"Ruyi?"
The little sprite blinked upon hearing the name. Then, a radiant smile blossomed on her face—like a hundred flowers blooming at once. She cheered, "Great! I have a name now! Ruyi! From now on, I'll be called Ruyi!"
It was obvious from her voice that she was truly pleased with the name.
From this moment forward, she was Ruyi, the Spirit of Eternity.
Delighted, she twirled and danced atop the lotus flower, her joy radiating in waves that anyone nearby could feel.
Soon after, she began to explore Xuanhuang City.
"How miraculous! The city's structure is forged from wish power and can absorb the will of all beings, converting it into energy. Even the seven emotions and six desires scattered in the world can serve as fuel for this city. And the very structure of the city contains the power of a Fortune Dynasty, gathering endless public will... this is a Dynastic Immortal City!"
"No... even more astonishing—there's a Supreme Artifact embryo fused into this city! This is also a Supreme Artifact! It's said that Supreme Artifacts were unmatched treasures from the epoch before the last. If fully evolved, they can suppress all of time, unstoppable and eternal!"
As she grasped the hidden mysteries within Xuanhuang City, Ruyi couldn't help but cry out in awe.
A Supreme Artifact from an ancient epoch… and a Fortune Dynasty Immortal City from the current one—either one, if cultivated to the limit, had the potential to challenge Eternity. Neither was inferior to the Eternal Heaven Ark. Each had its own path and merits.
A Supreme Artifact gathered the forces of heaven and earth into a single weapon, capable of suppressing all ages. It was nearly indestructible. When forged from a Supreme Artifact embryo, the resulting divine artifact became one of the strongest, most durable vessels in all existence—a force that could shatter all techniques.
A Fortune Dynasty City gathered the will of the people. As long as the hearts of the people were united, it could rival the heavens themselves. The stronger the dynasty and its people's faith, the more terrifying the immortal city. Its potential was truly limitless. With public will came endless power—endless, ceaseless.
In essence, one could compare a Supreme Artifact to a body cultivator, and a Dynastic Immortal City to a spell cultivator.
The Eternal Heavenly Ark, by contrast, was a vessel that gathered treasures of all types, assimilated them, and cultivated itself like a living being, advancing toward immortality and eternity through constant evolution. Its greatest strength lay in its compatibility—the ability to absorb and utilize all things to its own benefit.
"What a foundation! With the Well of Eternity, palatial sacred trees, and numerous top-tier heavenly treasures, this city can definitely evolve further. Using the palace tree as the core and integrating the other treasures into the Cloud Realm would allow everything to serve a purpose to its fullest!"
Ruyi quickly began cataloging the hidden potential of Xuanhuang Immortal City. And as she did, even she was stunned.
Arrow towers, magic towers, scripture pavilions, towers of ascension, stargazing buildings, the Round Bright Garden, the Moon Well, zodiac statues, the Five-Colored Beast Soul Pool, barracks, the Undying (Immortal) Academy, the Death Arena, the Star Web, the Rainbow Bridge, Wine Pools, Meat Forests, and more...
Each of these treasures held extraordinary potential. Yet, in Ruyi's opinion, many of them had been installed in ways that did not fully maximize their usefulness—they seemed a little scattered and unrefined.
Still, there was no rush. With her in place, mastering these treasures would be simple.
"Master, now that Xuanhuang Immortal City has evolved to the Supreme level and integrated the Eternal Lotus Seed, it has gained the characteristics of the Eternal Heaven Ark. Every time an Eternal Ark ascends a grade, it receives a blessing from the Mother God—it evolves alongside its master. Each advancement brings tremendous opportunity. But now that the city has reached the Supreme level, even with the lotus fused, that tier is already locked."
"This means that Xuanhuang City will now possess the combined traits of all three artifact systems, and the Mother God's blessing will only occur once, but it will be the sum of all prior blessings combined into one! This will be an unprecedented opportunity. If you grasp it, Master, you could gain a transcendent creation."
Ruyi looked seriously at Yi Tianxing.
Artifacts were ranked in seven tiers: Lingyun, Peerless, Supreme, Immortal, Ancient, Primordial, and Eternal.
Xuanhuang Immortal City had already reached Supreme tier. Thus, integrating the lotus would trigger only the Supreme-tier blessing—but it would be one of immense power, combining the benefits from all prior grades.
Yi Tianxing was inwardly solemn.
Right now, he had already reached the True Spirit Realm, and despite years of constant warfare against the Eternal Night, he had quietly cultivated to the peak of the Fate-Seizing Stage. Within his Heavenly Cloud of Tribulation-Free Fate, he had condensed a Fishing Rod of Destiny.
With this rod, forged from fate, soul, and Dao, he had refined it ceaselessly with his own Dao rhythm and soul force, making it incredibly resilient. He felt he was on the verge of a breakthrough.
The fishing rod would act as a medium: using his Dao fruit as bait, he could fish his own Heavenly Soul out from the River of Destiny. Once done, he would gain partial independence from destiny itself, becoming immune to other cultivators' fated insight.
But this process was extremely risky. Failure could result in disaster and draw the wrath of fate.
This blessing, however, might just be the key to making it easier.
"I'm ready. I can advance at any time."
Yi Tianxing nodded.
He understood that Ruyi's reminder was to prevent him from missing this massive opportunity.
"Master, please select an evolution type for Xuanhuang Immortal City. The Eternal Ark can evolve into: Sci-fi, Magic, Immortal-Martial, or Biological. However, only Immortal-Martial is suitable for Xuanhuang. Its foundation is already fixed—this can't be changed anymore."
Ruyi giggled and winked playfully at Yi Tianxing.
Xuanhuang wasn't a fully independent Eternal Ark—it had joined the process midway. So many options were already locked in.
"Now, please select the evolution path for the Eternal Ark: Combat, Support, Mystic, or Comprehensive!"
"Combat-type specializes in warfare—every module serves that end.
Support-type focuses on shops, cultivation, wealth, and civilian utilities.
Mystic-type wields unknown powers and collects dream energy, serving as a cradle for supreme beings.
Comprehensive-type includes features from all paths. It's difficult to develop but has no major weaknesses. However, it also lacks specialization."
At this moment, Ruyi grew serious.
There was no doubt—this was a crucial decision that would shape the future of Xuanhuang Immortal City. Once chosen, it would be nearly irreversible.
Yi Tianxing was equally thoughtful.
Combat-type? Honestly, he wasn't interested. Xuanhuang City had already integrated Supreme Artifacts, and when pushed to the extreme, the city itself could suppress all enemies. It could crush any foe with its sheer might. There was no need to specialize further.
After all, this wasn't some flying warship—it was the capital of the Great Yi Empire! Using it for brawls would be absurd, even demeaning.
So that option was immediately discarded.
Support-type? Also unnecessary. Xuanhuang already functioned as a capital, housing citizens and accumulating the Empire's essence. It was already performing auxiliary functions by nature. Doubling down on support seemed redundant.
Mystic-type, however… was shrouded in unknowns.
According to Ruyi, no two Mystic-type Eternal Arks were alike. Each one evolved uniquely. Mystery meant unpredictability. Rumor had it they could gain unique rules or innate powers, fueled by dream power, emotions, wish power, faith, and more—strange and subjective forces.
What such a choice would ultimately bring, no one knew.
Comprehensive-type, by contrast, could do everything, but couldn't do anything perfectly. It had no glaring flaws, but no absolute strengths either. Even the Mystic properties it might gain would be weaker than a fully Mystic path.
Yi Tianxing turned all of these possibilities over in his mind.
"Ruyi, can you tell me more about the Mystic-type? What exactly would change?"
He asked, visibly intrigued.
He was clearly most curious about that option—but needed more information.
"Mystery… is unpredictability. It is dreams made real. It is illusion and void, without definition. If chosen, Master must find a way to gather vast amounts of dream energy, wish power, and other idealistic forces."
"There may be no standard Ark modules, but instead, the Ark will gain Mystic Traits or Talents—rules that define its nature. As for what exactly will emerge, only after the transformation will we know. It could become immensely powerful… or completely mediocre."
Even Ruyi could not offer anything definitive.
She could only provide vague guidance. This was the rarest path, and one that very few Ark Masters dared attempt. The risk was enormous. If the Mystic path failed, the Ark could be ruined entirely.
Each time the Ark advanced, it would gain Mystic Traits:
Lingyun Tier = 1 trait
Peerless Tier = 2 traits
and so on…