Hammock’s voice was deep and low as he said, "Spirit creatures don’t reproduce sexually and don’t give birth. So even one spirit creature can turn into 1 million of them over time."
Hammock’s then became wistful as he said, "Spirit creatures are valuable and complicated creatures. Raising them is also complicated if one wants them to grow quickly. But every stress involved in taking care of them is worth it."
"Not only can spirit creatures be sacrificed for law fragments, but they can also be sold to the sect as the sect needs them to produce Branch Metacs and Core Metacs. So raising spirit creatures can also be used to earn divine merit points."
"But not everything is good about raising spirit creatures. The main thing we have to watch out for is the attacks of other spirit creatures on the Cave Heaven or the sudden rebellion of the spiritual creatures within the Cave Heaven."
Loki raised an eyebrow when he heard this. Then he said, "Spirit creatures can also fight? I thought they were dead."
In response to the question, Hammock chuckled and said, "Spirit creatures aren’t dead or alive. They are more like manifestations of the various concepts of things in the first dimension."
"And like I said earlier, the remnants that make up these spirit creatures like to clump together. Their instinct is to combine, not to split. They have to be forced to split to keep them weak because they can become too strong if they are allowed to combine endlessly."
"In the wild, the spirit creatures can combine into a terrible force of nature. Their instinct to combine also makes it easy for them to sense and find each other, so they can find your Cave Heaven and attack it if you have a lot of spirit creatures in their bid to find more of themselves to combine with."
This information made Loki shake his head and say, "What don’t you sacrifice the original creatures and items in the first dimension to the Life Fire instead of waiting for them to enter the second dimension?c
"Since the law fragments are in everything in the first dimension, it would save so much effort to make use of the source directly. Why go through all of that trouble raising spirit creatures and fending off attacks?"
But Hammock shook his head and said, "It is true that everything in the first dimension possesses law fragments, but the law fragments in a creature or item are a chaotic mixture of various law fragments. To sacrifice them directly to the Life Fire would be akin to swallowing deadly poison."
"It is similar to swallowing poison because the law fragments of other pathways are detrimental to divine beings. So it is best to wait for living beings and objects to get to the second dimension when their remnants have been scattered."
"At that point, remnants of the same type containing the same law fragments will come together and combine. So a single spirit creature or spirit item will contain only the law fragments of the same kind. That way, by sacrificing a spirit creature, one can ensure that they will only get the law fragments of the desired pathway."
Loki nodded in understanding when he heard this. Now he understood why everyone wasn’t going around sacrificing everything. But now, he had to figure out why he was able to go about sacrificing everything in the first dimension to his Life Fire.
The first reason that came to his mind was Fenrir’s Devour Ability and the Power Shifting Ability. Anyway, he was nearly certain that Fenrir was the reason he didn’t have any restrictions on the types of law fragments that he could have.
But just to be sure, he asked Hammock, saying, "Can dragons use many pathways, or do they also have restrictions on pathways and law fragments?"
Hammock immediately replied, saying with certainty, "As far as I know, only Dao Lords can have more than one pathway. It is not possible for anyone to use more than one pathway. Even dragons were not exempt from this rule."
Loki nodded in understanding as he said, "I’m guessing this restriction on the pathway is also why divine beings don’t sacrifice mortals directly to earn lifespan.
Hammock nodded and said in agreement, "Mortals of any race are the most poisonous things that divine beings can sacrifice directly. Their bodies are full of so many chaotic law fragments that a single mortal can wipe out years of accumulation of law fragments from a Cave Heaven."
Loki had been enlightened, so he said, "I’ve got it. As long as a divine being does well in the second heaven, they can grow their lifespan and law fragments without limit. I’m guessing that’s where the divine beings are all the time."
Hammock sighed and said, "I too used to spend all of my time in the second dimension. Hunting for small worlds can grant a small fortune of world essence, but finding them and reaching them is not easy."
"And some small worlds have powerful world kings to defend them. Some of those world kings can even kill invaders. And even if a world king is defeated, the fight will also lead to a loss of lifespan because the essence of the world heart is not enough to make up for the lifespan used up in the fight."
"So it is more efficient to spend time in the second dimension hunting and mining resources. At least this way, we will have enough lifespan to prepare for the next life-leech. Just the thought of a life-leech brings so many unpleasant memories."
Loki immediately interrupted, saying, "What’s a life-leech?"
At this point, the ant queen paused to brush its head with its antennae. Apparently, what it wanted to say required it to compose itself somewhat.
When it was done grooming itself, it continued speaking. It said, "A life-leech is the period of time we divine beings pay rent to the Supreme Metac. We pay the rent with some of our lifespan, and we pay it every 10 years."