Brother Who Determines the Fate of the Nation: My Great Emperor's Cultivation Level Exposed by

Those gilded characters hung in the night sky, their blood-red light so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

On the battlefield outside Kunlun Lingshan, a Chinese soldier and an American agent were less than five meters apart, guns pointed at each other, fingers on the triggers, neither of them moving.

It's not that I don't want to move.

It cannot be moved.

The overwhelming pressure that erupted from the sky swept down, causing everyone's weapons to lose their response at the same moment. Gun barrels went cold, psionic fluctuations dropped to zero, and even the surging energy within the superhumans was forcibly suppressed.

In the Dragon Kingdom's frontline command post, the commander stared at all the monitoring screens in front of him that had turned green, and the status bars of all the firing points simultaneously jumped to offline.

"The failure of the full-band weapon is not a malfunction, but rather a result of suppression."

The communications soldier's voice trembled.

The commander looked up and saw the large, blood-red characters hanging on the dome through the skylight of the command post.

The fastest to advance to the next level (Battle King) ranking.

He put down the walkie-talkie.

We can't fight them, we can't fight anyone.

Meanwhile, that cold, mechanical voice continued to echo in the minds of everyone around the world.

This list will review the elder brothers of chosen ones from various countries, their speed in reaching the Battle King realm, and their current combat strength.

The faster you advance, the stronger your combat power, and the higher your ranking.

The top-ranked player, along with their associated Chosen Ones and their respective nations, will receive top-tier rewards surpassing those of previous rounds.

The sound dissipated.

The world was in an uproar.

The live stream's chat server overloaded and restarted twice.

"Battle King Realm? What the hell? What level is that?"

"The previous ranking was the Extraordinary Ranking, and this time it's the Battle King Ranking! What are these things?!"

"War King? That name alone is outrageous! How strong does one have to be to be called War King?"

"Su Shen was only at the Golden Core stage in the last video, could the War King be even higher than that?"

The internet was also in an uproar, with traffic on forums around the world increasing thirtyfold within ten minutes.

The United States, the Pentagon.

The group of generals in the conference room remained seated in the same positions they had been in ten minutes ago; no one moved, and their coffee had long since gone cold.

The white-haired old man stared at the words on the screen, his voice hoarse.

"Battle King Realm, investigate for me. Find out all the information you can find. I need to know what this term means within an hour."

"Yes."

Tokyo, the land of cherry blossoms.

The Shadow Consortium's intelligence department was urgently recalled, and dozens of analysts worked through the night to retrieve all the fragments of extraordinary texts that had leaked from the forbidden area, comparing them word by word.

In the British Empire, the Royal Institute of Extraordinary Abilities was brightly lit. Thirty-seven historians and seven extraordinary advisors sat around a round table covered with copies of ancient books collected from various sources.

Think tanks around the world are doing the same thing.

Turning the pages of a book.

He flipped through the book like a madman.

Forty-three minutes later, the Dragon Kingdom Cultivation Research Institute was the first to announce its conclusion.

An elderly academician with white hair stood in front of the camera at an emergency press conference, clutching a report in his hand, his voice restrained but unable to contain his excitement.

"Based on our institute's systematic review of the cultivation system texts that leaked from the forbidden area, combined with a quantitative comparison of energy levels, we have reached a preliminary conclusion."

He opened the report and read the line aloud into the camera.

"The Battle King Realm perfectly corresponds to the Nascent Soul stage in the Eastern cultivation system."

"A Nascent Soul stage cultivator can fly through the air, has a lifespan of a thousand years, and their divine sense can cover a hundred miles. With a wave of their hand, they can overturn rivers and seas and destroy cities and countries."

"Within the existing cognitive framework of Earth, life forms of this level only exist in ancient myths and legends."

The words caused a global uproar.

The barrage of comments exploded.

"Nascent Soul?! Isn't that a deity?!"

"Holy crap, the city lord of the Divine Sword Sect in the last video was a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, and he was shattered by Su Shen with a single finger!"

"Wait, the ranking requires reaching the Nascent Soul stage? That's way too high a standard!"

"What level are guys from other countries at? They might not even be at the Foundation Establishment stage yet, how can they compare to Nascent Soul cultivators?"

The United States, the Pentagon.

After listening to the press conference from the Dragon Kingdom, the white-haired old man's face lost all color.

He turned to look at the intelligence officer.

"What's the current level of our Super Soldier Project, that genetically modified chosen one?"

The intelligence officer swallowed hard.

"Reporting to the General, according to the latest energy assessment, the current upper limit of our chosen one's elder brother's strength is roughly equivalent to the early stage of the Golden Core realm in the cultivation system. Optimistically, he is expected to reach the threshold of the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm within six months."

"How far are we from reaching the Nascent Soul stage?"

The intelligence officer did not answer.

The white-haired old man slammed the report in his hand onto the table.

No need to answer. That's a gap measured in centuries, impossible to bridge with Earth's current resources and methods.

The generals in the conference room had grim faces, and no one spoke.

They invested hundreds of billions of dollars in a super soldier program and staked the nation's resources on genetic modification projects, yet the top combat forces they cultivated don't even qualify for a place on this list.

The situation in Japan is even worse.

Miyamoto Hanzo received a summary report from the intelligence department, on which a conclusion was highlighted in red: "Our chosen one's current strength assessment indicates that the gap between him and the War King realm is insurmountable."

He crumpled the report into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

Central Plaza of the Forbidden Area.

The aftershocks of the battle had not yet subsided; the corpse of the black-armored crocodile, which had been slapped to death by the Five Elements Gold Devouring Beast, still lay more than ten meters away, and a faint smell of blood lingered in the air.

Anna stood behind Su Ruoruo, looking at the blood-red characters on the sky. Her eyes darted around, and she leaned close to Su Ruoruo's ear.

"Su Ruoruo, the Battle King Realm is the same as the Nascent Soul Realm, right?"

Su Ruoruo didn't speak. The Five Elements Devouring Gold Beast in her arms wrapped its tail around her wrist and rubbed its little head against her chin.

Anna leaned closer and lowered her voice.

"What if your brother...?"

Su Ruoruo tightened her grip slightly, her fingertips sinking into the little beast's soft fur.

The image from that video resurfaced in my mind.

The elder brother stood in the void, flicked a finger, and the Nascent Soul City Lord didn't even have time to escape; his soul shattered on the spot.

At that time, my brother was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Even in the early stages of the Golden Core realm, one can shatter a Nascent Soul with a single finger.

And now? The video stopped playing there, and the rest of the footage wasn't shown. She didn't know what happened after the Nascent Soul Ancestor came out of seclusion.

But she had an answer in her heart.

That case made her heart pound.

She didn't answer Anna's question, but simply looked up at the words "War King" on the sky, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Anna understood her expression, took a step back, and whistled.

"Alright, I'll accept it if you seem to agree."

On the other side, Alice sat on the ground, her princess dress covered in mud. She had just been chased half to death by the swift wolf, her hair was messed up, her makeup was ruined, and she looked utterly disheveled.

She heard the conclusion of Academician Long Guo.

Nascent Soul stage.

Where is her brother?

That genetically modified super soldier from the United States, that brother she was so proud of since childhood, who was hailed as the pinnacle of human evolution, was at most a Golden Core cultivator!

Her fingernails dug into her palms, and the veins on the back of her hand bulged.

Yukina leaned against a broken tree, the corpse of the three-headed demon spider scattered at her feet, and green fluid dripping from her kunai.

Her breathing was heavy, and there was a bloody gash on her shoulder from a spider web, but her attention was not on the wound at all.

Battle King Realm, Nascent Soul Stage.

Japan is highly likely to have no entries on this list.

Discussions on external forums have shifted from excitement to despair.

"To be honest, is this list intentional? Who on Earth can reach the standard for the Nascent Soul stage?"

"Besides Su Xuan from the Dragon Kingdom, I can't think of anyone else."

"So this ranking is tailor-made for China? Other countries are just there to make up the numbers?"

"Not necessarily. What if no one reaches the Nascent Soul stage, and the rankings are completely vacant?"

"If we get a bye, we won't get the reward, and China won't get it either."

"I beg for a bye, I really beg for a bye. We can't let China take first place again. If they take it again, the other countries will be out of the game."

This pessimism is spreading globally.

The attitudes of leaders from various countries were surprisingly consistent; they were no longer driven by the ambition of "I also have a chance to be number one," but rather by a naked prayer.

I pray that no one on this list will reach the required standard.

Su Xuan of the Dragon Kingdom is not a Nascent Soul cultivator either.

The prayers of high-ranking officials from various countries did not last long.

Because a crueler reality lay before them: if no one reached the Battle King realm and the rankings were left vacant, there would be no national fortune reward.

What does it mean if there is no national fortune reward?

This means that the Dragon Kingdom already possesses the Kunlun Spirit Mountain mineral vein, and spirit stones are continuously flowing into the national treasury.

Cultivation for all is being incorporated into textbooks, and psionic weapons are about to enter mass production.

And they had nothing.

Without new national rewards to catch up, the gap will only widen until it becomes an insurmountable chasm.

There's not much difference between waiting to die and being crushed to death.

The United States, the Pentagon.

The white-haired old man stubbed out his seventh cigar in the ashtray. He stared at the encrypted communication screen in front of him and pressed the red button marked with the highest level.

Twelve minutes later, an emergency video conference spanning seven time zones was connected.

The screen was divided into more than a dozen panels, with the president of the United States, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, the president of France, the prime minister of Japan, the prime minister of Australia, the prime minister of Australia, and so on—all the core leaders of the Western alliance were online.

There was no small talk, no polite greetings.

Every face bore the same expression: despair tinged with resentment.

The president of the United States spoke first, his voice hoarse.

"Gentlemen, the situation is very clear. We cannot take back the Lingshan mine in the Dragon Kingdom, and the night raid plan has been completely wiped out. Now, the only chance to turn the tide is this War King Ranking."

The prime minister of the British Empire took off his glasses and wiped them.

"But General, the Battle King Realm corresponds to the Nascent Soul Stage. How can we possibly advance to that level with all our extraordinary combat power combined?"

"That's why I called you all together."

The president of the United States tapped his fingers twice on the table. In the video, you could see that his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he hadn't slept for forty-eight hours.

The brief silence in the conference room was broken by the Prime Minister of Japan.

His voice trembled.

"Everyone, before we discuss how we should proceed, I'd like to raise an even more terrifying hypothesis."

All eyes turned to him.

"Su Xuan of the Dragon Kingdom."

As soon as those three words were spoken, the temperature in the conference room dropped even further.

The Prime Minister of Japan swallowed hard.

"In that video, he shattered a city lord at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage with a single finger flick, right? Do you all remember?"

No one answered, but everyone's backs were tense.

"If a Golden Core cultivator can crush a Nascent Soul cultivator, then what if his true cultivation level... has already broken through to the Battle King realm?"

These words hit the video conference, and everyone on the screen froze simultaneously.

The president of Gaul held his coffee cup to his lips for a long time without putting it down.

The British Prime Minister put his glasses back on and his hand hovered in mid-air.

The president of the United States turned pale for a moment, then his face turned ashen.

If Su Xuan is already at the Battle King realm.

If he makes it onto the list and takes first place.

The Dragon Kingdom receives another national fortune reward.

Then the Western alliance is not just being left behind, it's being nailed to the coffin, without even the right to turn over.

The silence lasted for a full fifteen seconds.

The president of the United States slammed his fist on the table, causing the coffee cup to jump and the brown liquid to splatter all over the table.

"I do not accept this result."

He stood up, his eyes bloodshot, and scanned every face on the screen.

"Listen up, I have a plan, it's crazy, but this is our last chance."

Everyone held their breath.

"Since it can't be done by the power of one nation alone, let's pool the strength of the entire alliance, concentrate all resources, and forcefully create a War King!"

"The God-Making Project".

These four words, uttered from his mouth, carried the madness of a gambler.

The prime minister of the United Kingdom frowned.

"You mean, concentrate all extraordinary resources on one person?"

"That's right."

"But...those resources are vital to our respective nations. What if we fail..."

"If we fail, we're doomed too!" The president of the United States suddenly raised his voice.

Do you think the Dragon Kingdom will give us a way to survive after receiving its third national fortune reward?

Silence fell over the meeting room once again.

This silence was longer and heavier, like a lead weight pressing on everyone's chest.

The first to speak out was the Prime Minister of Japan.

"Three vials of Yamata no Orochi's essence blood."

He clenched his teeth so tightly that they made a grinding sound when he said those words.

That was the most crucial extraordinary resource that the Sakura Kingdom obtained in the forbidden area, originally intended for use by their own country's superhumans.

But I can't worry about that now.

The prime minister of the United States closed his eyes.

"One bottle of Holy Grail remnants."

The President of Gaul removed his medal and placed it on the table.

"Two magic cores."

One by one, the leaders of the Western alliance gritted their teeth and revealed all their secrets.

With each thing they said, their faces paled a little more.

Any one of these resources, if left unused, would be enough to trigger a local war.

Now, it's all piled on one person.

The president of the United States looked at the long list of resources on the screen, and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"That's enough. This stuff is enough to create a god."

The order was issued within thirty minutes.

The world's most advanced strategic transport aircraft took off simultaneously from seven countries, traversing different routes in the darkness, all bound for a single destination.

The United States of America, Nevada, District 51.

The laboratory on the seventh underground floor.

The lights were stark white, the metal walls reflected a cold luster, and the air was filled with disinfectant and some indescribable, sweet-smelling odor.

In the very center of the laboratory, a giant piece of equipment occupies one-third of the entire space.

It was an oval-shaped high-pressure injection chamber, with walls cast from a special alloy thirty centimeters thick, and its surface engraved with dense energy guiding patterns.

Dozens of thick IV tubing extend from the top of the cabin, connecting to a ring of storage tanks filled with different colored liquids.

The golden liquid is the remnant of the Holy Grail.

It was pitch black; it was the blood essence of the Yamata no Orochi.

The deep blue color is the energy extract from the Gallic Demon Core.