"Tsk, tsk, this is really nice. Much better than mine," Thor said admiringly.
"You call this nice? I heard that Senior Luo Feng was already living on a fragment of a star when he was in the Primordial Secret Realm. I can't even imagine how amazing the Original Secret Realm must be." Li Dui shook his head.
Thor glared at him. "Why compare yourself to a freak? Compare yourself to me. Look at Brother Hong and me. We've been here for almost ten thousand years, and I've never lived in the main building. Brother Hong only moved in recently. Ah, speaking of which, you're a little freak yourself. You're so young, yet you're much stronger than us."
"Hahaha! No, no, don't put it that way. I'm not that much stronger," Li Dui said, looking downright smug.
Hong and Thor were both in the Battle Axe Secret Realm, but they'd entered through a channel that recruited directly from internal members. It was similar to how candidates such as Special Grade Elites from the various lower tiers were sent up one level at a time. They were only provisional Core Members, and at most, the staff and servants would grudgingly address them as "Your Highness."
To become one of the three thousand Universe Rank Core Members in earnest, they still had to qualify by placing high enough in the Qualification Battle held every hundred years.
But Hong and Thor were only average when it came to aptitude for cultivating the laws. After ten thousand years, Thor was still struggling on the third level, and remained a little short of passing. Hong was a bit better, and his path as an illusionist warrior was rather unique, giving him an advantage in combat. He'd moved into the main building over a thousand years ago.
Li Dui knew, though, that the two old brothers might be slow, but they had staying power. They could keep cultivating without ever hitting a bottleneck. Otherwise, one wouldn't eventually become a True God and the other a Universe Master.
And that was just in the future. Even now, one of their teachers was a Universe Master and the other a Venerable. Their public reputations were all smoke and mirrors.
Li Dui's shameless attitude made Hong laugh. After a while, he asked, "You comprehended the Chaos Stele once more before leaving Chaos City. How did it go? Do you think you can hold on to your status in the Qualification Battle a hundred years from now?"
Li Dui pretended to think for a moment before replying, "A hundred years from now, I should at least be able to pass the fourth level."
Hong's eyes lit up. If Li Dui made that kind of progress, even if he fell out of the ranks, he could quickly climb back up. "That's good. Having a genius like you emerge is a wonderful thing for the Earth Lineage."
Thor looked delighted, too. "Just passing the fourth level won't be enough to keep you safe. You should try to get as far as you can. There are plenty of old hands among the provisional members who've passed the fourth level."
There were quite a lot of provisional members in the Battle Axe Secret Realm—probably more than ten times the number of formal members.
Provisional members were a feature of the lowest-tier secret realms. The next level up, the War Axe Secret Realm, had no such thing as provisional members. Their rights and benefits were far inferior to those of formal members.
The race had probably arranged things this way to avoid overlooking any hidden talent. They gathered up all the geniuses worth cultivating and gave them a chance. If you could advance, then you advanced. If you truly couldn't, so be it.
As the three chatted, Dafika came over and said that the administrator, Luosen, had brought some people to deliver something.
Li Dui immediately understood: the Nutrient Pod he'd requested had arrived.
A Nutrient Pod could rapidly strengthen the body until it reached the peak of Universe Rank, saving a great deal of cultivation time.
Seeing that Li Dui had things to take care of, Hong and Thor said their goodbyes and left. They'd both be staying in the Battle Axe Secret Realm from now on, so it would be easy to meet again.
After a lengthy installation and setup, Li Dui finally climbed into the pod. Just as he began to enjoy the boost the cold Nutrient Solution gave his cells, Xiao Le spoke up again. "Master, your father is requesting a call."
There's never enough time in the day for everything I have to do, Li Dui grumbled inwardly. Still, he quickly went to the Virtual Universe to answer the call.
Although he didn't feel all that close to his birth parents, Li Dui had accepted them quite naturally. But there were two other people who still made him feel a little awkward.
His original body's wife and son.
That was right. The original Li Dui was already over three hundred years old, and a particularly outstanding genius among the Earth Humans. He'd entered Star Rank at just over a hundred, but hadn't married until he was over two hundred. He'd already exercised considerable restraint; he really had devoted himself to cultivation.
Just look around: plenty of Earthlings at Planet Rank, and even ordinary wealthy people, had wives and concubines by the dozen.
The first time Li Dui met his family was about a year after he'd transmigrated. A man nearing a hundred had called him "Father," leaving him so mortified he could hardly stand it. He'd only been alive for a little over twenty years himself.
Fortunately, he saw them every few years after that, and gradually got used to it.
By now, thirty years in Chaos City had equaled a hundred years outside. His son, Li Xuan, was almost two hundred. He was a good kid, with none of the usual bad habits. He'd looked up to Li Dui from childhood and focused on cultivation. He also said he wouldn't consider marriage until he reached Star Rank, just like his father.
Unfortunately, Li Xuan wasn't as talented as Li Dui. He only reached Star Rank when he was over a hundred and fifty. Then his grandparents, unable to wait any longer, hurriedly arranged for him to get married. A few years later, he had a son.
The call ended after more than two hours. His parents and wife had heard that he'd arrived in the Battle Axe Secret Realm and were very concerned about how he was doing there. They asked him about everything, taking turns and leaving no detail untouched.
Over the years, Li Dui had sent his family around three Hunyuan Units more.
His grandson had finally broken through to Planet Rank not long ago and could now log in to the Virtual Universe.
When he met his grandson for the first time, Li Dui didn't hold back. He transferred another Hunyuan Unit to the family, telling them not to be stingy with money. They should lay a solid foundation and help everyone reach Star Rank safely.
By then, he didn't have much cash left.
He'd received a total of ten Hunyuan Units in prize money. When he left home, he'd kept 0.5 Hunyuan Units for himself. Including what he'd sent afterward, he'd given them around 4.5 Hunyuan Units in all.
Over the years, Li Dui hadn't spent much in the real world, but his expenses in the Virtual Universe had been considerable. He'd spent a little under three Hunyuan Units. Now he had only two-point-something left.
Fortunately, he still had some points.
While in Chaos City, he'd passed three levels of the Heavenly Bridge and earned ten times the usual points, for a total of 7,000.
He'd spent 1,000 on the Drifting Blood Manual. The rest was still in his hands.
There was no need to explain how important points were. Nobody ever complained about having too many. As for improving himself, Li Dui didn't need anything else. His best path forward was painstaking cultivation under the Hula Hoop's guidance.
In that regard, even the Giant Axe Chaos Stele was nowhere near as good as the Hula Hoop. What could points buy that was better than a Chaos Stele?
Even the Space-Time Essays Luo Feng had redeemed back then had cost a hundred billion points, and its effect was less than ten percent of a Chaos Stele's.
Besides that, everything else required points: weapons and equipment, plant life, Metal Lifeforms, spaceships, detectors, and so on. If you went out to have fun or explore, wouldn't you want a decent set of gear?
Look things up in the internal system, and you'd find that nothing was too expensive—there was always something more expensive.
If you thought you'd found the most expensive item, it just meant your clearance wasn't high enough. You weren't qualified to see anything better.
Before you continue