The enchantingly red divine flower stretched endlessly upward, transforming into a massive form.

The bud shaped itself into a sphere, harboring an existence foreign to this world, while its roots began to wither, spreading decay first to the stem and then to the flower’s cup.

As the entire flower faded into nothingness, the bud spun open and disappeared at the same instant.

In its place, a terrifying eyeball emerged.

Everyone in the castle stood frozen, their expressions a mix of awe and dread.

Although they had been told beforehand that the ritual would connect with a powerful entity, the reality of its projection left them trembling.

“An eye?” The Ability User in yellow clothes looked up, his gaze locking with it. Cold sweat trickled down his face, and his legs seemed ready to give out.

“Is this the great entity Lord Kurmis mentioned?” For a moment, the ritual itself was forgotten as the enormity of the sight overwhelmed them.

“Could this be the eye of a god?” The sheer size of the eyeball made it feel as though a divine presence was watching them, its gaze heavy and inescapable.

The terrifying eyeball turned, looking downward.

Intense radiance transformed into a pillar of light that burst forth from above.

In an instant, the light cascaded downward like a flowing stream of water.

At the very bottom of its gaze, the white clay jar stood before Kurmis in the center of the ritual array.

The Snake Person Kurmis served as the main body of the ritual. Inside the clay jar was his Seal Puppet, a creation formed by forcibly grafting and fusing the Green Ground Vine and the Curled Ball Fern together.

Under the convergence of that radiant power, the plant inside the white clay jar began to change.

The strange plant first split into the Green Ground Vine and Curled Ball Fern, then was forcibly fused together again.

Its leaves changed from red to white and then gradually returned to green.

The fruit developed a tough shell at first, but it soon reverted to its original state.

Afterward, sharp thorns appeared, only to vanish once more.

It felt as if one force was driving it to evolve unpredictably toward the future, while another force was constantly guiding it back onto a carefully chosen path.

This was the approach Kurmis had imagined.

By borrowing the authority of the Mother of Life, he would carefully design and guide the path of evolution himself.

The power of the Eye of Mutation could stabilize the plant’s bloodline, allowing it to become a new, reproducible species. Kurmis modified it using his spiritual authority and the Spirit Fusion Seal Imprint to guide this transformation.

It was as if Kurmis had provided a path, letting the Eye of Mutation’s chaotic Light of Life Evolution flow in the direction he had determined.

He had only recently discovered that this was, in fact, a divine artifact left behind by the Creator God in the mortal world.

Finally, the white radiance that had flooded the entire castle hall began to fade away. The eye, which held the power to promote the evolution of life, vanished completely.

Inside the white clay jar, a completely new plant emerged. It was a vine with green leaves rooted in the soil, producing one fruit after another.

However, the vine differed from the Green Ground Vine, as it had a much smaller diameter.

The fruits growing in the soil also differed from his initial design. They were a circle smaller than the Curled Ball Fern, and their flesh was enormously different.

The skin had a rough, leathery texture and a brownish color.

Even though Kurmis guided and designated the direction, the evolution of life did not always follow his expectations.

The evolution of life was inherently uncontrollable. Kurmis could only provide partial guidance, never truly control its birth.

As the radiance slowly faded away, Kurmis’s consciousness began to free itself from the overwhelming presence and influence of the eye’s power.

This time, to ensure the success of his experiment, he had intensified the ritual and strengthened the medium used for communication.

This led to an overwhelming amount of power being summoned, causing him to become fully engulfed in the eye’s might and the knowledge he accessed through their connection.

Kurmis opened his eyes and saw that everything was already over.

“Creator God?”

Kurmis’s pupils still reflected that eyeball, as well as the Life Altar.

“It is actually something the Creator God left behind. Could this be what the God of Creation used to create all things?”

When Kurmis thought of this, his expectations soared.

He believed that if the eye was truly something left by the Creator God, his idea would have an even greater chance of success. He could create new species and crops that rivaled or even surpassed the Curled Ball Fern.

No, it was destined to succeed. That was the undeniable power of the God of Creation.

As Kurmis regained consciousness, he moved toward the white clay jar in front of him. His gaze was fixed on the newly born species, filled with anticipation to witness the miracle of creation.

This was the remarkable achievement of creating a species. It was possible he would be remembered for eternity because of it.

Kurmis withdrew his power from the clay jar, yet the plant inside stayed the same. It did not immediately return to its original form as it typically would.

Kurmis immediately examined it with his mental power and discovered this was exactly what he wanted.

He had already decided on a name for this completely new species.

“Brown Ball Vine.”

“This is the Brown Ball Vine, an entirely new crop.”

Kurmis felt a surge of joy.

“This is too perfect. An absolutely perfect plant bloodline.”

“It has the same tenacious vitality as the Green Ground Vine. It is a crop that can grow in barren soil and produce even more ball fruits at once.”

“This is exactly what I wanted. This is precisely what I envisioned.”

But as he spoke, he realized his Snake Person form was steadily breaking apart.

His body expanded more and more, while the white clay jar beneath him seemed to shrink in comparison.

Before long, he had grown so massive that the simple act of raising his head caused him to press against the ceiling of the hall.

He seemed to realize something.

As he glanced at his own body, he suddenly noticed that he was transforming into an enormous winged creature.

“This is not good!” Kurmis exclaimed, his voice filled with alarm.

“The bloodline distortion… it is even stronger this time. It is transforming me into a true Feathered Serpent!”

While borrowing the power of the Eye of Mutation, he found himself undergoing changes caused by it.

“I should have kept my distance,” Kurmis muttered. “I was too close.”

But as he thought about it, he realized this was simply unavoidable.

To control the Brown Ball Vine, he had to use his own spiritual power and the Spirit Fusion Seal Imprint. This meant he was inevitably exposed to the radiation from the Eye of Mutation’s power.

This time, the effect was no longer limited to the spiritual level or the spiritual modifications of the former Lord of Radiance. It extended to the bloodline level as well.

Kurmis had fully transformed into a Feathered Serpent.

He was a great serpent with wings and a golden mane, his eyes shining with golden pupils.

Contrary to the Scarlet Goddess’s speculation, Kurmis found himself unable to endure after borrowing the power just once.

At first, Kurmis was taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure.

“It does not matter.”

“I just need to undergo another reincarnation.”

“I will become a Snake Person again. It does not matter.”

Only then did Kurmis remember that he was no longer just an ordinary person. He was an apostle and a Reincarnator.

But at that moment, wails arose from behind him.

The Ability Users assisting with the ritual had just recovered from the white radiance of the Eye of Mutation. They were far weaker than Kurmis and found it much harder to resist the eye’s overwhelming presence.

As they regained their senses, they realized their bodies were beginning to mutate.

“Ah!” someone screamed, writhing on the ground. “What’s happening to me?”

“My tail! It’s… disappearing!” one of them shouted, staring in horror as their tail shrank and twisted into unfamiliar limbs.

“My skin… it itches so much!” another cried, clawing at their face as scales began to spread across their body.

“Lord Kurmis!” they called out desperately, their voices filled with panic.

“Lord Kurmis?” But when they finally looked, all they saw was the massive, inhuman form of a great serpent.

Kurmis turned around and saw the Snake People in the castle were all experiencing changes to their bodies and bloodlines, just as he was.

They were transforming into another kind of existence.

The projection of the Eye of Mutation they had just summoned was incredibly powerful. Although they were positioned at the outer edge of the ritual, its effects still reached them.

Moreover, these Snake Person Ability Users were different from Kurmis.

While Kurmis was evolving into a completely new existence, these people were regressing and experiencing a form of ancestral reversion.

They were turning into lizard-like beings, regressing to a state before the Mother of Life had shaped them.

Their degeneration was accelerating. Although they still retained their reasoning for now, once their brains fully regressed, they would likely become mindless creatures without intelligence.

“Lizards?” They looked at each other, their voices trembling with disbelief.

“What’s happening to us? Are we really turning into lizards?” one of them asked, panic rising in their tone.

“This can’t be real!” another shouted, their fear spilling over as they stared at their changing bodies.

“Why is this happening to us?” someone cried out, their voice breaking as the room filled with frantic screams and confusion.

They called out to Kurmis with desperation, their voices echoing through the hall as they pleaded for his help.

Kurmis stood frozen, watching the chaos unfold, his heart gripped by a mix of disbelief and dread.

“What should I do?”

“Is there another way?”

At this moment, he turned his gaze back to the ritual array on the ground.

He carefully moved the white clay jar outside and coiled his body to a higher vantage point.

Then, with a deliberate motion, he pushed the mutating Snake People toward the center of the ritual array, positioning them where the white clay jar had previously been.

Without hesitation, he activated the ritual array once again.

Forcing himself to stay calm, he summoned the Eye of Mutation’s descent once more, repeatedly reassuring himself.

“I can do this.”

“Do not panic!”

“I will turn them back into Snake People.”

“I have to make this happen.”

Within his castle, he hovered in the air, carefully activating the ritual array once more.

“Activate!” Kurmis shouted with determination.

“Eye of Mutation, I call upon you!”

“Please, hear my plea and cast your gaze upon this place!”

The Eye of Mutation’s projection appeared again, focusing on the mutating Snake Person Ability Users below.

Kurmis attempted to use the same method he had used on the Green Ground Vine, hoping to turn these mutants back into Snake People.

This time, he proceeded with much greater caution, summoning a significantly reduced amount of power.

But Snake People were not plants. Their life form was far more complex to influence. Kurmis repeated the process several times, watching as the mutants seemed to gradually regain their original form.

He could create a new plant species or even an entirely new animal species by chance. However, attempting to restore a species’ bloodline to its original state was an effort millions of times more challenging than creating something new.

Kurmis shouted with desperation, his voice echoing through the hall as he tried again and again.

“Activate!”

When one attempt failed, he immediately moved on to the next, his determination unwavering.

“Activate!”

“Activate once more!”

The ritual activated, and the blood-red medium flower blossomed.

The projection of the Eye of Mutation emerged once more.

The mutants below had now completely slipped into an unconscious void.

Witnessing the projection of the Eye of Mutation repeatedly had taken a heavy toll on them.

Although the Eye of Mutation was not a Mythical Artifact, its impact was, in some ways, even greater than that of ordinary mythical items.

Kurmis suddenly shouted loudly, unsure if he was addressing those below or simply speaking to himself.

“I will save you! All of you!”

“I will turn all of you back into people.”

“Do not worry, I know I can do this.”

“I will make it happen, I promise.”

He repeated this several times, as though trying to reinforce his own belief.

The sight of the mutants slowly regaining their original form appeared to strengthen Kurmis’s resolve.

As Kurmis continued to preside over the ritual from the outer layer, activating it repeatedly, he found himself enduring the effects of the radiation.

His body grew larger and larger, eventually destroying the entire building as it expanded.

Scales covered his form, his mane extended further, and his head transformed from that of a serpent into something more regal and commanding.

Despite the changes overtaking his body, Kurmis paid them no mind. His focus remained solely on restoring the mutants below.

He tried every method he could think of, determined to turn these mutants back into Snake People.

During one of the ritual activations, Kurmis caught a glimpse of the mutants within the radiant phantom.

For a fleeting moment, it appeared as though they had completely returned to their original form.

“Did I succeed?”

The Feathered Serpent Kurmis stared fixedly at the ground, exhausted yet expectant.

After the radiance faded, a group of life forms resembling humanoids emerged.

They had limbs and heads that were almost human-like, but their bodies were covered in scales, and they still had tails trailing behind them.

These beings were taller and stronger than Snake People, possessing an even greater vitality.

However, this outcome was far from what Kurmis had envisioned.

Kurmis stared at the ground for a long time. Suddenly, he grew agitated and ripped the dome off the castle in a fit of frustration.

“What is this?”

“Are these lizards?”

“Or are they Lizard People?”

“This is not what I wanted. I wanted Snake People. I wanted to turn them back into Snake People.”

He activated the ritual array once more.

However, something unexpected happened.

His continuous summoning of the Eye of Mutation’s power and repeated communication with the Life Altar above appeared to disturb the beings that had been resting in the deepest layers of the earth.

Their consciousness stirred faintly, reaching out toward the Life Altar.

As Kurmis’s mind connected with the altar, he was met with the sight of several ominous dark shadows looming over everything.

Kurmis had seen them before.

They were the shadows of the Seven Ruhe Gods he had encountered in the past.

Kurmis caught a glimpse of one of those terrifying remnant shadows and immediately plummeted from the sky, crying out in pain.

Ah!

The Ruhe Great Gods intervened, halting the power of the Life Altar and bringing Kurmis’s frantic actions to an abrupt stop.

The enormous Feathered Serpent descended, shifting into God’s Form as it moved through the sky.

He landed with a thunderous crash, shaking the castle to its core.

Kurmis struggled to his feet and made his way to the center of the ritual, his gaze fixed on the final forms of the dozens of mutants.

They looked like lizards but retained a semblance of human shape.

Ah!

He clutched his head helplessly and let out a piercing cry. Unable to contain the turmoil within, he howled like a beast, his voice echoing through the hall.

In truth, by the end, Kurmis no longer dared to continue.

He could already feel that if he went on, these people would break down completely, both in body and mind.

Even he himself was reaching the limits of what he could endure.

Fortunately, he had managed to save these people from complete degeneration while preserving their wisdom and conscious memories.

They did not fully transform into lizards.

Night descended.

After a full day and night, the mutants began to awaken one by one.

The silence within the castle was broken by the sounds of their stirring.

“No!” someone cried out, their voice trembling with disbelief. “What’s happening to us?”

They looked at each other, their hands frantically touching their faces and bodies. “How did we end up like this?”

“It was that eye… and the white light,” another muttered, their voice shaky as the memory surfaced.

“This can’t be real. It’s too horrifying,” someone whispered, their legs giving out as they collapsed to the ground. “This has to be a nightmare.”

“I’m dreaming… I must be dreaming,” another murmured, rocking back and forth. But no matter how much they tried to deny it, the truth was undeniable.

“Where’s Lord Kurmis?” one of them asked, their voice filled with desperation.

“Yes, where is he? Lord Kurmis!” another called out, their tone a mix of fear and hope.

They ventured into the depths of the castle, where they found Kurmis beneath the Life Sovereign’s divine statue.

At that moment, Kurmis had taken on God’s Form. It was only in this form that he could access the interior of the castle.

Once he released his power, he would revert to the form of a great winged serpent.

Kurmis now knelt disheveled on the ground, as if turning to stone together with the divine statue on the altar.

“Lord Kurmis?”

It was only when they approached that they realized he was still alive.

Anu, who had recently taken on the role of Kurmis’s apprentice, stepped forward and spoke to him.

“Lord Kurmis,” Anu said, his voice filled with concern.

“How did this happen? Did we mess up the experiment?”

The lizard-like humanoid being spoke, and Kurmis instantly recognized the voice as Anu’s.

Kurmis turned his head mechanically, his gaze settling on the other’s face.

“Anu?”

After confirming the other’s identity, he quickly averted his gaze, lowering his head in silence.

Kurmis felt a wave of shame wash over him.

His lips quivered as he struggled to find the words, and after a moment, he finally managed to speak.

“We did not fail.”

“We have succeeded.”

“Our experiment was a success. We created a crop that truly surpasses the Curled Ball Fern.”

“We, as mortals, have achieved the creation of an entirely new species.”

“This is an accomplishment beyond imagination.”

At least before, Kurmis had believed that to be true. However, in this moment, his words carried a tone of self-mockery.

“Yes!” Kurmis exclaimed, his voice trembling with emotion.

“This truly is something extraordinary.”

“Something that others would not even dare to imagine, yet I actually dared to attempt it.”

“Where did I find the courage, the audacity to do this?”

Anu asked him, “But… why did this happen?”

“It is exactly as we envisioned,” Kurmis said. “With a sufficient medium, the Life Altar and that divine eye can channel even greater power.”

He paused, his voice steady but reflective. “We achieved a flawless experiment, just as we anticipated.”

“But we were also part of the experiment, and it was inevitable that we would be affected by the supreme Authority of Life.”

Kurmis clutched his head, raising it to look at the Life Sovereign’s divine statue.

His eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, his expression helpless and lost.

“This must be divine punishment!”

“This is the punishment of the Supreme Divine Being.”

“I was wrong. I should not have interfered with the Creator God’s authority.”

“That is not a power I am meant to wield, nor is it a power mortals are meant to control.”

Kurmis bowed his head deeply to the ground, facing the Mother of Life’s divine statue.

Throughout the day and night, he had repeated this action countless times. The stone slabs beneath him were marked with bloodstains from his unrelenting devotion.

His gaze rested on the divine statue, filled with a mixture of longing and regret, his hands clasped tightly in prayer.

“Supreme Divine Being!”

“Please forgive me. Forgive me for speculating on Your will.”

“Please forgive me for touching Your authority. Please, forgive my ignorance.”

Kurmis had always considered himself fortunate, but luck could be a double-edged sword. An excess of good fortune had slowly led him to lose his way, and in the end, he paid the price.

“I am the one who is at fault.”

“Others should not be the ones to bear the price.”

All eyes were on Kurmis, who seemed on the verge of collapse.

The room fell into a heavy silence.

“Lord Kurmis… is there really nothing we can do?” someone asked, their voice tinged with desperation.

Kurmis kept kowtowing to the deity. “My fault… it is all my fault.”

Others let out heavy sighs, while some broke into quiet sobs.

Finally, Anu spoke again. “Lord Kurmis!”

“If we made a mistake, how can it all be your fault?”

“We were part of this too. We all wanted to create a crop better than the Curled Ball Fern. We knew we were stepping into forbidden territory and borrowing a god’s power.”

“You warned us that reaching out to such divine power came with risks.”

“And we chose to go ahead anyway.”

From the beginning, every one of them had shared the same hope and expectation as Kurmis.

Now, Anu realized there was no turning back. Even Lord Kurmis, whom he deeply respected, seemed to have no answer.

Anu stepped forward, reaching out to help his master and teacher to his feet.

As he did, his gaze fell on the Brown Ball Vine resting nearby.

“So, we made the Brown Ball Vine… and this is what it cost us?”

Anu glanced at the Brown Ball Vine, his smile strained as he tried to maintain a sense of ease.

“At least what we did had meaning. It wasn’t for nothing, right?”

“Don’t you think so, Lord Kurmis?”

“All of this… it’s going to help so many people.”

A new plant species emerged, along with the birth of an entirely new intelligent race.

As expected, the Mother Conch of All Things, the supreme artifact of Life Authority, responded to this event and began to glow with radiance.

In the depths of the sea, at the lowest layer of the Divine Kingdom of Creation, new marks appeared on the inner wall of the Mother Conch of All Things.

One represented the Brown Ball Vine.

Another represented the Lizard People.

Meanwhile, within the submarine-shaped Miracle Tool known as the Spirit’s Hot Air Balloon Vessel, the master of the Mother Conch of All Things also became aware of this change.

Shelly was busy playing with her big toy airplane when she suddenly looked up, noticing the new life marks on her Mother Conch of All Things.

“Huh?” Shelly tilted her head, puzzled. “Where did these two come from?”

She glanced toward the Life Altar, and her eyes widened in realization.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “So, someone’s been stealing!”

Shelly realized how the new species had come into existence. Someone had secretly taken the power of the Eye of Mutation and used it to create two new species in the mortal world.

This was almost like mortals daring to steal the unmatched authority of the Supreme Sovereign.

Instead of being angry, Shelly’s eyes lit up with excitement.

She quickly left her big airplane behind and shouted with enthusiasm.

“Hehe, it got stolen!”

“The God’s things, stolen away!”

“Who took it? Who dared today?”

“The God’s things, stolen, hooray!”

Shelly suddenly dashed down the stairs in a blur of motion.

She reached Yin Shen’s side, spinning around in excitement. Her joy was unmistakable as she twirled and sang the “got stolen” song over and over again.

At that moment, she was mimicking what the little spirits had done to her. Now, she was doing the same to Yin Shen.

Shelly continued to sing, letting her actions speak louder than words. She knew Yin Shen would understand exactly what she meant without her needing to explain further.

The Eye of Mutation was not Shelly’s treasure, but something Yin Shen created.

Yin Shen had created many things over time. These included Witch Doctors, the God-Created Man Stuen, the Hammer of Justice, and the Eye of Mutation, among others.

The Eye of Mutation was one of the lower-ranked items in importance.

It had significant utility, but to Shelly and Yin Shen, it was not something they considered truly valuable.

If they ever needed another, they could easily create one without much effort.

What made Shelly so happy was that Yin Shen had previously mentioned she had not been careful enough with her garden, which allowed a thief to sneak in.

This time, someone had stolen and used the Eye of Mutation’s power. She was eager to see what He would say about her now.

“Hey, God!”

“Looks like You got robbed too!”

Yin Shen, who appeared to be resting, opened His eyes and caught Shelly as she darted around Him.

He tucked her under His arm, and Shelly’s laughter grew louder as she kicked her legs non-stop.

The noise was so loud that it felt as if the entire vessel cabin might overturn.

Yin Shen turned His gaze to see what had truly occurred.

Another new species had been created, and one of them was an intelligent race.

Shelly spoke up. “Hmm, so ugly!”

She was pointing out that the intelligent species Kurmis created did not look as appealing as the ones she had made.

In her view, it had completely ruined the excellent creations she had crafted, turning them into something unpleasant.

Yin Shen said, “The birth of life is always unpredictable.”

“Even you and I cannot be certain that the life forms we create will turn out exactly as we envisioned.”

Maya City

Kurmis still pleaded bitterly. He begged the deity’s forgiveness, believing this was retribution for stealing the Sovereign Deity’s power.

But Kurmis did not realize that the birth of life was always unpredictable.

Even creations made by the Creator God and the Mother of Life’s own hands might not align with their initial visions when they finally came into existence.