Becoming a Disciple of the Barbarian Hammer King

Meanwhile, within Chaos City, the other Cosmic Level prodigies all displayed varied expressions—some burning with fighting spirit, others indifferent, and a few wallowing in defeat. There is no need to elaborate further on them.

At this moment, Gulanxiu looked at the two messages on the virtual universe network and a faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

One of these two messages was a credit notification. Because he had consecutively cleared the second and third floors of the Sky Bridge, he had once again earned two opportunities to study the Chaos Tablet, along with 6,000 points.

Normally, clearing the first floor of the Sky Bridge awarded 100 points, the second floor 200 points, the third floor 400 points, and so on.

However, since Gulanxiu was cultivating in Chaos City for the first time, he triggered a tenfold newcomer bonus, which was why he received these rewards.

Now, Gulanxiu's account held 6,720 points. Originally, after buying the spaceship, he should have had 749 points left, but because he frequently used the Laser Cannon to hunt Chaos Beasts, he wasted a fair amount of energy. During that period, purchasing energy alone cost him 29 points.

After clearing the Sky Bridge, Gulanxiu finally had a bit more breathing room financially. However, he didn't spend recklessly. After all, with his level of insight, it was hard for him to use points where they would have the greatest impact or maximize his own strength.

In the original story, Luo Feng followed Babata's advice and spent all his points on the Demon-Slayer Clan clone, leaving him with none to use later.

Having seen that precedent, Gulanxiu naturally wouldn't let himself fall into the same predicament. As for how to use these points, the obvious choice was to have his teacher, Barbarian Hammer King, help him decide.

Thinking of this, Gulanxiu smiled faintly and turned his attention to the second email.

This second email was sent by Barbarian Hammer King. It contained an address—Barbarian Hammer King's residence in Chaos City.

Gulanxiu rose abruptly and headed toward Barbarian Hammer King's dwelling. In less than half an hour, he arrived before the residence, knelt on the ground, and said respectfully, "Your disciple Gulanxiu pays respects to Teacher! I humbly beg Teacher to accept me as a disciple!"

Although Barbarian Hammer King had already agreed to take Gulanxiu as his disciple and logically wouldn't go back on his word, being respectful and sincere still had no downside.

"Haha! Gulanxiu! You came pretty fast! Come on in!" Barbarian Hammer King's hearty voice rang out from within the courtyard. As his words fell, the courtyard gates swung open to both sides, revealing Barbarian Hammer King standing in the yard, waiting for Gulanxiu.

Gulanxiu quickly stepped forward to Barbarian Hammer King and said in a low voice, "Teacher!"

Barbarian Hammer King said with a smile, "Haha! There's no need for such formality between us. I don't have all those messy rules here. Just follow your heart in everything!"

Gulanxiu nodded.

Barbarian Hammer King then continued, "Your teacher has always been a solitary wanderer, carefree and unrestrained. I've never taken a wife or accepted a disciple. Even after gaining permanent residency in Chaos City, I never gave lectures like other masters. Since fate has brought you to my door as my disciple, I will naturally take responsibility for you. I will do my utmost to guide you in your training! But aside from my instruction, if you want to gain anything from me, you must meet my requirements. Understand?"

Gulanxiu nodded and said, "Understood, Teacher!"

Barbarian Hammer King went on, "For these twenty years in Chaos City, you will stay here with me! I will tailor a training plan specifically for you. My first requirement is that before you leave Chaos City, your performance must not be inferior to that of Xiusite, the second-place winner of the Virtual Universe Company's current generation's powerhouse competition! I'm not asking you to surpass him, but when you leave Chaos City, however many floors of the Sky Bridge he has cleared, you must clear the same."

Gulanxiu quickly agreed, "Rest assured, Teacher! Your disciple will do his utmost and will never let you down!"

Seeing Gulanxiu's firm and decisive reply, Barbarian Hammer King breathed a quiet sigh of relief. After all, this was his first time taking a disciple. As the founding senior disciple of his lineage, if Gulanxiu performed poorly, it would reflect badly on him.

Fortunately, at least for now, Gulanxiu's willpower seemed decent. He possessed a steadfast heart of a strong warrior. Coupled with Gulanxiu's talent in cultivation and his own guidance, as long as Gulanxiu didn't fall in battle, becoming a Marquis-level Immortal was well within reach. There was even a faint hope of becoming a King-level Immortal. With such strength, he would be a worthy senior disciple for his lineage.

Thinking this, Barbarian Hammer King said to Gulanxiu, "Gulanxiu! You now face a choice, one that concerns your future cultivation. You need to consider it carefully!"

Gulanxiu quickly replied, "Teacher! Please speak!"

Barbarian Hammer King said, "Both you and I cultivate the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet! So, do you know that the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet has two paths of cultivation?"

Gulanxiu looked at Barbarian Hammer King with a blank expression.

Seeing Gulanxiu's reaction, Barbarian Hammer King knew he was unaware and explained, "The Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is a Chaos Tablet that combines the Five Element Laws with the Space Law. The Space Law has three directions: Teleportation, Space Seal, and Space Slaughter! The direction you are currently cultivating is Space Slaughter!"

Gulanxiu nodded upon hearing this but couldn't help interjecting, "Wait! Teacher, are you saying the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet combines the Five Element Laws with the Space Law? Why have I only seen the Earth Origin Law?"

Though interrupted, Barbarian Hammer King wasn't annoyed. Instead, he smiled and said, "That's because the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is profound and vast. Each person can only see the part most suited to their own cultivation! Do you know why our Giant Axe lineage has the most cultivators?"

Gulanxiu replied, "Isn't it because the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is the most profound, corresponding to the most floors of the Sky Bridge?"

Barbarian Hammer King shook his head and said, "That's part of the reason, but not the main factor. The number of floors corresponding to the Sky Bridge isn't that important. In fact, at my current level, the Chaos Tablet's help to me is already limited. For those at the Universe Country Lord level, its assistance is even more negligible. Otherwise, the Cosmic Chaos Stele also corresponds to thirty floors of the Sky Bridge, yet the Cosmic lineage has the fewest cultivators!"

Gulanxiu thought about it. In the original story, even Bolan, with his talent, was considered overreaching by a group of King-level Immortals for cultivating the Cosmic Chaos Stele. This showed just how difficult it was to cultivate the Cosmic Chaos Stele, which was why it had the fewest cultivators.

If that was the case, then the reason the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet had the most cultivators must be its universality.

Thinking this, Gulanxiu asked uncertainly, "Universality?"

Barbarian Hammer King nodded and said, "Exactly! Universality! The Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is suitable for almost all cultivators of the Space Law. We King-level Immortals speculate that the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is not the path Giant Axe Founder took during his growth, but rather the path he looked back on after reaching his peak!"

After a pause, Barbarian Hammer King continued, "Through exchanges among us masters, we discovered that the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet has a total of fifteen directions. Each direction combines one of the Five Element Laws with the Space Law. Each person can only see the direction most suited to them through the Chaos Tablet, so the effects of cultivation also vary."