138: Chapter 138 Immortal Divine Crystallization

Su Bai's consciousness had just sunk into the Netherworld World, and before he could check the state of the Six Paths of Reincarnation after the star battle, his communication terminal vibrated.

It wasn't a text message or a voice call, but a request for a holographic projection.

[Chu Zhentian (Chief Executive of Qinglin Province) requesting a call]

Su Bai opened his eyes and withdrew his consciousness from the Netherworld World.

He glanced at the name on the communication terminal and pressed accept.

Chu Zhentian's holographic projection solidified in the center of the lounge.

This time, he wasn't wearing his dark gold formal suit, but a deep gray house robe. His hair was a bit messy, and his eyes were bloodshot, making him look as if he hadn't slept for days.

But those eyes were terrifyingly bright.

"Su Bai." Chu Zhentian's voice was somewhat raspy, but every word sounded like it was being squeezed out of his chest. "Are you free right now?"

Su Bai nodded.

Chu Zhentian took a deep breath and swiped a few times on the light screen in front of him. A new light screen unfolded before Su Bai, densely packed with text.

"What I'm about to tell you is very important."

"You don't have a family backing you in this world, so no one would tell you this information, but now you have our Chu family."

Su Bai looked at the light screen without saying a word.

Chu Zhentian's finger tapped lightly on the light screen, and the content began to rearrange into three parts.

[Part One: Seventh-Order Demigod]

[Part Two: Talent Awakening]

[Part Three: Zhuangyuan Competition Championship Reward]

Su Bai's gaze fell on those three titles, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Chu Zhentian looked at him, the corner of his mouth curling slightly.

"It seems you've already guessed it."

Su Bai didn't speak, just stared at the light screen.

Chu Zhentian took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Su Bai, do you know why the maximum entry level for the Zhuangyuan Competition is the Sixth Order? Why people like Di Wudao, Jun Luoyu, and Ye Qingxue, who are clearly at the peak of the Sixth Order, are so reluctant to break through to the Seventh Order?"

Su Bai was silent for a moment.

"Because there is a price for the Seventh Order."

Hearing this, Chu Zhentian's eyes held three parts bitterness, three parts relief, and four parts admiration, as if acknowledging a clever person.

"It's not a price," he said. "It's a choice."

He raised his hand, and [Part One: Seventh-Order Demigod] on the light screen expanded.

"Su Bai, you should know that a world's level is calculated based on the highest-ranking unit within it. Your Netherworld World has Hero Units at the peak of the Sixth Order, so your world is at the peak of the Sixth Order."

"But do you know what happens to the Creator themselves when their world breaks through to the Seventh Order?"

Su Bai shook his head.

A glint flashed in Chu Zhentian's eyes.

"The Creator themselves will evolve into a demigod."

"Demigod..." Su Bai softly repeated the word.

"Yes, a demigod," Chu Zhentian said. "It's not a title or an honor, but a true leap in life level. A Seventh-Order Creator's lifespan will extend to over five hundred years, their physical strength will increase to withstand full-power attacks from Sixth-Order units and below, and their perception range will expand to cover the entire world."

"Furthermore, the demigod themselves can master the energy and rules within their world. A cultivation world can master spiritual qi, and a Martial Arts World can master true qi. They only need to condense divine power through the Power Of Faith generated by the world's living beings."

"However, unless it's a battle to the death, demigods will only send out the powerful creatures from their worlds to fight; the demigods themselves will not take the field."

"But the most important thing isn't any of that."

His finger tapped lightly on the light screen, switching the content to [Part Two: Talent Awakening].

"The most important thing is that when a Creator evolves into a demigod, they will randomly awaken a talent based on the characteristics of the world they created."

Chu Zhentian looked at Su Bai and said word by word.

"This talent can significantly boost the world's power. Some talents can directly raise all Hero Units in the world by one order, some can double the world's rule power, and some can increase the production of the world's Power Of Faith tenfold."

Su Bai's brow furrowed slightly.

"Random?"

"Random," Chu Zhentian nodded. "Talent levels are divided into six grades: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Red, and Gold. Gold is the highest, and White is the lowest. Eighty percent of Creators awaken White or Green talents, about nineteen percent awaken Blue, zero point nine percent awaken Purple, and the remaining zero point one percent awaken Red or Gold."

He paused.

"Among the three thousand participants in the Zhuangyuan Competition each year, there are about ten Gold talents."

The lounge fell silent for a few seconds.

Su Bai spoke.

"So, those geniuses are stuck at the Sixth Order not because they can't break through to the Seventh, but because they don't dare to gamble."

"Exactly," Chu Zhentian said with a sigh of emotion. "The awakened talent is random, and once a poor talent is awakened, it can never be changed. For people like Di Wudao, Jun Luoyu, and Ye Qingxue, their worlds are top-tier worlds with thousand-year heritages. Their families have poured countless resources into nurturing them; they can't afford to lose the gamble."

"So they are waiting," Su Bai said.

"Yes, they are waiting."

Chu Zhentian's finger swiped across the light screen, expanding [Part Three: Zhuangyuan Competition Championship Reward].

On the light screen, a line of large golden characters appeared.

[Zhuangyuan Competition Championship Reward: immortal divine nature crystal]

Su Bai looked at that line of text, his pupils contracting slightly.

Chu Zhentian's voice became deep, like the vibration of the earth.

"The immortal divine nature crystal is a Seventh-Order divine object. Upon use, when the Creator breaks through to the Seventh Order and awakens a talent, the talent is guaranteed to be Gold. This kind of item can only be provided by the official Great Xia Kingdom, which spans dozens of star systems, and there is only one every year."

"Other major families can at most ensure a Red talent upon awakening. But basically, they won't give them to their strongest geniuses, as no top-tier genius can accept awakening a Red talent."

"Guaranteed to be Gold," Su Bai softly repeated those four words.

"Guaranteed to be Gold," Chu Zhentian nodded. "That's why all the Sixth-Order peak geniuses have come to this year's Zhuangyuan Competition. Di Wudao, Jun Luoyu, Ye Qingxue, Jiang Taixu, Luo Qinghe, Murong Qiu, Dugu Xin, and Nangong Yi—they didn't come to prove whose world is strongest, but for that immortal divine nature crystal."

Su Bai was silent for a long time.

He thought of the names flashing on the light screens, the Sixth-Order peak worlds, and the favored children of heaven praised by the media as the "national top ten."

So that was it.

It wasn't because they didn't want to break through to the Seventh Order, but because they didn't dare.

It wasn't because they weren't strong enough, but because they were too strong—so strong that they were unwilling to accept even the slightest bit of uncertainty.

"What about you?" Su Bai suddenly asked.

Chu Zhentian was taken aback.

"When you broke through to the Seventh Order back then, what talent did you awaken?"

Chu Zhentian was silent for a moment, then he laughed. There was bitterness in that smile.

"Red," he said. "Hundreds of years ago, there was no annual Zhuangyuan Competition yet, and the Chu family didn't manage to seize an immortal divine nature crystal during the struggle."

"But we still fought for some things, like the item I gave you last time that allowed your world to awaken the Six Paths of Reincarnation rules."

"As for the rest..."

He didn't continue.

But from those bloodshot eyes, Su Bai saw many things.

"Let's not talk about that." Chu Zhentian waved his hand, the bitterness on his face instantly vanishing, replaced by a near-frenzied eagerness.

"Su Bai, you've already entered the Points Race. Out of three hundred and seventy-five people, only eight will eventually make it to the Knockout Stage. Eight people, fighting for that one immortal divine nature crystal."

"Besides the champion being one hundred percent, the rest are probabilistic. The second-place reward is a divine nature crystal with an eighty percent chance of awakening Gold, and third place is sixty percent. Other placements have a thirty percent chance of awakening a Gold talent."

He stared into Su Bai's eyes.

"Are you confident?"

Su Bai looked at him and didn't say a word.

Chu Zhentian waited for three seconds and shrugged.

"Fine. I won't ask."

He raised his hand, and another line of information popped up on the light screen.

[Transfer: 300,000,000 federal credits]

[Note: Qinglin Province reward, Su Bai advancing to the Points Race]

Three hundred million.

Su Bai glanced at the number, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly.

"The Chu family is really rich."

Chu Zhentian waved his hand, his expression turning serious.

"Su Bai, let me ask you one thing."

"Go ahead."

"Do you want to know how to break through to the Seventh Order?"

Su Bai's gaze fell on Chu Zhentian's face.

"Every world is unique; there is no specific method," Chu Zhentian said. "But I can tell you how other worlds have broken through."

He raised his hand, and information about two worlds appeared on the light screen.

[First: Sword Dao World · Jun Luoyu]

[Method to break through to the Seventh Order: The Sword Dao rules within the world must be complete. Jun Luoyu's Sword Dao World has already condensed three thousand Sword Intents, but it's still missing the last one. He has yet to find that final Sword Intent.]

[Second: Myriad Demon World · Luo Qinghe]

[Method to break through to the Seventh Order: The demon bloodlines within the world must awaken to the seventh generation. Luo Qinghe's world already has six generations of demon bloodlines, but the seventh generation has yet to be born. He needs a demon beast with an ancient demon bloodline to serve as the ancestor of the seventh generation.]

Chu Zhentian closed the light screen and looked at Su Bai.

"Do you understand? Every world's breakthrough method is different. Some require complete rules, some require bloodline awakening, some require complete architecture, and some require heroes to take their places."

He looked at Su Bai and said word by word.

"What does your Netherworld World need?"

Su Bai was silent for a long time.

He thought of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

He thought of the Six Case Clerks.

He thought of the four judges of the Judges Office, which required a Seventh-Order world to be created.

"I don't know yet," Su Bai said softly.

Chu Zhentian nodded.

"Then go find it. Search in your world, search in your rules, search in your heroes. The answer for every world lies within itself."

He stood up, and the light screen of the holographic projection began to flicker.

"The three hundred million has already been transferred to your card. The Points Race starts in three days; take a good rest during these three days."

"Wait," Su Bai called out to him.

Chu Zhentian turned his head.

Su Bai looked at him and asked a question.

"Why is the Chu family being so good to me?"

Chu Zhentian looked at Su Bai, his eyes holding only a pure, almost obsessive trust.

"Because you are you."

The holographic projection dissipated.

The lounge became quiet once again.

Su Bai sat on the sofa, looking at the "300,000,000" on the light screen, and was silent for a long time.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into the Netherworld World.

The grayish-white Yin Qi surged like a sea.

The luminous wheel of the Six Paths of Reincarnation rotated slowly at the world core, brighter and more solid than before.

Devouring the energy of the Star World had significantly strengthened the rule power of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Su Bai's consciousness avatar stood at the world core, overlooking this land with a diameter of 4,300 kilometers.

Eight races and thirteen million living beings lived and multiplied on this grayish-white land.

He closed his eyes, sensing everything in the Netherworld World.

The flow of Yin Qi, the wailing of souls, the aura of heroes, the operation of rules.

He was searching.

Searching for that answer.

What his world needed to break through to the Seventh Order.

Su Bai searched for a long time without a clear idea, only a vague feeling.

After the Seventh Order, the Creator would become a demigod and randomly awaken a talent; only then would they truly have half a foot in the ranks of the gods.