A seemingly deformed yet normal path of development.

Just as civilizations on the technological side are developing spaceships capable of traversing the universe, the people of this world are transforming their bodies with the spiritual power found on planets, gradually acquiring the ability to cross the universe and seek out new civilizations.

This is why, at the Mahayana Realm, every cell in the body must be filled with spiritual power.

Exploring the universe clearly requires accumulating enough energy.

But their path seems to have gone astray.

Most cultivators at the Mahayana Realm probably don’t realize how vast the distances between stars are.

The energy accumulated in their bodies is nowhere near enough for interstellar travel. Most cultivators who ventured into space likely perished.

Regardless, the sacrifices made by these pioneers for the sake of civilization’s future are indeed commendable…

…

Jixia Academy.

Luo Cang and Teacher Chunqi’s expressions soured as they looked at the reshuffled top ten rankings.

“How did he do it?” Teacher Chunqi paced back and forth. “Zuo Zhonghou was at Lan Ning Temple, Chi Shiwen at Heavenly Demon Palace. Both sects are guarded by Mahayana cultivators, far stronger than the supervisory institution. How could Wang Chong possibly take down two at once?”

“…” Luo Cang was full of doubts. “Is Wang Chong’s keyword really related to economics?”

“Looking at Wang Chong’s history, aside from industrial ventures to make money, what else has he done? If not an economic keyword, then what?” Teacher Chunqi said. “He exploited information asymmetries, regulated himself, and quickly amassed wealth, then accelerated his cultivation. With his high cultivation level, he launched a blitzkrieg…”

“But Lan Ning Temple and Heavenly Demon Palace have Mahayana cultivators,” Luo Cang pointed out. “Even if they’re in seclusion and don’t emerge, there are Body Fusion cultivators in place. It’s only been a bit over three months; no matter how fast Wang Chong cultivates, at best he’s reached the Divine Transformation Realm. There’s a two-level gap between that and Body Fusion Realm. Remember, we two in the top ten are only at the Golden Elixir Realm.”

“Old Luo, you can’t think like that. Wang Chong’s influence is greater than all of ours combined. His attributes must be off the charts. When he fought Dan Cong, he was already at the Divine Transformation Realm. With so much time passed, he must have reached the Void Refinement Realm,” Teacher Chunqi said.

“Void Refinement?” Luo Cang looked at Teacher Chunqi skeptically. “Aren’t you overestimating him? Even if he gnawed on spirit stones day and night, he couldn’t accumulate that much spiritual power!”

“If we treat him as if he’s at the Void Refinement Realm, won’t it be easier to fight him if we find out he’s only at the Divine Transformation Realm?” Teacher Chunqi chuckled. “Also, we can’t overlook Dan Cong by his side. When Wang Chong launched a surprise attack on the capital, Dan Cong summoned a black dragon. We weren’t there, so we can’t judge the dragon’s combat strength.

But it’s undeniable, Wang Chong’s rise is closely tied to Dan Cong. They have four skills between them, and their synergy is terrifying. That’s probably how they managed to kill Zuo Zhonghou at Lan Ning Temple…”

“So, to take down Wang Chong, we must first destroy the economic system he built. Next, eliminate Dan Cong,” Luo Cang analyzed. “Dan Cong has published a lot of poetry and articles in the capital; his keyword must be related to culture, easy to deduce.”

“Start with public opinion,” Teacher Chunqi said. “Jixia Academy has top scholars. By having the professors accuse Dan Cong of plagiarism, we can tarnish his reputation among the people, greatly diminishing his fame. If we publish a lot of classic poetry, we can also dilute his influence…”

“Mm,” Luo Cang agreed. “As for Wang Chong, I will pressure Yan Country through Heaven’s Path Institute to withdraw the supervisory institution’s protection of Seven Stars Mountain. Then, I’ll mobilize some experts to strike at Seven Stars Mountain and other small sects, completely annihilating them, causing widespread panic. Ideally, this will lead the public to sell off their shares en masse.”

“That’s not enough,” Teacher Chunqi said. “We can exchange spirit stones for a large amount of silver and manipulate the stock market with money. We’ll take the money from Wang Chong, and when his funding chain breaks, his projects will halt, and everything will naturally collapse.”

“Wang Chong controls the supervisory institution, and his cultivation speed is fast. He likely isn’t short on spirit stones,” Luo Cang frowned slightly.

“Regardless, we must try,” Teacher Chunqi smiled. “I’m planning to persuade Jixia Academy to go public and issue shares…”

“Mm, let’s act separately,” Luo Cang said. “If we don’t start moving, we’ll be defeated by Wang Chong one by one. I’ll visit Longevity Sect again to contact Yin Juntang.”

“Good, Brother Luo, go ahead,” Teacher Chunqi stood up and cupped his fists towards Luo Cang. “Once I’ve arranged things at Jixia Academy, I’ll send someone to Lan Ning Temple to find out what happened, then head to Bihai Palace to contact Niu Zilian and Qi Zongwang. Wang Chong is growing too fast; we need more allies to suppress him together…”

The two reached an agreement to join forces against Wang Chong, yet tacitly avoided asking about each other’s skills.

…

It wasn’t just Luo Cang and Teacher Chunqi who were on the move.

Many others who sensed the crisis were acting too. Du Ge was helping Lan Ning Temple’s people reattach arms, winning hearts and minds.

All over Yan Country, various uprisings erupted.

Many of Wang Chong’s project sites were sabotaged by cultivators, forcing work to stop;

Some bought up large amounts of shares, artificially inflating stock prices, then sold them off, causing panic;

Massive bloodshed occurred at stock exchanges, with supervisory institution cultivators publicly executed;

Sects under Wang Chong’s control were exterminated;

More newspapers sprang up like mushrooms after rain, listing the dangers of stocks…

…

Panic quickly spread throughout Yan Country.

The attacks and smears against Dan Cong’s poetry didn’t even make a splash. With people struggling to eat, who had time to appreciate poetry?

People feared their shares would become worthless and rushed to the exchanges to sell.

But soon, everyone realized no one was buying their shares.

Especially when Seven Stars Sect announced, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the exchange will temporarily close. Fellow shareholders, do not panic. Once the rebellion is quelled, we will reopen,” one by one, the stock exchanges shut down.

Shareholders were pushed to the brink of collapse.

At that moment, they didn’t even know who to sell their shares to.

Mortgage loans were out of the question.

Projects halted, and shares turned to waste paper…

Yan Country plunged into turmoil.

The government was flooded with cases against Seven Stars Sect and Wang Chong.

Wealthy businessmen like Fang Shan, who managed the stock market, were hounded by the public. They had no choice but to hide within the major sects, trembling with fear, yet powerless and complaining about Seven Stars Sect.

As stocks plummeted, their accumulated wealth shrank significantly.

All over Yan Country, people rose up in rebellion, unable to survive…

After all.

To buy shares, they had invested their life’s savings, even the wealth of several generations, and now they couldn’t go on.

Wang Chong’s commercial system collapsed in just over a dozen days.

…

While Alien Star warriors were showing off their supernatural powers and sabotaging Du Ge’s hard work,

Du Ge wasn’t idle either. With the cooperation of several Mahayana cultivators like Zhuo Shao’an, Hong Ren, and Hong Jie, he successively took over Heavenly Demon Palace and Bihai Palace, performing countless surgeries.

Now.

Kidney removal, kidney stitching, he could do it all with his eyes closed.

Along the way.

Du Ge made a detour to the Great Qing Country and decapitated the princess.

This added a warrior named Yan Shengtian to the top ten, a ranger unaffiliated with any sect.

The princess’s keyword was teaching, which allowed her to command her disciples with absolute obedience, enhance their comprehension, and share the spiritual power they cultivated for her own use.

A keyword that, in the later stages, could be invincible.

But Princess Mo Yingjun’s development was too slow.

When Du Ge found her, she had only shared the realm and spiritual power of one Body Fusion disciple, which should have been impressive.

Unfortunately, Du Ge’s development was unreasonable.

With Mahayana cultivation, even without using skills, he could easily take them down.

Moreover, those Alien Star Battlefield warriors foolishly sabotaged Du Ge’s industrial chain.

All the wealth he plundered didn’t have to be returned; Du Ge’s attributes had multiplied who knows how many times.

Before.

A flying sword enhanced by Dan Cong’s “Sharp” and “Edge” could still cut him. Now, they couldn’t even scratch his skin.

Du Ge had become the world’s foremost power.

At this point, Du Ge, by circulating energy in a full circle, could deplete the spiritual power of a medium-sized sect, not much slower than forcibly absorbing others’ power.

Now.

Du Ge fighting a Mahayana cultivator was like an adult fighting a child. In three to five rounds, he could strip the opponent clean, not leaving a single hair.

Of course.

Du Ge left the princess some dignity, not stripping her in public, simply decapitating her and then drifting away.

Stripping clothes was because he lacked strength; removing organs was to subdue the opponent.

With enough strength to overwhelm and the opponent having no value, Du Ge didn’t indulge in such cruelties; a clean elimination was sufficient.

The emperor of the Great Qing Country watched his daughter get killed, not daring to utter a harsh word, instead feeling fortunate that Du Ge didn’t vent his anger on his nation.

After Du Ge left, he immediately dissolved the women’s academy founded by Princess Mo Yingjun.

Niu Zilian and Qi Zongwang of Bihai Palace were also in the top ten, but when Du Ge arrived, Teacher Chunqi had coincidentally lured them away, resulting in Du Ge missing them.

It must be said.

The two were rather lucky.