World Lord Level

A full one hundred and thirty Domain Lord level geniuses—that was just the number Tang Ping had managed to scout, of course. Most of them hadn't been bound yet; Qiongyu Planet was vast, after all, and those geniuses didn't spend every waking moment at home. He had only managed to bind a few today who happened to live nearby and were home cultivating.

After breaking through to the Domain Lord level, his capacity for binding tool-people had increased to 320. He had previously bound only ninety-something, and after unbinding a few slaves who were no longer of any use, he was left with only seventy-something.

In other words, he still had over two hundred and forty slots available for binding tool-people. Even after subtracting the few geniuses he had bound today, he still had a full two hundred and forty spots left.

Even if he were to bind every single genius on Qiongyu Planet, it still wouldn't be enough.

Fortunately, once he realized the correct way to proceed, he had already given each of the six clones he brought with him a spaceship and sent them off to other first-tier administrative planets, though that would still take some time.

Tang Ping didn't intend to waste this period of waiting. He could start by binding some peak Domain Lord level powerhouses on Qiongyu Planet who showed promise of breaking through to the World Lord level, and then unbind them once they broke through or once his clones arrived at the other administrative planets.

The dull and tedious work of binding tool-people continued for over ten days before Tang Ping finally finished binding all the ones he needed: one hundred and thirty geniuses from the five major powers, plus over one hundred and ten ordinary peak Domain Lord level powerhouses.

Next, it was time to sit back and wait for the breakthrough to the World Lord level. That was right—in these ten-plus days, with the system's help, he had successfully reached the ninth stage of the Domain Lord level.

Three months later, Earth, in the backyard of a villa in the Oriental Residential District of Hong City.

Tang Ping was lying on an exquisitely crafted lounge chair reading a book when, suddenly, a unique power from a system reward appeared out of thin air.

Tang Ping knew he could finally break through to the World Lord level.

"BOOM!"

Inside the Singularity Life Core that had formed at the Domain Lord level, a real Internal World was birthed with a thunderous roar.

It was like the creation of the world; as the Internal World expanded, it continuously formed land, sky, mountains, rivers, and so on. As for primitive life, that would have to wait a very, very long time. Of course, once the world was formed, it was already suitable for life to inhabit; if Tang Ping wanted, he could bring some life in from the outside world.

As the Internal World opened, the Soul Crystal and Force Crystal melted into flowing liquids under the influence of an invisible force. The two torrents began to touch, and when his Spirit Reading Power and Force truly collided and fused for the first time with his consciousness and will... the first wisp of World Force was born!

The moment the World Force was born, it allowed a sliver of Tang Ping's consciousness to resonate and sense the vast origin of the universe.

The true place of origin of the Primal Universe.

When the first wisp of World Force was produced within Tang Ping, it connected to that incomparably distant place of origin.

"Ah... is this the place of origin of the universe?" Under the resonance of the World Force, a sliver of Tang Ping's consciousness instantly entered the place of origin of the universe, which was an incomparably vast land.

"A grain of sand is a world, and a world contains endless Universe Crystals. Is this the place of origin of the universe?" Even though he had read descriptions in books long ago, seeing it with his own eyes still left Tang Ping deeply shocked.

"Resonance of the two worlds!"

When Tang Ping's consciousness truly touched the place of origin of the universe, it was as if a channel had been opened between his Internal World and the place of origin of the universe. Endless origin energy of the universe—World Force—poured into his Internal World like a raging flood. It was incredibly violent, filling his Internal World completely in almost an instant.

Clearly, for the place of origin of the Primal Universe, the energy released by the Universe Crystals contained in any random grain of sand was enough to fill Tang Ping's Internal World.

"Internal World, complete!"

"Tsk tsk, only ten thousand kilometers in diameter. That really doesn't do justice to my thousand-fold gene level. My foundation is still too poor. The system didn't give a critical reward for this, but that's not surprising; after all, the formation of the Internal World was something I completed myself without using tool-people. As expected, breaking through too quickly has its drawbacks. But it doesn't matter; I had already planned to stay at the World Lord level for a while, so I can definitely build a solid foundation." Glancing casually at his Internal World, Tang Ping wasn't particularly surprised; he had anticipated this.

He tried to comprehend the Universe Origin Law, and sure enough, the difficulty had decreased by more than a hundredfold. This advantage of the World Lord level was truly a unique gift.

It was for this reason that many ambitious genius World Lords were reluctant to break through to the Immortal level.

Of course, the reason Tang Ping wasn't rushing to break through to the Immortal level was certainly not this; he didn't need to cultivate himself, so he didn't need the cultivation advantages of the World Lord level.

Or rather, theoretically, the fastest way to cultivate was for him to break through to the Immortal level to trigger another system upgrade, and then bind World Lord level tool-people to help him cultivate.

But sometimes, that wasn't how the math worked. The World Lord level was the most important stage for laying a foundation during one's cultivation journey. If he didn't build a solid foundation now and expand his Internal World to its limit, the scope of his God Kingdom would be restricted when he reached the Immortal level, and his small universe would be limited when he reached the True God level.

This was only because Tang Ping relied on the system to cultivate and wouldn't face bottlenecks; ordinary people who didn't build a good foundation would have no possibility of further breakthroughs.

While Tang Ping could continue to break through, he could ignore the less important stages like the Universe level and Domain Lord level in the early days, but from the World Lord level onward, he refused to be the weakest existence at the same level.

"Hm, I might as well have my clones break through too." With the breakthrough complete, Tang Ping didn't get up. He sensed the locations of his clones, and feeling that everything was fine, he decided to have them break through all at once.

"World Lord level, that adds nine more clone slots. Plus the nine slots from the Universe level that I haven't used yet, that's eighteen slots in total. It's time to slowly consider what kind of clones to get." Instead of continuing to read his book, Tang Ping lay on the lounge chair, squinting his eyes in thought.

"First of all, I definitely need one from the Nine Serenities Ocean, though that's a bit difficult, so I can consider it later. The World Tree can stabilize the Internal World and is what I need most right now to solidify my foundation, so I definitely have to get one. But the World Tree is also in the Ancestral God Religion, so I'll get it at the same time as the Nine Serenities Ocean."

"As for the rest, energy-based clones seem to have advantages at times, so I can get a few. Luo Feng's Demon Slayer Race clone in the original story seems pretty good, so I can consider that. I might as well get one for Luo Feng too, to help him grow faster."

"For the rest, I need to check which races have the special talents I need. The gene level is secondary; with the system, it'll be a perfect gene sooner or later. It's mainly about the racial talents."

"Right, according to the plan I made earlier, I'm supposed to go to the Outer Battlefield to have some fun at the World Lord level, so I have to consider weapons and equipment. Unlike Luo Feng, I don't have the City Lord of Chaos to provide me with Supreme Treasures to get started. So... perhaps I should consider getting a clone with a racial talent suitable for refining Supreme Treasures?" As Tang Ping pondered the matter of his clones, he suddenly remembered his previous plans for the World Lord level period.