Secret Realm Qualification Battle

Qin Ming stood up, stretching his somewhat stiff body.

The layer of dark red luster on his skin slowly seeped back into his body, temporarily suppressed by him.

Qin Ming took out that Blood Luo Crystal and began attempting fusion once more.

This time, although the violent onslaught of killing intent was still fierce and the pain still unbearable, Qin Ming clearly felt that his will held out more easily than before, and he lasted longer.

In the end, because of the mismatch in life essence, the energy of the Blood Luo Crystal flowed back again, and the fusion still failed, but the whole process was no longer as frantic and rushed as the first time.

"Indeed, improving willpower helps resist the impact during fusion, but the fundamental rejection problem still exists."

Qin Ming put away the Blood Luo Crystal, not discouraged. He hadn't expected to succeed easily in the first place.

He looked up toward the depths of the Ancient God Ruins, where the baleful aura was even denser.

"Next, it's time to go deeper."

Time flew by, and nearly ninety years had passed!

For these ninety years, Qin Ming had remained in this forbidden land like the most devout ascetic. Starting from the outermost edge, he gradually advanced, constantly challenging areas with higher concentrations of baleful aura and enduring more violent willpower assaults.

On this day, he was sitting cross-legged in the center of a region where the baleful aura had thickened into a bloody mist, his consciousness immersed in the grind of resisting an endless flood of slaughter.

"Master, there's an external communication request, an email from the Virtual Universe Company, with relatively high priority." The voice of his intelligent assistant Xiaoye rang out directly in the depths of Qin Ming's soul, waking him from his deep willpower training.

"Oh?" Qin Ming's brow twitched slightly. With a thought, his consciousness immediately connected to the Virtual Universe.

Virtual Universe, Rain Phase Mountain, Primal Secret Realm, Manor 114.

Qin Ming's figure appeared in the study, quickly checking the email.

"Secret Realm Qualification Battle..." He scanned the contents of the email, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes.

The four major secret realms of the Virtual Universe Company's core members—Primal, Primordial, Heaven and Earth, and End of the World—were not a one-time assignment. There existed a brutal internal competition mechanism.

The weak were demoted, the strong retained their positions, and the even stronger were promoted!

The Primal Secret Realm members on Rain Phase Mountain were divided by strength stage into World Lord Level, Domain Lord Level, and Universe Level.

Among them: the Primal Secret Realm had 100 World Lord slots, with a qualification battle every 100,000 years.

Domain Lord Level had 10 slots, with a qualification battle every 1,000 years.

Universe Level had only 3 fixed slots, but this term, due to the Genius Tournament, it had been expanded to 5 people, with a qualification battle every 100 years!

Nearly a hundred years had passed since they left the Initial Universe and returned to the Primal Universe.

Thus, the Secret Realm Qualification Battle for Universe Level members was about to begin.

The email clearly listed the current five Universe Level members of the Primal Secret Realm: Qin Ming, Ailuos, and three old-timers who had cultivated in the Primal Secret Realm for a long time.

The rules were simple: the five would fight in a round-robin, ranked by final wins.

The top two would retain their Primal Secret Realm membership.

The bottom three would compete with the top three from the Primordial Secret Realm qualification battle for the last Primal Secret Realm slot.

"Qualification battle, huh..." Qin Ming closed the email, his consciousness returning to his clone in the Ancient God Ruins. He slowly stood up.

"Fine. The willpower training is done for now. Time to stretch my limbs and test the results of these ninety years." Qin Ming's gaze was calm as he looked beyond the Ancient God Ruins.

"Besides, my main body has been 'cultivating step by step' in the Primal Secret Realm for ninety years. It's time to show a little 'progress.'"

With a thought, he transformed into a streak of light, flying out of the Blood Luo Continent.

In the void, the Sky Erosion Palace hung motionless!

A triangular black spaceship, about eight hundred meters in diameter, flew out of the Sky Erosion Palace and quickly approached Qin Ming, who had just emerged from the Ancient God Ruins.

"Beep! Greetings, Prince Qin Ming. I am Morlock, the Sky Erosion Palace guide. Congratulations on completing your trial in the Blood Luo World." The spaceship sent a message.

Under Morlock's guidance, Qin Ming arrived at a vast hall on the first level of the Sky Erosion Palace.

The hall stretched thousands of kilometers, packed with densely parked spaceships, at least E-grade, with even F-grade ships visible.

"Prince Qin Ming." Morlock, a World Lord with six eyes and blue skin wearing a silver battle suit, led the way.

"You actually stayed in the Blood Luo World for nearly ninety years. That's quite surprising."

"Mainly to try and complete the 'Blood Warrior' mission." Qin Ming said calmly as he walked.

"The Blood Warrior mission? Did you complete it, Prince?" Morlock was somewhat surprised.

"No." Qin Ming shook his head, his tone carrying a hint of well-placed helplessness.

"I thought that training in the Ancient God Ruins would help me break through, but after nearly ninety years, I still fell short."

"Just in time, the Universe Level Secret Realm Qualification Battle is about to start, so I came out first."

"I see." Morlock nodded in understanding, offering comfort.

"Don't be discouraged, Prince. It's normal. I've received many geniuses from the five major forces here, and very few have become Blood Warriors."

"Mm." Qin Ming nodded and said no more.

Under Morlock's arrangements, Qin Ming quickly boarded a return ship headed for Virtual Universe Company headquarters.

The ship launched, pulling away from Sky Erosion Palace.

Qin Ming sat in the cabin, watching through the window as the Blood Luo World and Sky Erosion Palace gradually receded. His gaze was calm.

Ninety years of tempering by killing intent had forged his will as firm as bedrock.

Moreover, this upcoming qualification battle wasn't even a warm-up for him.

Manor 114, Primal Secret Realm.

After returning, Qin Ming logged into the virtual universe without delay.

He entered the backend management, selected the "Cultivation" option, opened the cultivation task page, and clicked "Apply to Confirm Cultivation Task Completion."

"Hello, Your Highness Qin Ming." A gentle electronic female voice emanated from the screen.

"Are you applying to confirm the completion of your tasks?"

"Yes." Qin Ming nodded.

"May I ask, regarding the two tasks in the Blood Luo World, how many has Your Highness Qin Ming completed?" the gentle voice continued.

There were two tasks in the Blood Luo World.

1. Obtain one Blood Luo Crystal. Completion reward: 10,000 points.

2. Fuse three Blood Luo Crystals and become a "Blood Warrior." Completion reward: 100,000 points.

Qin Ming couldn't fuse even a single one, so naturally, he couldn't complete the second.

"I completed the first." Qin Ming said calmly.

"Very well, Your Highness Qin Ming, please wait a moment. A spacecraft will soon arrive at your manor for verification in the real world. Once verified, you will receive the corresponding point reward." The gentle voice prompted.

In the real world, a few hours later.

A Virtual Universe Company internal spacecraft landed at the berth of Manor 114.