Chapter 1346: Two Strongest Organizations

Zhang Lie continued, "I wanted to set up this meeting for two reasons: first, I hadn't seen all of you for a long time, and second, to inform you that you're all ready to ascend now."

Sun Mengmeng cried out, "Captain, we can finally ascend now?!"

She had been waiting for this moment for far too long.

"You've all worked hard to remediate your shortcomings, and you won't improve much further in the third realm. Better that you ascend to the fourth realm—everyone says the fourth realm is hellish, which means it'll spur your growth to a considerable extent."

Yang Ze asked, "Are hunters in the fourth realm suffering?"

"That's part of what I'll be discussing."

Hong Xia asked expectantly, "Master, what about us?"

Zhang Lie frowned. "You're still lacking in terms of strength. The fourth realm is extremely dangerous, and hunters there might die at any moment. Considering your current strength, it would be impossible for you to develop rapidly in the fourth realm, so keep working hard instead. Especially you, Hanxiang. You've been slacking off lately, haven't you?"

Zhang Hanxiang folded her arms. "What? No! I've been working very hard."

Zhang Lie replied, "You might have grown, but your growth rate is still slower than everyone else's!"

Zhang Hanxiang grumbled, "I'll keep working hard, Brother."

Zhang Lie continued, "Let me tell you all about the fourth realm so that you can be mentally prepared. Unlike the third realm, the fourth realm is filled with danger. It's difficult for the average hunter to survive in the fourth realm; it might as well be an apocalyptic world."

Yang Ze asked, "In that case, how can we Milky Way hunters gain a foothold for ourselves?"

"Genetic hunters have to group up and work together if they want to live, but even if they do so and form a gathering point, they frequently encounter beast stampedes that can easily take down their buildings."

Zhang Hanxiang asked, "If the fourth realm is so dangerous, why do we hunters keep ascending? The third realm's conditions aren't bad—or you can even stay in the Milky Way!"

Zhang Lie explained, "There are plenty of reasons. First and foremost, pioneers are necessary in order to explore the dimensional realm. Without any pioneers who lead the way with a sacrifice of blood and life, the fourth realm would have been a dead end. Second, attempting to grow stronger is in our nature."

Sun Mengmeng explained, "To use the four prime races of the Milky Way as example, when one of the starbeasts ascends to the fourth realm and obtains some benefit there, the starbeasts as a whole will surpass the other three prime races. What will the other three races do then?"

Zhang Hanxiang murmured thoughtfully, "They'd naturally be upset—there was a balance, which the starbeasts broke."

"And that would cause them to send members of their own kind into the fourth realm," Sun Mengmeng continued, smiling. "In other words, it's essentially all a competition."

Zhang Hanxiang understood now. "I understand the theory, but why do people all want to be stronger? Can't we all just bow down toward the strong?"

Zhang Lie rubbed his sister's head.

"If the entire universe were like you, without any incentive to grow strong, then we wouldn't have so many wars. The universe would long since have been at peace—though of course we'd lose out on development and innovation, too."

Everyone laughed.

Zhang Hanxiang hmphed. "I don't need to grow strong when you're around, Brother!"

Zhang Lie returned to the main topic at hand. "What you have to watch out for most within the fourth realm are the beast stampedes. In addition, there are two ancient organizations in the fourth realm of considerable strength: the Ancient Gods' Abode, and Eternal Sun."

Zhang Hanxiang commented, "From their names alone, they sound really strong..."

Zhang Lie continued, "The Ancient Gods' Abode and Eternal Sun are the two strongest organizations of the fourth realm. In addition, there's a recent newcomer that's said to be very strong as well, though I don't know much about it."

Of course, Zhang Lie didn't know much about the Ancient Gods' Abode and Eternal Sun either; he had only heard of their names.

Yang Ze asked curiously, "How strong are these two strongest organizations?"

Zhang Lie shrugged. "I fought a member of Eternal Sun recently, but it wasn't particularly strong."

Everyone laughed. "Against you, Captain, no one would be particularly strong."

Zhang Lie asked, "How's it going in the third realm?"

Sun Mengmeng replied, "Do you still care about the third realm even after ascending to the fourth, Captain?"

"I'm just asking."

"Nothing's really happened since you left—you haven't been gone that long, after all, Captain. Right, the council's decided that everyone's going to study the research material left behind by the death spirits to see if we can get anything out of it."

"I look forward to what they can do with it," Zhang Lie replied.

Sun Mengmeng continued, "In addition, using the farm you left us, we've all maxed out our monarch gene fragments."

Zhu had access to the unified world's energy, and it was far easier to cultivate monarch-grade lifeforms now than it had been during Zhang Lie's time.

"Zhu keeps asking about you," Sun Mengmeng added.

Sun Xiaowu took over. "The Zongming, Lie, and draconian kingdoms, along with our own Milky Way coalition, are still essentially the same as before. We're in the honeymoon period and cooperating on just about everything. The third realm's very peaceful at the moment, without the constant war and strife among the three thousand worlds. All this is thanks to you, Captain."

Zhang Lie waved a hand. "I did very little. When the unified council was formed, world peace wasn't one of the priorities, either."

Sun Mengmeng replied, "Regardless, Captain, you've changed yet another realm."

The hunters chatted with each other about various subjects. It had been a long time since they returned to Earth, and there were plenty of regional specialities that they had a craving for. They left together; Zhang Lie had Zhang Hanxiang stay behind.

Zhang Hanxiang asked, "Is something the matter, Brother?"

Zhang Lie made a few abortive attempts to speak, but he didn't know just how to broach the subject. He thought for a moment,then made up his mind.

"I found information about our parents in the fourth realm."

Zhang Hanxiang stepped forward and clutched Zhang Lie's shirt in shock.

"You've found our parents?!"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "They left a message behind. I can confirm they're not in the fourth realm, but I don't know where they are. There's a very good chance they're still alive."

Zhang Lie couldn't be sure whether his parents were still in the fourth realm, but he couldn't tell Zhang Hanxiang that.

If Zhang Hanxiang learned that his parents might be in the fourth realm, she would surely do her best to ascend immediately. Zhang Lie knew this as a certainty—because that was what he would do.

The dangers of the fourth realm notwithstanding, Zhang Hanxiang had the strength to ascend to the fourth realm and protect herself, but it would be very difficult to grow strong quickly. Furthermore, there was still the issue of her spiritual avatar.