The rebuilt Zhu Xi Building was majestic and imposing, even more magnificent than before.

It soared into the clouds, standing over a hundred stories tall.

At that moment, in a luxuriously decorated room on the top floor, Hu Qi stood quietly before a floor-to-ceiling window.

From his high vantage point, the entire city of Anshan unfolded before his eyes.

Outside, snowflakes like goose feathers drifted and swirled in the wind, descending slowly.

The world was a canvas of pure white, like a tranquil and beautiful painting.

The sight was enough to calm one’s heart.

Suddenly, a crackling sound, like popping soybeans, rang out.

A white point of light ignited within Hu Qi’s body, followed by a faint white glow emanating from his skin.

Hu Qi withdrew his gaze and looked at his reflection in the darkened floor-to-ceiling glass.

It was the figure of a person emitting a faint white glow, almost like a human-shaped lightbulb.

His features were blurred and indistinct in the white light.

Hu Qi centered his mind, and in an instant, the more than six thousand points of light formed by his Life Acupoints began to flicker and shift within his body like a sea of stars.

Immense Void Power surged in from all directions, pouring into his body.

It strengthened his physique and his Divine Soul.

This was what he had accomplished in the past year.

The speed at which he located his Life Acupoints had increased significantly.

The Life Map, which he had originally estimated would take several years to complete, could now be fully illuminated in just one more year at this rate.

And the reason for all of this was the super-brain he had constructed.

The process of constructing the super-brain had gone smoothly enough.

However, unlike the super-brain Li Yi possessed, the sole function of this one was to use a portion of his Power of the Heart to locate and illuminate the Life Acupoints within his body.

Previously, illuminating a Life Acupoint required him to either actively focus his mind to search for it or to expend Modification Points.

But now, with the super-brain, it was like having a tireless Clone that could use his Power of the Heart around the clock to illuminate Life Acupoints for him, constructing and perfecting his Life Map.

He had only constructed one super-brain instead of multiple because each one needed to occupy a portion of his own mind.

One was manageable, but any more would begin to interfere with his actions—unless he was willing to relinquish control of his physical body and let his Divine Soul enter a state of hibernation.

As for the current abnormality affecting his body, it was caused by opening too many Life Acupoints, which were now continuously drawing in Void Power from all directions.

As he circulated the Taiyu Serpent Cosmos Ring Scripture, the light surrounding his body gradually receded, and he returned to his original handsome, youthful appearance.

’I wonder how big the gap is between my current strength and Mother Earth’s.’

Standing before the window, Hu Qi’s eyes glinted.

A peculiar expression crossed his face as he thought of Mother Earth, who was due to fully awaken in about seven or eight months.

As his Life Acupoints were continuously illuminated and nourished by vast amounts of Void Power, he could clearly feel his strength growing stronger with each passing day.

To be honest, he had no idea just how strong he was now, as he had no point of reference.

However, there was one thing he was sure of: not even all the Food Masters and Refining God Venerables combined would be his match.

The only being in this world who could possibly pose a threat to him was Mother Earth.

Although he was tempted to test his own strength, after some thought, Hu Qi decided against going to the Inner Earth World to provoke Mother Earth for the time being.

There was still some time before she awakened, and his own power was still growing daily; he hadn’t hit a bottleneck yet.

’If I go now and provoke her into waking up early, and it turns out I’m no match for her, it’ll all be over.’

’To be on the safe side, I should wait until all my Life Acupoints are illuminated, or until she awakens on her own.’

Just then, a flash of white light appeared behind him, and a barefoot girl in a white dress materialized in the room.

She had delicate features, and her jet-black hair was coiled in a bun, held in place by a snake-shaped hairpin.

The only unusual thing about her was her skin, which was as white as the falling snow outside.

"Master, we have results regarding the matter you wanted investigated."

The girl spoke, her voice as crisp and clear as pearls dropping onto a jade plate—tranquil and ethereal.

At her words, Hu Qi turned. He looked at her calmly and said simply, "Go on."

This was none other than Xiaobai, the one who often played with the Camphor Tea Duck.

However, unlike that good-for-nothing idiot, the Camphor Tea Duck, the Xiaobai before him had undergone a dramatic transformation over the past year.

With Hu Qi’s current level of power, the Spirit-Nurturing Tea was now useless to him, so he had gifted a few leaves to Xiaobai.

As a result, after eating the Spirit-Nurturing Tea and being nourished by the ever-strengthening Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy, Xiaobai’s power grew even stronger. She had even awakened a portion of her Bloodline Power, gaining the Ability to control cold air and freeze objects.

Hu Qi had also analyzed the source of this Bloodline Power, but unfortunately, he had come up with nothing.

All he knew was that a special organ granted her this Ability.

Over the past year, Hu Qi had dissected and analyzed these Exotic Beasts.

However, those like Xiaobai who possessed special Abilities were in the minority.

Take the Camphor Tea Duck, for instance. Although it had eaten a good amount of Spirit-Nurturing Tea and its intelligence had increased significantly, it still hadn’t changed much. It couldn’t even learn to speak. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

The Xiaobai before him, however, was now as strong as a Qi Dao Grandmaster at the Qi Condensation Liquid stage.

The only shame was that, despite her immense power, she couldn’t achieve Transformation like the demons in stories, possibly due to the limitations of her physical body.

However, this was not a major problem for Hu Qi.

He had casually used the Twisted Light to help Xiaobai take on a human form.

Strictly speaking, Xiaobai could now be considered a Snake Demon.

Thanks to the Twisted Light, her body was nearly identical to a real human’s. Aside from her serpentine physique and special abilities, which Hu Qi had intentionally preserved, Xiaobai was virtually indistinguishable from an ordinary person.

She could even practice Pile Skill Secret Martial Arts, and her cultivation speed was much faster than an ordinary person’s.

"Master, please take a look. This is the information you requested."

As she spoke, Xiaobai pulled a roll of papers from her sleeve and handed it to Hu Qi.

Hu Qi took the papers, unfurled them, and began to scan the contents.

Meanwhile, Xiaobai’s voice sounded from beside him:

"Per your instructions, Master, we compiled data on all the Secret Martial Artists who have risen to prominence in the last year. We’ve narrowed it down to this list. Two of them are particularly special..."

As she said this, her expression turned a little strange.

Hu Qi didn’t reply, but he did look up from the documents in his hand.

Ever since the incident with Li Yi, Hu Qi had dispatched people to investigate whether there were any other Celestial Fate People.

As one of the Speakers for the Xia Federation, the power he wielded was beyond the imagination of any ordinary person.