The Choice

Hong and Thor were also in the Battle Axe Secret Realm.

Hong had caused quite a stir by breaking through the Illusion Sea, leading the Lord of Virtual Gold to personally take him on as a named disciple.

As for Thor, he had been recommended by Hong. Under the arrangements of the Lord of Virtual Gold—the actual manager of the Giant Axe Martial Arena—he became the disciple of a Venerable-level master.

In terms of their state of mind, both of them were absolute super geniuses. Even if they were promoted directly to the God Origin Secret Realm, it would have been well-deserved.

However, because their talent in comprehending laws was somewhat lacking, the higher-ups likely feared that a rash promotion would be counterproductive. Thus, they kept the news under wraps and let them cultivate slowly within the Battle Axe Secret Realm. Nearly ten thousand years had passed since then.

The state of mind—it was a strange thing. It was powerful, certainly, but that was about it.

Otherwise, Hong, a peerless genius of the state of mind, had once stood high above the rest back on Earth, appearing almost like a god.

Yet, after spending some time in the universe, he encountered a woman who was merely "decent."

And his defenses crumbled.

Luo Feng, in order to back him up, had even rushed to break through to the Domain Lord rank to take up a post in the Ganwu Universe Country.

The original owner of this body had also known Hong and Thor. When he participated in the Genius Tournament, he had garnered the attention of Earthlings. Later, when he entered the final list of one thousand, the families of Hong and Thor had shared the news with them.

Therefore, not long after the original owner arrived at Raging Waves Island, Hong and Thor had come to visit him once to offer some guidance to their young fellow countryman.

Arriving at the reception hall, Li Dui waved his hand to dismiss the maid and greeted the two men on the sofa: "Senior Hong, Senior Thor."

Hong smiled and nodded.

Thor chuckled as he spoke: "Kid Li Dui, we aren't interrupting your cultivation, are we?"

"Not at all, not at all. I was just resting. If I cultivate every single day, my brain starts to turn to mush."

Li Dui replied as he walked over to the side bar.

With a few taps on the screen, the empty wine cabinet was suddenly stocked with several bottles of exquisitely crafted fine wine. A few plates of appetizers appeared on the dining table as well.

That was the beauty of the Virtual Universe; as long as you had the money, everything in the universe—food, drink, entertainment—could be instantly virtualized for you. The texture, the taste, and the experience were indistinguishable from the real thing.

Watching Li Dui set the wine and food on the coffee table, Thor asked: "How about it, kid? You've been cultivating in Chaos City for over a year now, how are the gains?"

"Quite a bit of improvement. But to say I've suddenly achieved something great? That's impossible. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been assigned to the 'Tofu' Secret Realm."

Hong and Thor immediately understood the pun on the Chinese word for "Tofu" (a play on the Battle Axe/Doufu name). They burst into laughter together. They were quite fond of this little fellow from their homeland.

Last time they met, they felt the kid was a bit reserved. This time, perhaps because they were more familiar with each other, they found him to be quite cheerful and lively.

"Don't be impatient, take it slow. You must also balance the improvement of your state of mind. Don't worry about wasting time; a higher state of mind will, in turn, help your cultivation," Hong said as he picked up the glass Li Dui had filled.

Hong meant well. The greatest asset of Earthlings was precisely this. He feared his young fellow countryman would become obsessed with increasing his raw power and lose the greatest advantage Earthlings possessed.

"Senior Hong is right, I will remember that," Li Dui nodded, acting obediently.

After speaking, he raised his glass to the two of them: "Seniors, please."

This bottle of virtual fine wine was worth one hundred billion universe coins, famous for its exquisite taste.

Thor picked up his glass, sniffed it, and then downed it in one gulp.

After savoring the aftertaste for a long moment, he let out a breath and said: "Whew! Good wine. You sure are generous, kid."

Hong also narrowed his eyes, experiencing the wonders of the wine.

"Hey, it's not often that two seniors come to visit me. I have to treat you properly. If you two came often, I wouldn't be able to afford this," Li Dui replied happily, picking up the bottle to pour more.

"Hahaha, good kid. We were worried you wouldn't be able to get by in this 'Tofu' Secret Realm. Now it seems we were just worrying for nothing," Thor pointed at Li Dui and laughed heartily.

Hong also smiled and said: "The Battle Axe Secret Realm is crowded and complicated. Some people have been here for many years. On the surface, things look fine, but in private, there is no shortage of all sorts of dirty dealings. You really must be cautious in your words and actions, and don't let yourself get dragged into unnecessary whirlpools of conflict. Our strength is limited, and we can't help you much. Of course, for these thirty years, you are still in Chaos City, so don't think about anything else; focusing entirely on improving yourself is what matters."

Although he and Thor held remarkably high actual status, on the surface, they were just inconspicuous members of the Battle Axe Secret Realm. They didn't intend to tell Li Dui about those special matters so soon.

Hearing this, Li Dui nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. He frequently raised his glass to toast them, and the atmosphere in the reception hall was excellent, filled with laughter from time to time.

Chaos City.

Residence.

Li Dui twisted his neck, causing it to crack. A Star Rank warrior certainly wouldn't feel any discomfort from sitting for a few days, but Li Dui still stood up to do some stretching exercises.

Another three months had passed. For a Star Rank warrior with a lifespan of over ten thousand years, a few months was, of course, nothing.

Yet, in this short time, a heaven-shaking change had occurred within Li Dui.

About a month ago, in the virtual world training grounds, Li Dui was finally able to fight the virtual original owner to a draw.

This meant that he had finally basically integrated the original owner's combat instincts. He truly possessed the combat power of a member of the Battle Axe Secret Realm.

At this point, some might ask: if he was already fighting to a draw, why was it still called "basically integrated"?

That was because Li Dui, a month ago, was actually significantly stronger than the original owner.

He was stronger in his comprehension of the laws.

The original owner had reached the threshold of the Earth Origin Law and grasped a trace of the Law of Space. Upon arriving at Chaos City and contemplating the Chaos Stele for seven days, he went to challenge the Heavenly Bridge.

On the first level, he only lasted for a little over a minute. After a year of contemplation, he had made significant progress, but he was definitely not at the level where he could pass the first level.

Li Dui had transmigrated here for about half a year. For the first two months or so, ninety percent of his energy had been spent on adapting to the body. He had only spent a few percent of his time contemplating the laws.

As a novice, although he had the guidance of the Ring, his comprehension was very clear. However, his understanding of the laws was too shallow, and whenever he encountered a problem, he had to recall the experiences of his original self. Therefore, in reality, his progress in the laws during those two-plus months was not significant.

Over the following three months, because his control over his body had already yielded results and he understood the importance of the laws, the time he spent contemplating them increased significantly.

This caused his progress in the laws to begin accelerating. By the time he could fight his original virtual self to a draw over a month ago, his actual comprehension of the laws had already surpassed his original self by quite a bit.

Only by bullying the weak could he achieve a draw, so it could only be said that he had achieved basic integration.

In the most recent month, Li Dui spent ninety percent of his time contemplating the laws, yet his strength did not increase much.

This was because he had discovered something new on the Ring, at a level that he could perceive.

Originally, he had the threshold of the Earth Origin Law plus a trace of the Law of Space. It stood to reason that he should just forge ahead along this path.

However, after becoming familiar with the state of contemplating the laws, he sensed eight other laws on the Ring besides Earth and Space.

Without needing to ask, Li Dui knew what they were. When added together, weren't they just the ten basic laws?

The Space-type: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

The Time-type: Wind, Thunder, and Light.

All ten laws were clearly indicated. Was this asking him to cultivate all the laws simultaneously?

At first, Li Dui did not think much of it and just naturally delved into these new laws.

The Ring was truly incredible. Although it was silent and would not actively give him anything, its clear manifestation of the laws was a significant help to Li Dui.

He comprehended the other laws smoothly as well. In just one month, the other seven Lower Laws were all mastered, and he even comprehended a trace of the Origin Law of Time.

Only then did Li Dui slowly awaken from his ignorance. He began to ponder whether he should continue down these ten paths simultaneously.

Doing so carried risks.

If he wasn't careful, he would be greedy and fail to digest everything, ultimately running out of time and failing to become an Immortal. For example, Hong's former teacher, that Time World Lord—Li Dui couldn't recall his name—was exactly like that. That person was likely still alive, and he didn't know if he had successfully stepped into Immortality.

Another point was that doing this was effectively slowing down his own growth.

Given the current situation, if he temporarily focused on the Earth and Space Origin Laws, his growth in strength would be much faster than cultivating all systems simultaneously.

When he reached the World Lord level in the future, with a lifespan of ten million years, and his Earth and Space laws had reached a certain height, he could then return to the path of cultivating all systems. He could try it for five or six million years and see.

If he could succeed, that would be best.

Because, assuming—just assuming, Li Dui thought—if one day he achieved transcendence, could pass through the cycle of reincarnation, and reach the Origin Continent, he would still have to embark on the path of multi-system integration if he wanted to continue improving.

Of course, things like passing through the cycle of reincarnation or what came after were too far away. They were not things he needed to consider now. Moreover, Li Dui understood that his vision regarding cultivation was still far from enough. Knowing the general direction mentioned in the original work had a certain guiding effect, but this was, after all, a real world. Doing it was much more complex, and every bit of his improvement required him to practice and create it himself.

If he found he truly couldn't proceed at that time, he would choose the one system he was most proficient in, focus on it, and become an Immortal first.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if he couldn't become an Immortal, then he simply didn't have that fortune.

As an ordinary person, he would have lived to be seventy or eighty anyway. Now, he could at least become a World Lord and live for ten million years; what else was there to be dissatisfied about? Li Dui thought to himself.

The decision to temporarily focus only on the Law of Earth and the Law of Space reminded him of one thing: analyzing the essence of the laws.

This was the path that King Zhen Yan had guided Luo Feng onto when he first arrived at Chaos City.

Li Dui did not fear the difficulty of walking this path. He felt that in terms of talent for the laws, his original self was at the level of a core genius, and he himself was now likely a top-tier genius.

After all, if he displayed his speed of comprehension, others would not know he had the "Ring" and would only assume his talent was extremely high.

Trying to analyze the essence of the Law of Space by blindly groping on his own would be too much of a waste of time.

He should follow Luo Feng's method and buy that secret manual.

Li Dui thought for a long time before he remembered the name of the secret manual and its creator.

Drifting Blood.

Lian Luo.

So the question arose: where was he supposed to get the points needed for this secret manual?

The reward for the Battle Axe Secret Realm was 3,000 points. His original self had spent 2,400 as soon as he got them. 900 points went toward a blade technique manual, and the other 1,500 were for the experience of an Immortal powerhouse regarding the Law of Space.

If Hong and Thor hadn't arrived in time to stop him, he would have spent all his points.

Consequently, Li Dui only had 600 points left, which wasn't enough to buy Drifting Blood.

Otherwise, should I go clear the first level of the Heavenly Bridge? he thought to himself.