Fundamentals of Secret Arts

Virtual Universe.

Study.

Li Dui picked up the tablet computer customized to his habits. He logged into the internal system and clicked on the Treasury.

Eight categories appeared on the screen.

Secret Techniques, Weapons, Rare Treasures, Technological Weapons, Materials, Tools, Biologicals, and Other Special Items.

He clicked on Secret Techniques.

Below were dense lists of secret technique types: different Origin Law systems, various weapon categories, soul-based, movement-based, combat-based, and a whole host of others.

Li Dui directly searched for "Earth Origin Law, Origin Law of Space, Blade-type, Attack."

He had always presented himself as having an affinity for Earth and Space, so for the time being, he could only use these two.

He clicked search. A vast array of secret techniques popped up. Some of the expensive ones cost tens of millions of points.

Li Dui had no choice but to add a restriction: "Under 100 points."

In any case, he wasn't here to find his main combat techniques. Currently, the strongest secret technique he could display in public was only the Giant Axe First Blade, a technique derived from the Giant Axe Chaos Stele.

As for his true strength... he had no secret techniques. He simply infused his attacks with the power of the laws and hacked away.

What he was looking for were cheap, unique techniques that could provide inspiration for his own creations.

As it happened, being unique and innovative was essentially the standard for the internal system's collection of these low-level techniques.

Ordinary secret techniques created by Immortals usually sold for 10,000 points. You could imagine how weak a technique that cost only a few dozen or even a few points must be.

Each set of secret techniques came with a holographic projection of its execution. If you were willing to spend Universe Coins, the Virtual Universe could even simulate a dummy for you to experience the power of the technique firsthand.

Li Dui habitually kept half of his focus on the Ring. He watched seven or eight sets of secret techniques in a row. Among them, two or three gave him a slight feeling, allowing him to roughly guess the creator's train of thought or direction.

That was enough; it was exactly what he wanted.

He ran to the training room and topped up his account. He had the Virtual Universe system generate dummies for these eight sets of techniques and made them attack him one by one.

This time, he felt something from a full six of them.

"Then why would I buy them? Isn't it better to just get them for free?"

Yes, in Li Dui's view, as long as he only spent a few Universe Coins to achieve his goal, it was essentially free.

Even if a set of secret techniques only cost 5 points, that was cheap enough, right?

The problem was that 5 points could be exchanged for 5 Hunyuan Units. It was just that there was nowhere to exchange them for the time being.

Right, Li Dui suddenly thought. If he really wanted to exchange them, he could go to Hong; he would definitely have a way.

He fought the dummies one by one. Once he had collected ten techniques that gave him a sense of inspiration, he stopped. He slowly pondered the ideas of these creators, occasionally practicing them himself.

Keeping half his focus on the Ring to comprehend the laws while spending the other half studying secret techniques was indeed about 30% less efficient than focusing on one thing at a time.

But combined, the gains were massive.

Creating a secret technique is essentially releasing the laws you have comprehended in a specific way. The difficulty lies in what kind of effect you want to achieve.

You might want the technique to make your attacks more penetrating.

You might pursue area-of-effect attacks while trying to maintain their power.

You might want your attacks to be faster.

You might want your multiple attacks to have a stacking effect. You might want to achieve power that exceeds your own comprehension of the laws, and so on and so forth.

Li Dui's level in secret techniques was not low.

He had fully mastered the Giant Axe Third Blade. In terms of law-based power alone, this had already crossed into the Immortal level.

Of course, this was only within the Heavenly Bridge, where physical attributes were restricted. In reality, his power was still far from the Immortal level.

Now that Li Dui looked back at these techniques, which could be called crude, they certainly didn't seem very difficult. It was just that before, he could only rely on the Giant Axe Three Blades and his own exploration to create his techniques.

Now, he could draw nourishment from the flashes of insight of countless predecessors.

He imagined the secret techniques he was about to create. The first and second sets would be similar to the first and second axes the Giant Axe left on the Chaos Stele. The third set should have higher aspirations.

This was not a mindless desire to surpass the Giant Axe.

The secret techniques left behind by the Giant Axe were high-level guidance.

A mere hint was enough. It wasn't that the Giant Axe only had this level of skill. It was just that if he went any deeper, you wouldn't be able to understand it.

Once the third axe on the Chaos Stele was fully mastered, one could pass the tenth level of the Heavenly Bridge.

Li Dui imagined that his true third blade should initially involve the combination of laws. Its power should reach the level required to pass the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge.

That was still a long way off. Currently, his own first blade couldn't even pass the third level of the Heavenly Bridge.

Watching, experiencing, thinking, and attempting. At the same time, he continued to comprehend the laws. Such days were busy and fulfilling.

Li Dui didn't even notice that his different circumstances and different life had subtly changed him.

The nearly endless energy of a Universe Rank powerhouse allowed him to indulge in the pleasure of improvement during his almost sleepless cultivation.

"Swish." "Swish." "Swish."

Blade flashes crisscrossed in the air.

Li Dui swung his long blade alone. He could not commission any tools or assistants with strength beyond the fourth level of the Heavenly Bridge at the Universe Rank. Money was useless; his clearance was insufficient.

In just a few short days, his first blade technique was perfected. It was perfectly on par with the Giant Axe First Blade, utilizing his comprehension of the first three levels of laws to achieve power capable of clearing the fourth level.

Creating the second blade from scratch took him less than a year. Although he had not truly unleashed it yet, the technique had already taken shape within his mind.

He was confident that it could likewise match the Giant Axe Second Blade and clear the Seventh Level Heavenly Bridge.

As for the Giant Axe Third Blade, he had never once practiced it in the Virtual Universe, let alone attempted to unleash the full power of the Origin Law of Space.

The greatest power he had currently demonstrated in the Virtual Universe consisted only of components or incomplete moves of his second blade. It was roughly enough to clear the fifth level of the Heavenly Bridge; he should not be attracting any significant attention.

Li Dui recalled the system email he had received over ten days ago. Xiao Le had reminded him at the time, but he had been at a critical moment of creating his second blade and had ignored it.

The email was rather long, essentially stating: You people have been in the secret realm for a full year now. You have been here for so long, yet every one of you is just hunkering down in your nests. Not a single person has gone to accept missions, venture out, or compete for resources.

Do you think you can become powerhouses just by hiding in your rooms and cultivating? Do you think your talent is that high?

In my Battle Axe Secret Realm, there are only 3,000 spots for core members of the Universe Rank. Currently, there are over 3,700 of you. In the next qualification battle, all of you will be eliminated and demoted to reserve members.

Are you content with that? If you are not, then hurry up and go hone yourselves, go fight. Every true super-existence has risen from countless battles.

Li Dui nearly died laughing as he read it. Some of the phrasing in the email was quite aggressive; it was practically pointing at their noses and calling them a bunch of trash. Can you really cultivate anything worthwhile by hiding here every day?

He had to admit, they had a point. Going out to fight to the death and walking on the edge of a blade every day might not guarantee one becomes a super-existence. However, every one of those super-existences had indeed waded through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, rising from endless slaughter.

The balance in this matter was something that needed to be carefully managed.