Chapter 161 - 140: It Is Our Honor to Serve You

Chapter 161: Chapter 140: It Is Our Honor to Serve You

For Zhang Ji, defeating the Divine Silkworm Ascendant had proven even more difficult than the previous Saint King battle.

After all, the Divine Silkworm Ascendant’s health bar was truly immense.

With a mere thought, Zhang Ji’s spirit particles stirred. The sea of fire began to recede. He gathered, converged, and ultimately absorbed the countless wisps of True Solar Flame.

He looked around. The area had been turned into a scorched wasteland, a field of ruins.

A once-thriving Sect was now completely lost to history.

Zhang Ji wasn’t one for sentimentality.

He simply gave a slight bow toward the charred remains of the Divine Silkworm Ascendant, a gesture of gratitude for having been passed down his arts.

Then, without a second thought, he turned and left.

The world ebbs and flows. The figures on the stage are always changing. That is the natural order of things.

What Zhang Ji intended to do was subvert that natural order. He would stand on this stage for eternity, taking note of the figures who came and went, inheriting their arts and passing them on.

.....

...

「The first day of the third month.」

A month had passed since the establishment of the Saint King Council.

The world had changed a great deal in that month. Some nations resisted, while others were quick to fall in line.

However, as of today, the basic framework had been established.

The next two or three months would be dedicated to the actual implementation of that power.

Even though the Saint King Council possessed the strength to rule the world, power was something that had to be delegated. Only when others carried out one’s will could it truly be called power.

The last Ultimate Fighting tournament had filtered out numerous powerful martial artists.

Now, nearly all of those martial artists had been invited by the Saint King Council to become its new administrative echelon.

This act would drastically change the nature of all future Ultimate Fighting tournaments.

They would become a screening mechanism for a grand reshuffling of the world’s ruling class.

The next Ultimate Fighting tournament would be held in five years.

If the martial artists who achieved high rankings in the current tournament failed to strive, were surpassed by newcomers, saw their rankings drop, or were unfortunate enough to die in the competition, their positions would be usurped by those who followed.

The capable rise, and the incapable fall.

The law of the jungle in its purest form.

’Getting old? Fists losing their power? And still hoping to stand on high by relying on the dignity of being an elder?’

Zhang Ji would not allow such a thing to happen.

If someone could defeat a Saint King, he would allow the Saint King Council to add an extra seat, or even have that person directly replace one of the current members.

As for defeating Zhang Ji himself?

Although Zhang Ji considered it highly unlikely, he was a man who abided by his own rules.

If someone could truly defeat him, he would even temporarily relinquish his position as the supreme leader.

The rules for martial arts schools and so on that Zhang Ji had established were now spreading. Soon, the entire civilization would be learning to fight, and related scientific research was also on the agenda.

However, Zhang Ji was not as radical as Elaven. While Alchemy Technology was to be developed, it would not be at the expense of ethics and morality.

Experimenting on human subjects was permissible, but it had to be done in a civilized manner. Subjects must be fully compensated, informed of the consequences, sign a contract, and participate voluntarily.

Moreover, Zhang Ji would not permit any Alchemy experiments that were fundamentally subversive to morality.

For instance, refining pills from human bodies.

Cannibalism, in a sense, happened constantly in this society, but to literally open one’s mouth and devour another was too undignified.

They were not at a critical juncture for the survival of civilization. There was no need to make things so grotesque.

Zhang Ji didn’t interfere much with the establishment and execution of these rules. He only stated his requirements; how to achieve them was a matter for his subordinates to figure out.

Zhang Ji’s sole focus remained on increasing his own power.

At this moment, Zhang Ji was no longer in the Supreme Capital, but in an underground Light-Gathering chamber located in Guning Country.

Hasting stood to the side, explaining to Zhang Ji. "There are a total of one hundred thirty-seven thousand, six hundred fifty-two Light-Gathering Mirrors here," he said. "They refract vast amounts of sunlight, which is then computer-controlled and distributed to the various training chambers owned by the royal family. The intensity has ten levels and is completely controllable..."

That’s right. The royal family of Guning Country possessed the blood of Dela, so there was no reason for them not to develop its potential.

Even Zhang Ji had known to build a Gathering Light Tower. Occupying the resources of an entire nation, they had no reason not to devise ways to exploit their advantage.

Becoming stronger by basking in the sun was simple, but the people of Guning Country had long studied how to do so more effectively.

In ancient times, they used finely polished bronze mirrors to refract sunlight for their training.

In the modern era, their mirror technology was even more advanced. When it came to lasers and mirrors, if Guning Country claimed to be second best in the world, no one would dare claim to be the best.

As they spoke, the two arrived at one of the training chambers.

The chamber was still dim, but after the lights were turned on, Zhang Ji saw various mirrors lining the walls.

"The light source is concentrated through these lenses," Hasting said. "The temperature in here will get extremely high. We can even use our technology to briefly achieve nuclear fusion with lasers."

"Turn it on. Let me give it a try," Zhang Ji said.

"Of course. I’ll activate it for you now," Hasting said.

Hasting then stepped out of the chamber and activated the entire light-gathering system. He re-entered the chamber and closed the door behind him.

The instant the door shut, scorching, dazzling sunlight converged from all directions, focusing entirely within the small chamber.

Zhang Ji’s Primordial Qi shielded his body as the True Solar Flame manifested between his brows. It absorbed vast amounts of light and heat. Despite the exaggerated intensity of the converged light, the room’s temperature didn’t rise. Everything was devoured, without a single trace escaping.

"What level is this?" Zhang Ji asked Hasting.

"Level seven!" Hasting said. "For my daily training, I only use level six. Your bloodline, my lord, is far purer than ours."

"Go out and set it to level ten," Zhang Ji said.

Hasting, of course, complied.

Instantly, the intensity of the sunlight in the chamber rose several more levels.

Zhang Ji could feel his True Solar Flame growing and strengthening rapidly. The efficiency was so high it was even more effective than the Gathering Light Tower on Gesite Lake in Dragon Country.

He currently had six essences of True Solar Flame. Perhaps he could finish the remaining four here.

Moreover, the blood of Dela wasn’t just for cultivating the True Solar Flame; it could also convert vast amounts of sunlight into nourishment for his growth.

It was more effective than eating regular food.

’My bloodline hasn’t reached its full potential yet. I should be able to handle another two levels. At that point, I could probably create one essence every five days. Right now, it takes about eight to nine days, which is still a bit faster than at Gesite Lake.’

Zhang Ji estimated the rate and made his assessment.

The martial arts he was currently training were primarily the True Solar Flame, followed by the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture* and the Super Spirit Indication: Breaking Army.

’No matter what, it’s never a mistake to increase my health bar first.’

’I have no desire to be a glass cannon.’

’What I want is a state where it doesn’t matter how others hit me, but if I land a single blow, my opponent dies on the spot.’

’Simply put, I need an absurdly long health bar and ridiculously high damage at the same time.’

Therefore, his plan was to first master the True Solar Flame and the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture*, while also fully mastering the Super Spirit Indication: Breaking Army and forming its crystal.

That way, his health bar would be longer, and he would have an additional single-target, armor-piercing offensive technique.

The Breaking Army Finger was a skill-based martial art that he could train concurrently. It wouldn’t take much time; he could master it in thirty to forty days at most.

Zhang Ji estimated he could also master the True Solar Flame within the next month.

Only the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture* was slightly more difficult to train.

Training this art required accumulating a massive amount of life origin before one could form a cocoon and undergo rebirth.

Incidentally, the "rebirth" of the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture* was less a rebirth and more of a regression.

Its principle was to anchor the body’s state and information at a specific moment in time, then consume one’s origin to rewind the body back to that point, starting over.

Anchoring a recent point in time was fine. However, if the anchor was set ten, twenty, or even hundreds of years in the past, it was highly likely that data would be lost or new data added during the passage of time, resulting in corruption.

Furthermore, the more frequently one regressed over a short period, the more corruption would occur.

To regress continuously, one needed to constantly update the anchor point of the body’s information, and it was best if the anchor point was never more than a month old.

Zhang Ji had Shen Xi run the calculations. If he repeatedly regressed more than thirty times using the same anchor point from within the last month, the probability of his genetic code becoming corrupted would exceed ninety percent.

However, Zhang Ji had no intention of using this skill to achieve so-called immortality.

He only planned to use it as a skill to boost his stats and restore his condition.

He planned to reset his anchor point almost every other day.

If he encountered an opponent too powerful to defeat, he would just form a cocoon to recover. A quick burn with the True Solar Flame, and he’d be back to full health in seconds. How’s that for a second health bar?

Besides, the real world wasn’t a game. If he accumulated enough life origin energy, he could even have a third or fourth health bar.

What Zhang Ji found strange was that the Origin Energy of the *Celestial Silkworm Rebirth Scripture* seemed to have many similarities to Innate Qi.

Of course, they weren’t identical, just similar.

Both possessed powerful self-healing properties, and their refinement processes were nearly identical, save for a few minor details.

However, the Celestial Silkworm Origin was more domineering than Innate Qi.

Innate Qi was about maintenance, preventing wear and tear, whereas Celestial Silkworm Origin was about direct repair and reconstruction.

’I wonder if that old man Yang Zixiu ever managed to live a second life,’ Zhang Ji mused. ’*The Taiqing True Scripture* is a real treasure, the strongest Epic-level skill of the Primordial Qi Sect!’ He had quite a few thoughts about that particular martial art.

It was a martial art he had personally trained in the game.

The stats it boosted far surpassed ordinary Epic-level martial arts. It also had the special, yin-yang-unifying Taiqing Primordial Qi, which could be used for healing, offense, and various other functions like cutting, creating explosions, freezing, and burning. In terms of sheer versatility, even his current *Primordial Divine Qi Scripture* couldn’t necessarily compare.

After all, Zhang Ji’s core requirements for the *Primordial Divine Qi Scripture* were energy storage and output enhancement; its other functions were just a bonus.

Lost in thought, Zhang Ji signaled for Hasting to turn off the light-gathering function.

He stepped out of the training chamber and said to Hasting, "Can you add a few more intensity levels for me?"

"Yes. The modifications can be completed before noon tomorrow, at which point you will be able to use it, my lord. We will launch missiles tonight to disperse the surrounding clouds, guaranteeing that you will experience the warmest, most comfortable sunlight," Hasting said.

Zhang Ji smiled and nodded. "Very good," he said to Hasting.

Although it was merely a simple word of praise, a rare smile appeared on Hasting’s face.

The interests this represented were something they could not have obtained even after struggling to develop for ten or twenty years.

"It is our honor to serve you," Hasting said, performing a formal salute.