"War God Li Qingxu, the Dojo Master requests your presence."
Before Li Qingxu could head downstairs, a Black man in a red robe came looking for him.
"Does Hong need something?"
Li Qingxu asked, puzzled.
"Yes. The Dojo Master didn't explain the details. He only told me to invite you back."
The Black man in the red robe replied respectfully.
Though he was curious, he didn't dare ask.
This young man called Li Qingxu could call the Dojo Master by his name—and the Dojo Master had even sent someone to invite him.
He understood what that meant.
"All right, let's go."
Li Qingxu nodded and walked toward the elevator.
Only one night had passed. Could Hong have already comprehended all nine layers of the Nine Secrets: Xing Dao Diagram?
Ten minutes later, on the top floor of Limit Dojo headquarters.
The door opened automatically. As Li Qingxu walked in, it closed behind him.
The corridor outside was empty. In fact, there was no one else on the entire floor.
"What, did you break through?"
Li Qingxu asked curiously.
Hong sat cross-legged on a cushion, as if deep in meditation. He remained motionless, still staring at the Dao Diagram hanging in the air above the room.
"Mm. I've made some progress, but it seems I'm still just a little short."
Hong nodded.
He felt as if he were already standing at the door. He only had to push it open, and he could step through.
But it was as if he were missing something. He simply couldn't open that door.
So he'd sent someone to fetch Li Qingxu.
"Oh?"
Hearing that, Li Qingxu immediately grew interested.
Had Hong already fully comprehended the Nine-Layer Dao Diagram, with only one final step left before he could master the Nine Secrets: Xing?
He knew how difficult the technique was to comprehend. Back at Holy Cliff, he'd used a Bodhi Leaf and an Undying Tree Leaf just to memorize the nine diagrams and comprehend the true meaning of five of them.
But even if Hong pushed that door open, that would only mark the true beginning.
When mastered, the Nine Secrets: Xing involved the domain of time. It could briefly interfere with or halt the flow of time, wielding part of the power of the Law of Time.
The Law of Time in this world was an upper law. The Law of Light that Hong would comprehend in the future was one of the Eight Lower Laws beneath it.
But when Hong explained what was troubling him, Li Qingxu finally understood what he meant by being just a little short.
He wasn't just a little short at all. He was still outside the entrance to the first layer of the Nine-Layer Dao Diagram.
Still, to have reached this point in a single night meant Hong had an extraordinary talent for comprehension.
He had no divine treasures from the Shrouding the Heavens World to help him. He'd relied entirely on his own mind to grasp it.
"Have you forgotten your Light Domain? Use what you learned from comprehending it to pry that door open."
"The three thousand paths of the Dao may differ, but they all lead to the same destination."
Especially the final eight words. Li Qingxu circulated the Dao Scripture, producing a resonant Dao-infused sound.
"Different paths lead to the same destination. The domain?"
Hong's lips parted slightly, as if he were asking a question—or asking himself.
As he'd comprehended the Dao Diagram, his subconscious had blocked out all his past experience, so that he could grasp it with a mind free of distractions.
Li Qingxu had told him their paths of cultivation were different, and Hong had worried that his own cultivation experience might interfere.
But now, Li Qingxu's resonant words were like a sudden enlightenment, snapping everything into place.
In an instant, the room fell into complete darkness. Even the sunlight outside the windows could no longer get in.
Only the Dao Diagram above the room still shimmered with golden light, seemingly beyond the reach of his Light Domain.
"So this is the true secret technique!"
Hong's eyes gleamed, his voice brimming with delight.
The Dao Diagram had changed in his eyes.
It seemed to form a layer of 'heaven' hanging before him. And faintly, beyond that layer, he seemed to see another, hazy heaven.
He'd thought he was standing at the door, but he hadn't even reached the threshold of the secret technique's first layer of heaven.
And he sensed that beyond the hazy second layer, there had to be more!
"His talent for comprehension really is extraordinary."
A flicker of admiration crossed Li Qingxu's eyes.
Hong sat cross-legged at the center of his Light Domain. Black beams of light appeared and disappeared around him, circling as they gave off sonic booms.
He was using his own Light Domain to sketch out, comprehend, and explore the Dao contained in the first layer of heaven.
Seeing that Hong had entered deep cultivation, Li Qingxu left the room.
With the access privileges Hong had granted him beforehand, Li Qingxu could enter any of the dozens of rooms on the top floor of headquarters.
His quarters and cultivation room were on this floor as well.
In the audiovisual room, Li Qingxu reclined on a sofa, holding a dark blue helmet in his hands.
When ordinary War God-level warriors used a Consciousness Sensor at home, the most important thing was to protect themselves.
As soon as they put on the dark blue helmet, their consciousness entered a Virtual Space. If someone broke in and attacked them then, it would be troublesome.
That had almost never happened, but the instructions still warned users to protect their physical safety.
The Consciousness Sensor Helmet also had a security system that could detect anyone entering the surrounding area.
But he wasn't worried at all. This was Limit Dojo headquarters, after all—and the top floor was reserved exclusively for Hong.
If someone could still break in here, Hong might as well give up being Dojo Master.
"Whoosh!"
Li Qingxu put on the helmet and entered the War God Palace in the Virtual Space.
His consciousness dimmed, then returned in an instant. He appeared in a vast, quiet room.
The room looked to be more than a thousand square meters. At its center stood a round bed, three meters across.
In front of the bed was an indoor swimming pool ten meters wide and twenty meters long.
The bed, swimming pool, desk and chairs, luxurious dining table, lounge chairs, and cultivation area with a yoga mat—the enormous room, more than a thousand square meters in all, had been neatly divided into numerous sections.
"Interesting. Hong's consciousness is here too. Was this place constructed primarily around him?"
Li Qingxu stood still, sensing the space around him.
Unfortunately, it was too low-level to feel real, and the strength of his consciousness-form was capped.
Suddenly, a flash of golden light passed over his body. His aura surged, then returned to normal in an instant.
"Beep! Beep!"
"Warning! Attack detected..."
"False alarm. Operation normal."
Three electronic voices rang out abruptly in his room.
"Welcome, War God Li Qingxu."
An electronic voice spoke again.
In a special room at Limit Dojo headquarters, a group of men and women in white robes stared at the warning on the screen, their faces changing instantly.
"What's going on? The War God Palace has never malfunctioned. Investigate!"
An old man issued the order.
"Report: A War God's consciousness suddenly exceeded the War God Palace's limit. The intelligent system thought it was under attack."
"Exceeded the limit? What a joke. Those values are based on the Dojo Master's consciousness. Are you saying someone has surpassed the Dojo Master?!"
"The warning came from No. 3516. It's a new space just constructed by the intelligent system."
"Find out who broke through to the War God level and entered the War God Palace."
"Yes... War God Li Qingxu."
The room fell silent at once.
They all thought of a rumor circulating through headquarters: a young man called Li Qingxu had been personally brought back by the Dojo Master and given quarters on the top floor.
Even the Dojo Master's three personal guards weren't allowed to live on the top floor. They stayed one floor below.
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