Apprenticeship

Virtual Universe.

Amid a vast starry sky, a towering black mountain floated above the Star River, its height stretching countless miles. Wisps of red and white mist permeated the surroundings, and faintly visible in the distance around the majestic mountain were planets orbiting it.

At the mountain's peak stood a crimson palace spanning several thousand kilometers, radiating dazzling light.

Inside the great hall.

At a glance, there were no servants at all. Only on the lofty throne sat a figure clad in Red Battle Armor, looking remarkably like an Earth Human.

His features resembled those of an Earth Human. His pupils were dark red, with a red crystal embedded in each earlobe. He looked like a handsome young man, yet he emanated boundless majesty.

As he sat there, the entire hall seemed to flow with a scorching aura.

Suddenly—

The handsome young man opened his eyes. Light flashed in his bright gaze as he said with a hearty laugh, "You got here pretty quickly!"

With a slight movement of his thoughts, a figure clad in Dark Red Battle Armor appeared in the hall.

The newcomer was Li Ze, while the figure seated high upon the throne was King Yuchi.

Boom!

The instant Li Ze appeared and saw King Yuchi!

It was as though he saw a Super Star tens of thousands of kilometers in diameter. This star was entirely composed of the Fire Origin Law and the Law of Space Origin.

Around the Super Star, crimson fireballs roughly several dozen kilometers in diameter orbited it in an unfathomable pattern. Every crimson fireball represented one fundamental mystery of the Fire Origin Law—exactly thirty-six of them!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~~~

The crimson flames faintly scorched and tore open the surrounding space, directly warping the area around them.

It was as if space itself could not withstand the terrifying power of these fireballs, yet under the restraint of the Super Star, they moved in perfect order.

"This is? The Origin Source of fire? How could a King-level Immortal reach such a level?" Li Ze looked up at the sight before him, somewhat dazed. As the scene continued, he felt the temperature around him steadily rising.

"Li Ze, this is my comprehension of the Origin Law. I am now displaying it to you in the Virtual Universe. How much you can comprehend depends on your talent." King Yuchi's voice echoed through space. Once he finished speaking, Li Ze appeared directly atop one of the crimson fireballs...

Heaven and earth vanished.

Li Ze could not help but immerse his entire consciousness in the fireball.

"Profound."

As Li Ze comprehended the fireball beneath him, the more he studied it, the more unfathomable it felt.

This fireball displayed one fundamental mystery of the fire Origin Source within the universe to the fullest extent.

The originally obscure and incomprehensible Fire Origin Law now seemed completely exposed before him. It was like turning advanced physics into elementary physics, making it far easier to comprehend than using the Sword Technique from the secret manual Setting Sun.

Li Ze was completely engrossed. Numerous insights surfaced in his mind, and his comprehension of the Fire Origin Law rapidly advanced.

No one knew how much time passed...

Boom!

The surrounding display of laws suddenly vanished. Li Ze reappeared in the great hall, sitting cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed.

King Yuchi, seated on the throne, watched with a smile and did not disturb Li Ze as he meditated in the hall.

One hour, two hours.

One day, two days.

Li Ze sat cross-legged in the great hall without moving.

His mind was racing. The fundamental mysteries of the Fire Origin Law that King Yuchi had displayed earlier and the individual sword moves from the secret manual Setting Sun were being compared against each other. Many things he had not understood before were now being comprehended one after another!

Layers of doubts were continuously overcome, and countless insights surfaced. The comprehension of one fundamental mystery after another made a faint smile unconsciously appear on Li Ze's face.

Before he knew it, Li Ze had completely comprehended twenty-three fundamental mysteries of the Origin Source of fire.

Just as Li Ze was about to comprehend the twenty-fourth fundamental mystery—

"Wake up!" A voice like a great bell rang within Li Ze's mind.

"That's enough!" Li Ze, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes. A deep look of regret appeared on his face.

"Do you feel regretful?" A hearty voice sounded beside Li Ze's ear.

"Yes," Li Ze replied subconsciously, then immediately snapped awake.

He looked toward the throne ahead and saw King Yuchi watching him with a smile.

"Greetings, King Yuchi!" Li Ze immediately rose and bowed to King Yuchi.

"Are you regretful that I interrupted your comprehension?"

"You should know that too much is as bad as too little! Although I paid a certain price to manifest my comprehension of the Origin Law in the Virtual Universe, in such a short time, do you think everything you remembered was correct?" King Yuchi ignored Li Ze's bow.

"This..." Hearing King Yuchi's words, Li Ze immediately recalled the images in his memories and discovered that the display of King Yuchi's fundamental law mysteries had become blurry and incomplete.

Seeing Li Ze's expression, King Yuchi knew that he had discovered the problem.

"Enough." King Yuchi waved his hand. "If you have questions about the Fire Origin Source in the future, you may ask me at any time. Now, let's discuss serious matters first."

"Your performance in the Sacred Mountain Battle earlier satisfied me greatly. I wish to take you as my disciple. What do you think?"

Straight to the point, without any concealment, King Yuchi stated the purpose of this meeting.

"Although I had never heard of King Yuchi before, merely from the Origin Law he displayed for me, I can tell that his cultivation path suits me extremely well."

With that thought, Li Ze did not hesitate. Following the customs of the Human Race, he respectfully knelt and said loudly, "I beg Teacher to accept this disciple!"

His voice echoed through the great hall.

The smile on King Yuchi's face, seated upon the throne, grew even broader.

"Haha..." King Yuchi looked at Li Ze and laughed heartily. "From this day onward, you are the second disciple of me, King Yuchi!"

Back then, King Yuchi had also been a core genius of the Giant Axe Fighting Arena, one of the Five Great Giants of the Human Race.

In the Universe Peak Genius Battle of his generation, he had been the undisputed number one genius.

His path of cultivation had been smooth and unstoppable. The moment he broke through to become Immortal, he became a Marquis Peak existence.

Countless years had passed, and King Yuchi had successfully reached King Peak, even finding the path to breaking through to a higher level.

Yet over so many eras, he had accepted only one disciple.

That disciple had been taken in by King Yuchi in a Cosmic Secret Realm after he became Immortal. Because his talent was not strong enough, he had struggled at the Sector Lord stage for Endless Years. Even though King Yuchi, who had already broken through to become a King, provided him with many resources, he still failed to break through to become Immortal.

This was why, for countless years, King Yuchi would rather accept no more disciples than take in anyone with insufficient talent.

"Li Ze!"

"Teacher." Li Ze bowed slightly.

King Yuchi looked at Li Ze and said softly, "I watched your performance at the Space-time Fortress. Your talent in the Fire Origin Law is very strong—stronger even than many geniuses in this Universe Peak Genius Battle."

"If you continue breaking through and advancing, you will certainly be able to become Immortal in the future."

"However—"

"For someone who has already reached my King level, becoming Immortal is merely the beginning of true cultivation. Ordinary Immortals hold no meaning for me. Comprehension of the Space and Time Origin is the proper path!"

"You are only Universe level now, and you have not joined any of the Human Race's major factions. You have yet to truly experience the importance of systematic knowledge and training. Therefore, I will arrange your cultivation path from here on. Do you understand?"

"This disciple understands," Li Ze replied at once.

Perhaps before entering the Outer Domain Battlefield, Li Ze had believed that with his Inherited Knowledge and understanding of Devouring World, he could rise through constant battle even without entering the universe's major factions.

But after continuously fighting and cultivating in the Outer Domain Battlefield, he realized the flaws in his cultivation had noticeably slowed his recent rate of law comprehension.

This was also why Li Ze had been excited upon hearing before the Sacred Mountain Battle that he could take a King-level Immortal as his teacher.

"In a few days, after you complete the Sacred Mountain Baptism, I will take you away from the Fourth Outer Domain Battlefield for a time. That time will be very long!"

King Yuchi paused here.

"Your performance in the Sacred Mountain Battle has already placed you on the Kill Lists of the Demon Race and Mechanical Race in the Fourth Outer Domain Battlefield. If you remain here, there is a great chance you will die on the battlefield!"

"Tsk! A Universe level being making it onto the Kill List—you should be the number one Universe level member of our Human Race in the Fourth Outer Domain Battlefield!" King Yuchi shook his head with a smile.

Li Ze was also stunned upon hearing this.

"I understand, Teacher."

King Yuchi nodded lightly. "Then you may leave. Just wait for me to come get you."

Li Ze bowed to King Yuchi once more before leaving the Virtual Universe.

Seeing Li Ze disappear, King Yuchi also disconnected from the Virtual Universe.

When he woke again, he found himself still in the hall of Lairui'er's manor castle. The other members of the Tongfeng Team had already left.

Li Ze then left Lairui'er's manor and flew toward his own estate.

After flying all the way back to his estate, he entered the castle's Cultivation Room.

He then took out the World Ring he had stored in the Cultivation Room. The Golden Crow Physique was comprehending laws inside the ring.

With a thought, the Golden Crow Physique entered his Inner World.

The moment Li Ze's Golden Crow Physique entered the Inner World, it flew toward the pool of Life Origin Liquid that had been taken into the Inner World.

Its entire body soaked in the Life Origin Liquid. The scorching crimson liquid enveloped the Golden Crow Physique, while the pure energy, like young swallows returning to their nest, began burrowing through the Golden Crow Physique's skin into its body, seeping into its muscles, bones, skin, membranes, and internal organs...

The Golden Crow Physique underwent astonishing changes from the inside out.

As the Golden Crow Physique absorbed it, the Life Origin Liquid in the metal pool rapidly decreased.

Meanwhile, Li Ze's Human Body turned its attention to sorting through the gains from this Sacred Mountain Battle.

Aside from the wealth he had obtained and the Spoils of War given to Lairui'er, Li Ze still had many Demon Race corpses and the Spatial Ring Divine Pupil Venerable had given him.

After the final battle of the Sacred Mountain Battle, Li Ze had not refined the Demon Race corpses he collected. Therefore, the Life Gene Level of Li Ze's Human Body was only 210 times at present.

Li Ze planned to have the Golden Crow Physique absorb the remaining Demon Race corpses after it advanced to Universe Level 9, quickly completing the first level of the Golden Crow Body Refining Art. After nurturing the first clone, he would break through into the Domain Lord level.