Mu Zhong nodded in agreement. "Yes. Slowing down to prepare for the Ninth-Grade world effectively gives the Dark Beast Lords time to develop. Even if we don't need the resources, we should enter their world to sabotage them and prevent them from continuing to grow."
"You're right," Wei Huan said.
The others chimed in with nods of approval. "That's the safest way."
"Commander Wei has thought of everything."
"We are slow because we 'choose' to be, but that doesn't mean the Dark Beast Lords get to take their time. This time we go over, we must slaughter them to our heart's content. Better yet, kill the Dark Beast King and plunge their world into total chaos."
"Speaking of which, does everyone remember the tasks given by the 'Heart of Steel' last time we were there?"
"You mean the Twin Pillars of Heaven, the Trench of the Abyss, the Shadow of the World, and the Radiance of the Stars?"
"Exactly. This time we go back, those mysteries should finally be solved, right?"
Wei Huan and Mu Zhong locked eyes, a shared sense of purpose igniting. Indeed, with so much left to do, the secrets of the Dark Beast Plane were likely far from simple.
Unbeknownst to them, the vehicle had already passed through the ocean layers previously infested by the Liar Race and arrived at the seabed region covered in viscous matter. Now that the Liar Race was no longer there to hunt based on the Divine Corpse's instincts, the area was much quieter. The thick substances looked as if they had been slumbering for billions of years; there was a stillness so heavy it felt suffocating.
Silence reigned. Even the Challenge World failed to spawn monsters here. A single glance revealed nothing but an endless expanse of sludge. However, the World Tree had now taken root here, its fibers firmly embedded in the viscosity, treating the matter humanity once feared as nutrients to be devoured, causing it to thin out considerably.
"If not for the Nether Qi leaking out this time, I would have thought the World Tree was already absorbing the Divine Corpse," Mu Zhong said, observing the scene. "In that case, this sludge is just a body bag."
"A god? If entering a Ninth-Grade world makes one a god, can we reach that level after we die?" Vice-Captain Klitov murmured to himself.
Xu Qingqiang laughed. "You're thinking too much. In the Heaven that Monkey King wrecked, there was an Emperor and a hundred thousand celestial soldiers, but the Taoist Ancestors and the fairies of the Jade Pool are two different types of life. Do you get my analogy? It's like, uh..."
"I get it," Klitov said. "I've read the Four Great Classics of Cathay, as well as the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' and 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'. I never imagined the beasts recorded in those books would actually exist. Cathayan civilization runs deep; it has never broken its lineage over thousands of years."
Xu Qingqiang beamed. "Exactly. Cathay is the only ancient civilization left on Blue Star. Some historical biographies seem like nonsense, but they were actually recorded by ancestors who saw these things with their own eyes..."
Xu Qingqiang began to ramble about Cathayan mythology, veering completely off-topic. Klitov simply chatted along with him.
Mu Zhong listened to them before turning to Wei Huan. "Speaking of achieving godhood, as of right now, you are probably the only human with the greatest hope."
Wei Huan replied, "It's not that easy. A Sequence 9 'God of Death' is just a title, not a true divinity. To become a god, one must obtain Laws to nourish a Godhead, and finally achieve a Divine Body. Hundreds of millions walk this path; how many actually reach the end?"
"It is difficult, but there is always hope," Mu Zhong said, then remembered something. "Regarding the Godhead you mentioned... I've been wondering if that Life Stone we obtained could actually be a Godhead?"
"Did the 'Heart of Steel' say anything?"
"No. It seems my guess was wrong, or maybe the time hasn't—" Mu Zhong froze, tilting his head as if listening to something. His expression turned peculiar. He looked at Wei Huan as if to speak, only to realize the entire circle had gone quiet. Xu Qingqiang had stopped talking to Klitov; everyone was staring at him.
Mu Zhong paused, then nodded with a serious face. "Everyone guessed right. The 'Heart of Steel' just told me: that 'is' a Godhead."
"I knew it! 'Life Stone' my ass. If that isn't a Godhead, what is it? A kidney stone?" Xu Qingqiang muttered. Exhaling a cloud of smoke, he said excitedly, "I finally know what a kid—er, a Godhead looks like. I'm going to become a god!"
Mu Zhong laughed. "Spoken like Brother Qiang. You've got my blood pumping."
Xu Qingqiang's eyes flashed. "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is a bad soldier. If I didn't want to become a god, why the hell would I work this hard every day, diving through life and death? Isn't it all for that final moment?"
Captain Xue hesitated before saying, "Brother Qiang, I don't know if I should say this, but with your development route, you're more likely to become a Demon."
"Haha!"
Everyone laughed, not out of mockery, but out of shared joy. A Demon God is equal to a Divine God; such a prospect was exhilarating. Even the smallest joke prompted a roar of laughter in their soaring mood.
Xu Qingqiang didn't mind. He laughed arrogantly. "What if I become a Demon? Even if I fall, I want to be like this Divine Corpse—able to become a world of my own, making those bacteria-like 'Challengers' fear and dread me, yet respect and worship me, until they have no choice but to change their very nature to cater to me. Only then would this life be worth it!"
His words set everyone's blood on fire. The prospects for the future were limitless.
Time flew as they chatted. Before they knew it, they had traveled far along the abnormally thick root and reached their destination.
"This is it," said Mu Dehao, who had visited recently. He pointed at a specific root. "This root is significantly thicker than the others. It's just a terminal filament, yet it's nearly as thick as the primary root. I don't know if this is good or bad."
Mu Zhong said, "Leave the analysis to the 'Heart of Steel'. Maybe it will trigger a secret side-quest."
Under the watchful eyes of the group, Wei Huan's undead army was deployed. The Burrow Queen's lineage, the smartest and best swimmers, proved most useful. A pink Burrow Beast and a pure red Facehugger, surrounded by a swarm of their kin, reached the root.
A moment later, the "Great-Great-Grandchild" came scurrying back like a puppy fetching a prize, holding a piece of tree bark five times its size. As it approached, the people on the balcony felt a dense wave of Nether Qi wash over them. It felt like being stared at by a poisonous God of Death, the cold terror of a scythe hovering over their necks. Only the melee classes who had fought alongside the undead for years could ignore this bone-chilling cold.
Xu Qingqiang raised an eyebrow. "Stronger again? We've only been g one ten days. It seems we really need to head over there soon."
The Great-Great-Grandchild was exceptionally clever, with an IQ comparable to a ten-year-old human. Aside from an inability to hide its thoughts, it excelled at flattery, claiming credit, and independent tactical thinking. It rushed over, its green eye-lights flashing, and handed the bark directly to Mu Zhong.
Mu Zhong took the bark and smiled. "Thank you, Chong-Chong."
"Gurgle gurgle," it let out a cute sound, wiggled its backside, and left.
"Facehuggers are half a rank lower than Ghost Crows in the Dark Beast hierarchy, and they are the larval stage of Burrow Beasts. But even alone, this 'Princess' could easily kill an average Grade 6 monster," Mu Dehao said admiringly as he watched the red creature leave. He then turned expectantly to Mu Zhong.
Mu Zhong had already fed the bark data to the 'Heart of Steel'. Within seconds, the answer appeared. He told Mu Dehao: "The World Tree is very healthy. It's simply suffering from over-nutrition."
Mu Dehao breathed a sigh of relief.
Mu Zhong continued: "These nutrients come from the Divine Corpse. Such a change is normal. Eventually, the nutrition will move into the trunk and be distributed throughout. The World Tree will grow even more vigorously."
Mu Dehao nodded, then asked, "What about the Nether Qi?"
"Death naturally causes Nether Qi to aggregate," Mu Zhong explained. "However, this Divine Corpse was likely a God of Life. His Godhead is a Divine Life Godhead, which is why it can nourish the World Tree. The Nether Qi will gradually weaken as the nutrients are absorbed. In the meantime, the released Qi might turn this sea area into a 'Ghost Realm' and breed some spirits. I've gained some insights in the Beast World; I can craft some Holy Purification Totems to leave here for daily cleansing. We'll just need to send Angels down periodically to reinforce it."
"These totems are a godsend," Mu Dehao remarked, relieved. "It's a new way to expand our power, and they can be stockpiled. It's just a shame only you can make them. This will delay your cultivation again." As family, Mu Dehao's focus was different; he couldn't hide his concern for Mu Zhong.
Mu Zhong smiled at Wei Huan. "Wei Huan will help me find a way. The busyness is only temporary. Once everything is stabilized, I'll focus on cultivation."
---
Wei Huan didn't stay long in the Grade 6 world. After handing over the pioneering work to Captain Hammer and Big Foot, who had been reassigned back, he drove his vehicle back to the Beast World.
For a long period, Wei Huan remained there. Every two weeks, Captain Xue and Xu Qingqiang would lead their teams out to rotate with the teams in the Grade 6 world. Occasionally, Wei Huan would return to check on the progress of the "Divine Bone" and open some treasure chests before hurrying back.
The time ratio between the Beast World and the Challenge World was 2:1. Every day wasted in the Challenge World was two days of lost cultivation. In this critical period of rapid advancement, losing even one day was a pity.
Six months flew by. Wei Huan had stayed in the Grade 6 world area for a total of a year and a half—the longest he had stayed in any world since starting the challenge. During this time, the Carnival was held again. Unsurprisingly, Wei Huan took the overall championship. Furthermore, the captains of his main combat force all easily placed in the top ten. This time, even Fang William failed to make the top ten; the leaderboard was entirely monopolized by Wei Huan's vehicle.
Last year, they thought about leaving some crumbs for others. This year, Wei Huan took everything. His status had changed; as the most important Pioneer Army for humanity, their absolute strength provided security for the public and unified the human race.
Over the year, under the immense pressure from Wei Huan, various nations began to set aside their ethnic prejudices and move toward genuine integration. All high-level resources were controlled by Cathay—or specifically, by Wei Huan. As a staunch supporter and faction leader of "Blue Star Unification," any nation that wanted to advance and avoid being left behind had to follow his lead. "Blue Star Unification" became the only voice on the planet.
Reform, once started, accelerates. At the very least, no one who reached the Grade 6 world was a nationalist. Those who could go to the "Blessed Land" were those who deeply identified with Wei Huan's philosophy. Wei Huan's prestige on Blue Star had reached its zenith.
Following the Carnival was the annual Newcomer Assessment. Various countries still tried to produce another [Graveyard Keeper], but none succeeded. However, this year's newcomers globally received the same treatment as Cathayan newcomers—they were given resource aid by the Blue Star Alliance Army. This not only improved survival rates but also gave rise to many talented individuals. The low-grade worlds flourished; the Challenge World had effectively become a "colony" of Blue Star.
After the Newcomer Assessment came the day the Assessment Highway for the next batch of high-grade worlds opened. In ten days, a new batch of challengers would arrive in the Grade 6 world to settle on the World Tree. This wave included social organizations—the vanguard of the human main force—who would establish the initial economic system in this vital world.
While everyone was listening to the news, their phones rang simultaneously.
[Notice: Human Captain Wei Huan has completed the Grade 7 World Assessment. The "Mountains and Seas Battlefield" will open in 30 days.]
[Notice...]
[Notice...]
The notice played three times. The people of Blue Star were jubilant.
"We're entering a Grade 7 world!"
"It had to be Commander Wei!"
"It feels like we were just in Grade 4 yesterday. How is it Grade 7 already? These three years have gone by so fast. Everything is changing; there are so many challenge tools on the streets now."
"I remember it took us five years to get from Grade 4 to Grade 5. Commander Wei was a newcomer that year. If not for him, it probably would have taken even longer."
"Does anyone remember when he was still a rookie and contributed a vital core material for a Grade 5 vehicle? That's what allowed Cathay to break the blockade and turn the tide."
"I remember. I remember it clearly."
It had been less than two years since they entered the Grade 6 world. Although it was a year slower than the jump to Grade 6, this was Grade 7—only two worlds away from the peak. Normally, staying in Grade 6 for over a decade wouldn't be strange. Two years was incredibly fast.
Some were worried: "Will there be any problems with the opening battle of the Grade 7 world?"
Others immediately laughed it off. "What could go wrong? The Dark Beasts couldn't keep up in Grade 6; now they'll only fall further behind. Relax, there won't be any issues."
"This time, we go to the Dark Beast world for total extinction."
"I heard the Pioneer Army found a 'Blessed Land' in Grade 6. Maybe the Dark Beast world can become our subordinate small world."
The public was buzzing. In all the world, the only person who wasn't particularly happy was likely Chang Le.
Chang Le was among the batch of challengers sent to the Grade 6 world, and he had completed the Grade 6 Highway Assessment as the lead car of a main combat force. Wei Huan likely didn't remember him—didn't remember the many people who had questioned him during the Grade 3 Highway Assessment when he first acted as a leader.
That assessment had been incredibly difficult. Wei Huan and Qi Jialu had led two groups, dealing with the sabotage of Peng Zheng. Leading a bunch of "loose soldiers" to victory was no easy feat. Among them was Chang Le, who had a private team of five friends. In that test, he was the first to risk his life to show loyalty to Wei Huan.
Back then, what supported Chang Le against Gold-rank monsters wasn't high ideals; he wasn't that noble. He just wanted to "make a name for himself" and "bring honor to his ancestors." Wei Huan was now surrounded by like-minded comrades, but it couldn't be denied that Chang Le had stood up bravely at that moment.
After that assessment, Mu Zhong had arranged for him to be trained in the Azure Dragon Legion. Three years later, the boy who dreamed of ancestral honor was an outstanding Lieutenant and one of the lead cars of the Fourth Assessment Regiment of the Pioneer Army. He had reached the Grade 6 world to pursue his ideals and Commander Wei.
Except Commander Wei had already gone to Grade 7.