Cultivation Missions

A few hours later, Yin Congyang took the goods he had ordered from a Virtual Universe Company employee and returned to his residence.

After locking the doors and windows, he took out two boxes containing Life Fruits. These fruits held an immense amount of life force. Even a World Lord who had suffered severe injuries could be saved by one, earning them the reputation of a World Lord's second life.

They would be more than enough for his clones. With the treasures containing the power of laws that he had exchanged for with points, his second and third clones should be able to complete their formation in one go.

There was no risk of the Life Fruits' powerful vitality bursting his clones. The [Clone] secret technique offered a solution to this problem. If the energy absorbed from a treasure was too great, he could use the mysterious connection between his clones to transfer the excess energy to another clone or his true self. If even they could not contain it all, another secret technique could disperse the surplus, ensuring the clone would not be harmed.

His first clone was still at the first order of the Universe Level. It could not enjoy the benefits of a Nutrition Chamber, either, and had to cultivate on its own. Fortunately, it was also within the range of the strange fluctuations spreading from the Dantian in his true self's body, so its body and soul could continue to evolve.

After checking the time, he realized he had plenty of time to finish forming both clones before entering the Nutrition Chamber. Without further hesitation, he sent the two boxes and the other treasures into the storage space where his clones were kept.

A few hours later, both clones completed the final stage. He copied his Spiritual Consciousness and imprinted it into each clone's soul, then adjusted their appearances, heights, and other details. From then on, Yin Congyang had three clones.

The Life Fruits truly lived up to their reputation as treasures containing immense vitality. Both new clones reached the third order of the Universe Level. The energy that overflowed during the process even raised his first clone to the fourth rank of the Universe Level, making it the highest-level cultivator of the three, including his true self.

He called all three clones out of the storage space. His true self and the clones exchanged smiles. Yin Congyang thought about it: calling them "first clone" and "second clone" all the time could get confusing, so he needed to give each a name. Remembering the Four Symbols and Five Elements mentioned in ancient texts, he said to his first clone, which had fused with the Jianmu Heart, "From now on, your name is Azure Dragon."

Turning to the metal clone, which had fused with Geng Metal Essence, he said, "You're White Tiger."

"And you'll be Vermilion Bird."

The clone that had fused with Phoenix Fire nodded.

Yin Congyang stroked his chin as he considered his next clones. The next ones would be based on the Law of Water and the Law of Earth. He would name the water clone Black Tortoise, and the earth clone Kunlun, in remembrance of his previous life.

Next, he needed to raise his true self to the ninth order of the Universe Level as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, he could not yet attempt the Heaven-Reaching Bridge, the Illusion Sea, or the Immortal Altar. He had not been to Chaos City, and access to those three places required a visit there first. Otherwise, he would not even know how to get to them—he lacked the teleportation authorization.

At his current strength, he was fairly confident he could clear the first level of the Heaven-Reaching Bridge. The Illusion Sea would be even easier: his will and consciousness were already at the World Lord level, and his physical strength had long since reached the perfect hundredfold. That would earn him all the points available from the Immortal Altar.

For now, he could only wait until he finished in the Nutrition Chamber, then try to complete some cultivation missions. All cultivation missions awarded points; the only difference was their difficulty. Harder missions awarded more points, while easier ones awarded fewer.

He had 470 points left. That was actually enough to form one more clone, but first, he already had three, which was sufficient for the time being from a safety standpoint. Second, both new clones were still only at the first stage, and he had yet to advance them further. After completing a few low-level missions, he might have enough points to form two more clones at once.

The next day, Yin Congyang went to the Nutrition Chamber facility. After verifying his identity, he lay down inside Nutrition Chamber C365. It had already been stocked with enough Nutrient Solution for several days.

This Nutrient Solution could not be used continuously. It could be used for at most three days at a time, after which one had to stop for at least a day before using it again.

That was no problem for Yin Congyang. He could connect to the Virtual Universe while lying in the Nutrition Chamber, and his clones could cultivate in the storage space. It just meant spending a little extra time traveling back and forth.

A year and a half later, with the help of the Nutrition Chamber, Yin Congyang's physical strength and Spiritual Force reached the ninth order of the Universe Level. An ordinary cultivator at the Universe Level needed only about nine months to advance their body from the first to the ninth order, but Yin Congyang's physical foundation was simply too strong. It had taken him nearly twice as long to reach the ninth order.

Even this was not his limit. The fluctuations in his Dantian continued to strengthen his body, soul, and will, but Nutrient Solution alone could not produce those results.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the cultivation room, Yin Congyang considered his situation in silence. His true self's body had now reached the ninth order of the Universe Level, he had just mastered the fifth set of sword techniques in the Drifting Blood Manual, and he had comprehended the fifth profundity of the Law of Space. He would not make another leap forward anytime soon. It was time to try a cultivation mission.

With a thought, a screen appeared in the air above the cultivation room. He tapped the "Cultivation Missions" icon.

Three levels of cultivation missions appeared on the screen.

Safe Level (0% death rate)

Ordinary Level (10% death rate)

Difficult Level (20% death rate)

"Hmm, why are there only three levels? Aren't there also Dangerous Level and Desperate Level missions? Is it because I haven't been to Chaos City and don't have enough clearance?"

"Search for Dangerous Level and Desperate Level missions!" Yin Congyang instructed his intelligent Optical Computer.

"Search complete. Your current clearance is insufficient to access Dangerous Level and Desperate Level missions," the Optical Computer replied at once.

"So it's true. For the next few decades, the highest level I can take on is Difficult..."

He tapped the "Difficult Level" icon.

"Whoosh!"

A long list of densely packed cultivation mission names appeared on the screen.

1 Lingbo City (Virtual Universe Company, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm)

2 Valley of Demons (Virtual Universe Company, End-of-the-World Secret Realm)

3 Storm Hall (Universe Mercenary Alliance, Radiance Secret Realm)

7 Peerless Powerhouse (Virtual Universe Company, End-of-the-World Secret Realm)

13 Rain City (Universe Galaxy Bank, Mist Cloud Secret Realm)

135 Moonlight City (Virtual Universe Company, Heaven and Earth Secret Realm)

379 Illusion Glass Realm (Virtual Universe Company, End-of-the-World Secret Realm)

1078 Cloud City (Giant Axe Dojo, Long Blade Secret Realm)

The list contained all kinds of mission names, more than a thousand in total, covering nearly every secret realm belonging to humanity's Five Great Forces.

"I'd better pick one in the End-of-the-World Secret Realm first. Difficult missions are probably all about the same level of difficulty, and choosing a secret realm belonging to another force would waste who knows how much time just traveling there... Still, I should read the detailed descriptions before deciding."

He began clicking through the Difficult Level missions and checking their details.

He read through one mission after another. Every mission came with a great deal of information and an extremely long description.

In the end, he chose the [Peerless Powerhouse] mission in the End-of-the-World Secret Realm. It was simple enough. Unlike some missions that took time, effort, and careful thought, this one had only one requirement: fight.

On a super planet called Gaishi in the End-of-the-World Secret Realm, the Expert Tournament was held once every hundred years. There was a tournament for every level below Immortal: World Lords had their own tournament, Domain Lords had theirs, and Universe Level cultivators had one as well. Anyone at the Universe Level could compete.

The Domain Lord tournament was held once every thousand years, while the World Lord tournament took place once every ten thousand years.

The tournament was not held in the Virtual Universe, but in the real world. It consisted of one-on-one arena matches with no referee and no rules. As long as both competitors were at the Universe Level, it did not matter whether they were at the first or ninth order—they could enter.

Once registered, opponents were assigned completely at random by drawing lots. This meant that a first-order Universe Level cultivator could end up facing a ninth-order opponent.

After a match was assigned, competitors could not withdraw and had to take the stage. They could concede one minute after the match began—if they managed to last that long.

To complete the mission, a competitor had to place in the top ten of the Universe Level Expert Tournament. Tenth place earned 10 points, ninth place earned 20, and eighth place earned 40, with the rewards doubling each time. First place earned 5,120 points.

It was not as easy as it sounded. As a special planet in a Cosmic Secret Realm, Gaishi Star was enormous, with a diameter of 500,000 kilometers. Its population was vast, and the Universe Origin Energy in the secret realm was incredibly abundant, so the odds of producing powerful cultivators were high. Babies on Gaishi Star were born with advanced Apprentice-level strength, and could reach the Star Level as adults. Their bloodline was quite good, and there were many powerful Universe Level, Domain Lord, and World Lord cultivators.

However, being born in a secret realm also made it extremely difficult to break through to Immortality. The odds were only one-thousandth those of ordinary Cosmic Humans.

Gaishi Star held the Expert Tournament for two reasons. First, it sought to identify and nurture the strong, in hopes of improving their chances of breaking through to Immortality. Second, it aimed to reduce the population. Gaishi Star was large, but after countless eras, it was still overcrowded. The entire planet was governed by several powerful cultivators who had been fortunate enough to break through to Immortality, so there were no civil wars or internal strife. People also had extremely long lifespans. With the population growing unchecked, Gaishi Star would eventually be packed to bursting. That was why the Expert Tournament had come into being.

The Virtual Universe Company had discovered Gaishi Star while developing the End-of-the-World Secret Realm. Although Gaishi Star had submitted to the company, the odds of producing Immortals there were simply too low, so the company paid little attention to it.

The company's rules stated that only those who broke through to Immortality could leave Gaishi Star and join the Virtual Universe Company, venturing into the outside world. Furthermore, only those who reached the World Lord Level were eligible to enter the Virtual Universe.

This rule had made martial prowess highly esteemed on Gaishi Star. Everyone respected the strong. Breaking through to Immortality meant they could leave Gaishi Star, and even reaching the World Lord Level let them access the wondrous Virtual Universe.

As a result, the people of Gaishi Star were not hostile toward those who came from the Virtual Universe Company. On the contrary, they welcomed them, because another rule offered them a chance: anyone who defeated or killed a Virtual Universe Company member in the Expert Tournament, while competing at the same major level, would receive a handsome reward for a victory. Whoever killed their opponent could take their place directly and enter the company's Core Layer.

That was the greatest danger of taking on the [Peerless Powerhouse] mission.