Arrival

"Good wine!" Yin Congyang let out a light breath and couldn't help praising, "Mr. Steven, this wine of yours is no ordinary thing—it must have cost a pretty penny, right?"

"Why call me 'mister'? Now that you've broken through to Universe Level, Domain Lord is only a matter of time for you. If you don't mind, how about we call each other brothers?"

Yin Congyang felt a slight surprise inwardly—this person's attitude had been indifferent before, but now there was a hint of deference where there had been arrogance. Yet his face showed nothing as he replied with a smile, "That would be wonderful, of course. Brother Steven is a core member at the Domain Lord level—who would dare to mind? I haven't even officially reported to the End-of-the-World Region yet, and I have many questions to ask you for guidance..."

"Haha... excellent, no problem. I've been in the End-of-the-World Region for tens of thousands of years. I can't say I know all the secrets of every district, but I can tell you the important things to watch out for... Come, come, let's keep drinking—we'll talk as we drink!"

"Brother, you've just broken through to Universe Level, but I can see your foundation is extremely solid. To be honest, the commotion when you broke through recently was even greater than when an ordinary Universe Level breaks through to Domain Lord—that's no small feat..." Steven took a sip of wine and continued, "But cultivation always requires a balance of work and rest. You can't spend all your time cultivating; it's easy to walk into a dead end without realizing it, and by the time you notice you've taken a wrong turn, you've already missed the best chance to correct it... So you still need to attend lectures from time to time, verify things in the Virtual Universe, and undergo life-and-death tempering to improve yourself faster..."

Steven's words came from the heart, and only then did Yin Congyang understand—this man had seen the scale of his breakthrough earlier, recognized his talent, and believed he could go far, so he'd taken the initiative to build a connection. This eased Yin Congyang's wariness somewhat.

"Brother Steven is right. I've been alive less than a hundred years from birth to now, and before this, I only focused on cultivation, so I really don't know much about these things. I hope you can enlighten me."

Steven stared at him wide-eyed. "You're not even a hundred years old yet? Sigh, when I was a hundred, I was only... hmm, Star Level first stage. It seems your talent is indeed very high. By the way, how did you get into the Qingnang Training Camp?"

Yin Congyang picked out what he could share and chatted with Steven, also learning from him many secrets of the End-of-the-World Region he hadn't known before. For instance, among the tens of millions of people in the End-of-the-World Region, the Commerce Department had a considerable number of members, and if one's talent for business was high enough, they would even arrange a guard team for protection.

The two drank and talked about everything under the sun. Steven, after all, was a Domain Lord who had lived for tens of thousands of years, with rich experience. Under his deliberate efforts to ingratiate himself, he told Yin Congyang many tales of traversing the universe.

"By the way, Brother Steven, how far are we from the End-of-the-World Secret Realm now?"

"My F-Grade Spaceship is fairly fast. We're still about two years away from the secret realm."

"Alright, then I'll go back to cultivating. When we reach the secret realm, just call me, Brother."

When the wine was nearly finished, Yin Congyang stood up to take his leave and returned to his cabin to continue cultivating.

Steven watched Yin Congyang's retreating figure, shook his head, downed the last of his wine in one gulp, stood up, and headed toward his personal training room.

In the boundless starry sky, clusters of colorful nebulae, countless meteorites, and an enormous floating continent—three stars each with several planets orbiting around it—all together formed a breathtakingly beautiful world.

In a pristine corner of the starry sky, a spaceship materialized abruptly, hovering silently in the void.

"Congyang, come out quickly—the End-of-the-World Secret Realm is here."

Yin Congyang heard Steven's voice in his ear. He stopped his cultivation, packed up the alert measures he had set up earlier, opened the cabin door, and walked toward the main control room.

Steven was already waiting for him there. He gave Yin Congyang a helpless look. "I told you cultivation needs balance—work and rest. Why don't you listen? After we finished drinking last time, you cultivated for another two years. I was afraid of disturbing you, so I didn't even dare call you for a drink..."

"Sorry, Brother Steven," Yin Congyang replied with a smile. "I got a bit too absorbed. Once we reach the secret realm, I'll treat you to a drink."

"That's more like it... Now, we've completed the space jump. Since this ship is my personal one, we need to wait for verification before we can proceed," Steven nodded. "You've never been to the End-of-the-World Secret Realm before—let me show you first..."

"Full external virtual display," Steven commanded the ship's AI.

The scene outside the ship immediately came into Yin Congyang's view. Faced with this magnificent sight, he couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly in admiration.

"Wait, did we jump directly into the interior of the secret realm?"

"Yes. Only a few places in the secret realm allow acceleration to light speed; in many others, you have to rely on flight. If we flew in from outside the secret realm, it would take an extremely long time—after all, the smallest diameter of the entire End-of-the-World Secret Realm is about five million light-years..."

Yin Congyang nodded slightly, gazing at the continent in the void. "Is this the Main Continent of the End-of-the-World Secret Realm?"

"Yes," Steven couldn't help but admire Yin Congyang's composure—he himself had been utterly shocked the first time he saw it. "Besides this Main Continent, there are other places in the secret realm, all mission sites. Once you use the Evolution Chamber to raise your body to Universe Level ninth stage, you can start taking on training missions. Of course, at first, it's best to pick some safe-level missions—keep that in mind. You haven't entered Chaos City yet, nor undergone its century-long foundation. Without systematic guidance in laws and secret techniques, difficult-level missions might be a bit too much for you..."

Yin Congyang felt a touch of warmth in his heart. Though Steven had clear motives, his concern was genuine. Judging by actions rather than intentions, Yin Congyang thought that if he had the ability and opportunity in the future, he might lend a hand.

"Alright, Brother Steven. I'll choose training missions based on my own strength. By the way, how long will you be staying in the End-of-the-World Secret Realm this time?"

"I've already completed the Domain Lord-level chain missions. This time, I'll stay a while longer and see if I can break through to World Lord. After all, World Lord is the stage where comprehending laws is fastest. If I can break through, understanding the laws should speed up a lot... Sigh, but the End-of-the-World Region has the most World Lords, and the competition is the fiercest—too many people, after all."

"Then I wish you a swift breakthrough to World Lord, Brother."

"Beep~ Verification passed. Flight can continue!" the ship's AI announced.

"Fly to the Main Continent Spaceport."

The ship trembled almost imperceptibly and sped toward the floating continent in the void.

The closer they got, the more they could feel the continent's weight and bustle. Countless points of light shuttled back and forth, painting the silent cosmic secret realm with noise and liveliness, chaos interwoven with order.

Before long, the ship arrived at the spaceport. Steven waved his hand to store the ship and led Yin Congyang through identity verification at the port.

Then he took him to find Moore, the administrator of the End-of-the-World Secret Realm, to grant Yin Congyang residency rights.

The Main Continent was enormous. Though the End-of-the-World Region had a population of ten million, it still felt sparsely populated. Commercial districts dotted multiple directions of the continent. After leaving Moore, Steven flew with Yin Congyang toward one such district. Yin Congyang deliberately chose a high-end-looking restaurant and treated Steven to a meal.

The meal was enjoyable for both host and guest. Though the cost of over ten million Universe Coins made Yin Congyang wince a little, Steven was clearly very satisfied.

He wanted to build a connection with Yin Congyang, but since Yin Congyang was only at Universe Level, he couldn't quite lower his pride. Yin Congyang's tactfulness, however, greatly increased his goodwill. The two exchanged Virtual Universe IDs and agreed to stay in touch. Then Yin Congyang took his leave and flew toward his real-world residence.

Soon, he found the building where his assigned suite was located. Countless skyscrapers rose from the ground, with wide gaps between them—complex but not chaotic. Each building displayed its number in the middle section, making them easy to find.

Every suite had its own Smart Butler. As he flew to his door, a hazy beam of light shot out, locked onto Yin Congyang, and the door opened automatically. "Identity confirmed. Welcome, Master."

Entering the room, he found the real-world residence no worse than the Virtual Universe. All basic facilities were available: cultivation, entertainment, relaxation, sleeping, dining, washing areas, and so on.

Stepping into the training room, he looked at the spacious area and smiled in satisfaction. Taking a deep breath, he drew pure cosmic energy into his body.

Though the End-of-the-World Secret Realm was the outermost of the four great secret realms, its level was far higher than the Green Pouch Secret Realm. The cosmic energy within the entire secret realm was also much purer.

He lowered his head and spoke to his Optical Computer: "Apply to the Virtual Universe system for a Nutrition Chamber. Then check when the goods I ordered will be delivered."

A few seconds later, the Optical Computer replied: "Application successful. Starting tomorrow, Master can enter Nutrition Chamber number C365 in the C-grade Nutrition Chamber zone of the management area daily until your body reaches Universe Level ninth stage. Estimated time: nine months... The ordered goods will be delivered to area A289 of the management area in three hours."

Yin Congyang sighed again at how the members of the End-of-the-World Region seemed like stepchildren—even the Nutrition Chamber had to be soaked in personally, and the nutrient fluid used was relatively low-grade. There was nothing wrong with it, but the time needed for improvement was painfully long.

After breaking through to Universe Level, though he hadn't trained his body much, the fluctuations from his dantian and seed had still pushed his body to the peak of Universe Level first stage. It wouldn't be long before he reached second stage.

What pleased him most was the Drifting Blood secret manual. He had already mastered four sets of sword techniques. Just before arriving at the End-of-the-World Secret Realm, he had finished the fourth set, fully comprehending the profound essence of the Law of Space it revealed.

As for his Clones, he had only cultivated the Soul Containers for the other two clones without proceeding further. His current points were insufficient, and he didn't have enough Universe Coins to buy good treasures. He decided to wait until his body reached Universe Level ninth stage and his soul power increased a bit before attempting soul separation. For now, he would focus on using the treasures he had already exchanged with points to fully cultivate the second and third clones.