Chapter 137: The Races of the Universe Obtain Earth's Power

The entry of Earth into the cosmic black market was like throwing a stone into a calm lake; after the initial ripples, it quickly returned to stillness.

The matter of forming an alliance was still ongoing, yet it remained deadlocked over the question of who should hold the position of leader. Earth undoubtedly possessed top-tier strength—setting aside Orochimaru, Uchiha Madara alone was more than any single race could hope to defeat in a one-on-one fight—but the other races continued to stall on the leadership issue. They intended to secretly and swiftly master Earth's cultivation techniques, hoping to catalyze their own growth and generate enough power to claim the leadership for their own kind. Since every race harbored this same intention, they all played for time.

Earth appeared anxious, but in reality, it was also stalling. While the other races studied Earth, Earth was studying them—specifically, their "Source" energy. Orochimaru was preparing to create a "pseudo-Source" energy for the universe, a feat that required the integration of the powers of all races. Now that the conditions were met, Orochimaru burst with unprecedented enthusiasm.

The cosmic black market had its own rules, and Earth could not break them; it had to trade cultivation potions and techniques according to those customs. Yakushi Kabuto and Shikamaru were primarily responsible for this sector. Shikamaru, with a toothpick dangling from his mouth, looked at the members of other races with the gaze one might reserve for idiots. Did they not realize that the cultivation potions produced by Earth contained backdoors? He knew they existed, and not only that, the backdoors were massive. Once the various races truly disseminated the potions to the point where everyone was cultivating, every member of those races would essentially become an extension of Orochimaru. By that time, Orochimaru would have accomplished the feat of ruling every race single-handedly.

Shikamaru glanced at someone working nearby. The man, formerly a member of the Akatsuki organization but now his subordinate, was named Hidan. He was the contingency plan Shikamaru had prepared.

Yakushi Kabuto stood nearby, smiling. "You certainly have clever ideas, arranging for Hidan to draw their blood. Heh."

Shikamaru replied calmly, "These are just minor tricks, nothing compared to Lord Orochimaru's grand plan."

When the various races purchased cultivation potions, Shikamaru would cite "physique testing" as the reason to draw blood for analysis, and the one responsible for the bloodletting was Hidan. Hidan possessed a technique called "Jashin’s Ritual: Possessing Blood." Simply put, once he obtained an opponent’s blood and activated the technique, he could force the target to mirror his every movement. Since he possessed an immortal body and could plunge weapons into his own heart without dying, his opponents—who lacked such resilience—were effectively doomed.

In this regard, Hidan was invincible. Shikamaru remarked, "Hidan’s only shortcoming is that he’s not very bright, but otherwise, he’s quite useful. Fortunately, Kakuzu is with him, and he’s been kept in check well enough. In a few days, once things here are settled, I plan to modify his appearance and send him to the Otsutsuki clan to specialize in blood collection. Who knows, it might just produce a miraculous effect."

Yakushi Kabuto nodded. "Perhaps." If Hidan collected enough blood, he would only need to find a hidden spot later and keep stabbing himself; he might just be able to wipe out an entire race.

More than half a year passed in a flash. Earth had remained near the cosmic black market for over six months, and the Otsutsuki clan’s army was nearing full mobilization, searching for the vanished Earth sector by sector. The Otsutsuki had assembled a massive force of one million soldiers. Moving in unison, they cleared star sectors rapidly; it was estimated that they would reach the cosmic black market’s region before long. When that happened, a great war would erupt. Therefore, the issue of the coalition leader had to be resolved. They decided to hold a meeting that very day to finalize the choice.

In a grand hall, the King of the Star Spirits laughed heartily, looking at his subordinate dressed in black armor with great satisfaction. This subordinate was not only the second strongest of the Star Spirit race but also the first to possess the power of the Otsutsuki clan, combined with the unique Sage Mode power of Earth. It had to be said, Earth was truly powerful; the power of the Otsutsuki and Jinchuriki developed by Earth was vastly different from their original forms. Earth’s version was simply too perfect, and when combined with the unique Sage Mode, it could reach the strength of an elite-level Otsutsuki. His subordinate already possessed elite-level strength, and with this added power, he was stronger than ever—surpassing even him, the King of the Star Spirits, and by rough estimation, stronger than Uchiha Madara of Earth.

The Star Spirit King was in high spirits and said to Star Spirit Mizuki, "The leader of this allied army will undoubtedly be our Star Spirit race!"

Star Spirit Mizuki remained silent, not daring to interrupt his father. It had been over half a year; at Earth’s research speed, they would have at least thoroughly understood the power systems of two races, which would surely make them far stronger than any of them. Not only the Star Spirit race, but the Snake-Head, Soul Reaper, and King-of-All races had also gained something from Earth, each reaching a level of strength comparable to Uchiha Madara.

They gathered in the meeting hall. Uniformly, the kings of the eight major races had each brought one subordinate. The eight kings sat on either side of a rectangular table, their subordinates standing expressionless behind them. Earth’s representatives had not yet arrived.

The Star Spirit King looked at the Snake-Head King and said, "Is that the fellow behind you who obtained Earth’s power system? He doesn't look like much."

The Snake-Head King replied, "He’s decent enough. The one behind you, however, looks a bit too young. Don't be too shocked later."

The King of All spoke up, "Stop arguing. Everyone behind us has obtained Earth’s power systems, right? As everyone knows, the King-of-All race has the strongest individual strength. Now, combined with Earth’s power, we are surely number one. The position of leader today belongs to the King-of-All race, ha ha ha."

The Soul Reaper King countered, "King of All, you are mistaken. The King-of-All race may have the strongest individual strength, but that's not necessarily true once Earth’s power is added. Who knows if the power of the King-of-All race and Earth’s power might conflict?"

The Demon race suddenly spoke up, "I still support Earth." They had also obtained Earth’s power, but it had slight flaws; they lacked the confidence to defeat the Uchiha Madara they had seen, so they still favored Earth.

"Earth?" The Star Spirit King smiled and said nothing. The Snake-Head King also smiled silently. The Soul Reaper King and the King of All did not say more either. Earth was indeed powerful, and they knew that over the past six months, Earth had been studying their powers. However, Earth seemed not to understand the principle that trying to do too much leads to failure. There were tens of thousands of races in the universe, and besides the eight great races, all the others had been in contact with Earth. Earth had turned none away; it was understood that Earth had even established a "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" for each race. They appeared to be researching tens of thousands of races simultaneously, in full swing. Perhaps they would eventually succeed and shock the universe, but only half a year had passed—the progress must certainly be slow.

With Earth’s progress slow, and them having gained Earth's power, the balance had shifted; it was equivalent to Earth having become weaker. This was why they all smiled in silence—it was highly likely that Earth would be stripped of its leadership qualification at this meeting.

On Earth, Orochimaru had no intention of attending the meeting, leaving it to Uchiha Madara instead. Orochimaru instructed, "Don't ruin the harmony; they still have many uses."

Uchiha Madara nodded expressionlessly and flew toward the honeycomb-shaped planet.