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Chapter 435 The Essence of Natural Disasters: The Invisible 'Threshold' [4000 words]

Since the beginning of the Star Origin Era, the breakthrough from Level 3 Star Envoy to Level 4 Calamity has always been an insurmountable barrier for countless powerful individuals.

Breakthroughs at the level of natural disasters are so difficult.

Firstly, there's the acquisition of things like the 'origin of natural disasters'.

Such energy cores, containing fragments of rules, can often only be obtained by venturing deep into the core of the most dangerous occupied zone and hunting down a calamity-level star beast.

In the early stages of the Star Origin Era, this process might involve deadly battles with other Star Envoys, making it extremely difficult.

Even if this problem is overcome and this threshold is crossed, there is still an invisible and intangible, yet brutally real, 'threshold' in subsequent breakthroughs.

In the words of the Heavenly Dao itself, this 'threshold' is the minimum 'basic attribute' required to break through to the level of a natural disaster.

If we compare the body of a Star Envoy to a container, then the container of a Level 3 Star Envoy is an iron bucket, while the body of a Cataclysmic Star Envoy is a special alloy capsule that must be able to withstand nuclear reactions.

But why is a natural disaster considered a natural disaster?

Why can natural disasters have such destructive power?

The answer to this question is actually not complicated; it's simply 'destructive power'.

A walking natural disaster is far more than just "a little stronger than a level three star envoy".

Each breath they take can disrupt the surrounding stellar energy.

Every step you take could cause the ground to crack in a spiderweb-like pattern.

This effect is sometimes overt; for example, in areas where fire-type natural disasters have passed, vegetation will be scorched and withered by the high temperatures.

Sometimes it is insidious, and even the natural disaster itself is unaware of it. For example, in areas where water-based natural disasters have long resided, the humidity in the air can be so high that metals rust and walls become moldy.

In the Star Envoy Association's Cataclysmic Star Envoy Archives, there is a record of such a person as the 'Plague Doctor'.

Initially, her Star Source was just a regular 'virus devouring' ability, which could only devour viruses within a certain range, and once the devouring amount reached its limit, she had to sleep for three days to recover.

Set in the early Star Origin Era, a time of war and plague.

While this ability may not be very effective in combat initially, it is an excellent medical support skill.

Using this method, she saved tens of thousands of refugees on the edge of the occupied zone, earning her the nickname "walking vaccine bank".

This simple kindness hidden in her heart led her to focus her subsequent development of the star source, 'Virus Devouring,' on 'how to increase the upper limit of virus devouring.'

Her goal was simple: she wanted to save more people.

At the same time, it was this simple kindness that led her to embark on a unique path of becoming stronger, making her one of the first 'natural disasters' in the Star Envoy Association.

In the chaotic early days of the Star Origin Era, both occupied territories and ordinary cities were breeding grounds for the rampant growth of viruses and bacteria.

Unfortunately, not every Star Envoy has a strong physical body. The physical bodies of Star Envoys of the Spirit and Specialty types are often more fragile than those of ordinary people.

A seemingly ordinary flu or a minor wound infection could kill them.

The bizarre and varied star beasts and the diverse and unpredictable environment of the occupied zone have led to the emergence of many unprecedented 'viruses'.

Therefore, in the early exploration of the occupied territories, many Star Envoys did not die at the hands of Star Beasts and the strange rules of the occupied territories, but rather from a 'simple flu' or a 'minor injury'.

The latter plague doctor had no way to deal with, but the former was not difficult for her to treat; she could solve it with a wave of her hand.

Therefore, in order to reduce the chances of unnatural deaths in the United States Star Beast Extermination Team, the predecessor of the Star Envoy Association, the United States Star Beast Extermination Team, took a liking to the special characteristics of the 'Plague Doctor' and poured a lot of resources into her.

Not only did they give her a lot of gene-enhancing drugs to strengthen her immune system and star energy crystals to improve her physical resilience, they even specially made a set of 'virus isolation suits' for her.

After all, her 'Star Source Virus Devouring' is essentially about strengthening her own immune system.

The strength of her immune system is directly related to her physical condition.

Under the full support of the United States Star Beast Extermination Team, and with the influence of the Plague Doctor's own 'kind nature'.

She followed the cleanup team deep into various occupied areas, where she was exposed to all sorts of viruses.

In her resume, the Plague Doctor has devoured the 'Black Death Virus' that turned an entire city into a ghost town, absorbed the 'Radiation Bacteria' that could mutate Star Beasts, and even neutralized the secretions of Star Beasts known as the 'Apocalypse Poison'.

During this process, her Star Source began to evolve continuously, from initially being able to 'only devour known viruses' to being able to 'analyze unknown viruses and generate antibodies'.

At the same time, her physical body, tempered by countless viruses and drugs, became even more resilient than special alloys, giving her the conditions to confront 'natural disasters'.

When she became one of the strongest individuals in the early Star Origin Era, everyone felt that she was only one step away from becoming a 'natural disaster'.

What no one knew was that this hurdle was far more difficult to overcome than imagined.

The reason is that meeting the basic attribute requirements, having overflowing star energy, and possessing the essence of natural disasters are not the 'entire' means to overcome natural disasters.

One of the most important conditions, but one that many people are unaware of, is 'self-control'.

If the body of a natural disaster is a 'walking nuclear reactor,' then 'self-control' is the 'safety valve' that controls this nuclear reactor.

Without sufficient self-control, even if you manage to achieve a life leap by sheer luck, this uncontrollable force will not only fail to help you in the end, but will also blow you to pieces like an exploding reactor.

Therefore, for a long period in the early Star Origin Era, the word 'natural disaster' was not an 'honor' for Star Envoys, but a 'warning'.

A fire-type star envoy broke through on the edge of the city, and the out-of-control flames burned through three shelters, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.

An Earth-type Star Envoy advanced in the valley, triggering an earthquake that caused the entire mountain range to collapse, burying multiple cleanup team bases.

In those years, every "failed breakthrough due to natural disaster" was equivalent to an indiscriminate nuclear attack, causing incalculable "losses" to human society.

Overcoming this requires not only an iron will, but also the talent to harness this power.

The former allows you to remain 'clear-headed' amidst a torrent of power, while the latter allows you to precisely 'control' every bit of overflowing energy.

The combination of the two is what is known as 'self-control'.

Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. After all, the world is lacking in many things, but it is never short of lucky people.

Let's take that 'plague doctor' as an example again.

Her breakthrough was full of 'chance' and 'luck'.

After her basic attributes and star energy value met the requirements, the extermination team unexpectedly killed a 'catastrophe-level virus star beast'.

The corpse of this star beast was constantly releasing a deadly virus, turning the surrounding land for dozens of miles into barren land in just three days.

To completely purify this area, the cleanup team proposed a bold plan: to have the Plague Doctor gradually devour the virus from the Star Beast's corpse, thus slowly digesting this dangerous 'virus source' and creating a habitable environment for humans.

The entire process lasted three years. After three years, the Plague Doctor not only successfully disposed of the corpse, but also, unexpectedly yet logically, devoured its 'source of natural disaster' during the process, thus fulfilling all the conditions for breaking through the natural disaster.

The high command of the United States Star Beast Extermination Team conducted a complete and detailed review of this "unexpected surprise".

You wouldn't believe it until you look into it, after studying the entire breakthrough process of the Plague Doctor.

They discovered that the Plague Doctor's breakthrough was full of chance and luck, but the process of this breakthrough was also incredibly 'scientific'.

The Plague Doctor's initial act of devouring the virus in the surrounding environment is merely an attempt to reduce the virus's impact on the area and restore it to its original state.

However, to a certain extent, she also gradually adapted her body to this power and improved step by step.

Throughout the process, the Plague Doctor gradually adapted to the energy of the Virus Star Beast, much like drinking warm water, and allowed his body to slowly accept the primal power of the natural disaster.

Ultimately, all the breakthroughs were achieved, a natural and logical outcome.

If she were to devour all the corpses of the virus-infected star beasts right from the start, the most likely outcome would be that this area would have yet another powerful 'virus source'.

After that, the Plague Doctor not only successfully devoured all the energy of the Virus Star Beast, but also eliminated the source of the virus.

He also transformed his own star source essence into 'virus control'.

An entity that can both devour and control viruses is a true calamity-level powerhouse.

In their subsequent debriefing report, the cleanup team wrote: 'A gradual adaptation process allowed her body and will to grow in tandem, ultimately enabling her to perfectly control the power of the natural disaster.'

Inspired by such cases, the cleanup team gradually developed a successful and highly scientific process for "breaking through natural disasters".

1. Select promising Tier 3 Star Envoys, concentrate resources to strengthen their basic attributes, and create a 'container' capable of bearing the power of natural disasters.

2. Based on the characteristics of the star source, allow it to gradually come into contact with higher-level energies and adapt to the impact of power exceeding its own limit.

3. Finally, the source of the natural disaster is granted, and under the monitoring and protection of the association, life leaps through the ages.

This process saved countless Star Envoys and turned "natural disasters" from nightmares into glory.

However, this seemingly perfect process is completely unworkable for the Heavenly Dao.

His problem has never been that his "container is not sturdy enough." The existence of Star Eclipse Eye and Heavenly Dao Cells makes his basic attributes far exceed those of other Star Envoys of the same level.

It's not that he 'can't find the source of the natural disaster'; with his strength, it wouldn't be difficult for him to penetrate deep into the core of the occupied area and seize the source.

It's not a matter of 'lack of self-control'; since he obtained the Star Source, he has never lost control of his power even once.

His problem was that the container was too good.

If someone else's breakthrough is controlling an 'ordinary nuclear reactor', even if the process is difficult, as long as the procedures are followed, there is still a certain probability of mastering it and making it run stably.

The breakthrough he achieved was his goal of controlling a 'super-large fusion reactor'.

Because the upper limit of star energy that his body can withstand is too high.

His power is so great that even if he simply absorbs star energy step by step, he can still bring his body to an incredibly terrifying level of power.

If a breakthrough were to be made under these circumstances, loss of control would not be a 'possibility,' but a 'certainty.'

Therefore, conventional natural disaster breakthroughs are completely unsuitable for the Heavenly Dao, and it must find another way.

Fortunately, in the history of the Star Envoy Association, there happened to be someone who encountered the same predicament and eventually overcame it.

This person was none other than the president of the Star Envoy Association, the strongest Star Envoy of the era, and hailed as the strongest Star Envoy of the era, Ennett.

That legendary figure who used 'Taotie' as his star source was once stuck before breaking through the threshold in his youth due to his 'excessive physical talent'.

No one knows how he ultimately succeeded; all that is known is that on the day he broke through, the star energy of the entire cleanup team headquarters fell into chaos, and even the atmosphere was impacted by the energy, creating a brief hole.

Originally, even the Heavenly Dao had no clue about the answer to this question.

After two encounters with Enet, Tendou felt that he had vaguely grasped the 'key' to Enet's successful breakthrough.

The key lies in Ennet's development of his own "Star Source Gluttony".

The reason why a normal breakthrough in natural disasters requires the 'origin of natural disasters' is that ordinary star envoys cannot rely on themselves to bring about a 'qualitative change' in their own 'star source' and must rely on a certain external force.

But Ennett is different; his star source is very special, and Ennett himself is also very special.

If an ordinary person were to obtain this star source, they would definitely use the 'Gluttonous' characteristic to devour 'energy'.

But Ennett was different; his understanding of the star source 'Taotie' was based on the ethereal 'spiritual nourishment'.

'The unknown and exploration' are what he needs 'food' and what he pursues.

This leads to a very interesting phenomenon: in addition to his physical strength, Ennett's mental strength is also unimaginable to ordinary people.

Even without a corresponding star source, Ennet could reach a level similar to a "spiritual star envoy" simply by relying on his own basic "spiritual power".

However, he had long since integrated this 'spiritual power' into his every word and deed, which is why outsiders always thought Ennett was just a pure 'warrior'.

This is something that Heaven discovered during their two encounters.

After all, the most powerful aspect of his 'vector control' is his ability to control everything on the 'physical level' and most of the 'energy level'.

However, at the level of spiritual power, the Heavenly Dao's vector control does not actually play a significant role.

However, Ennett's fist contained powerful 'mental energy'.

Of course, the Heavenly Dao prefers to call it 'intention' rather than spiritual power.

This is what is known as 'the intent of the fist'.

In this way, the Heavenly Dao felt that it had found a way to overcome natural disasters without needing the source of the natural disasters.

That is to raise one's 'mental power attribute' to a level exceeding that of the physical body as much as possible.

In other words, he needs to make his 'will' strong enough to influence 'reality'.

Replace the source of natural disasters with willpower!

(End of this chapter)