The highest level of the temple, a special quiet room.
The walls were made of deep black metal, their surfaces engraved with strange pictures. At the center of the quiet room stood only a heavy, dark red desk.
After the Seventh Divine General led Zhang Dong inside, he gestured for him to sit across from him.
Zhang Dong obediently sat down.
He did as he was told, sitting with a respectful posture.
He knew full well that his being brought here was not merely out of consideration for his teacher, the Thirteenth Divine General.
The Seventh Divine General, a man of great power and status, must have seen Zhang Dong's potential and wanted to build a good relationship with him in advance.
"A ninth-level Cosmic Level expert who can kill a second-level Domain Lord in a one-on-one fight." The Seventh Divine General smiled warmly. "Your rate of progress is truly astonishing. With your current level of Law Comprehension, you may well be able to enter the Primordial Secret Realm."
For a Cosmic Level expert to kill a Domain Lord was far more difficult than for a Planetary Level expert to kill a Star Level one, or for a Star Level expert to kill a Cosmic Level one.
The farther one advanced along the path of cultivation, the greater each leap in life level became, and the more one's strength multiplied.
In the Primordial Universe system, from Apprentice Level to Cosmic Level, the soul remained in the sea of consciousness.
But once someone entered the Domain Lord level, their soul merged with the singularity of their Life Core and could hide anywhere in their body. To kill a Domain Lord completely, one first had to find and destroy their Life Core.
Zhang Dong's attacks erupted after Extreme Point Penetration and spread directly throughout the body, precisely destroying everything. Even an ordinary Cosmic Level expert who could match a Domain Lord would find it difficult to kill one alone.
"The Primordial Secret Realm?" Zhang Dong pondered briefly before replying cautiously, "You flatter me. I'm probably not quite there yet. Perhaps I could just barely reach the threshold of the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm?"
At this, the Seventh Divine General only smiled meaningfully without directly contradicting him.
He knew very well the level of the princes from the previous Genius Battle.
This generation was weaker than Luo Feng's. The one who entered the Primordial Realm had only just managed to pass the fifth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
The Primordial Secret Realm had only one person who had reached the fourth level of the Heavenly Bridge, and they had both done so after leaving Chaos City.
Achieving that while in Chaos City was a different matter from doing so after leaving and cultivating on one's own. On average, only one person in thirty Genius Battles could pass the fifth level within thirty years.
Zhang Dong had not entered the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer, so he had no way to go to Chaos City to study and cultivate.
Yet even while cultivating in the Ganwu Secret Realm, he had progressed to this level so quickly. His rate of improvement was astounding—he was absolutely worth making an exception to recruit into the Virtual Universe Company's Core Layer.
No, that's not right. Seeing the Seventh Divine General's smile, Zhang Dong realized he might have misjudged things.
He had been using Luo Feng's Genius Battle as his yardstick. That generation had Death God Bolan, not to mention the monster Luo Feng.
No wonder the Seventh Divine General wanted to build a good relationship with him.
"The military merits you earned this time by killing Sky Light won't buy you anything worthwhile on the Dragon Rock Battlefield."
The Seventh Divine General suddenly spoke. "As for the points you earned from completing missions, I'll exchange them all for cash and transfer it to your account."
"Thank you, Seventh Divine General." Zhang Dong hurriedly stood and thanked him.
Those military merits were worth very little, and the points from the Ganwu Secret Realm would probably no longer be his in a few days. The Seventh Divine General had converted them all into cash for him, giving Zhang Dong a windfall.
About half an hour later, the heavy metal door to the quiet room slid soundlessly inward.
An overwhelming stench of blood surged in, instantly filling the entire room.
The scent carried a tremendous amount of savage, murderous energy. It was hard to imagine how many mountains of corpses and seas of blood one would have to pass through to exude such a terrifying aura.
An eight-meter-tall giant strode inside.
He wore a simple gray-scaled battle robe, and his towering figure loomed like a mountain. As he entered, the whole room seemed to freeze. The newcomer was Zhang Dong's teacher, one of the thirteen divine generals under the Ganwu Kingdom Master.
"Teacher."
Zhang Dong rose and bowed respectfully.
"Hahaha!" The Thirteenth Divine General's laughter rang out with unrestrained delight, making the whole room vibrate. He reached out a hand as large as an ordinary person's chest and repeatedly patted Zhang Dong on the shoulder. "Good lad! You've made me proud."
Having an exceptional disciple brought not only prestige but also substantial practical benefits.
For the ancient kings of the Virtual Universe Company, such as King Zhenyan, teaching disciples was simply part of their duty. They did not expect anything in return.
But the Ganwu Secret Realm was impoverished.
The Ganwu Kingdom Master was famously poor. After dying repeatedly, he no longer dared venture into the Cosmic Secret Realm. He could only cultivate promising juniors to earn contributions.
If Luo Feng had not emerged out of nowhere and helped him repay his debts, the Ganwu Kingdom Master would likely have paid them off this way before the end of this Reincarnation Era.
If these divine generals taught promising juniors who made it through the Genius Battle or the Strongest Battle and were recruited by the Virtual Universe Company or the Giant Axe Arena, the Ganwu Kingdom Master would reward them as well.
"You really found yourself a fine disciple, Thirteen," the Seventh Divine General said with sincere admiration. "Someone who can rival a prince of the Primordial Secret Realm is truly rare."
His face was full of envy.
How could he not be envious? The so-called geniuses in the Ganwu Secret Realm struggled just to become undying, let alone pass the Genius Battle or Strongest Battle and join the Virtual Universe Company.
Once Zhang Dong got in, the stronger he became in the future, the more contributions the Ganwu Kingdom Master would receive, and the greater their rewards would be.
Besides, with the talent Zhang Dong had displayed, as long as he didn't die prematurely, he had a good chance of reaching King Rank in the future. Having a King Rank disciple would bring plenty of benefits too.
The Thirteenth Divine General laughed again and said, "I've already informed the kingdom master. Once he notifies the important figures at the Virtual Universe Company, you'll enter the Virtual Universe for a test."
Zhang Dong, however, showed no sign of panic.
He had already entered the Virtual Universe and tested it out. The jade green bubble in his sea of consciousness still existed there.
It was only a minor Cosmic Level test. Origin Ancestor or the Chaos City Lord certainly wouldn't come to watch.
Even if Origin Ancestor really was bored enough to do so, Zhang Dong wasn't worried. He could rely only on his Law Comprehension of the Primordial Universe while secretly using First-Class True Intent to enhance it.
In the Virtual Universe test, whether one was a Special Lifeform or an ordinary person, everyone's physical strength was exactly the same. What mattered was the extent of one's Law Comprehension.
Zhang Dong could use First-Class True Intent to enhance his strength. Even if his Law Comprehension was somewhat lacking, he could still pass more stages.
"The kingdom master's message has arrived." The Thirteenth Divine General's expression suddenly turned solemn. "Zhang Dong, enter the Virtual Universe right now. His Excellency the kingdom master will take you to undergo the test."
He had originally thought he could handle such a minor matter himself. He hadn't expected the Ganwu Kingdom Master to personally get involved.
"Yes." Although Zhang Dong had never met the Ganwu Kingdom Master, he had a good impression of him.
After all, the Ganwu Kingdom Master was an expert who cultivated the Origin Great Dao. He had taken Luo Feng's son as his disciple and worked tirelessly for Luo Feng.
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