"Enough talk! I'm going to notify Old Qian. He happens to have no Elemental Affinity at all. Once he hears this news, who knows how happy he'll be!"
"The greatest beneficiary of this 'Flame Cultivation' should be Dugu Xiu, right? His attributes are a perfect match. It's enough to make people die of envy..."
"Jealousy is jealousy! What kind of rotten fish and shrimp is envy? A real man should say it loud and clear—this daddy is jealous! Nobody will look down on you for it! This daddy is so sour he's practically undergoing plasmolysis!"
"Mentor Zhou Zhe... worthy of being the Second Generation of Swift Wind Pavilion! He could infer ten from one, forge a new path of his own, and create a transcendent cultivation method! Swift Wind Pavilion has a promising future!"
"Mr. Sun, a Bronze Two Stars fighter from Sichuan-Shu, made a similar attempt before, but he failed. Afterward, Mr. Sun sighed to his disciples that creating a cultivation method... was hard at the beginning! Hard in the middle! Even harder at the end!"
"Are you the legendary super spy? Where did your intelligence come from?"
"Secret!"
"A Zhe is so amazing! @DogFoodMakesMeHappy, calling Shanshan! This 'Flame Body Tempering Technique' has no requirement for Elemental Affinity, so you can learn it too!"
"Here, here! Your Highness Zhe is the best! Worthy of my Shanshan's Your Highness Zhe! Thanks! Gratitude! Appreciation! I'm touched!"
Seeing this, Zhou Zhe shook his head and stopped paying attention to the replies that followed.
A scene from several days ago surfaced in his mind.
That day, a notification came from the backend of the Myriad Heavens Forum: Target "Lin Ye," search complete.
Target deceased. Location of remains—Dou Lan Continent, Royal Museum.
Upon hearing this, a sinister glint appeared in Zhou Zhe's eyes, and his voice turned icy. "If I spend points, can I obtain an ability similar to teleportation?"
Brand 4A1220: Yes. The lowest-grade spatial transfer ability requires 195 Gladiator Points. It is recommended that you search the Brand list for a suitable exchange; the value for money is higher.
Zhou Zhe raised a brow. "What if I want it right now?"
Brand 4A1220 was panicking like hell and began considering countermeasures...
Consideration complete!
Spend 25 Gladiator Points to temporarily bestow the ability "Plane Traveler (3 days)." Would you like to spend the points? (Note: After the ability's duration ends, any spatial knowledge and techniques independently comprehended during the enhancement period will not be forgotten.)
Zhou Zhe looked at the Black Iron Brand on the back of his hand, faintly gleaming with a bronze hue, and said indifferently, "Spend the points. Exchange them for a three-day temporary enhancement of Plane Traveler."
Though he only had three days, still...
The Absolute Comprehension talent should not disappoint him.
Gladiator Points deducted. Ability bestowed!
Your current Gladiator Points: 0.
In an instant, Zhou Zhe felt a heaven-and-earth overturning change take place within him!
His thoughts, once elusive, formless, and intangible, seemed to have taken on substance.
They burst from his mind and raced toward the sky, the earth, and the universe!
Every flower and tree.
Every blade of grass and every insect.
The caress of the breeze.
The refraction of sunlight.
The specks of dust in the air.
Everything on Earth appeared in Zhou Zhe's mind like a model!
He had a feeling...
With but a single thought, he could appear anywhere on Earth in an instant!
Zhou Zhe thought it, and Zhou Zhe did it!
The summit of Mount Tai, Mount Everest, the waterfalls of Mount Lu...
Egypt's Pyramid of Khufu, America's Grand Canyon...
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the Cape of Good Hope, Las Vegas, India's Taj Mahal...
Australia's Uluru, Mexico's Mayan ruins, Peru's Inca ruins, Jordan's Petra...
Within an hour, Zhou Zhe had practically traveled through every famous scenic spot on Earth.
Half a day's work to roam beneath Heaven...
No need to ride phoenixes or dragons!
When one had ability, one could simply do whatever one pleased!
Roam north of Yue at dawn, reach Cangwu by dusk—the mighty power the ancients had once dreamed of now belonged to Zhou Zhe!
And Zhou Zhe could do even more!
He began frantically teleporting across the globe!
Naturally, this spectacle stirred widespread attention and heated discussion.
Countless passersby took photos of him, or happened to capture him while recording videos.
Zhou Zhe knew all of this, yet paid it no mind.
To preserve social stability, the rulers of every country had been doing their utmost to suppress information concerning the supernatural—except for the Cosmic Arena Combat broadcasts.
There was simply no way to get their hands on those.
When facing sudden developments, nearly every nation had made the same choice: curb the spread of transcendent information, then gradually release it bit by bit, allowing people to accept it through gentler means.
The thought processes of those in power had always been utterly different from those of ordinary people. That was normal.
Take a chestnut, for example.
Back during the Second World War, the island nation's decision to launch multi-front air raids on Margarite Harbor made countless twenty-first-century Earthlings studying history feel that the people who made that decision had probably been brain-dead plus level-nine idiots.
Because information was unequal.
Different people could form entirely different views of the same matter due to differences in the amount and quality of intelligence they possessed.
Zhou Zhe's actions today had shattered the favorable situation countless people had painstakingly arranged.
What he did today might cause global crime rates to rise, unsettle people's hearts, or even bring about worse consequences.
But...
Zhou Zhe did not care.
Though he had been born beneath the red flag, raised in New Hua Nation, received nine years of compulsory education, and accepted ordinary views on life, values, and the world, he had never been a good person.
He was the villain personally chosen by "the Dao."
He was a selfish fellow!
He had only ever loved those who loved him.
Therefore...
Zhou Zhe had not devoted even one percent of his attention to considering what consequences his actions might bring.
As for the predicament facing Earth's civilization...
Zhou Zhe merely accepted it calmly.
He liked Schopenhauer's words—"No matter what fate brings upon us, we should neither be too delighted nor overly sorrowful. On one hand, all things are constantly changing, and our fortune may shift at any moment; on the other, we are easily deceived when judging whether something is good or bad for ourselves."
At this moment, Zhou Zhe focused solely on experiencing the temporary ability of "Plane Traveler."
The deeper his understanding became of this temporary ability he had exchanged 25 Gladiator Points for and would possess for only three days, the more he felt his own insignificance and weakness!
Before the three-day limit expired, if he had precise cosmic coordinates and sufficient energy, Zhou Zhe could even cross billions upon billions of light-years in an instant and arrive on another planet with a blink!
He could even anchor a demiplane to himself for storage!
With every spatial teleportation, Zhou Zhe felt his comprehension of spatial traversal deepen, while related transcendent knowledge accumulated at a visible, breakneck pace.
"No wonder Spatial Abilities are so expensive..."
"The lowest-grade permanent teleportation ability costs nearly two hundred points!"
"It's simply too profound, too obscure!"
Above Venezuela's Angel Falls, a faintly Madness Aura-tinted smile appeared on Zhou Zhe's face. "But..."
"To me, these mysteries are no problem at all. I can understand them easily!"
"The only difficulty is that the knowledge contained within them is simply too vast, too immense! It's like the boundless starry sky, endless beyond measure..."
"I don't know how many days it will take to fully master Plane Traveler's abilities."
"But to completely comprehend the first-stage ability, Interstellar Traveler..."
"Three days will be enough!"
This exchange gave Zhou Zhe a certain inspiration.
Perhaps in the future, he could exchange for more temporary abilities and, through Absolute Comprehension, permanently solidify them during their trial periods, turning them into his own abilities.
That way, 10 Gladiator Points could practically produce the effect of 100, or even 200, Gladiator Points!
As thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhou Zhe teleported back to Hua Nation, arrived at Swift Wind Pavilion, and went straight to the female assistant's side.
"Just now, I confirmed my mentor's death. Issue the obituary."
At the mention of this matter, Zhou Zhe felt somewhat saddened. Even the joy of discovering a suitable means of strengthening himself faded considerably.
"Understood. I'll take care of it immediately."
"Also..."
"Pavilion Master Zhou, do you have time to look over the inheritance Pavilion Master Lin left behind?"
"Wait until I bring my mentor's body back first."
The female assistant had barely left when Zhou Zhe received a notification from the Brand.
Brand 4A1220 has detected that your strength has reached the limit of a Black Iron Gladiator. To ensure the relative fairness and absolute entertainment value of Cosmic Arena Combat, an emergency notice is hereby issued!
Three days from now, you will participate in a promotion match.
Please make preparations in advance!
(1. Not even Jesus can stop me from eating sweets! I said it!)
(2. Burning Cold Light did not deliberately write in English. The general situation is this: the English was purely to avoid the descent of the River Crab God. Honestly, writing novels nowadays is like dancing in shackles, you can understand that, right? Still, after arduous study and training, I think that with my current writing skill, I should be able to dance brilliantly... right?)
(3. A strengthened mini-chapter of 2,800 words. I sincerely ask for recommendation votes! Tips would be even better, though I won't force that. Friends without money, if you come by every day and leave a chapter comment, I'll be very happy! If you leave a chapter comment within 24 hours of the latest chapter's release, I'll give you a like! Mm!)
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