Comparison

"All in all, this is something you'll need to think over carefully for yourself. After all, once you join one of the factions, your path will pretty much be set," said Zhendan, the lightning mark on his brow. "Although members of the Five Great Powers compete with one another, normally no one leaves their original faction so easily to join another."

The other eight present nodded. There were always people who liked a turncoat, no matter where they were, but turncoats were never welcomed, much less entrusted with important responsibilities.

Yunmeng Lake, a small lakeside house, third floor. Ye Muxuan sat quietly in the meditation room.

Joining one of the Five Great Powers was a foregone conclusion. He wouldn't choose to become a lone wanderer—not before becoming a Universe Supreme Being, at least. As for whether he could become the strongest? That was still unknown.

After entering the Initial Universe and studying the Chaos Stele, becoming an Immortal was just a threshold for him, a small hurdle on the path to eternity. He was confident he could break through and become Immortal.

Even becoming a Venerable was within reach. He was confident he'd have a chance in the future. No matter how slim the hope, there was always some chance of reaching the Venerable level.

As for becoming a Universe Master...

That was too difficult!

Since the Human Race arose in the Primal Universe, over the vast span of time measured in billions of eras, more than a dozen Universe Masters had accumulated by now—even accounting for those who had surely fallen along the way. Talent alone was nowhere near enough to reach the pinnacle of the universe. Talent, comprehension, perseverance, hard work, a good teacher, treasures, and that elusive bit of fortune—all were indispensable!

You never knew whether a disaster or a powerful enemy would come knocking first!

Among the Human Race's Five Great Powers, the Giant Axe Dojo and the Virtual Universe Company stood at the top. The former had the Human Race's only Universe Supreme Being, who possessed peak eighth-tier strength even without a Supreme Treasure of the Universe. Its current leader, Master Xujin, was also a peak fourth-tier Universe Master, ranking among the top five of the Human Race's dozen or so Universe Masters.

The latter was the faction founded by the Original Ancestor, the greatest genius in Human Race history, a peerless talent of unparalleled brilliance. Although the Original Ancestor was now imprisoned, the Virtual Universe Company was led by Chaos City Lord, who ranked second among the Human Race. Among the more than a thousand Universe Masters in the Primal Universe, excluding the three Ancestral Gods empowered by the Origin Will of the Original Universe, his Law Comprehension and Secret Technique mastery unquestionably ranked among the top five, perhaps even the top three. What's more, of the Human Race's dozen or so Universe Masters, only three had reached peak fifth-tier strength, and two of them belonged to the Virtual Universe Company. Chaos City Lord was even considered the super powerhouse with the best chance of becoming the next Universe Supreme Being among all the Universe Masters in the Primal Universe.

In fact, he was indeed the first among the more than a thousand Universe Masters in the Primal Universe to break through and become a Universe Supreme Being.

The other three major factions were weaker by comparison. Even the Universe Galaxy Bank, home to Peng Gong Master, who also possessed peak fifth-tier strength, was far less powerful than the first two.

After thinking it over, Ye Muxuan focused on the Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Dojo.

After weighing the matter for a while, he concluded that, based on what he knew, the Virtual Universe Company had even greater potential than the Giant Axe Dojo. Apart from Giant Axe Founder, the Giant Axe Dojo simply had no outstanding leader to offer.

And after Giant Axe fell in the future, Master Xujin would prove better at maintaining the status quo than making progress. He would fall behind not only Chaos City Lord, Darkness Master, and Peng Gong Master, the three current fifth-tier Universe Masters, but even Master Huang Jian, Master Ice Peak, and Master Dragon Walk would become True Gods before him. If the Giant Axe Dojo hadn't had such a deep foundation, the Universe Mercenary Alliance under Master Huang Jian and the Universe Galaxy Bank under Peng Gong Master would have surpassed it by then.

Considering everything he knew, it was clear that joining the Virtual Universe Company was the best choice, both now and in the future.

Ye Muxuan tapped a finger, and two messages appeared before him, one invitation from the Virtual Universe Company and the other from the Giant Axe Dojo.

The terms offered by both were much the same. Broadly speaking, they offered a World Lord Level position in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, a reward of a hundred thousand points, and a promise to assign at least one Peak King Level powerhouse as his mentor. They also offered up to a hundred million points' worth of Secret Techniques for free, which was effectively an extra hundred million points he could spend on any Secret Techniques he wanted. Of course, he'd have to pay for anything beyond that allowance himself.

Aside from these major benefits, there were plenty of other perks. For example, in the Initial Universe, breaking through the Fourteenth Layer would earn him another hundred thousand points on top of the points from the Heavenly Bridge. Breaking through the Fifteenth Floor would bring another hundred thousand, and so on.

If he really managed to reach the Seventeenth or Eighteenth Layer, the bonus points alone would amount to hundreds of thousands!

After all, the Fifteenth Layer generally corresponded to the Law Comprehension of a Marquis. Even within the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer, that level would rank among the best in the Primordial Secret Realm and would even meet the entry requirements for the Primal Secret Realm!

The Virtual Universe Company had only a hundred World Lord Level positions in the entire Primal Secret Realm.

And a World Lord from the Primal Secret Realm, upon breaking through to become Immortal, generally started at the high-level military lord rank. Most became Marquises, and some even became Kings!

With Ye Muxuan's current Law Comprehension, he was confident he could reach the Marquis Rank as soon as he became Immortal.

But now wasn't the best time.

So...

Ye Muxuan's gaze settled on one of the messages, his eyes flickering slightly.

The Initial Universe, Chaos City.

On the rooftop of a gray building, a man in black opened his eyes. In the distance, Law Secret Patterns manifested before him.

As he carefully studied the manifested Law Secret Patterns and combined them with the artistic conception of the Jinghong Chaos Stele, Ye Muxuan felt he'd gained a deeper understanding of the Origin Law of Wind and the Law of Time.

The Jinghong Chaos Stele had nine diagrams in all. Fully comprehending the first three was enough to pass the Ninth Layer of the Heavenly Bridge through the Time Origin Law alone. In Ye Muxuan's understanding, fully comprehending the three diagrams also allowed him to draw upon them to grasp the Origin Law of Wind. Once he connected them into a whole, he could use that insight to break through and become Immortal.

Shatter the Origin Core and become Immortal!

This process was irreversible, but not beyond his control. He could choose not to shatter the Origin Core for now, because once he did, he would have to break through and become Immortal. But Ye Muxuan had already fully comprehended the first four diagrams, and he'd gained some insights into the fifth, which he was currently studying. That was why he was confident he could pass the Fifteenth Layer of the Heavenly Bridge.

After all, his Law Comprehension had already reached the Marquis Level.