From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

’Has my Longevity Realm soul reached its limit?’ Li Yang mused as he assessed his condition.

He could feel that no matter how much more he cultivated the Soul Chapter from the mysterious small sword, his soul wouldn’t improve any further.

Sensing this change, Li Yang returned to the World Tree and placed the fragment of the Fire Nether Divine Beast’s skin before it.

’Let’s see if this works.’

Li Yang took a deep breath. ’If this doesn’t work, then I’ll just create the Blazing Flame Bird avatar directly!’

This was the only method he had left to try. If it failed, Li Yang wasn’t going to wait any longer.

Inside the Soul Crystal, Soul Ink’s phantom projection floated out and said coolly, ”Li Yang, you haven’t given up yet? I already told you, a natural-born Deity can’t possibly be created... uh...”

As he was speaking, Soul Ink suddenly trailed off.

The World Tree vibrated faintly and absorbed the red skin fragment into its gestation space.

That final, unanalyzable trace from before was now being successfully parsed by the World Tree.

Then, within its gestation space, the aura of a new life began to slowly form.

”It worked!”

Sensing this change, a look of excitement instantly filled Li Yang’s eyes.

’It’s just as I thought! The cultivation technique from the mysterious small sword affects not only the number of avatars I can create, but also their level!’

He had actually managed to create an avatar of a Fire Nether Divine Beast, a natural-born Deity!

From this point on, Li Yang’s path to becoming a Deity was wide open, free of any bottlenecks!

”It actually worked? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”

At this moment, Soul Ink’s face was a mask of utter disbelief.

’The Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon avatar was already a miracle, but that could be explained. But what’s the deal with this natural-born Fire Nether Divine Beast?’

’The principle behind the World Tree creating avatars is that it can only create beings of a lower life-level than itself. Could it be that the life-level of Li Yang’s World Tree avatar now surpasses that of a natural-born Deity?’

For a moment, Soul Ink simply couldn’t comprehend it.

He looked at Li Yang, his gaze shifting slightly.

’Something’s up.’ In his eyes, this ordinary kid from Earth had suddenly become shrouded in mystery. It seemed he had a trump card that Soul Ink knew nothing about.

’Could it be that the World Tree’s ability to create avatars continuously isn’t due to a mutation, but because of some trump card of Li Yang’s that I’m unaware of?’ Soul Ink wondered silently.

He had cultivated for countless years. Even if he hadn’t noticed it before, he was now certain that there was more to Li Yang than met the eye.

There was nothing Li Yang could do about this.

Soul Ink was always with him; it was inevitable that some traces of his secrets would eventually be exposed.

However, Soul Ink still needed him to be resurrected, so he didn’t have to worry for the time being.

Right now, Li Yang’s eyes were filled with excitement.

’It’s just as I suspected. The World Tree’s ability to create avatars is because of the cultivation technique from the mysterious small sword! Did that technique raise the World Tree’s life-level? Or did it raise something else?’

Li Yang pondered this for a moment.

Although he didn’t quite understand it, his heart was filled with joy.

”Li Yang, you little brat, you’re hiding things deep, aren’t you? What trump card are you not telling me about?” Soul Ink stared at Li Yang from the side.

Hearing this, Li Yang smiled and said, ”I do have a few trump cards.”

Soul Ink kept staring at him, but Li Yang had no intention of elaborating.

Seeing this, Soul Ink immediately pursed his lips. ”Fine, don’t tell me.”

He didn’t press the issue. He also had plenty of things he had never told Li Yang.

Besides, if Li Yang could create a natural-born Deity avatar, it meant his growth rate would be even faster! And that meant the time until Soul Ink could emerge from the Soul Crystal would be even shorter.

After a moment’s thought, Soul Ink asked, ”Li Yang, how long will it take to create this Fire Nether Divine Beast avatar?”

Li Yang checked the connection for a moment. Inside the World Tree’s gestation space, the creation of the Fire Nether Divine Beast was proceeding much more slowly than the Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon.

He made an estimate and said, ”I’d guess at least a year.”

The octopus avatar took four hours to create, the Thunder Star Beast avatar took thirty-six days, and the Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon avatar took four months.

Now, creating the natural-born Fire Nether Divine Beast would take at least a year!

Soul Ink wasn’t surprised. He sighed wistfully, ”With this Fire Nether Divine Beast avatar, your Talent will be even greater. It’s very likely you’ll be able to catch up to Lan Yu and Mixed Void.”

Before, Li Yang’s cultivation speed was already at the very peak among the geniuses of the Human Race. And now, his speed would definitely increase again!

Hearing this, Li Yang also gave a faint smile.

’Lan Yu... Mixed Void...’

He thought of these two peerless geniuses, and a hint of fighting spirit appeared in his eyes.

He had been cultivating for a very short time, even shorter than Dilunxi. If they were to truly compete based on Talent over the same period, only Mixed Void and Lan Yu would likely surpass him. Other geniuses, like Dilunxi, would be no match for him at all.

And now, he was about to have a Fire Nether Divine Beast avatar!

With one natural-born Fire Nether Divine Beast avatar and two World Realm-level avatars—the Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon and the Thunder Star Beast—just how fast would his progress become?

...

Time flew by, and the day Li Yang was to leave Earth for the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall drew ever closer.

”Coastal City sure has changed.”

Li Yang and Zhou Yao were strolling through Coastal City, and Li Yang was looking at the surrounding buildings.

Before his departure, Li Yang had taken the rare opportunity to spend time with his family.

During Earth’s apocalypse, all of Coastal City had been reduced to ruins.

Later, when Candy and the main forces from the Milky Way Galaxy arrived and Earth made contact with the Cosmos, these ruined cities were quickly rebuilt.

However, Li Yang spent most of his time cultivating and, until now, had never properly explored the new Coastal City.

At a glance, Coastal City still looked as it once had, but a closer look revealed many differences.

”Of course, Li Yang. After making contact with the Cosmos, our architecture on Earth began to draw inspiration from what’s out there.”

Zhou Yao said with a smile, ”By combining the best features of various architectural styles, Coastal City was meticulously reconstructed.”

It was no joke; Coastal City was Li Yang’s hometown.

After the apocalypse, Earth became a free planet solely because of Li Yang.

If aliens had taken over, one could only imagine Earth’s current fate! It might have even been difficult for Li Yang to participate in the talent selection for the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall.

”Huh, Coastal City No. 1 High School is still here?” Li Yang said, looking at the school in the distance.

Zhou Yao smiled and said, ”Coastal City No. 1 is now one of the most prestigious high schools. You have no idea how many people want to study here.”

Li Yang had attended Coastal City No. 1 High School. On Earth, countless people idolized him, and the high school he had attended had become one of the most sought-after places on the entire planet.

The two of them continued to stroll, and Li Yang’s mind became completely calm. He wasn’t thinking about cultivation, feeling as if he had returned to that carefree era.

Back then, all he had to worry about was studying; he didn’t have to think about anything else.

According to the plan, he would have graduated and found a job.

No one could have ever expected life to take such a turn.