The Slaughter Space

After the two chatted for a while, Mikita left the restaurant to take care of his own business.

Qi Tian didn't linger either. After paying the bill, he left the restaurant and headed down the street toward the nearest teleportation passage.

A short while later, he reached the nearest teleportation point. After joining the queue and entering the passage with the other passengers, he gave his AI, Futu, the command to teleport him to the Slaughter Arena.

"Whoosh!"

The next moment, Qi Tian appeared in front of a huge building. He walked inside and saw a hall as vast as a city.

Qi Tian looked around. The backdrop, like a blood-red sea surging to the heavens, filled him with a murderous intent. The conspicuous "blood drops" made the Slaughter Arena feel even more grim and foreboding.

Though the hall was enormous, it wasn't especially crowded. After all, the costs here were high. Even ordinary family scions couldn't afford to stay for long, let alone ordinary adventurers.

"I'm at Universe Level 9. Staying in the Slaughter Arena costs ten million Noah Coins a day. The five hundred million Mikita gave me won't even last two months."

As he worked out the numbers, Qi Tian headed to the service counter to link his bank account. From then on, fees for using the Slaughter Arena's combat services would be deducted directly from his account.

After completing the formalities, Qi Tian followed the directions and walked straight toward the far end of the hall.

There were rows of passageways. Each person could choose one to enter, and beyond it lay a private Slaughter Space.

Qi Tian didn't linger. He chose a passage at random and walked deeper inside.

As he walked, the surroundings transformed into the starry reaches of the universe. He found himself standing on a gigantic meteorite, a golden book appearing in his hand. It contained instructions on how to use the Slaughter Space.

Qi Tian glanced through it, then quickly settled on a plan.

He had two reasons for coming to the Slaughter Space. The first was to hone his skills. He didn't expect to become incredibly powerful, but at the very least, he didn't want to fall too far behind when fighting opponents at the same level.

After all, in the real world, his Innate Secret Technique gave him combat strength comparable to a Domain Lord at the first or second level. After transforming into his Golden Buddha Form, his power could rise even higher.

But that was only thanks to his Innate Secret Technique. His grasp of combat skills and his use of the Law Domain were still extremely crude.

Those things were part of one's strength, of course, but the universe was full of geniuses capable of fighting above their level, as well as people with special talents. Relying on his Innate Secret Technique alone would make it difficult for him to join the ranks of the strong.

His second reason was also the main purpose of his visit: to show the Virtual Universe Company his talent and get its management at the Slaughter Arena in the Beihua Empire to take notice of him.

What he lacked most right now was a Combat Secret Technique. But he had no inheritance, had joined no faction, and couldn't afford a high-level technique.

If he could join the Virtual Universe Company as an external member, he'd have a way to obtain Combat Secret Techniques. Even if the techniques he could get weren't high-level, they'd still be better than what Mikita could provide.

Once he had made up his mind, Qi Tian began his first battle in the Slaughter Arena.

"Futu, link me to the Slaughter Space. Set the terrain to a plain, and set my opponent as a Universe Level 9 martial artist who has mastered the ninth level of the Domain."

For the next ten days, Qi Tian spent most of his time immersed in the Slaughter Space, battling again and again as he gradually worked on his weaknesses.

He steadily increased his opponents' levels, changing them from those with the ninth level of the Domain to those who had crossed the threshold of the Origin Law of Gold.

He didn't have a Combat Secret Technique, but even with just his fists and feet, he could unleash formidable strength. Unable to learn from his opponents' use of secret techniques, he instead drew on how they applied the Origin Law.

Over those ten days, Qi Tian's strength steadily grew, and his combat skills improved. He also learned some basic applications of the laws, incorporating them into his punches and palm strikes.

On his eleventh day in the Slaughter Space, Qi Tian was still hard at work when he received a call from Mikita.

After logging out of the Virtual Universe Network, Qi Tian freshened up in his hotel room, then stepped out and into the living room.

Mikita was savoring some fine wine on a luxurious custom-made sofa. Qi Jingshi and the others were sitting nearby.

"Shang Xie, take a look at your telekinetic weapon. We'll have a good spar later."

Qi Shangye sat at one end of the sofa. For once, he wasn't lounging around lazily. He was staring at his newly acquired weapon with excitement.

"What, Shang Xie bought a telekinetic weapon?"

Qi Tian heard them talking as soon as he came out. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, looking at Qi Shangye with interest.

"Buddha Lord." When they saw Qi Tian approach, they quickly stood and greeted him.

"Mm." Qi Tian gave a slight nod, then picked up the wine on the stone table in front of the sofa, poured himself a glass, and took a sip.

He also noticed two metal briefcases on the stone table. They had combination locks, and he had no idea what was inside.

"Buddha Lord, Mr. Mikita took us around Mengyu Planet these past few days and bought weapons for us, too."

Qi Tianshou looked excited as he took a battle axe half his height from his storage bracelet and showed it to Qi Tian.

It was a mid-grade Tier 2 Origin Force weapon. The axe head was dark gold, and the whole weapon was made of a special alloy, with secret inscriptions carved into it.

Qi Jingshi also took his War Blade from his storage space. It was made of the same dark-gold alloy, but the blade was slender, a little like the Tang-style horizontal swords of ancient China.

"Both weapons were designed by the same blacksmith, and their names are similar, too. Tian Shou's is called the Gold-Slashing Axe, and Jingshi's is called the Gold-Slashing Blade."

Mikita smiled and took a sip of wine before explaining the Origin Force weapons to Qi Tian.

Qi Tian nodded. They both belonged to the Gold Soul Clan and had awakened gold-type talents. They had both awakened the Diamond Body as well, so weapons like these suited them.

"What about yours, Shang Xie?" Qi Tian turned to ask Qi Shangye.

"Buddha Lord, Mr. Mikita bought me a high-grade Tier 2 telekinetic weapon. It cost a lot more than Jingshi's and Tian Shou's." As Qi Shangye spoke, he looked a little embarrassed.

"Oh? Let's see it."

Qi Tian had barely finished speaking when Qi Shangye turned his hand over. A cyan sphere appeared in his palm out of nowhere.

"This is the Wind-Controlling Bead. It consists of 256 metal blades and has two forms. The first is simply a sphere."

"The second form can take the shape of a beast from the universe called the 'Wind-Controlling Fox.' It can unleash powerful attacks."

Qi Tian looked at the cyan sphere and asked curiously, "This should be a wind-type telekinetic weapon, right?"

Qi Shangye nodded. Mikita then explained.

"Buddha Lord, although Shang Xie awakened a gold-type talent, I've been teaching him combat techniques over the past year and discovered that he has a great gift for speed."

"Especially during his recent training in the Slaughter Space—he seemed on the verge of grasping the Wind Domain. While guiding him, I was lucky enough to comprehend the Wind Domain myself."

"To thank Shang Xie, I bought him this high-grade Tier 2 Wind-Controlling Bead. If he weren't only at Planetary Level 9 right now, I'd be willing to buy him a Tier 3 Telekinetic Weapon."