Balance

Han Ling glanced at Shen Heng, then thoughtfully looked away.

Distance, is it a strategy of offense and defense?

Is it to avoid potential attack methods from those two abilities?

In terms of space, is it folding and Distortion? In terms of time, is it acceleration and stagnation?

Perhaps a wide-ranging, comprehensive attack would also work.

But regardless, just thinking about it is enough to realize how difficult these two abilities are to manage.

Other abilities, at most, only have a restraining relationship based on the strength of the ability when they are similar.

However, most abilities seem to struggle to function effectively in the face of spacetime-related abilities.

Just like how space-time abilities are considered high-level abilities, while other abilities are considered low-level abilities.

Perhaps only mental abilities are relatively better at dealing with this type of ability.

Han Ling simply made a mental note of this, and then asked about something else.

What will happen next?

"What happens next?"

Shen Heng muttered to himself, this was also a problem that was currently of great concern to him.

Once you understand what plan the base intends to use to contain the Calamity Beast, the rest seems quite straightforward.

This involves bringing in a large number of people to further limit the number of Calamity Beast.

But... would the Calamity Beast agree to that?

A month later, at dawn.

In the dimly lit room, a faint, shimmering white light flickered like breath.

Shen Heng sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes slightly closed.

The pure Origin Power was slowly drawn from the Origin Crystal in his palm, seeping into his palm like wisps of mist.

As the Origin Power entered his body, a faint light emanated from his body, his breathing became steady and long, and he was immersed in a deep state of cultivation.

After a long while, Shen Heng slowly opened his eyes.

He let out a long breath, then his gaze wandered as he began to sense the state of his body.

Far more Origin Power and stronger physical attributes than before, probably...

Is it around the Mid Fourth Tier?

A flash of understanding crossed Shen Heng's eyes.

It has been about half a year since he broke through to the Fourth Tier.

Although I have been diligently cultivating for the past six months, my real progress started after I received a bunch of Fourth Tier Origin Crystal.

The ample supply of Origin Crystal meant that he no longer needed to spend a lot of time replenishing his Origin Power during his daily cultivation.

All he needed to do each day was absorb the Origin Power from the Origin Crystal and then begin tempering his body until it reached a critical point...

Yes, Shen Heng only found out after there was a sufficient supply of Origin Crystal.

There is a critical point to physical tempering.

He can't make you train your body to a certain level of strength in just one day.

Instead, you should strengthen your body little by little, step by step.

Therefore, after tempering his body to the critical point each day, Shen Heng would stop and instead practice other combat techniques.

It was for this reason that it took him more than a month to finally absorb all the Fourth Tier Origin Crystal he had previously acquired.

Today, my strength has finally reached the Mid Fourth Tier.

Strictly speaking, there is no distinction between early, middle, and late stages within the same grade.

The classification is based entirely on the relevant experience recorded at headquarters and the individual's own judgment.

This division serves two purposes.

First, it allows you to understand your own strength and roughly where you stand.

Secondly, it lets you know that you are making progress, and quite a bit of progress at that.

After all, the further you progress in cultivation, the more difficult it becomes, and the more time it takes.

Like Shen Heng.

It takes about a month to go from Zero Tier to First Tier.

It takes about four months to go from the First Tier to the Second Tier;

It took about nine months to go from the Second Tier to the Third Tier;

It took nearly a year and a half to go from the Third Tier to the Fourth Tier.

If one cultivates normally, it might take about 3-4 years to go from the Fourth Tier to the Fifth Tier.

For the average person, it might take even longer.

This timeframe may be long, but if word gets out...

If you're at Fourth Tier Fourth Tier this year, and still at Fourth Tier next year, the year after that, and the year after Fourth Tier, that doesn't sound very good.

It sounds like there's been absolutely no progress.

Therefore, it is still very necessary to divide the process into early, middle, and late stages.

but...

A slight glint appeared in Shen Heng's eyes.

While Origin Crystal can indeed accelerate personal cultivation to a great extent, the cost is indeed excessive.

With 20 to 21 Origin Crystal of the same rank, plus the nearly half a year of cultivation he had already spent, he was able to break through from the initial stage to the middle stage.

So, what about later?

It's alright at lower levels, but once you reach higher levels, there's no way you'll have enough Origin Crystal to support your cultivation.

What will we do then?

Self-cultivation?

Assuming there are no bottlenecks, the time required for each stage doubles.

Fourth Tier: 3 years; 5th Tier 5: 6 years; 6th Tier: 12 years; 7th Tier: 24 years; 8th Tier: 48 years...

If one's lifespan doesn't increase as cultivation progresses, they might not be able to advance further and will die of old age.

If so, at what level?

7th Tier, Demigod?

Shen Heng's eyes narrowed slightly. He slowly raised his hand and made a few grasping motions in front of him.

No, perhaps lifespan will increase to some extent after breaking through to the Fourth Tier, but not by much.

Putting his hand down, Shen Heng began to ponder the events of the past month.

For the past month or so, the base has indeed been trying to limit the number of Calamity Beast in the Erosion Zone by bringing in a large number of people.

But this quantity seems to have an invisible boundary.

When the total number of people in the base remains below the boundary, the Calamity Beast usually don't react much.

However, once the number of people in the base increases, approaching or even exceeding this critical point, the beast tide will immediately arrive.

Its frequency, intensity, and strength are all approaching those of previous beast tides.

Conversely, when the base suffers casualties due to combat or voluntary rotations, and the number of personnel falls below that boundary.

The attacks of the Calamity Beast would then subside like the receding tide, turning into a low-intensity confrontation.

The attacks are mostly low-frequency, small-scale beast hordes.

After more than a month of silent negotiations, a strange and fragile balance has now formed in the Erosion Zone.

only...

Shen Heng lowered his eyes slightly.

This balance feels like it was deliberately given to us by Calamity Beast.

It seems that the Calamity Beast aren't too concerned about the large influx of humans into the Erosion Zone.

But for them, it would be better to occupy the Erosion Zone.

Was it because after that nuclear explosion, fearing that humanity would overturn the table, that they withdrew a portion of the supply?

Shen Heng pondered this with some uncertainty.

Just then, the wristband placed beside me vibrated slightly twice because I was asleep.

Ringing Sound sound followed.

"The meeting convened by the Chief of Staff will be held in thirty minutes. Please make the necessary preparations!"