In Villa No. 2985, Yin Congyang's consciousness withdrew from the miraculous point of light in his Dantian, a pleased smile on his face.
Nearly ten years had passed since his first trip to Hell Star.
On his second trip, after visiting a satellite of the Machine Race and completing his mission, he once again sensed that faint fluctuation of Law. He easily found the satellite's true center, and this time there was no need for explanation: a root automatically extended from the seed in his Dantian, passed through his index finger, and pierced into the place where the power of Law was stored.
After returning to his residence and confirming that it was safe, he let the seed release the fluctuations produced by absorbing the power of Law. This time, the power belonged to the Law of Gold, and sure enough, his comprehension of the Law of Gold advanced another step.
That wasn't the most important thing. More important was that the power of his soul had finally broken through the bottleneck of Universe Level and reached Domain Lord level.
A Domain Lord-level soul was far more powerful than a Universe-level one. So he spent a year cultivating another clone, this time using one-third of his lung as a Soul Container. As a result, this clone leaned toward the Law of Gold.
Having succeeded once already, he cultivated this clone without a hitch. However, with no Universe Crystals or treasures of the Law of Gold to provide energy, the clone remained a perfectly round, jelly-like blob. Yin Congyang couldn't help grumbling to himself about it.
Over the course of a year, the fluctuations from his Dantian and the seed not only made up for the loss to his soul, but also further increased its strength and resilience. It felt almost like being broken and then remade.
So he applied to visit Hell Star for the third time. This time, Feilaoshen didn't even bother commenting. He waved a hand, approved the request, and sent him on his way.
On the third satellite, the seed absorbed the Law of Fire. After he returned to his residence, it once again deepened his comprehension of the Law of Fire and considerably strengthened his soul.
This confirmed one thing for him: each of the eight satellites held the power of a different Law, corresponding to the Five Elements and the subordinate Laws of wind, Lightning, and light.
From then on, he applied to visit one satellite every six months, until he had stripped them all of their treasures. His comprehension of the Five Elements Laws and the Laws of Space all improved greatly. But without systematic guidance, his progress, though substantial, was scattered and incomplete. Put simply, he had gained breadth, but not enough depth.
Unfortunately, although his comprehension of all five elemental Laws had improved considerably, he'd made little progress with the Law of Space. The same problem remained: there was no systematic guidance, nor any space-related secret techniques to study, making improvement extremely difficult.
And, as expected, although absorbing the Laws of wind, Lightning, and light had helped him make some progress, it still wasn't enough to cross the threshold of Law Comprehension. This finally put an end to his wishful thinking about cultivating all eight Laws at once.
After stripping the eight satellites of all their benefits, Yin Congyang's soul had nearly reached the peak of Domain Lord level, thanks to the seed's gifts. So he cultivated another clone, this time using one-third of his heart as a Soul Container. This third clone therefore leaned toward the Law of Fire.
Although he had no systematic guidance for the various Laws or the Law of Space, he did have the Heaven-Opening Axe Technique as a guide, along with the miraculous space of the point of light. Once he had accumulated enough questions, entering that mysterious space always brought him new insights, and the power of his axe technique continued to climb.
After absorbing the power of eight different Laws, the seed had changed a little. Its color was brighter than before, and even the fluctuations it gave off seemed more full of life.
After winning first place in the Training Camp's annual competition for the third time, he finally decided to apply to challenge the Heaven-Reaching Tower and see where his strength truly stood.
He spent points to apply through the Training Camp's intelligent system and quickly received approval to enter the Heaven-Reaching Tower.
He arrived at the familiar Heaven-Reaching Tower dimension. This time there was no beautiful Purple-Robed Dragon Lady waiting for him. He walked through the tower gate, chose his weapons, battle armor, and other equipment as before, then teleported straight to Level 45.
Since he had failed at Level 45 last time, he started from there instead of fighting his way up from the first level.
Standing on the arena at Level 45, Yin Congyang recalled how his opponent's axe had severed his neck there last time. He couldn't help feeling a quiet anticipation for this battle.
He didn't have to wait long. A few seconds later, his opponent took shape on the other side of the arena.
Looking at his opponent's bright, lively eyes, Yin Congyang smiled and asked, "Do you remember me?"
"Oh, it's you." His opponent on this level also held an axe and gave him a faint smile. "I didn't expect you to reach the ninth rank of Star Level so soon. Feeling confident this time?"
"I feel like I've made pretty good progress over the past thirty years." Yin Congyang approached him at an easy pace. "So I can hardly wait to see the Core Layer and find out how it compares to the Training Camp..."
Before the other man could respond, Yin Congyang unleashed his [Shake God] secret technique. His opponent's soul shattered under his astonished gaze, killing him outright.
Yin Congyang shrugged. Last time, his soul attack had barely affected this opponent. This time, it had killed him outright—clear proof of how much his soul had grown stronger over the past few decades.
At Level 46, he relied on his exquisite axe technique, traded blows with his opponent for a few rounds, then killed him with ease.
He didn't use soul attacks against the opponents on the next few levels. He had understood early on that a soul attack was a double-edged sword. He still remembered the backlash he had suffered the first time he used one against an Iron-Horned Bull. Back then, he had lacked experience and secret techniques and had known almost nothing about souls.
But the universe was vast, and full of wonders. What if a genius at Star Level or Universe Level had a soul or will at World Lord level—or even Immortal level? A soul attack might not only bring humiliation; it could even cause severe backlash and badly injure his soul. In the worst case, his own soul might shatter.
So a soul attack could only serve as a trump card. In a life-or-death fight or a crucial moment against an evenly matched opponent, using it could settle the battle in one decisive blow.
The second reason was that he wanted to see how far he could get through his own Law Comprehension and axe technique. Instructor Golden Lion had said that the top ten in the Genius Tournament had generally been able to clear Level 61 of the Heaven-Reaching Tower. Yin Congyang wanted to know whether the strength he had gained through thirty years of hard training could match theirs.
The third reason was similar: the Heaven-Reaching Tower was ultimately meant to test students' Law Comprehension and the results of their secret technique training. If he relied on his powerful soul to clear the levels, the Training Camp's leadership—or its intelligent system—wouldn't deny his results. Still, it would feel as though he hadn't truly earned them.
Of course, Yin Congyang wasn't stubborn. If he couldn't clear Level 61 with the Heaven-Opening Axe in his hands, then he'd use his soul attack secret technique. After all, the Training Camp could no longer help him improve very much.
The Core Layer, however, was a different matter. Even members of the Core Layer in the End-of-the-World Secret Realm could access the Virtual Universe Company's treasury and exchange for an astonishing variety of treasures for Universe-level members. They simply didn't get a discount when purchasing them with points. As for points, there were plenty of ways to earn them: missions, the Heaven-Reaching Bridge, the Heaven-Reaching Mountain, the Illusion Sea, and more.
So this time, Yin Congyang was determined to clear Level 61!
Standing on the arena at Level 61, Yin Congyang drew a deep breath. After facing the opponents on the dozen or so levels before this one in contests of axe technique, he had gained some insights and developed new ideas about applying his Law Comprehension to his axe technique. If he hadn't been challenging the Heaven-Reaching Tower, he might have made further progress by spending a few days in quiet contemplation.
Soon, his opponent on Level 61 appeared. Looking at Yin Congyang, he gave him an appreciative look. "For someone at the ninth rank of Star Level to clear Level 60 of the Heaven-Reaching Tower means you have a bright future ahead. As the guardian of Level 61, I haven't faced a Star-level opponent in a long time. The rules don't allow me to go easy on you, but I hope you can beat me and enter the Core Layer. Just remember, I'm far stronger than the opponent on Level 60. Good luck, kid."
Feeling the imposing pressure emanating from his opponent, Yin Congyang's expression turned solemn, his fighting spirit blazing. "Thank you, senior. I'll definitely beat you!"
The Heaven-Opening Axe in his hand traced an arc of profound mystery as he swung it at his opponent. At Yin Congyang's current level, every move could draw upon the might of the Laws. And because his comprehension of all five elemental Laws was deep, his Heaven-Opening Axe Technique perfectly displayed the sharpness of gold, the pliancy of water, the explosiveness of fire, the resilience of wood, and the solidity of earth...
Although his comprehension of the Law of Space was shallow, the Five Elements Laws were subordinate Laws of Space. At Star Level, the might they could unleash was already tremendous—after all, fully mastering any one subordinate Law was enough to achieve eternal Immortality.
The opponent on Level 61 was indeed several times stronger than the one on Level 60. His Law Comprehension was profound, and his axe technique was even more exquisite, matching Yin Congyang's almost exactly. They fought back and forth for over a hundred exchanges without either gaining the upper hand.
After decades of training in the Training Camp, Yin Congyang's Force Amplitude had reached the perfect level of controlling his own strength a hundredfold. His attacks, defense, and movement with the axe had all reached an extremely high level. But the opponent on Level 61 was no weaker. His Force Amplitude, attacks, defense, and movement were all on par with Yin Congyang's.
Even more astonishing, his comprehension of the Law of Space was clearly a notch higher than Yin Congyang's. As an upper-level Law, even that small gap could steadily build an advantage until it became a decisive one.
Fortunately, although Yin Congyang's comprehension of the Law of Space was a little weaker, his comprehension of the Five Elements Laws was stronger. And his perfect Five Elements Domain suppressed his opponent's Domain so severely that the man had to use the power of the Law of Space to compensate for its weakness. Otherwise, once Yin Congyang's Domain suppressed him, his movement, axe technique, and strength would all suffer.
In a battle at this level, even the slightest impairment to one's movement could let the opponent gain the upper hand, leading directly to injury and defeat.
As they fought, Yin Congyang's eyes grew brighter and brighter. Suddenly, he let out a long shout. "So that's how this move can be used..."
He spun the Heaven-Opening Axe in his hand. The axe blade rippled faintly like flowing water, deflecting the blade sweeping toward him. The back of the axe struck his opponent's chest like a flaming meteor, the force of the impact leaving him momentarily rigid. Yin Congyang turned the axe, a flash of sharp golden light gleaming along its edge, and slashed across his opponent's neck...
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