Apprenticeship

The next day, Luo Zhiyuan learned in the Virtual Universe that the Luo Family had returned to Earth. The World Ring he had been waiting seven days for had finally arrived, too.

A dark-gold, teardrop-shaped spacecraft landed directly on the roof of the Universe First Bank branch on Biyan Planet. The branch manager had personally waited there since early morning for the delivery crew. Since this was a service for a five-star client, he had to escort them to the client's reception room before he could leave.

The spacecraft's hatch opened, and three stern-faced figures in high-grade Force Battle Suits stepped out. As soon as they did, a faint pressure seemed to settle over the surrounding area, as though they had it under their control.

Cold sweat broke out on the branch manager's forehead. Looking at the different Law Secret Pattern marks between the three men's brows, he felt his legs go weak. He cried out inwardly, Good heavens, they're World Lords! And powerful World Lords acknowledged by the Origin Law! Three of them have come at once... They really are taking this job seriously!

Seeing the branch manager standing there dazed, one of the three World Lords said with displeasure, "Don't just stand there. Hurry up and take us to our esteemed client. If the client is displeased, even wiping out this planet won't be enough to make amends!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Please follow me, honored sirs. The client is downstairs. We'll be there in a moment." Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, the branch manager led the three World Lords off at a brisk trot.

The branch manager didn't think the World Lord had been joking. The client was a five-star account holder! Even the lowest-ranking five-star account holders were powerful Immortal Experts. If such an expert—or one of their descendants—was displeased, the consequences were beyond anything the bank could handle.

After escorting the three World Lords to the door of Luo Zhiyuan's reception room and indicating that the client was inside, the branch manager left the top floor.

The three World Lords exchanged glances, smiling warmly. They then contacted the reception room's robot to say the delivery had arrived and ask the client to accept it.

Luo Zhiyuan was still deepening his training in the Combat Secret Technique for the Lightning Shuttle inside the Killing Space. Only when the robot informed him that the ring had arrived did he stop practicing and open the reception room door.

The three World Lords entered with smiles. Seeing that the person receiving the delivery was a young man at Planetary Level, they reined in all their pressure and showed no other reaction. Still smiling, one of them said, "Esteemed client, your item handover can now proceed. Please verify your identity once more. We can hand over the item once the verification is complete."

Luo Zhiyuan had little experience and didn't recognize the three as World Lords. Bulieni, however, had seen far too many powerful figures to care about these three "young fellows" at World Lord Level. To him, anyone below Universe Venerable level could be called a young fellow!

So Luo Zhiyuan simply entered the password to verify his identity. One of the three World Lords then removed a special storage device from his wrist and handed it to Luo Zhiyuan with a smile. "Esteemed client, the item you requested is inside this specially made storage device.

"Ever since this device was collected from the Ganwu Universe Kingdom branch, the Virtual Universe System has monitored it continuously. We haven't opened it. Please inspect the item. If everything is in order, our delivery will be complete."

Luo Zhiyuan took it and inspected it with his Spiritual Force. It was a tiny storage space, containing nothing but a lone World Ring. A familiar secret-technique fluctuation emanated from the ring.

Luo Zhiyuan immediately recognized it as the secret-technique seal left by the Light Beast God. It had to be the right one.

Although Luo Zhiyuan had no idea what was inside the ring, the special seal had a very distinct signature. To be safe, he checked with Bulieni, who said, "That's right, it's the World Ring. Only Old Mystic could create a fluctuation like that. No one else could fake it."

Luo Zhiyuan immediately repeated the method he had used to unseal the previous World Ring. Sure enough, he quickly established ownership of this one, too.

After putting the ring away, he said politely to the three World Lords, "All done. Everything checks out, and I've received the item. Thank you for your effort."

Only then did the three World Lords smile and say, "Very well. Since you've confirmed that everything is in order, we'll take our leave. Thank you for choosing Universe First Bank. It was our pleasure to serve you. Goodbye." They turned and left the reception room.

The three World Lords returned directly to their teardrop-shaped spacecraft. Only once they were aboard did they finally relax. They had just received the task-completed notification, and the Virtual Universe System had stopped monitoring them.

The three exchanged glances and smiled wryly. Serving a five-star client was a highly coveted assignment within their bank, since they might receive guidance from a powerful Immortal Expert, which could increase their chances of reaching Immortal Level.

They had gone to great lengths to secure this assignment, only to find that the client was a young man at Planetary Level. They could only blame their bad luck. Who knew how long it would be before they got another chance to serve a five-star client?

Now that he had the ring, Luo Zhiyuan naturally wanted to know what treasures were inside and whether they could help him grow stronger quickly. So he asked Bulieni to take a look.

Bulieni immediately brought him into the World Ring. It was just as vast as the previous ring, a world one hundred million kilometers long, wide, and high.

But even after entering, Luo Zhiyuan still had no idea what was in there. He asked in confusion, "Bulieni, why did you bring me inside? I don't know what Senior Chenxi left here. I'm still just an ignorant Earth native."

Bulieni spoke urgently within Luo Zhiyuan's consciousness. "Kid, there's a reason I brought you in. I found something Old Mystic left behind, but it has one of his unique seals on it."

"Quickly, break the seal and take a look. It might be something important. He never put his unique seal on anything else."

Luo Zhiyuan was a little surprised. The ring had already been sealed with a secret technique once, so why was there another item that needed unsealing? He'd find out once he opened it.

It was a milky-white orb of light. Luo Zhiyuan quickly broke the seal, and the orb suddenly expanded, transforming into a figure nearly one hundred thousand kilometers tall—the Light Beast God!

Luo Zhiyuan stared at the enormous figure, dumbstruck. Compared to it, he was less than an ant. This might have been the Light Beast God's true size. The figure radiated no pressure, but its immense stature alone filled Luo Zhiyuan with overwhelming psychological pressure.

Fortunately, Luo Zhiyuan had reached the second state of mind cultivation, where yin and yang were in harmony. The invisible pressure might have made an ordinary person unable to stand, but he could bear it.

The Light Beast God lowered his head toward Luo Zhiyuan. A booming voice echoed through the ring's space. "Mysterious little friend who arrived here by an accident of fate, this is our first meeting. Of course, you've already seen me once, but that was another one of my Spiritual Imprints. This Spiritual Imprint is meeting you for the first time."

Bulieni murmured to himself inside Luo Zhiyuan's consciousness, "Old Mystic, it's been so many years. I never thought that when I saw you again, you'd already been dead for countless eras. I wonder how many of the people we knew from our time are still alive. You really did die in style..."

Listening to Bulieni's dejected muttering, Luo Zhiyuan didn't know how to comfort him.

The Light Beast God continued, "To be honest, I never expected to leave another Spiritual Imprint. But in the final era before my life came to an end, I foresaw glimpses of your future.

"Heh, I never thought you'd grow to such heights, or that I'd be your first mentor on that journey.

"So I knew I had to prepare some things for you. The items I left behind last time alone wouldn't be enough to help you reach that level smoothly and quickly.

"I spent nearly an era making preparations. I deposited some money in a bank belonging to your human race and prepared some essential cultivation resources for you: Evolution Fluid to increase your body's energy, and some Special Lifeforms to help you grow.

"This time, I also made a deal with that old fellow Zuoshanke, trading him a mysterious treasure I found long ago—the Heaven Soul Crystal.

"The Heaven Soul Crystal is incredibly wondrous. It can defy the Primal Universe's operation rules once. As far as I know, there's only one in the entire universe, and the rules of the universe itself have concealed its origin and how it came to be.

"So I had him forge a weapon suited to you and got him to make a promise. If you ever find yourself in trouble you can't solve, take the weapon he forged and seek him out. Unless the problem is something like asking him to kill the strongest being in the universe, he'll help you resolve it.

"As for the weapon suited to you, once you reach World Lord Level, you can try to claim it as your own. It'll be enough to use until you reach Universe Venerable level. For anything stronger, you'll have to rely on your own opportunities."

Luo Zhiyuan was astonished and deeply moved. He was amazed that the Heaven Soul Crystal Zuoshanke had used to create the Nine Calamity Manual had come from the Light Beast God. There might well be only one in the entire universe. And he was moved by everything the Light Beast God had done for a young man he had never even met. It was impossible not to be touched.

The Light Beast God continued, "Oh, right. My old friend Bulieni, I know you can hear me. I'm sorry I kept you sealed for so long. From now on, you won't have to worry about me sealing you away again.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't hear you speak anymore after that. From now on, take my place and teach this young friend. You've been with me for so long, after all. You've seen plenty.

"But Bulieni, my old friend, you're not yet qualified to be this kid's first mentor. You started from too high a level, so you don't know how to teach him to rise from the lowest levels to Immortal.

"So I've prepared some materials for you, stored in this Auxiliary Optical Computer. Once you absorb them, you'll be a theoretically qualified teacher. This Auxiliary Optical Computer also contains descriptions of the items I prepared in this ring. Combine those with the contents of the previous ring and come up with a training plan.

"Well, I've rambled on long enough. It's time to go. This time, I'm truly leaving for good. I'm going to keep a fated appointment that will end in my death. I never thought so many old fellows would be involved. I'll give them memories they'll never forget! Hahahaha!"

The Light Beast God's massive figure gradually faded amid his hearty laughter. An Auxiliary Optical Computer appeared where he had stood.

Bulieni shouted loudly within Luo Zhiyuan's consciousness, "Old Mystic, you're dead and you're still saddling me with work! You kept me sealed for so long, too. I hate you! If you want me not to hold it against you, then make those bastards pay! Don't let them get away with it!"

Luo Zhiyuan could clearly hear the grief Bulieni was holding back, but he had no words of comfort. He simply faced the Auxiliary Optical Computer and performed the solemn threefold rite of kneeling and kowtowing. Then he said gravely, "Senior Chenxi, from this day forward, I, Luo Zhiyuan, will honor you as my teacher. If one day I become strong enough, I'll find those who took part back then and avenge you, my teacher."