Assessment

Inside a room on the spaceship, Gulanxiu connected his consciousness to the optical brain Cal had given him and began comprehending that axe technique.

He saw a man covered in scales with a dragon tail, wielding a giant axe as he chopped at a towering mountain ahead, shouting, "Split Mountain!"

As the man swung the axe, the blade trembled slightly, and space itself seemed to warp. The mountain before him split apart as smoothly as tofu, cleaved cleanly in two.

The man withdrew his axe and stood upright, a faint smile on his lips, then began explaining the various details of the strike.

After a moment, Gulanxiu slowly opened his eyes and said excitedly, "So that's it! I see now how crude my use of the laws has been. With the same level of law comprehension, this man's attack power is two to three times stronger than mine! If I can master this move, my strength will improve!"

Without delay, Gulanxiu immersed himself in practicing the axe technique. Though the spaceship's interior was too cramped for real practice, the optical brain Cal had given him could connect to the virtual universe, so he could train there.

Time flew by, and half a year passed in the blink of an eye. Gulanxiu, deep in cultivation, was roused by Cal, as they were about to arrive at the headquarters of the Axe Fighting Arena in the Gulun Cosmic Kingdom.

The spaceship gradually decelerated and soon returned to the original universe. Before them lay a massive planet with a distinctly technological style. Gulanxiu, who had often fought on stars, could tell at a glance that this planet's diameter was at least a thousand times that of an ordinary star.

The space outside the planet was filled with all kinds of technological weapons. Gulanxiu could clearly sense that each of these floating weapons could easily destroy the ship they were riding in.

Fortunately, Cal had apparently filed a report in advance. Guided by a docking signal, she quickly piloted the ship to a berth, parked it, and stored it in her world ring.

As soon as he set foot on the ground, Gulanxiu felt the immense gravity of this planet. Though it didn't affect him much, he could tell that under this gravity, humans below the stellar level couldn't survive, and those below the cosmic level couldn't fly.

Cal said to Gulanxiu, "This is the Ancient God Star, the headquarters of the Axe Fighting Arena in the Gulun Cosmic Kingdom. I've already applied for your assessment clearance. Now follow me for a scan, and then you can take the test."

Gulanxiu nodded. After all, everything was arranged by Cal; he just had to do as she said.

Soon, Cal led Gulanxiu into a tall building. She was clearly familiar with the place. After speaking with the staff, a young woman with wings on her back guided Gulanxiu to a sealed room.

After a scan in the room, a mechanical voice announced, "Cosmic level eight, scan passed!"

Seeing no issues, Cal arranged for Gulanxiu to enter an empty room and said to him, "Good! Now, immerse your consciousness in the virtual universe, and you can begin the assessment. No one will disturb you here. I hope you pass. Good luck!"

With that, she turned and left the room.

Gulanxiu sank his consciousness into the virtual universe and found a new teleportation coordinate there. Without a second thought, he teleported over.

At the same time, a mechanical voice sounded in his ear: "Examinee Gulanxiu, before you stand seven towers, each with seven floors. Your task is to clear all seven towers. If you can clear the fourth tower, you may join the core layer of the Axe Fighting Arena's Fourth Secret Realm. If you clear all seven towers, you may enter the core First Secret Realm directly. The assessment begins now! Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

With that, Gulanxiu was teleported to a vast plain. A virtual watch appeared on his arm, displaying: "First Tower, First Floor: 10,000 Bloody Woolly Mammoths!"

Gulanxiu smiled faintly. This assessment was just like the universe's pinnacle genius battle. Of course, since he was at the cosmic level, the beasts' strength would likely be scaled up accordingly.

It was a good chance to make up for missing the pinnacle genius battle because he had been a slave.

As he thought this, the ten thousand Bloody Woolly Mammoths charged. Thousands of beasts stampeded together, making the entire earth tremble. A cosmic-level expert with weaker resolve might have gone weak in the knees by now.

But none of this affected Gulanxiu. After all, even Cal believed he had a high chance of passing the assessment. How could he fall at the first hurdle?

Gulanxiu swung his giant axe, each strike cleaving a Bloody Woolly Mammoth in half at the waist.

The ferocious horde of Bloody Woolly Mammoths was no match for Gulanxiu. In moments, more than half were lost.

Fortunately, since these Bloody Woolly Mammoths were simulated by the virtual universe, even after heavy losses, they didn't flee in fear but kept charging at Gulanxiu.

This saved Gulanxiu a lot of time. Before long, he had killed all the Bloody Woolly Mammoths. Unlike Luo Feng from the original story, Gulanxiu didn't have a Mosha clan clone as a cheat, so his strength wouldn't skyrocket in a short time. He didn't bother staying the full ten days but cleanly slew the last mammoth and moved to the second floor.

In the blink of an eye, several dozen days passed. Gulanxiu had reached the seventh floor of the fourth tower. After entering the fourth tower, his pace slowed noticeably. The opponents on this floor had all comprehended a hint of the laws, making them far stronger than those in the previous three towers. Even Gulanxiu felt a bit strained.

Still, it was within his limits. With sharper attacks and greater speed, he managed to kill each opponent one by one, though it took more effort.

Now only the final opponent remained: the Zerg Queen. Despite his experience from the previous three towers, the Zerg Queen gave Gulanxiu a hard time. Her ability to spawn troops was too fast, and Gulanxiu's comprehension of the space laws didn't lean toward teleportation, so his speed wasn't exceptional, making the fight troublesome.

Fortunately, Gulanxiu had a strong will and his law comprehension, though he hadn't trained in soul defense techniques, was enough that the Zerg Queen on this fourth tower couldn't shake him.

The Zerg Queen, stuck inside her nest, moved even slower. Defeat was only a matter of time. Sure enough, Gulanxiu spent just two days carving a bloody path through the swarm to reach the Zerg Queen.

Gulanxiu raised his giant axe high and shouted, "Split Mountain!" The axe blade twisted slightly as it came down like a mountain crushing a top, striking the nest.

The entire nest, along with the Zerg Queen inside, was split in two by Gulanxiu's single axe blow.