A man's reputation, a tree's shadow

As time went by, Yang Wu remained on Earth, cultivating in seclusion.

Sometimes he uses secret techniques such as "Space-Time Essays" to comprehend the Law of Space, and sometimes he studies the third level of "Flame Crystal Nine Refinement Body".

Although the third level of the <Flame Crystal Nine Refinement Body> is generally only achievable by those at the World Lord Level, Yang Wu's genes are now 40 times that of ordinary life forms in the universe, and his physical attributes are comparable to those of World Lord Third Stage, so he has barely reached the threshold for cultivation.

However, the <Flame Crystal Nine Refinement Body> truly lived up to its reputation as a top-tier Body Amplitude technique. Yang Wu had studied it for a long time, but he hadn't even scratched the surface.

If it weren't for the Simulator, Yang Wu would probably have already purchased precious treasures to cultivate.

Besides requiring a great deal of time for arduous cultivation, one can also use treasures to improve their cultivation level, similar to how Flame Crystal Nine Refinement Body Luo Feng's Golden Horned Beast cultivated the "Original Heaven and Earth" in the original novel.

However, just to successfully cultivate to the third level, one needs nearly two billion points.

Although Yang Wu could afford such a price, with the Time Simulator available, there was absolutely no need to waste resources.

According to Yang Wu's own plan, he will remain on Earth to focus on cultivation until the next simulation begins.

Unless the Virtual Universe Company assigns a mission.

In the midst of tranquility, time passed year after year...

In the blink of an eye, it was already the year 2274 on Earth. Nearly ten years had passed since Yang Wu returned to the Ganwu Universe Country.

Virtual Universe, Yuxiang Mountain.

The sprawling palace complex shrouded in mist resembles a fairyland.

In the Taichu Region, at Wuka's manor.

Seven geniuses ranked in the top ten of the Genius Battle, namely Wuka, Qianshui, Jiang Mo, Rong Jun, Aichen, Long Yun, and Opattra, gathered here.

Just then, a lean young man dressed in dark red battle armor flew down from mid-air. He exuded a faint murderous Evil Qi and revealed a cold and bloodthirsty temperament.

"Luo Feng!"

"Hurry up and come over, we've been waiting for you!"

All the other geniuses sitting in the open-air square of the Wuka Manor looked up at the lean young man, and the extremely enthusiastic Wuka even shouted out.

"Here you are!" The lean young man, Luo Feng, smiled slightly.

Whoosh!

With a swift movement, Luo Feng traversed several kilometers and appeared next to the only empty seat.

"Luo Feng, today is the day the Qualification Battle begin. The company's higher-ups will probably be calling everyone together soon, and you're still so slow!"

Wuka, holding a large piece of roasted meat, complained as he ate, "You came so slowly, do you think my food isn't good enough?"

Within the small group of the Taichu Region, Wuka's members are the best due to their personalities, so everyone gathers at Wuka's manor.

"No, I have things to do in real life!" Luo Feng smiled as he sat down, casually picking up a glass of fruit wine in front of him and slowly sipping it.

Several years ago, Luo Feng, just like in the original novel, chose the 'Demon Mountain' mission in the extreme-level cultivation mission.

Knowing that this was Luo Feng's opportunity, Yang Wu did not warn him to be wary of ambushes.

Therefore, after being ambushed by the genius 'Molo' from the Primal Secret Region, Luo Feng entered the land of the Demon Sound Divine General Inheritance, just like in the original story, and obtained this important opportunity.

Currently, Luo Feng is clearly still in the process of receiving the inheritance, and his Soul Amplitude has reached nearly twenty times.

However, with the Qualification Battle imminent, Luo Feng only now separated a wisp of his consciousness to connect to the Virtual Universe.

Not far from Luo Feng, Aichen, the stunningly beautiful girl from the Mengluoyi Clan as "Light Sword," also held a glass of wine and joked with a smile, "Among the eight of us, Luo Feng is the one who feels the least pressure!"

"The rest of us will probably be eliminated and sent to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, but Luo Feng alone will definitely be able to stay in the Taichu Secret Realm!"

"Yes!"

"Yes, we haven't cultivated for long enough!"

"Besides Luo Feng, only Rong Jun has some chance of staying in the Taichu Secret Realm!"

The others at the table echoed this sentiment.

There are generally thirty fixed spots for Universe Level members of the Taichu Secret Realm.

However, in the previous Genius Battle, the Taichu Secret Realm added eight geniuses, including Wuka, so this year's Genius Battle needs to eliminate eight people.

Among the original thirty elders of the Taichu Secret Realm, even the weakest among them had already passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge.

Of the eight people including Ke Wuka, only Luo Feng passed the seventh level, Rong Jun passed the sixth level.

As for the others, they are all on the fourth or fifth floor.

In fact, with the talents of Wuka and the others, staying in the Taichu Secret Realm would not have been a problem at all.

However, their cultivation time was far too short. Even if those elders had slightly less talent, they had already cultivated for thousands of years, so their strength was naturally enough to overwhelm Wuka and the others.

Only geniuses with even greater talent, such as Luo Feng, Bolan, and Rong Jun, could bridge the gap of thousands of years of cultivation time in a very short period of time.

His strength far surpasses that of Wuka and the others.

"Luo Feng!" Wuka suddenly put down the roasted meat in his hand and looked at Luo Feng with great seriousness.

"Luo Feng!"

"Luo Feng!"

Rong Jun, Jiang Mo, and the others all looked at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng was slightly taken aback.

"Madman!" Wuka said with unusual seriousness, "You know that we newcomers are often ostracized by the older generation because we haven't been cultivating for very long!"

Luo Feng nodded.

He was well aware of these things. Not long after he passed the seventh level of the Heavenly Bridge, he received a challenge from two elders from the Taichu Secret Realm.

At that time Luo Feng went head-to-head with two opponents to avenge his friend Wuka, and utterly crushed them.

"We haven't cultivated for long enough. Even in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, there are many geniuses stronger than us!"

Wuka's voice was slightly agitated. "No matter how hard we fight in this Qualification Battle, there's absolutely no hope of staying in the Taichu Secret Realm!"

Everyone else fell silent as well.

Even Rong Jun, who had already passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge, wasn't very confident of staying, since he had only recently broken through and his own accumulation was far inferior to that of the older generation.

"Among us, only you, Luo Feng here!"

Rong Jun's voice was deep as he stared intently at Luo Feng: "Only you, only you can charge forward fiercely!"

"Although the gap between us and Yang Wu is widening, we still want to tell everyone that among the geniuses of our generation, besides Yang Wu, there are still unparalleled geniuses!"

Everyone else also looked at Luo Feng.

Over the years, because Yang Wu's talent was so extraordinary, they all became mere supporting characters.

But these people are all chosen ones, and naturally they are unwilling to become mere decorations on the path to becoming strong.

"Don't worry!" Luo Feng said softly.

Before receiving the Demon Sound Divine General Inheritance, Luo Feng wasn't very confident about entering the Primal Secret Region.

Having accepted the inheritance, Luo Feng felt somewhat more confident.

An hour later, the administrators of the Taichu Region gathered all 38 Universe Level members of the Taichu Region and announced the rules of the Qualification Battle.

Because this is the first time that Luo Feng and other Genius Battle have participated in Universe Level Qualification Battle, the Taichu Secret Realm will have a relatively large number of members eliminated this time.

Because Yang Wu has already broken through, one person will be eliminated from the Primal Secret Region, so the Taichu Secret Realm will eliminate 11 people.

Among them, the top three from the Taichu Secret Realm will compete with the bottom two from the Primal Secret Region for the sole Primal Secret Region spot.

The remaining 18 people from the Taichu Secret Realm will compete with the top ten geniuses from the Heaven and Heaven and Earth Secret Realm for the nine spots in the Taichu Secret Realm.

Because the competition was even fiercer than in previous Qualification Battle, many of the geniuses in the Taichu Secret Realm were somewhat nervous.

The geniuses who have passed the seventh level of the Heavenly Bridge want to rush into the Primal Secret Region, while the other geniuses also strive to stay in the Taichu Secret Realm.

"Look, that's Luo Feng! He's clearly a newcomer, yet he's already passed the seventh level of the Heavenly Bridge!"

"Yes, Luo Feng is also a prodigy. Although he is somewhat inferior to Prince Yang Wu, his talent may even surpass that of Molo from the Primal Secret Region!"

Who do you think is most likely to break into the Primal Secret Region this time?

"Is it the apothecary Yu Feng? I heard he's about to develop an extremely powerful potion!"

"I think it's 'Werewolf' Krofu. I saw him spar with Ninan last time, and he completely crushed him!"

The numerous geniuses conversed amongst themselves, awaiting the start of the battle.

In a secluded corner, two young men were having a conversation.

One of them had silver-white scales on his face, while the other had bronze skin and a single black horn on his forehead.

When Luo Feng stood up for Wuka, he sparred with these two in the arena.

"Ash!" The silver-scaled youth frowned. "Do you think Ninan and the others can defeat that newcomer Luo Feng? Even Sajin lost back then, and so much time has passed. Luo Feng's strength must be even greater now!"

Although the silver-scaled youth wasn't particularly talented, he was well aware that a true genius, once they surpass their opponent, can never be surpassed again.

"I don't know either!" Ash, the black-haired youth, replied absentmindedly, his eyes darting elsewhere. "Moyilin, whether there's any conflict between the two of us and Naro Luo Feng, even if he storms into the Primal Secret Region, it doesn't really concern us!"

"Ash, who are you looking at?" The silver-scaled youth noticed his friend's unusual expression and followed his gaze.

Before the one-horned youth stood the genius brother and sister, Jiang Mo and Qian Shui, from the 'Mysterious Land' of August Planet.

"Huh?" Moylin asked doubtfully, "Ash, what do you think the two newcomers are doing? They just broke through the fifth floor of Tongtian Bridge not long ago, and they don't pose any threat to us!"

"No!" the one-horned youth suddenly said seriously, "Moyilin, have you heard that His Highness Yang Wu is already with Qian Shui from August Planet?"

This was information the unicorn youth learned by chance from his teacher; he hadn't originally intended to tell anyone else.

But he and Moyilin had a friendship spanning thousands of years, and they had even saved each other's lives when they teamed up to complete cultivation missions.

Now that the crucial moment has arrived, he naturally won't hide anything from the other party any longer.

"What did you say?" Moyilin asked, looking shocked.

Yang Wu's talent was already extremely extraordinary, and after passing the Twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge ten years ago, his status became even more unattainable.

So much so that even geniuses like them would automatically add the title "Your Highness" when referring to Yang Wu.

"Keep your voice down!" Ash whispered. "I learned this from my teacher by chance!"

"Is the news true?" Moyilin asked in a low voice as well.

"Of course!" Ash said seriously, "As you know, my grandmaster is the King Jianhuang! Qian Shui was already his disciple when he was in Chaos City!"

"Just a few years ago, I heard my teacher say that King Jianhuang Emperor had become Prince Yang Wu's mentor, and Qian Shui was one of the reasons for that."

"As expected of His Highness Yang Wu!" Moyilin couldn't help but exclaim, "He actually managed to have King Jianhuang as his mentor! King Jianhuang is one of the grandmasters of the Nine Universes Chaos Stele within my Virtual Universe Company, and his strength is among the top of all the King-Level Immortal!"

"Of course! Prince Yang Wu broke through to the Domain Lord Level not long after passing the Twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge, so it's highly likely that he also passed through the Universe Level Original Tongtian Mountain."

Ash exclaimed, "With such an incredible cultivation speed, he's bound to become a high-ranking executive in the company in the future!"

"I know that!" Moyilin said softly, "You mean..."

The two had known each other for many years, so Moyilin quickly guessed Ash's intentions.

"That's right!" Ash smiled. "With our strength, there's absolutely no hope of us entering the Primal Secret Region!"

"But among the elders who have passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge, our strength is among the top. Even if we lose to Qian Shui, we will have no problem staying in the Taichu Secret Realm!"

"That's right!" Moyilin nodded in agreement. "In this way, we can say that we have formed a good relationship with His Highness Yang Wu!"

"Besides, since you, Ash, were able to get the information, others might know as well! If they hold back when they fight Qian Shui, while the two of us fight seriously, we might offend Prince Yang Wu!"

The two are truly close friends; even their thoughts are remarkably aligned.

In their view, being defeated by Qian Shui might not necessarily earn Yang Wu's gratitude, but defeating Qian Shui might offend Yang Wu.

Since neither of them was in danger of being kicked into the Taichu Secret Realm, they were naturally willing to form a good relationship with Yang Wu.

At the same time, this scene also occurred with other geniuses.

The relationship between Yang Wu and Qian Shui could not be hidden, so most well-informed geniuses knew something about it.

Before the Qualification Battle, Yang Wu had passed through the Twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge. Although they had not received news that Yang Wu had passed through the Primal Heavenly Mountain, they could guess that it was true.

Faced with a peerless genius who stands out in the entire history of humanity, they naturally had no desire to offend him.

For a time, apart from a few geniuses who were determined to break into the Primal Secret Region and a few people who were on the verge of being eliminated, everyone else planned to hold back when fighting Qian Shui.

Soon, the Qualification Battle for the Universe Level members of the Taichu Secret Realm officially began.