Practicing the Arts - 366

After thinking for a long time, Zhou Fan decided to first upgrade his mastery over the arts.

All of them were still at the 10th rank, and his cultivation was now at the 12th rank. Not only did he feel the need to increase his mastery over the arts simply for the sake of increasing his mastery, but it would also help him with any future projects.

He had still not forgotten about his idea of creating a universal consciousness. It had seemed very far-fetched before, but now that he was aware of the full size of the universe, it was only a matter of time.

Zhou Fan went to the cosmic sect and picked up Hei Ren without meeting anyone, before settling above the Zhou supercluster.

Hei Ren did not ask any questions and cultivated within the bubble that Zhou Fan had made for him.

Since he was already in the outer world realm, reaching the true god realm in formations was a very easy task.

Once he focused on outer world realm formations, however, the required time extended by a large amount.

He spent a full billion years mastering 12th rank formations.

A similar amount of time was spent mastering 12th rank arrays. Although there weren't many new arrays with different effects, many previous arrays had upgraded versions. The same was true for formations, and it would be the same for talismans, alchemy, and forging as well.

In total, Zhou Fan spent 5 billion years mastering all 5 of the major arts to the 12th rank.

As expected, all of his ideas just became a lot more feasible.

Next, Zhou Fan needed to reach a new cultivation realm. He felt it was a pity that he would not be able to fully experience the outer world realm, but such was the reality of being the first cultivator. There was simply no being who could possibly match him and no place where he could freely use his power

The first step was to cultivate to the peak of the outer world realm. The only issue with that was the fact that he would likely spend more than 100 billion years cultivating.

That was longer than the lifespan of even a lesser dao creation realm cultivator.

There were many things he wanted to do before going into seclusion for such an extended amount of time.

The first would be to start lowering the importance that he held within the cosmic sect.

As of now, he was the main supplier of all the talents that went there. Ying Xiong could sense the birth of a talent if he was exceptionally close and not too focused on other things, but he would require a lot of luck to find even ten new disciples in 100 billion years.

He could either put a system in place that automatically detected new talents and alerted Ying Xiong, or he could create an alternate system that wasn't so…. forceful.

Upon remembering Ying Xiong's actions and expression when dealing with talents, Zhou Fan decided that it would be better for the entire universe if he simply created an alternate system that would grant those with talent the choice to join the cosmic sect.

Otherwise, Ying Xiong would surely pick the entire Zhou supercluster dry.

Zhou Fan made his way to the cosmic sect with Hei Ren and quickly arrived. His arrival was met with greetings from an entire group of people, including now grown up disciples from Zhou Fan's last delivery.

It took him a while, but Zhou Fan eventually got to talk with Ying Xiong alone.

They sat in one of the few rooms in the entire cosmic sect. In front of them was a table and tea.

"I've decided, for the sake of the universe, to not give you a way to track all the talented people born in the Zhou supercluster." Zhou Fan said to Ying Xiong.

"What! This is ridiculous. You know that I'm good for it!" Ying Xiong said in a pleading tone.

"No means no. You are a scourge that needs to be stopped." Zhou Fan said.

"Then how is my cosmic sect supposed to function? You're basically ending any future lineage." Ying Xiong said.

Zhou Fan shook his head.

"I didn't say I was going to stop you from getting new disciples, and I even plan on continuing to help you. The only difference will be that the talents will have to be willing." Zhou Fan said.

"Alright then." Ying Xiong said begrudgingly. "So what exactly do you have planned?"

"I have a way to automatically detect talents, and upon them reaching the age of ten, a letter will be sent to them. When they open it, a display of power will be shown, and they will have the choice to join the cosmic sect. If they refuse, they will be sent one more letter, this time when they reach the peak of the space shattering realm." Zhou Fan explained.

"So they'll come here by teleportation array?" Ying Xiong asked.

"Indeed." Zhou Fan responded.

"Since you'll be setting up a teleportation array, I have a request." Ying Xiong said.

"Feel free to ask."

"Can you create teleportation arrays to the Zhou Galaxy and the other two galaxy clusters?" Ying Xiong asked.

"You can go there yourself now." Zhou Fan said.

"I know, but it would take me a long time, and I am asking for the sake of the students now and future students. We will even put a plaque of your name and contribution on the teleportation hub." Ying Xiong said.

"The teleportation hub?" Zhou Fan asked with confusion.

"I forgot that I never mentioned that. I plan on creating a hub of teleportation usable by the entire supercluster. It would connect the entire Zhou supercluster." Ying Xiong explained. "We've even just finished the initial construction. Do you want to come see it?"

"Sure." Zhou Fan responded.

Ying Xiong and Zhou Fan left the room, before going to the other side of the galaxy. Even from far away, Zhou Fan was able to see the structure floating in space.

It had a circular platform, with curving pillars and a roof. There were no walls, indicating that it was a place meant for those at the void traversing realm or higher.