103: Hard Bones

He raised his palm, and a jet-black staff, condensed from Yin-Yang Release, appeared in his hand.

He twirled the Yin-Yang Staff in his hand, and the sound of rushing wind filled the air.

Taking a deep breath, he gripped the Truth-Seeking Staff tightly with both hands and slammed it forcefully into the ground.

Boom! A deafening roar.

The ground instantly shattered, and thick smoke billowed.

The cracks on the ground stretched for miles.

'The sturdiness of this World... is truly astonishing!'

'If this were the Resident Evil World, even with my power suppressed, I'd still be exerting tens of thousands of tons of force, enough to cause an earthquake.'

'I never imagined a World with complete laws and rules would be so resilient.'

'The space is stable, the rules are complete, and there might even be a nascent Heavenly Dao consciousness.'

'Hahahahaha!'

'As long as I can occupy this World, and after obtaining the Chaos Seed, devour this World.'

'Then I'll ascend to heaven in a single step!'

He took several deep breaths, calming his excited emotions.

'I need to confirm one more thing!'

With a wave of his hand, the space-time gate to Blacklight Star opened, and Joa, in a cheerful mood, smiled at the people watching from the sky and said,

"My lovely subordinates, the mission is complete. Let's go."

After everyone landed, Joa looked at Danzo and showed a benevolent smile.

"Oh, right, Danzo."

"You don't need to go back."

"You'll stay here for now and try to infiltrate Stormveil Castle to ascertain Godrick the Grafted's strength level."

Upon hearing this mission, Danzo's pupils constricted, his lips slightly parted, and he looked incredulous.

His expression seemed to say,

Me?

Infiltrate Stormveil Castle?

Approach the demigod Godrick the Grafted?

Is this for real?

Seeing this, Joa patted Danzo's shoulder and said with a serious expression of trust,

"You must believe in yourself; you definitely have this ability."

Joa's trusting gaze put immense pressure on Danzo's heart.

Gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve, Danzo knelt on one knee.

"Please rest assured and leave it to me, Your Highness!"

Joa nodded in satisfaction.

He turned and led the others through the space-time gate, leaving The Lands Between.

······

Blacklight Star.

Joa then ordered Hashirama and Madara to return to the Ninja World to gather manpower.

As for Kaguya and Fallen Seraphimon, Joa had them take Shizune, Anko, and Hydrangea from the facility back to the Villa first.

"Stark, I believe you must have seen everything that will happen in the future on the Sacred Timeline."

"I hope you don't change anything for now."

"You just need to continue following your original destiny until Thanos descends upon Earth."

"You'll know the specific reasons later."

Hearing this, Stark opened his armor's faceplate and frowned at Joa, wanting to speak but hesitating.

Knowing what would happen next but not making any changes, this...

Seeing Stark's expression, Joa clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, can't bear it?"

"Want to save the innocent people on Earth?"

"Those attack helicopters? Walmart shopping bags?"

"You must have seen how those people treat superheroes, right?"

"The government, the public, the Sokovia Accords."

"Heh, why do you care about their lives?"

"You should respect their destiny and take care of yourself first."

"You can also visit the Ninja World and The Boys World when you have time; then you'll know what to do."

With that, Joa waved his hand.

Seeing this, Stark's mouth hung open, speechless.

After a long while, he took a deep breath, lowered his armor's faceplate, and ultimately said nothing, silently flying into the space-time gate leading to the Marvel Universe.

Watching Stark's retreating figure, Joa chuckled softly.

"Heh, not too stubborn after all."

He retracted his gaze, and Joa's figure vanished, appearing in Amenominaka's desert space.

"Let me see if you can still generate prayers of Golden Tree faith after leaving The Lands Between."

"Great Tree Guardian!"

Joa, high in the sky, looked deeply at the Great Tree Guardian below, who had already spotted him and raised his head.

As Joa slowly descended, the warhorse beneath the Great Tree Guardian gradually began to snort uneasily, its four limbs kicking at the sand.

Once Joa descended to a certain distance,

A golden magic circle suddenly appeared behind the Great Tree Guardian.

Immediately after, a few breaths later, a golden circular Impact flew rapidly towards Joa.

The Great Tree Guardian had taken the initiative to attack.

"Can he still use Far-off Rage?"

His eyes slightly widened, and terrifying repulsive force erupted from Joa's center, spreading 360° in all directions.

The golden Impact that had easily destroyed Madara's Wood Dragon Jutsu.

After colliding with Shinra Tensei's repulsive force, it only lasted for a few breaths before dissipating into specks of golden light.

"Its power seems to have decreased compared to when it was in The Lands Between."

"Heh, so leaving The Lands Between does weaken their strength."

"In that case, invading The Lands Between just got a bit easier."

Having confirmed a guess in his heart, Joa's mind moved.

Two figures simultaneously left the desert space.

On the Corroded Earth.

As soon as the Great Tree Guardian appeared, the warhorse beneath him seemed to sense something and leaped up abruptly.

Seeing this, Joa sneered.

"In my home turf, where can you run?"

Along with the laughter, thick black-red tentacles erupted from the Corroded Earth, coiling towards the Great Tree Guardian in mid-air.

Wielding his golden halberd and holding his Golden Tree Greatshield.

The Great Tree Guardian desperately resisted the attacks from the tentacles, which were thicker than his entire body.

However...

Whether it was incantations, magic, or physical attacks.

In front of those seemingly endless tentacles, it was merely a futile struggle.

Not rushing to dispatch the opponent, Joa quietly observed the Great Tree Guardian's magic power limit.

At first, he even had the patience to count how many incantations and spells the Great Tree Guardian released and how many times he used his combat skills.

But as time passed, Joa grew tired of counting and instead silently estimated the Great Tree Guardian's sustained output time.

Nearly 20 hours later.

With a thud.

The golden halberd was plunged directly into the Corroded Earth.

The Great Tree Guardian gripped the golden halberd with both hands, standing perfectly upright, his breathing completely ceased.

As for his heavily armored warhorse...

It had long been torn in half by the black-red tentacles in an effort to protect its master, deader than dead.

"Died of exhaustion... is that it?"

"He was indeed a qualified knight and warrior."

"He never had the slightest thought of surrender until his death."

Exhaling a long breath, Joa regressed to his Superman form and landed not far in front of the Great Tree Guardian.

Watching the opponent's corpse sink into the Corroded Earth, being devoured by Blacklight Star.

Joa fell into contemplation.

'No memories were gained.'

'That was expected.'

'However, if all those who believe in the Golden Tree in The Lands Between are such hard-headed individuals...'

'This war will be difficult to fight.'

Given the strength the Great Tree Guardian displayed earlier, he completely overwhelmed Blacklight Life.

Even a Blacklight Life aggregate might not be able to defeat him.

'It seems I need to strengthen Blacklight Life and the strength of my subordinates.'

'As for ninjutsu, even if they know how to use it, it takes time to practice...'

'But I don't have time to wait for the Blacklight Life to learn ninjutsu.'

'Tsk, then I can only temporarily give up on ninjutsu and first raise the strength of the Blacklight Life to the level of a Blacklight Warrior, or Homelander.'

Even if this would consume a massive amount of energy, he couldn't afford to worry about that for now.

This was the fastest way to improve his subordinates' strength in a short period.

'With Amenominaka, I can also create more Mechblood Life and bring them all to The Lands Between then.'