Advancement

"Blood God?"

Hearing that name, everyone in the bar fell silent. Those who had participated in the Plane War knew exactly how powerful the Blood God was.

The Blood God had even destroyed a major plane in the end.

"The Blood God is indeed powerful, but His Majesty Odin must be even stronger."

A soldier said, "His Majesty Odin destroyed planets in his youth as well."

"The problem is, His Majesty Odin has been unconscious for years. Whether he can even wake up is another matter."

Skurge said, "Even if His Majesty Odin wakes up, he won’t be a match for the Blood God, because he’s already old."

No one could deny that. They looked at Thor on the magical screen and could not help sighing. Compared to Odin, Thor was still far too weak.

"The Earth Federation is about to be established. I say Asgard should apply to join the Earth Federation. Then we’ll all be on the same side."

Skurge said excitedly, "Once we’re on the same side, we can go to Earth whenever we want. Ha, I really want to watch those movies being filmed in person."

"Join the Earth Federation?"

The soldiers in the bar could no longer hold back. They all rose and surrounded Skurge. Skurge swallowed and asked, "What do you want?"

"What do we want? Of course, we want to beat you up."

The soldiers grinned and immediately began pummeling Skurge with fists and kicks. Skurge’s miserable screams echoed through the bar.

"Odin, this is your heir? This is the one you said was so good at fighting?"

The Great Serpent looked at the screen and sneered. "He’s disgraced all of Asgard."

"He’s already worked very hard."

Odin sighed. Compared to a few years ago, Thor’s strength had increased severalfold. The problem was that the people around him had improved even faster.

Those Super Heroes were all freaks, especially that bastard surnamed Wang. He had actually become a Creator God? Even a Creator God’s illegitimate son wouldn’t get that kind of treatment.

The Great Serpent snorted coldly. "Worked hard? A fool is still a fool no matter how hard he works. Odin, everyone in your family deserves to die."

"Brother, that’s not very nice."

Odin shook his head. At that moment, he sensed something and looked at the magical screen with immense delight.

This battle was not over yet.

In the arena, Hela could not help scolding Thor through telepathy, "Thor, you’ve truly disgraced Asgard and the Odin royal family."

"Disgraced? Yes, I’ve disgraced Asgard. I’ve let Asgard down."

Thor’s mind was too chaotic for him to recognize Hela’s voice. He stared up at the sky, filled with despair and guilt.

He’s about to turn into Fat Thor!

Bald Wang Bert rolled his eyes in the audience. After thinking for a moment, a spark of lightning appeared out of thin air in his hand, a spark containing the Lightning Origin.

The Dragon Soul Clone had obtained this small portion of the lightning concept from another universe. Though it was only a tiny amount, its value was still immeasurable. Every god would give everything they had to obtain it.

Anything related to concepts was a supreme treasure. Only a godly tycoon like Wang Bert could casually give such things away.

"We’re friends, so I’ll give you a hand."

Wang Bert shook his head, and the spark of lightning crossed space and entered Thor’s body.

Influenced by the Lightning Origin, Thor’s mentality began to change. His despair and guilt transformed into unwillingness and resentment.

He resented fate for being so cruel to him. He did not want to betray his friends, yet he had been forced to fight them. He did not want to lose, yet he had lost—and lost horribly.

"I don’t want to lose. I don’t want to disgrace Asgard. I don’t want to betray my friends. I don’t want to be king. I don’t want to hurt Loki. I don’t want to…"

The resentment he had accumulated for years completely erupted at that moment. Thor felt his consciousness explode. In his daze, he seemed to see a great tree, a tree that blotted out the sky.

Nine worlds moved continuously upon the tree. Those were the Nine Realms.

"The World Tree?"

Thor fell into thought. At that moment, a rune on the World Tree suddenly lit up. The instant Thor saw it, his consciousness sank into it.

The meaning of that Rune was lightning.

Wang Bert’s Lightning Origin had accidentally helped Thor awaken Asgard’s rune power—the source power of the World Tree.

In the arena, Hulk, who had been cheering, suddenly sensed something. He sharply turned toward Thor and saw him floating into the air, his body shining with dazzling lightning. Runes flickered faintly in his eyes.

The lightning around Thor was not particularly dense, but Hulk still felt a chill run down his spine. He clenched his fists, ready to strike first, when Wang Bert’s voice sounded in his mind. "Thor is advancing. Don’t disturb him."

"Advancing? That guy is really lucky."

Hulk could not help cursing. He strode over to Thor’s side. Do not misunderstand—he was not planning to attack. He wanted to protect Thor.

A fight was a fight, but Hulk still had some affection for his husky-like friend.

The audience also noticed Thor’s change and cried out in surprise. Was there going to be a sequel?

"Thor, don’t disappoint me."

Grand Duchess Sarah muttered excitedly. It was worth mentioning that she had opened an umbrella in her private box to keep any more dust from falling on her.

The Inhuman Kingdom really did not care enough about hygiene. Once the battle was over, she would definitely file a complaint.

"What’s happening? Thor’s body is turning into lightning."

Tony scanned Thor with his glasses and said in disbelief, "His skin, muscles, bones, even his internal organs, are turning into lightning."

"More accurately, he’s becoming elementalized."

Strange said, "It seems Hulk beat Thor into advancing."

Tony looked confused. "Elementalized? What does that mean?"

"You can think of it as becoming energy. His body is turning into energy."

Strange said, "Only gods who comprehend an origin can become elementalized. Thor has already touched the threshold of an Ancient God. He may have a chance of becoming one in the future."

"A chance to become an Ancient God? Damn it, why is everyone around me using cheats? I’m the only one leveling up honestly."

Tony cursed unhappily. Were they bullying honest people?

Tony did not know that in everyone else’s eyes, he was also using cheats—super cheats, at that.

"Elementalization?"

Damon looked at Thor, a glint flashing through his eyes. He had never known what path to take next, but now he knew. Elementalization.

He would turn himself into flame and become fire completely.

"Hmph, he got lucky."

Hela was somewhat surprised, but she did not take it seriously. She had confidence in herself. Forget Thor—even Odin would be someone she could defeat.

"Rune power? Your son has decent luck."

The Great Serpent noticed Thor’s change and snorted. Odin said with a radiant smile, "His luck has always been pretty good."

Having a Creator God as a friend naturally meant Thor had good luck.

"Ah!"

Not long after, Thor let out a roar. The lightning around him abruptly expanded outward. Hulk’s expression changed, and he hurriedly retreated. Even he found that lightning dangerous.

Then, Stormbreaker automatically flew back into Thor’s hand. Thor’s aura surged wildly, making even the void tremble as spatial cracks appeared.

Thor suddenly woke up. He straightened in midair and shouted arrogantly, "Hahaha! I am the master of lightning! I am Thor!"

"So cringe," Hulk remarked.

"Hulk, thank you for your help. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have become this powerful."

Seeing Hulk below, Thor shouted with a ferocious expression. To display his strength, he casually swung his axe to the side. An axe-shaped lightning strike suddenly appeared and slammed into the Defense Shield with black spatial cracks trailing behind it. With a bang, the Defense Shield shattered into motes of light and dispersed.

The surrounding crowd erupted in shock. That was a battleship-grade Defense Shield. In other words, Thor could easily destroy a battleship.

"Thor! Thor! Thor…"

Many audience members switched sides and loudly shouted Thor’s name. Thor grew even more excited, raising his axe and laughing wildly.

"Thor!"

In the Asgardian bar, all the Asgardians cheered at once. They had known Thor would not disappoint them.

At the Soldier Bar, a group of soldiers looked at Skurge, whose face had been beaten into that of a pig, and sneered. "Now do you know who’s stronger?"

Skurge stubbornly shouted, "Hulk will definitely win."

The soldiers gritted their teeth in fury, itching to beat Skurge up again.

Hela’s companion looked at Thor and frowned. "You weren’t wrong. There are experts here."

"I wasn’t talking about him. He’s nothing."

Hela snorted coldly. "I’ll deal with him later."

"That guy really needs a beating."

In the arena, Tony said unhappily. Strange nodded. "Yes, he needs a beating just like you do."

Everyone could not help laughing. Only Tony rolled his eyes. That magician was definitely jealous of his charm.

"Thor, you’re becoming more and more deserving of a beating. Since that’s the case, I’ll have some fun with you."

Hulk grinned and sensed Earth’s anger. To his surprise, he not only sensed Earth’s anger, but also the anger of the universe.

In other words, his authority had changed from Earth to the universe.

Bert raised my authority? Heh, this boss is worth following.

Hulk was about to borrow anger from all life in the Entire Universe when Wang Bert’s voice sounded in his mind. "Hulk, you should control anger and become its master."

Hulk blinked. "Control anger and become its master? That doesn’t seem possible, does it?"

"Nothing is impossible. I’m giving you this strand of the Source of Wrath. Comprehend it carefully."

Wang Bert smiled and fused a strand of the concept of wrath into Hulk’s body. After all, Hulk was one of his most loyal subordinates. He could not mistreat him.

As the Source of Wrath entered his body, Hulk felt the power of anger within him become much more obedient and easier to use. But that was all. He had no idea how to control anger.

What Hulk was good at was using anger.

Forget it. I’ll just fight first and study it later.

Hulk thought to himself. At that moment, his body abruptly shrank, returning to the skinny Dr. Banner. Seeing this, the Symbiote immediately dressed Banner in a suit.

"Banner, what’s going on?"

Hulk was stunned. Banner could actually cancel the transformation on his own? How was that possible?

In the past, Banner could only return to normal when Hulk agreed to cancel it, or when Hulk had played himself out.

"I think I’ve learned how to control anger."

Dr. Banner blinked. With a thought, he turned into Hulk, then back into Banner, then into Hulk again, then back into Banner… He played happily, while the Symbiote suffered, constantly changing clothes and removing clothes.

"What’s going on?"

The audience was bewildered. Tony said, "Did Hulk bug out?"

"It really does look like it."

Strange smiled and said, "He seems to have grasped the Source of Wrath. He may have a chance to become an Ancient God in the future."

"Another chance to become an Ancient God? Are Ancient Gods really this cheap? How does everyone have a chance? And aren’t there a few too many people using cheats today?"

Tony complained repeatedly. The others nodded in deep agreement. Thor using cheats was one thing, but now Hulk was using cheats too. How were everyone else supposed to live?

"Banner, have you had enough?"

Hulk asked angrily. In the past, he and Banner had shared the steering wheel, but now Banner had taken control of it.

"Enough. Ha, Hulk, you’ll never get to mess with me again."

Banner returned to normal and laughed loudly. He had completely mastered anger. From now on, he could turn into Hulk whenever he wanted and stay human whenever he wanted.

Hulk could not help asking, "How exactly did you do it?"

Dr. Banner said proudly, "Hulk, the most important thing when doing anything is knowing how to use your brain."

"Use my brain?"

Hulk fell into thought.

Thor looked down at Banner curiously and asked, "Hulk, what’s going on with you?"

Dr. Banner shook his head. "I’m Banner, not Hulk."

"Who cares who you are? You had a lot of fun beating me up just now, didn’t you? Now it’s my turn. I’ll repay you properly."

Thor snorted and raised his axe. Dr. Banner beckoned to Thor, absorbing all the anger in Thor’s body.

The anger rapidly vanished from Thor’s face. He froze for a moment, then withdrew his lightning and descended from the sky, landing in front of Dr. Banner.

Thor asked curiously, "Banner, what did you just do? I feel calmer than ever, like when I was just with Jane…"

"Stop. I don’t want to hear about you and Jane."

Dr. Banner hurriedly waved his hand and asked, "Do you still want to beat me up?"

"Banner, I don’t want to beat you up, but I have to."

Thor sighed. "I have to become an Elder. Only then can Asgard rise again. My friend, surrender."

"Looks like we still can’t avoid a battle."

Dr. Banner sighed and turned into Hulk. Then Hulk looked down at Thor and asked, "Thor, do you know what the most important thing is when doing anything?"

Thor asked in confusion, "What?"

Hulk grinned. Then he suddenly slammed his forehead hard into Thor’s. Thor staggered backward, his consciousness growing hazy.

Hulk seized the opportunity to grab Thor’s head and drove a brutally powerful knee into him, denting even the void.

Thor flew backward and crashed to the ground with a bang, completely losing consciousness.

"The most important thing when doing anything is knowing how to use your brain."

Hulk smiled proudly. Banner, Tony, and the others all complained at once, "Is that how you use your brain?"

The audience stared in stunned silence. A moment later, some people cheered loudly for Hulk, while others cursed furiously. That green giant was too despicable.

"Hahaha."

Hela and the Great Serpent were both laughing. Odin’s face was dark as could be. Honestly, he wanted to grab Gungnir and kill Hulk right then. He had seen plenty of bastards, but never one this outrageous.

"Damn Earthling."

The Asgardian warriors immediately went berserk. Many rushed to the palace and demanded that Heimdall send them to the arena. They wanted to chop that bastard apart.

"Hulk, you really are a bastard."

Heimdall cursed furiously. The plans he and Odin had made had been completely smashed apart by that bastard’s headbutt. This was going to cause trouble.