Jiuyuan looked at Jiang Yao and advised him, "If you want a time secret technique inheritance, I do have one here. It belonged to a Peak World Lord who cultivated the Origin Law of Wind. Before he died, he left behind an inheritance of time secret techniques.
"But the Origin Law he earned recognition from was the Law of Wind, not the Law of Time. He had simply gained relatively deep insight into the Law of Time. In fact, if he'd truly cultivated the Law of Time to the point of earning recognition from its Origin Law, he wouldn't have died. He would have become a powerful Immortal God long ago.
"Jiang Yao, there are only two possibilities for someone to create the time secret techniques you're asking for—techniques based on the Origin Law of Time.
"One is to cultivate the Law of Time as a World Lord and earn recognition from the Origin Law of Time. But World Lords have a limited lifespan, and a thousand eras aren't enough time to gain insight into an upper law. It could even interrupt their chances of becoming immortal.
"That's why, although there are plenty of Peak World Lords, those who earn recognition from the Origin Law of Space are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Those who earn recognition from the Origin Law of Time are even rarer. Most of these World Lords were cultivated by the major factions.
"The second possibility is to become an Immortal God, then gain enough insight into the Law of Time to earn recognition from the Universe Origin Law.
"But once you become immortal, your soul completely merges with your divine body and becomes a part of it. Your divine body is made up of Immortal Divine Power, so when you try to comprehend other laws, they strongly repel you. The difficulty skyrockets by tens of thousands, even millions, of times.
"Even comprehending the upper law corresponding to the lower law you cultivated will bring resistance, making it far harder than it was during the World Lord stage.
"Under these conditions, anyone who cultivates the Law of Time to the point of earning recognition from its Origin Law is already a powerful Immortal God. How could you easily obtain their insights or secret technique inheritances?"
Although Jiang Yao had expected this, he was still somewhat disappointed.
The gap between upper and lower laws was indeed enormous. He remembered that Hong's first teacher, Luo, had been a Peak World Lord who earned recognition from the Origin Law of Light. But because he had gained relatively deep insight into the Law of Time, he was known as the "Time World Lord."
Luo Feng's teacher, Huyan Bo, had earned recognition from the Law of Space and achieved great things with Space Secret Techniques. He could even conceal the coordinates of the universe, a feat that only a very small number of Immortal beings could accomplish.
And the Law of Time was even harder to comprehend than the Law of Space.
The number of Venerables made that clear. In theory, completely comprehending one upper law was enough to become a Venerable. Yet Space Venerables were common, while Time Venerables were rare.
If the two upper laws really were equally difficult to comprehend, then among the several thousand Venerables in the Human Race, Time Venerables and Space Venerables should be evenly split.
Still, one shouldn't be too greedy. At least he now had the techniques and insights for the two laws of Wood and Wind. Of the Ten Great Laws, only Light and Time remained. He could see if he could obtain insights into the Origin Law of Light at the Peak World Lord level at the auction.
Jiuyuan patiently explained, "I know you want to comprehend the Law of Time based on the Law of Light because you've crossed the threshold of the Origin Law of Light. But for most people, the inheritance of time secret techniques based on the Origin Law of Time doesn't need to be especially profound.
"I'll give you this set of time secret techniques. It'll be enough for you to study.
"And if you make it into the Core Layer of the Virtual Universe Company through the Genius Tournament, better secret techniques will naturally be waiting for you. Why rush?"
Jiang Yao could only accept the advice obediently, sighing inwardly.
He could wait, but Desolate God Bizhang's will was growing stronger all the time. It couldn't wait three hundred years.
Jiuyuan assumed Jiang Yao had been persuaded and asked warmly, "Besides that, is there anything else you need?"
At this point, Jiuyuan had already decided that Jiang Yao was destined to become a pillar of the Lingtong Race. He was sure Jiang Yao would achieve far more than he had in the future. There was no need to hold back now. He should make the most of their relationship and strengthen Jiang Yao's sense of belonging to the race.
As for playing the bad guy, that could be left to Jiang Yao's actual teacher.
Jiang Yao thought for a moment, then said, "The Yanhe Branch has always lived surrounded by the Longshan Federation, which has also plundered members of my Lingtong Race in the past. Could the Main Sect provide us with more support?"
From the clan chief to Elder Luo, everyone in the Yanhe Branch had treated him well. More than that, he had indeed grown up in the Yanhe Star System. He felt a strong sense of belonging to the Yanhe Lingtong who had been born and raised there, so of course he wouldn't hold back when he had a chance to repay them.
Jiuyuan smiled. "The Longshan Company is insignificant, but Yinhu Island stands behind it. It was founded by Mo Hong, a World Lord of Yinhu Island, so we can't take action against them right now."
"But don't worry." A sharp glint flashed in Jiuyuan's eyes as he mentioned Yinhu Island. "Once your future teacher has recovered from his injuries, we'll move against Yinhu Island. The Longshan Federation will be swept away with ease!"
Before, even after Yinhu Island had paid compensation, Jiuyuan hadn't been all that furious about its Domain Lord sending assassins after a genius of their race. But now, whenever he thought of Jiang Yao nearly dying in that ambush, he could barely restrain his murderous intent.
If Jiang Yao had been killed by Yinhu Island's Domain Lord, forget a hundred Mixed Yuan units—even a thousand times or ten thousand times that amount couldn't make up for the loss to the Lingtong Race!
"The next Xuanshang Auction is in six months. You can try your luck there. As for the Law of Wind secret techniques you asked for, and the stone slabs related to insights into the Origin Law of Wood, you'll get them once you arrive at your new residence."
Jiuyuan smiled. "The teacher I chose for you should be recovering from his injuries in seclusion, which is why he hasn't replied to my message. But he has a special status and wakes up once every year or two. After he wakes up and agrees to take you as a disciple, I'll bring you to meet him.
"In the meantime, you can stay on Lingshen Planet or at Yuluo Island. It's up to you."
The Third Battlefield of the Outer-Region Battlefield, Xuehuan Continent.
Countless islands of all sizes dotted an ocean of boundless blood-red light.
On one island, tens of thousands of miles across, stood a palace that seemed to be built from ancient, unadorned stone.
"Jiuyuan, what's got you so happy?"
Five Immortal Gods with wildly different appearances and powerful auras had gathered together, chatting.
Jiuyuan, clad in blood-red battle armor, with an ancient-looking face and a pair of deep blue eyes, laughed heartily. "Didn't I tell you that, in preparation for the Genius Tournament three hundred years from now, I had the race hold a selection competition?"
A huge Cyclops with four arms muttered, "It's just the Genius Tournament. Why take it so seriously? Our Qiuying Race lets everyone fend for themselves. Each person has to fight for their own future."
Jiuyuan smiled. The Cyclops had fought his way up through the Outer-Region Battlefield, so he wasn't very keen on this kind of talent-development system.
A short figure entirely covered in blue metal asked curiously, "Did your Lingtong Race produce a prodigy?"
Although the five of them came from different Universe Countries—and two weren't even members of the Human Race—they now all served under the same powerful figure. They had worked together for many years and knew the general situation of each other's races.
Jiuyuan let a hint of pride show. "Nothing extraordinary. Just a youngster who crossed the threshold of the Origin Law of Fire while still at the Stellar level!"
"Isn't that about the same as your former disciple, Yanchen?"
"Isn't the Genius Tournament about to begin? Someone who's crossed the threshold of an Origin Law would rank in the top thousand at least in your Xuanshang Universe Country, wouldn't they?"
"More than that. I competed in the Genius Tournament myself. Someone who'd crossed the threshold of an Origin Law could rank in the top three hundred in our Canglan Universe Country. The Xuanshang Universe Country is a bit stronger, but I doubt they'd rank below the top five hundred."
Jiuyuan smiled without answering. He didn't mention that Jiang Yao had also crossed the threshold of the Origin Law of Light. His expression turned solemn instead.
"You all know I have an enemy. That youngster was once targeted by assassins sent by him. With only three hundred years until the Genius Tournament, I'm worried something might happen. So I'm planning to speak to King Fenglun and hand over my mission, then return to my race to stand guard for a while."
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