After deactivating the remote projection and returning to his room, Han Xiao opened his eyes, looked at the familiar scenery, and exhaled.
"Mabrus has quite a few ideas about the Beyond Grade A Association... No wonder, in his position, it's incompetent not to have ideas, and he needs some achievements right after taking office."
Han Xiao shook his head.
Urranrell is definitely better. It's a pity that muscle-bound guys will be all the rage from now on, and I'll just have to adapt.
The decades-long honeymoon period between the two sides was a crucial factor in the rise of the Black Star Army. To accommodate all parties, the Empire could not take it back. Even if Mabrus had his own ideas about him, he could only grit his teeth and accept the cooperation agreement signed by his predecessors. Therefore, Han Xiao did not need to worry about Mabrus's attitude at all. Even if there were no other benefits in the future, these agreements would be enough.
Since you can't renege on your debt anyway, let's just continue to make do.
While pondering this problem, Han Xiao left the office and went to the confidential area of the Black Star Palace, entering a highly secure practical training room.
Ding ding ding--
As soon as he entered, he saw a tall mecha warrior fighting against a pair of virtual opponents, each step he took causing the room to tremble.
Upon seeing Han Xiao, the mecha warrior stopped and stood respectfully with his hands at his sides.
Han Xiao smiled and said, "You're quite hardworking. Come out and let me see what level you've reached now."
The mech split open along its center line, revealing its user inside: the expressionless Rotel.
Since assassinating the leader of the Modo, Rotel has been kept hidden by Han Xiao and has been training diligently. This mecha is a training aid specially made by Han Xiao for martial artists. It has no combat capabilities, but instead places an extremely high load on the user to enhance the training effect.
Nearly ten years have passed, Rotel's strength has continued to improve, becoming increasingly profound. He is vastly different from those cadres who are stuck at the Calamity Grade and cannot make any progress. It is evident that his potential has not yet been fully exploited, Han Xiao has high hopes for him.
Han Xiao raised his hand, golden arcs of electricity dancing on his fingertips, and pressed it against Rotel's shoulder, sending a powerful surge of electricity into Rotel's body.
Rotel's body jolted, but he endured the discomfort and let Han Xiao deliver the electric shock.
After a while, Han Xiao withdrew his hand, glanced at the triggered battle information, and smiled, "Your strength has improved since the last test, but your stamina is still a weakness that needs to be addressed..."
He spoke at length, and Rotel listened attentively, occasionally noting down Han Xiao's suggestions on his cultivation schedule.
This is an auxiliary cultivation method that Han Xiao devised based on his own characteristics. By viewing the other person's attributes through the panel, he can then offer guidance on their training direction. Because the attributes are readily available, he can often provide constructive suggestions, not only giving the other person a goal to strive for, but also allowing them to clearly see the degree of improvement in their strength over a period of time, providing positive feedback and thus making them more motivated to train.
In this way, he can help others grow. Han Xiao has used this method on some important cadres over the years. Rotel has benefited from it, so he cherishes the opportunity to be guided by Han Xiao.
After giving his opinion, Han Xiao patted Rotel on the shoulder and smiled, "Practice hard, maybe you'll be the next Beyond Grade A in the legion. If you want to go out on your own and establish your own power base then, I'll support you."
Rotel shook his head. "I will always be your blade in the darkness."
Even if he could become Beyond Grade A, he would still need Han Xiao's guidance. Rotel was grateful for this. He was not a heartless person; otherwise, he would not have joined the legion in the first place to repay Han Xiao's kindness.
"It's good that you have the intention."
Han Xiao was quite pleased, gave a few words of advice, and then left the room.
Following the base passage to another room, Aurora was sitting cross-legged, radiating life energy, exercising her strength. Upon seeing Han Xiao, she happily rushed over.
Snap!
Han Xiao reached out and pressed her head down, blocking her from view. He said helplessly, "Be more reserved. How old are you? On Planet Aquamarine, you'd be old enough to be someone's grandmother."
"Hmph, mind your own business, I... ptooey, I'm forever eighteen!" Aurora became unhappy. Let's not talk about age, we can still be good friends.
"Alright, let me see how you're developing... cough, how's your growth going?" Han Xiao flicked an electric arc in his fingers and poked Aurora on the forehead.
The panel displayed combat attributes. Han Xiao glanced at the energy level and strength, and nodded secretly.
For the past decade, Aurora has been reaping the benefits of the Holy Light Seed, constantly accumulating energy. The fact that she has no bottlenecks is a terrifying characteristic, and her strength has been steadily increasing.
Aurora doesn't even need to develop her own abilities much, because the information left in her powers by the two sisters from the previous generation is equivalent to a pre-developed skill tree, which she directly inherited.
'That's what cheating looks like! This is cheating!'
Han Xiao felt a pang of envy.
He hadn't been idle during this time; he had been eyeing life energy and had already used the [Energy Analysis] opportunity on Aurora once.
As he had predicted, he could control this special energy for the duration of the character card, but lost the ability after that time. However, he retained some understanding of the essence of life energy, which would help him with his research.
The [Perfect Energy Affinity Physique] derived from Gaud played a role here, greatly improving Han Xiao's efficiency in analyzing life energy. Although creating life energy using mechanical means is still extremely difficult, he has already found a direction for research.
However, Han Xiao's current research focus is still on Jess's technological treasure, which is the most cost-effective research project. He won't spend too much time researching anything else before he has fully extracted the essence of Jiebach.
The thought flashed through his mind, and Han Xiao withdrew his hand, smiling, "You've been working quite hard lately, not much worse than your sister."
Upon hearing this, Aurora beamed with joy; she loved hearing Hila, Dragon Emperor, or Han Xiao praise her the most.
Just then, Aurora suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, my sister told me a few hours ago that she wanted me to call you to the Netherland Dimension. It seems there's something going on. Why don't you go and take a look?"
"Then why are you only telling me now?" Han Xiao glared at him.
"It was my sister who said that. She said if you're busy, she'll let you know later, since it's nothing urgent." Aurora muttered softly, tapping her fingertips together.
"I know, she's probably just asking for a beating. Alright, I'm going to go beat her up now. You're free to do this."
Han Xiao waved his hand, activated his Sovereign, and vanished abruptly.
In a flash, they found themselves in the Netherland Dimension.
Compared to my last visit, the area of Netherland seems to have expanded considerably.
Where are they?
Han Xiao glanced around but didn't see Hila, so he stomped his foot on the ground.
"Come out, Earth Goddess!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Onicelu emerged from underground, looking utterly helpless.
She didn't know what Han Xiao meant by those words, but that didn't stop her from understanding what he meant. She was speechless at Han Xiao Han Xiao's perverse sense of humor.
"You've finally arrived. Hila has been waiting for you."
"Where is she? Let's start fighting already. I brought all the tools. Let's finish this quickly; I have things to do back home." Han Xiao pulled out a bunch of lethal weapons, looking around.
Onicelu, "I'm not looking for a fight. The Netherland was completely repaired yesterday, Hila plans to awaken all the Heroic Spirits. Worried about accidents, I'm asking you to witness this together."
"Oh, I see."
Han Xiao's eyes lit up. He waved his hand to put away his weapon and secretly calculated that, given Hila's charging rate, it would indeed take nearly ten years to repair the Netherland.
He still remembered that he had a mission called [Netherland's Successor]. As long as the Netherland was restored to its former glory, he would receive the reward [Netherland Brand], which would allow him to mobilize the power of the Netherland to a certain extent and also send the dead into the Netherland.
"The heroic spirits are all slumbering within my source energy core. Hila is already waiting there. Take my hand, and I'll take you there too." Onicelu raised her arm.
Han Xiao grabbed Onicelu, and the next second he felt a spatial distortion force erupt around him. Then, his vision blurred, and he found himself in a space that resembled an underground cave.
In the center of the cave was an energy sphere emitting a hazy white light, its surface covered with dark red patterns, like blood vessels, which were still slightly twisting.
This is the core of the Netherland's energy source. Only with the guidance of a dimensional consciousness can one easily enter. The outer Netherland is like Onicelu's skin, but only by arriving here can one be said to have entered her body.
This was Han Xiao's first time entering, while Hila had been in and out countless times. She was sitting next to the energy core with her eyes closed, resting. As soon as Han Xiao arrived, she sensed his presence, opened her eyes, and came to greet him.
Shall we begin now?
Since they were already so familiar with each other, Hila didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point.
Seeing Han Xiao nod, Hila unleashed dark red death energy from her palm, which flowed into the source energy core. Onicelu beside her, also manipulated the Netherland to cooperate.
Buzzing--
A slight tremor spread outwards, and the energy core grew increasingly dazzling.
Until the field of vision was filled with intense light, an enormous beam of light suddenly shot into the sky, piercing through the thick earth of the Netherland and shooting into the gray sky.
Han Xiao looked up at the pillar of light and, through his keen observation, discovered that blurry figures shot into the sky along with the pillar. In his perception, one after another, mental fluctuations appeared out of thin air.
The beam of light stretched out, striking the inner wall of the Netherland Dimension and spreading in all directions, looking like a Frenzied Sword Fried Rice fountain that reached the heavens and the earth. One by one, the awakened heroic spirits turned into a rain of light and fell onto the Netherland.
This process lasted for more than ten minutes. Soon, the desolate Netherland became bustling with activity. The once deserted land was now filled with the figures of heroic spirits.
The light on each heroic spirit slowly faded, and they looked almost indistinguishable from living beings. They were all bewildered, looking around, seemingly still recovering from their long slumber.
"Everything is going well, let's go see them."
Onicelu a sigh of relief and took to the air first, with Hila pulling Han Xiao close behind.
The three flew into the sky, and all the Heroic Spirits sensed it, looking up and seeing the familiar Onicelu. Almost everyone showed a look of reminiscence.
Before long, seven extraordinary heroic spirits soared into the sky and surrounded the three of them.
"Onicelu, has the Netherland been restored? Have Nigos and Aios returned?!" one of the Heroic Spirits asked impatiently.
"Yes, they've recovered, but not as two sisters. Let me introduce them. This is Hila, the new Death Dominion. She inherited Nigos's abilities and is now the new master of the Netherland."
Onicelu the initiative to introduce them to each other, then pointed to the seven Heroic Spirits in front of her and said:
"These seven are the seven Heroic Spirit King of the Netherland, all of whom were Beyond Grade A in life, making them the seven most powerful beings in the Netherland."
Upon hearing this, Han Xiao looked at the seven people in front of him. They were all the First Ones to leave their names in history, and he couldn't help but nod in approval.
No wonder those Revived from the Sanctum Organization said that few people in the Exploration Era would dare to provoke the Sisters of Life and Death. They can summon seven Beyond Grade A beings in a fight, and they are all immortal. Who can withstand that?
Even in modern times, such combat power would be among the top tier in the universe.
However, before Onicelu could finish speaking, what she said next made Han Xiao's heart skip a beat.
"Although the Netherland is a place of rest for the free, there are too many heroic spirits. In the past, to facilitate management, we established an organizational structure with the help of seven Heroic Spirit King. Under their jurisdiction, there are a total of 3,600 Calamity Grade heroic spirits, 1.08 billion Grade B heroic spirits, and tens of billions of other heroic spirits. This is the entirety of the Netherland's inhabitants."
Han Xiao instinctively gasped.
WDNMD! So many souls?!
Your family must run a hellish place!
There are so many superhumans! That's 3,600 Calamity Grade beings! They'd be a terrifying force capable of overturning any region! If it weren't for players, the Netherland would probably be the most terrifying undead army ever formed!
This number alone indirectly reveals just how intense the Exploration Era War was. Some of the spirits were collected by the two sisters themselves, while others were people who voluntarily requested to enter the Netherland to gain eternal life.
Just as he was secretly surprised, the seven Heroic Spirit King were examining Hila. Sensing the death power emanating from her, they knew that Onicelu's words were true, and their expressions immediately became uncertain.
They were content to serve the two sisters, but now they had a new master, which they were reluctant to accept, yet they had no choice in the matter, leaving them in a dilemma.
However, their willingness to enter the Netherland for eternal life shows that they valued their own lives more than serving others, so they didn't hesitate for long and convinced themselves. Besides, the suicides of Nigos and Aios had truly wronged the heroic spirits who believed in the two sisters, and they all harbored resentment.
At this moment, the seven Heroic Spirit King turned to look at Han Xiao, their faces showing confusion.
"Who is this guy? Could he be the new Life Dominion?"
"No, my name is Black Star, actually I..."
Han Xiao was interrupted by Hila before he could finish introducing himself.
Hila spoke softly:
"I am your boss. Black Star is my boss. You can call him Boss. Now you are all his subordinates."
"What's wrong with you?" Han Xiao asked in surprise.
Hila turned to look at him, her tone softening slightly, "My power is your power, and these heroic spirits are at your command."
"I am indeed quite touched by what you said, but..." Han Xiao pointed to the seven Heroic Spirit King with unfriendly expressions and said helplessly, "Don't be so blunt. Consider their feelings."
They're at least the First Ones who made a name for themselves; you're giving them away like merchandise. Don't they have any pride?
One of the hot-tempered Heroic Spirit King immediately became angry and said in a deep voice, "New Netherland Dominion, it is true that we are under your control, but you must also respect us. Even your predecessor did not dare to speak to us like this... I'll let it go this time, but don't let it happen again."
But we will never obey anyone else's orders. You already have us, and you are virtually invincible in the universe. You no longer need to serve anyone. If you wish, we will take down this guy called Black Star immediately and let him do whatever he wants with you!
Han Xiao immediately became unhappy.
That bastard, the moment he appeared, he tried to sow discord between me and Hila. If it weren't for the fact that you don't have a physical form, I would have beaten you so badly that you'd be unable to take care of yourself and would have to rely on a catheter to eat for the rest of your life.
Hila frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Shut up. If you don't want to do it, you can get lost. We can just let you continue sleeping and never wake up."
The seven Heroic Spirit King froze, exchanging bewildered glances.
Even the two former sisters treated them with great courtesy and wouldn't offend them, because they were in control of their own bodies during battle. The two sisters could only temporarily revive them and couldn't control them to fight, so they could simply go through the motions without putting in any real effort.
But this new master is completely unreserved, as if he doesn't care about their power at all. Even if it offends them, he still wants to back up his boss... You're Beyond Grade A whose strength has skyrocketed! Do you have to be such a sycophant?!
The seven men's suspicious gazes darted back and forth between the two men, then suddenly they seemed to realize something, and their expressions became ambiguous.
Hey, we've seen it all. In this situation, either someone owes you a favor, or you've slept together, which is why you're so devoted.
At this moment, Onicelu up to smooth things over, saying, "You have been asleep for too long, many eras have passed. This Black Star is one of the strongest beings in the universe right now. Even if you all attacked together, you might not be able to defeat him... Moreover, currently, the Netherland only has the Death Dominion, and the Life Dominion is still growing, so you cannot possess physical bodies and have no combat power."
Upon hearing this, the seven immediately abandoned their idea of confronting him head-on. True men know when to yield and when to stand firm, and they laughed in a mocking manner.
"Hahaha... we were just joking with you."
"Yeah, don't take it so seriously."
"This Black Star brother is clearly a talented individual with a bright future; it would be our honor to serve him."
"That's right, that's right! If we weren't temporarily unable to recover, we'd immediately put on a show and showcase our talents!"
Han Xiao squinted, his lips twitching.
Is this what it means to follow one's heart?
What kind of bullshit Heroic Spirit King is this? It sounds impressive, but to avoid staying in his slumber, he's abandoned all integrity. I shouldn't have had any expectations after all!
Although he had many complaints about the personalities of these Heroic Spirit King, he had to admit that the power of the Netherland was immense. This was the greatest legacy left by the two former sisters, and the abilities of life and death were more like the keys to unlocking that legacy.
Currently, Aurora hasn't reached Beyond Grade A yet. Although the power of the Netherland is terrifying, it's something that can be observed but not used. Moreover, the revival process consumes energy and has a time limit.
Compared to the Sanctuary Revival, the most distinctive feature of the Netherland is that it accepts all comers, not just those of Beyond Grade A, and their strength is not significantly weakened.
However, the drawbacks are also obvious. They can only be forever dependent on the Netherland Dominion, losing their freedom. Their fate is intertwined with the ruler's, becoming his vassals.
While the group was chatting, countless heroic spirits on the ground also came to their senses and began to use source energy to transform the Netherland.
On the once barren black land, buildings rose up one after another, restoring the former scene and making the Netherland quickly regain its prosperous atmosphere.
Just then, Han Xiao's control panel showed some activity.
[[The Netherland's Successor] is complete!]
[You gained 50 million experience points, Onicelu's favorability increased by 20]
[You have obtained the [Character Summon Card - "Netherland" Onicelu]]
[Character Summon Card - "Netherland" Onicelu: [Source of Ten Thousand Souls] - Immune to all mental attacks, absorbs them, and replenishes energy and health. Maximum number of uses: 0/1]
[You have completed the additional task requirements]
[Onicelu's favorability +40]
[You have gained a new skill: [Netherland Brand]!]