Marquis Flame Abyss

Inside the blazing stellar core, Jiang Ming and the Fire God clone sat facing each other, observing the various fluctuations within the star.

The closer one got to a star's core, the greater the pressure became. With Jiang Ming's previous strength, even with the Stellar Body talent, he would have been unable to remain in the core region for extended periods without affecting his cultivation.

He could only stay slightly outside the innermost region.

But now, as his comprehension of the laws improved, the Stellar Body's enhancement became increasingly miraculous. With the Stellar Body activated, Jiang Ming could now remain within the stellar core indefinitely.

"With the help of Flame Crystals, the Wheel of Time's time acceleration can reach a thousandfold."

Feeling his rapidly growing strength and insights amid the accelerated flow of time, Jiang Ming could not help but feel exhilarated.

"According to what I found through the Virtual Universe Company's permissions, time-acceleration treasures generally only offer tenfold to several dozenfold acceleration, and the resources they consume each day are priced in Chaos Units.

By comparison, the Wheel of Time's consumption is far too low."

When his permissions had been insufficient, Jiang Ming had been unable to find any information regarding time-acceleration treasures. Even now, with the permissions provided by the Virtual Universe Company, he could only find relatively ordinary treasures with acceleration effects of at most twenty or thirty times.

Yet even the lowest-grade time treasure was an astronomical price Jiang Ming did not dare imagine.

Forget buying one—even if someone gave one to Jiang Ming, he could not afford to use it.

The resources consumed by these treasures could exhaust the four hundred Chaos Units in Jiang Ming's possession in a very short time.

Moreover, these time-acceleration treasures had a fatal flaw: they blurred the user's comprehension of external laws.

This severely reduced the efficiency of comprehension.

However, perhaps because the Wheel of Time was one of his innate talents, it did not blur Jiang Ming's perception of external laws.

Jiang Ming's comprehension of laws remained the same whether he was under time acceleration or outside it.

"A Flame Crystal worth only 180 Chaos Units can support a thousandfold time acceleration for decades without blurring my comprehension of external laws. If word got out, who knew how many Experts would turn green with envy and go mad over it."

The heaven-defying potential displayed by the Wheel of Time once it had sufficient resources made even Jiang Ming yearn for more.

Flame Crystals were formed by Immortal Experts who had completely comprehended the Flame Origin Law, compressing Stellar Energy together with an exceedingly tiny amount of Flame Divine Power.

A Flame Crystal worth 180 Chaos Units was equivalent to one percent of a star's energy. If detonated directly, it could easily kill a Realm Lord.

The energy within it was also incomparably pure, easily allowing the Wheel of Time to accelerate time by a thousandfold.

"Unfortunately, with my current permissions, I can't even find information on Fire God Crystals or Fire God Source Crystals."

Fire God Crystals and Fire God Source Crystals were condensed from extremely high-purity Flame Divine Power. Even the lowest-grade Fire God Crystal possessed the ability to threaten an Immortal.

Such things were absolutely strategic resources. Jiang Ming did not even have the authority to view them, let alone purchase them.

"But for me right now, this is more than enough."

Feeling his steadily improving comprehension of laws, Jiang Ming's mood became exceptionally good.

"By my calculations, it's about time to set off. Although the treasures in the World within a World are no longer very useful to me, they're still worth several hundred Chaos Units."

Jiang Ming thought to himself.

After selling the 'SSS-grade Bloodline Evolution Potion,' Jiang Ming's wealth had already surpassed the entire treasure hoard of the World within a World.

But those treasures were still worth 200 Chaos Units, something Jiang Ming could not yet ignore.

Besides, with his current strength, obtaining that treasure hoard would be effortless.

With that thought, Jiang Ming connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe and teleported to a vast estate on Ganwu Continent.

Within the estate stood a woman clad in red-and-black battle armor. She was tall and slender, with a delicate face and a full, voluptuous figure.

Her flowing scarlet red hair cascaded freely over her shoulders, and her entire body exuded the sensual charm of a mature woman.

"Teacher."

Jiang Ming entered the estate and greeted the woman.

This woman was the Immortal Teacher Man Luo had found for him, and she possessed the strength of a High-level Immortal Military Lord.

"Mhm."

Seeing Jiang Ming arrive, Marquis Flame Abyss nodded. She did not put on any Immortal airs before him and appeared exceptionally approachable.

"Teacher, I intend to apply for the Universe Mercenary Assessment. I want to test my strength in actual combat."

After asking his usual cultivation questions and receiving her answers, Jiang Ming spoke to Marquis Flame Abyss.

Within a Universe Country, Immortal kings and marquises generally possessed only peak Marquis level or High-level Military Lord strength.

They bore the titles of kings and marquises only because they had been bestowed those ranks.

In terms of strength, however, they were not true kings or marquises.

"The Universe Mercenary Assessment? With your strength, there doesn't seem to be much need for it."

Although Marquis Flame Abyss felt that Jiang Ming would be wasting his time, she did not directly reject his idea.

"Several close friends of mine are participating in the Universe Mercenary Assessment. They discovered something in that Realm Lord world, and based on the information they gave me, I suspect there is a World within a World there."

Luo Feng and the others had already entered Thunder World for some time. Before long, the World within a World would likely emerge.

"Oh? A World within a World?"

Marquis Flame Abyss became somewhat interested. A Realm Lord could form a world within their body, but creating another world within that Inner World increased the difficulty by more than tenfold.

Without a genuine treasure, no Realm Lord would spend such a great price constructing one.

However, after glancing through the information Jiang Ming had sent her, Marquis Flame Abyss lost interest.

This Thunder World Lord had been too weak when alive. Even if he had possessed treasures, they would not have been particularly valuable.

"Very well. If there really is a World within a World, it can serve as a slight trial for you."

Although Jiang Ming only suspected it, and whether a World within a World truly existed remained uncertain, there was no harm in letting him go since he was interested.

"Thank you, Teacher."

With Jiang Ming's strength, obtaining the treasure hoard of the World within a World would not be difficult. The problem was what to do after obtaining it and trying to leave.

Previously, Jiang Ming had planned to rely on Man Luo, but after getting to know the Teacher Man Luo had introduced over this period, he found her to be a better choice.

After leaving the Virtual Universe, Jiang Ming boarded a spaceship and headed for Canglan Star.

First-time participants in the Universe Mercenary Assessment had to register in person before taking the assessment. This was the standard procedure.

But that was only for people without the slightest backing.

For Jiang Ming, the permissions granted through the Virtual Universe Company easily helped him complete the registration.

However, that was all they covered. To truly become a universe mercenary, one still had to pass through the assessment world.

The entrance to Thunder World was an extremely ordinary-looking villa, but it was heavily guarded by troops.

At that moment, a Silver Spaceship approached through the sky, and its hatch opened.

Jiang Ming stepped out from within.

Upon seeing Jiang Ming disembark, a man wearing a 'One-star Mercenary' badge on his chest immediately emerged from the villa and went to greet him.

"Mhm. I'm here to take the assessment."

Jiang Ming said to the universe mercenary.

"Please follow me."

The universe mercenary replied respectfully, then led Jiang Ming toward the villa entrance.

Quite a few apprentice mercenaries still waiting in line nearby immediately began discussing him.