The Road Ahead

The Azure Dragon Avatar's transformation lasted roughly five minutes.

The Azure Dragon Avatar, originally a thousand meters long, swelled directly to ten thousand meters. Its once-bright azure scales had turned dark azure, their texture changing from gorgeous gemstones to heavy metal.

"The Inner World that just broke through to Planet-Level already feels a little cramped."

Within the lake, ten kilometers in diameter, the Azure Dragon Avatar coiled and swam, the two-colored patterns across its body flickering faintly.

"So this is the fluctuation of the Space Law."

Through the Azure Dragon Avatar, Shen Mu's consciousness sensed the background hue permeating the cosmic starry sky—a vast and majestic fluctuation beyond compare.

"Myriad Threads Stream!"

The Azure Dragon Avatar shuddered, and in the next instant, two Azure Dragons appeared above the water!

In the blink of an eye, the two Azure Dragons blurred, becoming five Azure Dragons soaring amid the clouds and mist.

"The disparity in talent really is the cruelest thing in this world."

Shen Mu let out a long breath. His previous Comprehension of Source Laws regarding the Space Law had basically been zero; he had been unable even to sense spatial fluctuations.

Now that the Azure Dragon Avatar possessed the talent of a darling of the laws, it had almost instinctively stirred spatial fluctuations and unleashed doppelgangers.

A Spatial Doppelganger meant distorting space to make one's body or attack appear simultaneously in two or more locations.

That was the most terrifying aspect of doppelgangers. All of them were essentially one body, all of them the true body, and thus every one of them could attack.

"Let me try the legendary teleportation."

With a thought from Shen Mu, the dark silver secret patterns covering the East Sea Azure Dragon's entire body suddenly blazed brilliantly, and the dragon's figure became slightly illusory.

At that instant, through the Azure Dragon Avatar, Shen Mu's consciousness could clearly perceive every minute change and fluctuation in the surrounding space.

Buzz!

The spatial secret patterns on the East Sea Azure Dragon emitted fluctuations that overlapped with the spatial fluctuation coordinates three kilometers beneath the water's surface.

Whoosh!

The Azure Dragon Avatar vanished directly from above the water, then appeared out of thin air at the bottom of the tranquil lake.

"This feeling... it's as though the entire space is under my control."

As the East Sea Azure Dragon moved, the entire space rippled subtly, as though responding to the East Sea Azure Dragon itself.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

In the next instant, the East Sea Azure Dragon began roaming through space, teleporting again and again through spatial fluctuations.

A short while later, Shen Mu felt fatigue set in. Using a teleportation secret technique at Star-Level still consumed quite a lot.

Yet in that brief time alone, Shen Mu had teleported hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. However, each teleportation covered only around three kilometers. That was currently the limit he could reach.

Outside, Shen Mu opened his eyes.

"Switching abruptly back to a human's perception is actually a little hard to adjust to."

Unlike the East Sea Azure Dragon's sensation of seemingly commanding spatial fluctuations, Shen Mu's human true body could not even detect spatial fluctuations. The feeling was as uncomfortable as having some sort of shackles added to his body.

"My goal now is to step across the threshold of the Space Law as soon as possible!"

With the Azure Dragon Avatar's talent bolstering him, crossing the threshold of the Space Law was only a matter of time.

There were now less than five years until the Genius Battle. Shen Mu was still quite confident in his own comprehension; perhaps he had hope of reaching the Hundred-Line Flow level before the Genius Battle ended.

Of course, that was only a possibility, an ambitious goal that would still be difficult to achieve.

Do not underestimate the Hundred-Line Flow. In the original story, Luo Feng only mastered the Hundred-Line Flow after entering Chaos City and cultivating there for ten years.

Not to mention the boosts to law comprehension from studying the Chaos Monument and secret techniques that explained space. The tenfold increase in law clarity alone meant that ten years of secluded cultivation in Chaos City yielded greater progress than a hundred years of cultivation outside.

"If I had a teacher to guide me, perhaps I'd have a chance to compete for first place in the Genius Battle."

Bolan could unleash over a thousand doppelgangers. In terms of the Myriad Threads Stream secret technique, that was equivalent to having mastered the Hundred-Line Flow.

There was still too little time. Although the original story never mentioned Bolan's age when he participated in the Genius Battle, for someone at Star-Level, even several hundred years old counted as a child.

At present, Shen Mu had two avenues for taking on a master.

The first was joining the Virtual Universe Company internally. With Shen Mu's talent, becoming the disciple of one of the three peak Marquis-Level experts at the Virtual Universe Company's Qianwu Branch would not be a problem.

He might even draw the attention of some King-Level Experts within the Virtual Universe Company and enter one of their schools.

For a Star-Level who comprehended the Space Law, that was about the best treatment possible. Becoming the disciple of someone at King Zhen Yan's level would be very difficult.

The other avenue was joining the Qianwu Secret Realm.

"With my talent, I won't even mention becoming Lord Qianwu's disciple. Receiving his guidance certainly won't be a problem."

Generally speaking, Venerables were very strict when accepting disciples. In Luo Feng's cohort of the Genius Battle in the original story, only Bolan and Rong Jun initially had hopes of entering a Venerable's school.

There was no need to say much about Bolan. He was a monstrous genius who appeared only once in ten thousand Genius Battles, regarded as a talent with the potential to become a Venerable.

Rong Jun had been able to become a Universe Venerable's disciple because his bloodline was special and his potential was equally great.

Shen Mu was a practical man. He had never placed his hopes in vague and intangible matters, so he did not count on becoming Lord Qianwu's disciple.

But the situation was different now. With the Genius Battle approaching, a Star-Level genius with exceptional talent had suddenly emerged. There was always a chance he could receive Lord Qianwu's guidance.

After all, Lord Qianwu was different from other Universe Venerables. He was poor!

Lord Qianwu had probably gone poor-crazy. He even kept an eye on the rewards for nurturing young participants in the Genius Battle. As long as Shen Mu displayed the potential to contend for first place in the Genius Battle, there was a strong chance he could receive guidance.

"First, I'll look up how to join the Qianwu Secret Realm online."

With a thought, Shen Mu sent a wisp of consciousness into the Virtual Universe network.

The results came out quickly. There was only one way to join the Qianwu Secret Realm: receive an invitation from an Undying God within the Qianwu Secret Realm.

"Looks like I'll still have to make a big splash."

"Now that I've broken through to Star-Level, relying solely on the Water Source Law still makes me outstanding, but not dazzling enough!"

Just as Shen Mu was deep in thought, Babata's figure suddenly appeared.

It had been following Luo Feng these past few days. After all, Luo Feng was undergoing life-and-death trials and needed the guidance of the great Lord Babata.

"Damn!"

"Shen Mu, you broke through to Star-Level?!"

Babata's voice was filled with shock. With Earthlings' trash bloodline, how had Shen Mu broken through to Star-Level without undertaking life-and-death trials to stimulate his cells and Gene Evolution?

Shen Mu had directly advanced from Planet-Level Rank 4 to Planet-Level Rank 9, yet he had been stuck at Rank 9 for only a few months before breaking through to Star-Level.

"Babata, don't get excited. There's another piece of good news I haven't told you yet. I was afraid I'd scare you."

Babata eyed Shen Mu suspiciously. "Has your Source Law attainment improved?"

Shen Mu smiled faintly. "Come on. I'll show you in virtual space."

Virtual space. This was a massive mechanical factory.

Inside the factory, densely packed mechanical traps had long been prepared. At a glance... the entire factory resembled a honeycomb, crammed full. Flying inside this factory, one would hit a mechanism with the slightest carelessness.

Meanwhile, Shen Mu's figure traced a strange arc through the air, precise and decisive. In an exceptionally nimble and agile manner, he easily avoided trap after trap and mechanism after mechanism, while catching each red ball that flew through the air.

"Shen Mu, did you secretly adjust the mechanism settings? Only someone who's mastered the One-Line Flow can clear it perfectly!"

Babata shouted in alarm, utterly unable to understand why Shen Mu's movement technique had suddenly improved so dramatically. Shen Mu had only begun learning the Myriad Threads Stream two short months ago.

"I didn't. I just sensed the fluctuations of the Space Law. I should not be far from truly getting started."

Babata froze for an instant, then let out a shriek. Its entire intelligence seemed infected by a virus as it danced about excitedly.