Lie Shan stepped out of the villa and immediately spotted the little fellow standing at the entrance, too intimidated to come in. "Come on in," he said.
He didn't approach, but simply stood by the entrance and waited quietly.
Li Yilin didn't dare hesitate. He hurried over and stopped five meters away.
He couldn't help it. The photo hadn't given him the same impression, but now that the man was right in front of him, he realized Marquis Lei Xu was a full six or seven meters tall. Dressed in black battle armor, he stood perfectly still, like a small mountain.
The two golden horns on his head reached toward the heavens, adding a hint of menace to his already imposing presence.
Even an Immortal had only an ordinary body in the Virtual Universe, but the will of an Immortal contained within it—the powerful will capable of communicating with the Universe Origin Law—could make people submit without even realizing it.
So this was an Immortal Expert?
Li Yilin's heart surged. He bowed respectfully and said, "This junior, Li Yilin, pays his respects to Senior Marquis Lei Xu."
"Mm." Marquis Lei Xu nodded slowly. His enormous voice rumbled like distant thunder, making Li Yilin's head spin.
"Let's go."
Immortals had considerable authority in the Virtual Universe. Though they didn't have a plane space entirely of their own like Venerables did, temporarily occupying one posed no problem at all.
Li Yilin's vision blurred, and he found himself standing on a vast grassland.
The lush green grass stretched as far as the eye could see. Above him, several enormous purple stars revolved according to a unique pattern.
Was this the Killing Space?
Curiosity showed on Li Yilin's face.
"Set up an opponent with the same strength as you, based on your abilities and so on, and fight. I need to understand your Law Comprehension, movement and combat skills, and the Laws you've grasped," Lie Shan said.
Guiding someone's cultivation wasn't something that could be done casually. At the very least, he needed to understand them first. Otherwise, teaching them something they already knew would be awkward.
"Yes."
Li Yilin nodded and immediately set up an opponent based on his own strength.
Lie Shan stood at a distance, watching Li Yilin engage the opponent he had created. He watched him use the Body Amplitude Secret Technique, Thunder Dragon Art, along with the Combat Secret Techniques Thunder Dragon Step, Thunder Dragon Fall, and even Thunder Prison. His expression remained unchanged, but he was repeatedly surprised.
It wasn't Li Yilin's Law Comprehension or his combat skills that surprised him. It was the secret techniques he possessed.
With his discerning eye, he could tell that the kid's secret techniques, whether for amplification or combat, seemed to come from the same source.
Though his comprehension of the Time Law and Lightning Law was about equal, the profoundness of the secret techniques had somehow allowed him to brush against the very essence of the Origin of Laws without even realizing it.
No wonder he couldn't condense the Thunder Dragon Claw. He'd touched the essence without learning how to use it—it was like owning a mountain of treasure but being unable to turn it into strength.
What was a secret technique, anyway? It was a method of using the Origin Laws.
At first, one could force their way through by relying on the depth of their Law Comprehension. But as the secret technique grew harder to master, there was no longer any chance of muddling through.
Other people cultivated secret techniques by studying them to comprehend the Origin Laws. This kid, on the other hand, had comprehended the Origin Laws first, then tried to shoehorn them into his secret techniques.
His grasp of how to use the Laws was unbelievably crude.
Lie Shan had no idea how he'd cultivated to this level.
After watching for only a little while, Lie Shan called Li Yilin to a stop.
There was no need to watch any longer. The kid had no foundation at all. Continuing would only waste time and hurt his eyes.
Li Yilin lowered his hands and looked at Lie Shan expectantly.
His eyes were so bright, his anticipation almost overwhelming. Lie Shan had been about to reprimand him, but the words turned in his mouth and became understanding instead.
"Your Law Comprehension is pretty good," he said.
"Your combat awareness and techniques are decent, too," he added.
After all, he was a Fighter who had earned the title "Giant Axe Warrior." Whatever else one might question, there was no questioning his combat skills.
But aside from those two things, there wasn't much else to praise.
Under Li Yilin's gaze, brighter than a star, Lie Shan thought hard for a long while, but couldn't come up with anything else to compliment.
"What you want to figure out is why the second layer of the secret technique Thunder Dragon Art won't stay in place, right?" Lie Shan decided to stop making things difficult for himself and get straight to the point.
Li Yilin stared at him with even greater anticipation and nodded firmly. Then, perhaps feeling that this wasn't respectful enough to Senior Marquis Lei Xu, he added, "Yes, Senior. I can feel that the second layer of Thunder Dragon Art is only a little short of completion, but I haven't been able to figure out what's missing."
"Do you have a way to solve it, Senior?"
Lie Shan pondered for a moment, feeling that it would be tricky.
Was there a solution?
There definitely was.
But it all came down to the skill of using the Laws.
Honestly, Li Yilin's skill in using the Laws was terrible. Lie Shan wanted to guide him, but there were problems everywhere—like a sieve full of holes. No matter which one he tried to plug, the rest still leaked.
If he really tried to guide him through it all, a year wouldn't be enough.
As expected, money was hard to earn and the work was a pain!
He scolded himself inwardly, then said, "Although Thunder Dragon Art only shows the Lightning Law, every stage actually places considerable demands on your comprehension and use of the Time Law..." He composed himself and decided to first explain the root of the problem the kid most wanted to solve.
"...The scales on the Thunder Dragon Claw are like the Lightning Law you've comprehended. The more of the Lightning Law you comprehend, the harder the scales become. The cords connecting each scale to the tip of the claw represent the Time Law. The cords' strength determines how securely each scale and the claw tip stay fixed in place. Neither one can be missing." Lie Shan paused and looked at Li Yilin.
"You've reached this stage now. The scales are hard enough, the claw tip is sharp enough, and the cords holding them in place are strong enough..." Lie Shan spoke very slowly, practically breaking down every problem he'd spotted and feeding the explanation to Li Yilin piece by piece.
The more Li Yilin listened, the more he realized that many aspects he'd thought were already perfect still had plenty of room for improvement in his senior's eyes.
Some things he'd even gotten wrong without realizing it, yet he'd been congratulating himself on his progress.
So many things. So many!
So many problems.
Li Yilin's eyes grew redder and redder. A storm of ideas roared through his mind, but he forcibly pressed it down.
Half a month later.
"All right, those are more or less the problems." Lie Shan finished and let out a long breath.
Finally, he was done!
"Thank you, Senior." Li Yilin bowed deeply, his face full of gratitude.
Compared to half a month ago, his strength hadn't changed much, but his presence was far more focused, no longer scattered.
At a glance, one might have thought he was a different person, if not for his unchanged appearance.
Li Yilin was certain he could completely crush the version of himself from half a month ago.
He'd gained so much.
He'd practically reorganized his understanding of the Lightning Law and the Time Law from the ground up.
Lie Shan looked at Li Yilin with approval.
The kid had plenty of problems, but he had one good quality: he was smart.
Lie Shan often only needed to point out a problem for him to understand and correct it right away. Even when he failed to notice a more subtle issue immediately, he could grasp and absorb the explanation quickly.
Without that, half a month wouldn't have been enough to sort everything out.
In a good mood, Lie Shan decided to offer a few more words of guidance. "A person's strength depends not only on the key factor of how deeply they comprehend the Laws, but also on their combat skills and how they use the Laws."
"I'd like to recommend a Combat Secret Technique to you. There's nothing special about it, and it can't compare to the precious secret techniques you're using now. It will hardly increase your strength at all, but it does have one advantage: it can complete your foundation in using the Laws," he said.
Li Yilin's eyes lit up at once.
Before you continue