In the Virtual Universe, inside a private room in a luxurious building.
More than a dozen Star Level geniuses had gathered there. Every one of them had crossed the threshold of the Source Law.
"Third stage of the Light and Time Sword? Your improvement speed is just unreasonable, kid."
An Yao complained to Yu Duan with a rueful look, then changed the subject. "The number one spot in this Genius Tournament will probably come down to you and Senior Brother Yalunsi."
As another practitioner of the Light and Time Sword, An Yao knew exactly how difficult it was to master the third stage at Star Level.
To put it this way, the average level of Law Comprehension among the top contenders in past Genius Tournaments was about equal to the second stage of the Light and Time Sword.
If not for old genius Yalunsi, Yu Duan would have had an excellent chance of taking first place in the entire universe.
Yu Duan held his wineglass and smiled. "I'll pass on first place. I'm no match for Senior Brother Yalunsi. Four years is too short to make much progress."
Yalunsi shook his head and glanced at Pengnuolai and the others. "I believe it when other people say they can't improve much in four years. But when Yu Duan says it, I have to think twice."
"Hahaha, Senior Brother's right. Yu Duan's a monster."
"..."
For a while, the private room brimmed with good cheer. Some praised Yu Duan's peerless talent, while others insisted Yalunsi was sure to take first place.
Yu Duan humbly claimed he had no talent to speak of.
Yalunsi, too, waved his hands repeatedly. The Genius Tournament hadn't even started, so it was much too early to talk about who would take first place. There had been even more astonishing geniuses in past tournaments, and no one could afford to be careless.
The next day, in the faint light of dawn.
Inside a martial arts hall on King Qinghuan's island, the ancient super Immortal looked at his young disciple with satisfaction.
"You rascal, when did you learn to use the third stage of the Light and Time Sword? You kept it hidden from me, and I had no idea."
During the previous day's match against Yalunsi, Yu Duan had used the third stage of the Light and Time Sword for the first time.
It had come as quite a pleasant surprise to King Qinghuan, who had been keeping a close eye on Yu Duan.
"A few days ago, I had a sudden insight. When I came back to my senses, I realized my comprehension of the laws had improved quite a bit. I figured I could probably use the third stage, so I gave it a try—and sure enough, it worked."
Hearing Yu Duan say that, King Qinghuan sighed. "Another sudden insight. Other people can go hundreds of thousands of years without one, but they're practically a wholesale item for you. Good, good. Have a few more of those. I certainly won't complain."
"With your current level of comprehension, you should also be able to reach the 'minor mastery' level in the first movement technique, Time Flow Shadow."
"I still recommend that you devote some of your energy to training your movement technique."
King Qinghuan spoke with earnest concern. He didn't demand that Yu Duan do anything in particular; instead, he spent a long time explaining the importance of movement techniques.
Yu Duan had already planned to work on his various weaknesses over the next four years, so he readily agreed.
"Hahaha, good. If there's anything you don't understand about movement techniques, you can come ask me."
King Qinghuan was very pleased. Then, as if remembering something, he asked, "How well have you mastered the basics? What's your Force Application Technique multiplier?"
"I had it tested just before the ranking matches. It was around forty-three times."
Although Yu Duan hadn't deliberately practiced the Force Application Technique, and had focused his energy on comprehending the laws while grinding for progress,
the Force Application Technique wasn't all that difficult. As Yu Duan used his sword techniques again and again, it had naturally improved to more than forty times.
"Over forty times? Not bad. There's no need to waste your energy on that."
As King Qinghuan spoke, he raised his right hand. A dazzling bolt of lightning blossomed in his palm, then became countless faint arcs of electricity.
In the next instant, those arcs split once more into countless biological electric fields, invisible to the naked eye, which spread in every direction and enveloped Yu Duan.
"Clear your mind. Pay close attention to how your muscles move and how your strength flows."
As King Qinghuan spoke, Yu Duan felt the muscles throughout his body being activated.
The biological electric fields took the place of the nerve signals in Yu Duan's own body, controlling the movement of his muscles.
BOOM!
Yu Duan stepped forward and drove out a straight punch. The force of his bare muscles tore through the air, forming a huge bubble of compressed air that suddenly burst in a violent explosion.
BAM!
The shock wave from the exploding bubble of air swept in every direction like the blast from a cannon shell.
Under King Qinghuan's perfect control, Yu Duan felt as if all his strength had gathered at a single point, pouring out perfectly with every punch and step.
"Don't get distracted. Pay close attention to how your muscles and bones move, and feel how the strength in your body resonates."
"Yes, Teacher!"
With every punch and kick, even the slightest movement of his hands and feet, his whole body worked as one. Yu Duan could feel his strength gathering into an invisible "ball" and surging out with every strike.
A short while later, that gentle force dispersed from Yu Duan's body.
King Qinghuan patted Yu Duan on the shoulder. "Work hard. Don't let me or your Senior Uncle, the Lord of the Kingdom, down."
After he finished speaking, King Qinghuan's figure turned into a glimmer and vanished from the hall.
Yu Duan didn't see him off. He was immersed in the sensation of having his strength directed just moments earlier.
It was a little while before Yu Duan came back to himself. Then he logged directly into the Virtual Universe Network.
In the Virtual Universe, Yu Duan's figure suddenly appeared in a spacious training ground.
This training ground was designed specifically for testing Force Application Technique. Origin Force couldn't be used here.
"Begin Force Application Technique test."
As Yu Duan spoke, a humanoid training dummy appeared in front of him.
"Beep!"
A mechanical prompt sounded, and a light screen appeared beside the dummy.
There was just one line on the screen: Please attack the dummy once each with your hand, elbow, shoulder, knee, and foot within one second.
Yu Duan loosened his muscles and adapted to his body without Origin Force, then suddenly gathered his strength.
BOOM!
Remembering the sensation from earlier, Yu Duan drew himself back like a great bow and suddenly punched the dummy in the chest.
A fierce recoil surged through him. Yu Duan followed its direction, spinning into a kick; his right leg lashed into the dummy like a whip...
In less than 0.1 seconds, five attacks powered by nothing but his physical strength burst against the dummy, leaving one dent after another.
"Beep!"
Another prompt sounded. The damaged dummy was restored, and Yu Duan's test results appeared on the screen beside it.
"Hand Force Application: 63 times. Elbow Force Application: 65 times. Shoulder Force Application: 59 times... Using the lowest force reading, your final Force Application multiplier is 59 times!"
In just a few minutes, after experiencing a more advanced method of applying force, Yu Duan's multiplier had soared from 43 to 59.
And since he'd already experienced what it was like to control his body perfectly, improving his Force Application Technique would be many times easier from then on.
"This... is absolutely some kind of unorthodox method, isn't it?"
Yu Duan thought about his Book of Causality. It seemed he wasn't in a position to call this an unorthodox method.
He was cheating with a system of his own, after all. That was far more unorthodox than the methods Teacher King Qinghuan had used to teach him.
Before you continue