# Chapter 333: Origin

When Lu Yuan heard the Mirage Dragon's words, he froze on the spot.

He stared at the creature in confusion.

"...You know me?"

The Mirage Dragon gazed back at Lu Yuan, slowly shaking its head before speaking.

"I don't know you. But I recognize what's inside you."

Lu Yuan's body went rigid. Every muscle tensed as wariness crept into his eyes.

*What's inside me?*

*That can only mean the Evolution Cube.*

*The Mirage Dragon knows about it?!*

This was the first time anyone had ever noticed the Evolution Cube within him.

*Wait...*

*If that's the case, then the last time the Mirage Dragon saw me, it had already noticed the Evolution Cube. Did it kill me because of that? Was the whole thing driven by hostility toward what I carry?*

Seeing Lu Yuan's guard go up, the Mirage Dragon narrowed its eyes. Its voice remained perfectly even.

"There's no need to worry. I bear you no ill will."

"...Then why did you kill me last time?" Lu Yuan asked.

The Mirage Dragon burst into laughter. The dense white fog over the Lake of Mist churned and heaved in response.

"I merely wanted to give you a reminder, that's all," it said through its laughter.

"A reminder?"

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

"Yes, a reminder. Possessing that thing inevitably breeds supreme self-confidence. I simply hoped you wouldn't lose yourself — wouldn't assume that thing made you invincible. Otherwise, you'd find an early grave."

Lu Yuan's mouth twitched.

"...That's it?"

*What the hell. Just for that, it killed me last time?*

He had half a mind to throw a punch.

Still, he had to admit — if he hadn't encountered the Mirage Dragon right after leaving Sandy Rock City, he probably would have gotten cocky. The Evolution Cube really was that powerful.

While Lu Yuan mulled it over, the Mirage Dragon studied him and continued.

"Just for that. And looking at you now, I'd say it worked rather well, wouldn't you? You've grown into a formidable force and made it through the most perilous stage of your journey. Not a bad outcome."

Lu Yuan fell silent. He couldn't really argue the point. After a moment, he fixed the Mirage Dragon with a serious expression.

"So what exactly is this thing inside me?"

The Mirage Dragon's gold-green eyes grew complicated.

It gave a soft chuckle. "Oh, nothing much. Just this universe's last resort for self-preservation."

"Last resort for self-preservation?"

Lu Yuan blinked, staring at the Mirage Dragon in bewilderment.

"Correct."

The Mirage Dragon's gaze swept its surroundings, its eyes seeming to pierce through the void and take in the entirety of the Land of Origin.

It spoke slowly.

"Do you know how the Land of Origin came to be?"

Lu Yuan shook his head. All he knew was that the Land of Origin had appeared an incredibly long time ago — billions of years, at least. And that Spatial Rifts and the Aberration phenomenon had emerged around the same period.

A thought struck him, and realization flickered across his face.

Noticing the shift, the Mirage Dragon smiled.

"It seems you've already guessed. Yes — the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest appeared in the Chaos Space beyond the Cosmic Boundary. It discovered our universe and began corrupting the cosmic membrane, intent on invasion. The universe had no defense against the Corruption of the aberrant beasts, and breaches formed. To protect itself, the Origin Will marshaled every resource across the entire cosmos and created the Land of Origin — a crucible to cultivate warriors powerful enough to defeat the Mother Nest."

Lu Yuan's expression turned distant. "So that's how it was. No wonder I'd heard that the Aberration phenomenon, the Spatial Rifts, and the Land of Origin all appeared around the same time."

*Following that logic, the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest appeared first, corrupted an initial breach in the cosmic membrane, and the Aberration phenomenon and Spatial Rifts followed. Only then did the universe create the Land of Origin.*

*Self-preservation...*

Lu Yuan was beginning to understand.

"So the will behind the Land of Origin — the information that regularly appears in our minds — that's actually the will of the universe itself?"

The Mirage Dragon gave a slight nod. "Precisely."

"Then what about the thing inside me?"

The Mirage Dragon chuckled softly.

"The Origin Will's intentions were noble — to cultivate warriors capable of opposing the Mother Nest. Unfortunately, the strongest beings to ever emerge from the Land of Origin have only been War Gods, capable of wielding Laws. Not a single being has achieved true mastery over them. Perhaps this is because the Origin Will's method of force-feeding power through Transcendent Genes was inherently counterproductive — yanking saplings upward to make them grow faster. And achieving Law mastery in the physical universe is even harder. Since this universe's very birth, no such being has ever existed. If one had, the Origin Will would never have been driven to such desperate measures in the first place."

Lu Yuan nodded. As far as he knew, it wasn't just the Human Race — the strongest warriors of the Mechanical Race, Beast Race, and Elf Race were all War Gods. No one had ever surpassed that ceiling.

*So only by breaking past War God can someone truly deal with the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest?*

The Mirage Dragon continued.

"As the Mother Nest's Corruption grew ever more severe, even the Origin Will itself began to be corrupted. The Land of Origin faced constant threat of invasion by Aberration Feral Beasts. Left with no alternative, the Origin Will created the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin as a barrier against them. But even that only bought time — it delayed destruction, nothing more. And so the Origin Will resorted to its final measure: it initialized the Cosmic Origin — the primordial essence of the universe — and fused it into a living being. The idea was for this being to grow from scratch, building the most powerful foundation possible. And because they would carry the Cosmic Origin within them, comprehending Laws would come naturally. Even achieving true mastery wouldn't be beyond reach."

Lu Yuan stared at the Mirage Dragon in astonishment, then pointed at himself.

"You're saying the thing inside me is the primordial essence of this universe?"

The Mirage Dragon regarded him, gold-green eyes glinting with faint mockery.

"What else did you think could elevate your originally pathetic Transcendent Genes to Divine Grade?"

Lu Yuan had no retort for that.

In fairness, when he'd first come to the Mist Forest, his genes had been nothing more than Elite Grade and Boss Grade. To a divine beast like the Mirage Dragon, that really was pitiful.

*Come to think of it — I'm a transmigrator. Was that caused by some anomaly during the fusion of the Cosmic Origin? The original Lu Yuan should have been killed by that Soul-Devouring Orb. Did the Cosmic Origin fuse with his body first, and then pull my soul across afterward?*

That seemed like the most likely explanation.

Another question surfaced. He looked at the Mirage Dragon.

"If the Origin Will initialized the Cosmic Origin and fused it into my body, what happened to the Origin Will itself? The Land of Origin still sends us information, doesn't it?"

"The information from the Land of Origin now is nothing more than automated processes running on their own," the Mirage Dragon replied. "There's no intelligence behind it anymore. After initializing the Cosmic Origin, the Origin Will itself dissipated. Or rather..."

The Mirage Dragon glanced at Lu Yuan. "If you grow powerful enough to destroy the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest, then you will become this universe's new Origin Will. Of course, if the Mother Nest overruns the universe and everything ceases to exist, whether there's an Origin Will becomes rather moot."

Lu Yuan absorbed all of this, his emotions in turmoil.

He'd never imagined the Evolution Cube was actually a product of the Cosmic Origin being initialized.

Then he thought of the Evolution Cube's continuous transformations — and the Unknown Aura he absorbed after killing Aberration Feral Beasts.

"When I kill Aberration Feral Beasts, an unknown energy gets absorbed into my body, and the Cosmic Origin inside me grows stronger. Why is that?"

The Mirage Dragon smiled. "When Aberration Feral Beasts corrupt the universe, they naturally plunder a portion of the Cosmic Origin in the process. Your body houses the core of the Cosmic Origin. When you kill an Aberration Feral Beast, the stolen essence it carries is freed and naturally drawn to the Origin Core within you, causing it to evolve. The same applies to Aberration Entities."

Lu Yuan nodded in understanding. "I see."

The Mirage Dragon fixed its gaze on him.

"So — strive hard. You are the Origin Will's final contingency, the last line of defense for every living creature in this universe. If even you cannot withstand the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest, then this universe is beyond saving. Moreover, with the Cosmic Origin gone from the universe at large, the Cosmic Boundary grows weaker by the day. Before long, the Mother Nest will launch an all-out assault. And if you're not strong enough by then..."

The Mirage Dragon trailed off, but Lu Yuan understood perfectly.

If he couldn't stop the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest, everyone would perish together.

The weight of it pressed down on him like a mountain.

He'd never imagined that an ordinary person like him would end up shouldering something this monumental.

*I'm only twenty-two years old!*

Lu Yuan pushed the thoughts aside and asked his next question.

"My genes have hit their ceiling at Divine Grade and can't evolve further. How do I break through beyond that?"

"The knowledge contained within Divine Grade genes was left behind when the Origin Will created the Land of Origin. It represents the deep application of Laws — but application is merely usage, not ownership. It doesn't grant true dominion over a Law. Beyond Divine Grade means seizing complete control of a Law — becoming one with it, embodying that Law itself. But that level of mastery can no longer be encoded in genes. The ceiling of Transcendent Genes is, and always was, Divine Grade. To surpass it, you must personally comprehend the Laws contained within your Transcendent Genes, master them, and become their sovereign."

*So that's how it is.*

No wonder he couldn't evolve his Transcendent Genes past Divine Grade — they genuinely capped there. Divine Grade genes contained deep knowledge about applying a specific Law, but mastering a Law wasn't something Transcendent Genes could record. Even the Origin Will at the height of its power probably couldn't have managed that.

*So Divine Grade genes are essentially keys to mastering Laws. But you need to find the right door among countless possibilities — the one door your key fits. Only after you unlock it and step through do you enter truly new territory.*

"Right now, every War God in the universe is stuck at this threshold," the Mirage Dragon said. "Not a single one has taken that next step. Every one of them is a genius of the highest order, yet none can cross this divide. That should tell you how monumental the difficulty is."

It paused, then glanced at Lu Yuan.

"However... for you, the Inheritor of the Origin, the Cosmic Origin has left behind a treasure. It is called the Heart of Laws. With it, your ability to comprehend Laws will be vastly amplified. Combined with your fusion with the Cosmic Origin, achieving full mastery over a Law is far from impossible."

Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. "Something like that exists? Where is it?"

The corners of the Mirage Dragon's mouth curved upward.

"Then fight me. Only if you earn my approval will I reveal the Heart of Laws' location."

As it spoke, the Mirage Dragon's aura surged. A pressure so vast and terrifying descended that even Lu Yuan, at his current level, felt his breathing grow heavy.

*Incredible!*

Alarm raced through him. This aura dwarfed the Aberration flesh-sphere he'd encountered before — it wasn't even close.

The Mirage Dragon rose from the Lake of Mist, its colossal body — hundreds of thousands of meters long — coiling through the sky. Fog churned and danced around its form.

Throughout the Mist Forest, every tendril of scattered mist began drawing inward, drifting upward. Even the fog at the forest's deepest center lifted as the Mirage Dragon ascended, rising alongside it.

Lu Yuan watched the gold-green silhouette gliding through the white mist, and an image from mythology surfaced in his mind — a divine dragon riding the clouds.

*Rather fitting — like something straight out of the legends from my previous life.*

When the Mirage Dragon unleashed its full power, the terrifying aura radiated hundreds of millions of kilometers. Cities across White Cloud Continent — Youming City, Tianrao City, Red Maple City, and more — all felt that crushing pressure.

Weaker Gene Warriors trembled where they stood, legs threatening to buckle. The stronger ones stared toward the Mist Forest in undisguised horror.

Every warrior above Battle King Rank took to the sky, shock written across their faces.

Tianrao City. Tianrao Mansion.

Gwen — who bore a striking nine-tenths resemblance to what Amy would look like fully grown — hovered in the air, gazing at the white mist churning above the Mist Forest. Shock filled her violet eyes.

"What is that?!" she exclaimed. "Has the creature in the depths of the Mist Forest gone berserk?!"

Several Battle King and Battle Sovereign warriors gathered around her.

"My Lord, what should we do?"

"The central region of the Mist Forest reportedly houses Feral Beasts so powerful that even Battle Emperors can't withstand them. It seems like one has gone wild. Is Tianrao City in danger?"

"Battle Emperor? There's no way that pressure is merely Battle Emperor level. I'd believe War God!"

"Then what do we do?"

As the argument escalated, Gwen's brow creased. She cut through the noise with authority.

"Enough! Stop arguing! Battle Sovereigns, with me — we're going for a closer look. Battle Kings, stay behind and maintain order in the city. Make sure nothing disrupts daily operations!"

Gwen was decisive and swift. The others nodded without hesitation, showing deep deference.

In the past, their respect for Gwen had largely been on Adams's account. Among peers of the same rank, genuine obedience didn't come easily.

But now, everyone knew that Gwen's daughter, Princess Amy, was Lu Yuan's — and Gwen herself was on excellent terms with him.

Lu Yuan. The Divine Grade powerhouse who had single-handedly quelled every Forbidden Zone on Great Qi Star.

With a connection like that, they were more than happy to ingratiate themselves with Gwen. A relationship with her might someday lead to a connection with *him*.

It was precisely for this reason that Tianrao City now boasted far more Battle Sovereign retainers than it ever had before.