006. Actually, Du Zexin left voluntarily to protect Li Aozi's luck. Really, I'm crying.
The incubator was shaped like an hourglass, covered in runes. The overall structure had no sense of technology, filled with the exquisite aesthetics of a handmade workshop.
Li Aozi estimated that aside from mithril (titanium alloy), which he could replace, the rest, including the wooden materials, were all magical side products.
Often, technology has no absolute right or wrong—most of the time, materials and environment determine the direction of a civilization's technology tree development.
For instance, some civilizations have excellent innate materials, like tea leaves, ceramics, bamboo, mulberry leaves, and distinct seasons with diverse terrains. Their technology tree development naturally differs from others, flourishing economically and in trade early on, whether you like it or not.
The universe is vast, with different civilizations and environments, using different materials on-site. What seems like natural technology to them might appear as sorcery to the people of Azure Star.
Interestingly, every civilization has developed the [Destruction] series profession. It shows that indeed, no civilization is not built on slaughter and war.
For Li Aozi, the incubator itself was made of various magical materials and had spell rune effects.
——Isn't this exactly the mysterious side product he needed?
Once he hatched this egg, he could dismantle the incubator and install it on the biochemical pool.
The cultivation function, previously limited due to raw material issues, would then be available, right?
Li Aozi casually placed the blue-purple void creature egg into the incubator, while leisurely browsing the player forums for new jokes from hell to enjoy while waiting for the hatching.
Half an hour later, a crisp 'crack' sounded. Li Aozi glanced over and saw a deep crack on the void creature egg in the incubator.
With a rustling noise, a sharp, inverted triangular head slowly emerged. It looked between a lizard and a mantis, with serrated teeth delicately tearing the eggshell. Its small but strong body displayed the posture of a high-level predator in nature. Dark purple exoskeleton armor flowed with azure void energy, and four scar-like crystalline eyes flashed with terrifying golden light.
Its body structure combined a crocodile and a mantis, with crocodile armor and a long tail, alongside the light posture and sharp scythes of a mantis. Even delicate, petal-like wings bloomed on its back—all indicating its identity: a juvenile high-level void predator.
"A void predator? Seems I got lucky; at least it didn't turn out to be void steam or something."
Just as Li Aozi was about to open the incubator and use gravity to crush the juvenile to use it for future biochemical beast materials, an unexpected event occurred.
Click!
The void predator convulsed, frantically banging against the incubator glass. Its body dried up at an alarming rate, its muscles and shell rapidly withering. In the blink of an eye, the once-strong predator collapsed, its eyes dimmed, body crumbling into blue-purple crystalline powder.
What… happened?
Void creatures have great adaptability, even traces can be found on black hole surfaces, let alone on Azure Star, suitable for biological survival.
"Hmm?"
Li Aozi used his mutated vision to quickly spot a small creature crawling slowly within the blue-purple crystals: a tiny, less-than-fingernail-sized strange worm, translucent white, wriggling forward, absorbing residual void energy. As it consumed the void crystal powder, its body grew spiky, expanding slightly, its head becoming pointed, and its tail forming a drill-like structure.
"This doesn't seem like a void creature."
Li Aozi picked it up with gravity, zooming in to see its translucent body structure.
Comparing it with various remembered creatures, Li Aozi finally identified its true nature:
"Spirit Maggot."
This was quite unexpected.
Despite the name 'Spirit Maggot,' it's like the Holy Roman Empire—not holy, not Roman, nor an empire.
Spirit Maggots are neither spiritual creatures nor maggots. They are ancient cosmic beings, likely existing longer than some narrative-level civilizations.
However, they shouldn't be creatures found in the first layer of the Star Abyss—Layer Abyss.
"Spirit Maggots are ancient life forms undergoing complete metamorphosis in the starry sky, holding a transcendent status in various religions of the second layer of the Star Abyss. Especially for Narrative 12 [Temple of Oblivion], Spirit Maggots are revered as 'Heaven's Chosen Creation.'"
Li Aozi knew this creature had a more practical use.
Spirit Maggots undergo four developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. But their genetic difference from flies is as vast as that between bananas and humans.
In the larval stage, they voraciously consume high-energy substances, from nuclear radiation to void energy, storing it for pupation. When they have enough energy, they burrow into a planet's core, using geothermal heat for a long sleep. Their neural nodes and synapses hollow out the planet, secreting special particles covering every cubic air unit, continuously sensing and altering the biosphere remotely.
Upon awakening, the entire planet rejuvenates.
Here, the actual use of Spirit Maggots is evident.
According to Narrative 12 [Temple of Oblivion]'s tracking experiment on the Nebula Star of the Jaggda Constellation, Spirit Maggots take 20,000 to 30,000 years to mature, becoming the guardian deity of the planet.
This aligns with [Temple of Oblivion]'s mission: support, discover, and cultivate a civilization's deity, then invite them to join the holy pantheon, offering divine assistance for the longevity of Narrative 12.
"This thing is valuable; [Temple of Oblivion] would pay a good price for it."
Li Aozi placed the Spirit Maggot in a vacuum container for safe keeping, smiling playfully.
Dealing with lower Star Abyss living beings, especially those valued by [Temple of Oblivion], previously required sacrificing strong individuals to bring them back while enduring curses.
As a result, Spirit Maggots are often scarce in the market, highly sought after by magical civilizations for research value. But the biggest bidders are [Temple of Oblivion].
"I realized that since Du Zexin left, my luck has improved."
Li Aozi hummed a tune. This Spirit Maggot was his first fortune on his path to the cosmos.
"If I can get a Spirit Maggot now, what other good things might happen? Could a game tester come find me and ask me to shoot a promotional video?"
Li Aozi mumbled.
Thump thump thump!
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, and the lab guard shouted:
"Mr. Li Aozi! There are three old people from Frost-Plated outside who say they need to see you urgently."