World Collision - The Eighth: The Demonic Immortal

Meteor Cartel’s Demonic Immortal Mihun versus Myth Union’s Zenzan the Brewer.

Mihun was an exceptionally peculiar player. He had provided the very stage for this game, and he was originally a transcendent True Immortal. Yet the most distinctive aspect was his build itself.

Normally, even with an elite-focused strategy, no one poured every resource into just a handful of top-tier entities. The maintenance costs would be impossible to sustain.

Besides, creating high-ranking entities required passing ascension trials. How could anyone breeze through those at low levels? Mihun solved this problem with ridiculous simplicity.

Whenever an ascension trial approached, he would summon a calamity using divine power and beat the candidate senseless.

This was the so-called Heavenly Tribulation. He attacked with lethal intent. Survive, and you ascended. Fail, and you died.

Alternatively, he could pit them against one another until only the strongest remained, naturally producing superior entities.

While ordinary players treasured their high-ranking beings and nurtured them slowly, Mihun slaughtered low-level ascendants without hesitation and fed them to his strongest entities as prey.

The colossal maintenance costs were covered by his mythic-grade trait, Inaction Nature.

In principle, Inaction Nature was an utterly bizarre trait.

As a mythic-grade ability, it essentially fused three separate effects into one.

First, terrains could overlap and grow without hindering one another. This was a mythic trait that partially broke the game’s fundamental rules.

Second, every terrain received up to a +5 level bonus based on how uncultivated it was.

Third, areas with the maximum level bonus were always rich in resources and immune to disasters.

It was genuinely strange. Usually players cleared land to make use of it, yet this trait rewarded leaving it completely wild. The bonus was an insane +5 levels. On top of that, fully uncultivated areas gained the transcendent advantage of never suffering disasters while remaining eternally bountiful.

It paired surprisingly well with Biin’s build, but unfortunately Mihun had claimed it first. The trait required almost completely neglecting the land itself, yet its value was undeniable. Back when the game was purely digital, there had even been a naturalist build that relied solely on Inaction Nature.

Using this trait, Mihun had turned roughly ninety percent of his world into pristine wilderness, or at most the occasional crude hut, sporadic logging, and herb gathering—true, untouched nature.

He then linked the earthly territories with the heavenly Spiritual Realm to create a circulation system, completing an absurdly high terrain level. The resulting flood of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy—mana—allowed him to raise his high-ranking entities. In other words, his ascetics.

However, when it came to civilization, he differed from Biin, who simply refused to create one. Mihun was genuinely clueless about it. Ordinary civilians were utterly primitive, and even his ascetics lived in such squalor that they could barely wear proper clothes or dwell in real houses.

He opposed his enemies with nothing but an elite army. That was Mihun’s build.

By comparison, Zenzan the Brewer was a much more standard player. His race consisted of photosynthetic carnivorous plants. Aside from that racial quirk, his civilization was fairly ordinary.

The one similarity with Mihun was an extreme emphasis on Culture and Faith. In a sense, he operated in a similar style, focusing on high-ranking entities. The difference was that his approach was built on a rigid religious foundation.

And so the battle of dinosaur versus plant began!

During the Dimensional Gate phase, Mihun’s yao race struck first, invading from his world. The core of the assault was the Bisa race, evolved from Biin’s Bisyakheet.

Biin’s consulting proved crucial here.

After strengthening his allies, the Lord of Life examined the Bisa race and declared there was still room for improvement.

“You turned Bisyakheet into people. But it’s not enough. It doesn’t make sense to have an apex predator like that sharing a world with a civilization it might eat. Since the natural environment is superb, I’ll create additional creatures to sustain them.”

At this point, Sesaisa might have been disappointed. It sounded like more of the same things Biin had done before.

“And when it comes to dealing with people, my other advice is far more important.”

“Oh? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I’m listening.”

“I don’t create civilizations because I can’t. I choose not to. Civilization and culture are ultimately ecological behaviors of the species called ‘humans.’ The religions, technology, conflict, and love that humans produce can all be explained through ecological concepts.”

“Interesting…”

“We need to observe the Bisa race closely. What exactly is their ecology as people?”

Biin accelerated time and watched them carefully. Once he understood their ecology, he created exactly what they desperately craved.

The Bisa loved to show off. They preferred decorating themselves and owning extravagant homes far more than raw power.

Yet they could not control their own hunger. When starving, they reverted to beasts. When full, they became gentle.

They hated meticulous work. The slightest frustration made them rage and destroy everything around them. They were, in every sense, beasts wearing the skin of ‘people.’

“Given this ecology, what they need is symbiosis.”

“Symbiosis?”

Biin took a few of the pitiful civilian races living in Mihun’s world—the so-called human race—and modified them through evolution.

Their role was to serve as the Bisa race’s attendant species. Since the Bisa disliked working themselves, they would employ servants.

These attendants were meticulous and diligent. They built homes and crafted gorgeous ornaments for their Bisa masters, sang for them, and tended their fields.

In return, the Bisa protected them from other vicious yao beasts. To feed their servants, they established a noble code of conduct and defined the proper behavior of a great Bisa.

“And I’ll create an ecosystem to support their lifestyle. Livestock, fine fabrics for clothing, dyes, spices. I’ll even make the nectar carry a pleasant aroma that suits their tastes.”

Thanks to Biin’s attendant species and the dedicated livestock yao, the Bisa population exploded.

The attendants served the strongest Bisa, sustaining their lives. In turn, the Bisa developed a far superior culture. Their Culture stat rose, enabling more Bisa to ascend as high-ranking entities.

The Bisa now despised their own hunger. They competed to possess more attendants than their neighbors, even raiding one another for servants.

Thus they decided to invade the human world to acquire “other excellent slaves.”

Conversely, the human ascetics who had cultivated and ascended worked to restrain the Bisa while protecting the human worlds that offered them tribute.

At first glance, it seemed the humans had been reduced to livestock for the yao and ascetics. Yet upon closer inspection, all three races were living in perfect harmony. Mihun’s score soared.

Wahando, the Lord of Systems, then raised the fundamental potential of both the rather lacking humans and the ascetics.

“The civilization level is far too low. I will advance the system further.”

He established proper laws and structures for the ascetic sects. The ascetics moved beyond mere pillaging and slaughter, adopting rules and virtues.

At the same time, he deliberately preserved the truly vicious ascetics who only knew plunder. Thus the Four Factions system was born: humans, orthodox ascetics, demonic ascetics, and the yao race.

Mihun’s Politics score rose, bringing overall order to the entire civilization. In cultivated regions—not the wild ones—civilization flourished, supplying both ascetics and yao with resources that only a proper society could provide.

As for the Spiritual Realm and mana flows, Sesaisa—the Lord of Flows, whose understanding rivaled Mihun’s but in a different direction—added one more piece.

“Lament! I understand that most of the land must remain uncultivated. However, in regions where civilization has already taken root and the land has been cleared, we can easily establish the Spiritual Realm.”

“Wouldn’t that be meaningless?”

“Not at all. Properly installed spiritual anchors can gather the flows emitted across the entire world and condense them into one.”

The number of children born with spiritual roots—in other words, cultivation talent—increased dramatically. The humans’ inherent potential rose, and they developed a civilization based on Mystery. The humans resisted both the ascetics and yao, ensuring the three factions remained in constant competition.

The consulting Mihun received was enormous.

Yet the true path to victory lay somewhere else entirely. Mihun simply allowed invaders into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his world and ignored them.

Left unchecked, his ascetics turned the enemy armies that entered his world into medicinal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠pellets to fuel their own growth. The humans, meanwhile, accepted some of them as their own and fought back.

On the offensive side, during the Dimensional Gate phase he sent yao beasts. In the Dimensional Passage phase he sent low-level ascetics. Then, in the Dimensional Fracture phase, he sent only a single entity.

An ascendant so overwhelmingly powerful that he had no way to cross into the enemy world under his own strength.

His level was a staggering 12. At this point in the game, he was the single strongest entity alive and Mihun’s mightiest ascetic.

Yeondan-u.

“Is there anyone who can entertain this lord?”

“What the hell is that thing? Catch it immedia—”

The sentence never finished. With a single swipe of his claws, Yeondan-u sliced away an entire corner of the city. He roared several times and stomped the ground. The entire city was annihilated.

The ultimate physique paired with the ultimate techniques suited to it. In a sense, he was the direct disciple of the True Immortal Mihun. That was Yeondan-u.

In response, Zenzan the Brewer finally deployed his true ‘main force’ during the Dimensional Fracture phase.

A level 10 legendary entity. A holy knight on the verge of his ascension trial—Dudodudo.

Though only level 10, he could not be underestimated. He was armed with literally mythic equipment: armor, sword, shield, and a winged divine horse.

This was the mythic-grade trait Zenzan the Brewer, who had focused on Culture, had chosen. It compensated for his somewhat lacking military power.

Though he was level 10, Zenzan’s world score had reached 1.7 million points right before the collision. A level 10’s limit was 1,334,434 points, meaning the knight possessed roughly three million points of power. Considering the mythic ability, his true strength was even higher.

On top of that, Zenzan brought his elite troops—an army worth over 300,000 military points—along with three legendary entities, seven epic entities, and thirty-one hero-grade entities.

Yeondan-u’s total individual score was 4.5 million points.

“Come…! I shall claim your armaments and rise to the seat of supremacy that no one can challenge!”

Strictly speaking, in a game where level 30 entities existed, it was absurd for a level 12 to talk about supremacy, but no one pointed it out.

Zenzan the Brewer, if he was honest, wasn’t even sure this entire force could defeat that monstrous dinosaur ascetic.

One man against an army of over five thousand. They clashed head-on.

The tragic result left Zenzan the Brewer’s vision swimming in darkness.

Afterward, Yeondan-u even repelled the combined assault of Mihun’s own world’s ascetics and yao race, who had targeted him while he was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠exhausted.

In the end, the ascetics and yao poured into Zenzan the Brewer’s now-empty world—stripped bare of all its armies by Yeondan-u—and claimed it completely. They seized the enemy world.

“Excellent! It was an easy opponent indeed.”

The game’s strongest entity, Yeondan-u, obtained equipment perfectly suited to a direct disciple of a True Immortal—the strongest gear in the entire game.