100\% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? Chapter 493 - Experiencing Creation

Lucien was seated inside the chamber, enveloped by silence.

In front of him, the four elemental women meditated peacefully. Their auras wove a serene balance that made even the surrounding air hesitant to intrude.

He opened his eyes and released a deep breath.

The four women continued their meditation, yet their auras had already revealed plenty to him.

Sixth Stage of the Celestial Realm.

Every one of them.

Lucien cast his eyes down to his own hands.

He lingered at the third Stage.

He let out a sigh.

That sigh disrupted the chamber's tranquil rhythm.

Almost simultaneously, the four elemental women opened their eyes and looked his way.

Kaia tilted her head a little. "Brother, you’re thinking loudly again."

Marie folded her arms. "That look usually spells trouble."

Sylra’s ears flicked once. "Is there... a problem?"

Marina gazed at him with gentle worry. "What troubles you, my prince?"

Lucien saw no point in denying it.

"I’m stuck," he confessed plainly. "Your laws run deep, but they’re... specialized. Mine isn’t. Creation feels like... everything. And nothing I try pushes it ahead quickly enough."

Lucien had hoped for some helpful insight from them.

Kaia crossed her arms. "Creation. That’s not a law. That’s a whole continent masquerading as a single path."

Sylra gave a subtle nod. "Creation spans too much. It connects to far too many elements."

Marie huffed softly through her nose. "One law can already shatter a person’s calm. You picked the one that attempts to encompass it all."

Lucien offered a faint smile. "I’m aware."

He turned his focus inward briefly and sensed the sapling once more. It still sustained him, but since entering the Celestial Realm, its benefits had grown too shallow.

"That’s the issue," he stated. "I know concepts. I can form things. I can merge, purify, summon, dissolve, rebuild. But since stepping into the Celestial Realm, it all feels... lacking."

He glanced back at them.

"I believe I need to shift my approach to thinking. I’ve tackled this solo for far too long. Perhaps a new viewpoint could assist."

Silence fell over them all.

For the first time, none responded right away.

Then Marina stood up.

She approached him, settled nearer than before, and sat down.

Then she grasped his hand.

Marie’s eyebrows shot up. Kaia’s eyes narrowed. Sylra’s ears twitched.

Marina remained utterly earnest, though.

"My prince," she murmured gently, "I believe I grasp the issue."

Lucien turned toward her, curiosity piqued despite everything.

"Oh?"

She nodded.

"You comprehend how things come into being," she explained. "You grasp structures, systems, laws, and results."

She inched closer.

"But comprehension differs from true experience."

Every eyebrow in the chamber lifted at that.

Lucien fixed his gaze on her.

It rang with profound truth.

Lacking real experience in creation?

His thoughts raced to living systems, origins, growth, birth, emergence, interdependence, time, evolving forms. Philosophy, cosmology, and law frameworks flashed through his mind.

Then Marina’s tone grew even softer.

"Creation isn’t merely shaping something from void," she went on. "It’s growth. It’s transformation. It’s bonds. It’s... perpetuation."

Lucien’s gaze intensified.

That struck a chord.

He leaned in just a touch.

"Go on."

Marina cocked her head. A playful gleam sparked in her eyes now.

"Oh, I will."

The others sensed trouble brewing instantly.

And they weren’t wrong.

Marina drew nearer, her lips brushing close to his ear as her voice turned teasingly low—

"Why not experience creation with me?"

Lucien went rigid.

A shift had crept into her voice.

Something perilous.

He examined her more closely.

Her smile lingered, but a mischievous fire now danced in her eyes—utterly divorced from philosophy and brimming with intent to stir chaos for him.

Lucien caught the danger a beat too late.

Marina’s lips hovered by his ear.

"Why not create a little life with me?" she breathed. One hand trailed lightly to her abdomen. "That strikes me as a direct path to studying Creation."

Dead silence.

Then three sharp sounds rang out in unison through the chamber.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

Marie smacked her own cheek.

Kaia slapped her forehead.

Sylra shielded her eyes with a hand.

Lucien, impressively, stayed put.

Mostly since his body had locked up.

His heart thundered fiercer than during his clash with the Primordial Incarnations.

The idea wasn’t entirely foreign to his thoughts before.

Outrageous as Marina’s suggestion was, it hit upon a core truth. Creation, in its rawest essence, meant life begetting life.

He knew the theory. He knew the mechanics. He even grasped the underlying principles.

Yet, never having tasted that facet of creation firsthand, a fragment of him felt like he lingered beyond a threshold, boldly asserting knowledge of the space inside.

Lucien gazed upon Marina.

Their gazes locked, and a shift rippled across her features. The mischievous maiden from before faded, unveiling a figure gentler, more inviting, and infinitely more perilous.

She drew nearer, her lips grazing beside his ear.

"My prince," her tone dipped low and playful, "I may not be an Eternal yet, but I am eternally wet. After all, I am water itself. Gentle, yielding, and very good at nurturing life. If you truly wish to understand creation... I can help."

A chill coursed through Lucien’s spine.

Her breath teased his ear. Her mere proximity scrambled his thoughts.

For once, words failed him entirely.

Because beneath the flirtation, Marina wasn’t completely off base.

Even his skill:Breed stirred reactively. It presented primal routes and options he had zero desire to probe deeply just then.

His heart pounded fiercer.

Marie let out a choked noise from behind.

Kaia squeezed her eyes shut and pinched her nose bridge.

Sylra grumbled, "Unbelievable."

Just as Lucien parted his lips to say something, the other three hit their breaking point.

They surged forward together.

Bonk.

Marina let out a sharp yelp.

"Ow!"

The alluring vixen evaporated in an instant.

Standing there instead was a girl cradling her head with both hands, glaring at the group in stunned outrage.

"There was no need for violence!"

Marie jabbed a finger at her. "There was every need for violence."

Kaia kept her face impassive. "You turned a serious discussion into a breeding proposal."

Marina drew herself up in defiance. "That was a serious proposal."

Sylra simply sighed.

Lucien tilted his head away slightly.

Lest direct sight of Marina spark his laughter.

Kaia folded her arms. "If Santa Claus were here, he would know exactly what to call you."

Marie flashed a grin right away.

"Hoe. Hoe. Hoe."

Sylra sealed her lips tight and nodded with grave seriousness.

Marina appeared utterly shocked.

Then she wheeled toward Lucien, her eyes welling up with tears in a flash.

"My prince," she uttered, her voice quivering with hurt, "they are attacking me for pursuing truth."

Lucien finally turned to face her.

His fatal error.

She pouted fiercely.

Utterly pouting.

The ridiculous gap between the brazen seductress of seconds prior and this now injured girl forced him to chomp his inner cheek to delay the chuckles.

It availed him nothing.

The trio had reached their limit.

Marie clutched one arm.

Kaia seized the other.

Sylra planted herself behind, pressing forward with unyielding poise.

Marina thrashed about at once.

"No. Wait. My prince, save me."

Lucien stayed mute.

Primarily since he savored the chaos far too greatly.

They hauled her toward the exit.

Marina twisted back over her shoulder in exaggerated woe.

"My prince, they are jealous!"

Marie gave her head another light smack.

"Ow!"

Lucien finally let out a chuckle.

That sparked instant delight in Marina.

Then, moments before slipping through the door, she spun once more and bellowed:

"My prince, I will leave my door open. Absolutely come visit me later. Let us practice Creation properly."

A fresh crisp crack rang out.

"Ugwiii!"

Now Lucien couldn’t contain it anymore.

He roared with laughter until the room’s thick elemental hush shattered utterly, filling the air with cozy, uncontrollable vitality.

The group kept pulling Marina along.

Marina continued her boisterous objections.

And Lucien—

Suddenly, a calm settled deep within him.

Laughter ebbed away bit by bit.

He glanced at the doorway Marina had vanished through, then dropped his eyes.

Creation.

He’d hunted it in the improper form.

Not totally misguided.

Yet far too confined.

He’d sought to engage Creation as a principle of vast framework, absolute insight, and cosmic design. From on high, he’d aimed to capture its full outline before venturing further inside.

But that smacked of arrogance.

Or at very least, inadequacy.

Creation transcended mere world-forging. Beyond mere law-weaving. Surpassing the genesis of stars, realms, existence, and majestic order.

It embodied this as well.

A chamber. Companions. Warmth. Flirtation. Bonds. Life’s effortless yearning for growth. Affection’s instinctive push toward perpetuity.

Creation held more than solemnity.

It brimmed with playfulness. Intimacy. Imperfection, urgency, and such raw life it invited laughter.

He shut his eyes.

The sapling within him quivered.

And finally, the missing element dawned on him.

Creation wasn’t forging perfection.

It was granting a beginning.

This explained why countless aspects of being seemed raw and incomplete from the start. This revealed why life emerged fragile before it grew mighty. This showed why realms originated from shards, roots, cells, flickers, seeds, and naive vulnerability.

Creation never paused for flawlessness.

It relied on evolution.

Lucien’s breaths steadied.

His mind sharpened into focus.

The law inside him reacted at once, like a hushed door creaking open.

The tension across his frame transformed in an instant.

Lucien’s eyes snapped wide.

He grinned broadly.

"Fourth Stage."

The chamber replied with a faint vibration.

And far off outside, pulled along a passage while still vociferously decrying wrongdoings, Marina sneezed sharply then abruptly flashed a grin without cause.

Maybe, in her peculiar manner, she grasped it.

Or maybe she was already plotting her next bid to convince Lucien anew.