The Slaughter Arena's Decisive Battle Space.
Qi Tian and Chi Xin fought again. After more than a month of reviewing their previous battle, Chi Xin had put a lot more effort into his defense this time.
Last time, they had been in the Virtual Universe, where getting killed wouldn't actually kill them, so Chi Xin had focused more on the power of his attacks.
In truth, Chi Xin had been sent to the World Lord World, full of powerful monsters, to train when he was only at Star Level. Someone who had lived on the edge of life and death all that time would never have been so careless.
Now that they were fighting again, Chi Xin was clearly much calmer. He even made Qi Tian sense something beastlike about him.
"I still lost."
In the Meditation Room, the two sat across from each other at a table. Smiling, Qi Tian poured wine for the glum-looking Chi Xin.
"I gave it everything I had, too."
Qi Tian wasn't merely saying that to comfort him. Apart from holding back his trump-card Innate Secret Technique, Indestructible Golden Body, he had also fought with all his might using his new Fifth-Order Psionic Weapon.
His new weapon had boosted his fighting strength considerably, but Chi Xin was also clearly much faster than before, and his style had changed completely.
If Chi Xin had been a primeval giant dragon last time, then this time he was a bloodthirsty viper.
Today's battle had also shown Qi Tian where he fell short. His attacks were powerful, but he couldn't keep up in speed.
"I wish I could reach the Virtual Universe Company branch right away. They have secret techniques there that I'd never be able to access elsewhere, and they could make me stronger."
Qi Tian drained his glass of wine, his eyes full of anticipation for the Virtual Universe Company.
"By the way, I read the Universe Mercenary Alliance's adventurer registration rules. Humans at Universe Level can become Apprentice Mercenaries directly, without taking the Apprentice Mercenary Assessment."
Qi Tian knew about that rule, too. Before setting out, he had read up on the requirements for registering as a Universe Mercenary.
"Even if you don't have to take the Apprentice Mercenary Assessment, you still start at the apprentice level. To advance, you'll need to complete missions and earn points."
"Most importantly, the missions available to Apprentice Mercenaries and one-star mercenaries are all concentrated in World Lord Worlds."
"With our strength, missions at those levels won't pose any challenge. We'll need to reach two-star status quickly before we're qualified to take on secret realm missions."
Qi Tian nodded, understanding what Chi Xin meant.
With their strength, they could explore the World Lord Worlds at a leisurely pace and might even come across some unexpected rewards, in addition to mission points.
But that would also greatly slow their progress. Only by giving up on exploring and focusing on earning points could they quickly become two-star mercenaries.
And only through the secret realm missions available to two-star mercenaries could they temper themselves in the secret realms.
"I understand. Internal members have to complete a two-star mercenary mission every ten years anyway. I'm not foolish enough to waste time in the lower-difficulty World Lord Worlds."
Hearing Qi Tian's answer, Chi Xin felt relieved.
Although he didn't know Qi Tian's true identity, based on what he had seen so far, Qi Tian didn't seem to have a master. That meant he was probably short on cultivation resources.
Even the one Hunyuan Unit Tegages had given him wouldn't be enough to support him through a long period of cultivation.
That sum was only enough to buy a decent Fifth-Order Psionic Weapon. If he wanted to buy a Tier 5 Force Battle Suit as well, he'd have to search carefully for an inexpensive one.
Chi Xin was different. His teacher was an Immortal-level powerhouse, and a powerful one even among the immortals. His teacher had provided him with plenty of resources from the very beginning of his cultivation.
If Qi Tian is short of money to buy cultivation resources later, I'll help him out.
Having made up his mind, Chi Xin insisted on continuing to fight Qi Tian.
But Qi Tian had no desire to keep sparring like this, and immediately turned him down.
His weakness in speed was too obvious. He needed to train specifically for it in the Slaughter Space. There was too much to do and too little time—he couldn't afford to be someone's sparring partner.
The Slaughter Space.
Qi Tian stood in a simulated outer-space environment. In front of him was an ordinary planet whose core energy was in violent upheaval, on the verge of exploding at any moment.
"Futu, set the planetary core's energy burst to low intensity."
"Understood, Master. Please get ready."
Qi Tian didn't use any flying-type psionic weapons. He would face the coming challenge with his body alone.
"Three, two, one, begin."
As Futu's countdown ended, the planet in space exploded. Terrifying waves of heat swept toward him.
If he were at the center of the explosion now, the raging heat would probably reduce him to ashes in an instant.
Qi Tian stared intently at the violent explosion before him.
Countless fragments of rock blasted outward at terrifying speeds.
Qi Tian's gaze sharpened as he watched the fragments of different sizes and speeds, scattered through the waves of heat. In an instant, he turned into a streak of flowing light and charged head-on into the countless meteor-like rocks filling the sky.
At first, the fragments were relatively sparse. Using his consciousness to cover a wide area, Qi Tian wove his way among them, while also watching for smaller fragments ricocheting off the surrounding rocks.
But after he had struggled through several dozen kilometers, he could no longer handle the rocks crashing toward him from different angles. The increasingly dense boulders smashed him into a pulp.
His first attempt failed. Qi Tian felt that the planet had exploded too close and that the difficulty was too high, so he had Futu adjust the simulation settings.
"Futu, move the planet 300,000 kilometers farther away and start again."
The second attempt, the third, the fourth.
Qi Tian immersed himself in one simulated scenario after another, working hard to practice his movement techniques.
As Qi Tian cultivated, time slipped by unnoticed, and the 27-day journey soon passed.
In the spaceship's lounge, after finishing his daily speed and movement training, Qi Tian sat cross-legged on his bed and practiced the Indestructible Golden Body as usual.
Inside the Consciousness Sea Space, the Life Crystal Core endured the scorching flames of his Will Divine Fire, slowly tempering Qi Tian's soul and gradually honing his will.
Even though it was part of his daily routine, the pain of having his soul burned still twisted Qi Tian's face into a grimace and left him drenched in cold sweat.
As Qi Tian's will reached a critical threshold, the Will Divine Fire changed from red to yellow.
The improvement in the divine fire's quality meant that the will serving as its fuel had improved as well.
At last, Qi Tian's will underwent a qualitative transformation, and his soul grew stronger along with it.
"Om."
A Sanskrit chant rang out from deep within his soul. Qi Tian's eyes flew open, and his two-meter-tall body instantly transformed into a ten-meter-tall Golden Buddha.
At the same time, within the golden mist in his consciousness, the Golden Liquid that had gathered into a small pool was being consumed at a visible rate.
As the Golden Liquid was consumed, Qi Tian's ten-meter-tall Golden Buddha grew larger bit by bit.
Eleven meters... twelve meters... fifteen meters...
When the Golden Buddha reached twenty meters tall, Qi Tian's head was almost touching the lounge ceiling. Fortunately, the Golden Buddha stopped growing at that point.
"The sensation of a life-level leap is incredible."
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