter and war.
For Li Aozi, the incubator was crafted from various magical materials and had spell rune effects.
——Wasn’t this exactly the mysterious side product he needed?
He planned to hatch this egg, then dismantle the incubator and install it into the biological pool.
The original breeding function, which had to be castrated due to material issues, could now be unlocked.
Li Aozi casually placed the blue-violet void creature egg into the incubator. Leisurely browsing the player forum to see if there were any new hell jokes to amuse him, he waited for the egg to hatch.
Half an hour later, a crisp ’snap’ was heard. Li Aozi glanced up to see a deep crack forming in the void creature egg inside the incubator.
Accompanied by rustling sounds, a triangular, sharp head slowly erged, resembling a cross between a lizard and a mantis. Serrated teeth nimbly tore open the eggshell, and its small yet sturdy body bore the stance of a high-level predator. Dark purple exoskeleton armor flowed with azure void energy, and four scar-like crystalline eyes shone with a terrifying golden light.
Its body structure combined a crocodile’s armor and long tail with a mantis’s lithe form and sharp scythes. Delicate petal-like wings unfurled from its back—its outer attributes unmistakably identifying it as a juvenile void high-rank predator.
"A void predator, huh? Looks like I got lucky, at least it didn’t give so void steam thing."
Just as Li Aozi was about to open the incubator and use gravity to shatter this juvenile creature to use it as material for future bio-beasts, sothing unexpected occurred.
Click!
The void predator convulsed violently, crazily smashing against the incubator glass. Its body rapidly withered to a skeletal state, muscles and shell shrinking quickly. In no ti, the previously robust predator collapsed, its eyes dimd, body disintegrated, turning into a pile of blue-violet crystalline powder.
What...was this?
Void creatures weren’t supposed to have such poor adaptability. Evidence of them could be found even on black hole surfaces, let alone in the bio-friendly environnt of Azure Star.
"Hmm?"
Li Aozi activated his mutation-enhanced vision, quickly spotting a tiny creature crawling slowly among the blue-violet crystals: a weird insect no bigger than a thumbnail with a translucent white body. It wriggled forward, absorbing residual void energy, and as it ingested the void crystal powder, its body sprouted spines, grew larger, its head sharpened, and its tail developed a drill-like structure.
"This doesn’t seem like a void creature."
Li Aozi used gravity to pick it up, zooming in to inspect its translucent structure.
After comparing it with various creatures from his mory, Li Aozi finally identified it:
"Spirit maggot."
This situation surprised him greatly.
Though called a ’spirit maggot,’ it was like the Holy Roman Empire—neither holy nor Roman, and certainly not an empire.
Spirit maggots were neither spirit realm creatures nor maggots. They were ancient cosmic beings, existing even longer than so narrative-level civilizations.
However, they weren’t supposed to be found in the first layer of the Starry Abyss, ’Layer Abyss.’
"Spirit maggots are ancient cosmic beings undergoing complete tamorphosis, holding a revered status in various religions of the second layer of the Starry Abyss. Especially crucial to the twelfth narrative, the Obliteration Sanctum, where spirit maggots are hailed by the Pantheon as ’Chosen Creations.’
However, Li Aozi knew of a more practical use for this creature.
Much like insects, spirit maggots had four developntal stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The genetic difference between mosquitoes and spirit maggots was as vast as that between bananas and humans.
In their larval stage, they voraciously consud high-energy materials, from nuclear radiation to void energy, which accumulated for their pupation. Upon collecting enough energy, they burrowed into a planet’s core, using geothermal energy for extended hibernation. anwhile, their neural ganglia and synapses perforated the planet, secreting particles that filled every cubic ter of air, continuously sensing and adapting the surface environnt, even remote-sensing alterations to the biosphere.
When they awoke, the entire planet would be rejuvenated.
Yes, it was here that the practical use of spirit maggots ca to light.
The twelfth narrative, Obliteration Sanctum, had conducted follow-up experints on the Color Cloud Star in the Jagad Constellation’s lower arm, showing spirit maggots required twenty to thirty thousand years to tamorphose into the planet’s guardian deity.
This aligned with the Obliteration Sanctum’s mission: to support, excavate and cultivate a civilization’s deity, and then invite them to join the sacred Pantheon, offering divine support for the immortality of their twelfth narrative kingdom.
"This is a valuable find, the Obliteration Sanctum should offer a good price."
Li Aozi placed the spirit maggot into a vacuum container, keeping it secure. His expression was pensive.
Live specins from the lower starry abyss, especially those valued by the Obliteration Sanctum, were rare. Previously, they had to sacrifice so strong individuals to endure curses during their ascension attempts to bring back as many as possible each ti.
This scarcity made spirit maggots high-priced in markets. Magic civilizations were eager to study them, but the Obliteration Sanctum, willing to pay the highest prices, had the greatest demand.
"It seems my luck has improved since Du Zexin left."
Li Aozi humd a tune softly. The spirit maggot was his first fortune toward cosmic journeys.
"Now that I’ve found a spirit maggot, I wonder what other good fortunes await. Perhaps a ga tester will co knocking, wanting to star in a promotional video?"
Li Aozi muttered.
Knock, knock, knock!
Suddenly, knocking echoed from outside. A laboratory guard called out:
"Mr. Leoz! There are three Frost Plated people outside, saying they urgently need to see you."
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