Wu Sheng finally had a large supply of pure soul power, allowing him to continue improving his willpower. This time, however, he chose a more stimulating method.
In a luxurious cave not far away, Li Hu sat cross-legged on a round bed. Under Wu Sheng's Mind Control, he remained as still as a meditating monk.
Lan Miao'er, the Fishman Clan woman, was constantly stimulating Li Hu in various ways.
Wu Sheng controlled Li Hu now, so he felt everything Li Hu did. Yet his Original Body still had to use the Innate Secret Art Soul Devour to experience one dream after another while enduring such sensual stimulation.
Double stimulation—this was practically going to kill Wu Sheng!
"Master, is there something wrong with what Miao'er is doing?" Lan Miao'er asked in confusion, then stopped what she was doing.
"No, I just couldn't handle it. You can go a little slower!"
Li Hu, under Wu Sheng's Mind Control, and Wu Sheng himself both took a deep breath.
Then Wu Sheng activated his Innate Secret Art, Soul Devour.
On one side was the mental stimulation coming from Li Hu; on the other were the lifelike sensations in the dream. Under this double stimulation, Wu Sheng's willpower was indeed improving at a furious pace.
During the last annihilation battle, the members of the Nine Spirits Society, led by Li Long, had truly distinguished themselves.
First, they defeated Leo, then killed Yu Yan, Xuan Ming, and the many Trial Takers under their command.
Only Xuan Tong escaped to the Northern Domain with the unconscious Leo, who had returned to his normal size, and a handful of others.
After briefly replenishing his energy, Li Long rushed without pause to another location. At a critical moment, he struck again, inflicting serious injuries on Cang Ge, Kadi, and the others, who had been showing off their prowess there.
Li Long couldn't bring himself to kill these Special Elites, so he let them escape with their lives.
But he slaughtered the remaining Trial Takers without hesitation, even the Sky Grade Elite Trial Takers.
Under his ruthless, blood-soaked assault, Cang Ge, Kadi, and the others also fled north.
From then on, most of the Eastern Domain fell under the control of the Nine Spirits Society and the Blood River Squad.
The forces at Thunder Star Mountain and Cangming Valley had suffered a crushing defeat. They had lost many people, and their morale was rock-bottom.
Li Long was too powerful. One man had held off three Special Elites, including Leo, a Thunder Wing Giant.
They were all shaken to the core!
Fortunately, Leo regained consciousness at a critical moment and immediately reassured everyone:
"Li Long is strong, but he happened to break through to the Triple Domain while fighting me this time. On top of that, he fought two battles back-to-back, so his foundation must be unstable."
"So he won't keep chasing us now. He'll focus on stabilizing his foundation. We don't need to worry too much."
Cang Ge, Kadi, and the others felt a little more at ease after hearing Leo's explanation.
If Li Long were truly like a god of war, undefeated in battle, that would be terrifying.
"Hmph. We Thunder Wing Giants possess Innate Life Cores, giving us far greater reserves of Primal Force, mental power, and the like than ordinary races. Li Long has great talent, but his physical foundation is too weak. He can't fight for long."
"Besides, the three of us Special Elites are together. Even if Li Long dares to attack us, he won't have an easy time of it. And right now, he's busy stabilizing his foundation."
Leo made his position clear.
And it was true. A race with Innate Life Cores would certainly outlast an ordinary race in battle.
The Li Ling Clan that Li Long belonged to was powerful too, but its members could advance only as far as Cosmic Level after reaching adulthood. They didn't even have Innate Life Cores. Their overall talent simply couldn't compare to that of a powerful race like the Thunder Wing Giants, whose members became Domain Lords upon reaching adulthood.
But Li Long's comprehension was so exceptional that he now dared to keep Leo on the back foot.
Truthfully, Leo felt pretty bitter about it. He had lost to Li Long, but what had really gotten under his skin was Li Long's remark:
"Actually, my real target was Lei Ao. You just don't quite measure up."
That was blatant discrimination against him!
Leo was often proud to be a member of the Thunder Wing Giant Clan, but among their peers, Lei Ao was the strongest Thunder Wing Giant.
Lei Ao had already mastered his own domain, allowing him to unleash even more of the power of his Thunder Domain. His combat strength was nothing like Leo's.
But Lei Ao had already advanced to Sky Grade, so he hadn't entered this Blood Trial.
"Damn Li Long, looking down on me like that. Just wait until I comprehend a domain too. Then you'll see how terrifying our mighty Thunder Wing Giant Clan can be."
Leo's eyes were cold, and his heart brimmed with murderous intent.
But he didn't dare charge over and fight Li Long. The unspoken rules accepted by the various factions were clear: Li Long hadn't taken the chance to kill him, so he couldn't do the same.
Besides, he really couldn't beat Li Long right now. Going there would only bring him more humiliation.
For various reasons, both sides called off the fighting and let the battle die down.
Meanwhile, everyone wanted to use the opportunity to improve their strength and prepare for the battles to come, as well as the final showdown.
Wu Sheng had used Li Hu's identity to seize more than twenty thousand Battle Suits.
That was more than enough to guarantee he would qualify based on Battle Suit Count.
However, he still had Bai Yu and Man Gu to bring along, and he would also have to see how many people he could take from Li Hu's side. So, the more Battle Suits he had, the better.
Besides that, he had made a fortune in Cosmic Crystals—more than a hundred billion in all. That was enough to buy a decent fifth-tier, high-grade weapon.
But that clearly wasn't enough to satisfy Wu Sheng. After all, he was short by a trillion Cosmic Crystals!
The Cosmic Crystals Li Hu had on him, along with all the spoils of war, amounted to barely a fraction of what he needed.
"Sigh. I heard the betting pool outside has already exceeded 200 trillion Cosmic Crystals. To win, those factions sent Special Elites in and had them bring plenty of Cosmic Crystals and cultivation treasures. They want to break through to the next level and recruit other Trial Takers."
"Making a trillion Cosmic Crystals from them with Mind Control shouldn't be hard, right?"
"If that doesn't work, once my willpower breaks through, I'll take control of Leo. No matter what, I have to use this opportunity to gather enough Cosmic Crystals."
That had once been Wu Sheng's most honest thought. No one needed money more than he did.
While Blood Sun City, Thunder Star Mountain, and the other factions held their positions for the time being, Wu Sheng's willpower was improving at an astonishing rate.
By using his Innate Secret Art, Soul Devour, to experience the little details of other people's lives in dreams, he could indirectly strengthen his willpower. Two things were essential: first, his Mindset had to perfectly match that of the person in the dream; second, afterward, he had to gain that hint of insight into their Mindset.
Once the Innate Secret Art, Soul Devour, wore off, Wu Sheng was like an ordinary person waking from a dream. He gradually forgot everything else from the dream, retaining only his own insights.
So the dream's memories wouldn't affect him much.
But the stimulation from Li Hu often affected Wu Sheng's experiences in the dream. At those times, he had to rely on his powerful will to keep the dream running smoothly.
This indirectly accelerated the improvement of his willpower.
Finally, using this method, after four years, his willpower underwent an extraordinary transformation.