Kedi

That night, just as Yu Duan's consciousness disconnected from the Virtual Universe network, he received an email from the official office of the Chilian Divine Empire.

"Greetings, Mr. Yu Duan. According to the latest account updates, you have acquired 14 star systems as territory. If you establish a primary cosmic civilization, you may apply to become a vassal state of the Chilian Divine Empire and receive protection from the imperial military."

"Attachment: Proof of ownership for the relevant star systems, coordinate locations of said systems, detailed data on all inhabited planets..."

The 14 star systems formerly under the Crimson Empire were high-quality territories cultivated for countless years, with each system containing over 300,000 inhabited planets.

In the time it took to finish a single meal, Yu Duan had come to possess nearly five million inhabited planets.

Establishing a nation... I think I'll pass. Managing it myself will yield higher returns.

Similar primary civilization states were initially established by the descendants of World Master powerhouses.

While a World Master was alive, they could own territory, enact their own laws, and collect their own taxes, which was both more profitable and freer.

However, once a World Master fell, if their descendants failed to produce a new World Master, they would be completely unable to defend a multi-star system territory worth several Hunyuan Units.

The only solution was to establish a nation, surrender the vast majority of the territory's operational profits to a medium-sized universe kingdom, and abide by that kingdom's laws; only then could they survive long-term.

Yu Duan naturally had no need to establish a nation; after all, given his status within the Beiming Universe Kingdom, no World Master or Immortal would dare to seize his territory.

As for managing the territory, I'll leave that to Master Zhen Li and the others.

Yu Duan contacted Master Zhen Li and the other two via the virtual universe.

A moment later, inside the Civilization Temple on Light Source Planet.

"Yu Duan... are you saying that the entire former Crimson Empire is now your territory?"

Master Zhen Li's tone was somewhat stifled; clearly, the sheer impact of such wealth made him realize just how high Yu Duan's status had become.

"Yes, the founder of the Chilian Divine Empire, a powerful Immortal god, personally presided over the transfer of the Crimson Empire's entire territory into my name."

Yu Duan spoke with a smile, then provided a detailed explanation, which helped the emotions of Master Zhen Li and the others stabilize slightly.

"Although these 14 star systems have become my property, I don't have the time to manage them, so I will leave them to the Light Source Company. There is no need to give me any of the profits generated; just use them as development funds for our race."

Shen Jian heard this and shook his head hurriedly: "No, this is your territory, Yu Duan..."

Yu Duan interrupted Shen Jian directly: "The profits from these 14 star systems wouldn't even reach 1 Hunyuan Unit for who knows how many thousands of years."

"By that time, this wealth won't be of any help to me, so just leave it for the race. That way, I won't be distracted by the race's affairs and can focus entirely on my cultivation."

Kun Zhu hesitated for a moment before saying: "We are just ordinary Planetary Level people; managing wealth on this scale... I fear we won't be able to command respect."

"Don't worry about that. I will ask my teacher to dispatch a World Master powerhouse to oversee things. If there is anything that requires a powerhouse to resolve, you can have that World Master step in."

As Yu Duan's voice fell, Kun Zhu and Shen Jian exchanged glances, both seeing the excitement in the other's eyes.

Even Master Zhen Li's reaction was no better than theirs.

Master Zhen Li took a deep breath, his eyes reddening, and his voice trembled as he spoke: "Yu Duan, it is the honor of our race to have produced a genius like you. On behalf of everyone in our race... thank you!"

At this moment, Master Zhen Li didn't quite know what status he should adopt when facing Yu Duan.

Noticing the shift in Master Zhen Li's emotions, Yu Duan simply smiled and said: "Then it's settled. I leave the management of the territory to you, Senior, and my two brothers."

After chatting for a while, once the three of them had completely calmed down, Yu Duan left the Civilization Temple and returned to his spaceship.

Deep in space, the pale gold spaceship disengaged its stealth mode and hovered silently in the void.

In the ship's control room, Yu Duan looked at Qiongtao King and said: "Senior Qiongtao King, let's return to the Sacred Land."

Qiongtao King was somewhat surprised and asked: "Doesn't Your Highness intend to finish the entire Genius Tournament in your hometown before heading directly to the Virtual Universe Company's core secret realm?"

"There is no longer any need for me to worry too much about my hometown."

Yu Duan shook his head: "My top priority now is to prepare wholeheartedly for the upcoming Universe Genius Tournament finals."

"Hahaha, very well. Then we shall depart today."

Time passed like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed, and Yu Duan returned to the Beiming Sacred Land.

Compared to before, when he had to be taken into a World Master's body to arrive, this time, Yu Duan truly knew the coordinates of the Beiming Sacred Land in the cosmic starry sky.

On the vast ice-blue ocean, countless islands of various sizes were scattered about.

On one independent private island, a cluster of magnificent palaces stood, with various buildings stretching out in a scale second only to the Central Divine Palace; this was the residence of Qinghuan King.

"You're back?"

Clad in white robes, Qinghuan King looked at his youngest disciple with a smile, a look of gratification appearing on his handsome, gentle face.

Seeing his youngest disciple in the real world, he could perceive the change in the boy's entire temperament even more clearly.

Transparent, clear, agile, and dignified; every movement seemed to blend with the surrounding nature. It was as if every beautiful word used to describe temperament could be applied to the youth before him.

"Yes, I missed you while I was home, Teacher. I feel more at ease staying by your side." Yu Duan cheekily moved closer to Qinghuan King.

Qinghuan King was left between laughter and tears: "Are you trying to coax an old man living in solitude?"

"No, no, please don't misunderstand, Teacher." Yu Duan laughed sheepishly.

Qinghuan King snorted, then said, "Since you've returned, settle down and focus on comprehending the laws and dissecting their mysteries. As you requested, you must truly step onto the path of dissecting the essence of the laws before the finals of the genius competition."

"Yes, Teacher!"

From that day on, Yu Duan immersed himself heart and soul into comprehending the mysteries of time and dissecting the essence of the laws.

During the day, he listened to Qinghuan King's guidance, and at night, he studied the complex and profound law secret patterns on the 'Silver Pupil', verifying his own insights into the laws. The two complemented each other, and he made progress every single day.

As time slipped away like a spinning top...

Under Yu Duan's daily diligent practice, time seemed to have hit a fast-forward button, giving him the illusion that the days were passing faster and faster.

While Yu Duan was wholeheartedly practicing, comprehending laws, and dissecting their essence, An Yao and the others were experiencing the brutal tens of thousands of reincarnation battles.

For the Star Level students of the Beiming Sacred Land, completing 10 matches in a single day was not something they hadn't experienced before.

However, it was a different story to fight 10 matches every single day without a break for thousands of days in a row.

Every match required them to go all out; there was no room for relaxation. After the matches, they still had to review their performance and train. They were stretched thin all day long, with almost no time to rest.

However, An Yao, Chi Li, and the others were all geniuses who had crossed the threshold of the origin laws. Naturally, they won far more than they lost during these three years of reincarnation battles, and their records were impressive.

An Yao, in particular, had hardly lost a single match out of the tens of thousands he fought.

In such high-intensity reincarnation battles, in just three short years, 7 domain geniuses within the Beiming Universe Kingdom successfully crossed the threshold of the laws.

As for the geniuses who had already crossed the threshold of the laws, they naturally made significant progress as well.

In the blink of an eye, more than three years flashed by.

After the internal selection of the Beiming Universe Kingdom concluded, another three months passed.

There was only one day left until the finals of the Universe Genius Competition!

"Child, tomorrow is the day to gather for the finals. How are you feeling? Are you nervous?"

Qinghuan King, dressed in white robes, sat cross-legged beside a small square table.

On the other side of the small table sat a figure one size smaller than Qinghuan King, also dressed in white robes—it was Yu Duan.

"I'm fine. I'll let things take their natural course and do my best."

A natural smile hung on Yu Duan's face. He was neither nervous nor lax, maintaining only a calm and natural attitude.

Qinghuan King shook his head helplessly. "Over these three years, I've been collecting information on the geniuses from other universe kingdoms. I actually discovered a stunning little guy, but I was afraid of dampening your enthusiasm, so I didn't tell you."

Afraid of dampening his enthusiasm?

The implication was that this person's talent was even better than his own.

"Teacher, can you stop keeping me in suspense? Can't you just be straightforward?" Yu Duan couldn't help but complain to his teacher.

Qinghuan King let out a hearty, unscrupulous laugh, then waved his right hand, projecting a virtual light screen.

On the screen was a scene of a seemingly ordinary young man participating in the preliminary rounds.

"Hmm? Only a first-level domain..."

Yu Duan was just beginning to feel surprised, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw the crimson spear in the young man's hand light up instantly. A crimson divine radiance erupted, bursting forth like a volcanic eruption!

"First-level domain, crossed the threshold of the laws, peak bloodline... No, even a peak bloodline can only achieve that at the Universe Level!"

Starlight rippled in the depths of Yu Duan's eyes, and the third pupil at the center of his brow opened slightly, his gaze fixed on the image on the screen.

"Teacher... who is he?" Yu Duan looked at Qinghuan King.

Qinghuan King smiled and said, "Keep watching. This is footage from the first day of the preliminaries. Next is the final day."

As Qinghuan King's voice fell, the image on the screen changed again, showing the young man on the 30th day of the preliminaries, dueling with another genius who had crossed the threshold of the laws.

If the young man on the first day of the preliminaries had only barely crossed the threshold of the origin laws, then the power of the origin laws contained in the young man's spear technique on the final day of the preliminaries was already approaching the level of An Yao.

This speed of progress left even Yu Duan stunned.

Following that, the images on the screen began to change rapidly, showing the young man participating in reincarnation battles over the past three years.

In the upper right corner of the screen, there was a note indicating which match of the reincarnation battles the young man was currently fighting.

The first year of the reincarnation battles, day 14: the young man unleashed a Spatial Phantom, crossing the threshold of the spatial origin laws.

The second year of the reincarnation battles, day 193: the young man unleashed 9 phantoms, reaching the threshold of the nine-phantom technique, equivalent to the law attainment of the entry level of the second stage of the Light and Time Sword.

On the final day of the reincarnation battles, the young man was still using the nine-phantom secret technique, but he was clearly doing so with ease, very relaxed, and no longer going all out.

Qinghuan King waved his hand, and the light screen dissipated. He then looked at Yu Duan and spoke slowly, "His current law attainment is already approaching where you were three years ago."

"In three years, he has caught up to your twenty years of hard cultivation."

"Such a fast rate of progress must be due to some special encounter."

"How about it? Do you feel any pressure?"

As Qinghuan King's voice fell, Yu Duan did indeed feel the pressure.

However, this level of pressure would only make Yu Duan's progress even faster!

"Teacher, what is his name?"

"Kedi, the number one genius of the Yuanchen Universe Kingdom, and your greatest competitor for countless years to come—without exception."

"Kedi... Good, good, Kedi is good!"

Yu Duan suddenly started to laugh. Qinghuan King noticed that Yu Duan's emotions seemed very complex, and... very happy?