"Building a system to purify and convert negative energy isn't hard—I'll make one for you." Herta wasn't just anyone. Faced with such a technical problem, she instantly had a plan and acted with speed.
In front of Lu Jingming, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Makoto, she summoned the Void Archive with a flourish.
Activating her Reconstruction Authority, golden light gathered. A golden Holy Grail slowly floated in the air, spinning and radiating mysterious energy.
Lu Jingming couldn't help but twitch at the scene—a true genius.
He'd only just mentioned the need, and Herta had already delivered.
It proved he'd been right to equip her with the Void Archive.
The materials for this Grail were clearly extraordinary; without the Archive, he'd have needed to use his own Reality Power.
With a wave, Herta sent the golden Grail spinning into Lu Jingming's hand.
As soon as he gripped it, the Grail's functions flooded his mind.
The Grail would serve as a medium, his memories as the record, and, by contracting with the planet's will, select destiny-bearing Masters to summon memory bodies formed from negative energy.
This Holy Grail War, set across Douluo Continent, would grant the winner the Sea God position and matching stigmata—an instant ascent, no God Trial needed.
The war itself was a special God Trial; only the last one standing could claim victory.
As memory bodies were defeated, the Grail would absorb and purify their energy, feeding it back to Douluo Star and strengthening it.
As the planet grew stronger, Lu Jingming would receive feedback, helping him form his own divine seat.
Meanwhile, the Grail, after absorbing enough energy, could be used to create a new divine seat.
With the planet's will involved, the ocean authority would naturally condense—a new Sea God seat.
Lu Jingming had perfectly outplayed Tang San, who remained blissfully unaware of the trap.
After studying the Grail and conferring with Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Makoto, Lu Jingming was satisfied.
The finished Grail was an outstanding artifact—once it absorbed enough energy, it could grant wishes, within limits.
If it could create a divine seat, it would become a coveted treasure.
If it could create one, it could create another.
Given time, Douluo would have a tool for continuously creating divine seats.
With enough time, the number of gods could even surpass the Divine Realm.
Of course, this was limited by Douluo's capacity—though unlike the Divine Realm, Douluo Star didn't have to host the divine seats themselves, just the gods, since the seats existed in Stigmata Space.
"Excellent. Now, all that's missing is the signal. Herta, let our Plague King begin—buy us enough time." Lu Jingming played with the Grail, his excitement growing.
The coming Holy Grail War thrilled him, like the anticipation before a gacha pull.
He wondered how many would be lucky, how many would pull SSRs, and how many would be cursed.
It was his own memory pool—he didn't even know how many cards were in it.
Their strength would vary—some as strong as gods, some weaker than their own Masters.
It was all luck; he had no intention of rigging it, or the fun would be lost.
"Go ahead and prepare your Holy Grail War. I'll handle the Divine Realm," Herta said nonchalantly, as if shaking up the heavens was child's play.
"Thanks," said Lu Jingming.
He trusted Herta completely.
She was both brilliant and reliable.
Compared to Ruan Mei, who had a bit of humanity in her divinity, Herta was the opposite—her humanity tinged with divinity.
Though she loved research, she was soft-hearted.
She'd saved her homeland more than once—a true savior with impeccable character. That's why Lu Jingming chose to summon her.
In contrast, Mobius and Ruan Mei were far more dangerous.
Back when he was weaker, he couldn't have handled Ruan Mei or Mobius, but Herta needed little oversight.
Sure enough, Herta, despite her genius and curiosity, never caused trouble or chaos for Lu Jingming.
If it had been Ruan Mei, who knows what strange soul beasts might now roam Douluo?
Though Lu Jingming loved Ruan Mei—he once declared himself her dog in-game—that was in the game.
In reality, summoning Ruan Mei wouldn't have been wise.
With his strength then, he couldn't control someone so divine, and she'd likely have caused unpredictable chaos.
He didn't want to wake up one day and find Douluo overrun by alien creations.
With the Divine Realm settled, Lu Jingming, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, and Makoto went to plant the World Tree, contracting with the planet's will and drawing on planetary memories to condense the ley lines.
After Lu Jingming left, Herta glanced at the corner and remarked, "He's gone—you can come out."
"As expected of Lady Herta, I can't hide from you," Mobius's figure slowly emerged from the void, her serpent eyes narrowing warily.
As fellow geniuses, Mobius had to admit Herta's talent surpassed her own.
After all, Herta had saved her homeland repeatedly, while she and Mei failed to save their own world.
Though there were many factors, their achievements didn't stack up.
If not for the Cocoon of Finality sealing the solar system, Mobius and Mei might have achieved the Path of Wisdom and even been noticed by the Aeon—but that was only a possibility. Herta was a real Messenger of Wisdom, acknowledged more than once.
Having traveled with Herta for years, Mobius knew her depths and gained much from her vaster knowledge.
Herta's knowledge came from the whole universe—hers, only from Earth.
"I want to stir things up in the Divine Realm. One Plague King alone isn't enough—they could still suppress it. We need more time." Mobius got straight to the point, producing a black gem.
As the gem appeared, space twisted and gravity warped.
"You really aren't afraid of making trouble. Eyeing that dumb dragon, aren't you?" Herta instantly guessed Mobius's intent—she was after the Golden Dragon King.
The Golden and Silver Dragon Kings were split from the Dragon God—the supreme being.
Mobius wanted to study the Golden Dragon King, not the Silver, since the latter was close with Lu Jingming and might even marry him someday.
Mobius wasn't concerned about the Golden Dragon King, and Lu Jingming wouldn't mind.
"Give it to me—let's see what top-tier power this world holds." Herta was interested. The Golden Dragon King was a top god king, among the strongest.
If fused with the Herrscher of Rock's core, who knew how strong it might become.
"I knew you wouldn't refuse."
Mobius smiled. As fellow researchers, Herta wouldn't turn down an interesting experiment unless it crossed a line.
…
Lu Jingming was unaware of their collaboration, but even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
With real-world experience, Lu Jingming skillfully entered the planet's core and met the great orb of light—the planetary consciousness.
Compared to the parallel world, this one was stronger and more vibrant.
Though still not fully sentient, it was close.
But without Lu Jingming's intervention, the consciousness would probably have been devoured by Tang Hao, who would usurp its place.
After all, its chosen child of destiny was weak and took away most of its luck, leaving it defenseless, allowing Tang Hao—a mere god officer without a divine seat—to consume it.