Time Flows

Clouds drifted slowly.

Fine raindrops fell, tapping against the leaves with a rustling sound.

Lord Ze on the recliner seemed to be asleep. Yet the raindrops could not land within three feet of him.

The maids in the courtyard had long grown accustomed to this. They simply went about their tasks quietly and carefully.

For over a decade, Lord Ze had rarely left the city except for a few days every now and then. Most of the time, he lay on that recliner. In recent years, he had stopped going outside the city altogether.

Wind, frost, rain, and snow—none could touch him.

Li Dui suddenly opened his eyes.

Right, this feeling was finally right. Twelve years, and at last, success.

The first secret art for analyzing the essence of the Law of Earth was complete.

Li Dui had spent seven years deeply analyzing the Law of Earth. Guided by the flowing earth light on the Ring, he believed it should possess forty-eight mysteries.

Unlike the Origin Law of Space, the Law of Earth, as a lower law, had its first six and middle twelve mysteries that did not require special analysis. They became self-evident during the process of comprehending the law.

Only the last thirty mysteries were deeply hidden, difficult to uncover by chance. Those who stumbled upon them would check the records and find that predecessors all said they were useless. Ignoring them did not affect power. Some spent a great deal of time analyzing them, only to discover no benefit after success.

It was somewhat like a cultivation experience—pointing those with problems toward the right path. Did you have the time to not analyze the mysteries of the Origin Laws of Space and Time instead? The results were excellent.

Five years of focused study, with the Hula Hoop's blessing, finally yielded the first of the last thirty mysteries.

The twelve years of preparation were not wasted. Li Dui believed the remaining twenty-nine would not be as difficult as the first.

He stretched lazily and immersed his consciousness in the Virtual Universe to check the emails he had ignored over the past few days.

Questions about secret art cultivation—he replied casually.

Qianshui, another meal invitation? Oh, the time had already passed. He sent a message saying he had been busy and would arrange the next one.

Oh? Jisa of the Mad Axe Secret Realm had passed the fourth floor of the Heavenly Bridge.

Normal. That guy had also passed the third floor in Chaos City. He had one more chance to study the Giant Axe Chaos Stele than those on the second floor. In this matter, one step ahead meant every step ahead.

I should go clear the fourth floor too, Li Dui thought.

In recent years, he had been immersed in cultivation. The monthly forced fusion of Xueluo Crystals to temper his will had stopped for over three years.

It wasn't laziness. It was simply no longer meaningful. During one tempering session, his will had likely broken through to a new level. After that, he could easily crush the killing intent in the third Xueluo Crystal.

And he couldn't cheat to fuse a fourth. If he wanted the 100,000 points from the second mission, he could only fuse three. They would be checked. Four would be too exaggerated.

Nothing important.

He had just been thinking about whether to clear the fourth floor of the Heavenly Bridge, but now he cast it aside. He sank back into stillness.

Time flowed like a shuttle. In the blink of an eye, sixty years passed quietly.

Decades were most of a lifetime for ordinary people.

But for a Universe Rank powerhouse with a lifespan of 100,000 years, Li Dui, immersed in cultivation, often went dozens of days without even opening his eyes.

The analysis of the Law of Earth went as Li Dui expected. After the hardest first step, the rest were relatively simpler. Basically, each mystery took one to two years to complete.

In about forty-nine years, Li Dui finished this work. Over the next eleven years, to create his third slash, Li Dui reviewed countless secret arts worth several thousand to ten thousand points. To experience such secret arts firsthand, he had to spend points.

Not expensive—the cheapest cost one point, the highest ten. About one-thousandth of the exchange value.

For this, Li Dui spent over 2,000 points.

Fortunately, the foundation he wanted was already there. His self-created third slash, though still short of expectations, barely reached the strength of the eleventh floor of the Heavenly Bridge.

Creating a secret art capable of passing the twelfth floor of the Heavenly Bridge using only the law insights from the first three diagrams of the Giant Axe Chaos Stele—that was indeed quite difficult.

"Master, there's an important email," Xiao Le prompted in the Virtual Universe.

Li Dui, who had been practicing his blade technique in the twelfth layer of clouds, stopped and immersed his consciousness in the Virtual Universe to check.

Title:

"The Giant Axe Martial Arena's centennial Universe Rank core member qualification battle is about to begin."

Oh, the qualification battle was starting? Li Dui casually opened it, revealing detailed rules and a schedule.

The content was lengthy. In short, the qualification battle would begin in one month. The War Axe Secret Realm had many Universe Rank core members—currently 3,777. There should have been 3,781, but four had died on missions in the past century.

Old members always couldn't resist attempting dangerous missions. Deaths were inevitable. Only four deaths in a century was considered few.

The ranks of these four were directly filled by those behind them.

Due to the large number, the qualification battle would be held in stages. First, members ranked 2,001–3,000 in the last qualification battle would compete with the 781 new members.

Of these 1,777 people, those ranked below 1,000 would all be demoted to reserve members.

Those ranked 701–1,000 would compete with the top 300 of the current reserve members for 300 core member slots.

After the slots were determined, these 1,000 core members would compete with those ranked 1,001–2,000 in the last battle for a second-stage ranking battle, deciding the new ranks 1,001–3,000.

In the third stage, those ranked 1,001–2,000 would compete with those ranked 1–1,000 in the last battle, deciding the new ranks 1–1,000.

The top 30 would compete with the bottom 30 core members of the Battle Axe Secret Realm for 30 slots.

So many people, so troublesome. Even a qualification battle required this many rounds. I might as well go to the Battle Axe Secret Realm, Li Dui thought.

He dragged it out until about thirty years ago, during a big gathering. Amid a crowd's jeering, he went to the Heavenly Bridge. One strike up there and he passed the fourth floor. He put on a show, fighting the fifth-floor guardian for a good while, only pretending to lose when the guardian pulled out its ultimate move.

That kind of "dominant" performance—let alone the rowdy young men and ladies who'd been egging him on—even surprised the overseer, Bafen.

Now he was universally acknowledged as a shoo-in for the top thousand.

Another thirty-plus years had passed. A little more improvement, clearing the fifth floor—that wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Since he'd clear the fifth floor anyway, charging into the War Axe Secret Realm was only logical, right?

Haha. Settled, then.

He opened his friend list, found a small group chat, and sent a voice message: "Luli, Water Girl, you free or not? Let's get some grilled big kidneys!"

Over the years, the three of them would meet up every so often to hang out. In the Virtual Universe, no fighting, no delving into secret arts—just entertainment. No need to invest too much consciousness. It didn't affect reality much.

"Not going. Who's going to grill some crappy big kidneys with you? Last time you stood me up, sis. I'm pissed."

Qianshui replied fast.

"If Water Girl's not going, I'm not going either."

Ever since Li Dui started calling Qianshui "Water Girl," Luliduo had gradually picked it up too.

"Uh... fine, tell me what it'll take to invite you two ladies." Li Dui was ready to bleed a little. The two-odd Hunyuan Units left in his own pocket had long been spent. He'd gotten Thor to spot him ten Hunyuan Units, with a promise to pay him back after the mission by selling the loot.

"Hey, you're the one who said name your terms! This lady will do you the favor. One D5 Set Meal from Zhenshan Restaurant each." Qianshui laid out her conditions.

"Huh? No way!... D5, what kind of face do I have left? At least go for a D8!" Li Dui spoke with a dramatic pause.

"Hahaha, fine, D8 it is. Spill it, kid—did you get rich again? Luli~ get ready to head out."

Qianshui laughed with unrestrained glee.