Chapter 452: The Willpower of All Beings

What changes will occur within the Immortal Prison over eight years?
The vast world of the Immortal Prison had long since settled down, with prosperity, peace, and thriving vitality everywhere. After all, having just moved to a completely unfamiliar world, whether it was the cultivation sects or the various nations of the secular world, no one had the energy to engage in conflicts or disputes. The entire world was in its initial stage of peace.

Thousands of cultivation sects of various sizes had already established their own bases, with power structures roughly similar to those in the cultivation realm of Qi Yuan Star at that time. More than 30 million cultivators quickly adapted to this new environment and world.

In particular, Su Che bestowed abundant cultivation resources on the twenty-eight super sects or tribes—resources that came from Wu Huang Star, of course.

Su Che thought clearly: With such a large amount of resources, he alone could never use them all, and even if Tian Xuan Zong joined forces, they would still not be exhausted. If left unused and piled up idly, it would be a huge waste. It was better to distribute them among the various sects, enabling them to produce more cultivators at the Golden Core stage, Yuan Ying stage, or even the Hua Shen stage…

In the original cultivation realm of Qi Yuan Star, there were over 600 cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage, among whom 32 were already at the later stages of Yuan Ying. These 32 individuals possessed exceptional innate talents, mostly with Heavenly Spirit Roots, as well as great wisdom and perseverance. If they could be born in the Spirit Realm and advance to the Hua Shen stage or even the Lian Xu stage, it would almost be inevitable.

With the support of the natural laws of the Immortal Prison world, if they could advance to the Hua Shen stage, it would strengthen Su Che’s own power. When necessary, he could release large numbers of Hua Shen-stage subordinates from the Immortal Prison to assist him in overcoming enemies.

It was because he understood this relationship so well that Su Che generously distributed countless resources among the sects and assigned them seemingly strict tasks, such as: “Within a certain number of years, your Wan Gui Sect must have someone reach the Hua Shen stage; within the same period, your Huan Mo Sect must produce a certain number of cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage and several at the Golden Core stage…”

Su Che did not want the cultivators in the Immortal Prison world to be too lazy or idle. Therefore, he had to create more pressure on them, forcing them to keep progressing. Those fortunate enough to embark on the path of cultivation deserved to be pushed harder…

On the other hand, toward ordinary people, Su Che, the ruler of the Immortal Prison, was filled with kindness. Over these eight years, no natural disasters of any kind had occurred in the world of the Immortal Prison; all regions enjoyed favorable weather and abundant harvests. On this already extremely fertile land, people could get whatever they needed—wind when they wanted it and rain when they prayed for it—ensuring that their most basic needs for food and shelter were fully met. As for praying for rain, almost every village had a “Water God Temple.” When the villagers calculated that their crops needed watering soon, everyone in the village would go to the temple to pray devoutly, and the next day, just the right amount of rain would fall—neither too little nor too much—because the “Water God” was said to be extremely precise in his calculations. Of course, this “Water God” was none other than Lao Hei. Not only was he the Water God, but he also served as the Wind God, Fire God, Mountain God, and many other deities, truly acting as a god who helped the people. As the ruler of the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei could hear the thoughts of every living being. Especially when there were prayers from hundreds of people or more, he would immediately receive them, and with just a thought, he could fulfill those people’s requests. Within the Immortal Prison, covering an area of millions of miles, billions of living beings lived there, with countless desires and needs. Even just meeting their most basic survival needs kept Lao Hei extremely busy day and night, leaving him with hardly any free time. Yet despite this, he never grew tired and remained full of energy at all times, without any slack. So, was Lao Hei really that diligent and compassionate? Of course not; there was another reason. As early as eight years ago, shortly after billions of living beings moved into the Immortal Prison, Lao Hei excitedly reported to Su Che, “Master, I’ve discovered that when those ordinary beings pray devoutly, if I fulfill their most basic survival needs, I gain an invisible power that greatly helps my strength grow. Master, what kind of power is this?” “The power of the beings’ wishes!” Su Che replied without hesitation. “What you gain is the power of the wishes of countless ordinary beings, which can also be called the power of faith. A single wish may not seem significant, but over time, when the wishes of billions of beings come together, combined with the passage of time, it becomes an incredibly powerful force.”

The concept of willpower was not invented by Su Che; many ancient texts in the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star discuss it, which is also why certain sects in history vigorously promoted their followers to believe in it. Of course, the concept of willpower is extremely complex and cannot be fully explained in just a few words. But within the Immortal Prison, as representatives of the Heavenly Dao and rulers, Su Che and Lao He can turn even the most complicated matters into something extremely simple.

“Lao He, since you can receive the willpower of countless beings, it means you’ve found another path to growth,” Su Che said solemnly. “Perhaps you won’t need to undergo the fifth species fusion to naturally advance to the Divine Transformation stage. This will also save me a great deal of effort in opening the fifth layer of the Immortal Prison.”

“Yes, master,” Lao He replied with joy. “Until now, I’ve been worried about opening the fifth layer. If I needed the fifth fusion to advance to the Divine Transformation stage, where would we find rats at that level or extraterrestrial demons? It would be incredibly difficult!”

“I hope that the willpower of all beings in the Immortal Prison world can shape you into a true god—someone who can surpass true immortals and truly control heaven and earth as an immortal deity.”

Su Che also held great hopes for this.

Although he was outside the Immortal Prison and unable to absorb the willpower of its beings, Su Che felt no regret. After all, if Lao He grew stronger, it was almost equivalent to his own strength increasing—there was little difference between the two. Moreover, since Su Che believed he had his own path to growth, he didn’t really crave the shortcut of “beings’ willpower.”

That’s why, over the past eight years, Lao He had worked tirelessly day and night. To put it plainly, he wasn’t some selfless sage; he just needed the willpower of beings to strengthen his power. And indeed, this strategy worked. Over eight years, Lao He, who was initially only at the early Yuan Ying stage, had already advanced to the middle stage before Tian Yin and Su Che. Now, he was close to the late Yuan Ying stage—probably within three to five years.

In general, the situation in the Immortal Prison world was excellent. The people lived in peace and contentment, with their quality of life generally better than it was on Qi Yuan Star, and it would only get better over time. After all, there were no earthquakes, floods, droughts, or cold waves in the Immortal Prison—almost no natural disasters at all… For the people, as long as they worked hard, they would surely reap the corresponding rewards.

It seemed as if this place was already the paradise in their minds.
For Su Che, although he could not yet enter the World of Immortal Purgatory and transform into the Supreme God to personally comfort all beings, in his free time, he could silently watch the changes in a certain human kingdom through his thoughts, or observe a young child in a village with features somewhat similar to his own growing up healthily… All of this brought him comfort, joy, and an incomparable spiritual pleasure.
In my mind, there exists a truly vast world, with hundreds of billions of creatures living and enjoying life within it… What could be more meaningful or fulfilling than that?
…
One day, Su Che and Tian Yin bid farewell to Wu Huang Star once again, set to travel to several nearby cultivation realms. The appointment on Mu Lan Star would surely have to wait until last.
At the time of departure, the eldest elder of the Wu Huang tribe said with regret, “Since Lord Chi Ling and Great Witch Tian Yin are going to other tribes’ homeworlds, it seems the heavy responsibility of protecting Lord Chi Ling will fall outside our Wu Huang tribe’s scope.”
“That’s not necessarily the case,” Su Che said with a smile. “Who knows? In perhaps thirty to fifty years, Tian Yin and I might return. By then, we’ll need the help of the brave warriors of the Wu Huang tribe.”
“That would be best,” the elders all chuckled.
In battle, the Wu tribe members were incredibly brave and fierce, but emotionally, they were quite simple and straightforward, far less complex and changeable than humans.
Without further ado, they waved goodbye, and Su Che and Tian Yin soared into the sky, quickly passing through the invisible barrier and entering the starry expanse. Their first stop was Jiu Yuan Star, 370 million li away.
The planned route, from far to near, was: Jiu Yuan Star, Hua Li Star, Ge Yun Star, Mu Lan Star.
It was a well-planned journey, but life is full of unexpected events. After two hours, they had flown less than 20 million li when they were suddenly stopped.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
In the starry sky, several figures blocking their path ahead had terrifying flight speeds—dozens or even hundreds of times faster than Su Che’s top-grade Dao weapon sword. In the blink of an eye, they were hundreds of feet ahead, leaving Su Che no chance to dodge or escape.
And that wasn’t all!
Swish swish swish swish…

On the left and right, top and bottom, as well as behind, several beams of light at the same speed suddenly appeared in the dim starry sky. Moving at a terrifying speed beyond light, they approached quickly and surrounded Su Che and the others in the middle.
Where did these ambushers come from?
Su Che and Tian Yin were greatly surprised because they recognized that these interceptors all possessed formidable cultivation levels above the Refining Void stage—clearly those from the Spirit Realm.
Even more, the bearded cultivator right in front was none other than the leader who had attacked the protective formation on Qiyuan Star eight years ago.
“It only took eight years—not too long at all.”
This time, it was the bearded cultivator’s turn to sneer: “I thought you’d be having children on Wuhuang Star. You definitely wouldn’t show up for another thirty or fifty years.”
“You’re still in the cultivation realm?”
At this moment, what puzzled Su Che the most wasn’t why they could find him, but rather how the laws of the universe allowed them to stay in the cultivation realm for such a long time.