067. With Mei Bi Not Around, My Luck Keeps Getting Better
As soon as Li Aozi landed, he immediately deactivated his Domination transformation. He had maintained this mode for a full two hours and would need to wait another two hours before he could use it again.
Unfortunately, before his job change, the [Domination Form] ability didn't reduce cooldowns in any mutation-related direction, so he had to conserve it whenever possible to avoid relying solely on his physical body when encountering enemies.
He started chatting with the villagers amicably, offering some confiscated bullets and medals in exchange for food to replenish his Omega Energy. After two hours of aerial combat, Li Aozi was starving, and since there was nothing to eat in the sky, he had resorted to gnawing on the metal and alloys of the planes.
"You called me—Bahamut?"
Li Aozi took a bite of bread and gulped down a large swig of homemade liquor from the villagers, then curiously asked.
"Bahamut, in the old Granat language, means 'legendary figure,'" a villager said admiringly. "So many Frost-Plated warplanes have been shot down by you. You are our Bahamut, a great hero."
[Granat Republic Favorability +300]
[Current Favorability: 567 (Respect)]
[Now, every three days, you can make a designated supply request to the Granat Republic quartermaster.]
Li Aozi didn't say much, his hunger took over as he devoured more food—salted vegetables, pork with buttered bread, and beer with a rich dairy flavor. Like a happy little pig, he enjoyed every bite.
His eating manner was far from refined, but people saw him as down-to-earth and unpretentious, showing his real self, which only made him more likable.
"Try my bread."
"Bahamut, I brought some roast meat."
"Come to my house and have some yogurt skewers, bell peppers, green peppers, chicken, and onions grilled to a sizzle!"
Most of the people of Granat were ordinary farmers, some of whom had only recently regained their freedom from serfdom. They hated the Frost-Plated invaders who sought to restore the duchy and reclaim their homeland with a burning fury.
They were just farmers, and the Frost-Plated people kept talking about fighting for the equal rights of Granat women.
—Yet as soon as the war started, they cut off their artificial light sources.
How could this possibly be a move to restore the civilized duchy government? To the simple and kind-hearted people of Granat, the Frost-Plated people just wanted them dead.
Now, Li Aozi had used the simplest method to drag the Frost-Plated planes out of the sky and crash them to the ground, stacking them into a towering "Jingguan."
Let the Frost-Plated worshippers of snow be buried by the white snow of the outer lands.
Is there anything more satisfying than that?
The more Li Aozi ate, the happier the villagers became. They couldn't fight the Frost-Plated forces themselves, but they could support the warriors who fought on their behalf in this way.
At this point, the villagers' reactions and Li Aozi's genuine behavior left an impression on the three soldier players, and whatever grievances they had against Li Aozi for running around vanished instantly.
"I really didn't expect him to be this strong."
Valianke sighed:
"It seems Liu's judgment was wrong. Li Aozi is a kind warrior and someone we can trust."
"Also, our understanding of Li Aozi's power—or rather, of the superhumans on Azure Star—was far too shallow."
Yakos and Mohad both recognized the strength and tactics of Li Aozi.
There was no denying it—just looking at the aerodynamics and design of those fighter jets, their combat capability couldn't have been low, at least reaching speeds of five times the speed of sound.
What does five times the speed of sound mean? The first cosmic velocity is about 8 kilometers per second, and at that speed, you can break free of the mother planet's gravitational field and become an artificial satellite orbiting it.
And five times the speed of sound is roughly one-fifth of that speed.
Li Aozi, relying on his own strength, had managed to tear apart such warplanes one by one, bring them down, and crash them to the ground, all while remaining unharmed—his power was self-evident.
As the villagers dispersed, busy gathering titanium scrap metal, Li Aozi continued happily eating while sitting on a tree stump.
At that moment, Li Aozi noticed three people wearing unfamiliar military uniforms from Granat approaching him.
As soon as they got closer, Li Aozi saw a string of randomly generated ID numbers appear above their heads, and he immediately knew who they were dealing with.
[Random ID—not a merchant, then they must be military players.]
Since it was still the beta phase, no one would be extravagant enough to run a second account just to do business, so they were definitely soldiers.
Li Aozi immediately stood at attention.
Although he knew that the Terra Federation had long switched to a mercenary system, with soldiers recruited from the Andre Group, that didn't stop him from forming a positive impression of them.
In his past life, if it hadn't been for the hard work of mercenaries from various nations maintaining peace and stability, the chaos caused by those rowdy players would have left the electronic immigrants devastated.
Besides, these mercenaries had proven to be formidable in combat, faithfully adhering to their duties.
However, Li Aozi remembered that military players had specialized supply channels, and even their supernatural powers were uniformly drawn from the [Destruction] system's [Ranger] class.
So why had these soldiers come to him?
"Greetings, respected Mr. Li Aozi."
The leader of the three, Valianke, stepped forward.
"Who are you?" Li Aozi asked, playing dumb. "Aren't you going to gather machine parts?"
"We have come from afar to follow you as Granat warriors."
Valianke activated [Disguise Mode] and spoke fluently and naturally to Li Aozi:
"We are grateful for the immense contributions you've made to the peace of our country! We also want to have the power to protect our homeland like you do."
Li Aozi's expression shifted slightly.
Just as Valianke expressed his desire for power, a different system interface than the traditional NPC command template appeared before Li Aozi:
[Player 'Valianke' seeks to follow the supreme path of Domination—do you accept him?]
This was… the newly introduced path system in version 14.0?
Before his transmigration, he had been busy clearing dungeons and hadn't noticed this update patch.
Li Aozi was slightly surprised, then it dawned on him.
[Of course, I am the only Domination path leader on this planet. If not me, then who else?]
At that moment, he fully settled into his role as the [Domination] path mentor on Azure Star.
No, even better.
Li Aozi explored the path system interface and quickly realized it was far more significant than he had imagined.
The opening of the path system made Li Aozi the representative of the [Domination] path on Azure Star.
From now on, all [Mutant] players or Azure Star inhabitants pursuing the [Mutant] path would have to reference his experiences, follow his path, learn from him, and emulate him.
It wasn't quite a monopoly, but it brought benefits far greater than a monopoly.
Because monopolies only influence the material level, while establishing a path foundation directly influenced people's minds.
Simply put, people would more easily awaken to the Omega Energy that Li Aozi possessed and more readily understand the skills and knowledge he imparted.
It was akin to a path structure with no productive capacity, yet its influence reached deeper than any path-building structure.
Path-building structures only affected people within a certain range, while this path system could influence anyone on Azure Star with the potential for the [Domination] path.
The most immediate benefit was the significant gains it brought to Li Aozi himself.
Normally, after Li Aozi's main class [Mutant] reached level 80, if he continued along the [Starfall Master] path, the progression would look like this:
Advancement Class: [Echoer]
Promotion Class: [Bishop]
Transcendent Class: [Pope]
Ultimate Ascension: [Starfall Master]
The career structure of Star Abyss was straightforward: if a class was rare and powerful, it meant that the path was too niche. It might have god-ascension potential, but the internal competition would be fiercer, and the climb would be too difficult, making it an impractical choice.
Popular classes were popular because they provided a clear "ascension channel" to the upper levels, allowing even common people a chance at godhood.
In ancient times, the ascension channel was based on family background, entering officialdom, or gaining military merits.
In modern times, the ascension channel was entrepreneurship, invention, education, and exams.
Why were there so many players in the [Destruction] system? Because it didn't care about talent, wealth, or intelligence; it had no barriers, offering a clear future to everyone.
As long as you put in the effort, you'd be rewarded—that was the ultimate golden cheat. No one needed motivation, and people's enthusiasm soared.
All narrative-level civilizations were vying for control of the [Destruction] path. This was the true means of winning hearts and minds.
Gender? Race? Faith? Wealth?
In the face of the path to ascension or, more precisely, the chance to change one's destiny, these things meant nothing!
With the path system unlocked, Li Aozi finally had the opportunity to shape the "ascension channel" for [Domination] path players.
"It's not that people don't want to put in the effort; they're just afraid their effort won't be rewarded."
"The [Starfall Master] path is too narrow, too obscure. In the end, it's because there's no clear entry point, and people can't see the future of this class."
"But I will give them the opportunity to ascend with me—I will give them a future."
Li Aozi had suffered through the hardships of being a [Mutant] in the early stages, as well as those experiences of being imprisoned, and knew how tough this path was.
He didn't want other players to suffer alongside him, but he did want to increase the number of people on this path—as that was the only way he could have a shot at ascending to godhood on the [Starfall Master] path.
Li Aozi had always felt a bit guilty about this. Ever since his transmigration, he had become more afraid of dying, so he had made the fearless players suffer with him, which left him with some discomfort.
Now, it was different. With the path system officially unlocked, Li Aozi could truly become stronger, bringing all the followers of this path along with him to become stronger as well.
"One thing is clear: I will have greater potential than I did in my previous life."
As the founder of the [Domination] path on Azure Star, Li Aozi would advance into a career not as an [Echoer], but as a foundational class for the [Starfall Master] path.
——[Starry Echoer]