Explanation

Seeing the bitter smile on his face, Thirteen was about to lose his temper. As Lord Gan Wu's personal guard, he had long been holding back his anger at seeing Bai Yue still acting like this after the lord had agreed to take him as a disciple. He wanted to teach this brat a lesson!

Fortunately, before he could act, Bai Yue spoke first.

"Lord Thirteen, please give me a few minutes! You'll understand soon enough!" Bai Yue finally made his decision and chose to tell Lord Gan Wu everything.

After all, ever since Lord Gan Wu had taken him as a disciple, the old man had spared no effort in planning for him. He had personally demonstrated the essence of the laws, provided all kinds of cultivation manuals, and truly held nothing back!

Thus, Ji Ning Clone, who was still aboard the ship headed for the Initial Universe, entered the Virtual Universe with his consciousness, found Lord Gan Wu, and explained everything to him.

"Haha, you crafty little brat. You even kept something from me, your teacher. If this hadn't happened by such a coincidence, you probably wouldn't have come looking for me, would you?" To Bai Yue's surprise, Lord Gan Wu was not angry after hearing everything. Instead, he teased him.

"How could that be? I just hadn't had the chance to tell you yet, Teacher." Seeing that Lord Gan Wu was not angry, Bai Yue replied with an ingratiating grin.

"But if you can get your hands on the company's resources, that's your own ability!" Thinking about how Bai Yue would enter the Virtual Universe Company through the Genius Battle and enjoy some of its benefits, Lord Gan Wu secretly felt pleased, as though he had gotten a huge bargain.

"Teacher, there won't be any trouble, right?" Bai Yue asked worriedly.

"Haha, don't worry! As long as you don't expose yourself, a Universe Venerate won't be able to discover it. Unless a Universe Master who controls spacetime gets involved! But would a Universe Master care about the tiny bit of wool you've pulled?" Lord Gan Wu replied with certainty.

"All right, I'll tell Thirteen about it and have you become a personal disciple directly, so he doesn't give you trouble. Haha!"

"As for the other rewards, I suppose you don't care about such trifles. I heard you made quite a bit of money doing business with Qian Yang!"

"Thank you, Teacher. There's no need for the other rewards!" Bai Yue secretly curled his lip. His teacher was really stingy!

Seeing his expression, Lord Gan Wu flew into a rage out of embarrassment. "Do you think it's easy for me to support such a huge Universe Kingdom? Get lost already, brat!"

"Yes, then this disciple will take his leave!" Bai Yue put on a terrified act and withdrew from the Virtual Universe.

Inside the hall of Bai Yue's home in the Nine Star Bay villa district, the atmosphere was extremely awkward. The envoy delegation led by the scaled-armored giant Thirteen glared angrily at Bai Yue, while Bai Yue wore an embarrassed expression. Luo Feng and the others were completely baffled.

Fortunately, the atmosphere came to an abrupt end when Lord Gan Wu sent Thirteen a call request. Lord Gan Wu's majestic projection appeared in the hall, his face unable to hide his amusement.

"All right, Thirteen. This kid is the descendant of an old friend of mine. He has just explained everything clearly to me, and I'll be taking him as a personal disciple." After instructing Thirteen, he ignored the shock on their faces and turned to Bai Yue. "Kneel and acknowledge me as your master, brat."

As he spoke, he winked at Bai Yue.

What else could Bai Yue do? Under everyone's gaze, he obediently kowtowed nine times to Lord Gan Wu.

Amid Lord Gan Wu's laughter, the matter finally came to an end. Yet an even greater storm was brewing in the distance.

"Congratulations, Old Bai! From now on, you can swagger around the Gan Wu Universe Kingdom, and Earth will be even safer." Luo Feng said enviously.

"In the end, strength is what matters. Teacher can't keep an eye on me at all times. So unless absolutely necessary, Earth's secret must not be exposed!" He warned them again. The secrets hidden on Earth were far greater than they imagined; even a Universe Venerate would not be able to withstand the consequences.

A few days later, explosive news spread wildly through the Virtual Universe.

"Heavenly Emperor" Bai Yue had been accepted as Lord Gan Wu's personal disciple!

This was something that had never happened throughout the countless eras of the Cosmic Peak Genius Battle. Even those who became the number one genius of a Genius Battle were rarely accepted as disciples directly by a King-ranked expert, let alone a Universe Venerate.

On the Virtual Universe Network, in the Genius Battle discussion forums, the "Heavenly Emperor faction" completely crushed the "Death God faction." Bai Yue's fans had finally vented their frustration.

Whenever someone discussed this matter, they had an all-purpose answer.

"Bai Yue has been accepted as Lord Gan Wu's personal disciple."

Once those words were spoken, the other side had no comeback.

It was not only ordinary people who could not understand it. Even the Universe Venerates on good terms with Lord Gan Wu were puzzled. Since when was a Star Level little fellow worth someone of their level personally stepping in?

No matter how talented someone was, could they really have been more talented than these Universe Venerates had been? Anyone capable of becoming a Universe Venerate had been a genius renowned throughout the universe in their own era. Those who could directly take a Universe Kingdom lord as their master at the Star Level were extremely rare. Usually, they first had to enter the core ranks of the Virtual Universe Company, break through to the Universe Level or even higher, and only then draw the attention of the lofty Universe Kingdom lords. Even then, they would initially only become nominal disciples, advancing to personal disciples only after passing test after test.

Some even sent messages directly to Lord Gan Wu to ask for the reason, but he brushed them all off.

Thus, amid doubt and jealousy, time slowly passed. As time went on and the arena matches began, the matter gradually died down.

However, most people still remembered the title "Heavenly Emperor" Bai Yue. They were all waiting to see whether he would continue his undefeated legend in the matches to come!

"Beginning universe traversal. Entering the primal universe."

"10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"

A year and a half later, after traveling for three years, Ji Ning Clone finally arrived at the Virtual Universe Company headquarters—a continent more than ten light-years in diameter.

One light-year was more than nine trillion kilometers.

Earth's diameter was only a little over ten thousand kilometers.

"Could such an enormous landmass naturally form in the universe?" The universe was mysterious and full of wondrous places, but a continent tens of light-years in diameter was simply too unbelievable.

Even though he had read about it in books in his previous life, he still found it utterly inconceivable. He was more inclined to believe that it had not formed naturally, but was instead a cosmic wonder created by the supreme power of the Virtual Universe Company's upper echelon.

After arriving on the continent, he was led by staff members to a white hall. He waited there for several days before enough people gathered for a group to enter the Initial Universe.

Over those few days, he also learned where these people had come from. Some had purchased spots to cultivate in the Initial Universe through auctions. Some were members of other core secret realms of the Virtual Universe who had applied to cultivate in the Initial Universe... There were all sorts of ways to enter, but they all shared one thing in common: they had paid a tremendous price.

After another round of hassle, he finally boarded a strangely shaped spacecraft and flew toward the Universe Channel.

"Requesting the opening of the Universe Channel."

"Verification passed. Opening the Universe Channel."

"Boom!"

A deep sound rang out from outside, and then the spacecraft continued forward.

"The flow of time in the Initial Universe differs from that of the primal universe, so the flow of time within the channel is chaotic. You may feel somewhat uncomfortable." At that moment, the person who had just spoken at the Universe Channel opened his mouth.

"Hmm?"

"This feels awful."

As the spacecraft entered the opened Universe Channel, a strange sensation affected Bai Yue's mind, making him feel dizzy and nauseous. It was quite peculiar.

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