"What an intense power..."
Lin San marveled at the continuous flow of energy surging into his body.
With Ye Fan's sword by his side, even though he had expended a great deal of energy, he could always recover by slaying divine beasts, absorbing the abundant energy they left behind. His consumed energy was entirely replenished.
With a thought, Lin San activated his cultivation technique, rapidly digesting the energy within him.
Sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, he cultivated in silence for an unknown amount of time. When he finally exhaled, the overflowing energy in his body had been fully absorbed.
"That was refreshing." Lin San murmured to himself.
"Three days... I wonder if I can break through to an eight-star martial god in that time," he pondered, though doubting the likelihood.
Without lingering on the thought, he grasped Ye Fan's sword tightly and ventured deeper into the forest.
...
Three days passed swiftly.
Once again, Lin San arrived at the designated meeting place.
As he looked around, it was clear that all the martial gods had already gathered.
"Hmph!"
The same recruiter from before snorted when he saw Lin San. For some reason, he just couldn't tolerate Lin San's presence.
"Looks like everyone's here," the recruiter said, scanning the group. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Yang Henwei. I was responsible for recruiting you a few days ago."
The gathered martial gods nodded in acknowledgment.
"Soon, the real leader of this recruitment, a nine-star martial god, will arrive."
"He will guide us to the Southern Heavenly Region," Yang Henwei continued.
Upon hearing the mention of a nine-star martial god, excitement flickered across the faces of many of the martial gods.
After all, a nine-star martial god was an incredibly powerful figure.
"Pfft, just a mere nine-star martial god. I can't even count how many of them I've killed already," Ye Fan scoffed.
Nine-star martial gods? He had even killed multiple divine kings before.
At that moment, Ye Fan opened his system panel:
[Host]: Ye Fan
[Sword Name]: Ye Fan
[Quality]: Divine Grade
[Active Skills]:
[Reforge Sword]: Channel energy from the swordmaster into the sword, releasing powerful golden energy to restore the sword's complete form.
[Thousand Lightning LV.1]: Unleash powerful electric currents to deal damage to surrounding enemies (swordmaster gains a certain resistance to lightning).
[Upgradeable: 0/10 billion evolution points]
[Passive Skill]:
[Absorb]: The sword can absorb all blood essence and energy and transmit it to the swordmaster.
"Looks like I can upgrade [Thousand Lightning] now," Ye Fan noted.
He had accumulated around 20 billion evolution points, more than enough to upgrade the skill.
Curious about what changes the upgrade might bring, Ye Fan decided, "Let's upgrade and see!"
Upgrading required 10 billion evolution points, which, for Ye Fan, was easy to gather.
After consuming the required evolution points, the skill underwent a transformation!
[Thousand Lightning LV.2]: Unleash powerful electric currents to deal significant damage to surrounding enemies (swordmaster gains stronger resistance to lightning).
[Upgradeable: 0/20 billion evolution points]
"The skill description has changed from 'certain damage' to 'significant damage.' It seems the skill has grown much stronger," Ye Fan mused.
"But without testing it in combat, it's hard to know the extent of its power," he added.
Just then, a figure flew towards them from the distance.
The surrounding martial gods instinctively turned their heads to watch.
Before they realized it, the figure was standing right in front of them.
Such speed!
The martial gods' eyes widened in astonishment.
"Looks like everyone's here," the newcomer said.
Upon closer inspection, it was a middle-aged man dressed in silver battle armor.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Tang Wutian, a nine-star martial god," he announced calmly, his gaze sweeping over the group.
His eyes landed on Lin San for a moment, showing a hint of surprise, but he didn't dwell on it.
If someone had made it into the group, their strength surely wasn't weak. Even martial gods with a missing limb could be incredibly powerful.
"We all know the goal of this mission," Tang Wutian continued. "So, I won't waste time with long explanations."
"There are two requirements for joining me in the Southern Heavenly Region."
"First, you must follow my instructions."
"Second, help me find the item I need. Anything else you find is yours to keep."
Hearing Tang Wutian's words, the martial gods all nodded in agreement.
"Good. If there are no questions, follow me. We're heading straight to the Southern Heavenly Region!"
With that, Tang Wutian soared into the sky, and the others quickly followed suit.
Lin San joined the group in taking flight.
"The Southern Heavenly Region... I've never been there before," Ye Fan mused. "The Martial God Realm is vast, and I've spent most of my time in the Demon Realm."
Together, Lin San and the others flew for an unknown amount of time, crossing mountains and seas.
After a while, when some martial gods began showing signs of fatigue, they finally arrived at a region filled with white mist.
"Is this... the Southern Heavenly Region?" one of the martial gods asked, unable to hide his surprise as he gazed at the misty landscape ahead.
The dense white mist completely obscured the view, making it impossible to see what lay beyond.
"Yes, this is the entrance to the Southern Heavenly Region," Tang Wutian confirmed.
He halted his flight, and the other martial gods did the same, hovering in the air.
"When we enter the mist, follow my lead."
"In this fog, you may encounter illusions. Don't panic, and don't run."
"If you wander off, you might end up in dangerous areas!"