"Issue is, I lack systematic guidance. Unfortunately, the advanced secret techniques in the military treasury cost far too much Military Merit. I can't afford them yet..."
He had over six hundred thousand Military Merit, but even the secret techniques in the military treasury that were merely decent cost over a million Military Merit, while some advanced ones cost tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
He remembered a secret technique from the original story called Drifting Blood, created by Lian Luo after comprehending 108 kinds of space laws. He checked the military treasury, and sure enough, it was there—but the price was a glaring 80 million Military Merit, with no discount.
Moreover, only members of the Human Clan could exchange for Drifting Blood. Members of Alien Races were not allowed to.
"Military Merit only becomes yours once you spend it..." Bai Muye looked at his Military Merit balance and searched the secret-technique section of the military treasury: secret techniques, under 600,000 Military Merit.
A long list appeared, densely packed with thousands upon thousands of entries.
The lower the Military Merit required for an exchange, the more entries there were, but they were all basic secret techniques. There were all kinds of them, including saber techniques, sword techniques, spear techniques, and shield techniques.
"Filter for basic secret techniques related to laws."
Bai Muye entered another condition, and the list immediately shrank by more than 99 percent. Most techniques involving laws cost over a million Military Merit; there were very few under 600,000.
Introduction to Lightning — 550,000 Military Merit
General Discussion on Metal — 500,000 Military Merit
Wind Whisper — 530,000 Military Merit
Earth Shield Technique — 350,000 Military Merit
Fire Hammer — 380,000 Military Merit
Nearly all the techniques involving laws cost around 500,000 Military Merit. Anything cheaper consisted of techniques that made use of laws, such as a shield technique based on the Earth Law, which used the shield technique to demonstrate the Earth Law and help cultivators comprehend it.
Secret techniques of this sort that could truly help someone comprehend a law were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Anyone who managed to gain insight from one was a genius.
Bai Muye opened the descriptions one by one and finally chose Introduction to Lightning, priced at 550,000 Military Merit.
"Sharing this secret technique is prohibited!"
"This secret technique will be delivered through the Virtual Universe."
After he confirmed, 550,000 Military Merit was deducted, leaving him with a little over 100,000.
He exited the military treasury, and not long afterward received a call telling him to collect it at the entrance to the Dongluo Military Camp in the Virtual Universe.
Bai Muye quickly went to the camp entrance. After verifying his identity, he received a box, then took it back to his residence in the Virtual Universe.
He opened the box. Inside was a book with a silver-white cover.
He took out the book. It felt heavy in his hands, and its few dozen pages were made of some kind of metal.
The four characters Introduction to Lightning were written on the cover, and beneath them, the author's name was listed as Bo Leng.
He opened the cover and began to read.
Introduction to Lightning focused entirely on the Lightning Law. If he could fully comprehend the entire Lightning Law, he would become an Immortal God.
Since Bai Muye had already gained some insight into the Lightning Law, he easily understood the first few pages. But from the sixth page onward, he began encountering aspects he had never studied before, and soon became completely absorbed.
When he reached the last page and put the book down, a smile appeared on his face.
"I was thinking about it the wrong way before. I'm only a Domain Lord right now, so an explanation of the fundamentals of a law is exactly what I need. If I aim too high and pursue advanced secret techniques, even if I can afford to exchange for them, I won't understand them..."
The author of Introduction to Lightning was clearly an Immortal who had fully comprehended the Lightning Law. The book analyzed the law quite thoroughly, and at the very least, after reading it, Bai Muye had gained an overall understanding of it.
He also had a direction for how to study the Lightning Law from then on, instead of feeling as lost as before.
Unfortunately, the author's strength was probably around the Military Lord High-Level. He had not deeply studied the higher-level Time Law, and the book did not touch on the Time Law at all.
Of course, that was fortunate too. Otherwise, this secret technique would not have been available for so little Military Merit.
After exiting the Virtual Universe, he belatedly realized that a month had passed.
Just as he was about to continue cultivating, Zhu Ang sent him an email. He said they might be setting out soon, so Bai Muye should end his seclusion early and prepare some cultivation resources.
"Perfect timing..." Bai Muye looked at the email and chuckled.
He immediately began packing, then went out to deal with the spoils he had accumulated over the past few years.
He found the camp's dedicated purchasing station. Aside from necessities such as spaceships, he sold everything he had no use for. It all came to several hundred million Cosmic Coins. He could not be bothered to haggle, so he sold everything and had the money transferred to his account.
He then used the money to buy a fifth-tier lightning-type Telepathic Weapon.
By the time he returned to camp, most of the others had already heard the news.
"I heard another team was badly hit this time," Zhan Qiu said quietly. "So they came to ask the Army Lord for cooperation..."
"Does that mean we'll have two Army Lords this time?" Feng Yi asked, delighted.
Having one or two Army Lords in the team made a huge difference to its overall strength. At the very least, it ensured they would not be outmatched at the highest level of combat power.
"Where are we going this time?" Bai Muye asked.
"I don't know either, but apparently that team has been stationed around Chaotic Star Isle for a long time..."
Half a month later, the team set out aboard a rectangular spaceship.
Only when they assembled did Bai Muye realize that the team traveling with them had indeed suffered heavy casualties. It was in much the same state as the Dongluo Legion. Together, the two teams amounted to about one fully staffed team, except that they had an extra Immortal.
Normally, one Immortal could lead only one team. But sometimes a team suffered heavy casualties and could not be replenished in time. It could then apply for a joint operation. As long as the application was approved, the leading Immortal would not lose the extra Military Merit.
Alternatively, the two teams could make arrangements in advance and meet in a particular area without applying. The Military System was no mere formality and would certainly discover it, but camp administrators usually turned a blind eye.
The spaceship had been provided by the Immortal named Gong Nuoxiao. Its defenses were nothing special, but it was more spacious, with larger compartments for each squad.
Another difference was that the rectangular spaceship had many exits on all four sides, allowing more soldiers to disembark at once and giving them a slight edge in speed when launching a surprise attack or retreating.
The Gong Nuoxiao Legion's soldiers occupied the front half of the ship, while the Dongluo Legion was in the rear half.
"I am Dongluo." A cool voice came from the ears of the soldiers in the rear compartments. "We've rested for more than ten years. I'm sure you've all digested what you gained from the previous battles. It's time to fight again. We'll once more begin our journey to earn Military Merit..."
"This time, we'll be acting jointly with the Gong Nuoxiao Legion. Our destination is Chaotic Star Isle. Our legion spent quite some time there before, but some new soldiers have joined us since then. Those who haven't been to Chaotic Star Isle can ask the veterans to bring you up to speed..."
Dongluo rarely said so much. Her strength was considerable, so she had usually acted alone in the past and had almost no experience fighting alongside others.
"Captain, what kind of place is Chaotic Star Isle?"
Feng Yi leaned against the wall of the compartment with his arms crossed and asked through a short-range transmission.
"Apparently, Chaotic Star Isle was originally a massive island in the void, with a diameter of forty trillion kilometers—nearly half a light-year. Later, it was shattered during battles between the super-powerful experts of the four great clans, and fragments of all sizes were scattered across a span 1.8 light-years in diameter."
"Some of those fragments are enormous, with many measuring billions of kilometers across. Others are tiny, only dozens or hundreds of kilometers wide. Most, of course, are between several hundred thousand and several million kilometers across."
Zhan Qiu explained, "They say Chaotic Star Isle was once a Cosmic Secret Realm, full of dangers and opportunities. But after being swept through for billions of years, nearly all the dangers have been cleared away... and of course, so have the opportunities!"
"However, Chaotic Star Isle has one peculiar feature. Because fragments of all kinds of celestial bodies are scattered everywhere, their magnetic fields interfere with one another. Each fragment's magnetic field is weak, but together, they cause serious interference. Telepathic scans can be distorted or blocked..."
He raised his hand, bending his index and middle fingers toward his eyes. "One piece of advice: on Chaotic Star Isle, your own eyes are the most reliable!"
"Mm, I misspoke," Zhan Qiu added. "The most reliable thing is the Virtual Universe Military System!"
Everyone laughed.
Several months later, the spaceship emerged into the Original Universe.
Chaotic Star Isle. They had arrived.
Before you continue