Before heading to the Rank 7 world, Wei Huan's vehicle had already been upgraded to Rank 8. At that time, he had just obtained the final materials and the assessment was looming. Therefore, instead of waiting to fill the vacancies created by the upgrade, he took a group of people to the Rank 7 world first.
The entire process went smoothly. Now, even the opening battle was over, and a massive amount of resources had been secured. At the very least, humanity would not lack supplies for the next three to five years.
The only trouble was the rules of the Challenge World: once a vehicle enters a higher-level world, it cannot return. To go back to a lower-level world, only the person can return, not the vehicle. Additionally, those who have already completed their assessment cannot participate again. Therefore, the 90,000 people who were about to fill the vacancies on Wei Huan's vehicle had to be personally powerful. They had to possess the ability to face the assessment alone.
Fortunately, while personal strength is difficult to improve quickly, as long as there are materials, a second high-level vehicle can be built through upgrades. A vehicle of sufficient level is enough for humans to hide in a "shell" and complete the 80th-line assessment as a baseline.
Of course, to prevent any accidents and to keep the benefits within their circle, Yake's vehicle did not follow Wei Huan's. Yake would serve as the leader for the 90,000 people on the Rank 7 assessment highway, leading them through the trial. Upgrading Yake's vehicle with those priceless materials was done without any hesitation.
When Wei Huan went to the Dark Beast Plane, Yake did not go. Not only did he skip the Dark Beast Plane, but because his progress was not synchronized with Wei Huan's vehicle, he couldn't participate in the opening battle either. However, after Wei Huan returned from the Dark Beast Plane, Yake's vehicle picked him up, accompanied him to two high-level ruins, visited the seabed, and was now picking up all the returning personnel to head back to the Beast World together.
With Wei Huan's full support, Yake's vehicle had completed most of its Rank 7 upgrades. Now, only the exterior crash bar and tires remained, plus a final full-vehicle upgrade. It was only three steps away from becoming a Rank 8 vehicle. While Dot Mom's combat power was high and her movement speed fast, the interior of a vehicle was undoubtedly more comfortable.
Although Wei Huan had spent his time searching for traces of Mofidi, traveling here and there, he had used these two weeks to get some good rest. Now that everyone was accounted for, the vehicle departed from the major city on the World Tree, heading straight for the Boundary Gate at the top of the tree. Soon, the vehicle passed through the gate and arrived in the Beast World.
Wei Huan did not plan to leave the Beast World anytime soon. This world was a vast treasure trove; even for him, there were many areas to improve, and the overall strength of humanity could not be raised in just a year or two. Rather than moving forward too quickly and creating a "train" that was too big to manage, it was better to stay here, accumulate strength, and wait for their overall power to increase before considering moving to a higher-level world.
Whenever he thought of the existence of Ancient Deities as terrifyingly massive as the one in the Dark Beast World, Wei Huan felt extreme awe toward the Rank 9 world. Who knew if there was a Rank 10 world above it? And who could say if these Ancient Deities would manifest and interfere in the Myriad Races Battlefield once they reached Rank 9?
There was another point of concern.
"The Dark Beast World is on the body of an Ancient Deity? What about our Blue Planet? As the opposing side, do we not have a backer?"
The crew members who returned together had all learned of their experiences in the Dark Beast World. When Liu Chengzhi came to deliver meals, he said with a disgruntled look, "Why do they have such a huge backer and we don't? Is our Blue Planet just a ball? And most importantly, haven't you noticed that Blue Planet is very small? It's smaller than any other world! Why do we not only lack a backer but also look like we were born with defects? Is God really this biased?"
This idea was quite interesting. Wei Huan was dining with Mu Zhong and invited Liu Chengzhi to sit down and chat. "Blue Planet is indeed small, but it might not be 'truly' small. After we repeatedly defeated the Dark Beasts, the Challenge World rewarded us with vast tracts of land. Blue Planet is now more than three times its original size."
Mu Zhong speculated, "If we could have won overwhelming victories in every opening battle from the beginning, by now, even if the planet's area didn't reach the level of the Dark Beast World, it would be close to half."
Liu Chengzhi didn't agree. "Was this land given to us? Or was it folded up and then returned? Is the wool coming off the sheep's own back? Otherwise, how could it fit so perfectly?" After a pause, Liu Chengzhi added, "They must have bullied our human race for not having a backer, plundered our land, and then returned it to us as a reward."
But Mu Zhong argued, "How does Blue Planet have no backer? Equipment of Platinum rank and above has suffixes; whether it's 'The Stars,' 'The Great Mage,' or 'The Titans,' these are all our backers. The Dark Beasts don't have equipment like we do; they can only recruit heroes through the Hero Temple, and those heroic spirits come from the Challenge World."
"Also," Mu Zhong suddenly looked at Wei Huan and said, "Speaking of which, I almost forgot. Do you think Chang Le's ability is Heroic Spirit Recruitment?"
Wei Huan usually enjoyed listening during these chats, but he was startled by the sudden question and fell into deep thought.
Heroic spirits naturally belong to the path of Death, but they are composed of unyielding will, enjoying the incense of the human world and possessing a noble spirit. They represent the light-facing side of the path of Death—the very part he had failed to grasp or comprehend. During this time, he had indeed been wondering what Chang Le had obtained. Why couldn't he understand Chang Le's Nether talent?
Now, reminded by Mu Zhong, it suddenly became clear.
Mu Zhong, unaware that his casual remark had enlightened Wei Huan, continued speaking to Liu Chengzhi: "Besides, I've always felt that Blue Planet is extraordinary, possessing secrets that are no less than those of the Dark Beast Plane. Think about it: if you were an outsider, like a Dark Beast, and you came to Blue Planet only to find myths and legends about high-level worlds everywhere—legends that have been passed down for thousands of years—what would you think?"
Liu Chengzhi tilted his head and blinked, then cursed blankly, "Holy crap! Don't tell me our Blue Planet is some birthplace of the gods or a Primal Star. That would be way too cool."
Mu Zhong smiled and continued, "And I've been thinking, does Blue Planet also have secrets waiting for us to explore?" He looked at Wei Huan and said, "So when I went back this time, I thought of this and arranged for people to investigate. I don't know if they'll find anything."
Wei Huan was still immersed in the concept of "Heroic Spirit" recruitment and merely nodded in response, saying casually, "Also, the gate at the East Sea Abyss should be built by now. Find someone to go and explore it."
"Okay."
---
Upon returning to the headquarters, although Wei Huan had many ideas, he did not immediately act on them. The most important task at hand was waiting for the trial results of the new members. This concerned the vital composition of the future vehicle. Even if Wei Huan usually stayed out of management, he had to handle this personally.
The first thing he did was open the trial map and ask the AI for the trial status.
Half a year had passed, and a total of 88,300 newcomers had participated in the assessment.
The first batch of 46,500 people completed their assessment a month ago. Among them, 46,229 passed, while 222 failed. For various reasons, they chose to withdraw mid-trial and had already been sent out of the Beast World. Additionally, 41 died and 8 went missing.
A mortality rate of 0.1% is actually very low for the Challenge World. After all, the people selected to come here were all "heaven-chosen" geniuses with high strength and intelligence. As long as they weren't greedy for glory, they wouldn't have major problems dealing with Rank 4 or 5 beasts.
Among these 46,229 people, nearly 45,000 had reached a level where they would not be defeated in a one-on-one fight against a beast of the same rank. Since humans are naturally weaker and only started encountering supernatural powers eleven years ago, they were initially weaker than beasts of the same rank when stripped of their vehicles. Wei Huan categorized this level as Grade B or C.
Additionally, 208 people had comprehended the Grade A "True Self." In just half a year, their strength had leaped, giving them the combat power to take on ten enemies of the same rank simultaneously. 5 people obtained the Grade S "True Self," allowing them to kill beasts one rank higher with relative ease.
Finally, two people actually awakened the Grade SS "True Self."
Wei Huan had the AI pull up their profiles. The photos looked familiar. Looking at the names, Wei Huan suddenly understood.
One was a woman whom Wei Huan had met a few years ago and traveled with for a while. She was Jiang Yue, the "Life Angel" who was known in his previous life as the "Team-Wipe Nemesis." Before Xia Yu, Jiang Yue was originally supposed to be arranged on his vehicle to advance, but Wei Huan's speed of upgrading worlds was too fast. Jiang Yue had other arrangements at the time and couldn't join his vehicle. Eventually, Xia Yu became the ace healer of his vehicle.
Now that he had stayed in the Rank 6 world long enough, the second echelon of talent had caught up. Jiang Yue was among them. She had quietly signed up, passed the review, and participated in the assessment.
A "Destined One" is clearly fated for greatness. In the previous life, after Jiang Yue died, she transformed into an Archangel and stood before the walls of the Dark Beast royal city for three days and three nights, burning her soul to bring down a healing rain, saving countless lives. Wei Huan was one of the beneficiaries. In the end, humanity was defeated by the Dark Beast Lords and wiped out; she let out a final sigh as her soul was extinguished.
Now, Wei Huan had changed the fate of humanity, so Jiang Yue didn't have to die. After coming to the Beast World, she awakened the "Angel True Self," possessing the ability to enter the Archangel state at any time and heal a massive amount of health within a 300 \ 300 cubic meter range for all allies within a ten-mile radius. In other words, ten miles away, she could continuously heal Wei Huan's vanguard squad. As long as her spiritual power was sufficient and the enemy wasn't strong enough to one-shot Xu Qingqiang and the others, they wouldn't die with her around.
This ability was game-breaking—a divine tool for the battlefield that could protect an entire army. However, the ability Jiang Yue used was a Holy-type spell, which was likely incompatible with Wei Huan's Dark-type undead army.
It was a great pity. Wei Huan sighed inwardly and turned his gaze to the next profile of the newcomer who awakened the SS-grade True Self. Upon seeing the person clearly, he felt a surge of emotion.
Wei Huan had not met this person in this life, but he was no stranger. In his previous life, this man was incredibly famous; for a long time, the media and news were filled with his name: Frank Garland.
A member of the Garland family from Aosam, he was the one who won the overall Newbie Championship of Wei Huan's year in the previous life. Because of his outstanding looks, immense family wealth, and noble birth, he was regarded as the dream lover by young girls worldwide. After winning the championship, Frank Garland, like other newcomers, vanished for two years. He returned to the Challenge World only after digesting the gains from becoming a Challenger.
Moreover, because of his wealthy background, purchasing vehicle materials or awakening potions was never a problem. By the time Wei Huan heard news of him again, he was already a young captain for Aosam in the Rank 4 world. At that time, Wei Huan had just graduated from A-Challenger University and returned to the Challenge World as a green rookie, struggling from the Rank 2 world—there was no comparison.
After that, Frank Garland's name often appeared before Wei Huan. He defended cities in the Challenge World, participated in land reclamation, and fought on the Great Battlefield. The year he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, humanity was already being suppressed by the Dark Beasts. The military situation on the Great Battlefield was extremely urgent. Countries drafted young people for the front, and Frank Garland served under Yake. While he didn't hold up half the sky like Yake did to become a pillar of humanity, he was equally famous as an excellent officer fighting for his mission and faith. Finally, he sacrificed himself on the battlefield, sleeping alongside the billions of heroic spirits.
Humans can be terrible; when there are no external enemies, they create conflicts and fight each other to the death. But conversely, when an external enemy is strong and humanity is on the brink of extinction, countless heroes will step forward, forming a wall of flesh and blood at the very front. At that time, there are no national differences or ethnic barriers; they have only one name—"Human"!
"Keep Jiang Yue's status on hold for now. Assign Frank Garland to the combat group led by Klitov; he can report today," Wei Huan arranged directly.
Mu Zhong nodded beside him. "Frank is a Rank 6 Gardener: King of the Forest. Also, in this trial, he obtained the recognition of the Nature Spirits. His six transformations have all reached the King level. While his combat power isn't as high as Qiang-ge's, his defense isn't as good as Captain Xue's, and his stealth isn't as great as Hammer-ge's, he isn't weak. Relying on his Druid shapeshifting abilities, he can easily control a portion of the battlefield. He's more than capable of acting as a 2T (off-tank) or second-attacker for the squad. This significantly increases the error tolerance of our main combat team."
After saying this, Mu Zhong paused and said, "I didn't expect someone from the Garland family to come. That family has staggering wealth and their secret control over Aosam is no less than that of the Hodgson family. He could have stayed behind as a wealthy socialite, but he chose to come to our reclamation army. And this Frank Garland is the legitimate heir to that family."
Mu Zhong frowned. "I'm more concerned about his identity passing the review than his SS-grade True Self. Don't be in a hurry to arrange things; let me find out who gave the green light first."
Wei Huan said, "It was probably Uncle Mu."
Mu Zhong raised an eyebrow. "My dad? How do you know?"
Wei Huan replied, "With such a special identity, he wouldn't be sent up without Uncle Mu's approval. You can ask, but there shouldn't be any problem with him."
Mu Dehao had always been a righteous and fair man. Moreover, he was not just guarding his son's and son-in-law's vehicle, but the gate of the "Humanity Lighthouse." In such a place and such a critical position, there could be no personal favoritism. Even political considerations were secondary. Loyalty was always the primary factor. For Frank Garland to be here, Mu Dehao must have given it deep thought and verified him.
Furthermore, in his heart, Wei Huan trusted Frank's character. Regardless of his origin or birth, one sees a person through their actions. When humanity was in danger, Frank chose to die fighting rather than flee, perishing alongside Yake. Such a person has a firm heart and an honest nature, deserving of responsibility. Moreover, Wei Huan strongly advocated for "Blue Planet Unification." As a representative of the Aosam elite, having Frank on the vehicle also offered political strategic benefits. Of course, the former was the main point.
About two hours later, Wei Huan met the person who had left a deep impression on his memory.
The blond-haired, blue-eyed Frank was a very traditional image of Aosam, as was Yake. Of course, the two were distinct individuals. Yake was elegant, tall, and handsome, looking more like the heir to a great family. Frank was athletic, with firm and confident eyes, radiating a sunny and healthy vibe. It was said he was the captain of the football team in university and excelled in many sports; his combat skills were also extremely strong.
While Wei Huan was observing him, he was also observing Wei Huan. Then he spoke, "In the past three years, I flew to Daxia several times wanting to meet you, but I could never manage it."
Wei Huan sat behind the Commander-in-Chief's desk. He didn't even shift his posture, remaining upright against the chair. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why did you want to see me?"
Frank replied, "At first, I wanted to see the person who beat me. Later, I wanted to see a selfless person I couldn't understand. Finally, I just wanted to see the one who changed the fate of the human race by his own strength and led humanity toward the goal." After saying this, Frank placed his hand over his heart and knelt on one knee, using an ancient etiquette. His azure eyes looked straight at Wei Huan with admiration. He said, "I hope to use my surname, my actions, and even my life to swear fealty to you. The Garland family will become your most loyal supporters, your sword, and your shield."
Wei Huan looked at Frank silently, saying nothing. He didn't seem surprised. Wise people always know how to choose, especially now that he had reached such a height. If those families still arrogantly thought they could remain transcendent, they would only be abandoned by the times. Aosam had been in a standoff with Daxia in the past, and even though Wei Huan had reached this stage, some ancient families were still stubbornly resisting.
Of course, it was also possible that those families lacked Frank's determination or the ability to walk before Wei Huan and surrender face-to-face. The current Wei Huan was already hard to see.
But it must be said that Frank, as the first from an Aosam family to express a stance, indeed held a different weight in Wei Huan's heart. This was a good start, representing the bowing of old powers. Once there was a first, there would be a second. Furthermore, since Frank brought his family to surrender, Aosam would no longer be a difficult issue. To fulfill today's promise, he would certainly lobby Aosam, as well as the major European families in Tula and Liba.
Slowly, Wei Huan's idea of "Blue Planet Unification" would eventually prevail. From then on, there would be no distinction between countries on Blue Planet. With a population of nearly 4 billion, once unified in allocation, training, and warfare, the Myriad Races Battlefield would be within their reach!
Wei Huan truly hadn't expected such a surprise. Klitov arrived upon hearing the news and took Frank away. Frank had strength, talent, a good level of favorability from Wei Huan, and a family as a backer. Now, he only needed military merit to truly secure a place on this "Humanity Lighthouse" vehicle. Wei Huan decided to include Frank in recent missions. After all, the vehicle was about to add 90,000 people, which would create many new management positions. There should be a place for someone like Frank.
After that, Wei Huan met 5 more S-grade newcomers. Two were from Daxia, and the others were from various other countries. Daxia was, after all, the first country to focus on training newbie talent, and it was now the time for that accumulated potential to burst forth. In terms of talent selection, the number of Daxia candidates equaled the sum of all other countries.
As for the 208 Grade A newcomers, they were left for Mu Zhong to meet. After all, although this level was one in a hundred, who among the advanced Challengers on Wei Huan's vehicle wasn't one in a hundred? In Wei Huan's eyes, they didn't count for much yet. If they were truly capable and made a name for themselves on the vehicle, Wei Huan would find out sooner or later. Meeting them individually then would be a minor matter; targeted training, as he was doing with Frank, was perfectly normal.
Five days later, the second batch of newbie assessments was completed. This time, exactly 40,000 candidates participated. There were 122 deaths, 530 eliminations, 88 Grade A awakenings, and 2 Grade S awakenings. There were no Grade SS awakenings. The overall quality was a step down from the first batch. After all, those selected for the first batch in the Rank 6 world were the cream of the crop—a pool of talent accumulated over ten years by the Challenge World. The 50,000 chosen from them were top-tier talents picked from thousands. Thus, the second batch couldn't compare, and this trend was destined to continue as the talent pool was limited.
However, in this batch, there was one person evaluated with a "Grade SSS" True Self.
When Wei Huan saw Chang Le's name in a separate folder handed to him, he wondered why Chang Le was Grade SSS. The report stated that Chang Le had obtained the heroic spirit of a Rank 7 Great Demon. In his Magic Pattern state, his personal combat power could reach a level close to a Rank 7 Great Demon. This meant he could fight a crowd of Rank 6 beasts with relative ease. This was also confirmed; Wei Huan had personally tested him, and in his Magic Pattern state, Chang Le could fight 300 Rank 6 Two-Headed Stealth Demons alone.
Additionally, Chang Le had a Knight state, which was a semi-burst state. He could ride on a Bull Demon and fight for a long time without entering a weakened state easily. His combat power was roughly S-grade, meaning he could kill monsters above his own rank.
However, the report also mentioned that the reason for giving Chang Le the "SSS" evaluation was entirely because he also belonged to the Nether system. By controlling Heroic Spirits in battle, his combat power would increase further within Wei Huan's Nether Domain, and there would be no side effects.
Wei Huan's current strength was very high, and the Nether Domain was quite lethal to people of other systems. Under his domain, only those main squad members whose strength closely trailed his and who possessed exceptional talent could remain relatively composed—but they were only compatible, not perfectly attuned. As for young newcomers, they would be lucky to survive within Wei Huan's domain, let alone fight.
Therefore, Chang Le—who possessed a high-quality True Self and belonged to the Nether system, allowing him to thrive within Wei Huan's domain—appeared extremely extraordinary.
SSS-grade. This kid truly was about to ascend to the heavens in a single bound.