Hardcore Seclusion

Inside the spacious Time Chamber, Luo Zhiyuan was practicing a movement technique that combined the Laws of Light and Time: Time Flow.

Bulieni told him, "Your teacher created this especially for you. It's a Combat Secret Technique that has never circulated in the universe. Once you master it completely, you'll fully comprehend the three profound principles of the Law of Time, bringing you just one step away from becoming a Time Venerable."

"This movement technique is primarily based on the Law of Time, with the Law of Light as its support. It has three layers, and each layer is divided into four stages: beginner, intermediate, advanced, and perfect."

"When you use this technique to evade, you can instantly switch places between your true body and your position along the flow of time. When using it to support an attack, you can summon the version of yourself from the flow of time to attack alongside your true body."

Luo Zhiyuan found it somewhat familiar. This technique seemed similar in some ways to Godly Evasion, which he had learned. Wouldn't that make it easier for him to get started?

But Bulieni wasn't so optimistic. He explained:

"When you use Godly Evasion, it creates several afterimages, and your true body moves between them at will. This achieves the same result as Time Flow when evading, but it's different when supporting an attack."

"Godly Evasion uses afterimages to create the illusion of attacking. In reality, only your true body can attack. Your movements are simply so fast that it looks as though the afterimages can attack too."

"Time Flow, on the other hand, summons a version of you that truly exists along the flow of time, allowing it to attack alongside your true body. That's the biggest difference, and it relies primarily on the Law of Time."

"Although this technique gets progressively harder to master, the requirements for even beginning are quite high. You need to reach a certain level of comprehension of the Law of Time. Your understanding has only just reached the beginner stage, so you still have a ways to go before you can achieve the beginner level of the first layer."

The Law of Time was one of the two highest laws, and much harder to comprehend than the Law of Light. Generally, people began with the lower laws, improving their understanding of them before studying the Law of Time, which made it relatively easier to grasp.

But Luo Zhiyuan didn't need to do that. He already possessed an Innate Secret Technique related to the Law of Time: Flowing Time.

Through frequently using Flowing Time, his body had developed a kind of instinctive response. That was what had allowed him to cross the threshold of the Law of Time.

So Bulieni had him use Flowing Time over and over, letting his body memorize and comprehend the feedback the Law of Time left behind.

To deepen that feedback, Bulieni even had him summon his Shadow Race Clone, making it exist alongside his true body so he could compare the two and feel time's distortion.

Bulieni didn't have Luo Zhiyuan immediately increase the speed of Flowing Time by several times. Instead, he had him raise it gradually. At first, neither body reacted much. But when he reached triple speed, his head began to throb, and he could barely make out the version of himself beside him.

Bulieni shouted from within Luo Zhiyuan's Consciousness Ocean, "This is what it feels like when different rates of time cause time to become distorted. The physical discomfort is nothing. Hurry and carefully experience the most direct manifestation of the Law of Time!"

Through gritted teeth, Luo Zhiyuan's face turned pale, and his body began to sway involuntarily. He struggled through the discomfort and tried to comprehend the Law of Time, until he fell to the ground, his mind going blank as he stopped using Flowing Time.

"Kid Luo, how was it? Did you feel anything unusual?"

Luo Zhiyuan shook his head and replied weakly, "No! Apart from an awful headache, I didn't feel anything."

"It's fine. This is normal. I didn't expect you to gain anything the first time. Rest for a bit, then we'll continue once your body has adjusted!"

And so Luo Zhiyuan kept using Flowing Time, getting dizzy and collapsing, then recovering and repeating the process over and over, until his body couldn't take it anymore and he fell asleep on the floor.

Bulieni silently kept track of the time. Once Luo Zhiyuan had more or less recovered, he woke him again and continued the same punishing training.

The door to the Time Chamber opened, and Luo Zhiyuan came out, rubbing his stomach as he muttered, "I've been eating all kinds of energy food for so long that I've almost forgotten what good food tastes like. At last, I finally got a break."

"Bulieni, how long have we been training in the Time Chamber?"

Bulieni gave a few snickers from within his Consciousness Ocean before asking, "Take a guess."

"It felt like I spent several years in the Time Chamber. Has a week passed in the real world?"

"Hahaha! You spent almost three years in the Time Chamber, but only one day has passed in the real world. Surprised? Didn't see that coming, did you?"

Luo Zhiyuan stopped in his tracks, eyes wide.

"I—I spent several years in there, and only one day passed outside? Bulieni, you're not messing with me, are you?"

"Please! Who's messing with you? I told you ages ago that this Time Chamber has a thousandfold time rate. Couldn't you work it out yourself?"

Uh... One day equals a thousand days?!

That added up. Almost three years really had passed.

Luo Zhiyuan hurried back to his bedroom and looked in the mirror. He'd grown quite a bit taller; he was now about the height of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy from Earth.

After staring at himself in the mirror for a moment, Luo Zhiyuan's expression changed. He quickly logged into the Virtual Universe with an anonymous account and sent a video call invitation to the Luo Family.

The call connected quickly. His grandparents appeared on screen. They smiled at first, but their expressions froze immediately.

"Uh... Little Zhiyuan? Is that you? Why do you look, well, so much older?"

Luo Zhiyuan grimaced. "Grandpa, Grandma, you're not mistaken. It's me, Zhiyuan."

"It really is Zhiyuan! How did you suddenly get so much older? And let me see... you've grown taller, too. You didn't look like this the last time we saw you!"

Luo Zhiyuan was at a loss, and it wasn't easy to explain. "Well, I'm using a kind of Evolution Fluid to train right now. It can increase my training speed, but the side effect is that my body develops rapidly too."

"I only just found out about this, so I got in touch with you right away. I have to keep training like this, and I was afraid you might not recognize me later."

"By the way, where's Mom? I don't see her."

The two elders sighed. "Your mother went to work at the company. It's just the two of us at home now. Oh, we miss you so much, Little Zhiyuan. You need to train hard and come back to visit us soon."

Afraid they'd keep going, Luo Zhiyuan hurriedly said, "All right, Grandpa, Grandma. I'll train hard and get back to it right away. Remember to tell Mom and Dad about how I've changed, so they don't fail to recognize me later. I have to go. Talk to you next time. Goodbye, Grandpa and Grandma."

After ending the video call, Luo Zhiyuan sighed and logged out of the Virtual Universe.

"Bulieni, did you do that on purpose? You didn't even tell me my body would grow. Were you waiting to see me get scared?"

Bulieni lowered his voice. "Uh... Would you believe me if I said I didn't think of it? I've never experienced growing up before. I really didn't do it on purpose..."

That was true. Bulieni was an Intelligent Life. After obtaining the Evolution Heart, he'd become an Immortal in the time it took to drink a cup of wine. How would he know anything about growing up? Luo Zhiyuan really had blamed him unfairly.

"Fine, I believe you. But I think another day of training will give me an adult's build, and after that, I probably won't change much. I just don't know if my parents will be able to accept their son growing up overnight."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Hurry to the Virtual Universe's Killing Field. The training plan I designed for you requires the Killing Field to help with your training."

"No way. I need to eat something first, then I'll train. Energy food has ruined my taste buds!"

Luo Zhiyuan sent his guards to buy some energy-rich monster meat, then grilled some himself. After feasting, he rubbed his belly and lounged comfortably, taking a moment to recover before logging into the Virtual Universe with his new identity.

The Killing Field in the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom wasn't much different from the one in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, aside from having more people and being larger. Even the settings were the same.

After completing the required procedures, Luo Zhiyuan went straight into his Killing Space.

The Killing Space was a vast, empty plain, with surroundings almost identical to those in the Time Chamber.

Bulieni hovered off to one side and gave Luo Zhiyuan a sinister grin. "Heh heh, kid Luo, it's time to see how much you've accomplished in your day of training. Get ready."

Luo Zhiyuan grinned confidently. "Bring it on!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a hundred virtual warriors at the eighth level of the Stellar Level appeared across the plain. Half were martial artists and half were Controllers, and they immediately attacked Luo Zhiyuan.

Luo Zhiyuan rode his Lightning Shuttle, activating its first combat form. A one-meter-long Light Shuttle took shape before him. After it had moved forward for a short distance, another Luo Zhiyuan appeared behind him, also riding a Lightning Shuttle and charging at the virtual warriors alongside him.

The two Luo Zhiyuans darted back and forth among the hundred virtual warriors, dodging and weaving. They controlled the one-meter-long Light Shuttles, which streaked out like lasers, constantly ricocheting in new directions. In just a few moments, they had slain all one hundred virtual warriors at their level!

"Excellent! Very well done!" Bulieni shouted happily.

"In less than three years, you've mastered the beginner stage of the first layer of Time Flow. I'm truly delighted."

"Although you had the advantage of an extraordinary Innate Secret Technique, you could never have achieved this so quickly without tremendous willpower!"

"Kid Luo, you have talent, willpower, and the Inheritance Secret Technique your teacher gave you. You're already on your own path to becoming a true powerhouse."

"Come on. Next, I'll set up opponents to target the problems you've encountered with this secret technique. Once you can defeat a hundred opponents, you'll have mastered the intermediate stage of Time Flow."

Luo Zhiyuan nodded silently, quite pleased with the results of his "day" of training. He was still at the eighth level of the Stellar Level, but training under high gravity had greatly improved his physical abilities across the board.

A comparison made it clear: Luo Zhiyuan was already much stronger than Luo Feng had been when he first entered the Genius Tournament in the original story. At the time, Luo Feng had been a seventh-level Stellar Level Spirit Reader, with a Mental Power Amplitude of 58, a Fifth-Level Domain, and only just beginning to grasp the Origin Law of Metal.

Luo Zhiyuan, on the other hand, now had a Body Force of 50 and a Mental Power Amplitude of 60. His understanding of the Law of Light and the Law of Time had improved greatly, and his Light Domain had even advanced directly to the ninth level!

His enormous progress was what had enabled him to master the beginner stage of the first layer of Time Flow. It showed just how demanding the technique was.

So Luo Zhiyuan eagerly continued his training and battles.