"This is definitely problematic!"
A sudden voice startled Yang Jun, who had just fallen into thought.
Seeing that the others seemed not to have heard, he realized.
This was actually the Will of Heaven, communicating with him privately.
He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
The Will of Heaven calmly replied, "Did Hongjun suddenly appear just to spar with the strongest among you?"
"I don't believe the purpose of a Level 9 expert would be so simple!"
"Besides..."
It paused, sounding somewhat incredulous.
"Besides, in that exchange just now, he had almost no defenses and died so easily. How could a Level 9 expert die so easily?"
Yang Jun also nodded slightly.
This was indeed unreasonable.
He recalled Hongjun's smile from earlier.
The other party's expression seemed indifferent to his own death, as if he had completed a task.
Even as if he had gained something.
A spark of inspiration struck him. "The other party wasn't his true form, but merely a clone. Was his actual visit just to probe our strength?"
"It might be a clone, but the purpose is definitely not that simple!"
The body shattering like a phantom was indeed very much like a clone.
But his other guess was instantly dismissed by the Will of Heaven.
As the two were about to continue their exchange.
They saw the anomaly in the sky.
It turned out.
Hongjun's body in the sky had completely vanished, signifying his complete demise.
Innumerable dense forces of the Great Dao poured down.
The strength of this suspected Level 9 expert was incredibly formidable.
Even if, as they had speculated, the Hongjun who appeared earlier was just a clone.
That clone still possessed genuine Level 9 strength.
This was something Yang Jun, who controlled Xiao Feng in the battle, and the Will of Heaven, who had been closely observing from nearby, were both certain of.
Therefore.
Setting aside everything else, this wave of benefits had to be seized!
Yang Jun began to signal everyone to come out quickly.
And under the infusion of a large amount of Great Dao power, the auras of every team member surged.
Although with their current strength, they couldn't truly absorb such high-level energy.
Even so.
It was enough to increase the amount of Chaos Immortal Power they possessed.
And.
It had converted a considerable amount of Primordial Violet Qi.
Their combat power was also rapidly increasing in tandem.
Just as Yang Jun was indulging in the thrill of power enhancement, the voice of the Will of Heaven came again.
"I know what Hongjun's plan is!"
Yang Jun's spirit perked up. "Tell me."
The voice of the Will of Heaven recounted.
"In ordinary civilized worlds, the highest attainable level is Level 9."
"Before our Water Blue Star connected to the Eternal World, with our ordinary martial arts system, we couldn't even produce a Level 1 life form."
Yang Jun nodded.
This was indeed true.
The peak of ordinary human physical cultivation was at the level of a world boxing champion.
And such elite humans, in the past, might have required one in ten thousand natural talent, years of grueling training, and immense self-discipline.
They belonged to the pinnacle of strength.
But in the Eternal World.
One only needed to reach the stage of the first attribute point conversion in the game and casually manifest a spell.
Such physical quality, especially comprehensive combat power.
Would be enough to instantly defeat a rare world boxing champion.
Yang Jun nodded.
Indeed.
It was the appearance of the Eternal World that gave Water Blue Star, a mortal planet, the opportunity for humans to undergo a profound transformation and achieve transcendence.
Even now.
Mythical figures like Level 7 and Level 8, which were once unimaginable, had appeared.
Even.
Level 9 experts like the puppet Xiao Feng.
Had surpassed ordinary planetary-level strength.
And possessed the conditions to venture into the stars!
"As players enhanced their strength through transformation in异界, I, as the Will of the World, was also born and grew, from Level 1 and 2 at the beginning, to Level 7 and 8 now..."
The Will of Heaven's voice had been reminiscent at first.
But as it spoke, a subtle fluctuation suddenly occurred.
"After absorbing the Great Dao power scattered from the death of Hongjun's clone, and once the players of Water Blue Star have improved further, I will likely ascend to strength equivalent to Level 9."
Yang Jun asked curiously, "That's a good thing."
When the superior gets promoted, don't the subordinates also benefit?
"You could already bestow divine insight upon all players before, and with further improvement, you can better protect us!"
"Why does your tone sound unhappy?"
The voice of the Will of Heaven was somewhat subdued.
"On the surface, it does seem that way."
"If we were to improve normally like this, our planet would naturally become stronger, and it wouldn't even be difficult to deal with both the异界 and the Demon Shadow factions simultaneously."
"But..."
Even though Yang Jun couldn't see the true form of the Will of Heaven, he sensed a profound sense of desolation.
"But if I reach Level 9, it also means that the maximum potential for players to improve will be Level 9."
Yang Jun became even more perplexed.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"A good thing?"
The Will of Heaven lamented.
"If there were no external enemies, then it would indeed be a great thing."
"But now, with enemies on both sides watching covetously, and Hongjun willingly sacrificing himself, after absorbing some of his memories, I finally understood. This is clearly a 'raising of gu'!"
"'Raising of gu'?"
Yang Jun felt a sense of foreboding.
This term definitely didn't sound good.
The Will of Heaven spoke word by word, "Raising of gu! He intends to use the Level 9 experts cultivated on our Water Blue Star to allow him to advance further!"
Yang Jun was shocked.
Was this like fattening a pig before slaughtering it to eat?
But he still didn't quite understand.
"Logically, the 异界 shouldn't have only him as a Level 9 expert. Why doesn't he go find existing ones and pit them against each other?"
"Or, he could go find the Level 9 experts on the Demon Shadow side. Are the powerhouses that have grown on our Water Blue Star easy targets?"
The voice of the Will of Heaven grew even deeper.
"You don't know, it's incredibly difficult for a Level 9 to advance further."
"Generally, there are two paths."
Yang Jun became interested.
"Which two paths?"
It seemed something was different beyond Level 9.
The voice of the Will of Heaven became calm.
"One path is to continuously enhance one's own strength, raising combat power to a higher level, and then one can naturally advance."
"The other path requires the faith of living beings."
"The power of faith from believers can also greatly boost combat power."
"Relying on the number and quality of believers, one can also gradually raise combat power to the corresponding level."
"The first method is more direct but very difficult."
"The second method appears simpler, but it also requires a long period of accumulation."
"But regardless of which method, there is a fundamental prerequisite!"
Yang Jun listened intently and asked subconsciously.
"What prerequisite?"
The Will of Heaven, now having opened its heart, was willing to reveal everything.
"That is, to completely rule a world, absorb the faith of its living beings, and generate one's own World Will."
"Or..."
The voice of the Will of Heaven carried immense panic.
"Or absorb and merge with the Will of Heaven of another world."
"The more living beings whose faith is absorbed by the Will of Heaven, the higher the upper limit after breaking through Level 9."
"Otherwise, without a foundational World Will, one cannot normally increase strength after reaching Level 9."
"Only by possessing a World Will, even with the faintest faith, does one possess the foundation for transcendence."
"Transcendence?"
This word sent a tremor through Yang Jun's heart.
"Yes, above Level 9 is called Transcendence!"
The voice of the Will of Heaven carried strong yearning.
"With such a foundation, one can then absorb and convert energy by killing other Level 9 experts, and gradually advance."
At this point, its emotions began to release.
"This Hongjun, he has clearly treated me, and all of you who have the chance to advance to Level 9, as nourishment for his breakthrough to Level 9!"
By the end, the Will of Heaven's tone was no longer calm.
Instead, it was filled with intense hatred.
And fear!
Nourishment?
Yang Jun's body instantly turned cold, as if plunged into an ice cellar.
No wonder the smile on the other party's face felt strange. So this was what he was waiting for.
All our hard work and efforts in improving, only to become nourishment for someone else in the end?
He said with some unwillingness.
"Even so, we don't necessarily have to be so afraid."
"Since they are at most Level 9, with Little... Brother Feng here, we're not necessarily afraid of them!"
He was about to say the puppet Xiao Feng but quickly changed his words.
He also marveled at the magic of this treasure.
So many powerful beings and the Will of the World couldn't figure out that the number one person on Water Blue Star, who dominated everything, was just a puppet!
He felt that even a puppet of Brother Feng would be enough to deal with any Level 9 existence!
But the Will of Heaven's emotions showed no improvement.
"Looking at Hongjun's confident expression, he can probably already wield the World Will of their world for his own use."
"In that case, his strength will increase to an incredibly unimaginable level."
"Don't look at your people appearing very strong, considered among the elite of Level 9, but without the blessing of World Will, even if their strength were ten times greater, they would not be a match for him!"
Yang Jun asked curiously.
"Then we can cooperate, have our Level 9 experts wield you, and fight them!"
The Will of Heaven sighed.
"The World Will of the other party has existed for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands or millions of years..."
"I have only been born for less than a year, and the effect I can bestow upon you is too weak, utterly insignificant!"
"Then what about increasing the number of Level 9 experts?"
Yang Jun was still unwilling to give up.
The World Will sighed again. "It's useless. Ordinary Level 9 experts, even a hundred of them, cannot compare to a Hongjun who can wield World Will."
"Water Blue Star is destined to face disaster this time..."
Is the situation so dire?
Yang Jun took a deep breath, his eyes flickering.
He made a decision.
"You just said that a hundred ordinary Level 9 experts cannot compare to Hongjun."
"Then, if our Level 9 experts are calculated as ten times stronger than ordinary Level 9 experts, even ten times stronger might still have a gap with Hongjun."
A glint of confidence flashed in his eyes.
"Then what if, twenty times stronger."
"Even fifty times, a hundred times, equivalent to five hundred times, a thousand times the strength of an ordinary Level 9 expert?"
"What did you say?"
The Will of Heaven's tone suddenly rose, its voice sharp.
...
Late blessings, friends, happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
May you be happy every day and everything be well!
Thank you to Ai Chi Jia Xin Mian Bao Bing de Guan Er, User 29287157 for the催更符, and to Hua Liu Liu de Wo Niu for the刀片.
Thank you to Lang丶Ya for the double like, and to Ai Chi Jia Chang Cha Shao Rou, Tang Yuan Er Zui Ke Ai, and Yi Yan Wan Nian for their likes.