Sinking

What about the Immortals and Venerable Levels?

Sorry, Qin Ming didn't think much of them!

Fortunately, whether to attend the 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 section, on the other hand, was still somewhat useful to Qin Ming.

The practical section was mainly divided into three parts: the Heavenly Bridge, the Illusion Sea, and the Immortal Altar.

Qin Ming had already challenged the Heavenly Bridge. It mainly tested one's comprehension of the Universe Origin Law. The deeper one's understanding, the higher one could climb.

The Illusion Sea tested a cultivator's consciousness and willpower!

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

It tested how much force one could exert with one's body. Given the same body, different cultivators could unleash different amounts of power!

If an ordinary person's full strength was measured as 1,

then 100 was the limit of the human body.

And one of the most basic requirements for becoming Immortal was to reach a force exertion of 100.

"Since my clone is still being nurtured, I'll go check out the Immortal Altar and the Illusion Sea first, and earn some points while I'm at it."

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

Before him stretched an endless range of black mountains. A golden altar stood atop every peak, scattered across the landscape by the thousands.

As soon as he entered, Qin Ming immediately felt that the fluctuations of the Universe Origin had been cut off. He couldn't sense energy from the outside world either, and could barely maintain basic awareness.

After all, only this way could they accurately test how much force someone could exert with their body, excluding the effects of laws and domains.

The Immortal Altar had ninety-nine steps. The platform at the top represented the hundredth step. Only when one could exert a force of 100 with one's body did it mean one had achieved perfect control over it.

A human-shaped target stood on the altar, with the rules displayed on a screen beside it.

"Within one second, strike the target with your fists, elbows, head, knees, and feet, in that order. Your score will be based on the weakest of the five strikes."

Qin Ming stood ready and took a deep breath.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five strikes in one second, fast as lightning.

The data on the screen refreshed.

"100 units, 100 units, 100 units, 100 units, 100 units. Final score: 100 units. You have earned 50,000 points."

This was exactly what Qin Ming had expected.

"Next up is the Illusion Sea!"

The Illusion Sea Plane was an endless expanse of black ocean.

"Break!"

Qin Ming easily shattered the illusion on the first island.

Soon, a second island appeared before him.

The second, then the third...

Qin Ming cut through the challenges like a hot knife through butter, clearing seven islands in a row.

At the edge of the twenty-first island, in the deepest part of the Illusion Sea, an old man in black scale armor sat cross-legged, enveloped in a golden-yellow robe. He was the Illusion Sea's administrator.

"Hm?" The old man opened his aged eyes and gazed into the distance, murmuring in surprise.

"A little fellow at the Universe Level actually cleared the seventh island so easily? Many World Lords get stuck there. And judging by the looks of him, he's nowhere near his limit..."

"Let's check his records... Qin Ming? Chaos City Lord's personal disciple, a genius seen only once in ten million eras? No wonder. I wonder how far he'll get."

"According to his records, his comprehension is astonishing. If he can clear the ninth island, that'll be remarkable. Many Peak World Lords can't get past that hurdle." The Black Scaled Elder smiled as his gaze pierced through space, watching Qin Ming's progress.

After some time,

"He cleared the eighth island?" A flicker of surprise crossed the old man's eyes, and he shot to his feet.

Consciousness and willpower were two different things.

A Universe Level cultivator's consciousness was definitely weaker than a World Lord's, but their willpower was not necessarily so.

The seventh island of the Illusion Sea was already at the World Lord Level standard. For Qin Ming to clear the eighth island while still at the Universe Level meant his willpower was far stronger than that of an ordinary World Lord!

Such an outstanding talent, with willpower this formidable... As long as he didn't die young, he was practically destined to become a supreme powerhouse.

However, the Black Scaled Elder had completely misjudged Qin Ming.

On the surface, Qin Ming was at the Universe Level, but because he had a clone in the Jin World, his true consciousness was at Peak World Lord Level.

If he couldn't even clear the eighth illusion, that would mean his willpower was actually inferior to an ordinary World Lord's.

At that moment, Qin Ming had already entered the illusion on the ninth island.

"Qin Ming! What are you spacing out for? Get back to work! I want this proposal on my desk before you clock out!"

An impatient voice rang in Qin Ming's ear.

He opened his eyes groggily, and the glaring lights made him squint.

"Where am I?"

Qin Ming was momentarily dazed. The clatter of keyboards and his coworkers' complaints brought everything back to him in an instant.

His name was Qin Ming, and he was just another ordinary wage slave among the teeming masses.

He worked at a publicly listed company, endlessly churning out PowerPoint presentations and putting up with his bald manager's criticism every day.

He did it all just to get a pitiful benefits package and a meager salary. After paying his mortgage and a month's living expenses, he had nothing left.

Qin Ming blanked for a moment.

Had he just... had a long, strange dream?

In the dream, he seemed to be... someone incredibly powerful?

Flying around in the universe?

What was his name again?

He shook his head and gave a self-deprecating smile.

He must have been working too much overtime lately. He was starting to hallucinate.

Qin Ming rubbed his throbbing temples, forced himself to focus, and looked at the dizzying spreadsheets on his computer screen.

"Hey, Qin Ming, have you heard? The company's getting a new female CEO today."

The coworker at the next desk leaned over and lowered his voice, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Please. She's probably some middle-aged woman. What's so surprising about that?" Qin Ming curled his lip in disdain.

"You've got it all wrong. You know my aunt's third cousin's nephew's neighbor's brother-in-law's uncle's son works at headquarters, right?

"He told me the CEO was parachuted in from headquarters. She's really young, and a total beauty! She's got a lovely name, too. It's... what was it? Ruoxi!"

Ruoxi?

Qin Ming's fingers paused slightly over the keyboard.

That name... Why did it sound so familiar?

Was it... from his dream?

He shook his head, banishing the absurd thought, and went back to the seemingly endless reports in front of him.

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

The bald manager's annoying voice rang in Qin Ming's ear.

Qin Ming looked up despite himself. In an instant, he was stunned.

A beauty—a stunning beauty—stood before him.

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

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

That guy usually talked big, so when he'd first claimed the new female CEO was beautiful, Qin Ming had dismissed it as nonsense.

He hadn't expected it to be true this time.