[At age 35, the Wood Law in the Ancient Tree Secret Realm became clearer, and after turning your attention to comprehending it, you made further progress.]
[That same year, the Strongest Tournament began.]
[When the preliminaries started, you and Nalan were assigned to World Zones 1 and 2, respectively. With your strength, you easily claimed first place in your zones and advanced straight to the finals.]
[You got to see the geniuses from other Universe Countries.]
[During the elimination rounds in the Trial Towers, your strength was respectable, but you still fell short of the true geniuses. Fortunately, the Illusion Tower you had mastered gave you strong resistance to Soul Attacks, and you ultimately advanced in 19th place.]
[Nalan placed 82nd.]
[In the final arena battles, you fought steadily and broke through to Hundred Line Flow in the midst of battle, ultimately placing 8th. Nalan placed 90th.]
[The top-ranked contestant entered the Initial Universe; places 2–5 entered the Beginning Secret Realm; places 6–30 entered the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm; and the rest entered the Doomsday Secret Realm.]
[You successfully entered the Virtual Universe core.]
[Ganwu Universe Master was very pleased, but also deeply disappointed in the many geniuses from the Ganwu Secret Realm, so he cut all of their benefits.]
[At age 37, the Strongest Tournament came to an end.]
(I overlooked this earlier. It should have lasted at least two years. It makes sense for it to be shorter than the Genius Tournament.)
[That same year, a man wielding a black saber ventured alone into the Ancient Tree Secret Realm. When he appeared again, all the Tree Person Race's Immortal Experts had been killed.]
[You were in a location within the core region of the Ancient Tree Secret Realm, but at that moment, you felt the space around you slip out of control.]
[You were teleported by a powerful expert.]
[You arrived in the Ancient Tree World, where you saw a mysterious ancient tree radiating the auras of the Wood and Space Laws, as well as a dignified man.]
[He told you that he was Peak Domain King, one of the King-level Immortals under Ganwu Universe Master. His master planned to reward you for your performance in the Strongest Tournament and your discovery of the secret realm.]
"Could it be...?!" Han Han's heart began to race.
[Peak Domain King told you that the tree was called the Wood Spirit Tree, and that it nurtured a special lifeform—the Wood Spirit. Its Gene Level was sixty times that of an ordinary lifeform, and it had an exceptionally strong affinity for both the Wood and Space Laws.]
[All Special Lifeforms possessed Innate Secret Techniques. The Wood Spirit's Innate Secret Technique allowed it to fuse with and strengthen Plant Lifeforms.]
[For example, a ninth-level World Lord Plant Lifeform, after being possessed by a World Lord-level Wood Spirit, could match an Immortal. Thanks to its enormous size, it could even kill one.]
[Because... the Wood Spirit's fusion had no time limit.]
[You were tempted.]
[Peak Domain King saw your interest and told you that Ganwu Universe Master intended for you to take over the Wood Spirit's body, but you would have to wait until you advanced from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm to the Beginning Secret Realm.]
[You had no choice but to accept.]
[At age 40, you entered the Human Race's holy land, the Initial Universe. The laws here were even clearer than in the Ancient Tree World, and most importantly, all the laws were clearly visible.]
[You chose to live in a small pavilion where the Wood and Space Laws were relatively prominent.]
[You chose the Mother Ancestor Chaos Tablet.]
[At age 42, you passed the third level of the Heavenly Bridge, but some geniuses who had started around the same time had already passed the fourth. You could clearly feel that your breakthroughs were becoming difficult. At this rate, not only would you fail to reach the Beginning Secret Realm, but you might even drop to the Doomsday Secret Realm.]
[Your confidence took a hit.]
"There's nothing I can do."
In reality, Han Han wouldn't be discouraged. "At least I can make up for my lack of talent with a cheat."
[Seeing the geniuses of your generation pull ahead made you anxious, so you thought of hunting Chaos Beasts outside Chaos City. After all, you had a number of Auxiliary Lifeforms, so it should be quite safe.]
[At age 43, you left the city.]
Given his personality, he wouldn't have wanted to risk venturing outside Chaos City, even with a group of helpers. After all, safety was only relative—World Lord-level and even Immortal Chaos Beasts existed out there.
It was obvious that he was under too much psychological pressure.
[You began hunting cautiously. After absorbing Chaos True Spirits several times, you felt a distinct sense of relief, and some laws became clearer to you.]
[The Chaos True Spirits gave you hope.]
[At age 44, the Chaos True Spirits produced by Universe Rank Chaos Beasts no longer helped you, but you weren't satisfied.]
[You ventured into an area inhabited by Domain Lord-level Chaos Beasts.]
"Human greed really is endless."
Han Han figured that his simulated self would probably get himself killed hunting Chaos True Spirits. At this point, he should have twelve ninth-level Domain Lord Plant Lifeforms, but that still wasn't enough to guarantee his safety.
After all,
Chaos Beasts could howl to summon others. If their numbers swelled into a beast tide, those few trump cards of his wouldn't be enough.
Ultimately, his simulated self was still too young, and without memories of the original story, he couldn't prepare for many things.
[At age 52, you passed the fourth level of the Heavenly Bridge. Since you had enough secret techniques and treasures for your needs, you had never spent any points to exchange for treasures.]
[You continued slaughtering Chaos Beasts.]
[You were worried, but the Chaos True Spirits had helped you catch up with the weaker geniuses in the Beginning Secret Realm, and you had even begun to surpass them. Now that you could see hope, how could you give up?]
[At age 53, you waited for your strongest Spirit Silk Grass to advance to World Lord, then ventured deep into an area inhabited by high-level Domain Lord Chaos Beasts to hunt.]
[Your soul underwent further transformation.]
"Go on, keep hunting. Make the most of it while you're out there," Han Han said.
You could call him stupid—
he had waited for the Spirit Silk Grass to reach World Lord.
But you could also call him clever—
he dared to enter an area teeming with high-level Domain Lord Chaos Beasts.
Still, his soul had undergone a transformation in the simulation, so an option would surely appear then. It was risky, but not entirely without benefits.
[At age 54, you encountered an accident.]
[A Domain Lord-level cultivator saw your Plant Lifeforms. He didn't know who you were; he only knew that if he didn't lead the pursuing Chaos Beast horde toward you, he would die.]
[You didn't save him and ordered the Spirit Silk Grass to leave.]
[However, the horde was advancing from the direction you needed to return to, so your only escape route led deeper into the outer region.]
[You were faster. The Domain Lord was killed by the Chaos Beasts along the way, but you were forced into the outer region too. The Chaos currents were denser here, and your detectors had completely failed. You were as good as blind.]
[The horde didn't dare continue pursuing you.]
[You decided to wait a while before returning the way you came, and ordered the Spirit Silk Grass to shrink as much as possible to avoid attracting the World Lord-level Chaos Beasts nearby.]
[Unfortunately...]
[With few hunters targeting World Lord-level Chaos Beasts, their numbers were not much lower than those in the inner and middle regions. They could be found throughout every area.]
[You encountered a third-level World Lord Chaos Beast.]
[With the Spirit Silk Grass at your side, you fought it. Though the second-level World Lord Spirit Silk Grass could kill Chaos Beasts, it made a great deal of noise, attracting a horde.]
[Your Plant Lifeforms were powerful enough to surround and kill even a seventh-level World Lord Chaos Beast, but the beasts refused to fight you one-on-one.]
[You began to flee.]
[Fortunately, the Chaos Beasts couldn't kill your Plant Lifeforms instantly. Thanks to the terrifying restorative power of Locke Divine Water, you managed to escape at the cost of losing all your Spirit Silk Grass and one percent of your Locke Divine Water.]
[You returned to Chaos City.]
[You learned your lesson.]
Before you continue