Mom?

In just three days, the students scheduled to enter the Ganwu Secret Realm had all gathered.

Although the territory of the Ganwu Universe Kingdom was vast, spanning a full billion light-years, the precise scheduling of the super-intelligence ensured that everyone arrived at the spaceport at nearly the same time.

On the assembly plaza of the spaceport, the silver-white metal floor shimmered with a cold light. Hundreds of genius students from all corners of the universe stood in small groups, their combat suits ranging from ornate to minimalist, yet all exuded a sharpness rarely seen in their peers.

Tang Ping swept his gaze across the crowd and quickly locked onto a familiar figure. Luo Xiaoyu stood alone at the edge of the plaza in a moon-white combat suit, her posture as straight as a winter pine. A faint, cold aura seemed to linger around her, like a snow lotus blooming quietly on an icy mountain, making her exceptionally striking amidst the noisy crowd.

In this interstellar world where practitioners gathered, the billions of races possessed diverse forms, and appearances could be adjusted at will through technology or cultivation, so they were no longer the core standard for measuring beauty.

What truly moved the heart was the temperament a person radiated from the inside out, as well as the depth settled deep within their soul.

Precisely because of this, many students' gazes drifted toward Luo Xiaoyu, their eyes filled with appreciation and curiosity, though with the guide for the Ganwu Secret Realm nearby, no one dared to act rudely.

Tang Ping maintained his usual indifferent expression, but in the private channel of the Virtual Universe, he tapped away rapidly, sending a message to Luo Xiaoyu's account: "Call me brother."

The message had been sent for barely two seconds before it sank like a stone into the sea.

Tang Ping raised an eyebrow and sent another: "So cold? How about calling me daddy?"

This time, the reply came extremely quickly. It was only a short sentence, but it made Tang Ping instantly fall silent: "Already screenshotted, preparing to forward it to the Luo Family Marriage Tribunal."

Tang Ping: "Mom, I was wrong!"

Luo Xiaoyu paused on her end, only replying with a question mark filled with confusion: "?"

Tang Ping looked at the screen, the corners of his mouth twitching as he wanted to tease her a bit more, but the voice of the guide echoed from the center of the plaza, reminding everyone to board the ship.

He put his thoughts away and followed the flow of people onto the starship.

The starship started slowly, its tail emitting pale blue energy flames as it gradually pulled away from the spaceport and stepped into the boundless starry sky.

After only a moment, the hull shuddered slightly, and its speed surged instantly. At a terrifying rate of a hundred times the speed of light, it tore through space and entered the Dark Universe.

There were no stars in the Dark Universe, only endless darkness and turbulent, twisted spacetime. The starship was like a sharp sword in the darkness, speeding toward its destination.

I do not know how much time had passed when the starship's broadcast suddenly sounded, breaking the silence in the cabin: "Approaching the entrance to the Ganwu Secret Realm, spatial distortion rate rising: ninety percent!"

The students in the cabin looked up one after another, gazing out the portholes.

In the previously pitch-black Dark Universe, a black dot suddenly appeared out of thin air directly in front of the starship. That dot was exceptionally conspicuous in the endless darkness, like a drop of ink that could not be dissolved, exuding a heart-palpitating depth.

In the blink of an eye, the black dot expanded at an astonishing speed, like ink dropped on white paper, spreading to the surroundings until it finally formed a perfectly regular circle.

The circle continued to grow, from its initial diameter of a few meters, it quickly broke through a hundred meters, then a thousand. Just five minutes later, the diameter reached a terrifying 22.6 kilometers.

It was a perfect black circle, suspended in the empty space, thin as if it had no thickness, yet it exuded a suction force capable of devouring everything.

The starship did not hesitate, charging straight toward the black circle. The moment the hull completely entered the circle, a low rumble echoed outside the cabin, and then everything returned to calm.

"Hmm?"

"So uncomfortable..."

"My head hurts so much!"

The hundreds of genius students in the cabin instantly erupted into chaos. One by one, their faces turned pale, and many even collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads with expressions of agony.

Tang Ping also felt a violent headache. The scene before him began to blur, as if countless thin needles were pricking his nerves. He gritted his teeth, struggling to open his eyes, but could only see a blur of twisted light and shadow.

At this moment, a steady voice rang out, coming from the guide in the cabin—an Immortal God wearing black armor.

He looked at the young people struggling in pain on the floor, his tone flat and emotionless: "We are currently in the passage between the Primal Universe and the Ganwu Secret Realm."

"The Ganwu Secret Realm is a special secret realm discovered by the great Ganwu Kingdom Lord in the early days of the universe. The flow of time and space here is slightly different from the Primal Universe. This discomfort is the normal reaction caused by the difference in spacetime."

Tang Ping braced himself and swept his gaze around, discovering that among the hundreds of students, only a few dozen could barely stand. He was one of them.

The black-armored deity not far away saw this scene, a trace of imperceptible approval flashing in his eyes as he nodded slightly.

As expected of special-class students, they are indeed stronger than the others, the black-armored deity thought to himself. But even so, without becoming an Immortal, they are ultimately just ants. Perhaps in the time it takes me to take a nap, countless of these so-called geniuses will have died of old age as time passes.

Once, he too, like the Ganwu Kingdom Lord, was keen on discovering and investing in geniuses. But over hundreds of millions of years, having seen too many geniuses fall, his heart had long since become as still as stagnant water; he did not even have the interest to tell these students his name.

"I can't see clearly... I can't see it at all..." Tang Ping squinted, trying to pierce through the twisted light and shadow before him to see the essence of spacetime within the passage.

As long as one has not comprehended the laws of spacetime, no matter how high their cultivation realm, they are ultimately just the lowest existence in this universe.

About five or six minutes later, that tearing sense of discomfort finally gradually faded away.

Tang Ping rubbed his throbbing temples, his vision becoming clear again. He looked around and found that many people were still lying on the ground. Some had pale faces, their bodies and faces covered in mysterious moisture, but upon noticing the gazes of others, they hurriedly circulated their power to evaporate it, pretending to be calm as they climbed up.

So it was all sweat!

In the corner of the cabin, although Luo Xiaoyu's face was still somewhat pale, she maintained her solemn, upright posture.

"Activate the external holographic simulation," the black-armored deity's voice sounded again.

The next moment, the holographic projection device in the cabin activated, clearly presenting the scene outside the starship to everyone.

Below them lay a boundless, massive continent. Mountains were towering, lakes were clear, and forests were lush. One could even see strange birds and beasts darting through the woods and insects and fish swimming in the water—it was a complete ecological world, full of vitality and vigor.

Looking further into the distance, one could see cracks appearing from time to time in the heaven and earth. At the edges of these cracks, a large number of strange secret patterns flowed, flickering with a faint light like living creatures.

Transparent threads extended from the cracks, connecting the heaven and earth together. These threads were also entwined with secret patterns, as if an invisible pair of hands were operating a loom, weaving the broken space back together bit by bit, making this continent increasingly vast.

The black-armored deity pointed at those secret patterns and explained slowly: "These flowing secret patterns are the greatest treasure of the Ganwu Secret Realm—the manifestation of the spatial laws of the Primal Universe."

If someone were able to comprehend the essence of the space laws from these secret patterns, they might one day become a venerable powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the universe, just like the great Ganwu Kingdom Lord.

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Next, you will disembark in the order of your student registration. Third-rank students will reside in the third-rank residential area, with each person receiving an independent room; second-rank students will be assigned large flat-floor apartments; as for special-rank students, you will move into detached villas."

"Additionally, you may consult the secret realm's artificial intelligence regarding facilities such as the Heaven-Reaching Tower, the extra reward mechanisms, and the Life-Death Arena. Each room is equipped with a data access port, and you can query detailed information through your personal smart program."

Once he finished speaking, the black-armored deity said no more. With a flicker of his figure, he stepped directly out of the cabin door, transformed into a streak of black light, and vanished into the horizon in an instant.

The Star Rank students inside the cabin looked at one another in dismay.

That year, as Star Rankers, they stood there like mere lackeys.