Chapter 503: The Truth Behind the Universal Emperor [Part 2]

The Truth Behind the Universal Emperor [Part 2]

A new thought had taken root in Victor’s mind.

Strength.

He needed more of it.

For the first time, he had a goal that was actually clear.

Not some vague promise that he needed to become stronger.

Not another impossible command with no way to measure how far he had come.

This was different.

There was a number.

A threshold.

A target he could chase.

The top thirty incarnations.

If he wanted to reach that level, he needed enough strength to defeat two fully grown Golden Dragons by himself.

Victor slowly curled his fingers.

His hands tightened into fists.

His heartbeat grew heavier.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Each beat seemed to echo through his chest.

A strange excitement began spreading through his body.

He could feel it in his blood.

In his muscles.

Even in the way his breathing had gradually become faster.

It was difficult to contain.

His lips slowly curved upward.

"So that’s the requirement..."

The words slipped quietly from his mouth.

Victor stared ahead for a moment.

Then his smile widened.

Finally.

He had spent far too long feeling frustrated without knowing exactly what he was supposed to do next.

Now, things were different.

He had something to chase.

Something he could measure.

Something he could eventually overcome.

Of course, there was still one problem.

Reaching that level was far easier said than done.

Victor knew that better than anyone.

He had lived through it once already.

In his previous life, it had taken him several hundred years to reach the height of the most powerful Demon Lord.

Several hundred years.

Not months.

Not decades.

Centuries.

He had cultivated for countless years.

Fought countless battles.

Survived situations where a single mistake would have cost him his life.

Every step had been earned.

Every increase in strength had come through blood, pain, experience, and time.

He had climbed that mountain one step at a time.

There had been no shortcut.

At least...

There hadn’t been one back then.

Victor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Because this time was different.

He wasn’t the same person he had been in his previous life.

More importantly, he now possessed something he had never had before.

Cheats.

His past incarnations.

The thought alone made his golden eyes gleam.

A normal cultivator had to rely on themselves.

They had to start from the beginning.

They had to develop their own techniques.

Comprehend laws.

Study their enemies.

Discover weaknesses.

Create Battle Arts.

Refine their cultivation.

Gain experience through countless battles.

And even after spending centuries doing all of that, there was no guarantee they would reach the height they desired.

Victor didn’t have that problem.

He didn’t have to start from zero.

The knowledge already existed.

It was buried within his own soul.

The techniques existed.

The battle experience existed.

The cultivation methods existed.

The understanding of countless different powers existed.

The memories of countless worlds existed.

And most importantly...

The people who possessed all that knowledge were standing right in front of him.

His past incarnations.

Victor slowly raised his gaze and looked across the spiritual realm.

Every incarnation represented a different path he had once walked.

Some had reached heights that even he could barely imagine.

Some had mastered techniques he had never encountered in his current life.

Others had fought enemies whose existence Victor didn’t even know about yet.

Each one had experienced something different.

Different worlds.

Different enemies.

Different cultivation systems.

Different opportunities.

Different failures.

Different victories.

Normally, gathering all that knowledge would require countless lifetimes.

Victor had access to it already.

He only needed enough strength to make use of it.

That realization made his heart beat even faster.

He didn’t have to blindly walk the same path again.

That was the biggest difference.

He could take everything he had learned before and combine it.

His current foundation.

The battle instincts of his previous lives.

Their techniques.

Their cultivation experience.

Their understanding of different powers.

Their knowledge of different enemies.

All of it could become part of him.

He could take those scattered pieces and forge them into something completely new.

Something that belonged to Victor alone.

His smile slowly turned vicious.

The frustration he had felt only moments ago was gone.

Completely gone.

Even the battle against Fean was beginning to fade from his thoughts.

It no longer mattered that he hadn’t been allowed to finish the fight.

It no longer mattered that Eddy had taken control of his body.

Those things were already behind him.

There was something far more interesting waiting ahead.

Strength.

That was what mattered now.

If the truth about the Universal Emperor was hidden behind a wall of power, then Victor would simply break through that wall.

If one wall wasn’t enough, he would break the next one.

And the one after that.

He would climb.

He would surpass every limit placed before him.

One by one.

Until there was nothing left above him.

If reaching the top thirty incarnations was the threshold he needed to cross, then he would reach it.

No matter how difficult it became.

No matter how long it took.

Victor had already made up his mind.

He would get there.

But there was no reason to waste time.

His mind had already begun turning over possibilities.

What was the fastest way to gain the strength he needed?

The answer came almost immediately.

It was obvious.

He didn’t need to search for new knowledge.

He didn’t need to spend hundreds of years rediscovering techniques he had already mastered in other lives.

He already possessed everything he needed.

He simply had to take it.

Plunder the knowledge of his past incarnations.

Take their techniques.

Take their experience.

Take everything they had accumulated across their respective lives.

Then fuse it with his current self.

Victor’s golden eyes burned with anticipation.

For the first time in a long while, he wasn’t wondering whether he could become stronger.

He was thinking about how quickly he could do it.