Heavenly Bridge

Chaos currents surged through the sky.

Perhaps it was a coincidence.

Today marked one year since Li Dui had arrived in this world.

At that moment, the nine stars in Li Dui's dantian were gradually transforming into a nebula.

He had become a Universe Rank powerhouse. Under normal circumstances, only one such powerhouse could emerge from an entire galaxy. They had a lifespan of ten eras. In the vast universe, they could be considered a force to be reckoned with.

Breaking through an entire major realm himself felt completely different from inheriting his predecessor's memories.

His body, every trace of Origin Force and mental strength, and even his consciousness all felt perfectly suited to him.

Only now was he truly himself. His predecessor's life had become a movie—a movie he had watched many times, with every frame etched into his memory.

He logged into the Virtual Universe.

As usual, he appeared in the training room.

For the past while, he had devoted nearly 80% of his energy to the Earth and Space laws. The rest of his time had been spent in the training room. Whenever he got a craving for something to eat or drink, he simply bought it here.

Li Dui pulled out a large saber and swung it casually.

The saber flashed with a biting chill as the dense Earth Origin Law poured out without restraint.

Suddenly, figures identical to Li Dui appeared around him, each wielding a saber.

Ten, a hundred, a thousand—until there were over seven thousand.

These were Li Dui's Space Phantoms.

He himself hadn't noticed, but anyone with a discerning eye would have seen that his Space Phantoms were much more lifelike than usual.

Over the past six months, he still hadn't fully grasped the first character of Lian Luo's name, but he wasn't far off.

After a round of practice, Li Dui was certain. In both his application of the laws and even his combat experience, he had surpassed his predecessor.

"Xiao Le, teleport me to the Heavenly Bridge Plane."

"Yes, Master. Applying for teleportation."

The scene lit up. Li Dui appeared in the middle of a plaza.

The plaza stood at the center of an island.

An endless ocean surrounded the island.

There were fifty-two harbors along its edge, each with an unending bridge stretching from it. The bridges reached toward the ends of the world, shrouded in mist—everything seemed like a dream.

Not far from the plaza stood a man with four ears and no nose.

Li Dui walked over and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Guardian."

Guardian Bafen replied warmly, "Ah, Li Dui. No one's on the Giant Axe Heavenly Bridge right now. You can give it a try."

Li Dui nodded, then headed for the Giant Axe Heavenly Bridge.

That boy didn't last even a minute last time. He hadn't come back in nearly two years. I hope he can make it through this time. Quite a few of the thousand talents in this batch have already passed the first level of the Heavenly Bridge. Bafen watched Li Dui's retreating figure and mused to himself.

Li Dui stepped onto the Heavenly Bridge, composed himself, and walked toward the end of the first level.

"Choose your opponent. You may choose a warrior, a Spirit Reader controller, or a Spirit Reader illusionist. Defeat your opponent to pass the first level of the Heavenly Bridge." A cloud of mist ahead spoke in a deep voice.

If he defeated his opponent, the cloud of mist would dissipate, revealing the path to the second level.

"I choose a warrior," Li Dui said without hesitation.

Whoosh.

A mass of black liquid immediately flew out of the mist. It began to take shape in midair, transforming into a mysterious figure wearing a black mask. The figure held a battle axe, and a pair of cold eyes stared at Li Dui from beneath the mask. It spoke in a human voice: "Let the battle begin!"

"Die!" the mysterious figure growled, charging toward Li Dui at incredible speed.

Battle intent surged in Li Dui's eyes as he raised his saber to meet the attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The clash of saber and axe rang out repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged more than ten blows.

They seemed evenly matched. Li Dui's Law Comprehension was slightly higher, while the mysterious figure had the edge in axe technique.

"This Breathless Blade technique is ultimately too weak." Li Dui still had time to think. Indeed, he wasn't under much pressure. The Law Comprehension he had shown so far was only a small fraction of his actual level.

If he went all out, he reckoned he had a good chance of passing the third level of the Heavenly Bridge with the Earth Origin Law alone.

The first three levels of the Heavenly Bridge were considered one major tier. The gap between them wasn't too great.

However, the attack secret technique Breathless Blade, which he had exchanged for 900 points, was starting to fall short of his combat needs.

"Should I exchange for another good one, or create one myself? I'll think about it later. First, I'll clear this level." After trading dozens of blows, Li Dui decided it was about time. He found an opening, knocked the mysterious figure's battle axe aside, then flashed away as more than a dozen Phantom Bodies appeared around him.

The Phantom Bodies rushed at the mysterious figure one after another without hesitation. In a flash, the mysterious figure shattered them all with a flurry of axe strikes. But Li Dui's real body had slipped in from the side like a specter and beheaded him with a single stroke.

Li Dui didn't want to reveal too much of his strength in the laws, so he'd used a somewhat tricky method to defeat the mysterious figure.

The "Ring" in his mind hadn't caused any problems so far. There was indeed a good chance that this was because no one could detect it.

There was also a smaller possibility that the Chaos City Lord had noticed it, but simply didn't want to take a junior's opportunity from him.

If some other Universe Master discovered it, there was no telling what might happen.

Li Dui had already thought it through. Until he grew strong enough, it was better to keep a low profile.

The mysterious figure's corpse slowly turned into two streams of liquid and merged into the white mist behind it.

The mist silently dissipated, revealing the path to the second level of the Heavenly Bridge.

"Hmm. His control and use of Space Phantoms are quite impressive. He passed the first level with ease." As Guardian Bafen muttered to himself, he sent a mass email to all the surviving talents in this batch. "Battle Axe Secret Realm member Li Dui has passed the first level of the Heavenly Bridge."

He wondered how many people would be surprised, jealous, or fired up by the news.

At the end of the second level of the Giant Axe Heavenly Bridge—

"Choose your opponent. You may choose a warrior, a Spirit Reader controller, or a Spirit Reader illusionist. Defeat your opponent to pass the second level of the Heavenly Bridge." The same voice spoke the same words.

"I choose a warrior." Li Dui remained calm.

He couldn't pass the second level today. He planned to use only the same level of law comprehension as before and fight for as long as he could.

The mysterious figure wielding a battle axe took shape. In a chilling voice, he said, "This time, you won't win."

Without a word, Li Dui raised his saber and charged forward. Hundreds of Phantom Bodies appeared around him in an instant.

"Such a petty trick." Hundreds of Phantom Bodies gathered around the mysterious figure as well.

The two sides clashed at once.

"Precisely controlling hundreds of Phantom Bodies is still too much for him." Guardian Bafen watched the battle with great interest.

He had guarded the Heavenly Bridge for countless years. Watching generation after generation of talents struggle here was one of his greatest pleasures.

"He can't keep it up." Watching Li Dui's Phantom Bodies get driven back and slaughtered in wave after wave of attacks, Bafen murmured with a hint of regret.