Chapter 842: Derivation

Since the main body had already been found, Tang Zhao could actually have issued the command for derivation from the very beginning.

Derivation—deriving—was the name he had given to the Glasses' long-standing ability to enhance external objects. Its current function was essentially the same as before: to further elevate any substance or knowledge it acted upon, but with the direction and magnitude controlled by him, which could be considered a regularization of its function.

This ability was extremely powerful; it had grown even more so after merging with more Fragments, and it had fewer restrictions. Most importantly, Tang Zhao could issue commands to restrict its direction, allowing for targeted breakthroughs. It was like an extremely advanced, well-funded laboratory where Tang Zhao was the person in charge, as well as the sole manager and financier. He would order research in whatever direction he chose, and the probability of success in any direction was very high—far higher than in any physical laboratory.

The success rate was so high that failure was almost impossible. However... "almost" meant there was still a slight possibility of failure.

When Tang Zhao first regarded the Glasses as a miracle, he had never considered the issue of failure, and indeed, he had never failed. Now that he had basically mastered the Glasses and was familiar with their rules, he knew that failure was actually possible. It was just that the Glasses previously had their own small logic of judgment; if the probability of failure was high, it would simply refuse the upgrade, leading Tang Zhao to believe the object could not be upgraded, so it would absolutely never fail.

Now that Tang Zhao held the power, he became the brain that made the judgments and decisions. If he decided to derive, then even if it failed, it would be forced through, one derivation after another without end.

So... what would happen if it failed?

Actually, nothing much would happen. It would simply mean the Glasses lost a large portion of their vital energy and developed a few cracks, while the object waiting to be upgraded would turn into some kind of monster—it had actually accepted the derivation, but it hadn't followed the intended path and had run off track to who knows where. The resulting outcome would also be highly unstable; it could be residue, waste, or even a dangerous item.

The only thing impossible was for it to be restored. Once the decision to begin derivation was made, the item could never again maintain its original appearance; its destiny had already been changed. In Tang Zhao's view, anything that turned into waste could be called a failed upgrade, and if the weapon shattered, anything that turned into a dangerous item might as well be called "suffering a backlash."

Theoretically, there was one other possibility: the substance being upgraded was so powerful that it was completely unaffected by the Glasses. If it couldn't be pushed, it couldn't be pushed. But Tang Zhao had not yet encountered this. When the Glasses were still a mere fraction of their framework, there were very few existences that could transcend them, let alone now that this supreme treasure was approaching its complete form. There was almost no high-level material it could not push; it could upgrade a Strange Stone back then, so upgrading an entire Yishishan now was nothing to him.

But today, facing this monster, Tang Zhao really had no certainty; he might face failure. Even if it truly failed, it was not terrifying. Even if it angered this monster, causing it to roar and incite the green mud to kill Tang Zhao, Tang Zhao would just run out and lure it toward the Sword Saints, letting the Sword Saints clean up the mess for him. This was part of the plan from the beginning, so he had no psychological burden.

It was just that if the Glasses suffered new, serious damage, harming the legacy left by the Master, he would feel reluctant in his heart. He might suffer a true, genuine "backlash."

But this decision was one he still had to make, especially after he connected this monster to the world beyond the sky; he realized the danger of this thing was greater than he had imagined.

What if this thing was not just a malicious evil god or some evil creation, but a nail driven in from beyond the sky? What if it was silently growing in Lingjie, a kind of "incubation," absorbing nutrients just like an alien, and finally breaking the host to hatch—what then?

Perhaps this monster had started with this strategy of borrowing a world to hatch its egg. It might have been lurking for who knows how many years, developing many lackeys among the Heavenly Demons, among whom the strong ones like Song Tian already held top-tier status. It looked like the harvest time was near, but its own kin or even its elders were coming, intending to swallow both worlds with an even more ferocious appetite. It clearly couldn't compete with them, so it intended to take a detour, using the ship as new nutrients to break out of the egg?

It was better to crush this kind of monster completely. If possible, let the Glasses derive it; if it succeeds, tame it; if it fails, let it die. That was the safe approach. At this time, risks had to be borne, but if one was to do it, one had to minimize the risk as much as possible and not waste power.

In order to concentrate his power, Tang Zhao took a deep breath, closed the Fangfei Sword, and incidentally lowered the effect of the Disappearance.

Of course, he didn't adjust it all at once, but lowered it bit by bit, until Tang Zhao keenly sensed that the green mud beneath, including the tentacles wrapped within the green mud, had stirred slightly. Knowing he had reached the critical value, he decisively mobilized most of his own power and all the power stored in the Glasses to invest together:

"Derivation, activate! Direction one... Tame. Direction two, Bond."

Tang Zhao set his strategy. Having such a monster help him upgrade things was no different from aiding the enemy. First, try to see if he could take it in as a dog; if it couldn't be a dog, then prevaricate and be friends first, and after the bond was deep enough, try to tame it into a dog.

The Glasses fully executed his command. An invisible flame rose from the green mud, completely enveloping the tentacle.

Yes, Tang Zhao had still betrayed the original intention of the fairy sister's golden axe and silver axe fairy tale, abandoned the holy spring water, and chose the holy fire as the carrier for the derivation. This was also more representative of his own style.

The flame of the holy fire was controlled quite precisely, only the size of a fist, just enough to cover the entire tender color without involving too much green mud. Its target was the fundamental commander, not those derivatives that existed in abundance.

As the flame burned onto the tentacle, Tang Zhao, as the controller, immediately felt the difference. Although he was only responsible for issuing commands so far, once the actual derivation began, the process was a black box to him. However, he could actually vaguely sense the progress—that is, whether the derivation process was smooth and whether the direction of the derivation was going astray.

Based on his current view, if the derivation went astray, it would be difficult for him to correct it; he would only adjust the input resources to step on the brake for the derivation, preferring to produce waste rather than generate something outrageous. However, so far, he had never generated anything particularly bizarre; the direction had at most deviated by thirty or forty-five degrees, and it had never directly gone in the opposite direction.

But today, he felt that the progress bar was moving very arduously. The first step, trying to pull it into the derivation state, was almost motionless.

No, if the first step didn't move, then no goal could be achieved; it was a failure.

This was his first difficult challenge after inheriting the Master Power; was he going to fail just like this?

If so, wouldn't he have failed the Master's legacy? And what qualification would he have to pride himself on being the one to inherit the great cause of saving the world?

Increase the intensity?

But he had no idle power now; he had been going all out from the start.

Or cancel the power maintaining the Disappearance, preferring to be exposed in the green mud and fight with all his might?

It was a method, but it didn't seem like a good one. As the master controller of the derivation, he also had to ensure his own safety. Once he was under constant danger, the derivation still wouldn't move, and then there would be absolutely no room for maneuver.

Then, he should... act like a Master!

Yes, first of all, he had to control the direction more precisely. As the person in charge, he had to formulate a more precise direction. Things like "tame" or "bond" were still too general. He had to be able to perceive where the vital point was beforehand to ensure that the investment of resources was effective, especially when flooding with water or dimension-reduction strikes couldn't be achieved. The only requirement was for him to steer the ship and find the path. Otherwise, he would only vaguely call for "controllable nuclear fusion" without knowing anything else, and no matter how many resources were invested, he would have to wait another fifty years.

Then, from what aspect should he provide adjustments?

First, he should...

Cut off the hidden danger. "If it is an organ, cut off the connection between it and the main body to ensure it is an independent and complete individual."

Following his detailed command, he clearly felt the firelight jump, and the invisible progress bar in the dark moved forward a small notch.

Good!

Tang Zhao couldn't help but cheer inwardly. Although this change was not significant and was of no benefit to him, the significance of the change itself was very profound.

Just because of this change, this monster was no longer what it used to be. It was no longer a native object, but a mutated object after modification.

If defined strictly, if it were a living creature, from that very moment, it was already dead. Perhaps there would be a new birth, but that would no longer be itself. This was also the reason Tang Zhao was extremely cautious about using the Glasses to upgrade living organisms; life was unique to every individual. Modifying life was actually erasing one and birthing another. To an outsider, there was no difference, but to the life itself, it was completely different.

Although he had taken the first step, this first conversion alone had taken a long time; it could be called an "inch of progress." This also gave Tang Zhao time to think about how to point the way forward.

"Neural sensing upgrade... integration. Leave only a single hub." He was guessing blindly again; he had never dissected that tentacle and had no idea how the nervous system was distributed inside, or even if there was a nervous system at all. Perhaps it was driven directly by rules? He was truly treating the opponent as an octopus.

But as soon as he said this, the progress bar actually soared: actually, it couldn't be counted as soaring; it was still absolutely slow, but the speed was several times faster than before, which showed that he had pointed to the right key point again. Regardless of whether this guy was an octopus structure, it at least had a nervous system that could be modified.

Of course, with fast progress, the power consumption also rose rapidly. Judging from the power consumed, it would not be easy for Tang Zhao's current level to finish modifying this guy.

If the main body of this tentacle were still here, perhaps Tang Zhao would be unable to cope.

But perhaps when he met that main body, Tang Zhao's strength would be different? Not to mention the experience accumulated in this tentacle modification.

"Then the next step should be... modify the neural response output port, modify the consciousness recognition system, modify..."

"Make this life's self-recognition frequency align with mine!"