The Passage of Time

The clouds drifted slowly.

Fine raindrops fell, pattering against the leaves with a soft rustle.

Lord Ze seemed to be asleep in his lounge chair. Yet the raindrops never fell within three feet of him.

The maids in the courtyard had long since grown used to it. They simply went about their work quietly.

For more than a decade, Lord Ze had only occasionally left the city for two or three days. The rest of the time, he had spent lying in that lounge chair. In recent years, he had not even gone outside the city.

Wind, frost, rain, and snow could not come near him.

Li Dui abruptly opened his eyes.

That's it. This finally feels right. Twelve years, and I've finally succeeded.

He had completed his first secret technique for analyzing the essence of the Origin Law of Earth.

Li Dui had spent seven years delving into the Origin Law of Earth. Comparing it with the guidance of the Flowing Light of Earth on the Ring, he had concluded that it should contain forty-eight mysteries.

Unlike the Origin Law of Space, the Law of Earth was a Lower Law. Of its forty-eight mysteries, the first six and the middle twelve did not require special analysis. They became self-evident as one comprehended the law.

Only the last thirty were deeply hidden, and very difficult to uncover by chance. If someone did stumble upon one, they would look through the records and discover that the experts of the past had all said they were useless. They did not affect the law's power either way. Some had spent a great deal of time analyzing them, only to find no benefit even after succeeding.

It was a bit like a piece of cultivation advice: pointing someone who was stuck toward the right path. With that time, couldn't you analyze the mysteries of the Origin Law of Space or the Origin Law of Time instead? The results would be fantastic.

After five years of intensive study, aided by the Hula Hoop, he had finally analyzed the first of the last thirty mysteries.

Those twelve years of preparation hadn't been wasted. Li Dui believed the remaining twenty-nine would not be as difficult as the first.

He stretched, then sent his consciousness into the Virtual Universe to check the messages he had ignored over the past few days.

Someone had asked about cultivating a secret technique. He replied casually.

Qianshui was inviting him to eat again? Oh, it was already too late. He sent back a message saying he'd had something to do and would arrange it next time.

Oh? Jisa, a member of the Mad Axe Secret Realm, had passed the fourth level of the Heavenly Bridge.

That made sense. The guy had passed the third level while in Chaos City, too. He'd comprehended the Chaos Stele one more time than those who had only made it to the second level. This was how one step ahead meant staying ahead.

I should go pass the fourth level too, Li Dui thought.

In recent years, he had been so immersed in cultivation that he had even stopped forcibly fusing a Xueluo Crystal once a month to temper his will. It had been more than three years.

It wasn't because he was slacking off. It was simply no longer worthwhile. During one of his tempering sessions, his will must have broken through and reached a new level. Since then, he had been able to easily defeat the Killing Intent inside the third Xueluo Crystal.

But he couldn't cheat his way into fusing a fourth. If he wanted the hundred thousand points from the second task, he could only fuse three. They would inspect him afterward. Four would be a bit too outrageous.

There was nothing important to do.

He had just been wondering whether he should go pass the fourth level of the Heavenly Bridge, but the thought soon slipped from his mind. He sank into silence once more.

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, sixty leisurely years passed.

For ordinary people, a few decades made up most of a lifetime.

Universe Rank powerhouses lived for a hundred thousand years. Immersed in cultivation, Li Dui would often go dozens of days without even opening his eyes.

As Li Dui had expected, analyzing the Origin Law of Earth got much easier after the hardest first step. Each mystery took him about a year at best and two years at most.

After roughly forty-nine years, Li Dui completed the task. During the eleven years that followed, he watched countless secret techniques worth anywhere from a few thousand to ten thousand points, all in an effort to create his third blade. To experience secret techniques of this level firsthand, he had to spend points.

They weren't expensive. The cheapest cost one point, and the most expensive only ten, roughly one-thousandth of their exchange value.

Li Dui spent over two thousand points on them.

Fortunately, he had already laid the foundation he wanted. His third blade still fell a little short of his expectations, but it had at least reached the strength needed to pass the eleventh level of the Heavenly Bridge.

Creating a secret technique capable of passing the twelfth level using only the Law Comprehension from the first three diagrams of the Giant Axe Chaos Stele was indeed quite difficult.

"Master, you have an important message," Xiao Le prompted him in the Virtual Universe.

Li Dui stopped practicing his blade technique among the twelve layers of clouds. He sent his consciousness into the Virtual Universe to check.

The subject read:

"The Giant Axe Martial Arena's once-in-a-century Universe Rank Core Member Qualification Battle is about to begin."

Oh, the Qualification Battle was starting? Li Dui clicked on it without much interest. It contained the detailed rules and schedule.

The message was quite long. In short, the Qualification Battle would begin in a month. There were many Universe Rank Core Members in the Battle Axe Secret Realm, with 3,777 currently active. There should have been 3,781, but four had died while carrying out missions in the past century.

Among the older members, some would inevitably try their hand at more dangerous missions. Deaths were unavoidable. Only four in a century was a small number.

The four vacant rankings had been filled directly by the members below them.

Because of the large number of participants, the Qualification Battle would take place in stages. First, the members ranked 2,001 to 3,000 in the previous Qualification Battle would compete against the 781 newcomers.

Of these 1,777 people, everyone who finished below rank 1,000 would be demoted to a reserve member.

Those ranked 701 to 1,000 would compete with the top 300 reserve members for 300 Core Member spots.

Once those spots were decided, the 1,000 Core Members would compete in the second stage against the Core Members ranked 1,001 to 2,000 in the previous battle. They would determine the new rankings from 1,001 to 3,000.

In the third stage, those newly ranked 1,001 to 2,000 would compete against the members who had ranked 1 to 1,000 in the previous battle. They would determine the new top 1,000.

Finally, the top thirty would compete against the thirty lowest-ranked Core Members in the War Axe Secret Realm for thirty Core Member spots there.

Having so many people was a hassle. Even a Qualification Battle required so many rounds. I might as well go to the War Axe Secret Realm, Li Dui thought.

He had put it off until about thirty years ago, when he attended a big gathering. At the urging of a group of friends, he finally went to the Heavenly Bridge. He passed the fourth level with a single strike. Then he fought the fifth-level Gatekeeper for a while, making a show of it, until the Gatekeeper used a special move. Li Dui seized the chance to lose.

That "dominant" performance had surprised not only the friends who had egged him on, but even Guardian Bafen.

Now everyone agreed that he would inevitably rank in the top thousand.

Another thirty years had passed since then. It wouldn't be too much to improve a little and pass the fifth level, would it?

And if he passed the fifth level, heading for the War Axe Secret Realm would be only natural, right?

Haha. It was settled.

He opened his friends list and found a small group chat. He sent a voice message: "Luli, Shuiniu, are you free? Let's go grill some kidney!"

"Not going. Who wants to go eat those huge grilled kidneys with you? You stood me up again last time. I'm furious."

Qianshui replied at once.

"If Shuiniu isn't going, neither am I."

Ever since Li Dui had started calling Qianshui "Shuiniu," Luliduo had gradually started using the nickname too.

"Uh... all right, then. What will it take to get you two ladies to come?" Li Dui was ready to spend a little. He'd already spent the little over two Hunyuan Units he had left. He'd asked Thor for ten Hunyuan Units, promising to pay him back after the mission, once he sold the spoils.

"You're the one who offered to name your price! I'll do you the favor. One D5 Set Meal from Zhenshan Restaurant each," Qianshui demanded.

"What? No way!... A D5? What kind of favor is that? We should at least get a D8!" Li Dui said, pausing for effect.

"Hahaha, fine, D8 it is. Now come clean, did you get rich again? Luli, get ready to go!"

Qianshui laughed with unrestrained delight.