"One year is but the blink of an eye to me."
He'd been alive for over ninety thousand years since arriving in this world. One year really was nothing.
He turned and left the hall.
Then he headed for his private cultivation chamber.
He would focus on cultivation for the next year. Lu Ming was curious to see just how talented he was now.
As a Giant Axe Warrior, there was no doubt he could hold his own against others at the same level.
Now that he had reached the ninth level of Domain Lord, his Law Comprehension and the like probably weren't top-tier for his level.
A year would be just right for him to make up for the gaps in his Law Comprehension.
He reached the cultivation chamber, sat cross-legged, and floated in midair.
Buzz!
In an instant, a crimson domain erupted from him.
The ninth level of the Flame Domain!
That's right, Lu Ming possessed a domain. In fact, he was bound to possess one.
And it was the Ninefold Domain.
In theory, someone with a domain shouldn't have had so much trouble breaking through to Domain Lord.
But Lu Ming was different. He couldn't break through not only because his life's genetic bloodline was relatively weak, making advancement difficult,
but, more importantly, because of the hidden injuries he'd suffered when he was young.
He had once been a slave. To put it simply, slaves were tools.
During his time fighting for survival in the Great Axe Arena, he'd had few resources, while the battles came one after another.
As a result, he'd accumulated hidden injuries all over his body. Even after reaching the ninth level of Universe Level and becoming the ancestor of the Lu Family,
he still hadn't been able to fully heal them.
Of course, it wasn't impossible. If he'd had a Life Fruit, those so-called hidden injuries would have been easy to fix.
But he couldn't afford such a rare treasure.
Fortunately, after the sacrifice, his new body was flawless. All those hidden injuries had long since vanished.
One year later.
Sealed cultivation chamber.
Boom!
A blade wrapped in crimson flames tore through the air and slammed into the chamber's metal wall.
Boom!
Amid a deafening crash, the chamber wall split apart!
The domineering slash cut straight through the entire wall!
"The eighth blade of the Nine Absolute Blades of Ember Universe really is terrifying!"
Lu Ming's eyes gleamed. As a Giant Axe Warrior who had lived for over ninety thousand years,
he'd naturally had his share of fortuitous encounters. The Nine Absolute Blades of Ember Universe was one of them.
A peak World Lord-level technique!
He was now close to mastering it completely.
With just that one strike, his attack power alone was no weaker than a World Lord's!
Of course, that wasn't the point. The point was...
"Heh, the Flame Origin Law doesn't seem so hard to comprehend after all."
That's right. After one year in seclusion, Lu Ming had successfully comprehended the Flame Origin Law!
In fact, he'd succeeded in the first month of seclusion.
He'd still underestimated his talent.
Hundredfold Gene had multiplied his affinity for the laws a hundred times over as well.
He'd long since done more than simply step across the threshold of the laws.
His current comprehension could be considered a minor mastery of the Fire Law.
As Lu Ming understood it, before reaching Universe Master, there were five levels of law comprehension in the Swallowed Star World.
Stepping across the threshold of the laws; minor mastery; profound mastery; earning recognition from the laws; completely mastering a lower law; and, finally, comprehending and fusing laws.
He was now at the second stage.
Comprehending the laws gave him the qualification to advance to World Lord.
Of course, it was only a qualification. Breaking through to World Lord required many conditions.
Law Comprehension was one of them, but Lu Ming had nearly met all the other requirements too.
Looking back, sacrificing his own body the first time had been a wise choice.
He'd been a genius before, but there were still differences between geniuses.
That first sacrifice had erased the gap between him and the top-tier geniuses.
Lu Ming murmured,
"One year has passed. It's time for the second sacrifice."
He'd already decided what to sacrifice.
With a thought from Lu Ming, the seemingly ancient battle armor he wore rippled faintly. It began to writhe and break apart as if it were alive.
The next moment, the armor vanished completely, turning into a deep purple vine about as thick as an arm, wrapped in fine silver arcs of electricity. Like a living creature, it affectionately coiled around Lu Ming's arm, making soft crackling sounds.
The Thunderlight Vine!
It was a rather rare auxiliary plant lifeform, famous for its speed and powerful lightning attacks. Its defenses were extremely strong as well.
Lu Ming had come across this Thunderlight Vine by chance in a Universe Secret Realm many years ago. It had accompanied him for tens of thousands of years.
After he spent tens of thousands of years raising it with an enormous amount of resources, the Thunderlight Vine had grown to the ninth level of Universe Level, matching his former level.
It was no exaggeration to say that Lu Ming owed much of his present strength, renowned across several lower-tier Universe Countries, to this Thunderlight Vine, which shared his thoughts and excelled at both offense and defense.
"Old friend..."
Lu Ming gently stroked the vine. Feeling its affection, a trace of emotion flickered in his eyes.
But that trace of emotion was quickly replaced by determination.
"This time, you're the one I've chosen for the sacrifice!"
He didn't hesitate any longer. Fixing his thoughts on the Thunderlight Vine, he issued an order to the system.
"System! Sacrifice my auxiliary plant lifeform—the ninth-level Universe Level Thunderlight Vine!"
The moment he gave the order, the familiar scene appeared once again.
An indescribable light, gentle yet supreme, enveloped the Thunderlight Vine coiled around Lu Ming's arm.
The Thunderlight Vine seemed to sense what was happening and trembled slightly. But under Lu Ming's reassuring thoughts, it soon calmed down and willingly stopped resisting.
Within the light, the Thunderlight Vine grew faint, then broke apart into the purest particles of Origin Energy, just as Lu Ming's body had before. They were drawn into an invisible vortex and disappeared.
[ Ding! Sacrifice successful! ]
[ Calculating a random return multiplier based on the value of the sacrificed item...]
[ Ding! Congratulations, host. You have received a 3,600-fold return! ]
Three thousand six hundred times!
It wasn't the maximum of ten thousand, but this multiplier was already astonishing!
[ Generating reward...]
[ Congratulations, host. You have obtained: a ninth-level World Lord Thunderlight Vine! ]
Ninth-level World Lord!
Lu Ming's eyes lit up at once!
As soon as the system finished speaking, the invisible vortex appeared again, but this time it spewed something outward!
A far more immense and purer torrent of energy surged forth, filled with terrifying vitality and destructive fluctuations of the lightning laws!
Light gathered, and a brand-new Thunderlight Vine took shape in an instant!
The new vine was still deep purple, but its color was richer and darker.
The fine silver arcs of electricity that had once wound around it were now replaced by thick purple lightning serpents, like flood dragons!
The energy it radiated had reached the peak of the ninth-level World Lord stage!
It was far more powerful than Lu Ming's current ninth-level Domain Lord aura!
"Crackle, crackle—"
The new Thunderlight Vine gave a joyful rumble of thunder and eagerly coiled around Lu Ming's arm.
Lu Ming understood. Just as he'd expected.
Only the body had been sacrificed; the soul couldn't be sacrificed!
He could feel that the new Thunderlight Vine still had the same consciousness as the previous one. Only its body had changed.
"Heh, I have a great idea..."
A thought came to Lu Ming. He'd come up with a way to become invincible in no time!
However...
[ Ding, the system has detected that the host intends to exploit a bug. Repairing...]
[ Repair complete. From now on, living beings with independent wills cannot be sacrificed for returns. ]
Uh...