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

A tall, blond young man was pushed into the cabin.

He is a super soldier created by the United States at a cost of 30 billion US dollars. His current strength is assessed as being at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

There is an almost insurmountable chasm between them and the Nascent Soul stage.

But today, they will use the most violent means to forcibly fill this insurmountable barrier.

The hatch closed.

A dozen scientists in protective suits stood in front of the control panel, their fingers hovering over the start button.

The chief scientist glanced back at the white-haired old man standing behind the observation window, who nodded expressionlessly.

"Infusion begins."

hum.

The lights in the entire laboratory flickered, and the liquid in all the storage tanks surged simultaneously, flowing along the thick pipes into the injection chamber.

Inside the cabin, gold, black, and blue liquids were poured into Arthur's body through tubes inserted into his body.

For the first three seconds, Arthur gritted his teeth, and the veins on his neck bulged.

In the fifth second, his body began to tremble violently, and a strange pattern appeared on his skin.

In the eighth second, he couldn't hold back any longer.

A heart-wrenching scream erupted from the injection chamber, so loud that even the 30-centimeter-thick alloy walls couldn't suppress the agonizingly painful sound.

On the monitoring screen, Arthur's energy fluctuation curve began to jump wildly.

Early stage of Golden Elixir.

Mid-stage Golden Core.

Late stage of Golden Core.

The numbers were climbing at a speed that defied all known laws, and with each step up, Arthur's roar grew more piercing.

His muscles were tearing, his bones were shattering and reforming, his blood vessels were swelling, rupturing and healing, and his whole body was arched inside the cabin, his facial features distorted beyond recognition.

"The energy index is still rising! Peak Golden Core stage!"

"Vital signs are on the verge of collapse! Heart rate is 420; any higher and he'll break!"

The chief scientist, covered in cold sweat, turned to look at the white-haired old man.

The old man's expression remained unchanged. "Continue."

"But General, if we increase the dosage, he will die..."

"I said, continue."

The scientist's hands were trembling, but he still increased the perfusion rate by another level.

The screams inside the chamber turned into beastly roars, and the entire injection chamber trembled violently, with steam seeping from the weld seams.

The energy curve fluctuated violently at the peak of the Golden Core stage for thirty seconds, then suddenly shot upwards.

All monitoring screens simultaneously emitted piercing alarm sounds.

"He broke through! He's broken through the energy threshold of the early Nascent Soul stage!"

The white-haired old man finally moved. He took a step forward, placed his hands on the railing of the observation window, stared at the figure inside the cabin who was tormented by pain to the point of near madness, and slowly raised the corners of his mouth.

Twenty-four hours later.

All mainstream media outlets in the United States simultaneously pushed out the same front-page news.

The title is only one line long, and the font size is so large that it fills the entire screen.

The first true god on Earth is about to be born! The United States will surely take the top spot on the War King rankings!

The world was in uproar.

After this news was translated into Chinese, it quickly rose to the top of the trending searches in China within three minutes.

The comments section exploded.

"Holy crap, the US really got a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"Is this what they call something, a result of seven nations pooling resources together?"

"Whether it counts or not, they did break through; the key is whether the system recognizes it."

"So, what about Su Shen? What's Su Shen's current situation?"

This comment was pushed to the top.

Tens of thousands of replies flooded in, but no one could provide an answer.

The atmosphere of celebration that had been filled with joy because of the Lingshan Mine was suddenly dampened by a bucket of cold water.

On China's largest social media platform, a post titled "A Calm Analysis of Su Xuan's Current Situation" surpassed one million views within half an hour.

The poster's ID is "Rational Bystander," and their profile picture is a gray question mark.

"Everyone, think about this calmly. What was the ending of the last video? Su Xuan reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, shattering the Nascent Soul City Lord with a single finger. And then? The Divine Sword Sect's Nascent Soul Ancestor emerged from seclusion. Nascent Soul. A whole major realm higher than Nascent Soul. In the cultivation system, Nascent Soul represents a crushing difference in power compared to Golden Core, separated by an entire Nascent Soul stage. Although Su Xuan's combat power was heaven-defying at the time, his cultivation level was what it was—he was only a Golden Core cultivator. Facing a Nascent Soul Ancestor, he would most likely…"

The post didn't finish its conclusion, but everyone understood it.

The comment section instantly split into two camps.

"That makes sense. How can a Nascent Soul cultivator win against a Golden Core cultivator?"

"Don't forget that Su Shen killed a peak Nascent Soul cultivator with a single finger. So what if he's a Deity Transformation cultivator?"

"Those are two different things. The gap between the peak of the Nascent Soul stage and the Divine Transformation stage is even greater than the gap between the Golden Core stage and the Nascent Soul stage. Don't exaggerate blindly."

"Brainless hype? So what if I'm brainlessly hyping him? Su Shen even withstood the Heavenly Tribulation, what's a mere Nascent Soul Ancestor compared to that!"

"Can we please stop replacing logic with faith? What if Su Xuan really does...? What about the Dragon Kingdom's rankings this time? The US has already produced a War King."

"Shut up! You're such a jinx!"

The online feud escalated, but as the insults continued, a sense of unease spread across the Chinese internet.

In the forbidden live stream room, the style of the comments also changed.

The previously overwhelming "Su Shen is invincible" has been reduced by half, replaced by a string of praying emojis and "Please, Su Shen, please be safe."

Su Ruo couldn't see the comments.

She stood beside the ruins of the central square of the forbidden area, with the Five Elements Devouring Gold Beast perched on her shoulder, its little tail curling around the end of her braid and occasionally swaying.

Anna came closer, clutching a piece of armor she'd ripped off the monster as a weapon. Her face was covered in a mixture of ash and blood, making her look like a wild man who'd just crawled out of a mud pit.

"Su Ruoruo, are those people outside saying your brother might be dead?"

Anna never beats around the bush.

Su Ruoruo's fingers tightened around the soft fur of the Five Elements Devouring Gold Beast, and she remained silent.

Anna pouted.

"I think someone who can kill a Nascent Soul cultivator with a single finger shouldn't be so easy to kill, don't you think?"

Su Ruoruo pursed her lips and spoke very softly.

"My brother won't die."

Anna glanced at her and shrugged.

"Fine, if you say you won't, then you won't."

She turned her head away and mumbled something, something like, "I hope you're right."

Alice sat on a pile of rubble a dozen meters away, her golden curly hair a mess, and the hem of her princess dress torn in half and wrapped around her arm as a bandage.

She heard the sound of a live broadcast from the United States coming through her earphones; the anchor was repeating the same sentence over and over in an excited, distorted voice.

"Arthur is about to emerge from seclusion! The War King realm! The first true god in human history!"

Alice's lips curled slightly.

She turned her head and looked past the rubble and corpses onto Su Ruoruo.

The girl in the school uniform, holding a pom-pom, who seemed out of place in this chaotic scene, stood quietly in place.

Previously in the forbidden area, Alice witnessed Su Ruoruo being chased around by that black-armored crocodile, only to have the Five Elements Devouring Gold Beast slap the crocodile into a meat patty.

At that moment, she knew that Su Ruoruo was not someone who could be judged by common sense.

But it's different now.

Her brother Arthur is about to become the King of War.

What about Su Ruoruo's brother? His fate is unknown.

Alice looked away, and the smile on her lips widened a little more.

Billions of people around the world are watching the sky, waiting for the results of the rankings.

Time ticked by, and the tension was suffocating.

At that very moment, in the skies above Area 51, Nevada, the United States of America.

The sky cracked.

A blood-red beam of light burst through concrete, rock layers, and clouds from deep underground, piercing straight into the sky.

The beam of light was over 100 meters in diameter, and visible energy ripples spread outwards from the center of the beam in all directions. Wherever it passed, the clouds were torn apart and the atmosphere was ripped open into a huge vortex.

Half of the American population simultaneously felt that oppressive aura.

In Los Angeles, a section of glass in a high-rise building shattered; seawater flooded the San Francisco Bay Area by thirty meters; the New York subway was shut down; and skyscrapers in Chicago were shaking.

The cameras broadcasting live globally were focused on that beam of light.

At the top of the beam of light, a figure appeared.

Arthur.

Blonde hair, bare-chested, his muscles were wrapped in crimson lightning arcs, his eyes were bloodshot, and his pupils contained no human intelligence, only a pure and overwhelming aura of violence.

He hovered a thousand meters in the air, crimson lightning exploding and recombinating around him, each explosion carrying an impact that could crack the ground within a ten-mile radius.

The live streaming channels in the United States have gone crazy.

"He did it! He's reached the Battle King realm! Arthur has reached the Battle King realm!"

"This is the limit of humanity! This is our god!"

The comment sections of foreign online forums were flooded with messages, and netizens in the United States were in a frenzy, with various national flag emojis and "USA" filling the entire screen.

The chat on the Chinese side visibly quieted down for a few seconds.

Then it exploded.

"It's all over, it's all over, the US has really produced a war king!"

"This aura... is it truly a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"Where is Su Shen? Where is Su Shen?!"

"Don't panic, wait a bit, let the experts take a look!"

Dragon Kingdom Immortal Cultivation Research Institute, Emergency Live Broadcast Room.

The white-haired academician was woken up from his bed by his assistant, and after putting on his coat, he sat in front of the camera, where a high-definition image of Arthur emerging from seclusion was displayed on the screen in front of him.

He stared at it for less than ten seconds before his brows furrowed.

"enlarge."

The assistant zoomed in on Arthur's torso.

The old academician pointed his finger at the screen, indicating the blood-red energy flow that was constantly overflowing from Arthur's body.

"See that? This energy isn't circulating; it's leaking."

The viewers in the live stream held their breath.

The elderly academician turned to face the camera, speaking twice as fast as usual.

"I have three points. First, this person's cultivation level has indeed touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage, and his total energy is sufficient. Second, his aura is extremely unstable, and the rate at which energy leaks from his body surface far exceeds the tolerance range of a normal Nascent Soul cultivator, which indicates that his meridians and dantian are simply unable to contain this power. Third, and most importantly."

The old academician held up three fingers.

"In the cultivation system, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage is not just a matter of accumulating energy; it requires a simultaneous improvement in one's state of mind, spiritual awareness, and understanding of the laws of heaven and earth. This Arthur, by relying on external forces to forcibly elevate his realm, possesses the energy reserves of the Nascent Soul stage but lacks the matching state of mind and understanding of the laws. To use a somewhat inappropriate analogy, he is like a cup that has been forcibly filled with a lake of water; the cup is about to shatter."

"The conclusion is that this kind of pseudo-war king, created by piling on drugs and resources, probably can't even beat a solid Golden Core Grand Perfection cultivator in actual combat."

The chat in the Dragon Kingdom's live stream room instantly came alive.

"Academicians are awesome! It's obviously fake!"

"I knew it! Just because you put ingredients from seven kingdoms together and pour them in, you think you can become a god? Cultivating immortality isn't like adding water to a pot!"

"The statement that a bloated Nascent Soul cultivator can't beat a True Golden Core cultivator is so satisfying!"

"But! Will the system recognize it? Does the ranking look at skill level or actual combat experience?"

The moment this comment appeared, the atmosphere that had just started to liven up froze again.

Yes.

What are the system's judgment criteria?

If we only look at the cultivation level, Arthur has indeed reached the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage.

If Su Xuan's cultivation level hasn't broken through, or if Su Xuan is no longer here...

Chinese netizens dared not think any further.

The United States, the Pentagon.

The white-haired old man stood in front of the giant screen, looking at Arthur floating in the sky, his wrinkles full of smiles.

The intelligence officer next to him handed him a report.

"General, experts from the Dragon Kingdom say that Arthur is a false war king and his actual combat ability is poor."

The white-haired old man glanced at the report and casually tossed it into the shredder.

"Real combat? Who's going to fight them in real combat?"

He turned around, looking at the figure on the screen entangled in blood lightning, his voice filled with the smug satisfaction of winning all his chips.

"The leaderboard is based on the fastest advancement to the extraordinary realm, not a tournament. As long as the system determines that Arthur has reached the Battle King realm, we're number one. Who cares if it's fake or not, as long as the data is good enough."

He picked up the red phone on the table.

"Receive the president."

The phone was answered after only one ring.

"Reporting to the President, the deification project has been a success."

A series of heavy breathing sounds came from the other end of the phone, followed by an uncontrollable burst of laughter.

The image of Arthur hovering over Nevada was simultaneously broadcast on more than 4,000 live streaming channels worldwide.

On the streets of the United States, crowds poured out of bars, apartments, and office buildings, and some people opened champagne bottles into the sky, spraying white foam all over the ground.

Someone stood on the roof of the car waving the Stars and Stripes and shouting. On the giant screen in Times Square, New York, a close-up shot of Arthur being surrounded by blood lightning was played on a loop, with a line of text below.

"A god has been born among mankind."

Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston—every city is celebrating.

Car horns blared incessantly, fireworks were lit during the day, and everyone was shouting the same name.

Arthur.

This frenzy reached its peak two hours later.

The president of the United States appeared in front of the cameras in the White House press room, looking radiant, and wearing his most formal suit and tie.

Behind him was a huge Stars and Stripes flag, and on both sides stood high-ranking military officers and cabinet members.

Live broadcast worldwide.

"Today is the greatest day in human history."

His voice was amplified and broadcast to every channel.

"The United States solemnly announces to the world that our warrior Arthur has officially broken through to the War King realm, becoming the first extraordinary War God in the history of Earth!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

He raised his hand and pressed it down.

"I hereby promise all allies that once the United States reaches the top of the War King rankings, the national fortune rewards it receives will be shared selflessly with all alliance members!"

The prime minister of the United States, the "nation on which the sun never sets," patted the armrest in front of the television.

The President of Gaul raised his glass.

The Prime Minister of Japan let out a long sigh of relief, finally relaxing his clenched fist.

Supporters of the global Western alliance cheered, and the internet was flooded with celebratory posts, with social media platforms around the world being filled with national flags and victory slogans.

But the US president did not stop.

His expression changed from excitement to coldness, his eyes staring directly at the camera as he spoke each word clearly.

"Finally, I have something to say to the Dragon Kingdom."

The entire room fell silent.

"The spiritual stone resources of Kunlun Mountain are the common wealth of all mankind, and the Dragon Kingdom has no right to monopolize them."

He slapped his palm on the podium.

"Once we receive the national fortune reward, the Alliance army will immediately take over Kunlun Spirit Mountain. Anyone who obstructs us will be considered an enemy of all mankind!"