Choice

Inside the Killing Space...

Lu Yan'an sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by "corpses" strewn about in disarray. Throughout the surrounding space, elements of his domain were scattered. It was not hard to see that a fierce battle had just taken place here!

Seemingly exhausted, Lu Yan'an panted heavily, his forehead covered in a dense layer of sweat.

"You kid have made significant progress! To reach this level in less than a year—it's not a waste of your talent after all!" The voice of Lord Shen emanated from the light brain watch on Lu Yan'an's wrist, sounding quite satisfied.

In truth, Lord Shen had never held Lu Yan'an's initial talent or personality in high regard. As an Immortal powerhouse who had roamed the universe, it had seen far too many geniuses in the past. To look no further, even the first person to pass the inheritance trial, Feng Yunruo, possessed aptitude far superior to Lu Yan'an's. Having seen the best, it was inevitable that it would feel a sense of disappointment when faced with someone merely passable.

Furthermore, back on Yuan Planet, Lord Shen had perceived Lu Yan'an as having the petty, narrow-minded personality of a commoner. Such a character was too isolated, full of hidden agendas, and ill-suited for joining any organization to develop. Originally, Lord Shen had only intended to train him to the point of basic self-preservation before finding an excuse to send him away.

Mediocre talent, severe character flaws, and little hope for future achievement. This was Lord Shen's first impression of Lu Yan'an, and the first conclusion it had drawn. It wasn't until a year ago, when Lu Yan'an first stepped into the Killing Space and officially entered the first stage of mental cultivation—Clear Heart Seeing Nature—that Lord Shen began to change its opinion of him.

Today, even someone as strict as Lord Shen could not help but offer praise! He was no longer self-centered, truly listened to the advice of others, and most importantly, had begun to build his foundation in a truly down-to-earth manner!

"You've done very well this year. At this rate, it won't be long before you can truly master the secret technique 'Time Realm'..." Lord Shen's voice chattered on the side. Lu Yan'an simply listened, his thoughts drifting back to a year ago...

One year ago.

Having just broken through to the Clear Heart Seeing Nature state of mind, Lu Yan'an asked with a serious expression: "Lord Shen, if I want to truly catch up to my senior brother, how should I choose my secret techniques?"

Lord Shen had never seen Lu Yan'an like this. This was the first time he had asked about the gap between himself and Feng Yunruo without trying to escape the reality, and the first time he had begun to face that gap head-on!

"Since you've asked, I will tell you about your senior brother's progress before he entered the universe! You can ponder it yourself."

Lord Shen paused as if organizing its words, and after a while, it spoke slowly:

"When Feng Yunruo was undergoing the 'Named Disciple Inheritance Assessment', it took him only three years to comprehend his domain, which was fire-attributed. Tsk, it's hard to imagine that someone as gentle as him would have a special ability like the fire-attributed 'Blazing Fire God'." Perhaps fearing that Lu Yan'an didn't know what a 'Blazing Fire God' was, Lord Shen took the time to explain it to him.

"The Blazing Fire God is the top-tier ability among fire-type special abilities in terms of both attack and explosive power. Those who awaken this ability upon breakthrough are essentially the ceiling of combat power among their peers before reaching the World Lord level. Even after being eroded by domains and laws, its attack power remains terrifyingly high!"

"Relying on the 'Blazing Fire God', Feng Yunruo encountered almost no obstacles when unifying the entire Yuan Planet. And the most terrifying part is that when he had arranged everything and was about to enter the universe, he actually comprehended a trace of the Origin Law of Fire!"

Lord Shen's voice trembled slightly! Clearly, Feng Yunruo's talent had completely exceeded its imagination. Since it had broken through to become an Immortal, it had never heard of anyone comprehending a law at the Planetary Level, except for Feng Yunruo! Even a secondary domain was rarely seen at the Planetary Level. And the most absurd part was that Yuan Planet natives were born with only ninth-grade bloodlines! It was impossible to imagine how brilliant Feng Yunruo's future would be once he contacted the universe and raised his bloodline level!

Origin Laws were inherently transcendent; generally, one would only begin to touch upon them at the World Lord level, yet Feng Yunruo had comprehended a trace of an Origin Law while still at the Planetary Level. Even City Lord Luo from the original records had only sensed the laws at the Star Level after possessing a Golden Horned Beast. Others, even geniuses like Hong who could comprehend a domain at the Planetary Level without inheritance, were still far from the path of laws at the Star Level! This was enough to show just how strong Feng Yunruo's talent was—it was 'Kedi'-level talent!

However, Lu Yan'an was not discouraged by Feng Yunruo's talent. After hearing Lord Shen's words, he remained silent for a moment. After a long while, he raised his head, his eyes radiating a fierce light—a courage to challenge the strong.

"So, how do I catch up?"

Hearing Lu Yan'an's retort, Lord Shen was somewhat surprised. Where did this kid get such courage? But it didn't play coy and spoke directly:

"You are a light-attributed 'Dark Radiance Body', a natural favorite of the 'Origin Law of Light'. Therefore, I recommend a basic secret technique called 'Sui Guang'. Depending on your level of entry into the Origin Law of Light, you can reach different stages. If you can cultivate it to the Great Perfection, the path to Immortality will be right before your eyes! However..."

Lord Shen seemed to hesitate, wondering whether it should say what came next.

"However, what?" Lu Yan'an sensed its reservations and asked candidly.

Hearing Lu Yan'an's follow-up, Lord Shen cast aside its only remaining hesitation.

"If we are talking about the secret technique most suitable for you, it is undoubtedly 'Sui Guang', but if you want to use it to catch up to Feng Yunruo, you are still far off!" It stated the facts without mercy.

"Then what should I do?" Lu Yan'an scratched his head in distress; it was clear that he was also troubled by this fact.

"If you want to catch up to him, there is only one way—comprehend a higher-order Origin Law!" Lord Shen stated its view, then suggested: "If you truly choose this path, I suggest you comprehend the higher-order law of light—the Law of Time! The Origin Laws of wind, light, and thunder are all lower-order laws of the Law of Time; comprehending these three will be beneficial to your comprehension of the Law of Time!"

"I have another secret technique here that explains the essence of combining the Origin Law of Light with the Origin Law of Time, but its intensity and difficulty are far beyond the basic secret technique 'Sui Guang'! So you need to make a choice now: do you take the path most suitable for you, or the strongest path?" As soon as it finished speaking, Lord Shen spread its hands, indicating that it would not interfere.

What path to take? Lu Yan'an didn't think twice. Since he had arrived in such a magnificent world, how could he be content with being a mediocre person? Moreover, for Lu Yan'an, relying on the Law of Light to achieve Immortality might not be difficult, but if he could not comprehend a higher-order law before becoming an Immortal, he would never be able to step into the realm of a Universe Venerable in his entire life.

Simply choosing to comprehend the Law of Light might grant him powerful combat strength in the short term, but that would be at the expense of his future potential! Before becoming an Immortal, those who have not comprehended a higher-order law essentially have no future. Have you not seen the Immortals in the outer-territory battlefields falling one after another?

Thinking this far, Lu Yan'an no longer hesitated and said to Lord Shen with great determination: "Actually, there's no room for choice, is there? If you wanted me to choose the former, you wouldn't have explained so much about the latter!" Lord Shen remained silent, not picking up the thread.

Then Lu Yan'an smiled and continued: "I haven't reached the pinnacle of the universe, nor have I seen the scenery from the heights; how could I choose to lie flat at the starting line? We have a saying on Yuan Planet: 'Choice is more important than effort.' But it is I who make the choice, and it is I who must put in the effort. So, I have made my choice!"

After a pause, Lu Yan'an spoke again: "I choose to work hard! I know this path will be incredibly difficult, but if I don't try, I will truly regret it for the rest of my life! Failure is not terrible; what is truly terrible is not even having the courage to face failure!"

At this moment, Lu Yan'an was glowing!