Five Years Pass in a Flash, Renowned Throughout the Holy Land

Virtual Universe, training grounds.

Yu Duan, dressed in white, moved like a phantom. Light and shadow intertwined, refracting several white afterimages.

"Light Splitting Stab!"

In Yu Duan's palm, the Light and Time Sword, clear as glazed crystal, suddenly shuddered. Countless winding white-gold patterns lit up along the blade, and a layer of brilliant light rain emerged, condensing into a sharp beam of sword light.

Yet, in the next instant, the misty light rain surrounding the blade suddenly dissipated, and the once-dazzling sword light dimmed, striking the force target that resembled a metal stele.

"Master, according to the Sword Technique Annotations, to execute the 'Light Splitting Stab' at the Star Level, you must at least cross the threshold of the light law!" The smart assistant Tianran blinked, hurriedly leaning in beside Yu Duan to whisper a word of comfort.

Crossing the threshold of the light law was merely a basic condition; it did not mean that meeting this requirement guaranteed a successful execution.

Yu Duan couldn't help but roll his eyes: "I know. I'm just practicing, and testing the force-exertion techniques described in the Sword Technique Annotations."

Physical force-exertion techniques were different from a spirit reader's consciousness strength (mental power amplitude).

Every point of increase in consciousness strength required grueling mental training, slowly polishing one's will and consciousness bit by bit.

But physical force-exertion techniques were different. Switching from a crude, clumsy method to a more refined one that better adhered to the principles of mechanics could lead to significant improvements in a short period.

Yu Duan was currently in such a situation.

Looking at the 'Force Amplitude 24x' displayed on the force target, Yu Duan nodded with satisfaction.

It was worthy of being a top-tier sword technique that pointed directly to 100x perfect force exertion; it was leagues ahead of the power-burst techniques that came with the Morning Dawn Nine Blades.

Moreover, at the same level of output, the physical exertion was significantly reduced.

"Still need to keep working hard... I hope that when the ranking battle begins, my force exertion, movement techniques, and other combat skills don't hold me back."

A 24x force amplitude was already considered quite excellent among the Star Level warriors in the universe.

But among this group of geniuses in the Beiming Sacred Land, 30x was the most common standard, 40x was barely considered excellent, and 50x was top-tier.

"There's a training session today on the 'practical application of the Light Domain'; remember to remind me."

Yu Duan continued to train his force-exertion techniques, suddenly remembering something, and gave an instruction to Tianran.

Tianran immediately saluted: "Yes, Master ∠(°ゝ°)!"

Apart from the very beginning, when Yu Duan attended a few public lectures on how to improve domains and comprehend laws, the subsequent public lectures he booked were all practical training sessions.

The reason was simple: he felt the teachers' explanations weren't very useful, and it was better to learn more combat-related techniques.

The universe is vast, with countless star seas.

On the scale of the universe, for a spiral galaxy to complete one rotation, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of epochs might pass.

On such a near-eternal time scale, five years was indeed as brief as a fleeting moment, with no real difference.

But for Yu Duan, five years... counting his past and present lives, was not short at all.

The Beiming Sacred Land, as the highest genius training base for a high-level cosmic nation.

Although the competition here was fierce, compared to the treacherous society of the universe, it was an ivory tower.

In the nearly five years since joining the Beiming Sacred Land, besides attending classes, training, and sparring, Yu Duan mostly spent time gathering with his few friends.

Core members of the Sacred Land did not need to go on life-or-death adventures like the core layers of the five peak powers. Even World Master level members were at most sent out on missions, and they didn't need to go to places like the outer-territory battlefields.

Virtual Universe, Beiming Sea space.

On An Yao's exclusive territory planet, howling winds and snow raged, obscuring the sky and sun.

Inside a spacious palace, Yu Duan, An Yao, Chi Li, and another red-haired youth gathered. In front of them was a small fire stove, boiling liquor that was quite valuable even in the Virtual Universe.

"The ranking battle starts in two months. Does Yu Duan have the confidence to break into the top 1,000?"

An Yao, his bronze skin gleaming with a metallic luster under the fluorescent lights, raised his glass and looked at Yu Duan beside him.

Over these five years, Yu Duan's rate of progress had been too fast.

Yu Duan hadn't deliberately flaunted anything, but he hadn't pretended to hide it either. When sparring with friends, he held nothing back—anyway, they were all stronger than him.

He had broken through to the sixth-level domain less than two months after reaching the fifth-level.

This speed of progress had left An Yao and Chi Li stunned.

However, once they came to their senses, the two began taking bets on how long it would take for Yu Duan to make his next breakthrough.

Yu Duan had originally wanted to join in the fun and place a bet to earn some pocket money, but he was excluded by Chi Li under the guise of avoiding a conflict of interest.

Afterward, Yu Duan broke through continuously at an indescribable speed, only slowing down after reaching the ninth-level domain.

After all, the price for pre-advancing his ninth-level domain comprehension was 25.6 million hours of sunbathing; even with a 1,200x efficiency boost, it would still take about 2 years and 5 months.

"The top 1,000, huh..."

Yu Duan downed the liquor in his cup, feeling the aroma seep into his soul, and then smiled: "My goal is the top 100."

Among the core Star Level students, most were at the peak of the ninth-level domain, having touched the origin laws, but only 342 had crossed the threshold of the origin laws.

Chi Li giggled and leaned in, using her large chest to intimidate Yu Duan: "Tsk, it seems little brother Yu Duan is quite confident?"

An Yao wore a lewd grin and chuckled: "That won't be easy. Even if you are certain you can cross the threshold of the origin laws, the time is just too short."

Yu Duan saw the gazes of the others fixed on him and immediately changed the subject: "Don't talk about me. Do you have the confidence to challenge for third place this time?"

During the last ranking battle, An Yao had not yet mastered the first level of the Light and Time Sword, the Light Splitting Stab.

Now, An Yao had not only mastered the Light Splitting Stab but had also moved past the stage of barely being able to execute it, having truly entered the threshold of proficiency.

Of course, even if An Yao were to reach perfection in the Light Splitting Stab, he still wouldn't be able to challenge the top two.

This was because the top two were old timers, over 5,000 years old, who had participated in the previous genius battle and had crossed the threshold of the high-level origin laws a long time ago.

"Naturally, I have the confidence!"

The lecherous smile on An Yao's face vanished, replaced by a look of determination in his eyes: "Third place, who else but me!"

Chi Li immediately rolled her eyes, her expression brimming with allure: "Look at you being so arrogant. Don't end up getting beaten to a pulp."

Beside them, the somewhat reserved red-haired youth smiled and said: "I believe in Brother An Yao; he will definitely be able to reach third place."

This red-haired youth was named Chilian Gust Claton, with the first two parts being his surnames.

One could guess from his name that he was a genius hailing from the royal family of the Chilian Divine Empire.

The first surname, Chilian, came from the founding ancestor of the Chilian Divine Empire, who had been personally enfeoffed as Marquis Chilian by the great Lord of the Kingdom, making him a super powerhouse ranked within the top one hundred in the entire cosmic nation.

The second surname, Gust, was the name of the strongest individual in the Claton branch, who was also an immortal god.

Over the past few years, Yu Duan had made continuous breakthroughs, and his performance in training sessions had naturally become increasingly astonishing.

Especially in just about three years, his rapid ascent from the third-level domain to the ninth-level domain had made him famous throughout the Beiming Sacred Land, shocking more than one immortal god.

There were even rumors that when the person in charge of the Sacred Land reported information to the great Lord of the Kingdom, the Lord himself had taken an interest in this little Star Level fellow.

Whether it was true or false, no one knew, and no one dared to verify it.

In any case, after this rumor spread, countless people began inquiring about Yu Duan's information, wanting to get to know him, and Claton was among them.

Upon learning that Yu Duan originated from his own star sector, Claton had come to visit Yu Duan, bringing a Light and Time Sword as a gift.

Faced with a gift that could sell for 2 to 3 Hunyuan Units at an auction, Yu Duan immediately accepted Claton as a good friend.

In the real world, at the Beiming Sea.

In the training hall on the second floor of the villa, Yu Duan opened his eyes, and a brilliant starlight flashed and vanished.

"Almost there, almost there... there is still enough time."

Yu Duan spoke softly, and his brilliant domain of starlight expanded, enveloping the training hall as if it were a divine realm on earth.

That brilliant domain of starlight even faintly vied for radiance with the simulated blue star.

Through the layers of vortex-like starlight domain, Yu Duan could feel the vague, hazy, yet infinitely vast fluctuations of the light origin coming from the deep cosmos.

Inside Yu Duan's internal space, the Book of Causality, shrouded in seven-colored mist, floated quietly.

Repaying the cost of the advance: Bathing in sunlight for 25.6 million hours. Current progress: 24.79 million hours and...

There was still about 810,000 hours left on the progress bar; at a 1,200-fold efficiency boost, it would take approximately another 28 days.