I will eventually become a divine being through accumulating constantly

Xue Jing turned into a shadow, ceaselessly scanning his surroundings. His vision and other five senses, far beyond human limits, thoroughly penetrated the area, not missing any tiny detail.

At the same time, his spiritual power also dispersed outward. He began meditative visualization, gradually constructing the terrain details of the nearby area in his mind.

"Good... There shouldn't be any problem,"

There was no one around... not even things resembling surveillance or alarm equipment.

The construction and decoration style didn't differ much from other floors of Xu's Biology, all leaning towards that high-tech company vibe.

However, even though nothing seemed amiss at a glance, perhaps due to the dim lighting and the overwhelming silence, Xue Jing felt an uncanny atmosphere on this floor.

It was like one of those overly quiet scenes from a horror movie that makes you feel something terrifying is about to jump out at any moment.

"Feels like some mad scientist's lair..."

The shadow that Xue Jing had become moved slowly across the floor.

Although he hadn't found any people or surveillance, he remained cautious.

With not a single gap and being completely sealed in a way that even spiritual penetration was blocked by the material, Xue Jing thought he couldn't be too careful in such a highly secretive location.

But as Xue Jing explored the 1097th floor, the doubts in his mind grew heavier.

"Strange... There's really nothing?"

He had been walking for quite some time. Although there were rooms one after another on this floor, they were all empty without a soul, with very few objects inside—just some boxes, tables, chairs, and various strange devices that were obviously too worn out to be usable.

It was like a crumbling, abandoned company.

"Perhaps the 1097 originally was an important place, but got abandoned for some reason... It seems the Wind of All Beginnings shouldn't be on this floor," Xue Jing thought to himself.

Such precious Divine Relics with serial numbers within the top three hundred wouldn't likely be carelessly placed in such a desolate place.

However, to prevent 'ignorance under one's own nose,' Xue Jing still meticulously combed through the entire floor.

As a result, he indeed didn't find anything unusual; the entire floor was deserted.

"I've spent a bit too much time..."

Xue Jing calculated the time in his head, it was almost 4 a.m.

In a few hours, it would be dawn. Not wanting to waste more time, he planned to immediately proceed to the 1098th floor.

Just then, he suddenly had an intuition, realizing something was off.

"No... There's something strange with the size of this floor."

Xue Jing pondered for a moment, then calmed down and began to visualize the entire 1097th floor's terrain that he had constructed in the Imaginary Space.

Then, he constructed the terrain of the 1096th floor below it.

Next, he brought the two floors close to each other, superimposing them...

Soon, the result came out.

Both floors were situated in the Sky Center; theoretically, their size and area should be the same.

However, after comparing them once overlapped, Xue Jing noticed an almost 200 square meter diamond-shaped piece missing on the southeast edge of the 1097th floor, as compared to the 1096th.

"The whole floor is just too big, and the positioning of this section is so tricky, I almost overlooked it..."

Xue Jing's eyes flickered.

This missing diamond-shaped area was sealed with the same special material as the outer part of the 1097th floor, capable of blocking spiritual penetration, which is why he overlooked it during the 'Meditative Visualization' scan of the map.

If it weren't for his increased brain function, stronger spatial awareness due to the level up of his skills and martial arts cultivation, he might well have missed it.

Without hesitation, Xue Jing immediately made his way to the sealed-off diamond-shaped area, coalesced a Dark Flame, and let the Nonexistent Beast swallow it.

With such a covertly hidden area, there must be a reason behind it, and it was imperative to explore.

His body hugging the wall, Xue Jing let the Nonexistent Beast pass through to the other side, to the maximum distance of six meters, and spit out the Dark Flame.

Feeling that the Dark Flame was in an empty space and hadn't touched any solid matter, Xue Jing performed a Shadow Leap.

The next moment, he emerged soundlessly from the Dark Flame.

Upon appearing, he scanned his surroundings, bringing everything around him into view immediately.

The dim light couldn't hinder Xue Jing's sharp eyes.

The Shadow Flame burned quietly in his pupils, meaning even in absolute darkness, nothing could stop his sight.

With this one look, Xue Jing's breath caught slightly in his throat.

It wasn't the place he imagined where a Divine Relic within the top three hundred would be hidden, but... a human experimentation lab?

Dozens of incubation pod-like machines surrounded him, filled with an orange-yellow liquid, and within each, a naked human body floated, mechanical tubes inserting into them everywhere.

Moreover, Xue Jing recognized all the bodies.

They shared the same appearance.

It was the person he had seen when Ning Yuantai took him to visit Xu's Biology—the man named Xu Mude.

'What the hell? Clones?'

Xue Jing frowned.
Your next read awaits at empire

Before he could ponder further, he noticed that besides these machines housing 'clones', two living people were present, a man and a woman.

The man looked quite young, like an underage boy, and bore a striking resemblance to Xu Mude.

And the woman...

Xue Jing's gaze sharpened, turning towards the woman's side.

There stood a pedestal about one and a half meters tall, topped with a semi-elliptical transparent cover. Inside the cover, a pale red flow of air floated, continuously swirling.