At the border between Human Race and Demon Race territories in the Prime Universe lay a mysterious and perilous Cosmic Secret Realm.
Strange substances floated through the void, constantly shifting shape. Some flickered like ghosts, while others swallowed everything like quicksand.
Countless spatial rifts also hung in the void, their gaping maws like those of abyssal demons, ready to devour any life that ventured inside.
A mysterious palace, shaped like a medieval castle and seemingly coated in a thin layer of frost, hurtled through the secret realm, radiating endless cold.
Inside the palace was Ice Universe Venerable, the one presiding over this generation's Genius War. He had borrowed a Supreme Treasure from Sky Erosion Palace Lord and gone out adventuring.
At that moment, he sent a strand of his consciousness into Thunder Island in the Virtual Universe.
"The thirty years in Chaos City are almost over. How are this batch of geniuses doing?"
In a vast temple, a Black-Armored Silver-Horned Man sat high on his throne and looked down. His voice rumbled through the surrounding space.
"Reporting to Your Venerable, of the thousand geniuses in this batch, 904 are still alive."
Wind King, who looked like an elf, bowed as he replied.
"The most outstanding among them is Feng Hui. He passed the Fourth Layer of Heavenly Bridge in his eighteenth year in Chaos City. Next is Guge. When he attempted the Heavenly Bridge two years ago, he was just a hair's breadth away from passing the Fourth Layer. He should have reached that level by now."
"Below these two are the three geniuses from the Taichu Secret Realm, including Kong Ji, who have passed the Third Layer of Heavenly Bridge."
The dozen or so other Immortals waited respectfully.
Ice Universe Venerable sat on his throne and listened, nodding slightly. "Aside from Feng Hui, the others are about what we'd expect from the new recruits selected in a typical Genius War."
"As for Feng Hui..." Ice Universe Venerable said quietly. "He hasn't attempted the Heavenly Bridge in over a decade. What has he been doing lately?"
"After passing the Fourth Layer of Heavenly Bridge, Feng Hui bought the second volume of Principles of Space-Time and has been cultivating in seclusion on the rooftop of his Cultivation Residence. He studied the Cosmic Chaos Stele once and occasionally visited Nine Swords King's residence to seek guidance. He may have the strength to pass the Fifth Layer of Heavenly Bridge now."
"Send me the video of Feng Hui's battle at the Fourth Layer of Heavenly Bridge," the Black-Armored Silver-Horned Man ordered.
"Yes, Your Venerable." Wind King respectfully sent over the video.
A screen appeared in the temple, and the video began to play. Feng Hui looked like a god of war wielding a long blade. His dazzling blade light not only pierced through space but seemed to affect time as well. In the end, he cut down his opponent, who was also wielding a War Blade.
Ice Universe Venerable watched the video calmly, then furrowed his brow, deeply puzzled.
He looked at the dozen or so Immortals waiting respectfully below and considered the matter before speaking.
"By convention, as the Venerable presiding over this Genius War, I should go to Chaos City and bring this batch of geniuses back once their thirty-year foundation-building period is over."
"But I have pressing matters that I can't leave."
"Very well," Ice Universe Venerable said. "Wind King, go to Chaos City in my place and bring back Feng Hui and the others."
"Yes!"
"Good. You may all leave."
Soon, the temple fell silent.
The Black-Armored Silver-Horned Man continued watching the video, baffled.
Sky Erosion Palace Lord had actually sent him a message, saying he felt a connection with Feng Hui and might take him as a disciple. He had wanted to inform Ice Universe Venerable, his direct Venerable, in advance.
That was why Ice Universe Venerable had spared some attention from his exploration of the secret realm to check on this batch of geniuses.
Feng Hui's performance was indeed impressive, and his talents in the Time Law and Law of Space were astonishing. He was a formidable genius.
But that alone wasn't enough to make a Top Universe Overlord like Sky Erosion Palace Lord consider taking him as a disciple.
Based on his performance so far, Feng Hui was nowhere near a peerless prodigy who appeared once in ten million eras. He still had a long way to go before matching Ke Di, the peerless genius whose talent had astonished Chaos City Lord and led him to take Ke Di as a disciple.
As an ancient being at the Universe Venerable level, Ice Universe Venerable knew very well that so-called geniuses weren't appealing to Universe Venerables unless they reached Ke Di's level.
What good was nurturing a genius? Unless he produced a Universe Venerable, it wouldn't benefit him much.
That was even more true for a Top Universe Overlord like Sky Erosion Palace Lord.
Yet Sky Erosion Palace Lord had taken an interest in a youngster like Feng Hui. It was hard to make sense of.
"There must be a secret. Sky Erosion Palace Lord is a Top Universe Overlord, one of the strongest Universe Venerables in the Human Race, surpassed only by the Universe Masters within the clan. He must have noticed something."
Ice Universe Venerable watched the video once more. With his level of insight, he had long since analyzed every detail. Anything there was to notice, he would have noticed already.
But he didn't know that Feng Hui's true transformation had taken place three years ago in Chaos City. That was when he had shed his old self and begun making rapid progress.
"Why is Sky Erosion Palace Lord interested in Feng Hui?"
"What secret is there?"
Ice Universe Venerable pondered for a long time, but could only put his questions aside for now. Then he withdrew his consciousness from the Virtual Universe.
His main focus was still on exploring the Cosmic Secret Realm.
When a Cosmic Secret Realm had only just been discovered and few powerful beings had entered it, it held the greatest number of treasures and offered the best chance of a bountiful harvest.
To explore this newly emerged Cosmic Secret Realm as soon as possible, Ice Universe Venerable had even neglected going to Chaos City to meet that batch of geniuses.
Although the secret realm was full of treasures and had yielded much for him, it was also exceptionally dangerous. Even with the strength of a High Venerable, Ice Universe Venerable could encounter danger in many of its perilous regions.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone all the way to the area outside Blood Luo World to borrow a Supreme Treasure armor from Sky Erosion Palace Lord.
The Supreme Treasure armor he had borrowed from Sky Erosion Palace Lord offered him a good measure of protection, but he still couldn't afford to be careless.
After all, the secret realm lay at the border between Human Race and Demon Race territories. Aside from the dangers within the secret realm itself, powerful beings from the Demon Race were another major threat.
The Demon Race was one of the six pinnacle races in the Prime Universe and had always been the Human Race's sworn enemy. It had super-powerful beings no less formidable than those of the Human Race.
Over the years, quite a few Human Race Universe Venerables had fallen at the hands of powerful Demon Race beings during battles in Cosmic Secret Realms.
As a Universe Venerable, Ice Universe Venerable would certainly be brought back to life by the clan's higher-ups using Reverse Time and Space. But he would lose all the Heavy Treasures on him, along with the Supreme Treasure he had borrowed. He would even have to pay the clan an enormous price for his resurrection.
Resurrecting a High Venerable would injure a Universe Master. The cost of such an act was naturally immense, and the clan wouldn't cover it. The resurrected individual had to pay it himself.
And there was no way he could afford to lose a borrowed Supreme Treasure.
Gan Wu Kingdom Lord, who had fallen three times and been brought back each time through Reverse Time and Space, only to end up deeply in debt, was a cautionary tale.
Ice Universe Venerable didn't want to end up in such a miserable state, so he had to be extremely cautious.
As for Feng Hui, Ice Universe Venerable didn't know why Sky Erosion Palace Lord had taken an interest in him. But he was only a Cosmic Level genius, and his talent so far wasn't enough to stir Ice Universe Venerable's interest.
If Sky Erosion Palace Lord wanted him, Ice Universe Venerable could let him go. He could count it as interest on the Supreme Treasure armor he had borrowed.
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