Single Wish: Rise Of The Omniscient Paragon

[Maledro's Gu Evolution Catalyst]

- A deep black seed laced with death qi and mutated toxins.

- When given to your swarm of Maledro's Gu undergoing metamorphosis, this item will accelerate and provide an evolutionary path toward a Plague King Hive.

- Effect: Your Gu gains sapience, and a unique Gu Path Domain would be opened up to you.

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To be honest, Corey was a little bit surprised when he saw this because he did not expect the Universal System to take note of his Gu, and provide him with a way to make them stronger.

There were three things in the definition of the evolution catalyst which intrigued and baffled Corey at the same time.

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Death Qi

Plague King Hive

Gu Path Domain

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A lot of individuals would have ignored or overlooked the word, Death Qi, thinking that the Universal System made a mistake or was referring to Death Qi as Death Mana.

However, Corey believed that this was not a mistake by the Universal System, and neither did he believe that the Universal System was referring to Death Qi as Death Mana.

The Universal System was a system that was in charge of the entire universe.

The entire freaking universe.

And Corey did not believe that it would make a mistake in calling Death Mana, Death Qi.

He believed that Death Qi was something else, another type of energy.

And he was curious about it.

He scoured through his mind to see if he had come across the word- Qi, but he found nothing.

Until...

His Stars of Consciousness brought his attention to the cultivation books and several other books he has stored from the Archive of Virendell.

Wthout hesitation, he commanded his Stars of Consciousness.

'Show me.'

His Stars of Consciousness stirred, or to be more precise, three Stars of Consciousness that were in charge of going through the knowledge he gained from the Archive spun gently within the depths of his mental world.

One of them flashed, and flickered like a torch in the dark.

Immediately, several books from the Archive of Virendell glowed within his mindscape. The knowledge surged into his mind, and a reflection of ancient text unfolding like scrolls under the moonlight appeared in his eyes.

One passage stood out:

"Qi is the breath of existence, the foundation of the Way. Where Mana is structured, Qi is primal. Where Mana is imposed upon the world, Qi flows through it... Like a river unseen."

A line from another book followed:

"Death Qi is not merely the energy of decay. It is the Will of Rot. It is the End that lingers. It does not destroy... It erodes, reclaims, and transforms."

Corey's eyes flashed with a pondering light as he re-read the lines from the books, and also the books themselves.

Unlike what most would have done, which is to completely believe what they read. Corey did not completely believe it.

It was not because he had proof that the information was wrong or misleading, but he chose not to completely believe it because it was the wisest thing to do.

Just because he had been able to find a book that had a few lines on the definition of Qi, does not mean that the definition and book itself was correct.

He needed more credible sources of information, more knowledge on what Qi truly was.

Although he did not dismiss this definition of Qi, he could not base off all his knowledge of Qi on just one source of information.

However, if he was to use this definition from the book...

Then Qi is more primal than Mana. It's more older than Mana.

Which was completely surprising to Corey because Mana was known to be the base form of energy.

The glue of power and existence.

Corey knew three foundational types of Mana- Astral Mana, Mystic Mana, and Immortal Mana.

And although there were other types of energy like Elemental Energy, Space Energy, and Time Energy.

It was known that mana was contained in all these types of energy, and mana could also be converted into these types of energy.

Though, the conversion rate was not equal depending on the type of mana.

Mana could be converted into Elemental Energy, Space Energy, Time Energy, Light Energy, Dark Energy, and so on.

But none of these energies could be converted into Mana.

This was what everybody knew, and this was why it was said Mana was the base form of energy and power.

But if what he was reading was true, then Qi might be more powerful than Mana.

But how could he obtain Qi?

The book said Qi was everywhere, but he could not sense it.

He could not feel it.

He could not see it.

And he could not hear it.

So where was Qi?

Corey had no idea, and he knew that he needed the answer to this question.

Fortunately for him, he had somebody that most likely had the answer to this question.

As for whether she would answer his question or not, he had no idea.

'I'll ask her after I leave this trial realm. I have to survive first regardless.'

Corey thought, and then out of pure curiosity, he covered his right hand with his mana from his Poison Infinity Crystal.

And then he covered his left hand with the mana from the world itself.

'The two of them are mana, but aside from the fact that my mana is poison and the mana of the world is... somewhat pure.'

'There is no difference.'

'Well... There's a lot of difference, mainly in the purity, quality, structure, and so many other properties of both mana... But both of them are mana.'

'The mana from my Poison Infinity Crystal feels purer and of much higher quality compared to the mana of the world. Its structure is also more complex, but its mana... Just like the mana of the world.'

'So what is Qi?'

Corey's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he released a soft sigh.

'Although I don't know what Qi is, it might be the key... the way for me to forge my path... Maybe.'