Chapter 1161: Two Kinds of Att.i.tudes
The Illusion Race was very thorough in their work. Even when sending this letter, the letter was directly sent to the Equipment Refinery Hall, and not the mushroom house where w.a.n.g Zhong and Jhonas lived together. This indicated that they would draw their boundaries with w.a.n.g Zhong.
“Phumetheus was born as a Solid Core and joined the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s just after entering the Heavenly Gates. Furthermore, he graduated as the top scorer among the 56th Batch of the Violent Demon Era. He has cultivated for over thirty years. He has not been able to break through to the Gold Core Realm because he was also cultivating the Soul Devouring Technique at the same time and wanted to acc.u.mulate the second stage of his true form before stepping into the Gold Core Realm. Thus, he has been suppressing his cultivation realm…”
In the mushroom house, Jhonas was looking through the stack of information with w.a.n.g Zhong. From Phumetheus’s rise to his splendid reputation, all his experiences over the past decade or so in the Heavenly Gates had been recorded in the materials sent over. It was easy to handle such matters with money, and the information system of the Illusion Race was considered first-rate among the many civilizations in the Land.
Achievement 1: During his first Celestial Honors a.s.signment after joining the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, he single-handedly destroyed a level-5.5 civilization. This was a powerful civilization that was in line to take the level-6 a.s.sessment and had several dozen Solid Core experts. However, a mere Solid Core fellow that had just joined the Heavenly Gates and entered the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s was able to flatten the entire civilization and slaughter all the experts who were of the Void Core Realm and higher without leaving anyone behind. Such achievements were simply hard to imagine!
…Achievement 6: Four years and three months after entering the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, he single-handedly wiped out the Flat Iron civilization. He slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people and killed the Flat Iron Queen!
Even though there were powerful and weak intermingled among the Gold Cores, the words “Gold Core” represented their complete difference from bottom-dwelling people. Under normal circ.u.mstances, even if the weakest Gold Core wanted to kill a Solid Core, they could simply slaughter them with a wave of a hand! Regardless of their level of power, the level of their spiritual power, or their state of consciousness, they were on a completely different level from low-leveled beings. It could be said that if a Void Core challenging a Solid Core had a difficulty of 5, then a Solid Core challenging a Gold Core would have a difficulty of 500 or even 1,000!
Achievement 7: The day before the 56th Batch of the Violent Demon Era graduated, and four years and 11 months after entering the Combat Cultivation Hall, he defeated Supervisor Tsargesimon head-on in the “Revised Violence Field”! The Fire Demon Race boasted greatly about him back then, oppressing the t.i.tan Race to the point that they could not lift their heads up for a few years.
This was even more impressive… Even Lao w.a.n.g could not help but feel his eyelids twitch when he read this.
Lao w.a.n.g clearly understood how strong Supervisor Tsargesimon was. Even though he typically did not do much work during lessons, he was simply guiding many rookies to build their foundations. The supervisor’s practical combat powers were rather terrifying. According to w.a.n.g Zhong’s estimations, he should be ranked among the top 10 among the many supervisors in the Heavenly Gates! Even though there had been a powerful runic array in the Revised Violence Field that suppressed their Spiritual Energy Value to the same value that day, the supervisor had the combat experience and state of consciousness of a Gold Core…
And these were only the achievements that Phumetheus had made 10 years ago. They continued to read up till the current records. As resources about the Celestial Honors a.s.signments and their difficulty levels were listed out, it only reaffirmed that this freak who was only the sixth Solid Core in the history of the Heavenly Gates to complete these a.s.signments was unimaginably strong.
“Boss…” Jhonas’s voice started to tremble slightly. He mustered up his courage and said, “I—I think you should yield to the Fire Demon Race. I feel that the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race should understand you. They also cannot help in this matter. They can’t possibly stare wide-eyed as you die…”
“Do you not expect me to win?” Lao w.a.n.g also felt great pressure. Just from the intelligence that the Illusion Race had sent, it seemed that Phumetheus was much harder to deal with than he had imagined. To be honest, he had no a.s.surance at all… And he was not talking about his chances of winning against Phumetheus, but his chances of surviving in the Life and Death Arena. This was a freakish genius that had surpa.s.sed the limits of a Solid Core! If he was also a Solid Core, perhaps he would have the ability to battle Phumetheus with a few more trump cards. But as a mere Void Core… it was difficult, very difficult! Just surviving was very difficult.
“d.a.m.n, Boss. What are you saying?” Jhonas was speechless that w.a.n.g Zhong still had the mood to joke around. When Jhonas looked at these materials, if he himself was involved in this matter, he would have probably wet his pants. “We were talking about official business. The Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race will definitely understand the situation you are facing now. In order to survive, do you care so much? Furthermore, I think that the daughter of the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Crown Prince is interested in you and will definitely help you by speaking behind the scenes. If you betray the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race, they will probably not go so far as to want your life.”
However, Lao w.a.n.g simply laughed. From Jhonas’s words, he was obviously taking them for granted. Did he really think that the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race had a good temper? Even though he and the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race had banded together, if one dared to openly attempt to slap them in the face, insane women were even crazier than madmen.
However, he did not have to explain this to Jhonas. The Illusion Race member’s expression was as usual, but w.a.n.g Zhong was fine with this. Even the sensitive Ma Dong was fine with this. They had already sensed that the Illusion Race had started to adopt a distant att.i.tude. The Illusion Race had helped the Earth before, and the fact that the Illusion Race did not choose to hit the Earth when they were down meant that they were rather good friends, especially when they reached this plight.
“He’s right.” The moment Jhonas finished speaking, a female voice sounded from the door. Then, Celeste walked over. “w.a.n.g Zhong, don’t go to the Life and Death Arena. Negotiate with the Fire Demon Race. They will definitely try to attract you to their side. If you take their side, this life and death battle will naturally be canceled!”
“Do you all think that I can’t win?” Lao w.a.n.g did not know whether to laugh or to cry. After this situation emerged, he had also been waiting for the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race to speak. If the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race had the intention to stop this, someone would have probably contacted him on that night. But until now, there had been no news. Thus, Lao w.a.n.g knew what to expect.
The Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race did not plan to get involved in this matter. Regardless of what their objectives and considerations were, they had made this decision. Furthermore, for Celeste to say such words, she had definitely asked the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Superintendent and obtained a promise from her.
Just like what Jhonas had said, if he chose to draw a line with the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race and rely on the Fire Demon Race, the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race would definitely be unhappy. But at the very least, the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race would not ask for his life.
“It’s not that we don’t think that you’ll win, w.a.n.g Zhong.” This was the first time Celeste’s expression was this serious. “But Phumetheus is on a different level from you and is from another world. Even in the entire Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, he is considered a genius among geniuses. He has also cultivated for a longer time than you! Furthermore, I can very responsibly tell you that if he is willing to take that last step, he can easily advance to the Gold Core Realm at any time. With his strength, once he advances to the Gold Core Realm, he will become one of the top experts in the Land. He is simply not someone that you can compete with!”
“That’s right, that’s right!” Beside them, Jhonas vigorously nodded his head. Lao w.a.n.g smiled.
“I have asked for instructions from the superintendent. Even though the superintendent seems very rigid on the surface, she has hinted to me that if you side with the Fire Demon Race, the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race will not take your life.” Celeste paused slightly. There were some things that she could not say, but she never thought that w.a.n.g Zhong was planning to face Phumetheus on the Life and Death Arena. “I know that you are prideful on the inside, but please do not be blinded by your temporary personal feelings. As long as you live, you will have the possibility of fulfilling your dreams. Don’t forget that you still have an entire race behind you that is depending on you.”
“That’s right, that’s right!” Jhonas nodded his head so much that he started to feel slightly nauseous.
Looking at the concerned gazes from the two of them, Lao w.a.n.g silently sighed. He did not have many friends in the Heavenly Gates. Other than Bone Demon Pavaro, these two were his only other friends.
However, it was a pity that these two people did not understand him well enough, let alone the situation he was in. Frankly speaking, regardless of whether it was Jhonas or Celeste, they seemed to have seen various aspects of society, and their vision seemed to be very long-sighted, but they had not experienced actual setbacks and truly difficult positions before. Thus, they would not understand where his current dilemma lay.
Celeste was right about one thing. He still had a race behind him that depended on him. However, this was precisely the reason why he had no choice but to face this battle.
Looking at this situation, regardless of whether it was the Fire Demon Race’s level-8 Life and Death Contract or the cold-eyed evaluation from the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race with the excuse that this was a test from them, frankly speaking, he was no more than a toy in their eyes. He was simply an intermediary object in the struggle between the two races.
What influence did a toy have? What qualifications to speak did an object have? To be honest, regardless of whether it was the Fire Demon Race or the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race, they were treating w.a.n.g Zhong as a chess piece in the game between them. Thus, w.a.n.g Zhong’s att.i.tude could not determine anything.
Even if he chose to depend on the Fire Demon Race and avoid this battle, the news of the life and death battle had spread throughout the Heavenly Gates, and the Fire Demon Race might no longer let him join them. Furthermore, even if the Fire Demon Race agreed, what would happen to the Earth?
Furthermore, even if the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race did not immediately settle the accounts with him, that was simply them wanting to portray a n.o.ble and virtuous stance. However, behind the scenes, the Earth would definitely suffer a disaster. The Earth civilization had received benefits from the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race but wanted to free themselves just like that? It was impossible even in his dreams. Even if the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race simply took back their gifts to the Earth and did not add a harsher punishment, the various jealous and envious eyes cast towards the Earth because of their sudden rise in power… This would cause the Earth to immediately fall into the abyss.
Moreover, even if he did not consider all these, what if a similar incident happened next time? If the Fire Demon Race could use the level-8 Life and Death Contract to kill him, couldn’t the opposing Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race do the same? Couldn’t the t.i.tan Race, which was also a level-8 civilization and on the same side as the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race, do the same?
w.a.n.g Zhong did not want to be a sacrificial object in the struggle between the two races, let alone become their toy. Furthermore, he wanted the two races to be aware of this. Thus, there was only one path, and that was to defeat Phumetheus. He had to display a miracle that was heaven-defying enough and could even cause everyone in the history of the Land and the divine territory to tremble! This way, w.a.n.g Zhong, who had come from a low-leveled civilization, would be treated on the same level as everyone else. Then, he would jump out from the struggle between these two races and become an independent third party who was aloof from this conflict.
This was very difficult, and w.a.n.g Zhong was very clear of this. Right now, the opinions of the entire external world, including Celeste, Jhonas, and other people, were not baseless. Even w.a.n.g Zhong himself was doubting the possibility of him surviving in Phumetheus’s hands, let alone defeating him.
But so what? He still had almost ten days to the life and death battle, and Lao w.a.n.g was not anxious. There would always be a solution. The Draconic Spiritual Power in his body had boundless possibilities, and was his greatest capital and trump card. Of course, this was not his only trump card…
“Okay, okay.” Lao w.a.n.g smiled and said, “Friends, believe me. I am not having a fever and will not land into a sure-death situation. Just wait patiently.”
Lao w.a.n.g was also waiting. Other than wasting no time in cultivating his Draconic Spiritual Power, he was also waiting for his second trump card. However, this would depend on his luck and fate.
After the topic of the life and death battle had spread for six or seven days, it started to become more exaggerated. Everyone in the Heavenly Gates was discussing everything regarding this battle. The faces of many newbies in the Heavenly Gates appeared. Many Masters from the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s who were training outside had also ended their a.s.signments in advance and returned.
A life and death battle between two Celestial Honors Masters was rare, even in the entire history of the Heavenly Gates. Having a hundred or so of such battles in one era was already considered very frequent. After all, one era had 1,000 years. Such battles were rare and occurred once in about every ten years. Furthermore, one of the involved parties was an important figure among the Celestial Honors Masters.
The entire Heavenly Gates was pa.s.sionately discussing this. This was miraculous. The topics discussed did not involve the outcome of this battle, but whether w.a.n.g Zhong would show up at the Life and Death Arena, as well as how long he would be able to survive there.
“I feel that w.a.n.g Zhong won’t even be able to last ten seconds in the Life and Death Arena. He will be killed in seconds without a chance of survival.”
“It is not that exaggerated. After all, he is a monster and the second Void Core to enter the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s. The previous person who did this was the ancestor of the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race. He can also kick up a storm in the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s and will not be that easy to bully.”
“Heh heh, you also have to see who his opponent is. Phumetheus can be considered a first-rate Solid Core in the history of the Heavenly Gates. Back then, the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l ancestor did not encounter such a Solid Core opponent in the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s, right?”
“I still think that w.a.n.g Zhong can endure a few attacks and will not be eliminated in one shot. As long as he can resist a few attacks… Monsters like him usually have extremely powerful survival abilities.”
“Even if he can resist two attacks, so what? So what if his survival abilities are extremely strong? He will still die in the end! Furthermore, don’t forget that this is the Life and Death Arena. Even if w.a.n.g Zhong has unique skills in survival like a turtle sh.e.l.l, once he loses in the Arena, his life will be in the hands of Phumetheus. If Phumetheus wants him to live, then he will live. But if Phumetheus wants him to die, he will die! Do you really think that he can avoid this?”
“With Phumetheus’s ident.i.ty, if w.a.n.g Zhong displays enough strength, Phumetheus should not ruthlessly kill w.a.n.g Zhong, right? After all, they are both members of the Celestial Honors Cla.s.s.”
“How naive! They are in the Life and Death Arena. What ruthless killing are you talking about? Let me tell you, this situation is not as simple as it seems on the surface. It involves the Fire Demon Race and the Heavenly Sh.e.l.l Race…”
Various pa.s.sionate discussions and rumors spread rapidly. Meanwhile, Lao w.a.n.g silently stayed in the mushroom house and cultivated in secret. After succeeding in his use of his Draconic Spiritual Power, he had perfectly integrated it with his divine cells. For the moment, he was just worried that it was difficult for him to make any substantial improvements. However, Lao w.a.n.g concealed it to hide himself from the outside world as much as possible.
He probably could not conceal his Draconic Spiritual Power from Phumetheus, but Lao w.a.n.g did not plan to directly expose it. He wanted to disguise himself as much as possible and reduce the trouble he would face. Thinking ahead had always been Lao w.a.n.g’s style.
The mushroom house had been sealed up, and w.a.n.g Zhong retreated into his fragment world. This s.p.a.ce was extremely stable and concealed. He could display his ice and fire wings, his Draconic Spiritual Power, and even all his trump cards to his heart’s content here. Furthermore, he did not have to worry about others casting covetous eyes at him.
At that moment, his Draconic Spiritual Power that had been replicated by the divine cells integrated into his ice and fire wings. Under w.a.n.g Zhong’s deliberate guidance and suppression, he wanted to unify his powers and improve his state of consciousness. The most important things he had gained from the reading in the library were broadening his perspectives and choosing what was suitable for him.
It seemed as if a calm heart and waiting in silence allowed Lao w.a.n.g to start work from the very beginning. He had finally achieved his second crucial step. However, even though he had a certain level of confidence, to be honest, Lao w.a.n.g did not have much a.s.surance.
That was until Senior Lavel sent him a letter.
“The second stage of nurturing the Soul Steel is complete, and we will be entering the final stage of refining the sword. This will take about three days. Hurry up and come!”
When Lao w.a.n.g read this news, he could not help but fiercely clench his fist. Even though the nurturing of the Soul Steel would have been completed within these few days according to Senior Lavel’s previous timeline, if it were to drag on for another two days, the time limit for the Life and Death Arena would be up, and he would not have enough time to refine the sword. Now, he calculated the time it would take, and it was just right! During this period of time, he had been waiting for just this!
There was no doubt that Senior Lavel had put in extra hours for this. Most importantly, Senior Lavel was from the Fire Demon Race but had still helped him in this matter. Lao w.a.n.g could not help but occasionally feel that this was surreal.
Phumetheus seemed to be a practical combat specialist like him, and there would be times when he would attack without finesse. He definitely had a weapon, which was definitely very vicious and very handy. Meanwhile, w.a.n.g Zhong was lacking too much in this aspect.
Lao w.a.n.g did not waste any time and got up. It was now his turn to race against time.