The origin of space is Xue Hui's most frequently used power of origin in his arsenal, possessing the ability to bend, collapse, and create space.
One of its uses allows Xue Hui to create his own subsidiary realm, the Vast Wasteland.
It is a fitting name that perfectly describes what the state of that realm currently looks like..
Devoid of resources, life, and spiritual energy, the Vast Wasteland can only be used by Xue Hui as his personal storage space.
Sure, the Vast Wasteland can hold humans inside, unlike an interspatial ring.
But the issue is that, with the Vast Wasteland devoid of breathable air, experts like Xue Hui and Xiao Ning'er could only stay inside of it for ten minutes before needing to resurface in the real world to breathe.
As for normal people? Not only would they be unable to breathe, but the Vast Wasteland would also suck all the air out of their lungs. Without the ability to protect their soul realm, the Vast Wasteland would also devour their spiritual energy and pressure, killing them.
And to think that this subsidiary realm was created by Xue Hui with the idea of placing everyone in Glory City inside it in the event of a greater disaster.
Naturally, Xue Hui was well aware of this Glory City-sized hole in his plan and was already making preparations to fix it.
The problem was that fixing it was not a simple matter. The reason why the Vast Wasteland ended up the way it did was because Xue Hui was extremely lacking in both the strength and materials needed to create a complete subsidiary realm out of his origin of space.
After all, creating a subsidiary realm is a feat that could only be performed by an Emperor-level expert.
Now, to complete the Vast Wasteland and turn it into a proper subsidiary realm, Xue Hui needed to accomplish one of two things.
The first was to become an expert above the Legend rank Demon Spiritualists.
He estimated that, at that level, he would possess a sufficiently powerful soul realm to properly manipulate the origin of space and complete the creation of his subsidiary realm.
The second method, which could either be the easiest or the hardest solution depending on the circumstances, was to find and devour an already existing subsidiary realm and merge it with his Vast Wasteland.
An existing subsidiary realm already possessed the resources that would require an enormous amount of heavenly energy for Xue Hui to create himself.
Land, plants, spiritual energy, and even living beings, all of these he could simply devour and claim as his own.
Usually, that would be an impossible feat for Xue Hui at his current strength, since subsidiary realms were normally ruled by powerful individuals, many of whom were above Legend rank in strength.
There was no way those experts would allow Xue Hui to devour their realm without a fight.
So one could imagine Xue Hui's delight when he discovered a subsidiary realm without any people residing in it.
"W-what's going on? Why are the Ingredients Lands collapsing?" Yi Ren asked in a trembling voice.
Xiao Ning'er and the pure automaton watched in shock as the subsidiary realm called the Ingredients Lands showed fissures across its skies while the land itself began to collapse.
Da Chu, who was in the middle of collecting ingredients, was ejected from the Ingredients Lands even though the allotted time was not yet over.
Xiao Ning'er watched with bated breath as the world she saw through the imagery scroll crumbled into pieces, swallowed by indigo spheres the size of mountains.
On top of it was Xue Hui, floating cross-legged with his eyes closed as he used the origin of space and the origin of devourer to refine the Ingredients Lands and make them part of his Vast Wasteland.
By using the origin of space, he opened a fissure between the two subsidiary realms, allowing the Vast Wasteland to suck everything from the Ingredients Lands into itself.
At the same time, Xue Hui used the origin of devourer to turn everything into heavenly energy and then used that enormous amount of heavenly energy to create a copy of the Ingredients Lands inside the Vast Wasteland.
Unlike the real world, subsidiary realms are created using heavenly energy, a type of energy that can only be harnessed by those who have stepped into the realm above Legend rank.
This was the reason why Xue Hui lacked the strength to create a complete subsidiary realm of his own.
But now, that was no longer an issue for him, since a perfect opportunity had been laid before him.
Unfortunately for Xue Hui, his current soul realm could not handle heavenly energy, since he had not yet broken through to Legend rank. Otherwise, he could have used this heavenly energy to increase his own cultivation.
Converting heavenly energy into spiritual energy was also a complete waste, since a huge amount of heavenly energy would dissipate in the process.
Time passed, and even after the allotted time for collecting ingredients was over, the Ingredients Lands could not eject Xue Hui back into the real world, as the realm was currently under his full control.
It did not take long before the imagery scroll also lost its connection to the Ingredients Lands.
"Xue Hui!" Worried, Xiao Ning'er shot up from her seat and looked around in distress, not knowing what to do after losing sight of Xue Hui.
Yi Ren and the other pure automaton tried to calm her down, but to no avail, as Xiao Ning'er began to tear up at the thought of losing Xue Hui, which made her chest ache.
Xiao Ning'er had no idea what Xue Hui had just done. All she knew was that the world around him had begun to collapse.
Before she could ask Yi Ren to send her to that world, she felt a tug on her pocket. Looking down, she saw the black sphere floating beside her.
As she reached for it, the world around her distorted, and the familiar sensation of entering the origin of space enveloped her.
Before she could make sense of what was happening, she felt a hand grab her shoulder.
"Sorry for worrying you, Ning'er. I'm fine, how about you, are you okay?," Xue Hui asked in a calming tone.
Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Ning'er turned to her side and without hesitation, threw herself into Xue Hui's arms.
"Xue Hui!" Overcome with emotion, Xiao Ning'er sniffled as her muffled voice repeatedly called his name. Her arms wrapped around his neck while her body pressed tightly against his as the two remained still in their embrace.
"It's okay. I'm not going anywhere, and if I do, I'll bring you along with me," Xue Hui said gently as his hand brushed her back in comfort.
Time passed.
Both Xiao Ning'er and Xue Hui sat upon the newly created land, watching as the Vast Wasteland transformed into a proper subsidiary realm.
Enormous mountains, flowing rivers, lush forests, and, more importantly, the feeling of a gentle breeze brushing against their skin.
"I can't believe you can do something like this, Xue Hui. This feels like something straight out of a fairytale," Xiao Ning'er said, her eyes captivated by the indigo spheres in the distant sky as they released some kind of energy while continuing to alter the landscape around them.
"Are you sure you're okay, Xue Hui? You look really pale!" Looking at him worriedly, Xiao Ning'er reached out and held Xue Hui's face as she carefully assessed his condition.
"I'm fine, Ning'er. This process just used up a lot of my soul force. I'll be okay as long as I continue absorbing spiritual energy from the surroundings," Xue Hui reassured her, easing some of Xiao Ning'er's worries.
The two spent their time talking while waiting for Xue Hui to recover enough to return to the real world.
"So, what about the cooking competition? Are you going to continue competing or not?" Xiao Ning'er inquired, causing Xue Hui to let out a chuckle.
"Ning'er, those are automatons, not real people. Cooking for them is just a waste of time," Xue Hui stated.
"Ooh," Xiao Ning'er exclaimed softly. For some reason, she felt bad for the automatons. They seemed genuinely passionate about the competition.
Noticing her deep thoughts, Xue Hui asked what was on her mind, prompting her to share what she thought about the automatons.
Xue Hui listened to her and understood her concerns.
"Well, you see, Ning'er, they're not alive. They were all made so well that they can act like normal humans, but inside those metallic bodies are artificial personalities, not real souls. Even those soul puppets in the audience no longer have any remnants of humanity left in them, since their trapped souls had long been refined to the point that their personalities no longer exist." Xiao Ning'er's hand unconsciously reached toward NiHue on her head, her fingers brushing against its metallic surface.
"They treated you well because they were instructed to act that way. If they had been given the same commands as those in the first room, they wouldn't hesitate to attack us." Xiao Ning'er's heart sank after hearing Xue Hui's explanation.
Remembering how the automatons cared for her while she was worried about Xue Hui made her feel sad, since she thought she could become friends with them.
"Sorry, Xue Hui. I'm just overthinking things. I must sound foolish to you," Xiao Ning'er apologized, causing Xue Hui to shake his head while holding her hand.
"Nope, not at all. You sound sympathetic, caring, and kind. That's a very human thing to do. Don't let that side of you change just because other people have a different outlook from yours." Hearing his words, Ning'er let out a soft smile and rested her head on Xue Hui's shoulder.
Two days passed, and the subsidiary realm inside the origin of space was completely transformed.
Xiao Ning'er took advantage of the dense spiritual energy inside the subsidiary realm and successfully reached Five-Star Silver rank in her cultivation. She was now trying her luck at breaking through into Gold rank.
As for Xue Hui, he managed to advance to Five-Star Bronze rank.
Due to his unique cultivation technique, absorbing spiritual energy through normal means would not yield substantial results in increasing his cultivation, unlike Xiao Ning'er, who could absorb the spiritual energy around her and experience breakthroughs.
In his case, Xue Hui used the origin of devourer to refine the tens of thousands of demon beasts that failed to survive the subsidiary realm merging process, turning them into spiritual energy.
Unfortunately for him, all the demon beasts residing in the Ingredients Lands were only Bronze rank in strength.
Hence, despite their huge numbers, the increase they provided to his soul force was rather small.
Sighing, Xue Hui hoped they would stumble upon more fortuitous opportunities during their exploration of the Soul Prison Labyrinth, since he was desperate to increase his strength now that he had finished laying his foundation.
'At least my subsidiary realms are partially completed. If the demon beast hordes attack any day now, I can just evacuate everyone into my subsidiary realms and escape.' That was one less concern for Xue Hui, although he would prefer for that scenario to never occur. After all, escaping from a demon beast horde was never the real solution.
What Xue Hui truly wanted was for demon beast hordes to never again appear in the Tiny World, allowing the people of Glory City to live their lives without fear of another attack.
"Ning'er, are you all set? We're heading out now." Hearing Xue Hui call for her, Xiao Ning'er quickly summoned NiHue back into herself.
After a couple of hours of practice, Xiao Ning'er had gained a rough understanding of how to incorporate the automaton weapon into her fighting style, greatly increasing her combat prowess.
Xiao Ning'er ran toward Xue Hui and held onto him as the two of them exited the subsidiary realm inside the origin of space.
'I really need to think of a shorter name for my subsidiary realms. Calling them that is a bit of a mouthful,' Xue Hui thought nonchalantly.
Upon exiting the subsidiary realm, Xiao Ning'er caught sight of the automatons in their idle state.
Standing perfectly still, Yi Ren and the other automatons looked like statues, a stark contrast to their exuberant behavior from before.
Now she fully understood what Xue Hui truly meant during their conversation.
Before the automatons woke up, Xue Hui used the origin of water to create a mirage, rendering them invisible to everyone.
"Now, where did they hide it?" Pondering, Xue Hui scanned the dome with his eyes, searching for the rewards of this room.
Using the origin of space, Xue Hui transformed the black origin sphere into a cloud-like substance and released it throughout the dome, allowing it to flow into every corner and crevice.
"Found it!" Grinning, Xue Hui stored the reward box inside his subsidiary realm while using the origins of space and piercing to create a spatial distortion, allowing him and Xiao Ning'er to disappear into the next room.
End of Chapter 52
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