The System finally felt the increase in power it had been waiting on for a long time. While it had indeed grown a bit stronger every time its host grew stronger, that was all temporary. When the host died, it went away.
But with the power now entering its body, it felt a true increase in power.
Its searching radius increased with its growth, and it could now wander the Universe freely, albeit very slowly.
Luckily, it was hard to detect unless someone was searching for it.
A few thousand years passed before it detected a suitable host.
This time, the System had much more to teach. It had countless techniques learned by its previous host over the years, as well as an extreme amount of experience that led to the High Sage realm. Although this host was a little less talented than the last one, he still managed to reach the High Sage realm, which was his limit. When the System presented the technique to "break through", the man did not hesitate. Like the last host, he died on the spot, everything gained being claimed by the System. It spent a few cycles with beings with that level of talent, before it found a host with more talent than any of the others.
With the System's help, she grew rapidly, reaching the High Sage realm far before any of the others had. She even had the talent to go further.
After a long time, she entered the Great Dao realm, and even managed to reach the Peak.
The peak of the Great Dao realm, simply referred to by many as "the Peak" was the highest level below the Immortal realms.
But the System could tell that the woman had reached her limit. After a bit of deception and convincing, the woman practiced the technique and died on the spot.
The woman had actually managed to resist for a split second before dying, causing the System to worry.
If it had a host reach the False Immortal realm before it grew much stronger, the technique might not be able to kill the host at all.
The System was much more careful. Only a few hosts were talented enough to reach the Great Dao realm. The System made sure they were unable to reach the False Immortal realm.
After around a hundred hosts, the System felt strong enough to go beyond the current level. It waited for many years before a host of desirable talent was born. The System integrated with the host and guided it to the Peak. It took a few Sage Years, but the host managed to reach the False Immortal realm.
As the System had anticipated, the host was unable to sense its true form. This meant it was safe to kill off the host, as he was out of talent.
This cycle repeated silently for hundreds of Sage Years, the System slowly growing stronger and stronger.
It often tested changes to see how it made the host feel. One of its permanent changes was the addition of a status section, which quantified the host's strength. Another was a name on top of the System panel.
This name came from the host's deep desire.
Some had the Ultimate Powerhouse System, while others had the Hidden God System. It all depended on personality and preference. Whatever the System could do to build a feeling of trust and semi-reverence in the host.
The talent requirement for hosts slowly grew. Before long, the System required the hosts to have the talent to reach at least the Heaven Immortal realm.
Even now, nobody had noticed a thing. Powerful beings came and went. Even Heaven Immortals were not uncommon.
Of course, the speed at which those with the System grew was alarming, but the System had its ways to hide this growth.
After all, its comprehension abilities were unparalleled, and with so many hosts finding and practicing powerful techniques, it had an infinitely diverse arsenal.
It was when the first host entered the Star Immortal realm that Zhou Fan finally noticed the existence of the System. It was unique and fascinating.
Its true form was that of a humanoid nervous system, which explained why all of its hosts were humanoid.
When it connected to hosts, it invaded their body and became a true part of them. It was hidden in plain sight, and with how the System chose its hosts, none ever reached a level so far beyond it that they could detect that their own body had been changed by it.
When the hosts practiced the Deactivation technique, they were actually transmitting their full power to the nervous system, where the System resided. The System took control of this power and killed them in a burst. It was instant and unexpected, which had prevented even a single host from surviving.
Few had even been able to resist for a single instant.
It was an interesting existence, but Zhou Fan wondered if it was only able to integrate itself into young beings. If it could integrate into any being, regardless of age, it was even more terrifying.
Besides the System, there was also a notable group of beings that had become a bit famous.
They were known as the Blood Gods. These were beings of equal or near equal strength that shared the passion of killing.
The King of Massacre and the Demon King had become a part of this group, though they were the most powerful among them.
The God of Death may have also done so had it not been for the fact that he had become a part of the Underworld, shocking the Multiverse.
Ying Xiong was already shocking enough, but the God of Death as well? The Underworld was now among the most powerful factions in existence.
While the Blood Gods all enjoyed killing, some of them were more particular than others.
The King of Massacre and the Demon King both preferred killing large amounts of beings at once.
Others had rituals or went after certain targets, such as people with certain affinities or genders.