The Nine Universes Sky Bridge, Eighteenth Layer.
Three thousand years had passed since Qin Cang began cultivating in seclusion in Chaos City.
These three thousand years had been incredibly fulfilling for Qin Cang. He had practiced secret techniques, perfected his skills, and comprehended laws...
Every day brought tremendous progress. Not long after the Crowned Python Clone was born, Qin Cang had already passed the Seventeenth Floor of the Sky Bridge.
However, the Eighteenth Layer and the Seventeenth Floor belonged to entirely different realms.
Passing the Eighteenth Layer meant that one's Law Comprehension had reached King Level, while the Seventeenth Floor was still only at Marquis Level.
Marquis Level and King Level were entirely different realms. They differed greatly in combat strength, secret techniques, and status.
Originally, Qin Cang had spent a full two thousand years advancing his Law Comprehension from the 16th Level of the Sky Bridge to the Seventeenth Floor. By rights, the further one advanced in Law Comprehension, the slower one's progress became.
Yet, in just one thousand years after the Crowned Python Clone was born, Qin Cang had made further progress. His Law Comprehension was now extremely close to passing the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge.
The Crowned Python Clone had an exceptionally high affinity for the space laws. What was more, its Innate Secret Technique included Teleportation, one of the three major branches. Comprehending Teleportation through the Crowned Python Clone was astonishingly efficient. Add to that Qin Cang's Yan God Clan body, which already had a good talent for laws, and it was no wonder he had reached this stage in just a few thousand years.
With the two advantages combined, his progress in the space laws was astonishingly swift. More importantly, Qin Cang had originally excelled in Strangulation, one of the branches of the laws. But after the Crowned Python Clone was born, his progress in Teleportation became even faster than in Strangulation. Now, it was even showing signs of overtaking it.
In other words, Lockdown was currently holding back Qin Cang's Law Comprehension.
The Chaos City Lord had long since told him that having a Clone came at the cost of making it much harder to become an undying. As a result, Qin Cang had focused on comprehending the space laws, temporarily setting aside his study of Fusion Law.
The best way to make rapid progress in Fusion Law was to comprehend the aura of the Beast God. Luo Feng had the Beast God Statue, as well as the Beast God's Seven Slayings left behind by Shirodo. The enormous Beast God Statue, the demon diagrams, and other such things served as references, guiding him as he followed the Beast God's path.
However, Qin Cang couldn't even find a secret technique that could rival the Beast God's Seven Slayings, so he could only put his exploration of Fusion Law aside for the time being.
He didn't have the time to pursue something that took twice the effort for half the result.
For now, with the Crowned Python Clone's powerful affinity for laws, comprehending the space laws was the right choice. Passing the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge was his greatest task.
Passing the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge meant earning the right to live in Chaos City permanently.
Until then, only the geniuses from the Human Race's Core Secret Region were entitled to cultivate here for a time without charge. Once their allotted time was up, points would be deducted according to how long they stayed. If they ran out of points, they would be forcibly expelled from Chaos City.
Even geniuses from the Core Layers of the five great factions received such treatment. One could imagine the price others had to pay to come to Chaos City and cultivate by various means.
After all, not everyone had enough money to cultivate in Chaos City. Few undying or World Lords from the lower ranks of the Human Race could afford to pay for long-term cultivation there.
A World Lord's average net worth was only around ten Hunyuan Units, while bids for a single cultivation permit in Chaos City started at tens of thousands of Hunyuan Units. The gap was simply too great.
It often took the efforts of several or even dozens of generations for a World Lord family to save enough to bid for a cultivation permit in Chaos City. During that time, the family couldn't afford any setbacks, or all their efforts might go to waste.
The different levels of the Sky Bridge each had a different setting for combat.
For the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge, the Virtual Universe had simulated a battlefield in the middle of a galaxy.
Countless meteorites drifted through the galaxy, while planets radiating a variety of colorful auras made for a beautiful sight.
But Qin Cang had no mind to admire the scenery.
At the center of the endless galaxy stood a figure wearing Black Battle Armor. He looked exactly like Qin Cang. This was the gatekeeper simulated by the Virtual Universe. Only by defeating him could Qin Cang pass the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge.
"I didn't expect you to come so soon—much sooner than I predicted. But you're still not strong enough. Go back and train some more," the gatekeeper said calmly.
"Whether I'm strong enough is something we'll find out once we've fought. Right now, I have only one goal: to kill you!" Qin Cang said calmly. He wore red armor and held a blood-red spear. He was long since immune to the gatekeepers' taunts. These things simulated by the Virtual Universe were almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The Original Ancestor's secret technique was truly heaven-defying.
As soon as Qin Cang stepped onto the Eighteenth Layer of the Sky Bridge, Venerable Bafin, the Sky Bridge's guardian, began sending out mass emails.
If anyone had the contact information for all the Human Race's powerful figures, it was definitely Bafin.
As a gatekeeper, he was an consciousness created by the Virtual Universe. No matter how much time passed, he had only one task: to explain the rules of the Sky Bridge and to send emails to those watching whenever certain geniuses attempted to cross it.
After Bafin sent out the emails, those without sufficient access rights directly descended to the Tongtian Bridge Plane to watch Qin Cang's attempt.
Blood Blade King, King Gale, Snow Imperial King, Mountain Shaker King, Abyss Fate King...
One renowned King after another personally descended to the Tongtian Bridge Plane.
The Venerables, who had greater access rights, instead used their privileges to project Qin Cang's attempt into their own planes.
Demon Wing Venerable, Venerable Mi Hao, Golden Feather Venerable, Nine Flames Venerable, and Planet Star Venerable, who had hosted Qin Cang's Genius Battle...
What surprised Bafin most was that the Chaos City Lord's name appeared among the recipients as he sent out the emails!
Tongtian Bridge Plane.
By then, Qin Cang had already engaged the gatekeeper.
Both of them wielded spears. Clearly, they intended to test their comprehension of the space laws through their spear techniques.
The Blazing Flame Spear in Qin Cang's hand blazed with endless fire, which seemed to transform into a sky-swallowing python and devour the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper, meanwhile, simply thrust his spear forward again and again. Each strike was more terrifying than the last, heavy and powerful, as though he intended to suppress Qin Cang's spear techniques through sheer force.
The shockwaves from their battle turned the surrounding meteorites to dust. The enormous planets either split into pieces or were completely devoured by the flames.
The spear in Qin Cang's hand seemed to become an endless river of fire, engulfing the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper refused to back down. He deflected Qin Cang's attacks with one spear thrust after another, and even managed to counterattack from time to time.
For a while, the two were evenly matched.
"Give up. Your attacks can't hurt me. If this is all you've got, you can't beat me," the gatekeeper taunted.
"Let's settle this with one move!" Qin Cang said. He really didn't want to keep dragging the fight out.
"Those same two moves? Then you might as well leave now," the gatekeeper laughed. He knew Qin Cang's techniques inside out. He had seen them more than once before.
"Then just watch," Qin Cang said with a confident smile. He tightened his grip on the spear, and at that moment, his aura seemed to merge with it.
Seeing this, the gatekeeper's expression grew serious. He knew that kind of aura all too well. Only absolute confidence could produce it.
Looking at Qin Cang, the gatekeeper's eyes brightened. He seemed to be looking forward to the Human Race producing another genius whose Law Comprehension was already comparable to King Level while still a World Lord. And this genius had been cultivating for only ten thousand years.
More importantly, this wasn't even Qin Cang's limit. Given enough time, it would take him no more than a hundred thousand years to reach the Twentieth Layer of the Sky Bridge. He might even pass it in fifty thousand years.
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