Chapter 218: Advancing on Two Fronts, the God-King Position
At the summit of the Golden Ancient Tree, Lei Chen slowly withdrew his palm. Within his eyes, deep as the cosmic starry sky, the seven-colored planar light gradually settled, returning to a clarity that saw through all things.
He stood quietly suspended above the Plane Origin Sea, his robes moving without wind. There was no overbearing pressure radiating from him, yet he naturally became the undisputed center and source of this heaven and earth, even the entire Douluo Plane.
The operation of accelerating the refinement and completely devouring the last piece of abyssal substance just now seemed, to him, like merely brushing a speck of dust off his sleeve.
But the changes it brought were substantial and profound.
In his perception, the massive and precise "body" of the Douluo Plane was currently emitting a low, satisfied hum. It wasn't a sound, but a resonance naturally produced when laws and matter reached a high degree of harmony and fullness.
Like a giant who had undergone long training and received ample nutrition, the bones were already tough and the flesh was already full; it only awaited the final command to straighten its spine and complete the ultimate leap in life level.
"Law activity... planar volume..." Lei Chen silently recited these two key indicators. His divine sense was like the most precise ruler, meticulously measuring every bit of change in the plane.
All conditions had been met.
The Douluo Plane already stood at the threshold of transforming from a mortal plane into an independent Divine Realm. It only needed one final push to open the door leading to a higher dimension and a broader world.
However, this "final push" was not something that could be achieved through simple accumulation of power or the prompting of laws. It required an "opportunity," a "trigger point" that could spark the accumulation of quantitative change to finally cause a qualitative change—a "key" that could perfectly harmonize all met conditions and cause a fundamental transition.
In Lei Chen's deductions that spanned the past and present and peered into the future, such an "opportunity" clearly pointed to two possibilities.
The first lay in the ultimate breakthrough of "volume."
His gaze seemed to penetrate layers of spatial barriers, casting toward a special location that was attached to the Douluo main plane yet independent of it—the Dragon Valley Small World.
There slept the final essence of the Dragon Clan, and countless Dragon Clan skeletons and dragon souls were buried there.
The Dragon Valley Small World was itself a shrunk and concentrated "embryonic Divine Realm," containing partial law imprints from the Dragon God era and a terrifying foundation of material energy.
If it could be completely integrated into the Douluo Plane, it would not only bring a massive amount of material supplementation to Douluo, but its unique Dragon Clan laws—especially the high-status laws involving "Creation" and "Destruction"—could greatly stimulate and complete Douluo's existing law system, allowing it to instantly break through the threshold and complete its transformation.
This method was stable, direct, and had predictable results. He had already expressed this intention to Gu Yuena, and she, who bore the mission of the Dragon Clan's revival, had also readily agreed. They only awaited the end of her closed-door cultivation in Dragon Valley to jointly promote the fusion of the two worlds.
"It's just... the waiting." A trace of contemplation flashed through Lei Chen's eyes.
Gu Yuena's closed-door cultivation concerned the integration of her own power. This process could not be rushed, nor could its end be precisely predicted.
If he placed the hope of promotion entirely on this, he could only wait passively, which did not fit his consistent style of actively controlling the situation.
The second lay in the sublimation of the "laws" themselves.
Promoting to a Divine Realm was essentially a collective transition of the planar law system. If a higher-status "core" could be birthed within this system first—namely, successfully upgrading an existing First-level God into a "God-King" position that stood above a First-rank Deity—then the laws of this newborn God-King would be like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake. It would inevitably act as the core, strongly radiating and driving a chain reaction and collective sublimation of all related laws in the entire plane, thereby breaking through the bottleneck in one go and completing the Divine Realm transformation.
This method was more fundamental, performing an "explosion" from the level of laws. If successful, the foundation of the resulting Divine Realm would be even more solid.
However, its difficulty also exceeded the first method.
"God-King position..." Lei Chen whispered soundlessly.
That required an amount of faith that could be described as massive. Relying solely on the faith of the living beings within a single plane—even if every living being on the Douluo Plane devoutly worshipped a single deity—the gathered Power Of Faith would not be enough to push a First-rank Deity onto the God-King throne.
"It is indeed difficult." Lei Chen did not frown because of the difficulty; instead, a light of consideration and weighing flashed in his eyes. "However..."
Standing with his hands behind his back, his gaze swept across the shining law light-dots in the Plane Origin Sea.
"I might as well do something while I'm free."
Rather than passively waiting for Gu Yuena to emerge from her seclusion and placing the hope of promotion entirely on the maturation of external factors, it was better to take the initiative and advance on two fronts. While waiting for the Dragon Valley to merge as the "volume opportunity," he would simultaneously attempt to promote the "law opportunity."
If successful, it would naturally be for the best, as the promotion could be completed early. Even if it failed, it would merely cost some effort and guidance, and it wouldn't hinder the wait for the first opportunity at all.
The pros and cons were clear; there was no need for hesitation.
Soon, Lei Chen made a decision: before Gu Yuena, Gu Yuena, emerged from Dragon Valley in a sense, he would attempt to push a First-level God to strike for the God-King position.
So, who to choose?
After specifically considering several First-Rank Deities, the blurred outline in Lei Chen's mind finally became clear and unique.
He slowly lowered his head, his gaze seemingly penetrating his own divine body to land on the God Position imprint hidden deep within the origin, completely fused with his soul core—it was a complex rune interwoven with lightning, serving as both the source of power and the manifestation of laws.
The Thunder God Seat.
The answer, in fact, had been beyond doubt from the very beginning.
Choosing any other deity to attempt the strike for God-King would mean tilting massive resources, a sea of faith, and even part of the guidance authority of the planar origin toward "another."
This was not a question of trust, but a reality that had to be considered when pursuing ultimate efficiency and controllability.
Only himself.
He was both the Plane Master, ruling all laws and energy, and the wielder of the Thunder God Seat. Having him personally promote the elevation of the Thunder God Seat possessed unparalleled advantages: absolute unity of will, no obstacles in resource allocation, and an efficiency far higher than supporting another.
With his mind made up, an invisible resolve diffused from him, causing even the surrounding Plane Origin Sea to seem to stagnate slightly.
He no longer looked at other law light-dots, but concentrated all his attention on his own lightning divine rune.
The second plan for the Divine Realm promotion officially launched with a clear goal—before Gu Yuena emerged from Dragon Valley, he would do his utmost to push his own Thunder God Position toward that supreme God-King realm.