Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 180 - 006. Actually, it was to protect Li Aozi’s luck that Du Zexin chose to leave voluntarily. Truly, I’m crying to death.

Chapter 180: 006. Actually, it was to protect Li Aozi’s luck that Du Zexin chose to leave voluntarily. Truly, I’m crying to death.

The incubator’s shape resembled an hourglass, with numerous runes carved on its exterior. The overall structure lacked any technological feel, brimming instead with the refined aesthetics of handcrafted art.

Li Aozi estimated that besides mithril (titanium alloy) which he could replace on his end, everything else, including the wooden materials, were purely magic side products.

Many times, technology wasn’t about right or wrong—most of the time, materials and environment dictated the developmental direction of a civilization’s tech tree.

For example, some civilizations had naturally superior materials: they had tea leaves, ceramics, bamboo, mulberry leaves, distinct seasons, and diverse terrain. This led them to a different tech tree path, allowing early economic trade surpluses through these materials. One couldn’t argue with that.

The universe was vast, and different civilizations had different environments. What seemed like mundane technology to one might seem like witchcraft to the Azure Star People.

Unexpectedly, every civilization developed some "Destroyer" class of occupations, highlighting a truth: no civilization was established without slaughter and war.

For Li Aozi, the incubator was crafted from various magical materials and had spell rune effects.

——Wasn’t this exactly the mysterious side product he needed?

He planned to hatch this egg, then dismantle the incubator and install it into the biological pool.

The original breeding function, which had to be castrated due to material issues, could now be unlocked.

Li Aozi casually placed the blue-violet void creature egg into the incubator. Leisurely browsing the player forum to see if there were any new hell jokes to amuse him, he waited for the egg to hatch.

Half an hour later, a crisp ’snap’ was heard. Li Aozi glanced up to see a deep crack forming in the void creature egg inside the incubator.

Accompanied by rustling sounds, a triangular, sharp head slowly emerged, resembling a cross between a lizard and a mantis. Serrated teeth nimbly tore open the eggshell, and its small yet sturdy body bore the stance of a high-level predator. Dark purple exoskeleton armor flowed with azure void energy, and four scar-like crystalline eyes shone with a terrifying golden light.

Its body structure combined a crocodile’s armor and long tail with a mantis’s lithe form and sharp scythes. Delicate petal-like wings unfurled from its back—its outer attributes unmistakably identifying it as a juvenile void high-rank predator.

"A void predator, huh? Looks like I got lucky, at least it didn’t give me some void steam thing."

Just as Li Aozi was about to open the incubator and use gravity to shatter this juvenile creature to use it as material for future bio-beasts, something unexpected occurred.

Click!

The void predator convulsed violently, crazily smashing against the incubator glass. Its body rapidly withered to a skeletal state, muscles and shell shrinking quickly. In no time, the previously robust predator collapsed, its eyes dimmed, body disintegrated, turning into a pile of blue-violet crystalline powder.

What...was this?

Void creatures weren’t supposed to have such poor adaptability. Evidence of them could be found even on black hole surfaces, let alone in the bio-friendly environment of Azure Star.

"Hmm?"

Li Aozi activated his mutation-enhanced vision, quickly spotting a tiny creature crawling slowly among the blue-violet crystals: a weird insect no bigger than a thumbnail with a translucent white body. It wriggled forward, absorbing residual void energy, and as it ingested the void crystal powder, its body sprouted spines, grew larger, its head sharpened, and its tail developed a drill-like structure.

"This doesn’t seem like a void creature."

Li Aozi used gravity to pick it up, zooming in to inspect its translucent structure.

After comparing it with various creatures from his memory, Li Aozi finally identified it:

"Spirit maggot."

This situation surprised him greatly.

Though called a ’spirit maggot,’ it was like the Holy Roman Empire—neither holy nor Roman, and certainly not an empire.

Spirit maggots were neither spirit realm creatures nor maggots. They were ancient cosmic beings, existing even longer than some narrative-level civilizations.

However, they weren’t supposed to be found in the first layer of the Starry Abyss, ’Layer Abyss.’

"Spirit maggots are ancient cosmic beings undergoing complete metamorphosis, holding a revered status in various religions of the second layer of the Starry Abyss. Especially crucial to the twelfth narrative, the Obliteration Sanctum, where spirit maggots are hailed by the Pantheon as ’Chosen Creations.’

However, Li Aozi knew of a more practical use for this creature.

Much like insects, spirit maggots had four developmental stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The genetic difference between mosquitoes and spirit maggots was as vast as that between bananas and humans.

In their larval stage, they voraciously consumed high-energy materials, from nuclear radiation to void energy, which accumulated for their pupation. Upon collecting enough energy, they burrowed into a planet’s core, using geothermal energy for extended hibernation. Meanwhile, their neural ganglia and synapses perforated the planet, secreting particles that filled every cubic meter of air, continuously sensing and adapting the surface environment, even remote-sensing alterations to the biosphere.

When they awoke, the entire planet would be rejuvenated.

Yes, it was here that the practical use of spirit maggots came to light.

The twelfth narrative, Obliteration Sanctum, had conducted follow-up experiments on the Color Cloud Star in the Jagad Constellation’s lower arm, showing spirit maggots required twenty to thirty thousand years to metamorphose into the planet’s guardian deity.

This aligned with the Obliteration Sanctum’s mission: to support, excavate and cultivate a civilization’s deity, and then invite them to join the sacred Pantheon, offering divine support for the immortality of their twelfth narrative kingdom.

"This is a valuable find, the Obliteration Sanctum should offer a good price."

Li Aozi placed the spirit maggot into a vacuum container, keeping it secure. His expression was pensive.

Live specimens from the lower starry abyss, especially those valued by the Obliteration Sanctum, were rare. Previously, they had to sacrifice some strong individuals to endure curses during their ascension attempts to bring back as many as possible each time.

This scarcity made spirit maggots high-priced in markets. Magic civilizations were eager to study them, but the Obliteration Sanctum, willing to pay the highest prices, had the greatest demand.

"It seems my luck has improved since Du Zexin left."

Li Aozi hummed a tune softly. The spirit maggot was his first fortune toward cosmic journeys.

"Now that I’ve found a spirit maggot, I wonder what other good fortunes await. Perhaps a game tester will come knocking, wanting me to star in a promotional video?"

Li Aozi muttered.

Knock, knock, knock!

Suddenly, knocking echoed from outside. A laboratory guard called out:

"Mr. Leoz! There are three Frost Plated people outside, saying they urgently need to see you."