As the high-altitude winds ruffled his long golden hair, Lin Feng combed his knowledge of the Universe in a bid to identify the goal of the Dao Seeking expert who had come here.

…

There are two basic ways a society can evolve.

A technological civilization or a cultivation civilization.

In the case of cultivation civilizations, the people worship the world itself. They call it the Heavens and pray to it for more rain, exemption of disasters and what have you.

Over millennia, the prayers of billions cause the cumulative will of all sentient organisms to gather and form the Will of the World.

Henceforth, it can absorb the light of the sun and convert it into biological energy known as world vitality.

This world vitality nourishes all who live in its embrace, opening up the path to cultivation.

The higher the level of cultivation of its residents, the stronger their souls and by extension the stronger the will of the world.

It’s a positive cycle that keeps running until a critical point is reached and the planetary system contacts Void Force and it elevates to the level of a plane.

Upon elevating to the status of a plane, the World Will gains an instinctive grasp of all the Grand Daos involved in its revolution.

This grasp is weaker than that of a Dao Seeking expert who needs a thorough comprehension of his Dao in order to condense it.

Thus, even with a single comprehended Dao, a Dao Seeking expert is considered to be on par with a low tier plane.

As for technological civilizations, they never developed a planetary will, leaving their planets as mundane hunks of rock.

They were stuck in a race to develop technology capable of harnessing Void Force before exhausting the resources of their home world.

If they failed, they died out, leaving a barren planet behind.

If they succeeded, they entered an era of intergalactic conquest using Void Force to fold space and achieve faster than light travel.

They were late bloomers in the sense that their scientific pursuits led to a more thorough understanding of the universe which in turn lent itself to a higher chance of reaching the realm of Grasping Principles or even Dao Seeking.

After which everyone was on even grounds as they floundered their way towards the realm of a Demiurge.

Planes basically existed in an isolated state from the Universe in their personal pockets of space within the Void.

As their Will’s grasp on the Grand Daos regulating its revolution grew, they strengthened from low to mid to high tier planes and finally became a Dimension.

A Dimension basically being an alternate universe with its own unique operating principle.

…

Thus, it was very likely that the expert had come here to siphon off the plane’s Will and use its instinctive grasp of many Grand Daos as a base for their Divine State.

A Divine State being a personal microcosm created from ones grasp of the Daos. In order to step into the boundary of a Demiurge, condensing a personal world was a necessary step.

Lin Feng’s eyes shone with excitement.

This was a huge opportunity. The legwork required for condensing and manifesting the Will had already been undertaken by the expert.

The Will had even been weakened and split up by a bumbling idiot. The fruits were ripe for the picking and having tasted the instant power up he had gotten from Shukaku, he was eager for more.

…

“Look man, you don’t have to make that kind of constipated expression. Ok, tell me, did anyone die during my takeover?”

Rasa, who was sitting beside him on the platform of sand he was using to ferry them to the Earth vs Sand battlefield shot a glance at him sideways and spoke as if he was spitting nails. “No.”

“Am I strong?”

The redheaded former leader’s eyebrows twitched. “Yes.”

“Stronger than you?” coaxed Lin Feng.

A vein on his temple became pronounced. “Yes.”

Lin Feng prodded further, “Stronger than your entire village combined?”

For a moment it seemed like Rasa would explode, but with a deep breath, he stabilized himself.

“If you wish to gloat, then you have succeeded. Yes, you are strong, but you are also foreign. An enslaver to our people. Pardon me if I cannot find it in myself to be grateful.”

“Dude. It's not that complicated. I beat you and your entire village combined so I get to be the leader. As my subordinates I will obviously take care of you guys and promote you. What? Did you forget that swanky new wind attributed formation that I set up to guard your village before taking you with me? That nifty piece of rune work will enhance the natural sandstorms around your village and do a much better job of protecting your rear than if you were to personally stay there.”

Rasa opened his mouth to refute and then grew pensive.

“Look, I’ll make this even simpler for you. I could have killed you, but I didn’t. So, you owe me the ‘graciousness of not-killing’ as they say in my homeland. Work off your obligation to me by becoming my subordinate.”

“I think you are really new to your post, right? The Third Kazekage was supposed to be the strongest Kazekage ever. So, sand didn’t really suffer too much in the Second World War and you guys have just shortly entered the battlefield for the Third World War. What was your manifesto again? Oh, revenge for the missing Third Kazekage as you believe Konoha is responsible for it somehow.

"The fact that you even bother with such flimsy excuses to mask your bid for more territories and power shows that you haven’t realized the true essence of war.

"The history is always written by the victors. Might makes right and if you wipe out Konoha to every last man, woman or child, your truth will be the only one left to be expounded by future scholars.

"If this were an age of peace, I would have to worry about retribution from a coalition of all the world’s powers if I went about being arbitrary with my strength. Now? I don’t have to care about a thing if I wipe you out. Maybe the others will even thank me for it.

"You’re smart enough to be the leader of a people. After speaking this far you should know what future course you should follow.”

Rasa went silent for a long moment before with a sigh he handed over his official hat.

Lin Feng laughed brightly and patted him on the back, nearly knocking him off the sandy platform.

“No, no, no. Why would I want that silly hat? You are smart. Doesn’t mean your entire village is. If I were to don that thing, someone would be foolish enough to instigate a rebellion and then where would I be? I’d have to kill people and rule by fear. Trust me, that’s highly inefficient. So, I needed a figurehead to relay my orders to your people. You, my man, were the most appropriate candidate.

“Rejoice. You won’t regret your choice. But, for now, we have reached our destination.”

Looking down, he could see the two armies clashing.

Particularly, one area was glowing with a red brilliance as large swathes of land melted into lava.

As they descended, he turned to Rasa with a grin, “Come, we have a beast to catch.”