Start from the God of Death and break through the world.

Chapter 939 Changes in the Times

Within the Ocean of Worlds, a tower floats silently. In the control room on the upper level, someone sits in front of a screen, quietly monitoring the progress of each world.

"As expected, the people from the Paradise are the fastest. In the world with the highest difficulty level, they are the fastest to conquer the native world."

The man in white sat there and remarked, "The methods used by the Space Realm have indeed become much milder in recent years."

"My lord, this kind of competition can't tell you the overall strength of the space. In terms of ninth-tier explorers, the space still has more."

The maid beside her spoke up, her eyes also fixed on the contestants in each space on the screen.

Although it's called a competition, the contestants don't actually interfere with each other. As one of the contestants from the amusement park said, the biggest influence on this competition is actually the initial world selection phase.

If you choose a world where you have a chance to get a high score, as long as you are capable enough, you can get a score that surpasses everyone else in the final results.

However, if one chooses a world that is similar to one's own strength, even if one conquers that world the fastest, one may not necessarily gain many points.

Just like the world that the man in white is currently gazing at, it is a large adventure group from the ancient space. They are progressing very quickly because the world they have chosen is the easiest to conquer, and with so many people, they have a group-based progression process.

So they broke through that world in less than two months after entering it.

Because the time flow rates differ across worlds, the reference time used in the competition is the time experienced by the contestants, not the standard time flow rate of the World Ocean.

The tower they are in contains a time-reconciliation device, so the players' movements appear synchronized on the screen. However, in reality, from the perspective of the larger world time scale, the progress of each player will differ greatly.

"Having more people doesn't necessarily make a difference; history has already proven that. What we need are elite troops."

The man in white sighed, "Isn't the reason the space and the amusement park were restarted for this very reason?"

"Elite...aren't these considered elite?"

The maid seemed somewhat confused. In her opinion, these participating explorers were already quite strong. Apart from those spaces that relied on large adventure groups to conquer, the other spaces were occupied by single individuals or small teams of a few people.

Given this scale, the fact that they could quickly conquer a native world stronger than their initial strength, even with limited intelligence, already reveals a lot.

At least their tactics and strategies, as well as their potential for growth, are impeccable. But such elites are not considered elites in the eyes of adults. So what kind of existence can be considered elite?

The man in white pointed to his eyes. "The space has become more mellow, and so have we. That's why young people have such narrow-minded views. When I went back last time, I saw that young people on the mainland now really like to play with things like same-level attack power testing devices."

"That is indeed the latest best-selling product from the Academy of Science and Truth. I've tried it and found it very interesting."

The maid had a slight smile on her face. In fact, she wasn't very old in her own world. She had joined the Lingxu Palace for an internship because of her excellent performance.

At first, she was nervous about serving this person, but she found him to be very easygoing and gradually relaxed.

"Is it interesting?"

The man in white asked in return.

The maid, however, did not notice the change in the white-robed man's emotions. "Yes, everyone has been using the same-level attack power tester to test themselves lately, and then taking screenshots and posting them on social media. It's the hottest topic right now."

"Then let me ask you, what's the highest score the person in your WeChat Moments gave?"

The man in white said expressionlessly.

"Let me think, it seems to be a senior brother from the Muscle God Cult. He can score 6,300 points, which is said to be a record that is rare in the whole world."

The maid said, "After all, the maximum score for this kind of testing device is only nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine."

The man in white nodded. "What if I told you that the Academy of Technology and Truth only released this product to make money?"

The maid paused, somewhat puzzled. "They have indeed made a lot of money from this product, but what's the problem with that?"

"It's a big problem."

The man in white said, "This means that this product is actually an entertainment product. Can you take the score of an entertainment product seriously? Why do you think the Academy of Science and Truth should set a limit on the score? Do you think that the greatest institution in history in terms of technological accumulation cannot even make a counter with more than four digits?"

The maid's thoughts were pierced by the white-robed man's words, as if the clouds had parted to reveal the clear sky. Unconsciously, her voice trembled slightly as she spoke, "Does Your Excellency mean... that the Academy of Technology and Truth developed this product for the sake of users' sense of accomplishment?"

"good."

The man in white nodded. "I've met the designer of this product. He's a very senior scholar at the Academy of Science and Truth. His initial intention in developing this product was indeed to earn research funding, but in his mind, many people should be able to give this product a perfect score so that users can show off their skills on social media."

"How is that possible... Maybe there are such people, but I have never heard of anyone who has ever scored a perfect score."

The maid felt her worldview crumbling.

"Nothing is impossible. It's just that the era in that scholar's memory is completely different from the present. He was immersed in his research all year round and had no idea how things were changing outside. That's why he developed this outdated product. Even so, the trend of testing it made him quite a bit of money, so he didn't care."

The white-robed man said coldly, "I don't mean to discourage you, but I have to say that in the past, using the testing standards for this kind of toy, anyone who didn't score 10,000 points was not qualified to intern at Lingxu Palace."

The maid was somewhat dejected, feeling that this was too absurd. This best-selling product was being played by all the top talents on the continent, but the highest score in her circle was only over six thousand. She herself was also a very strong peer and was often praised, but she could only score a little over three thousand.

"Are there any people in that space or the amusement park who meet the required standards?"

The maid asked curiously.

"In the recent space battle, someone did achieve a score of over 10,000. You should pay more attention when collecting documents."

The man in white said, "But currently, they are still in a period of transformation and lack the necessary maturity. I just hope that through these activities, we can stimulate the stagnant ecosystem and stop producing so many hothouse flowers." The maid lowered her head upon hearing this, because she knew that her master's words had a hidden meaning, and that he also had considerable dissatisfaction with the world to which the Lingxu Palace belonged.

If the adults weren't just fooling her, then there was a time when her homeland was full of geniuses, with many who could treat the same-level attack power tester as a toy, easily scoring full marks and laughing it off.

"I really hope to see the mainland's strength return to the era that you described, it would be amazing."

The maid said with a sigh.

However, she saw the adult shake his head and say something that shocked her even more: "There's nothing to compare, it's just a comparison of how bad it was. The era I'm talking about was the one I thought was the worst it could get. But after a long slumber, it awoke and took control of the Lingxu Palace again, and I saw an even worse era."

The maid felt her worldview collapsing once again. If an era where geniuses who could score full marks were commonplace was considered rotten, then what could be considered true glory?
"Don't look at me like that. It's not too late to start now. You've been too lax in your cultivation. You'll never reach the peak."

The man in white glanced at the maid and said, "When you can get a perfect score with that toy, I'll show you what the old-fashioned combat power testing device looked like."

Upon hearing this, the maid perked up again, "Yes, Lord Rotten Axe!"

"Now let's focus on recording. This time, the End Space still has the same lineup. I thought they were going to fail, but I didn't expect them to find a way out at the last moment."

Lan Ke laughed and said, "Perhaps the first person to break through the world will not be the first this time."

In the corner of the big screen, each world region has a fluctuating overall score, and the current number one ranked player is the Paradise player who has already cleared the world and started the settlement.

While they were talking, another world was breached. The silk-stockinged milk tea from the Hongmeng Space successfully conquered the world, but because the difficulty ceiling of the world he conquered was not as high as that of the cloaked man from the Paradise, his score was slightly lower than the other party.

It's a pity, because the initial strength of the "Silk Stocking Milk Tea" character was not high, and the difficulty difference between the original world he chose and the character was quite large. If he could have successfully conquered the game a day earlier, he might have been able to surpass the cloaked man in the Paradise in terms of score.

But often, the difference lies in the details. Besides, the cloaked man's way of traversing the world is more brutal, unlike the stockinged milk tea who uses so much brainpower.

In this competition, Origin Space performed the worst. They sent a small team, which included some people that Lu Li had seen in the spatial battles, but Lu Li thought their strength was average at the time and didn't pay much attention to them.

This surprised Lan Ke, because he felt that the Origin Space should not have fallen to such a low level, and that it would not send a single strong person in such a competition that concerned face.

However, the Lingxu Palace cannot interfere with matters inside the space. Even with its authority, it cannot figure out the space's true intentions. After all, the Lingxu Palace is merely an external collaborator, essentially acting as a referee for the space. This also involves some historical reasons.

Otherwise, given the current strength of the Lingxu Palace, the space might not even consider them and would choose other neutral factions in the void to help with arbitration.

"His improvement should be the biggest among all the contestants this time. However, according to our information, the primordial ancient gods of that world are very powerful. Is he getting a little carried away?"

The maid looked at Lu Li shouting at the gods in the picture and thought that Lu Li was too reckless. Shouldn't he have taken the rest of the tribe to find a place to hide after the tribulation?

Anyway, there aren't many people left, so it should be easy to hide. It's not too late to have a final battle after I've consolidated my strength.

Lan Ke shook his head. "I quite like a line this kid said in the world: he would rather die on the road of charging than perish in silence. There is nowhere left to hide in that world. He killed the so-called ancient god, and the primordial beings will not let him go. The eyes in the sky are always watching him."

"So that's why he declared war directly? To boost the morale of the human side, and to try a desperate gamble using the power of hope?"

The maid suddenly realized, "If you think about it that way, it's an excellent strategy. After all, the power of hope is still very effective in that world."

However, Lan Ke had a strange smile on his face. "No, I think that kid probably didn't think that much. He just acted impulsively and started chopping."

At this moment, within the original world, Lu Li was indeed fulfilling what Lan Ke had said, wielding the Demon-Prisoner to slay the gods.

He didn't really think too much; he just felt a surge of anger that needed to be released. After overcoming the tribulation, he felt a surge of heroic spirit and wanted to kill all the gods in the sky.

As for the fact that the level 76 difficulty cap only means that the final boss's starting attributes are 252 points, not the limit, he never even considered that.

Rather, in his current state, he craves stronger adversaries, to wash away the blood of the people on earth with the blood of the gods, and to compose a new era's song with the wails of the gods.

Faced with the siege of more than a dozen ancient gods, Lu Li's fighting spirit grew even stronger. His soul intent surged, and when his sword swept out, the gray mist in the sky was dispelled, and the darkness seemed to be cut open!

And so, the gods shed blood in the sky, and strange, mournful cries shook the heavens.

With a single slash, Lu Li caused more than a dozen ancient gods to shed blood. He activated the compass on his chest, intending to refine and absorb their power.

At the same time, the people on earth saw this scene and raised their hands and shouted, and in an instant, the king's name was heard all over the continent.

Lu Li pointed his blade at the invisible entity in the gray mist, "Stop fiddling with those meaningless numbers, come out!"

As he spoke, his sword intent soared into the sky, like a divine sword piercing through heaven and earth, piercing the eyes in the sky above, and causing jet-black blood to fall.

Before the ancient gods could launch their attack, Lu Li preemptively launched his own.

In his reconnaissance view, the primordial ancient god known as the Dark Night Ancient God had a mental attribute of 255 points, which was 2 points higher than his own. At the same time, it was formless and intangible, and those eyes were just something it manifested for humans to see.

Lu Li's sword intent pierced through one of the eyes, seemingly enraging the Dark Night Ancient God. As a result, people saw the black sky descend, passing through endless gray mist, and the entire sky seemed to transform into a giant hand.

The pitch-black palm was both chilling and exuded a unique majesty, as if a true god were punishing a rebellious disciple who had offended Him.

The air on the continent of Compassion became even tighter, causing an imbalance of internal and external pressure in ordinary humans. Many people experienced bleeding from their ear piercings and felt chest tightness and shortness of breath.

"I hate it when people reach out their claws to me like that."

Lu Li said coldly, while the Demon Imprisoner was drawn back into its sheath.

(End of this chapter)