Chapter 718 - 3: High-level Commander

Amidst Yara’s sarcastic remarks, Su Zhou returned to the ground.

A thunderstorm was brewing over the Western Capital. Roaring thunder mixed with the patter of rain on the streets, creating a cacophony of noise.

But even in the dead of night, amidst the thunderstorm, the city lights shone brightly.

He flew back to his office at Qinxing Academy. Along the way, Su Zhou greeted a few colleagues who were still awake. Then, he sat down at his desk and began to analyze his own strength.

His experiment to achieve the Spirit of Magic had been cut short when a dream of a Great Being’s proclamation startled him awake, causing him to fall from the clouds. Still, Su Zhou felt he must have succeeded.

If that was the case, his power would have taken a great leap forward.

This skill should not be underestimated. For example, if Su Zhou were to transform into a colossal beast hundreds of meters tall in the future, he wouldn’t have the spare focus to tend to minor wounds while fighting other enormous monsters. This would inevitably affect his combat condition.

But after mastering the Spirit of Magic, automated healing spells would ensure Su Zhou remained in peak condition at all times. Automated counter-spells could even defend against unexpected ambushes and backstabs.

Not to mention the passive cultivation it enabled. Now, the Spiritual Power in Su Zhou’s body would circulate ceaselessly, even as he walked or slept. Deliberately focusing on circulating Spiritual Qi would only be marginally more efficient; there was no fundamental difference.

The ability to grow stronger just by lying down, to advance in rank even while sleeping—this was essentially a racial talent of the Dragon Race, and now Su Zhou possessed it as well.

What’s more, his efficiency was even higher.

Su Zhou’s current strength was at the Commander Middle Stage. He had perfectly mastered his two Divine Techniques, ’Evil-Devouring Demon Lord’ and ’Fire of Sin’. He could also effortlessly break them down into numerous smaller spells, having thoroughly analyzed and assimilated them.

As for his total Spiritual Power, although his cultivation had slowed recently as he focused on refining his techniques and optimizing the quality of his internal Spiritual Qi, he had now amassed around 5.5 billion points. It was safe to say he was already touching the threshold of the High-level Commander tier.

If the Awakening Tier was the process of building an internal energy cycle, then the Extraordinary Tier was the beginning of reforging one’s mortal body to walk the path of an Immortal.

As for the Commander Tier—a rank that in ancient times would be called Demigod or Human Immortal—its defining feature was the ability to consolidate one’s various spells into a single, cohesive whole, forming a Divine Technique.

At the Middle Tier, one would sublimate that Divine Technique further, transforming it into a power as instinctual as breathing. The cultivator’s body and soul would be completely elevated by this process.

Su Zhou was now on the final step of this process. He had long since been able to wield the power of the Evil-Devouring Demon Lord at will, a fact made clear by his ability to effortlessly use his own soul for Soul Weapon Enchantment without any negative side effects.

Not to mention his physical body. In any other discipline, Su Zhou’s body would have long been considered as tough as Vajra and nigh-Immortal. Even some High-level Commanders couldn’t compare to him.

In fact, it could be said that Su Zhou had already taken his first steps into the High-level Commander tier. The only reason he seemed to have hit a bottleneck was that he hadn’t yet decided on his next move.

’If I want to go further, I have to set a clear goal from the start.’

As he mulled it over, Su Zhou’s perception was particularly sharp, precisely because his journey had been so smooth and free of any cultivation obstacles. ’With Yara’s guidance and the best Cultivation Technique, I’ve always had a clear target. But the Overlord Tier is different. I still haven’t figured out what kind of Overlord I want to become.’

’So, even if I were to deduce my Fire of Sin and Evil-Devouring Demon Lord Divine Techniques to their absolute peak, integrate them into a new Divine Technique, and reach the High-level Commander tier right now, it would only be a temporary satisfaction. In fact, it would actually slow my progress toward the Overlord Tier, because modifying a Divine Technique after a promotion is much more difficult.’

To make a simple analogy, designing a new car from scratch isn’t a huge problem for anyone with enough expertise, provided they have all the necessary parts. At worst, the car might be ugly, but it will definitely run.

But imagine being given an old car and a pile of new parts with a catch: you can’t modify or replace too many of the old components, and over ninety-five percent of them must be used in the new car. Trying to build a powerful new car under those constraints would be next to impossible—you’d be lucky if it ran at all.

Su Zhou was in a similar situation. Both Evil-Devouring Demon Lord and Fire of Sin were powerful Divine Techniques with enormous potential for growth. Dismantling them, adding new ’parts’, and reassembling them into a new, powerful Divine Technique wouldn’t be simple, but it wasn’t impossibly difficult either.

However, if he already assembled them into a new Divine Technique and then had to go back and make modifications to add new abilities... it would be like trying to patch, debug, and optimize legacy code. Whether it would even work is one question, but it would certainly be a huge, time-consuming hassle.

That was why, before deciding on his future path, Su Zhou had chosen to first cultivate a skill like the Spirit of Magic. It would ensure his power could continue to grow steadily without him having to break through to the next realm.

’Should I temper my body to its absolute limit, achieve Fatian Xiangdi, and become powerful enough to blot out the sky with a single hand?’

’Or should I pursue skill to its pinnacle, where one technique can give rise to ten thousand, and a single art can overcome all others?’

’Or perhaps I should sublimate my mind and Spirit Body, transcending to become a nearly indestructible Heroic Soul?’

’Of course, there were other paths. I could cultivate my Spiritual Power to its absolute limit and achieve enlightenment through sheer force, breaking into the Overlord Tier. Or I could be like the Water God and the Wind God, who used Divine Objects from the dawn of the Era to reach realms like ’Water Dominator’ and ’Wind Dominator’. All were viable options.’

But Su Zhou had to make a choice.

On Su Zhou’s desk, Yara, who had been tapping her phone screen with her tail while watching the late-night news, turned her head. She glanced at the pensive Su Zhou, who was idly spinning his own phone on his finger. She couldn’t help but shake her head. "Can’t you just have it all? You’re in your twenties. Try acting like an adult for a change!"

"I’d love to have it all—but I have to actually be capable of it first!"

Su Zhou looked up and set down the phone he’d been spinning on his finger. He shook his head. "My body, my soul, my Spiritual Qi... I think I can handle those. But when it comes to skill, I’m really lacking. I haven’t been cultivating for very long, and my techniques are crude. The only reason I’ve been able to win so far is by relying on raw physical strength and overwhelming my opponents with Spiritual Power. It’s pure brute force."

He ignored Yara’s muttered jab—’That’s just a barbarian’s fighting style!’—and continued, "That’s why I’ve started practicing my skills recently. The Spirit of Magic was my first attempt, but it requires a long period of accumulation to master. At its current level, I can’t use it in combat."

"If I can’t master it completely, it’s as good as useless—and time is the one thing I don’t have."

Yara clicked her tongue. "Your Evil-Devouring Demon Lord Divine Technique is literally designed to save time. Just go kill some highly-skilled Evil People, eat a few of their Evil Souls, and you’ll be set, won’t you?"

Su Zhou nodded slowly. Yara had a point. The National Preceptor from the Divine Wood World, the Peacock from the Beast God Realm, the Water God from the Reincarnation World, and the other Evil Souls he had consumed—all of them had filled huge gaps in his experience. They were the reason he could go from a complete novice to the cusp of the High-level Commander tier in just three years.

But that sort of thing really came down to luck. Yara made it sound as easy as popping a cookie in his mouth, but even if he did find an experienced and powerful evildoer, whether he could actually defeat them was another question entirely.

"Whatever. I’ll just leave it to chance. Besides, with my talent, I can still make significant gains by just spending some time figuring things out, even without any Evil Souls."

Letting go of his dilemma, Su Zhou shifted his focus to his Soul Space. He looked at the Evil Soul next to the Wisdom Tree Essence Soul—a sphere of pure black with a single point of silver light at its core.

In fact, this particular Evil Soul was another source of Su Zhou’s vexation.

At that moment, the Wisdom Tree Essence Soul was gleefully tossing the Evil Soul back and forth with its branches, having the time of its life.

"No... Master..."

When Su Zhou tried to take the Evil Soul from it, the Wisdom Tree projected a strong feeling of reluctance. "Sooo booring..."

"All right, all right. Next time I’ll save a few Evil Souls for you to play with, okay? Honestly, you’re acting just like a child. Evil Souls aren’t toys."

After placating the Wisdom Tree, Su Zhou took back the Evil Soul, though he couldn’t remember who it had once belonged to. He gazed at its surface, a pure black sheen that exuded the exquisite aroma of a highly concentrated Curse.

"Your Divine Technique is quite impressive," he murmured, "but my own abilities are already powerful enough. If I absorb yours as well, wouldn’t my power set become too convoluted and chaotic?"

Muttering to himself, Su Zhou was once again lost in thought.