While Ying Xiong and the other contestants were enjoying their rewards, Zhou Fan headed back to his shack on the edge of the galaxy. He had only briefly come out due to his interest in Heaven's idea.
The most important matter was still to speed up his own cultivation. He had made some progress, but he was still very far away from having any major results.
What he was doing was comprehending cultivation. The river of cultivation was the result of his comprehension so far, but he needed to go much further for more results.
From what he understood, cultivation was similar to how living beings can breathe or exercise. It's a natural part of the universe.
However, it is much harder to use and understand than other parts. Before Zhou Fan had interefered and changed the Chaos Qi into the other Qi's, it was simply impossible to cultivate.
Even if there was someone who had understood how to cultivate and tried, they would have instantly died, their bodies turning to mush or disappearing entirely.
Only one with an affinity towards Chaos Qi, as well as a Chaos divine physique would be able to truly begin cultivating before Zhou Fan.
Naturally, there had never been someone like that. Even in all of the universe, which now held more than a million times more life in a year than earth did in its history before Zhou Fans birth, had not had a single person born with an affinity to Chaos Qi.
And if they did, they would instantly die when cultivating without the corresponding Chaos physique.
Zhou Fan's comprehension of cultivation had always been going up, but the concept was much more profound and in depth than anything else he had ever made contact with.
If the concept of space and time were to be considered as deep as a river, and the concept of Chaos was to be considered as deep as the ocean, then the concept of cultivation was deeper than an entire planet made out of water.
Despite its extreme depth, Zhou Fan was getting closer to the bottom.
He quickly began focusing on his task as the outside universe continued to function.
Soon, ten years passed.
Yao Mun turned 35, Guang Fu turned 31, and both Ying Xiong and Lernean turned 23.
Each of their cultivation levels had slightly increased.
Yao Mun and Guang Fu reached the 3rd level of the nascent soul realm, while Lernean and Ying Xiong reached the 2nd level of the nascent soul realm.
Not a single one of them was doing anything but cultivating in seclusion and using their rewards from the Youth galactic assembly.
Ying Xiong had read the book Zhou Fan had given to him multiple times, and had already decided to spread it across the human race.
In the last ten years, multiple groups were formed, calling themselves buddhists, that adhered to the buddha's teachings and followed his way of life.
Most of them slept outside and meditated under trees, only not doing those when eating, teaching others, or using the restroom.
They meditated normally, while also cultivating a lot. It seemed that, in a certain amount of time, the human race would have an entire percentage of it following the buddhist ways.
Lernean and Yao Mun were practicing their techniques, while Guang Fu gleefully watched his talent go up. Soon, twenty years passed.
Everyone's age increased by twenty years while their cultivation went up a single level. In a mortal world, they would all be considered middle aged men, while Yao Mun could even be called old.
While they continued growing older and stronger, the tension between heavenborns and the beast world continued to rise. Although the supreme beasts had backed off due to Lernean, the Beasts and Heavenborns were still technically competitors.
As five days passed, Tian Ren and Bi Chong met on top of the mountain from long ago. They had come with two of their most trusted aides.
As they met in the middle, arguments broke out. Populations had been increasing, especially for the beasts, and everyone wanted more land.
They had negotiated before, and had usually come to agreements, but this time was different.
Even after five entire days of arguing, there was no compromise.
"Fine. War it is." Bi Chong said as he turned around and flew off with his aides.
"Good. Let's see just how strong you think you've become." Tian Ren snorted as he too left.
In the next few days, the lives on all planets were shaken by the declarations of war. For the first time in a long time, armies formed and marched out.
Borders were guarded more tightly than ever as letters went out to many, calling for strong youths to join.
Neither Bi Chong nor Tian Ren were fools. They were not going to fight a ridiculous war that destroyed large amounts of resources.
Instead, they opted for an organized war that seemed more like a competition.
A fourth of the remaining unclaimed territory of the world would be split into 1000 squares.
Those squares, on the agreement between both sides, would be categorized as fight zones for people of different cultivations and groups/individuals.
100 squares would be for groups, while 900 would be for 1 on 1 fights.
Of the 1 on 1 zones, 50 would be for core formation cultivators, 500 for nascent soul, 250 for soul formation, 98 for void traversing, and 2 for space shattering cultivators.
As part of the war agreement, neither Tian Ren nor Bi Chong would fight in zones.
Of the group battle zones, 5 would be for core formation, 50 for nascent soul, 25 for soul formation, and 20 for void traversing, although there weren't that many void traversing cultivators.
In the beginning, both sides would equally split the territories, but when the war started, cultivators could attack squares to claim for their side.
When battles started, a great barrier would arise that would protect each 1 on 1 fight from interference. Only space shattering cultivators would be able to break the barrier, but there wasn't anyone stupid enough to do that.
These would be the basic rules until all hell broke loose at least.