The Qinghuan King's Underhanded Methods

Inside a luxurious private room within the Virtual Universe.

A dozen or so Star Level geniuses were gathered together, all of whom had crossed the threshold of the origin laws.

"The third level of the Light and Time Sword—the speed at which you're improving is just unreasonable."

An Yao grumbled with a hint of frustration toward Yu Duan, then shifted the topic: "The universe-wide first place in this genius competition will likely be decided between you and senior brother Yalunsi."

As a fellow user of the Light and Time Sword, An Yao knew exactly how difficult it was to master the third level at the Star Level.

To put it simply, the average level of law comprehension for the first-place winners of past genius competitions was roughly equivalent to the second level of the Light and Time Sword.

If not for the veteran genius Yalunsi, Yu Duan would have had a very high probability of becoming the universe-wide champion.

Yu Duan held his wine glass and smiled, "Let's forget about first place. I'm no match for senior brother Yalunsi. Four years is too short a time to make any significant improvements."

Yalunsi shook his head, looking at Pengnuolai and the others nearby, "If anyone else said they couldn't improve in four years, I'd believe them. But hearing that from Yu Duan, I have to think twice."

"Hahaha, senior brother is right. Yu Duan is just a monster."

"..."

For a time, the private room was filled with a lively atmosphere, with everyone either marveling at Yu Duan's invincible talent or flattering Yalunsi, insisting he was certain to take first place.

Yu Duan remained humble, claiming he didn't have much talent.

Yalunsi also waved his hands repeatedly, saying the genius competition hadn't even started yet, so it was too early to talk about first place. In past competitions, there had been even more heaven-defying existences, so one couldn't afford to be careless.

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

Inside a martial arts palace on the island of Qinghuan King, this ancient, super-powerful immortal was looking at his youngest disciple with satisfaction.

"You brat, when were you able to perform the third level of the Light and Time Sword? You kept it hidden so sneakily that even your master didn't know."

During yesterday's match against Yalunsi, Yu Duan had performed the third level of the Light and Time Sword for the first time.

It was quite a pleasant surprise for Qinghuan King, who had been keeping a close eye on Yu Duan.

"It was just a sudden flash of insight a few days ago. When I came to, I realized my law comprehension had improved significantly, so I figured I might be able to perform the third level of the sword technique. I gave it a try, and it worked."

Seeing Yu Duan say this, Qinghuan King sighed with emotion, "Another epiphany. Others can't even have one in ten thousand years, but for you, they've become wholesale. Good, good, good. Have as many of these epiphanies as you like; your master won't complain."

"With your current law comprehension, you should also be able to master the first level of the movement technique, Time Flow Shadow, to the 'small success' stage."

"I still suggest you try to dedicate a portion of your energy to practicing your movement technique."

Qinghuan King's tone was earnest. He didn't force Yu Duan to do anything, but instead spent a long time explaining the importance of movement techniques in detail.

Yu Duan had originally planned to use these four years to improve his shortcomings in all areas, so he naturally agreed.

"Hahaha, very good. If you have any questions regarding movement techniques, feel free to ask your master."

Qinghuan King was very satisfied. Suddenly remembering something, he continued to ask, "How is your foundation? What is your power multiplier?"

"I measured it just before the ranking matches; it's around forty-three times."

Although Yu Duan hadn't deliberately practiced power-output techniques, he had focused his energy on comprehending laws while grinding his progress.

However, power-output techniques weren't particularly difficult. As Yu Duan performed his sword techniques time and again, his multiplier naturally rose above forty.

"Forty-something, that's not bad. There's no need to waste energy on that."

As Qinghuan King spoke, he raised his right hand. A blazing electric light bloomed in his palm, then transformed into countless faint, flickering electric arcs.

The next instant, the countless arcs divided further into endless bio-electric fields invisible to the naked eye, spreading in all directions and enveloping Yu Duan's figure.

"Calm your mind. Feel the movement of your muscles and the transmission of your power."

As soon as Qinghuan King's voice rang out, Yu Duan felt the muscles all over his body being mobilized.

The bio-electric field replaced Yu Duan's own neural electrical signals, controlling the movement of his muscles.

"Boom!"

Yu Duan threw a lunge punch. The pure physical force tore through the air, creating a massive vacuum bubble that suddenly burst, triggering a violent explosion.

Bang!

The aftermath of the bursting air bubble swept outward in all directions like the shockwave of a cannon shell.

Under Qinghuan King's perfect control, Yu Duan felt as if all his power had condensed into a single point at that moment, perfectly unleashed with every movement of his fists and feet.

"Don't get distracted. Carefully feel the movement of your muscles and bones, and feel the resonance of your body's power."

"Yes, Master!"

Every punch, every kick, and even every gesture felt like a single, unified whole. Yu Duan could sense his own power forming an invisible 'clump' that erupted with his movements.

After a short while, that gentle force dissipated from within Yu Duan's body.

Then, Qinghuan King patted Yu Duan on the shoulder, "Work hard. Don't let down the expectations that I and your senior uncle, the Lord of the Kingdom, have for you."

After saying this, Qinghuan King's figure turned into a glimmer of light and vanished from the palace.

Yu Duan didn't see him off, remaining immersed in the sensation of that power mobilization.

A moment later, Yu Duan finally snapped back to reality and logged his consciousness directly into the Virtual Universe network.

In a spacious training hall within the Virtual Universe, the figure of Yu Duan suddenly materialized.

This was a training ground specifically designed for force exertion testing, where it was impossible to mobilize any origin power.

"Begin force exertion test."

As soon as Yu Duan's voice fell, a humanoid training dummy appeared before him.

"Beep!"

A mechanical prompt sounded, and a light screen emerged beside the dummy-shaped training target.

There was only one line of text on the screen: Please strike the dummy once each with your hand, elbow, shoulder, knee, and foot within 1 second.

Yu Duan loosened his muscles and joints, adapting to a body without origin power, before suddenly gathering his strength.

"Boom!"

Recalling the sensations from just a moment ago, Yu Duan pulled his body back like a taut longbow and slammed a punch into the dummy's chest.

A violent recoil force surged back, and following the direction of that recoil, Yu Duan immediately spun around to deliver a kick, his right leg lashing out like a whip against the dummy...

In less than 0.1 seconds, five strikes of pure physical force erupted against the dummy, leaving behind a series of indentations.

"Beep!"

Another prompt sounded, and immediately after, the damaged training dummy restored itself, while the screen beside it displayed the results of Yu Duan's recent test.

"Hand force exertion 63 times, elbow force exertion 65 times, shoulder force exertion 59 times... Based on the lowest force data, your final force exertion multiplier is 59 times!"

In just a few short minutes, having experienced a more advanced method of force exertion, Yu Duan's multiplier had soared directly from 43 times to 59 times.

Furthermore, having experienced the state of perfect body control in advance, the difficulty for Yu Duan to improve his force exertion techniques in the future would be reduced many times over.

"This... is definitely a heretical method, right?"

Yu Duan thought about his Book of Causality and realized he didn't seem to have the standing to call this a heretical method.

He was essentially using a cheat, which was far more crooked than the methods taught to him by his teacher, Qinghuan King.