Facing the Apocalypse with My Other Selves

However, the underground survival base is just a survival base, there isn't even a proper place for combat training or sparring.

For weaker Martial Artists it's fine, but the destructive power of the stronger ones is simply too much.

Martial Artist Shen Yu could already clearly feel that many Martial Artists were becoming increasingly repressed, and some were even feeling quite down, believing there's no point in further exploring Martial Arts.

Sending this group of Martial Artists—who train only to fight—to other worlds with needs for combat is definitely a practice that accomplishes several things at once.

As for the risk?

If you don't dare to bear the risk of death, then don't be a Martial Artist.

"I think, besides Martial Artist mercenaries, there's another way for you to earn Gray Mist," Shen Yu said, "and that's your world."

"My world..." Martial Artist Shen Yu's eyes lit up.

Indeed, his world is experiencing a rapid surge in Primordial Energy!

Martial Arts cultivation mainly relies on three things.

Cultivation Technique, talent, and Primordial Energy.

Worm Flesh can somewhat meet the need for Primordial Energy, but that's really just the low level stuff.

Once the Martial Arts Power improves to a certain point, the demand for Primordial Energy skyrockets.

If you rely solely on Worm Flesh, imagine how much you'd have to consume!

"That's exactly the point I wanted to make," Shen Yu said, "Previously, I used Gray Mist to consult whether it was possible to fully connect two worlds and build a channel that doesn't require ongoing Gray Mist consumption. The answer is yes, but the amount of Gray Mist required is enormous—over tens of billions. We simply can't afford that right now. So, I thought of another workaround: still build a Two Realms Gate and while connecting the two worlds, compress the parts involving Gray Mist to the absolute minimum."

"Right. We can do that!"

Martial Artist Shen Yu was first taken aback, then extremely delighted.

How did he not think of this before?

The consumption required for living beings to enter different worlds through Gray Mist comes from two aspects.

First, the strength of the creature.

Second, the time spent lingering inside the Gray Mist Space.

The three Martial Arts Masters from the Martial Arts World who previously arrived at the human Mother Star did so by being carried by Shen Yu—instantly crossing into the Gray Mist Space, then instantly into the Mother Star.

The time consumed in between was 0.3 seconds.

That was Shen Yu's limit at the time.

If Shen Yu were to do it now, he could compress the time to 0.018 seconds.

The consumption has already dropped significantly.

But to compress it further isn't easy.

Reaction time isn't enhanced in the normal way; it's a reverse compression.

If it's not possible to freeze time within the Gray Mist Space, this number can only approach zero infinitely. And once it reaches a certain degree, lowering it even a tiny bit represents a huge leap in Power.

Moreover, Shen Yu can't do nothing else and just act as a transport service for people.

The Two Realms Gate basically uses one-off Gray Mist to substitute Shen Yu's function.

"The thinner you compress the Gray Mist layering, the less consumption there is per crossing. But the one-time cost is much greater. It's a mathematical function," Intersellar World Shen Yu had figured it out too.

After using Gray Mist to query some parameters, he raised his hand and a formula and function curve appeared midair. He calculated the requirements of both worlds, and finally settled on a number, "Six hundred and forty million Gray Mist. With a Two Realms Gate built at this cost, the amount of Gray Mist needed for an ordinary person to cross drops to 1.2 units. Even for a Martial Arts Myth tier powerhouse, it's only 68,000 units—compared to before, that's a massive drop. Plus, as the might of each world grows, we can adjust the inputs as needed."

Before, even teleporting Sword Return Two—an elite expert—cost over six hundred thousand Gray Mist!

The cost for teleportation has definitely gone down drastically.

Six hundred and forty million as a lump sum seems a lot, but if exchanges are frequent, the Gray Mist saved far exceeds this amount.

"This works!" Martial Artist Shen Yu even made a snap decision. "We're basically paying a one-time road-building fee, and then the tolls can be paid by the Martial Artists themselves. They go out to earn Gray Mist anyway. I can even make a profit directly off the tolls, so I don't have to take an awkward cut from their achievements."

Intersellar World Shen Yu and Wizard Shen Yu also had smiles on their faces.

Strengthening exchanges between worlds benefits every world involved.

Just in emergencies, moving large numbers of refugees can have a massive impact—and it could even earn a vast amount of Gray Mist!

"Let's calculate a specific 'toll'—set it to a reasonable amount, and then we can start," Shen Yu said with a smile. "There's not a huge need to hire lots of Martial Arts Masters on the Mother Star at the moment, but the demand for Martial Arts cultivation is still there, especially for soldiers who've acquired achievements—if there's enough Primordial Energy, using Mighty Power to boost Power leads to the best results."

Achievements are essentially Gray Mist.

Gray Mist consumption depends on conditions too.

In a shortage of Primordial Energy, or with plenty to spare—even in excess—using the same amount of Gray Mist naturally yields more Power.

"Now this is what a real Multi-Dimensional Apocalypse Civilization Mutual Aid Association looks like!" Wizard Shen Yu sighed with expectation.

He was right.

At this stage, the Multi-Dimensional Apocalypse Civilization Mutual Aid Association finally looks like something real.

In the following meeting, the four held more detailed discussions.

They covered all kinds of details and different opinions.

Then, they created new Magic, and etched it into their souls.

Everyone was full of expectation for the Association's future.

You could say, this very meeting was a turning point—a little pivot for the Association, because it was bound to further strengthen the connection between the various Doomsday Civilizations.

Once the meeting ended, Shen Yu returned to the Mother Star.

He went to a deserted spot.

As the demand had increased, the finalized Fourth Stage Magic required even more resources than initially budgeted, hitting 1.5 billion!

But the result was impressive.

"Space Secret Realm Creation Magic," Shen Yu sensed the newly etched magic in his mind, "This is practically the upper limit of Fourth Stage Magic, bordering on Fifth Stage—it's already a prototype for Half-plane Creation Magic."

The biggest feature of this magic is its space channeling ability.

It can create multiple space entrances and exits covering a vast region.

It effectively serves as a space transit station.

At this extent, its potential impact is much greater than Shen Yu originally imagined!

It will absolutely be a huge surprise for Human Civilization.

With hopeful anticipation, Shen Yu began prepping the magic right away.

In the fourth stage of Demon Pattern Meditation Method, every demon pattern etched clearly enhances Magic Power, so the Gray Mist spent on these spells is actually boosting each version of Shen Yu's Power overall.

But the trickiest part about this magic is preparing the entrances at multiple locations simultaneously.

For Shen Yu, though, this only takes a very short time.

With Magic Power pouring out, at a certain moment while forming the magic, Shen Yu could clearly sense a space—a Secret Realm—suddenly take shape before him and rapidly expand!

"This space is shaped entirely by my own Magic Power; inside, I can easily exert certain effects," Shen Yu gazed at the not-too-big, not-too-small space, deepening his understanding of the magic, and even shifting his grasp of space itself.

This sort of magic, after all, was imprinted directly with Gray Mist onto his mind—not learned step by step, bit by bit.

So his initial understanding wasn't deep.

But as he kept using it, things became clearer and clearer.

Not just of this magic, but of space itself.

Especially considering that now there are four users' worth of experience.

Shen Yu thought of Phase Wolf Hunting, and more ideas started coming to him.