"All the disciples of the Ancient Wheel Hall are eligible to enter the Gulun Secret Realm." Ji Chen looked reverent. "In the Gulun Secret Realm, you might even have the chance to receive the Kingdom Lord's guidance.
"Although the Kingdom Lord won't officially take us on as disciples, in our eyes, he's our teacher!"
Jiang Luo mused, Isn't that just like being a student of the emperor?
Joining the Ancient Wheel Hall was essentially the same as becoming a student of the Kingdom Lord.
"Can I put off going to the Gulun Secret Realm?" Jiang Luo asked.
Ji Chen was taken aback. "You don't want to go to the Gulun Secret Realm?"
From the Sacred Hall geniuses at the bottom to World Lords and even Immortal Gods at the top, everyone in the Gulun Universe Kingdom considered it an unparalleled honor to enter the Gulun Secret Realm.
"That's fine too. The chance to enter the Gulun Secret Realm is a reward the Kingdom Lord gives us disciples of the Ancient Wheel Hall. It's not compulsory." Ji Chen kept his expression calm, though he wondered about it inwardly.
The geniuses who made it into the Ancient Wheel Hall all had their own opportunities and secrets. Perhaps Jiang Luo had some secret that kept him from leaving the Huanming Star Sector.
"Disciples of the Ancient Wheel Hall are responsible for their own cultivation. No one will chase after them to teach or supervise them. But if you don't plan to go to the Gulun Secret Realm for now, you'll miss out on many of the benefits available to disciples."
Ji Chen said regretfully, "Aside from the Gulun Secret Realm, there are only two other major benefits.
"First, the Ancient Wheel Hall has eight Immortal God instructors. Each specializes in one of the eight Origin Laws.
"They give lectures at the Ancient Wheel Hall regularly, and you can attend them.
"The second is the Trial Tower. Say its name."
Jiang Luo said softly, "Trial Tower."
Boom!
An invisible, strange force suddenly descended, transporting him and Ji Chen, who had a hand on his shoulder, away together.
Whoosh!
When Jiang Luo appeared again, he found himself facing a series of enormous towers, each like a mountain more than a hundred thousand miles tall.
A transparent screen appeared in front of him:
"Trialist: Jiang Luo (Huanming Star Sector)
"Points: 0
"Rank: None
"Trial Space: No. 0816"
Jiang Luo's heart stirred as he vaguely guessed what was happening. "This is..."
Ji Chen pointed at the seven enormous towers in the distance and smiled. "The Hall of Myriad Laws has the Ninefold Myriad Laws River trials, the Blood Mountain Hall has the Blood Mountain's Ten Thousand Steps, and our Ancient Wheel Hall has this Trial Tower space.
"This trial space is yours alone.
"You should know about the Cosmic Humans' Peak Genius Tournament and Strong Ones Battle, right?
"They're genius selection tournaments held alternately by the Giant Axe Arena and the Virtual Universe Company.
"Whether it's the Genius Battle or the Strong Ones Battle, the elimination round in the first stage of the 1008 Universe Kingdoms' grand finals takes place in Trial Towers.
"And the Trial Towers in our Ancient Wheel Hall are exactly the same as the ones used in the elimination rounds of the Genius Battle and Strong Ones Battle grand finals!"
Jiang Luo marveled inwardly at the sheer scale of it. They had actually recreated the elimination rounds of the Genius Battle grand finals.
That meant the geniuses of the Gulun Universe Kingdom could experience the elimination trials of the grand finals in advance.
Of course, on second thought, the arrangement made sense.
Any genius who entered the Ancient Wheel Hall, whether at Star Level or Universe Level, would rank among the top thousand in their Universe Kingdom.
If the Genius Battle or Strong Ones Battle were held, they would naturally have no problem reaching the grand finals of the 1008 Universe Kingdoms.
The Gulun Kingdom Lord really did place great importance on nurturing geniuses. He spared no effort.
"These nine Trial Towers each have seven levels, and each level is harder than the last...
"Clearing the first tower can earn you up to seventy thousand points, while the second can earn you up to seven hundred thousand..."
After explaining the rules of the Trial Tower, Ji Chen said, "This brings me to the second benefit I mentioned.
"You can exchange the points you earn in the Trial Tower for cosmic crystals. One point can be exchanged for ten thousand cubic meters of cosmic crystals!"
Jiang Luo was startled. "One point is worth ten thousand cubic meters of cosmic crystals?"
One cubic meter of cosmic crystals was worth 1,000 Universe Coins.
If he earned seventy thousand points in the first Trial Tower, wouldn't that be worth more than seventy billion Universe Coins?
That was far more than the total wealth of a Domain Lord.
Ji Chen laughed. "Now you know how generous the Kingdom Lord is to us disciples of the Ancient Wheel Hall.
"Most Star Level geniuses who enter the Ancient Wheel Hall have already crossed the threshold of an Origin Law. Clearing the first two Trial Towers is usually no problem for them.
"That means every member of the Ancient Wheel Hall can earn at least seven hundred thousand points, or seven Hunyuan Units' worth of Universe Coins—enough to rival an ordinary World Lord.
"If you can clear the third Trial Tower, your wealth will surpass that of many World Lords.
"But clearing the third tower is no easy feat. Among the Star Level disciples, only 125 have managed to clear the third Trial Tower and enter the fourth.
"Only two have made it as far as the fifth..."
Ji Chen showed Jiang Luo how to open the rankings page.
The first ranking was for Universe Level disciples.
The name at the very top was 'Ji Chen'!
Rank 1: Ji Chen (Huanming Star Sector), Points: 748270000
"Senior Brother Ji, you're from the Huanming Star Sector too?"
Meeting Jiang Luo's surprised gaze, Ji Chen grinned smugly. "I'm ranked first for now. I heard you were from the Huanming Star Sector too, so I came to see you.
"Before you, only two geniuses from our Huanming Star Sector had entered the Ancient Wheel Hall. Now there are three of us."
Jiang Luo scrolled down to the Star Level disciple rankings.
Rank 1: Thanses (Dutu Star Sector), Points: 1787670000
Rank 2: Gailuo (Boda Star Sector), Points: 524870000
Rank 3: Tuge (Xinghuo Empire), Points: 112970000
'Thanses...' Jiang Luo's eyes shifted.
Thanses's points showed that he could fight his way to the sixth Trial Tower, but had stopped at its first level!
With a record like that in the Genius Battle grand finals, he would likely have a shot at the top ten!
The second- and third-place results were far behind his. Both had stopped at the fifth Trial Tower, though they could still contend for a place in the top thousand among the 1008 Universe Kingdoms.
The Gulun Universe Kingdom really did have a deep foundation.
Ji Chen noticed where Jiang Luo was looking and turned serious. "Thanses is from the Dutu Star Sector. He's a complete lunatic. You'd better keep your distance from him, and don't tell him where you live in the real world."
As if worried Jiang Luo wouldn't take him seriously, he added, "The Dutu Star Sector is unusual. It isn't under the jurisdiction of any Universe Kingdom.
"They have a particularly brutal trial there, called the 'Blood Demon Trial.'
"Each Blood Demon Trial gathers millions, sometimes even hundreds of millions, of Star Level fighters and makes them slaughter one another. Only those who survive are allowed to advance.
"Thanses was selected through round after round of the Blood Demon Trial. He's the most outstanding genius of his generation on Blood Demon Planet.
"People like that have long since gone insane..."
At that, Ji Chen's expression darkened. "Alas, in every generation, Blood Demon Planet has used this brutally cruel Blood Demon Trial to produce geniuses who could enter the Ancient Wheel Hall.
"But even among the Star Level geniuses from Blood Demon Planet throughout the generations, Thanses is considered exceptional."
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