After leaving the Chaos Stele, Hu Yanbo soon returned to his rooftop in Chaos City. He sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began absorbing cosmic energy at full speed, converting it into his own divine power.
This process was more than a simple accumulation of energy.
As he refined vast quantities of energy, the total divine power within his divine body began to rise steadily.
Yet one crucial characteristic remained unchanged-no matter how much his divine power increased, the completeness of his soul remained constant.
This meant that as his divine power rose from three thousand times world lord power to seven thousand times or even higher, the pool of divine power carrying his complete soul imprint became immensely larger.
A straightforward comparison could illustrate this: a High-level Marquis undying with three thousand times world lord power and a Peak Marquis undying with seven thousand times world lord power both possessed a complete soul fused with their divine bodies.
But if both had a portion of their divine bodies equivalent to one thousand times world lord power annihilated in battle, the former would lose as much as a third of his soul, while the latter would lose less than a seventh!
The pain of having his soul torn apart and the resulting decline in strength would undoubtedly be far less severe for the latter, and his recovery would also be faster.
This was one of the most fundamental benefits of strengthening a divine body-it represented not only greater power, but also greater resilience and endurance in battle!
Guided by the law comprehension the system had granted him in advance, Hu Yanbo was now frantically absorbing energy, constantly consolidating and expanding the foundation of his divine power.
The energy fluctuations he had just triggered once again drew the attention of several figures hovering high above Chaos City, near the enormous spatial rifts that continually split and closed, weaving the universe origin laws.
"Hmm?" One of the beings, shrouded in hazy starlight, gave a soft murmur of surprise and glanced down. "The young undying who have come to Chaos City these past few years have been unexpectedly impressive."
"Someone else has broken through so soon after that young fellow called Hu Yanbo? Judging by the scale of this energy absorption and its harmony with the laws, this seems even stronger than the disturbance Hu Yanbo caused earlier." Another being, surrounded by intangible sword intent, could not help nodding.
"Heh, let me see. Is this a lone cultivator, or a young fellow from one of our organizations?" The being amid the starlight chuckled. With a slight shift of his will, his gaze seemed to pierce through buildings and distance, falling upon the rooftop where energy was being devoured at a frenzied pace.
Yet a moment later, the starlight flowing around him abruptly froze, and he blurted out an exclamation utterly unbecoming of his status: "Holy crap!"
That exclamation immediately caught the attention of the sword-intent being beside him, who had remained composed throughout.
Anything that could make Star Radiance King lose his composure like this had to be extraordinary!
He immediately focused his gaze on the rooftop as well. His body gave a slight shudder, and he blurted out, "...No way!"
Those two successive exclamations instantly drew the gazes of every powerful being in the sky.
One after another, wills bearing immense pressure converged upon that area.
When they saw who was drawing in that tremendous energy, they all fell briefly silent, as though trying to digest the inconceivable sight before them.
Several seconds later, the being surrounded by intangible sword intent slowly turned toward his companion, whose starlight had yet to settle completely. His voice held a peculiar note of disbelief:
"Star Radiance, if I remember correctly, this young fellow called Hu Yanbo has already been snapped up by King Qian Cang of the Universe Mercenary Alliance?"
At those words, Star Radiance King shot the sword-intent being an irritated glare, his voice tinged with frustration. "How is that my fault?! When we assessed him here back then, we thought his potential was Initial King at best!"
"A superior King Rank seed contract worth six or seven hundred million mixed yuan units-you thought that was a perfectly reasonable offer too, didn't you?"
The sword-intent being spread his hands. His tone was calm, but every word cut deep. "You're in overall charge of recruiting outside experts for the Virtual Universe Company. Naturally, the decision was yours."
"I just happened to be here and offered an offhand comment."
"You! Y-you..." Star Radiance King choked on this attempt to wash his hands of the matter. He pointed at the other being, momentarily at a loss for words.
His gaze returned to Hu Yanbo's rooftop below. Sensing that aura still rising and growing ever more concentrated, he spoke with mixed emotions and a trace of regret he could not conceal.
"Six hundred years of arduous cultivation in Chaos City, and he's broken through two stages... With progress like this, he really might stand alongside us one day."
"King Qian Cang certainly struck gold with that Special-grade King Rank Seed contract," another being beside them remarked with a sigh.
"Among the Human Race's hundred thousand King Rank experts, those who reach Peak King...
"Every single one presides over a region and holds a mid- or high-level position in one of the major powers."
Hearing this, Star Radiance King heaved a heavy sigh and waved his hand in utter dejection.
"Ah, don't bring it up. This misjudgment cost me ten billion mixed yuan units for nothing..."
With that, he actually closed his eyes in frustration, unwilling to spare another glance for that "genius undying belonging to someone else."
He knew perfectly well that this time was entirely different from the last.
Previously, Hu Yanbo had merely been an Outer Member of the Universe Mercenary Alliance at most. He was free to choose his allegiance, and the five major powers could naturally compete fairly for him using their own means.
Now, however, he had officially signed the Universe Mercenary Alliance's highest-tier "Special-grade King Rank Seed" contract and was indisputably one of its Core Members.
Trying to poach him now would not only be completely against the rules, but would also thoroughly offend the Universe Mercenary Alliance, a fellow titan of humanity.
A single Peak King was not enough to make the Virtual Universe Company go that far.
As the universe operated, energy always seemed to follow some unseen law of conservation.
As everyone knew, emotions were also a form of energy.
Just as Star Radiance King closed his eyes in frustration, somewhere within a vast High-level Universe Country outside Chaos City...
King Qian Cang of the Universe Mercenary Alliance was handling alliance affairs when a message arrived directly in his inbox through the Virtual Universe System.
The message was extremely brief, yet it instantly sent an expression of incredulous, wild joy blossoming across the normally composed face of this Peak King expert!
Without even taking the time to think it over, he stirred his will and immediately connected a call to his close friend, Void True King.
"Xu Zhen!" King Qian Cang's voice carried a rare note of excitement and urgency. "You've got an incredible eye! That Hu Yanbo has broken through again in Chaos City!"
At the other end of the call, Void True King was clearly stunned by the sudden news. His voice was unmistakably bewildered. "Again... he's broken through again?! Less than a thousand years have passed in the Primal Universe, and only three hundred in the Initial Universe... How is that possible?!"
"Hahaha, I don't really know the exact reason myself." King Qian Cang laughed heartily.
"Perhaps his extraordinary talent gives him an inconceivably high affinity with the Nine Universes Chaos Stele!"
"Regardless, this is wonderful news!"
"That Special-grade King Rank Seed contract we pushed through for him against everyone's objections has finally been fully vindicated! Let's see who dares question this old man's judgment now!"
Before you continue