Chapter 706: The Strongest Path Is Also the Hardest Path

The Wind‑Thunder Continent is also a graveyard of deities.

The thunder there represented the Thunder God, who has now truly turned to ash. Her fierce demeanor was unforgettable to Jiang Chen at a glance; that heart‑as‑ash, helpless sorrow shocked him.

Especially after learning the deities' past, Jiang Chen felt a pang of heartache.

Although they are merely deities, not members of the Human Race.

Yet they were the Human Race's earliest comrades, the beginning of this era. When facing crisis, they fought side by side with the Human Race.

Fallen fall, sleeping sleep,

Among the Human Race there were also sages who altered their bloodline and became deities. Most deities of that era became the Human Race's best comrades. Like the Human Race, they were born in this era, bearing its imprint and a sense of belonging.

Jiang Chen is the same; regarding the previous era, even though he is of the same race, Jiang Chen does not have a strong "607" feeling.

But toward the Human Race of this era, Jiang Chen has a different feeling.

It is the imprint of the era, the mark of an entire age.

Jiang Chen only realized this when his soul became a deity.

The Thunder God is dead, and the Wind God should also be sleeping within the Wind‑Thunder Continent.

He doesn't know which corner, and Jiang Chen has no intention of seeking it. Now there is no way to revive it; finding it would be futile and harmful.

So he lets it continue to sleep until he has the power to resurrect them, then he will awaken them.

This time, returning to the Wind‑Thunder Continent, Jiang Chen continues to target clusters of thunder trees and wind blossoms.

But Jiang Chen does not go after the thunder‑tree clusters in the Thunder‑Lightning Mountain Range; although that place has the most thunder trees, a terrifying presence also slumbers beneath the mountains.

It was the Thunder God's former mount, which fell into a deep sleep due to grievous wounds, and the place of its slumber was arranged by Antares.

There should be some connection between the two sides.

Regardless of the reason, Jiang Chen does not wish to trouble it again. He only attacks the Outer Perimeter's thunder‑tree clusters and the encountered wind‑blossom clusters. Though less efficient, it is enough for leveling.

The entire Wind‑Thunder Great Tree spans thousands of kilometers, and it is unknown how many thunder trees and wind blossoms there are in total.

For centuries, very few have ventured to subdue them, allowing their hordes to grow ever larger.

Now everything is at Jiang Chen's disposal, becoming his to claim. Experience begins to surge again; by Jiang Chen's estimate, it will take less than a day to level up from Level 79 to Level 80.

At that point, another qualitative leap will occur.

Level 80 will grant a new Skill, the level at which most professions acquire their most powerful Skill.

Level 90 is the Divine Level realm, which has no new Skills.

Level 80 is also the final chance for professions to awaken and master a new Skill. Almost every profession will pour everything into mastering the Level‑80 new Skill.

After Level 80, one begins to walk the path of becoming a deity.

It is also at Level 80 that many professions begin to engage with the soul.

They must perceive the soul, understand its essence, and elevate its tier. With a powerful soul they can touch the Skill space and locate the origin of the Skill,

Ultimately they extract the skill star core from the Skill space, converting ordinary Skills into soul‑Skills, which Antares calls a technique.

When a Skill is transformed into a technique, even with only a 1% fusion rate, a miraculous change occurs.

Increasing the Skill's power dramatically

in magnitude, making its effect entirely different.

When one reaches the pinnacle of Level 89, transporting and converting a single skill star core can achieve Half-step God-level.

Two skill star cores can truly ascend to Divine Level.

Then a whole new world will unfold.

However, merely two skill star cores and two source Skills are only the smallest Divine Level within the same tier.

Within the same tier, the more source Skills one has, the stronger they are.

Lao Hong and Yan Kuangsheng are both Level 95, each possessing three source Skills, making them somewhat stronger than the same‑level Ye Chen Shi.

And Li Xueru, because he is a dual‑profession Divine Level, inherently has four source Skills, giving him a clear combat advantage.

As for Jiang Chen, his path differs entirely from ordinary people. He must convert every skill star core into source Skills, and even extract three talents from the profoundly mysterious talent space.

Only then can he achieve a perfect Divine Level, possessing combat power beyond ordinary mortals, truly paving the way for future greatness.

Myriad arts, sharing the same origin, ultimately converge at the same endpoint.

Jiang Chen's gaze flickered faintly, his eyes heavy.

The Undead Legion is locked in battle, thunder trees are constantly being slain, and experience is soaring.

His leveling speed is hundreds of times that of other professionals,

Where others need a year, he only needs a day.

As long as there are enough monsters, leveling speed is no issue.

Jiang Chen does not concern himself with the battlefield; he is pondering Antares's words,

"The Human Race's methods of leveling are not singular; whatever the method, it is to reach the final endpoint."

"Each world's rules differ; in my world, the path I walk is the strongest path, also the hardest path."

"Only when I...

the road is completed, I can later enter the Great World and travel its roads more smoothly."

"But I have a premonition."

Jiang Chen looks up at the heavens, "My road will not be that simple."

As the leveling approaches, that suppressed feeling resurfaces.

The higher the level, the more pronounced the suppression.

It is a suppression even Antares cannot trace its source, indicating the origin tier is exceedingly high, surpassing Antares's own level.

When Jiang Chen once expressed this feeling to Antares, Antares thought Jiang Chen's perception was mistaken.

But now, Jiang Chen once again clearly felt the sense of suppression.

And he was absolutely certain that the suppression came from deep within his soul.

It was like a Curse, constantly Entangling him, rooted in the deepest part of his soul.

Only the level was too high; even now, Jiang Chen still couldn't locate its trace.

After countless groups of wind‑flower thunder trees were completely eradicated, a day later, a glow of upgrading began to emanate from Jiang Chen's body,

unlike any previous upgrade; this time the upgrade emitted golden light, thick and radiant, dazzlingly brilliant.

The golden light originated from the soul, radiated from the soul throughout the whole body, then seeped out through the skin.

Jiang Chen's entire body was enveloped by golden light, turning him into a golden figure.

Level 80 is a threshold, the threshold at which the Chinese scholar tree first lets out a chirp.

From this level onward, one must begin to deal with the soul.

The focus of cultivation shifts from monster‑slaying and leveling to soul comprehension,

Of course, monster‑slaying still needs to be done; monster‑slaying remains the source of gaining experience.

And experience is the soul's power.

This is the rule of the world, no one can avoid it, at least in

this world, it is just so.

Jiang Chen felt that, while upgrading, the soul's power suddenly surged by a great margin.

The magnitude of the increase surpassed several previous levels.

Even the total soul increase from the previous three levels was no more than this. Level 80 is a qualitative transformation, indeed.

Accompanied by the soul's elevation, Jiang Chen hovered while seated, beginning to comprehend. Others, at this level, must try to seek and touch the Skill space, requiring long trial and error, and may still fail.

But Jiang Chen was like a robber, kicking open the door of the Skill space, bringing down a massive soul power.