Tulan City, Xin'an Residence.
Xiao No. 1 Courtyard.
It was one of the most expensive residences in Xin'an Residence.
The ascetic known as Lord Ze had arrived not long ago. He said that he had traveled through many worlds and, after reaching this place, had felt a calling to stay for a while.
Lord Ze had spent a fortune to rent the entire courtyard for ten years.
Li Dui reclined on a lounge chair beside the pond. Beneath the pavilion not far away, seven or eight maids played instruments.
The music was gentle. Li Dui slowly opened his eyes. It had been over thirty-seven years since he came to the Swallowed Star World. After spending some time adapting, he had decided to pursue the path of analyzing laws.
By now, he had fully comprehended all 108 mysteries of the Law of Space.
Just how astonishing was that speed? Luo Feng had spent about ten years analyzing the first mystery. Li Dui couldn't remember how long he'd taken for the rest. By that comparison, Li Dui had been at least a dozen times faster.
And that was while his comprehension of the Law of Space continued to improve at an astonishing pace.
All he could say was that the Ring was too powerful. By connecting to the Ring, he could devote half his attention to comprehending laws and the other half to analyzing their mysteries. With both approaches working in tandem, he made incredible progress on both fronts.
Li Dui had tried it. If he disconnected from the Ring and relied entirely on himself to analyze the mysteries, it would probably be... a hundred times harder? Two hundred?
That was still the better outcome. If he disconnected from the Ring and tried to comprehend the Law of Space by himself, it was a complete waste of effort. He wouldn't make any progress at all. Perhaps his comprehension of the Law of Space had already surpassed the limits of the Universe Rank.
As a result, he had no idea how quickly he was studying the Origin Law of Space and the combination of laws through the Ring.
He beckoned a maid and asked her to order the finest banquet from the main hall of Xin'an Residence. It was a good day, so he wanted to relax and celebrate.
Li Dui also started inviting his friends over in the Virtual Universe.
He invited Hong and Thor, then messaged the dozens of people in Jie Kui and Pananan's circle, one by one. Oh, and he invited Gaido too.
The kid was from the August Planet. Last time, Qianshui had told Li Dui that he was the son of one of her relatives and asked him to keep an eye on him.
Gaido had decent talent, but he was a little too young. He hadn't even turned a hundred during the Genius Battle. He'd had a chance to secure a place in the War Axe Secret Realm that year, but ultimately failed and ended up in the Battle Axe Secret Realm with Li Dui and the others.
Li Dui booked a private room at the Ten Thousand Languages Pavilion in the public area of Raging Waves Island, then poured himself a glass of fruit wine.
Hong said he had to cultivate, so he wouldn't be joining them.
Thor was the first to arrive. He was easygoing and never bothered about age or status. The moment he showed up, he started joking around with Li Dui. Li Dui called him senior, and Thor scolded him for it.
He said that when they'd both been at Star Rank, calling him senior had been fine. But now they were both Universe Rank. Why was Li Dui still calling him that? Was he trying to act younger?
Thor glared at him and forced him to drink three large cups before grinning and downing a cup himself.
Of the dozens of people they'd invited, more than ten had said they'd come. They arrived one after another.
Li Dui had no idea what Qianshui had told Gaido, but the kid was very fond of him. As soon as he arrived, he flashed his handsome smile and sat down beside Li Dui.
Pananan, the girl with breathing holes, tried several times to get Gaido to move so she could sit closer to Li Dui and ask him some questions. She failed every time. Frustrated, she grabbed a bottle and challenged Gaido to a drinking contest.
Li Dui enjoyed these leisurely moments. The universe was dangerous, and becoming strong was no easy feat.
Everyone present was an elite genius chosen by the Human Race. You'd expect each of them to have a bright future.
But according to the Giant Axe Martial Arena's internal records, only about five percent of the Mad Axe Secret Realm's members eventually became Immortal Gods. The figure was only 4.1 percent for the War Axe Secret Realm. And among the Battle Axe Secret Realm's Core Members, only 2.86 percent ultimately became Immortal.
Li Dui couldn't access the records for the God Origin Secret Realm. Its members' odds of becoming Immortal were certainly much higher.
There was no way around it. The geniuses gathered by the Giant Axe Martial Arena through every possible channel—those with real talent and good fortune who also managed to survive—would eventually be filtered into the God Origin Secret Realm. That was where the very best geniuses gathered.
Everyone present belonged to the Battle Axe Secret Realm. Less than three percent would still be alive ten million years from now.
No matter what, I'll become Immortal! He steeled his resolve, then pushed all such thoughts from his mind and joined in the revelry.
Happy times always flew by.
For members of the secret realms, cultivation and training were always the main themes.
Back in the real world, Li Dui began to consider what to do with the free hand left by his full comprehension of the mysteries of Space Essence.
Should he focus all his effort on creating his third blade? The difficulty wasn't too bad; it would involve only an initial exploration of combining laws. The main problem was that he didn't have enough examples to study. If he shut himself away and created it on his own, he could easily end up with something flawed.
More importantly, even if he succeeded and met his expectations—if he could pass the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge—so what? His combat strength wouldn't improve.
Should he create a movement technique of his own? That was something he'd inevitably have to do. The problem was that he didn't urgently need one yet. With his basic movement technique, combined a little with the Law of Space, dealing with Domain Lords was already easy.
Should he try analyzing the mysteries of the Lower Laws? The idea had come to him on a whim. He'd looked up plenty of information in the Virtual Universe System.
The Human Race was enormous, and its history stretched back a long way. Li Dui was certainly not the first to think of this. But all he could find were scattered remarks from a few people, and they were all warnings against it. He couldn't find a single reliable technique like Drifting Blood.
Of course, such techniques might exist. They might just be kept from children, lest they lead them astray.
There was no helping it. For a single Lower Law, reaching the eighth level of the Heavenly Tower earned recognition from its origin. Reaching the tenth meant fully comprehending it and becoming Immortal.
Beyond that, one had to focus relentlessly on the Upper Laws. Fully comprehending just one would make you a Venerable. If you wanted to advance further, that was the only proper path.
After becoming a Venerable, you could either focus relentlessly on another Upper Law or follow the Path of the Beast God. Both paths led toward becoming a Universe Master.
If neither path worked, you still had to do everything you could to master Fusion Laws and increase your combat strength as much as possible.
So what was the point of delving deeper into a single law? Why waste effort on it?
If Li Dui didn't know what he knew, he would have thought it was completely pointless too.
As for the original novel, it was an old book. Li Dui had read it years before he crossed over, so he couldn't possibly remember everything in detail.
As luck would have it, he did remember this particular part. In the future, during a title-level trial in the World of Jin, Luo Feng would encounter a top-tier sixth-level secret technique created using a single law.
Not a single Universe Master in the entire Universe Ocean could reach the sixth level through secret techniques alone.
So Lower Laws were not to be underestimated.
Analyzing the essential mysteries of the Lower Laws would be difficult, but he had to do it. He had to forge the path himself. Besides, he could learn from Lian Luo's approach. He refused to believe he couldn't make progress.
In that case, he'd focus on analyzing the essential mysteries of the Earth Origin Law, with creating his third blade as a secondary goal. In between, he'd work on a movement technique to change things up.
Li Dui thought, Looks like I had the foresight to rent this courtyard for ten years.
He'd need a quiet place to stay if he was going to forge his own path and analyze the mysteries of the origin laws.
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