Virtual Universe, Beiming Sacred Land.
As the qualifiers ended, nearly a million Star Level figures were teleported at once to the Beiming Sea's private space. They gathered in a vast plaza.
Of the over one hundred million Star Level students of Beiming Sacred Land, fewer than a million had survived until the end of the qualifiers.
The number who made it into the top thousand of their World Zones was naturally even smaller. The elimination rate was terrifying.
"I was so close! I needed just over three hundred more points to make the top thousand in my World Zone. Damn it, I can't believe I missed out!"
"Same here. Why couldn't the qualifiers have lasted two more days?"
"Hahaha, I got lucky. I placed 867th in my World Zone and scraped through!"
"..."
The plaza erupted into a clamor. Some were excited, some disappointed, and others were simply unwilling to accept the result.
Aside from the "cave-dwellers," those who had survived until the end of the qualifiers had generally advanced beyond the beginner level. On average, they had mastered at least the Threefold Domain.
In the central area of the plaza, more than three hundred geniuses who had crossed the threshold of the Source Law gathered together.
"Yu Duan, did you come first in your World Zone?"
Teng De, the God-Splitting Weapon strapped to his back, looked at Yu Duan.
"Mm. What about you?" Yu Duan nodded and casually asked in return.
Teng De grinned. "Of course I did. Spirit Readers are more efficient at beating up the weak. I might even have more points than you."
Yalunsi spoke up. "I ended with a little over 210 million points."
"I got 140 million."
"I barely reached 100 million."
The group started talking over one another about who had the most points.
As long as the geniuses who had crossed the threshold of the Source Law weren't eliminated by fighting a powerful opponent of their own level too early, they were usually among the top five in their World Zone. Each had tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of points.
"I was just shy of 400 million."
Yu Duan didn't go out of his way to hide anything. The First World Zone's terrain was unusual.
In the final two days, a group of experts who had mastered the Eightfold and Ninefold Domains had been cornered by Yu Duan on the top floor of a flight base. His points had shot straight from a little over 200 million to nearly 400 million.
Before the geniuses could recover from the shock of Yu Duan's score, a surging pressure swept over them.
Then they saw a towering figure, more than eight meters tall, appear in midair. He had dragon horns on his head and wore a crimson-scaled battle robe. It was none other than the First Divine General!
Boom!
An invisible pressure swept across the plaza. The air groaned under its weight, and even the space itself seemed to ripple in waves.
In an instant, the plaza, more than a million kilometers across, became oppressively still.
Cold sweat beaded on the foreheads of nearly a million geniuses. Their faces turned deathly pale, and under the faint Consciousness Pressure leaking from the First Divine General's gaze, not one of them could even lift their head.
The only exception was Yu Duan.
Even when a King Level expert's Consciousness Pressure was restrained countless times over, a mere Star Level youngster couldn't simply ignore it.
Yet Yu Duan only felt a little stifled. He felt no other discomfort.
This is... my state of mind amplifying my resistance to Consciousness Pressure!
Yu Duan immediately noticed the difference between himself and the students around him.
According to Hong, Lei Shen, despite being only at Universe Level, could more or less withstand the Consciousness Pressure of an Immortal Army Lord Peak or even a Marquis Immortal by relying on Unity of Heaven and Man through his Heart of Innocence.
Although the First Divine General was a King Level expert, he was only trying to scare these Star Level youngsters. The faint threads of Consciousness Pressure he let slip couldn't possibly be too powerful.
"You have disappointed the great Lord of the Kingdom!"
His booming voice sounded like an explosion bursting from the First Divine General's mouth. It was deafening, and the students were so startled that their hearts seemed to lose their rhythm.
"Out of 100,100 places, you managed to claim fewer than 53,000!"
"But you still have a chance. I hope you can claim 600 of the 1,000 places in the Universe stage of the Genius Tournament!"
The First Divine General deliberately kept a stern expression and gave the geniuses a thorough scolding. Along with the Consciousness Pressure in his gaze, it left many of them trembling and barely able to stay on their feet.
"Next, apart from the first-place finishers in each World Zone, all students who passed the qualifiers will prepare for the Arena Group Battle!"
"And you first-place finishers, don't slack off over the next three years, either. The real battle between geniuses hasn't even begun!"
After one last warning, the First Divine General swept his hand.
In an instant, the figures of nearly a million Star Level geniuses were teleported away.
The real world, Light Source Planet.
Atop a snowy mountain, Yu Duan opened his eyes. Ku Mixiu, who had been guarding him, bowed slightly. "Congratulations, Your Highness, on passing the qualifiers."
Yu Duan couldn't help laughing helplessly. "Mr. Ku Mixiu, is there really anything to congratulate me for?"
Ku Mixiu smiled. "In that case, I'll offer my early congratulations on winning first place in the Universe Finals!"
"Don't. The competition hasn't even started yet. Celebrating halfway through is a bad idea!"
Jinxing himself halfway through wasn't wise. If things went wrong, it'd be embarrassing.
The First Divine General had said that the Virtual Universe Company wouldn't arrange for him to fight Yalunsi.
But Yu Duan didn't accept becoming invincible among his peers through such an arrangement.
He still hoped to defeat Yalunsi through his own strength.
So what if the Book of Causality wouldn't let him draw on it again for a hundred years?
Even without the Book of Causality, Yu Duan could still improve.
The Book of Causality merely let him enjoy the fruits of his progress ahead of time. If Yu Duan couldn't advance through his own efforts, then repaying the price of those advances wouldn't take just a hundred years of grinding. It would take thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands.
"Beep beep!"
A notification sounded from the Optical Computer on Yu Duan's right wrist. A screen projected above it, displaying an email from his teacher, King Qinghuan.
"Come see me in the Virtual Universe."
Without hesitation, Yu Duan linked his consciousness to the Virtual Universe Network and appeared directly in King Qinghuan's palace.
At that moment, King Qinghuan was admiring an immense starry-sky engraving.
The engraving had been carved into the palace wall. It stretched for more than a hundred kilometers and stood dozens of kilometers high.
Countless tiny specks represented stars, interwoven to form more than a hundred galaxies.
Those galaxies were connected to one another, forming an even more immense and majestic image of a galaxy cluster. It contained an endlessly profound fluctuation of time.
"This engraving is actually an extremely complex secret technique. It contains the complete mysteries of the Time Origin Law..."
King Qinghuan's voice rang out, no longer as gentle as usual, but instead carrying a hint of complexity.
Only after finishing did King Qinghuan turn to Yu Duan. "Disciple, I've studied this engraving for countless eras!"
"Yet I still haven't comprehended the complete Time Origin Law, nor have I managed to advance further."
The oldest Immortal God under the Virtual Universe Company, and the greatest master of the Immortal soul—without exception.
It sounded like an honorable title, but it was also the title King Qinghuan hated most.
After speaking, King Qinghuan let out a long breath. The complicated emotions in his eyes vanished, and he smiled. "Child, with me as an example, you should understand how difficult it is to comprehend a complete Upper Law, shouldn't you?"
"I will remember your teachings, Master!" Yu Duan quickly bowed.
King Qinghuan smiled and patted Yu Duan on the shoulder, then casually swept his hand to the side.
Two illusory manuals immediately appeared as projections.
"The deeper your Law Comprehension, the harder it is to make progress... until you reach the final step of comprehending the complete Source Law. That is also the hardest step—a major bottleneck."
"The number of World Masters under the Beiming Universe Kingdom has remained above a million for years, but there are only around twenty thousand Immortal Gods."
A World Master's lifespan was ten million years.
In other words, a million World Masters could be born in a thousand eras.
Yet there were only twenty thousand Immortal Gods, who possessed eternal lifespans.
Generation after generation of World Masters had broken through to Immortality at a rate far below one in a hundred thousand.
King Qinghuan pointed at the two projected manuals. "The first is called the Purification Secret Canon. It's a manual for comprehending the Origin Law of Light and the Time Origin Law."
"It contains 7,645 secret techniques to aid Law Comprehension and 627 Combat Secret Techniques for applying the laws."
"Among King Level manuals for cultivating both the Laws of Light and Time, it ranks among the best. It explains everything in great detail, from the fundamentals to the most advanced concepts."
"That's why the Purification Secret Canon is worth more than 100,000 Hunyuan Units."
As King Qinghuan explained, the two projections transformed into enormous screens.
Rows of universal characters appeared, displaying the tables of contents for the two manuals, each of which contained numerous different secret techniques.
"The second manual is called Nine Interpretations of Time. It contains 74 different Fighter techniques, including swordplay, saber techniques, and fist techniques."
"Every technique contains precisely the same law mysteries. It's a basic manual focused on the Time Origin Law."
"The second manual is worth far less than the first, at only around 100 Hunyuan Units."
"One manual follows the conventional Law Path. Progress is rapid at first, then grows increasingly difficult. But at Immortal Army Lord Peak, you'll encounter the first major bottleneck."
"The other path analyzes the deeper essence of the laws. Progress will be dozens or even hundreds of times slower in the early stages, but later, it will become dozens or even hundreds of times faster."
"As for bottlenecks, if you can follow this path to its end, then as long as you don't perish, you're certain to become a King Level Immortal."
After briefly introducing the two manuals, King Qinghuan looked at Yu Duan.
"Take both manuals back and study them. Compare the differences between the two paths carefully. I've left detailed notes and explanations in the manuals."
"Then choose one of the two paths as your main path of cultivation from now on, and come see me in the Virtual Universe again."
Before you continue