Adaptation

"Welcome back, Master."

The voice of the residence's smart butler sounded right on cue as he stepped through the door.

Li Dui took a few strides over to the large sofa and sprawled out across it.

He had walked all the way back from the Healing Hall, a distance of several thousand kilometers. As a top human genius, he certainly wasn't physically exhausted, but the mental pressure was immense. He was terrified that someone might notice something off about him. Fortunately, he hadn't run into many people on the way, and those he did encounter were in such a hurry that they had no time to spare for him.

It was a good thing the original owner had chosen a residence close to the city gates. Had he chosen one near the City Lord Mansion, he wouldn't have known how long it would take to walk back.

What? You ask why he didn't fly back instead of walking?

He didn't dare.

There was no helping it; he had never flown before.

As it turned out, Li Dui had fallen asleep while soaking in the healing pod. He slept for nearly five days, and even after his injuries had fully healed, he hadn't woken up.

Old Man Mu, the manager, wasn't about to coddle him. He had simply hauled him out of the healing pod and kicked him out.

Li Dui had considered trying to experience the sensation of flight, but he was genuinely afraid he would go "Whoosh—CRASH" right into some wall. If someone asked him what happened, he wouldn't know how to explain it.

"Ah~~" Li Dui stretched his limbs and let out a long, satisfying yawn.

Five days of sleep. In that time, his soul and this body seemed to have fused quite well. At the very least, he felt nothing amiss when performing ordinary movements. But if you asked him if he had achieved full control, even Li Dui wouldn't believe it. He was just an ordinary person who had suddenly become a Star Rank warrior; could he really adapt to everything all at once? Could he cultivate and fight just like a normal Star Rank warrior?

How could that be possible!

This was only because the original owner hadn't been among the top-ranked geniuses in the Genius Battle and had dragged his feet until now without breaking through to the Universe Rank. Otherwise, it would have been even harder for Li Dui to master the body.

Don't let the fact that they were all among the top thousand geniuses of the Genius Battle fool you; the gaps between them were immeasurable.

Take Luo Feng's batch, for example. Bolan, who ranked first, passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge after thirty years in Chaos City. Luo Feng had also cleared the fifth level.

But what about the others? In a normal batch of geniuses, those who could pass the third level wouldn't exceed ten people. Those who passed the second level would only number around a hundred. Most people could only pass the first level of the Heavenly Bridge.

The original owner had intended to hunt a few Chaos Beasts and use their Chaos True Spirit to strengthen his soul before breaking through.

Who would have thought he would die in the process, allowing Li Dui to occupy the magpie's nest.

Li Dui planned to stay holed up in his residence. He wouldn't step out until he had mastered this body to the point where there were no flaws.

"Xiao Le, connect to the Virtual Universe."

Li Dui issued the command to his auxiliary AI.

His vision went black. When it brightened again, Li Dui was already sitting in the study of his private residence in the Virtual Universe.

The study's decor matched the aesthetic of an Earthling.

With the original owner's memories, Li Dui felt no sense of unfamiliarity here.

This was the virtual headquarters of the Giant Axe Martial Arena—Raging Waves Island.

Their batch of the Genius Battle should have been hosted by the Virtual Universe Company. But for some reason, shortly before the competition began, it was changed to the Giant Axe Martial Arena.

It wasn't until Li Dui entered the top thousand and became a genius of the peripheral secret realms that he heard rumors. It was said that the Venerable originally scheduled to preside over the competition was unable to fulfill their duties for some unknown reason.

Somehow, the higher-ups had simply asked the Venerable who presided over the previous competition to take on another term.

The Genius Battle and the Stronger Battle had always been held alternately by the Giant Axe Martial Arena and the Virtual Universe Company. It wasn't a matter of principle if one organization held it a few times in a row; it wasn't rare in history.

The Giant Axe Martial Arena also had four secret realms for cultivating geniuses: the God Origin Secret Realm, the Mad Axe Secret Realm, the Battle Axe Secret Realm, and the Fighting Axe Secret Realm.

These corresponded to the Virtual Universe Company's Original Secret Realm, Primordial Secret Realm, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, and Doomsday Secret Realm.

The status and treatment provided to the geniuses by the two major powers were basically identical, with only slight differences in their cultivation styles.

Relatively speaking, the Giant Axe Martial Arena's cultivation methods were more aggressive and brutal.

On Raging Waves Island, members of the Fighting Axe Secret Realm possessed exclusive residences. Each residence was about two li long and one li wide, fully equipped with all necessary facilities.

Walking out of the study, Li Dui intended to head to the training room to get a good workout in. This was the method he had devised to accelerate his process of adapting to the body.

The Virtual Universe was truly incredible. The trillions of races in the Primal Universe all envied this great treasure of humanity. Training here was almost indistinguishable from training in reality.

"Your Highness."

The study and the training room were not far apart. On the way, two young women who were cleaning bowed slightly and greeted him respectfully.

Li Dui smiled and nodded without saying a word.

As a member of the Fighting Axe Secret Realm, each person was assigned ten service staff in their residence to handle various chores. These people were ordinary members of the Giant Axe Martial Arena and did not belong to the core layer.

Arriving at the training room, he had the smart assistant adjust the space to ten kilometers by ten kilometers. The original five-hundred-meter by five-hundred-meter training room was barely enough for normal practice. Since Li Dui needed to conduct various experiments today, that space was far too small.

Increasing the size of the training room cost money. Fortunately, the price wasn't too high, and given his current wealth, he didn't really care. The prize for entering the Fighting Axe Secret Realm was 10 Hunyuan Units. After receiving the prize, the original owner had given a small portion to his family, and he hadn't spent much of the rest.

Taking a deep breath, Li Dui mobilized the origin energy within his body. The miniature star in his dantian emitted a repulsive force, causing his body to sway as it lifted off the ground.

He tried his best to control his body, slowly accelerating into flight.

Li Dui didn't know how to describe this feeling. If interpreted through his emotions, it was probably—freedom. It felt as if distance was no longer an obstacle and the sky was no longer the limit.

A joy from the bottom of his heart welled up.

He felt a mysterious sense of anticipation, looking forward to becoming stronger step by step and witnessing the beautiful scenery from even greater heights.

Up, down, left, right, B, A~~

Well, it was just a series of twists, turns, and aimless flying. When he got tired of flying, he would stop and perform various basic exercises according to the original owner's training methods. Occasionally, he would even try to activate the combat secret techniques the original owner knew.

Time is the cheapest commodity for a cultivator.

Before he knew it, more than two months had passed.

In these two months, Li Dui had gained a great deal. His control over his body was almost flawless. At the very least, in the Virtual Universe, provided he wasn't fighting anyone, he was confident that no one could tell anything was amiss.

As for fighting others, well...

It wasn't that he couldn't, it was just that he would be quite pathetic.

He simulated battles against himself in the training room. You really couldn't deny it; the original owner had lived for over three hundred years and had climbed his way to the Battle Axe Secret Realm step by step. His combat power was no joke—killing Li Dui was as easy as killing a chick. It was literally one slash, one kill, every single time.

Li Dui had been killed until he was numb. You have to understand that there is pain in the Virtual Universe. Even death has a sensation. Eventually, he had to accept the reality and customize a tool-man opponent in the Virtual Universe.

He started from the most basic Planet Rank level 1. This tool-man actually managed to slash him once before being hacked to death by Li Dui.

What? You ask why the original owner also used a blade?

After that genius battle involving Luo Feng, eighty percent of Earthlings who practiced martial arts used blades.

As for Li Dui, he had the original owner's foundation in blade work, and he didn't mind using one either. So, that was that.

He hacked his way up from Planet Rank level 1. Now, Li Dui could barely manage a difficult victory against a Star Rank level 5 tool-man who possessed a domain but no laws. The kind where he wins once out of every five matches.

The main issue was his poor combat awareness. A martial artist has too many things to consider during a fight: offense, defense, evasion, the application of domains, the application of laws, creating opportunities, seizing opportunities, how to press an advantage, how to endure a disadvantage, and so on. It really couldn't be explained in a sentence or two.

For him to achieve these results in such a short time, starting as an ordinary person, was already quite remarkable.

Of course, the primary factor for this effect was the original owner's experience. Li Dui was merely learning and absorbing it.

On the virtual mountain peak in the training room, he withdrew his gaze from the distance. Li Dui downed a mouthful of wine and let out a refreshing, long sigh. Being busy made one feel fulfilled. That was why he rarely stopped his training these days.

Because the moment he stopped, his longing for his original world would pounce on him, tearing at his heart and mind. His parents, relatives, friends. This parting was likely a farewell for all eternity.

He missed his parents the most, of course. His soul had transmigrated here, so the body left in his original world must be nothing more than a cold corpse by now. His parents must be heartbroken. Fortunately, he had a younger brother who could serve them in his stead.

Another gulp, and he finished the wine in the bottle.

Loneliness was another problem Li Dui had to face.

"Xiao Le, search for a person, location Chaos City, name Luliduo."

Since he was presentable enough now, it was time to thank Miss Luliduo, who had given him a helping hand.

"Yes, Master. Searching for you now."

The auxiliary AI's voice was cheerful.

Soon, Luliduo's information appeared on the virtual screen in front of Li Dui. The information was very concise. It only listed her name, race, status, strength, when she joined the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company, and so on.

That was all. There was also a button to add her Virtual Universe ID. There wasn't even a photo.

This was only because Li Dui was a core member of the Giant Axe Martial Arena and had certain privileges. Ordinary people wouldn't have this luxury.

"Jieluo Race? Hmm? This woman is from the same batch as Luo Feng? I haven't heard the name before.

She is a Domain Lord, yet she has only passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge. That's a bit weak; it doesn't seem like the standard for the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm. She must have just broken through to Domain Lord and applied to come to Chaos City for cultivation."

Li Dui pondered to himself.

He clicked the button to add the Virtual Universe ID. He could choose to send the request via video, voice, or text.

He chose the voice option.

"Miss Luliduo, I'm that kid you saved at the city gate last time. My name is Li Dui. Do you think I could thank you in person when you're free? If you don't think meeting in Chaos City is appropriate, we can do it in the Virtual Universe too. Please accept if you receive this, thank you."

Sending... Success.

"A Le, search for the Jieluo Race."

Li Dui wanted to see what this race looked like so he could be mentally prepared and avoid being rude when they met.

The information found this time was more extensive. It said they were a powerful race from the Boyu Universe Kingdom, with quite a bit of influence there. Below that was a lot of information about some of the race's powerhouses, their assets, specialties, and a whole list of grudges and entanglements with other forces and races. Li Dui ignored all of that. He was mainly here to see what they looked like.

He looked at the 3D image. The Jieluo Race looked almost identical to Earthlings. The only difference was a set of secret patterns on both sides of their bodies, as well as on their arms and legs. The patterns looked a bit like abstract, baring-fangs-and-brandishing-claws dragons. The dragon heads all faced downward, and the tails faced upward. The two on their bodies had dragon heads at the waist, with the tails extending up to the jawline.

Sweet.

Li Dui was very relieved. Although ape-men, wolf-men, eight-eyed, or six-legged beings were indeed members of the human race, and he didn't discriminate against their appearances, it was still most comforting to see someone who looked like him.

In fact, the appearance of Earthlings was quite common among humans in the universe.

His rest over, he stood up and was about to customize a tool-man opponent for another round when the maid in charge of his residence sent a call.

Usually, they wouldn't disturb Li Dui's cultivation, so something must have come up.

He connected, and the maid's respectful voice rang out: "Your Highness. His Highness Hong and His Highness Thor are here to visit."

"Please show them to the reception hall. I'll be there immediately."