There are twelve professions in the entire challenge world.
Three of them belong to the dark branch:
[Gravekeeper Sequence], [Sleepless Sequence], and [Criminal Sequence].
Before Wei Huan's rebirth, the Gravekeeper sequence had never appeared.
Now he understood why: one probably had to die and return to life to wield the power of the underworld.
Aside from him, no one else could come back from the dead.
Its profession training ground was the "Undead Pasture," the very reason his undead legions were not only vast in number but also exceptionally high in quality.
The Sleepless sequence—also known as Dark Mage or Witch—was dominated by Aglis Flangel of Aosam, one of the top three strongest individuals in the world and the undisputed master of her sequence. She controlled the "Heart of Darkness" training ground.
Though awakeners of this sequence were relatively few—only a few hundred per year—they were naturally immune to dark energy corruption and developed quickly from the start. With the Heart of Darkness in Aglis's hands, anyone who sought her favor could be strengthened. As a result, Sleepless mages were far stronger than many professions without training grounds and were warmly welcomed by both official forces and private powers.
In stark contrast, the Criminal sequence was the most pitiful of all.
Not only did it have the highest awakening rate among the dark sequences, it was also the only profession the authorities outright refused to recruit.
From Sequence 2 onward, its titles were "Madman" → "Twisted" → "Berserk." Each stage was more uncontrollable than the last. Once combat began, Criminals lost all ability to distinguish friend from foe. For armies that fought in disciplined formations, such instability was absolutely unacceptable.
Even the Criminals who ended up in private factions mostly became lone wolves.
As a result, Criminal awakeners either abandoned the challenge world forever and lived ordinary lives, or they became terrifyingly powerful solitary predators.
Analysts had long concluded that one of the main reasons humanity lagged behind the dark beasts in the civilization war—aside from internal disunity—was that the "twelve-pointed star" was missing a critical point.
The Criminals, with their insane close-combat prowess and durability, had been completely excluded from all ruin exploration teams. Without them, development crawled at a snail's pace, and humanity naturally fell behind.
The authorities knew the problem perfectly well, but when a Criminal could go berserk and slaughter allies without warning, no one dared integrate them into proper military units. Thus, this immense source of combat power remained forever untapped.
Yet Criminal awakeners weren't rare. Every year, over two million people entered the challenge world, and roughly fifty thousand awakened as Criminals—with a survival rate above 95% through the initial highway trial.
Seven years in, that added up to over three hundred thousand Criminal professionals—yet none could be turned into effective strength.
Who wouldn't feel regret at that waste?
This was precisely why Wei Huan had risked everything to open the diamond chest and chosen Xu Qingqiang as the opener. Every decision he had made since his rebirth revolved around one unshakable conviction:
Humanity must win.
And from the moment he returned to this life, he had truly felt—through his own efforts alone—he was already prying the gears of a doomed future off their original track.
"Let's go."
Wei Huan cast one final glance at the battlefield to confirm the fight was truly over.
As the meatball melted away, not only did the broken tendrils and leaves turn to ash—even the severed red roots that had writhed on the surface like blood earthworms, still brimming with vitality, crumbled into nothingness.
A perfect vital-point kill. Even with a plant's legendary regeneration, resurrection was impossible.
Satisfied he had left no hidden threat behind, Wei Huan gave the order to head back—back to Xu Qingqiang and the profession training ground he had brought home.
With this new addition, humanity now controlled five profession training grounds.
Plus the mysterious "Dome" in Dou Lin's hands that strongly resembled another.
And Wei Huan had not forgotten the Druid training ground "Forest of Nature" that, in his previous life, had fallen into Daxia's hands yet gone completely unused.
Piece by piece, the twelve training grounds were coming together.
On the return journey, Wei Huan thought about all this while watching the foreign war vehicles rushing over—close enough to observe, yet too wary to approach. A quiet pride swelled in his chest.
Unknowingly, he had grown this strong.
He allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction, even glancing at the world channel with interest.
It was still ablaze with discussion about their diamond-tier kill. Most voices belonged to foreign pioneering teams, probing carefully—asking about the monster's abilities, what price Wei Huan would demand to open high-tier chests for others.
The hottest topic by far, though, was the Tier-6 war vehicle.
"We were stuck entering Tier-5 for three whole years. It's only been half a year now—are we really heading to Tier-6 already?"
"We haven't even conquered Tier-5. Rushing to Tier-6 would be suicide. But the ascension path is in our hands now—no rush."
"It still feels like a dream. Humanity is about to have Tier-6 vehicles? On the grand battlefield, wouldn't that slaughter those beasts?"
"Exactly. We don't have to enter Tier-6 worlds immediately, but Tier-6 vehicles and professionals will completely change the war's balance."
"The counterattack horn has sounded. My blood is boiling. Wei Huan—you legend!"
"Thank you, Wei Huan. Humanity is finally rising!"
Despite endless diplomatic squabbles and daily arguments among the pioneering armies—no one willing to yield an inch—the hatred for the dark beasts and the longing for human victory were completely unanimous.
So when Wei Huan succeeded once again, the world channel, for once, spoke with one voice: pure praise and celebration.
No one disliked being praised—not even a man living his second life.
Killing the current world's diamond-tier monster was a monumental achievement, and Wei Huan knew he deserved to feel proud.
After basking in that warmth for a moment, he refocused and began reorganizing his forces.
The Shura Horses were once again half-crippled.
Until he recruited two-headed shadow demons, the durable, high-damage horses remained his only reliable frontline.
In critical moments, he had no choice but to stack Bloodlust buffs—which meant 14,000 of his 22,000 horses were now in a 26-day weakness period (shortened only because Mu Zhong had become a "Shaman High Priest").
The remaining 8,000 were almost all in 24-hour post-attribute-buff weakness.
All 35,000 swift wolves were similarly weakened for 24 hours.
But Tiers 5 and 6 were ocean worlds—hardly ideal for land-based wolves. Wei Huan planned to pause wolf recruitment for quite a while.
The same went for zombie berserk bears—not great underwater.
He would focus on elite cultivation for the bears instead. Big Bear had been an epic hero for some time; Wei Huan could feel it was close to reaching legendary.
A legendary hero gained 30× base stats. At that point, even war vehicles wouldn't out-tank it. Add a full buff stack, and it would become humanity's ultimate meat shield.
Demon Eye Lords, ghost crows, kobolds, and flying monkeys weren't ideal for ocean combat either—elite route only.
The true stars of this world were the subterranean insect branch.
Ever since Dot Mom became a hero unit, the entire branch gained exceptional underwater capabilities.
Even the lowly face-huggers now rivaled sprint wolves in aquatic combat.
And best of all—reviving and raising face-huggers cost Wei Huan zero underworld energy. Dot Mom handled everything herself.
He decided: for these two ocean worlds, the insect branch would be his main focus. If he could push Dot Mom to epic tier and mass-produce "mobile arsenals," it would be game-changing.
Finally, Nether Flame bomb stock: 0.
Nether Flame bombs—truly the eternal carry. You could never have enough.
Who wanted to chip away at health bars when you could just one-shot everything?
Time to start stockpiling again.
He now had three "super energy batteries" plus his own underworld energy—twenty bombs per day total.
But he needed energy for unit recruitment, so the batteries alone could only produce six per day.
He hoped Commander Mu's negotiations for more batteries bore fruit soon.
After tallying his combat strength, Wei Huan grimaced.
Roughly 20% effective fighting power.
If anything unexpected happened now, it could be troublesome.
Thankfully, the new diamond-grade necklace was amazing—20% faster underworld energy regeneration had already restored half his reserves.
He immediately spent two-thirds of it resummoning burrow mothers and feeding them to Dot Mom.
Each devoured burrow mother made Dot Mom's soul flame burn a little brighter—clear proof that "feeding" accelerated her evolution toward epic hero.
Until either Dot Mom reached epic or he could mass-summon two-headed shadow demons, dramatically boosting combat power would be difficult.
With his cultivation path reaffirmed, Wei Huan finished reorganizing his legions and opened his eyes.
Right on cue, the war vehicle carrying Xu Qingqiang appeared at the edge of radar.
Wei Huan straightened slightly, anticipation gleaming in his gaze.
What would the Criminal sequence training ground be?
…
"Endless Prison?"
Xu Qingqiang returned pale as paper. Mu Zhong immediately sent him to his room to rest. Wei Huan took the direct elevator from the cockpit to see him.
Thanks to his innate Gluttony and "blood-replenishing blade," Xu Qingqiang usually finished battles either glowing with health or passed out from overeating.
It had been a long time since Wei Huan had seen him this malnourished.
Xu Qingqiang lay collapsed on the bed—cheeks sunken, dark circles under his eyes, body shriveled as if dehydrated, several sizes thinner.
The moment Wei Huan saw him, he opened a portal and released Shura horses.
Xu Qingqiang didn't stand on ceremony. One second he looked like he was starving to death; the next he flashed atop a horse and opened his jaw—split all the way to his ears—and bit down.
"Gya ha ha ha!"
He devoured it ravenously.
Shura horses were rotting corpses beneath their armor—putrid flesh and black, foul blood.
Yet to Xu Qingqiang, they were a feast. He ate with obvious relish.
Even though Wei Huan and Mu Zhong had seen it countless times, the sight was still unsettling. They turned and stepped out, giving him space to eat in peace.
Listening to the crunch of bones behind them, Wei Huan asked calmly, "Endless Prison? What kind of training ground is it?"
Mu Zhong shook his head. "Hard to explain over video, and Brother Qiang was in bad shape. All I know is it's construction-type."
Wei Huan looked puzzled.
Mu Zhong continued, "It's like a private dimension—but an endless high-rise prison tower with no visible top. According to Brother Qiang, you throw living creatures inside. Different creatures grant different traits. Not only do they massively boost the Criminal's combat power and defense as levels rise, but you can also set mental anchors inside the prison, drastically reducing the chance of going berserk."
Wei Huan listened quietly, thought for a moment, then said, "So… the Criminal becomes the warden?"
Behind them, the crunching continued. Wei Huan added bluntly, "One hell of a weird training ground. Never expected that."
Finally, he turned to Mu Zhong. "Anything else?"
Mu Zhong shook his head again. "He was too weak. I didn't press him. We'll see it ourselves soon enough."
"It'll be a while," Wei Huan said. "He just ate three horses in one go. He'll be out cold for hours."
Mu Zhong chuckled, not worried at all. "Looks like Brother Qiang had it rough this time."
As if on cue, the chewing stopped. Three seconds later, thunderous snoring began.
The two men outside the door exchanged a smile, called the butler to watch over Xu Qingqiang, and headed downstairs.
Of course they were curious about the Criminal training ground—what exactly was this "Endless Prison"?
But before anything else, Xu Qingqiang was their brother who had fought and bled beside them. No matter how big the news, they would wait until he recovered.
Besides, nothing urgent required him right now. Wei Huan and Mu Zhong had their hands full anyway.
Downstairs in the plaza, the old professors, academicians, and Director Ju—experts well past sixty—were being carried back one by one.
They knew perfectly well how deadly the challenge world was, yet they had chosen to enter and stand with Wei Huan. Why?
Because the challenge world and reality were deeply intertwined.
Second-hand reports and collected data could never compare to firsthand experience.
And Director Ju still had to personally mentor Wei Huan's growth as a leader.
When Wei Huan realized the diamond monster specialized in psychic attacks—and that Tier-5 vehicles couldn't fully defend against them—he had immediately evacuated all non-combat personnel.
Now he was deeply grateful for that decision.
Just a minute ago, he had received reports: every spectator vehicle had been hit by the monster's dying psychic wave.
Low-sequence non-combatants on those vehicles had suffered devastating injuries; every single one reported deaths.
By contrast, his foresight had protected the nation's priceless "national treasures."
But when he thought of Mu Tang, his joy vanished.
"Director Ju, please rest. Cousin Mu and the others are still unconscious—I'll go check on them," Wei Huan said quickly before hurrying off.
Director Ju watched his retreating back disappear, then entered the elevator with the others.
Inside, one of the old experts spoke up. "After this battle, Wei Huan's prestige is unshakable. I truly see hope in him."
Another added, "And he seized the moment—using the Temporary Alliance Pact to reveal their intentions. Now it's just a matter of steady progress."
"Perfect timing, perfect conditions, perfect support," Director Ju nodded, deeply satisfied.
Timing and conditions were one thing—simply a display of strength.
But to these elders, the real key was unity of hearts.
If anyone else—say, Fang William—had possessed Wei Huan's power, they might never have dared take this step and issue alliance pacts.
It was practically declaring a new power bloc beneath the great nations.
Yet Wei Huan had the full backing of Commander Mu, the allegiance of Commander Chai, the overflowing favor of Commander Dong of the Vermilion Bird Legion (thanks to the materials Wei Huan had gifted early on), and now the unwavering support of these academic titans.
Perhaps none of his earlier moves had been planned with such grand vision, but together they had formed an unstoppable momentum.
A personal call to alliance from Wei Huan now had every chance of succeeding.
One had to admit—fate itself seemed to stand on his side.
Stepping out of the elevator, Director Ju stopped and addressed the group of elders—each a giant in their field.
"What Wei Huan seeks to achieve—I hope you will all lend your full support. Humanity's hope may very well rest on this moment."
"You have my word, Director Ju. I'll give everything."
"Understood."
"Rest assured, Director. This is too important—we'll spare no effort."
While Wei Huan visited the unconscious victims of the psychic backlash, he had no idea that, in that short span, yet another crucial weight had been added to his side of the scale.
Just as he had once simply thought, "I still have strength to spare—I should bring the researchers to the highest world to accelerate human progress," without deeper calculation.
Sometimes, the willow grows tallest where it was planted by chance.
Among the wounded, Sequence-3 Mu Tang had suffered the worst damage. All three Priests of Healing and the one Angel on board were gathered around him.
When Wei Huan arrived, the Angel—a man sent from the Black Tortoise Legion whom Wei Huan had personally fast-tracked with promotion potions, making him the vehicle's first Sequence-5 Angel—was just lifting his hand from Mu Tang's forehead.
"Captain," the Angel greeted, standing.
He was the reason they even had a healer capable of treating psychic wounds.
"How is he?" Wei Huan asked.
"His spirit realm was heavily shocked. I've purged most of the foreign energy. The rest just needs rest and recuperation. However, the damage was severe. If it doesn't fully heal, he'll likely suffer permanent after-effects—greatly reduced mental stamina for life. On the other hand, if he recovers completely, his spirit realm will be vastly broader than average, granting him several times the mental endurance of an ordinary person."
Wei Huan's first thought: As expected of the chosen "old ox" Mu Tang—several times normal mental stamina? That just means he can work several times longer!
Even his injuries were uniquely suited to his personality.
"What can fully heal his spirit wound?" Wei Huan asked.
"Life Angels not only regenerate limbs—they have exceptional power over psychic trauma as well."
"Got it." Wei Huan nodded. He already had the Tier-6 core material. Sequence advancement materials weren't far off. A Life Angel would appear sooner rather than later.
After confirming that Mu Tang's only symptoms during recovery would be headaches and drowsiness—with no danger to his life—Wei Huan finally relaxed.
Whether it was Mu Tang or Mu Zhong, both were waiting for a Life Angel.
It had long been on his to-do list. Completion was only a matter of time.
He then visited Lin Xu, Zhou Yong, Ding Qi, and the others—veterans who had joined back in the lower worlds. They could no longer quite keep up with his pace, but the vehicle was large, and he didn't mind waiting for them to grow.
The stronger the world monsters became, the greater the threat to them. He needed to reach Tier-6 soon to protect them properly.
The idea that they were "dead weight"? It had never crossed his mind.
They were old comrades who had walked the entire path with him—utterly trustworthy, the true core of his personal faction. Raising his own people into pillars of strength was what any leader had to do.
Take Ding Qi, for example. Her innate talent was already special; the Beast Pen had elevated her further. Though only Sequence-4, her combat power rivaled mid-tier Sequence-5s.
With proper investment, even an ordinary challenger could become a regional powerhouse.
He was confident of that.
Lin Xu and Zhou Yong were in better shape than Mu Tang—mainly because Mu Tang focused purely on logistics and had fallen behind in sequence progress.
Lin Xu and Zhou Yong, riding Wei Huan's vehicle, had seen and done far more, accumulating vast combat experience.
Thanks to Commander Mu's applications, they could even cut the line for War Tower training. Their strength far exceeded peers.
Most importantly, the environment had shaped them. The old street-thug air was long gone; they now carried themselves like upright young officers.
After checking on everyone, Wei Huan summoned Captain Xue and Mu Zirui—the melee and ranged captains—for the post-battle review.
During the debrief, he discovered something interesting.
Both men had endured the diamond monster's dying psychic wave and received foreign memories—but unlike Wei Huan and Mu Zhong, who retained coherent "video segments," Xue and Mu Zirui only had fragmented, broken photographs scattered in their minds.
Mu Zirui's fragments were slightly better—some lasted three to five seconds—but the difference was clearly tied to spirit power.
Wei Huan's 4,500+ underworld energy dwarfed Mu Zirui's barely 1,000+.
Even Mu Zhong now sat at 2,100.
Thus, only Wei Huan and Mu Zhong had received relatively complete memories.
"So you saw those colossal beings too?" Wei Huan asked.
The moment the words left his mouth, both men instinctively searched the foreign memories—and immediately paled, bodies trembling.
Captain Xue, the tougher of the two, still shook uncontrollably. Mu Zirui looked like he was seizing.
"Are they… gods?" Mu Zirui asked through clenched teeth. "Behind their heads—I think I saw halos."
Captain Xue shook his head. "My memories are too broken. I couldn't see their forms clearly, but the terror and despair I felt were overwhelming."
Mu Zhong forcibly recalled the images again. When he opened his eyes, his lips were pale, but his voice remained steady. "If they are enemies… I can't imagine how humanity could ever fight individual beings that powerful."
Faced with the same questions that had once plagued him, Wei Huan now saw a different possibility.
"No," he said slowly, looking at the three of them. "They might not have been born gods. I'm leaning toward another explanation."
He paused, then asked, "Do you remember the dark beast royals' ultimate trump card—that boundless draconic phantom?"