Chapter 1048: Body Refining

'Here it is.' Alex had been waiting for him. Unlike the first world where he planted his system, this one only had a Rank 8 God's power just like a normal Lower World. In fact, it was already powerful enough because it had gotten the influence from the real Upper World.

Facing Alex, whose strength was higher, the World's Will needed to be respectful.

"I am here not to destroy your world or something. I simply want to offer you a proposal where the inhabitants of this world can survive. I am sure that you have been watching over them, right?"

"Yes. However, I couldn't help them because I was just a world. I didn't have the jurisdiction to help them because life comes and goes every single day."

"That's when you have no invaders. With invaders, which are that monster, I am sure that the situation has become too complicated. To that end, my proposal is to plant my power in you to allow the others to get stronger to fight back. How about it?"

"That is an interesting proposal. Although I would like to believe you, I couldn't find the reason…"

"We can use Universe Oath for this agreement. And the terms won't be forever. I have done this with another planet, which is an Upper World. What do you think?" Alex asked with a serious expression.

The World's Will was pretty convinced with the Universe Oath, but when it heard he had a deal with an Upper World, the hesitation disappeared.

"I understand. I shall agree to your proposal."

Just like the first Universe Oath, those two agreed to not do something detrimental to each other. Alex finally could plant his System Seal in the World's Will and painted this world with his Gacha System.

"May I ask something, God Alex?"

Alex nodded.

"When will you leave this world? I don't mean to be rude, but to maintain the environment, I can't allow you to stay in this world."

"I understand that." Alex quickly sealed his power again as if he was just a mortal. "I will be staying in this world for a few months because of a few things. I also want to conduct research about the invaders, so I hope you can give me permission to do all that. Of course, I promise not to disrupt the balance and stay in this sealed state since I will only be refining my body, which doesn't require my energy. Is this explanation satisfactory?"

"Why would you cultivate in this place? It is not beneficial for you?"

"I am planning to visit another world because I have a business there. Of course, different from the agreement with you. Unfortunately, that world is a bit more complicated, so I can't really use my power there. You can say it's more sensitive than you."

"I see. I shall allow you then. However, If I may, I want to set a time limit."

"A year?" Alex asked. "I don't need more than that. In fact, I should have finished in a few months, but I don't know the exact date."

"I understand. Let's set it to a year. And thank you…For giving all my children the power to fight back."

Alex nodded with a smile. "It's my pleasure. I get benefits from this agreement as well, so yeah."

The World's Will nodded its head, turned around, and dispersed.

"Fu. I have finally finished the agreement with the second world. And it's a different type of agreement. It's like selling a house."

[Agreed. The first was a kind of renting a house while this one was buying a house.]

"Yes. When the time limit ends, the two parties can discuss whether to prolong the contract or not. This is the one changing everything." Alex nodded and looked at the sky. "I should go back."

[Sure. Good luck with your body refining.]

Alex smiled and used his Teleportation Array to head back to Silvia.

As expected, Silvia and Axis still remained at the same spot as they were too focused on their job.

"How is it?" Alex asked while walking toward them.

"I have found a few clues, but I am still not sure." Silvia only glanced at Alex and returned to the corpse.

"I see. We have at most a year here, so I will spend the remaining time refining my body. What about you?"

"Teaching Axis and researching this monster. This is really a mysterious monster…The type that I have never seen." She let out a long sigh. "This might be an artificial monster, but I need more time to discern it. Don't worry. I will search for another one if I am out of sample."

"Alright." Alex nodded and handed her a token. "This is my token. I will visit you when I am done."

"Sure." She received the token and slipped it inside her clothes.

Alex never thought that Silvia would be this focused on her job to the point he got ignored. Well, to be honest, he preferred someone like that because they were independent women. Alicia and Firia had grown up like her, so he left with a smile. 

He just found a random cave not long after and sealed the entrance. After drawing the Star Barrier Array, Gathering Array, and Special Realm, he went to the deepest part of the cave while checking his surroundings to ensure that he was the only one in this place.

He took out the Undying Blaze Tree and cut the root while throwing the tree. He looked at this brown-colored root that appeared to be a normal root. Only experts or Spirit Eyes could discern the powerful Fire Energy inside it.

Alex took a deep breath and swallowed the root without hesitation.

His Pure Fire began revolving, burning the root until it was reduced to ashes. After that, the Fire Energy contained inside the root burst out, flowing directly to his heart.

The heat stimulated his Godly Pure Fire and burned himself.

"Kh!" Alex widened his eyes and let out a small groan.

He never felt hot this whole time due to his Pure Fire. However, Alex could feel the heat for the first time.

No, he could finally learn what the others felt when fighting against his Godly Pure Fire. The unbearable heat that would melt them was more painful than he expected.

Even Alex couldn't contain it and started shouting out loud.

His body all went limp as Alex dropped to the ground. He couldn't really sense his body. The only thing in his mind was the pain.

This might be the most ridiculous refinement he had gone through.

As the name suggested, the sixth refinement of the Undying Fire Body was Flesh. It wanted to turn Alex's flesh into a Pure Fire itself. Of course, it was just a metaphor. The real benefit of this sixth refinement came in the form of self-healing.

In other words, Alex's regeneration would become far more powerful. This way, Alex's wound would close sooner or later even without him doing anything. In fact, his opponent needed to kill him in an instant because Alex would just recover during the fight.

This was the most dangerous stage but the most beneficial one.

As for his strength, Alex didn't pay attention to it anymore. The gap between each rank in God Rank was too big, so he doubted he could have enough brute force to surpass his own rank. Even Lin Xingzhi supported that idea.

Only a few people could reach that kind of strength, and all of them had one thing in common. They all focused on cultivating their body instead of Spiritual Energy.

Alex had no intention to change his path, so he ultimately ignored everything about his strength. As long as it was enough to handle the opponent of the same level, he had no complaint.

Still, the torture he needed to face during this refinement was far more difficult than the previous five combined.

It even took him nine months just to stop screaming.

However, Alex noticed one thing during this refinement. His energy could recover faster. In an instant, this refinement turned into the best Body Refining of all time.

After approximately eleven months, the flame surrounding his body gradually died down as Alex opened his eyes.

"Ugh. How long have I been tortured?" Alex twitched his eyebrows.

[Screaming? Nine months. As for the total, it's about eleven months and two weeks.]

"I feel like I have become a step closer to a masochist."

[Haha. We will love you even after that.]

"Don't say it. I don't want to have that kind of preference."

[Yes, yes. Don't ask to be our pet in the future, alright?]

"Oi!" Alex wanted to fight it out but realized that he took too long. "Anyway, let's stop. I need to go back."

[Sure.]

Alex quickly followed the direction of his token and found Axis walking outside a small hut.

"Hmm?"

"Mister!" Axis was surprised to see him again. "You have been out for too long."

"Haha…Sorry. It took longer than I expected." Alex scratched the back of his head. "How is your Teacher?"

"Teacher has found several things. She tried to find some more, but there was no progress in the last two months."

"I see. How about you?" Alex smiled. "Now that I look at you, you can become a Martial Master, right?"

"Yes. I am suppressing my cultivation right now to wait for Mister."

"Well, you will be expelled from this world if you break through right now. And since I am back, you can now undergo your tribulation. We are going to another world again." Alex smiled.

"Teacher said it a while ago." Axis nodded.

"How about your study?"

"Teacher made me read books the whole time ever since the operation became more complicated."

"Haha…You have a long way to go, so it's better to read more books." Alex patted his head.

"Well, I don't have a problem since Teacher promised to involve me every time something happened. This way, I can get experience while learning under her."

"Good. Follow your teacher, alright?" Alex smiled.

"Un." He nodded.

"I will visit your teacher first. If she gives a "go" sign, you may undergo your tribulation." Alex then walked toward the small hut, finding Silvia in her operation room.

"You are back?" Silvia stopped what she was doing and turned to him.

"Yes. It seems you have found many things." Alex smiled.

"I have, but there are still many things that confuse me." Silvia sighed.

"Take your time. For now, let's go out first and talk about it while watching Axis undergoing his tribulation."

Silvia agreed. "It's already past the time anyway."

Alex and Silvia came out.

The moment he saw a thumb up from Alex, a smile appeared on his face as he bowed to both of them.

"Don't be too excited. Be careful." Alex nonchalantly shouted.

Axis nodded and began cultivating to trigger the tribulation.

Meanwhile, Alex asked, "So, what have you found?"

"First of all, the bat seems to be an artificial being."

"An artificial being?" Alex tilted his head in confusion. "Like robots?"

"No, no. The gene has been modified. When I looked at the queens, including the one I captured myself, they both had the same characteristics. Most of their genes were bats, but I noticed that some of them were not genuine. You could say that the gene was planted by something…Not planted, but forced to evolve into such a thing."

"Hmm?" Alex narrowed his eyes. "So, is it really a bat or not?"

"Fifty-fifty. Fifty percent is a bat; the rest is bat but not genuine."

"It's a bit complicated, but I understand what you mean. And were they created or born?"

"Born. If I want to find more clues, I need to find their mother, a Rank 3 God. I have calculated it and arrived at that conclusion."

Alex pinched the bridge of his nose while closing his eyes. "Ah, this is going to be troublesome."

"Yes. But this is not the most important thing. The thing is… The bats will evolve according to what they fed. If they ate a human, the bat would have a human baby's body. If they ate a pig, they would have a piglet's body."

"!!!"