37. Descent

As for the Immortal and Lord levels?

Sorry, Qin Ming simply looked down on them.

Fortunately, whether to attend these lectures was entirely up to the geniuses themselves—the Virtual Universe Company wouldn't force anyone.

Otherwise, Qin Ming would have had to pretend to attend!

The practical training section, however, still held some use for Qin Ming.

Within the practical training section, there were mainly three types: the Heavenly Bridge, the Illusion Sea, and the Immortal Altar.

Qin Ming had already challenged the Heavenly Bridge, which primarily tested one's comprehension of the fundamental laws of the universe—the deeper the understanding, the higher the floor one could reach.

The Illusion Sea tested a cultivator's mental strength and willpower.

The Immortal Altar, as its name suggested, was related to Immortals.

It tested the body's force output. The same body, wielded by different cultivators, could unleash vastly different power.

If an ordinary person's power output was measured as 1, then reaching 100 represented the physical limit of the human body.

And one of the basic prerequisites for breaking through to Immortal was achieving a force output of 100.

"Hmm, since my clone is still gestating, I might as well head to the Immortal Altar and the Illusion Sea first, and earn some points on the side."

With that thought, Qin Ming directly teleported to the Immortal Altar plane.

What greeted his eyes was an endless expanse of black mountain ranges, each peak topped with a golden altar—thousands upon thousands of them, scattered like stars.

The moment he entered, Qin Ming immediately felt the fluctuations of the universe's origin being cut off, and external energy became undetectable; he could barely maintain basic consciousness.

After all, only in this way could the body's force output be purely tested, excluding any boosts from laws or domains.

The Immortal Altar had ninety-nine steps, with the platform at the top representing the hundredth step. Only when one's body force output reached 100 did it signify perfect control over the body.

On the altar stood a human-shaped target, with a screen beside it displaying the rules.

"Within one second, strike the target using your fist, elbow, head, knee, and foot respectively. The score is based on the lowest attack among the five strikes."

Qin Ming steadied himself and took a deep breath.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five strikes in one second, swift as lightning.

The screen refreshed with data.

"100 units, 100 units, 100 units, 100 units, 100 units. Score: 100 units. Reward: 50,000 points."

This was within Qin Ming's expectations.

"Next up is the Illusion Sea!"

The Illusion Sea plane was a boundless black ocean.

"Break!"

The illusion of the first island was easily shattered by Qin Ming.

Soon, a second island appeared before his eyes.

The second, the third...

Qin Ming advanced like a splitting bamboo, breaking through seven islands in a row.

At the deepest part of the Illusion Sea, on the edge of the twenty-first island, sat an old man in a golden robe, covered in black scale armor. He was the warden of the Illusion Sea.

"Oh?" The old man opened his aged eyes, gazing into the distance, and murmured in surprise.

"A little Universe-level fellow, breezing through the seventh island so easily? Many Domain Lords are stuck here. Judging by his demeanor, he's far from his limit..."

"Let me check the records... Qin Ming? The personal disciple of Chaos City Lord, a genius that appears once in ten million eras? No wonder. I wonder how far he can go."

"According to the data, his comprehension is astonishing. If he can pass the ninth island, that would be extraordinary—it's a hurdle that even many peak Domain Lords struggle to overcome." The black-scaled old man smiled, his gaze piercing through the void as he watched Qin Ming's progress.

Time passed, unknown how long.

"He passed the eighth?" A flicker of shock crossed the old man's eyes as he abruptly stood up.

Mental strength and willpower were two different things.

A Universe-level being's mental strength was certainly inferior to a Domain Lord's, but willpower was another matter.

The seventh island of the Illusion Sea was already at the Domain Lord standard. For Qin Ming, at the Universe level, to break through the eighth island meant his willpower was far beyond that of an ordinary Domain Lord.

With unparalleled talent and such formidable willpower... as long as such a genius didn't fall prematurely, he was almost destined to become a super powerhouse in the future.

Yet, the black-scaled old man had completely misjudged Qin Ming.

On the surface, Qin Ming was at the Universe level, but because of his clone in the Jin World, his true mental strength was at the peak of the Domain Lord level.

If he couldn't even pass the eighth island of the Illusion Sea, that would actually mean his willpower was inferior to an average Domain Lord.

At this moment, Qin Ming had already stepped into the illusion of the ninth island.

"Qin Ming! What are you spacing out for? Get to work! This proposal has to be on my desk before you clock out!"

An impatient voice rang in Qin Ming's ear.

He opened his eyes groggily, the harsh light stinging them and making him dizzy.

"Where am I?"

Qin Ming was a bit dazed, but the clatter of keyboards and his coworkers' complaints around him instantly brought everything back.

His name was Qin Ming—just another ordinary office worker among the masses.

Now working at a listed company, with endless PPTs to make and a balding supervisor's criticism to endure day after day.

All for the sake of that pitiful social insurance and meager salary, which left nothing after paying the mortgage and a month's living expenses.

Qin Ming froze for a moment.

Just now... had he been having a long, strange dream?

In the dream, he seemed to be... someone impressive?

Flying around in space?

What was that name?

Shaking his head, Qin Ming let out a self-deprecating laugh.

Guess the overtime was getting to him—hallucinations now.

He rubbed his throbbing temples, forcing himself to focus on the dizzying data tables on the computer screen.

"Hey, Qin Ming, did you hear? The company's got a new female CEO today."

The coworker at the next desk leaned in, lowering his voice with barely concealed excitement.

"Pfft, probably some old lady. What's the big deal?" Qin Ming curled his lip dismissively.

"That's where you're wrong. You know how my third aunt's cousin's nephew's neighbor's brother-in-law's uncle's son works at headquarters.

He told me the CEO being transferred down from HQ is super young, and a total stunner too! Her name's nice as well—Ruoxi, or something like that."

Ruoxi?

Qin Ming's fingers paused on the keyboard.

That name... why did it sound familiar?

Was it... from the dream?

He shook his head, casting aside the absurd thought, and buried himself back in the endless spreadsheets before him.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing. We have a new CEO joining us today—come over and meet her."

That grating voice of the balding supervisor rang in Qin Ming's ear.

He couldn't help but look up, and in an instant, he was stunned.

A beauty—a stunning beauty—stood before him.

"Hello, everyone. I'm your new CEO from now on. My name is Ruoxi!"

Qin Ming turned to glance at the coworker beside him, who was practically drooling.

That bastard was always full of hot air, so when he'd first mentioned the new female CEO being beautiful, Qin Ming had written it off as nonsense.

But this time, it turned out to be true.