Luliduo stared at the big screen, feeling somewhat dazed.
Was this the same kid who was always slouching, never knew how to stand or sit properly, grinned like a fool at the drop of a hat, and always had a slick answer ready?
Qianshui kept her eyes fixed on the screen, but chattered to Luliduo through telepathy the whole time. "How is he so powerful?" "Why did he keep it from us?" "Why hasn't he admitted defeat yet?" "Oh, he got hit again." "He's having such a rough time."...
King Huansha watched the big screen and sent an email to ask the Venerable whether she could send Li Dui an email herself. She was afraid that Li Dui would soon be swamped with emails and might not notice hers.
The invincible King Rank masters of the Giant Axe School watched the big screen, all wondering how they could lure the kid over and get him to accept one of them as his teacher.
While everyone was occupied with their own thoughts,
The twelfth-floor Gatekeeper, who had long been seething with fury, roared, "Die!"
He had thought that, even if he gave it everything, the young man would last at most twenty moves.
Instead, Li Dui had dragged it out for nearly two hundred. Now, at last, the Gatekeeper had backed him into a dead end, leaving him nowhere to dodge.
Li Dui smiled faintly. With his face covered in blood, his smile looked somewhat savage.
He let the axe come down toward his neck and swung his long blade with all his might.
Just before he died, he caught sight of the Gatekeeper's left palm flying through the air.
The challenger had failed to pass the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
Everyone turned to look at the island's resurrection point.
No one else had tried the Heavenly Bridge in quite some time. The person who appeared there could only be Li Dui.
A figure materialized, and then—nothing. Li Dui teleported away at once.
King Huansha was the first to teleport away after him.
The other powerhouses above the Immortal level left in turn as well.
Many of the spectators in the plaza teleported away, but plenty stayed behind, gathering in groups and chatting excitedly.
"Master, Venerable Meng Yu has sent you an email."
"Master, King Huansha has sent you an email."
"Master, King Shuiyan has sent you an email."
"Master, King Canyue has sent you an email."
"Stop, stop, stop. Turn off the voice alerts," Li Dui ordered. He had previously set it to give him a voice alert whenever someone above the Immortal level emailed him, so he wouldn't miss anything important while cultivating.
He first checked the messages from Hong, Thor, Jie Kui, Gaido, and the others. He replied that he had something to take care of and would catch up with them another time.
Then he opened the group chat with the two young ladies. Huh, so quiet? Not a single message.
Li Dui chuckled and sent a voice message. "So, how handsome was I today?"
Both replied instantly, in text.
Qianshui sent a bloodstained longsword.
Luliduo sent an expression of exasperation.
"Hahaha, I'll leave you two alone for now. I've got a lot to do. We'll catch up later."
The two girls knew he had a lot on his plate right now, so they simply ignored him.
He opened Venerable Meng Yu's email. It was short and to the point: "Come see me when you're done."
Couldn't you at least give me a teleportation portal? Li Dui grumbled inwardly. He looked for King Huansha's email.
Sure enough, he found a teleportation coordinate there. He clicked it and confirmed the teleportation.
His vision went dark, then brightened. King Huansha was standing nearby.
Li Dui bowed slightly in greeting. "King Huansha."
"Mm. Come with me to see the Venerable." King Huansha's manner was quite gentle.
The two walked toward the towering temple not far away.
At the temple entrance, an Immortal guard gestured for them to enter. "Please go right in. The Venerable has been waiting for you."
Li Dui nodded to him in acknowledgment, then followed King Huansha into the temple.
Deep inside the majestic temple, Venerable Meng Yu sat on her throne. She waited until they approached before slowly opening her eyes.
Li Dui bowed. "Greetings, Venerable."
Venerable Meng Yu's expression was impassive, but there was a hint of approval in her eyes.
By now, she had already investigated everything that could be found.
Li Dui had originally been no more than an ordinary member of the Battle Axe Secret Realm. He had even nearly died in Chaos City. He had only been lucky enough to be discovered by a young Domain Lord girl from the Virtual Universe Company's Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, who sent him to the Healing Hall and saved his life.
None of this was a secret, and there were records to prove it.
The Healing Hall's archived records confirmed that without timely treatment, his injuries at the time would have been fatal.
Who would have thought that his brush with death would have opened his eyes? In just a little over a century, he had risen to the heavens. He was now only a step away from becoming a benchmark genius of the Human Race.
The recognition of the Earth Origin Law was rare, but not extraordinary. Certain fortuitous encounters or treasures could achieve the same result. Reaching the ninth level of the Heavenly Bridge in the Origin Law of Space was impressive—better than the so-called geniuses who appeared once every ten thousand eras.
But combining law comprehension with talent and secret technique training to create a talent was simply outrageous. With only the law comprehension of someone at the ninth level of the Heavenly Bridge, he had created a secret technique that let him pass the eleventh level with ease. What's more, his willpower was formidable.
Venerable Meng Yu had examined the secret technique. It was crude, extreme, and riddled with flaws and unreasonable elements. Yet it still possessed such immense power. Given time, as his law comprehension improved, the technique might truly let him pass the twelfth level of the Heavenly Bridge.
Among the benchmark geniuses of the Human Race, only a minority could pass the twelfth level with secret techniques alone. Most relied on other forms of support or burst techniques.
Unfortunately, she had found no sign that he was fusing laws. But if he had already shown a talent for law fusion at his age, he wouldn't have ended up under my command. Venerable Meng Yu smiled wryly to herself. This was fine as it was. He had the potential to become a King-level Immortal at the very least. He might even become a Venerable one day and stand alongside me. He would be a great asset.
"Li Dui, you're quite impressive. If you ever find yourself in difficulty, you may come to me." Venerable Meng Yu's voice was cool, though her words were gentle.
Li Dui felt relieved. If the Venerable had brought up that matter just now, he wouldn't have been able to refuse. Otherwise, he would have seriously offended someone.
"Thank you, Venerable. I do have something I'd like to ask you to grant." He bowed once more.
King Huansha smiled and nodded beside him. The kid was pretty clever.
"Go ahead." Venerable Meng Yu raised her delicate chin slightly, curious to hear what Li Dui wanted.
Li Dui hurriedly said, "I've made rapid progress over the past century or so, and I've also had some fortuitous encounters. I just don't know how long this momentum will last. If one day my progress slows, may I come and ask to become your disciple, so I can learn from you?"
King Huansha was utterly astonished. What did he mean? So, he was making rapid progress now and wanted to do his own thing. If he ever stopped progressing, he would come running to rely on the Venerable and ask to become her disciple?
She had assumed that when Li Dui said he had a favor to ask, he meant to request a place under the Venerable. She couldn't understand why he would put it this way.
Venerable Meng Yu was also a little puzzled. But as a Venerable, why would she take such a small matter to heart? If it weren't her turn to oversee this Genius Battle, Li Dui would have belonged under her command anyway. She wouldn't have paid any attention to the rise of some young genius.
Not unless that rising genius had become powerful enough to earn even her attention.
Perhaps Li Dui was proud and didn't want to be controlled. Or perhaps he was confident that his exceptional talent would let him become a powerhouse on his own. Maybe he was hiding some secret and was afraid others would discover it.
Either way, what did it matter to me?
"Granted." Venerable Meng Yu's expression and tone did not change.
Before you continue