2775 Taking a step forwards

The war ended.

In this single battle, the number of Hysteria's troops that had been killed amounted to as great a number as 30,000,000, and about half of this number had died by Ling Han's hand.

This kind of battle merit was definitely enough to get Ling Han the number one spot on the general leaderboard. This had never happened before, and would probably never happen again—no one had killed so many Pseudo-Heavenly Venerates in a single battle, though there had also been quite a number of Ninth Heaven Celestial Kings among them.

When the news came out, even the eighth level was shaken.

Who could have expected that a "cripple" would be able to accomplish such a glorious feat?

Cripple, cripple your sister!

Everyone was rueful. Ling Han had really put on a great act; he could be called the king of showing off. But even more people knew that there were not many people that could manage such a feat.

There were more than 10,000,000 Pseudo-Heavenly Venerates, and under normal circumstances, this was probably enough to exhaust a Third Tier to death. Furthermore, there was suppression of cultivation levels here. To say nothing of Third Tier, even a Fourth Tier or Fifth Tier could possibly be killed.

This kind of battle merit… Even if it was a Seventh Tier Heavenly Venerate, could he accomplish this?

After this battle, Ling Han's fame immediately skyrocketed. Not only had he returned to the height he had been at during the battle of titans (against Wu Haoyang), this had even far surpassed then.

After the battle, reconstruction of the city defense quickly began.

Ling Han and the others also returned here. Because there was no idea when Hysteria's armies would make a comeback, everyone had to help with the repair works on the city wall, and even in such a busy state, there was still a continuous flow of people who came to pay Ling Han a visit.

"Big Brother Ling, thank you for repaying our misdeeds with benevolence and saving us!" After a few young people came over, they knelt in front of Ling Han, their expressions filled with guilt.

These were the people that had previously mocked Ling Han. They had not expected that it would be Ling Han that would save their lives. Afterwards, when they found out about Ling Han's majestic feat, they naturally were numb with excitement.

This was a true hero. Even if he was slandered by others, he would still firmly uphold his ideals.

"Big Brother Ling!"

"Big Brother Ling!"

More and more people came, and they all called Ling Han big brother, whether they were really older or younger than Ling Han. In their eyes, he was a shining god, worthy of their respect and worship.

This battle cemented Ling Han's unique status. From a certain aspect, he could even be considered an equal of a big shot like a Seventh Tier Heavenly Venerate.

Zhou Yan came as well. He sighed, and said, "Previously, when I advanced into the Heavenly Venerable Tier, I thought that I had finally surpassed you. I had not imagined that even if you are only a Pseudo-Heavenly Venerate, you will still be suppressing me firmly.

"At times, I feel very defiant. Why is there a freak like you in this world to suppress me? But now, I feel fortunate. Thankfully, there is a freak like you; only then will it be possible for this war to end.

"…Ending with our victory."

Ling Han laughed loudly, and patted Zhou Yan's shoulder.

"We will win!" he said very confidently.

"En!" Zhou Yan nodded.

Ling Han did not take part in the construction works for the city defense. Everyone knew that he was greatly exhausted, so they naturally wanted him to take a good rest. Furthermore, Ling Han's contribution and the credit that he had attained were already unprecedented.

If this defense line of theirs had been conquered, it would not only have been the first spatial level that would have lost a great amount of territory. With a chain reaction, the other seven levels would have suffered the same fate as well.

Hence, Ling Han's credit was astonishingly huge.

However, he was not concerned at all. To him, fame did not have the slightest significance. What he desired was an improvement to his strength.

Ling Han began his seclusion, and so did the Empress—in truth, after an intense life-and-death battle, this would be a chance to improve their strength or even a trigger to break through into the next cultivation level for many people.

Ling Han planned to break through to the Heavenly Venerable Tier.

Originally, he had felt that his foundations had not been strengthened enough, but that last battle had really squeezed out all his potential, and also allowed him to unleash his full battle prowess, and he had a completely clear view of his own condition.

'It's enough now,' he told himself.

For Ling Han, breaking through to the Heavenly Venerable Tier was a piece of cake because his power came from himself.

What he needed to do was to release the binds of his cultivation level.

Boom!

Every single cell in his body was trembling, unleashing frightening power, but this time, it was not flowing through and tempering his body. Instead, it began to accumulate in his meridians, boosting his battle prowess.

Ling Han released a battle cry, and darted into the skies.

Weng! A unique energy surged in the heaven and earth, fusing with him. It was extremely vast and majestic.

This was that unique power of the Flaming Frost Realm, and he could completely feel the majesty of this dimension.

Ling Han felt that if he were to face off against this power now, he would be instantly crushed into dust and die because this was the power of a transcendent dimension. It had to be a Sixth Tier Heavenly Venerate, at the very least, that would be able to stand against this force.

Yet Ling Han was confident that the power that he had extracted from the Flaming Frost Realm inside his body could also develop to this extent when his cultivation level increased.

Upon deeper thought, this was extremely terrifying.

Just a single power inside his body was capable of matching the great power of an entire dimension, and how many such powers were there inside his body? Every single one of them could evolve and improve, and this was the basis of Ling Han's confidence.

Indeed. The six fundamental powers of the Genesis World were superior to everything else in terms of level, but they could not hold up to the great number of dimensions there were.

'However, I naturally would not give up on the fundamental powers. On the contrary, only with the inclusion of the six fundamental powers would the Power of Dimension sprout, grow, and flourish well. They will act as a supplement.'

Ling Han extracted the power of heaven and earth, and with the power that was gushing inside his body, he threw out a punch. Boom! Even the heaven and earth was echoing boomingly, and a black hole had been ripped open at the horizon. Vaguely, countless tentacles flicking around could be seen.

Ling Han hurriedly closed up this black hole of space. It was Hysteria's world in the Void. It could traverse the Void and extend a tentacle into any dimension, provided a lamp was lit to guide its way.

Ling Han's previous action was the move to light the lamp, and he naturally had to stop immediately.

Clang! Lightning flashed in the heaven and earth, blasting towards him.

Heavenly Venerates were envied by the heaven and earth. Even if it was useless, a heavenly tribulation would still descend. This was an indication of the attitude of the heaven and earth.

Ling Han stood solemnly, and allowed the heaven and earth to blast him. He cast his sight inwards. Within his mind, an incomplete seal had appeared.

This seal was a little like the characters that had appeared when the Divine Demon Sword had upgraded, but there seemed to be some difference. Ling Han had no one he could ask now, so he could only keep this question in mind.

He ignored the heavenly tribulation, and just proceeded with studying the seal.

This seal had only appeared when he had broken through to the Heavenly Venerable Tier, so it should be very significant.

He attempted to absorb the power in the heaven and earth, and this seal instantly glowed, speeding up his rate of absorption of the power of heaven and earth by more than a dozen times over.

Its effect was the same compared to the seal that had appeared on the Divine Demon Sword.

Ling Han then channeled the previous seals, and these seals glowed together. Suddenly, the rate of his absorption of the power of heaven and earth became as much as 32 times higher.

…The more seals there were, the more rapid the speed of absorbing the power of heaven and earth.

After the heavenly tribulation disappeared, Ling Han immediately discovered that the power of heaven and earth had become incredibly weak, seeming a little vague. Just barely, it could be used for cultivation, but it was completely impossible to extract it for use in battle.

This was the suppression that had been created after two great dimensions had clashed together. If he did not want to endure such suppression, he would have to go to the second spatial level.

For the moment, Ling Han was in no rush to go to the second level. He first found the Empress, and asked her if she had suddenly discovered an incomplete seal when she had experienced her breakthrough.

However, the Empress shook her head, and said she had not.