Was his comprehension slow?
Fine, I won't play with you anymore.
Li Dui made up his mind. He couldn't advance to Domain Lord Rank just yet.
Besides, even Li Dui himself had been frightened by how fast he'd been comprehending things before.
Think about it: when had the Law of Space first acknowledged Luo Feng?
Li Dui couldn't remember exactly. But one thing was certain: it had been after he entered the Star Tower.
At the time, Luo Feng had been around eight or nine thousand years old and had already been a World Lord for many years. Luo Feng had been an absolute monster even back then.
Originally, Li Dui had planned not to touch any laws other than earth and space until he reached World Lord.
Plans never kept up with change.
Since he couldn't make any progress with the Law of Space now, he'd go play around with the Law of Time, Li Dui thought.
And not just the Law of Time. He'd also dabble in the other Lower Laws whenever he had time.
This decision meant that for a while, there'd be no increase in the upper limit of Li Dui's combat strength.
But it didn't really matter. As he'd said before, there was no point in having a high output when his body was too weak to handle it.
He left half his focus to comprehend the Origin Law of Time.
He'd only just settled into it when Xiao Le alerted him again, saying that an email had arrived from the Giant Axe Martial Arena system.
Li Dui glanced at it. He already had seven unread emails, all notifications about points being awarded. He opened them one by one.
"Congratulations, Li Dui. You have passed the fifth level of the Heavenly Bridge and earned 1,600 points. Keep up the good work, and we hope you pass the sixth level soon."
"Congratulations, Li Dui. You have passed the sixth level of the Heavenly Bridge and earned 3,200 points. Keep up the good work, and we hope you pass the seventh level soon."
The seventh level was worth 6,400 points, and the eighth was worth 12,800. The points doubled with each level. Li Dui had earned 203,200 points in total. Adding the 800 points he'd received for passing the fourth level long ago, his total came to 207,528.
Oh, not bad.
He opened the email that had just arrived.
"Li Dui, member of the Battle Axe Secret Realm. In light of your outstanding performance, and at the request of your supervising Venerable, the Giant Axe Martial Arena will raise your system privileges, effective immediately. Your privileges will be upgraded from Universe Rank privileges in the Battle Axe Secret Realm to Domain Lord Rank privileges in the God Origin Secret Realm."
Wow, what a nice surprise. Li Dui had originally planned to wait until he needed to advance Xi to World Lord, then pass the Battle Axe Heavenly Mountain and Mad Axe Heavenly Mountain, working his way into the Mad Axe Secret Realm.
Not for any other reason than that purchases made with points in the Mad Axe Secret Realm came with a twenty percent discount.
Now he wouldn't have to go stir up trouble. Purchases in the God Origin Secret Realm came with a thirty percent discount. Venerable Meng Yu had really come through for him. She'd even given him Domain Lord Rank privileges. The discount was the same for Domain Lord Rank and Universe Rank members, but Domain Lord Rank privileges allowed him to look up more information and buy more things.
Li Dui would remember this favor.
He immediately began searching for treasures that could increase a Universe Rank fighter's Gene Multiplier.
As expected, there was very little information. The few lines he found were vague and unhelpful.
That was just how it was with this sort of thing. He couldn't find it just by entering a couple of keywords. He'd have to sift through a vast amount of information. Some of it was in secret-realm descriptions, some in records about mission worlds, and some buried in the accompanying notes when a particular item was mentioned. And all of it was shrouded in mystery, as if they were afraid he'd find out.
Forget it. There was no need to rush. He'd keep looking later. Li Dui calmed himself and focused on comprehending the Law of Time.
The clone in the clouds slowed down and descended toward the ground.
Virtual Universe, luxurious private box.
"Oh!" Qianshui raised her arms and cheered in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Looking down through the window, they could see tens of millions of seats packed close together, surrounding a massive arena.
The seats were nearly full, and most of the audience were shouting wildly, just like Qianshui.
Li Dui was a little speechless. The game was called Tabo, a competitive sport somewhat like soccer or basketball. Two teams of thirty players battled fiercely against each other. It was popular in some Universe Countries.
The match underway was a fairly high-level one. All the players were Universe Rank.
The sport was popular in Qianshui's Universe Country. She'd watched it since she was little and loved it.
Li Dui and Luliduo had accompanied her to watch it many times.
"Shuiniu, I'm done watching. I'm heading out. I've got something to take care of today." The match would last several more hours. And ten minutes ago, his body in the real world had recovered to its best condition. Li Dui was getting impatient.
Qianshui glared at him. "You just don't like watching Tabo with me. Go on, then."
Li Dui laughed and waved goodbye to Luliduo before disappearing.
What he had to do today was important. He couldn't afford any mistakes.
After recovering from the damage caused by making his first clone, Li Dui had gone on to make four more in quick succession.
Now he had four clones in addition to his original body, divided between two World Rings.
Making a clone required his full concentration. He couldn't afford to be distracted, so Li Dui had even stopped hunting City Lords. He'd decided to finish making all the clones first.
The spaceship's hatch opened.
The clone with a Gene Multiplier of three flew out, wearing the full set of equipment Li Dui had bought from the Giant Axe Martial Arena.
He sent a notice to the Heavenly Eclipse Palace docking account, requesting permission for his spaceship to leave and resupply.
Li Dui had not yet completed his cultivation mission. He couldn't leave unless he completed or abandoned it.
He would stay, but the spaceship would leave.
In the past, they might not have bothered with a minor member of a fringe secret realm. But now, he thought he had enough clout for them to take notice.
He'd been in the Xueluo World for decades. It was reasonable to say he'd run out of supplies. After so many years on a mission in such a dangerous place, surely they could let him replenish his favorite food and drinks and relax a little?
A reply soon arrived, granting permission for the spaceship to be inspected and leave the secret realm.
The spaceship accelerated toward the spaceport. It could only make a Cosmic Shuttle from there.
About three hours later, the spaceship reached the designated location.
Li Dui's heart was in his throat. He desperately hoped nothing would go wrong at this step. If it did, he'd have to start his plan all over again.
Ten seconds passed. Each second felt like an eternity.
Ding! An email arrived. "Shuttle approved."
"Done!" Li Dui was overjoyed. He'd succeeded. From now on, he was a bird freed from its cage, a little fish plunging into the sea.
The clone hovered in space, acting completely normal. He looked cautious, as if he wouldn't enter the Xueluo World while his spaceship was gone.
The spaceship could travel at nearly ten times the speed of light. In the Dark Universe, it could cover more than two hundred thousand light-years a day. A trip to the commercial planet outside the secret realm wouldn't take more than a few days.
Dark Universe.
The spaceship maintained a leisurely speed of eight times the speed of light. Xiao Le stayed connected to Li Dui through the Virtual Universe.
Li Dui had given it an order earlier: return to the Original Universe 0.00003 seconds ahead of schedule, then fly slowly toward the destination at sublight speed.
Of course, the Auxiliary Intelligence carried out the order without hesitation.
Normally, a spaceship had to time its shuttle between universes with extreme precision. The speed ratio between the Dark Universe and the Original Universe was as high as 1:10,081,000.
For example, Li Dui's spaceship was traveling at eight times the speed of light. It should return from the Dark Universe to the Original Universe after twenty seconds. But if it shuttled one second early, it would have to fly for 10,081,000 seconds in the Original Universe to make up for that second—more than 115 days.
And that wasn't all. The spaceship was traveling at eight times the speed of light in the Dark Universe, but in the Original Universe it could only fly at sublight speed. The moment it reached the speed of light, it would shuttle back.
"Master, the spaceship is about to arrive and will shuttle according to plan."
"Master, the spaceship has returned to the Original Universe."
"Master, the spaceship will travel at sublight speed and reach Ousai Planet in about fifty minutes."
"Master, half an hour until arrival at Ousai Planet."
"Master, ten minutes until arrival at Ousai Planet."
"Observe the surroundings and prepare to carry out the planned operation," Li Dui ordered.
Before you continue