Thor

In the Origin Core space, the lotus shadow at the center remained eternal and unchanging, with nine massive light spheres orbiting around it.

Chen Qing moved his mind, and the light spheres exploded into countless points of light like a universe undergoing a Big Bang!

A moment later, the points of light converged toward the center. The instant a black hole formed there, countless streams of cosmic energy surged in from both the Creation Green Lotus and the outside world...

Three days later, Chen Qing opened his eyes. Everything had gone smoothly. He sensed the speed at which the green lotus absorbed the origin source—about ten years should be enough to complete the energy accumulation.

Now it was just down to that old bastard, the laws!

"Spirit Butterfly, search for the price of Blood Drift!"

Blood Drift was the secret technique Chen Qing knew best. After all, it was Babata's black mark, the worst time he'd ever tricked Luo Feng.

"Master, no relevant information found."

"..."

Chen Qing was a bit speechless. Even though he couldn't afford it, he couldn't even take a look?

"Spirit Butterfly, search for any secret techniques among the eight lower laws that follow the path of analyzing the laws."

"Master, a total of 52,437 relevant secret techniques were found."

That was more like it. A bunch of ordinary Immortals with nothing better to do, wanting to improve their strength but unable to grasp the higher laws—they'd have to put in the work on secret techniques. Even grinding away, they could eventually refine the thirty-six essences.

"Divide them into eight categories by law, prioritize blade techniques, and sort from lowest to highest price."

Looking at the eight columns on the screen, Chen Qing's eyes went straight to the top prices.

The numbers weren't large, mostly fluctuating between 500 and 1000, but the unit after them was a bit glaring.

Chen Qing gently closed the screen. When the distance reached a certain point, ignoring it was the best approach!

The only place he could get secret techniques now was through battlefield points. Chen Qing had already mentally prepared for this—he just needed to make money and get equipment first!

When it came to making money, you couldn't avoid talking about slavers. But the timing seemed a bit tight.

After Luo Feng broke through to Domain Lord, the Virtual Universe Company would definitely have its eyes on him, maybe even earlier.

And without intelligence support, he'd have to go stake out the spot alone. As for snatching opportunities, Chen Qing had no qualms at all.

In the original story, Luo Feng cultivated so many plants but only used a fraction of them—too wasteful of resources.

When the time came, he could send some over and still skim off some rare goods. Luo Feng wouldn't lose out, and Chen Qing would win twice!

The long-term plan was basically set. For the short term, he'd sort out the second layer of Creation and perfect the Nine Basic Forms.

See if he could upgrade to first-class bloodline, or even raise his gene level a bit, to give Sister Fang and the others some confidence.

The laws needed comprehension—that couldn't be rushed. He'd have to optimize Water Ripple.

He also needed to tailor a secret technique for Yao Rao in the field of auxiliary domains. With Water Ripple as a foundation, it wouldn't take much time.

But thinking about personally instructing Yao Rao, Chen Qing's heart grew hot.

"Spirit Butterfly, target Bailan Planet, full speed ahead! Oh, and send a message to Di Fan—we'll rendezvous on Bailan Planet."

Qiu Long Star's splendor remained unchanged. The three of them had stayed here for over a decade.

Aside from going out to explore at the start, they'd holed up in the manor the whole time, not even meeting the neighbors.

But the gains were decent. With a large accumulation of resources, Jiang Fang's seclusion to break through to Star Level only came a few months after Yao Rao's.

Chen Qing had not only reached the peak of Universe Level but had also gained entry into all ten laws.

Thanks to sorting out Water Ripple and Yao Rao's Spirit Thunder, he'd made relatively good progress on the water and thunder laws.

The Nine Basic Forms were now similar to body-tempering techniques from a fantasy world. Mastering them could double his gene level.

But there was a threshold—he vaguely sensed it involved the soul and will.

Still, like the Black Pattern Stone Pillar, although training was painful, it was relatively gentle in comparison!

This discovery made Chen Qing marvel at the power of the Creation Green Lotus, but it also made him more cautious. Damn it, he hadn't even dealt with Earth yet, and now he'd stirred up another barrel of oil!

He'd stop messing with genes for now. He'd honestly comprehend the first three layers of Creation and then halt.

In the manor's training ground, lightning flashed everywhere, elusive and unpredictable.

A mermaid figure flickered in and out of sight—it was Yao Rao, who had broken through first. Chen Qing stood to the side, leisurely enjoying the view.

"Not bad, not bad. You've fully mastered the third form right after breaking through, and you're familiar with Spirit Thunder too. Your essence, energy, and spirit are well-coordinated—that'll benefit your domain later!"

Spirit Thunder was a secret technique tailored to Yao Rao's gene attributes. Like Water Ripple, it first refined the self, then resonated with heaven and earth to form a domain, borrowing the theory of unity between man and nature from Earth.

Yao Rao smiled seductively, stepped forward with her long, shapely legs, and wrapped her arms around Chen Qing's neck.

Chen Qing's Adam's apple bobbed. Though they'd been together for over a decade, neither of them was after a momentary thrill, so training usually only involved flirting and dirty jokes. It was rare to see Yao Rao so passionate.

His hands unconsciously rested on her soft waist. Looking into her intoxicated eyes, the sweet fragrance kept drilling into his nose. The distance between them grew closer and closer...

"Chen kid! It's me, Thor! Get your ass out of bed!"

A sudden roar came from the manor, and the defense system's alarm blared.

Yao Rao snapped awake instantly, a blush rising on her face. But she still gave Chen Qing a light peck on the lips.

"Go on, don't disturb Jiang Fang's breakthrough!" With that, he vanished in a fragrant breeze.

Chen Qing narrowed his eyes, rubbed his fingers together, and brought them under his nose to savor the moment for a few seconds before darkening his face and heading toward the gate.

"Spirit Butterfly, shut down the defense system and open the gate!"

"Yes, Master!"

Before he even reached the entrance, he spotted from afar the big bald head standing with hands clasped behind his back, his expression stern but betrayed by a pair of restless eyes.

"Senior, this is harassment—you'll get attacked! What if you delay someone's cultivation?"

"Oh... Chen boy, are you sure you were cultivating?" Thor grinned slyly, a completely different person from before. "Is there nothing more important than cultivation?"

Chen Qing's mind flashed back to that sweet moment just now. "There is!"

"Exactly!" Before Chen Qing could react, Thor grabbed him by the neck. "You're something else, kid. We're out there fighting tooth and nail, eating wind and sleeping in dew, only to find our home got raided! If Third Brother weren't about to come out, and Big Brother and I hadn't gone to find sister-in-law to get the story, we'd still be in the dark!"

Oh, right, Chen Qing realized. In a few years, Luo Feng would be leaving the Initial Universe. Before, it didn't matter if cultivation wasn't delayed, but once he finished, Babata would probably report it anyway.

"How could our little matters dare to disturb Senior's cultivation? Besides, we're cultivating peacefully—there's no danger!"

"Kid, you're still too naive. Remember your senior's words: always, always hold reverence for the universe!"

Chen Qing understood in his heart, and besides, Thor was still quite "chuunibyou," so he had no choice but to answer honestly, or this topic would never end!

"You idiot boy, and you have the nerve to lecture others? He's already at the ninth stage, way better than your second stage. You've wasted the Old Master's legacy—you have no face left to live!"

Just as Chen Qing was dealing with Thor, a wail suddenly erupted from the shoulder on his outer side—it must have been "Old Man Mist."

Thor jumped back with a strange expression. "Lord Mist, what are you joking about?" Then he circled around Chen Qing, "Good heavens, I was wondering who had the skill to steal the boss's home!" He patted Chen Qing on the shoulder. "Be careful out there—plenty of people are green with envy."