The Venerable One's Gift

Yu Xiang Mountain is the gathering place for core members below the undying level.

Thunder Island, however, is the gathering place for all the undying of the Virtual Universe Company, representing the concentration of supreme power.

Standing on a steep crag, the Ape-man Elder pointed into the distance at an unimaginably massive island amidst the clouds, surrounded by coiling snakes of lightning: "Look, that is Thunder Island, also known as the 'Undying Island'. It is a hundred, even a thousand times larger than Yu Xiang Mountain. All the undying of the Virtual Universe Company generally reside there. If Yu Xiang Mountain is the gathering place for core members 'below the undying' and a training ground for geniuses, then Thunder Island is the true gathering place for the strong, the gathering place for the undying."

"I see." Lu Yan'an looked at the Thunder Island hidden in the clouds and nodded slightly.

That place could be considered a holy land for the entire human race of the universe.

"Your Highness, I will take you to the Original District. Of course, I can only take you to the outside of it," Lei Xiao said with a smile. "As for the benefits of the Original District, you will understand once you are assigned your residence."

Although he already understood the specific situation from the original story, Lu Yan'an was still filled with anticipation. After all, this was the legendary Original Secret Realm!

Walking along a beautiful and secluded bluestone path, Lu Yan'an soon saw a magnificent stone gate, carved entirely from ancient gray rock, which was truly breathtaking.

"Your Highness Lu Yan'an." An elder with white hair and a white beard, whose presence made the surrounding space seem brighter and warmer, as if he were a sun, said, "I am Aitor, the manager of miscellaneous affairs for the Original District. Welcome to the Original District; you are now a member of the Original Secret Realm."

"Hello!" Lu Yan'an greeted him with a smile.

"Please follow me inside, Your Highness!" Aitor's snow-white hair and beard fluttered in the wind, giving him the appearance of an immortal sage.

Lu Yan'an followed Aitor, flying along the way, and felt powerful fluctuations of laws emanating from somewhere below from time to time.

"This is your guard army," Aitor said with a smile. "Every Highness in the Original Secret Realm is equipped with a guard army!"

"This guard army will be led by an undying military lord, and every Highness of the Original Secret Realm can choose one undying god to serve as their long-term teacher, residing within their own manor."

"That is why you will often feel the law fluctuations of undying gods in the Original District. You need not be surprised by this!"

Lu Yan'an listened silently and nodded in agreement.

The two flew through the air.

"Your Highness Lu Yan'an, your manor is number 8," Aitor said, pointing to the vast estate.

The two landed at the main entrance of the manor. In front of this deep and towering estate, thousands of people were gathered in neat formations! Leading them was an undying god clad in cyan armor. He had a slender build and a gentle temperament, and he did not exude the cold, distant aura typical of undying powerhouses.

"Your Highness!" The undying god in the cyan armor bowed slightly.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" The numerous guard soldiers in the formation behind the undying god knelt on one knee to show their respect, while all the servants behind them prostrated themselves on the ground.

"Your Highness, this is the leader of your guard army! You may address him as Mr. Hisoka," Aitor said with a smile, introducing him to Lu Yan'an.

"Your Highness may simply call me Hisoka!" the undying god Hisoka replied, his words filled with humility.

"Mr. Hisoka, I will have to trouble you in the future!" Lu Yan'an replied with a smile. He did not get carried away; his thousand-year experience in the illusion trials had taught him a profound lesson—before one has the strength, maintaining a low profile is the duty of every genius!

"This is my duty." Upon hearing Lu Yan'an's address, Hisoka's expression did not change at all; he simply bowed again in response.

"Your Highness, Mr. Hisoka is the leader of your guard army and also the steward of this manor. If you have any matters, just ask him. I shall take my leave now!" Aitor said, bidding farewell.

Without waiting for Lu Yan's response, he smiled, transformed into a beam of light, and vanished instantly.

On the other side, Hisoka began to show Lu Yan'an around the private manor...

After familiarizing himself with his new living environment, Lu Yan'an entered the villa within his manor to rest.

Just as he was preparing to see how dazzling the legendary treasure vault of the Virtual Universe Company was, he received a notification email from the Virtual Universe Company.

"Lu Yan'an:

Congratulations on becoming an official member of the Original Secret Realm. You will now receive a complimentary gift of 100,000 points, as well as an additional 100,000 points specially awarded by Venerable Zhouguang. You may use these 200,000 points to purchase any item in the treasure vault list, provided you have sufficient points.

It is recommended that you purchase the secret techniques required for your cultivation. You have three years during your journey, and this time is best spent practicing secret techniques.

Also!

A reminder: there is no need to waste time cultivating origin energy or spiritual force.

From the first to the ninth level of the Star Level, it is a matter of quantitative accumulation. The transition from the ninth level of the Star Level to the first level of the Universe Level is a leap in life genes.

From the first to the ninth level of the Universe Level, the Domain Lord level, and the Sector Lord level, all belong to quantitative accumulation!

The company can spend incredibly precious resources to improve and strengthen the bodies of every core member for free, increasing their origin energy and spiritual force, allowing them to rise from the first to the ninth level in a short time and reach a state of saturation.

As for the 'leap in life genes', the qualitative breakthrough, every core member must strive to achieve it themselves.

The company will not let core members waste time on energy accumulation. All core members should save their time to improve their combat power, to comprehend origin laws, and to learn secret techniques!

Virtual Universe Company"

"Is this the Virtual Universe Company? They are truly wealthy and generous!" Lu Yan'an sighed. When he read the original story in the past, he didn't think anything was wrong, but only now did he truly realize how extravagant the Virtual Universe Company was! The accumulation of energy is not an easy task for any life in the universe. For example:

The treasure Lu Yan'an used when breaking through to the Star Level—the Azure Fruit—the value of the Azure Fruit used for the accumulation from the Planetary Level to the Star Level alone was worth more than a dozen ownerless life planets!

And that was just for the accumulation from the Planetary Level to the Star Level. If it were a higher realm, the resources he would consume would increase exponentially! Now that the Virtual Universe Company was helping him complete this quantitative accumulation, it was equivalent to saving him countless resources.

Furthermore, Lu Yan'an did not expect that a "Venerable Zhouguang" had specially awarded him an extra 100,000 points! This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for him. The importance of points in the early stages could be seen from how City Lord Luo fell into a predicament after being tricked by Babata into spending all his points; the margin for error provided by points was immense.

"I wonder who this Venerable Zhouguang is?" Lu Yan'an thought with some confusion, but the face of Venerable Plain Robe slowly emerged in his mind. "The only Venerable I have had any interaction with so far is the one who presided over the Genius Tournament, right?" he guessed.

"Never mind, no point in overthinking it. There should be more interactions in the future!" Lu Yan'an shook his head and clicked on the Virtual Universe Company's treasure vault.

The treasure vault opened, and eight major categories immediately appeared on the screen: "Secret Techniques," "Weapons," "Rare Treasures," "Technological Weapons," "Materials," "Tools," "Biological," and "Other Special Items."

Under each major category floated many subcategories; for instance, under the biological category floated "plant life," "metallic life," "beast taming," and so on.

It was all-encompassing, with nothing too strange to be found.

Lu Yan'an was dazzled by the sight and had to seek help from Lord Shen: "Lord Shen, do you have any suggestions regarding the secret techniques I should use for my future law cultivation?"

Lord Shen was not a scammer like Babata; having traversed the universe for many years, it possessed a wealth of experience sufficient to provide Lu Yan'an with advice.

Thinking back to those days, City Lord Luo, with the "enthusiastic" help of Babata, used the entire 10,000 points gifted to new members of the Primordial Secret Realm to purchase a complete set of the Shadow Secret Manual.

Yes, you read that right, the Shadow Secret Manual—a set of foundational cultivation techniques for martial artists! Then, he used the remaining 180 points to buy a force weapon, life fruits, and Lanke Fruit.

From this small detail, one can see just how much of an impact an unreliable intelligent assistant can have on its master!

Compared to Babata, Lord Shen could truly be called a "little angel"!