Hearing Xiang Longwu's words, Chen Xu was completely stunned.
What did he mean by the World Will going mad, and what did he mean by starting a New Hell?
He understood every individual word, but why did they sound so foreign when put together?
"Brother Xiang, where did you hear this news?"
"Old Xia told me. He sent a message to all of us at the mythic-tier, as well as some other key decision-makers."
"Teacher Xia? Where did he hear it from?"
"The Heavenly Dao said it itself. Not long ago, there was quite a stir over at the demon dens, though I wasn't in Daxia at the time—I was in Taikun, so I'm not entirely clear on the details."
"Brother Chen, don't ask me anymore. It'll be more direct if you come inside with me and ask Old Xia yourself."
True, it would be more convenient to ask Xia Qiming directly.
The two walked into the Dungeon Preparation Base together, with many passersby greeting them along the way.
The meeting room was already packed. With Daxia's rapid development over the past few years, many new faces had been added alongside the original group of epic-tier veterans.
The people inside were originally chatting noisily, but the moment they saw Chen Xu and Xiang Longwu enter, the room instantly fell silent.
"Hello everyone, long time no see."
Chen Xu took the initiative to greet them, but to his surprise, no one in the room responded.
In the end, it was Ye Bufan, sitting in a corner, who waved to him and Xiang Longwu, finally breaking the awkward silence.
After the two were seated, Chen Xu leaned in to ask Ye Bufan.
"Brother Ye, what's wrong with them?"
Although Chen Xu could sense the surprise and a hint of terror in everyone's souls, they were all fellow Daxia citizens, after all. He couldn't just reach out and search their souls for no reason.
Thus, Chen Xu placed his hopes on Ye Bufan for an answer.
"It's nothing, Brother Chen. Don't mind them; they're just scared of you."
"Scared of me?"
Chen Xu was even more confused. He wasn't the newcomer who had just stepped into the mythic-tier anymore; his control over his own aura had reached a point of perfection. How could they still be scared of him?
"Yeah, the Heavenly Dao announced that you, along with some angels and demons, wiped out the Akhan world and refined it in the end."
"Haven't you seen the latest entry on the strength rankings?"
"I stopped paying attention to that thing a long time ago."
Because Chen Xu's advancement speed was too fast, there were simply no competitors on Blue Star who could rival him. In the various rankings introduced by the Blue Star consciousness, Chen Xu was basically always in a league of his own.
When a game only involves winning and never losing, it naturally loses its appeal.
Chen Xu opened the Job-Holder Forum for the first time in a while and clicked on the strength rankings.
【Rank 1 on the strength rankings: Chen Xu. Realm: Unknown. Strength: Unknown. Pillar of the nation of Daxia, number one person on Blue Star, Demon Slayer, Ally of Heaven, World Destroyer, Extreme Devourer, the Madman Who Refined a World.】
After reading it, Chen Xu's face was covered in dark lines. The first part was reasonable enough, but what were those nonsense titles at the end—World Destroyer, Extreme Devourer, and Madman Who Refined a World?
In all honesty, Chen Xu had only refined one world, the Akhan world, in all his time. How did that make him a Madman Who Refined a World?
Besides, he wasn't the one who caused the disaster in the Akhan world; that was the work of the mad Professor Aaron.
He, the Lord of the Undead, had even mercifully intervened to slay the Demon King of Destruction, the culprit behind the world's ruin, and had preserved the seeds of the Akhan civilization so they could continue.
As for the final act of refining the world, that was standard practice across the myriad worlds. It wasn't as if Chen Xu was the only one who did it.
Chen Xu frowned, and just as he was about to complain, Xia Qiming walked in from outside.
"Sorry to keep you all waiting. I've confirmed it once more with the World Will; it has made up its mind. For the specific changes, please check the Job-Holder Forum. It has already posted an update announcement."
Hearing this, everyone in the room lowered their heads and opened their panels to check.
Chen Xu swallowed his complaints and opened the forum to check the announcement. He found two new entries.
The version update was the second one; the first was actually titled 【Proclamation to All Living Beings of Blue Star】.
【Proclamation to All Living Beings of Blue Star】
【Respected creatures of Blue Star, today, with a heavy heart, I share a piece of news with you. Our dear sister world, the Akhan world, was completely destroyed not long ago, without even a speck of dust remaining.】
【Scenes of talking and learning from each other with Big Brother Akhan are still fresh in my memory... (Ten thousand words omitted)】
【Today, as Blue Star's transcendent power awakens and develops, it is inevitable that transcendent fluctuations will spread into the Cosmic Sea.】
【Transcendent powers tend to gather. These fluctuations will constantly attract visitors from beyond—Heaven, Hell, and the undead. We cannot know if they are unwelcome guests or friends.】
【To protect our Blue Star home, we must take the initiative. The transcendent world is cruel. If I do not swallow the weak today, I will become the weak tomorrow!】
From this little essay written by the World Will, it was clear that its mental state had indeed run into some issues.
Perhaps stimulated by the destruction of the Akhan world, the Blue Star World Will was now acting like a panicked cat whose tail had been stepped on, constantly repeating its obsession with Old Wu and the Spinosaurus form.
【Major Version Update Announcement】
【1. Open the Expedition System: The World Will will select broken or weak worlds from among the myriad worlds. Job-holders will act as the Blue Star expeditionary force to conquer these worlds. Completing a conquest will grant a large amount of Expedition points.】
【2. Open the Enlightenment System: Job-holders can quickly increase their comprehension of various Dao principles through the Enlightenment System. The Enlightenment System requires Expedition points to unlock.】
【3. Open the Simulated Combat System: Job-holders can spend Expedition points to conduct simulated battles to increase their combat experience.】
【4. Open Destiny's Child slots: Every calendar year, the ten job-holders with the highest Expedition points will receive the title of Destiny's Child.】
【5. Open the Second Class System: When a job-holder's first class reaches the maximum level, they can spend Expedition points to unlock a second class.】
【6. Open the Expedition Leaderboard and Expedition Mall: The leaderboard will be settled annually, rewarding a large number of high-value items and equipment.】
Good heavens, Chen Xu thought. The Blue Star Heavenly Dao had been so terrified by the tragedy of the Akhan world that it had completely turned dark.
What Expedition System? It was simply sending job-holders out to invade other worlds.
However, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao still retained some sanity, knowing to pick the weak and broken worlds to start with, rather than going on an indiscriminate killing spree like Hell.
To lure Blue Star job-holders into expanding its territory, the Blue Star Heavenly Dao had really gone all out—Enlightenment, simulated combat, Destiny's Child, and a point mall.
These various rewards could be said to strike directly at the job-holders' weaknesses.
In Daxia, even with the current abundance of spirit qi, those who relied solely on their own cultivation to succeed were still in the minority.
This update by the Blue Star Heavenly Dao played right into the hands of the vast majority of ordinary job-holders. With dungeons gone, they now had the Expedition System, allowing them to enter a stage of rapid growth once again.
He just wondered if this Expedition System was mandatory. If not, it would be fine—those willing to cultivate on their own could do so, and those who didn't want to but wanted a shortcut for rapid growth could take the risk in the Expedition System. Everyone would have a bright future.
"Expedition System."
Chen Xu was actually quite inspired. Since they hadn't reached the point of total war with Hell yet, his subordinates lacked a way to fight.
The Expedition System was a pretty good concept. However, he didn't need to spend effort searching for worlds. Instead, he could create summoning formulas and spread them around, letting his skeleton heroes act as one-time mercenaries.
【Undead Summoning: Skeleton Hero Series】, 【Undead Summoning: Undead Dragon God】—Chen Xu wasn't worried about such impressive-sounding skills failing to gain popularity.
At that time, the summoner would provide the world coordinates and the mana required for the summoning, while Chen Xu only had to provide a temporary fighter. This would allow him to train his skeleton heroes' strength while simultaneously collecting information on various worlds—it was truly killing three birds with one stone.
No sooner said than done; Chen Xu immediately began constructing the formulas in his mind.
But before long, just as he had finished the formula modification for the skeleton heroes, he heard Xia Qiming calling his name.
"Chen Xu, what's your opinion?"
"Opinion? What opinion?"
He had been completely immersed in his skill modification just now, entering a state of total focus, and hadn't heard the discussion around him at all.
"The World Will has found a world on the brink of collapse and has sent an invitation to Daxia."
"It wants us to form Blue Star's first expeditionary force. Do you think we should be the vanguard?"
"Vanguard? That depends on what kind of price the World Will is willing to pay."
Chen Xu rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, looking like a shrewd merchant.
Xia Qiming frowned upon hearing this.
"You mean, priority should be given to the returns? But in an expedition abroad, the risks are hard to control."
"Hehe, Teacher Xia, this is a transcendent world. Blocking someone's path to the Dao is as grave as killing their parents."
"Out of the billions of people in Daxia, how many can rely on their own cultivation to achieve longevity?"
"In the past, when there were many dungeons, they could rely on them to increase their levels in hopes of reaching the mythic-tier."
"Now that dungeons are scarce and the Expedition System has come to fill the gap, if you don't go, someone else will."
"The path of transcendence is not an easy one. Those who walk it already know what price they must pay."
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