The commotion caused by Jiang Luo advancing to Universe Level was considerable. As soon as he logged into the Virtual Universe, the network connection device detected that he had reached Universe Level.
After an official sent by the Sacred Hall inspected him and confirmed it, the news quickly spread through the Gulun Secret Realm.
"Is Jiang Luo an idiot? With his strength, he could wait eighty years for the Giant Axe Arena to send people to select Star Level geniuses, then go straight into the Giant Axe Secret Realm."
"He must be trying to make it in time for the Universe Human Peak Genius Battle in two years."
"There's a huge gap in strength between Star Level and Universe Level geniuses. Plenty of Universe Level fighters who've cultivated for thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years are waiting for this Peak Warrior Battle..."
"Still, he made it to the fifth floor of the sixth Trial Tower in the Star Level Trial Space. Even if he enters the Peak Warrior Battle, he should have no trouble placing in the top thousand among the 1008 Universe Kingdoms."
"Heh, placing in the top thousand in the finals only gets you into the Youyuan Secret Realm. Even with his ridiculously great talent, he'd need at least a few hundred years to make it into the Giant Axe Secret Realm. He'd be better off staying at Star Level and entering the Giant Axe Secret Realm in eighty years."
"Who knows what he's thinking? Maybe it was the Kingdom Lord's request. After all, he's only a nominal disciple. Perhaps the Kingdom Lord wants to see how he performs in the Peak Warrior Battle."
Inside the ancient stone hall, the Gulun Kingdom Lord's gaze shifted slightly. "Interesting... He doesn't want to wait any longer?
"That's fine, too. The sooner he goes to the Giant Axe Arena, the more resources he'll be able to obtain.
"Then I can see how much potential and comprehension he has."
He didn't particularly care about Jiang Luo's apparent opportunity to possess the Flame Star Behemoth.
The Flame Star Behemoth was simply more compatible with the Law of Fire. Its talent for the laws of space was ordinary, and it wasn't a darling of the laws of space like the Mosha Clan.
A tenfold Gene Level seemed quite ordinary to him.
Once someone became a Universe Venerable, there were plenty of ways to raise their body's genes to tenfold.
He even had methods to raise them to a hundredfold life level, let alone tenfold.
The real reason he'd decided to take Jiang Luo as a nominal disciple was that Jiang Luo had a clone.
Jiang Luo had arrived in the secret realm in human form.
The one who had possessed the Flame Star Behemoth was surely his clone.
And the mysterious masked man who'd turned the Flint Star World into a mountain of corpses and seized its treasure also supported this conclusion.
In the Gulun Kingdom Lord's view, Jiang Luo had already possessed at least one Universe Level clone when he competed for the Flint Star World's treasure.
Now he was simply revealing his true level.
King Shaluo laughed heartily. "Excellent! This little fellow suits my taste. It seems the teacher really didn't misjudge him.
"The strong are forged through constant fighting and competition. Those who fret over everything and calculate every move are nothing but watchdogs guarding their home!"
"What in the world is that brat thinking?"
Marquis Mo Yan, the master of the Ancient Wheel Hall, furrowed his brows. He was quite displeased with Jiang Luo's decision to advance to Universe Level.
But Jiang Luo now had a special status, after all. He was technically Mo Yan's junior fellow disciple.
Mo Yan couldn't very well summon him and reprimand him outright.
Besides...
Marquis Mo Yan gave a wry smile. "These peerless geniuses... Every one of them is more stubborn and single-minded than the last."
Five thousand years ago, Bolan had possessed such astonishing talent for the laws of space that many powerful figures in the Giant Axe Arena had coveted him.
And yet, despite the objections of many people in the Virtual Universe Company, he'd insisted on choosing the Universe Chaos Stele instead of the Nine Universe Chaos Stele.
"He'll have to suffer a setback, take a loss, and hit a wall before he regrets it..."
After joining the Gulun Kingdom Lord's school and reaching Universe Level, Jiang Luo's inbox was flooded, and visitors came to see him in droves.
Fortunately, as the Kingdom Lord's nominal disciple, he had the confidence to turn even Immortal Gods away.
But he naturally wouldn't snub his friends who came to visit.
Besides, he had seventeen clones now. Even if his true self did nothing, his cultivation wouldn't be delayed much.
Inside the villa on Sacred Island in the Virtual Universe.
Seeing the troubled look on Ji Chen's face, Jiang Luo couldn't help smiling. "Senior Brother Ji, don't agonize over it. Let's just each go by our own seniority."
Jiang Luo had joined the Gulun Kingdom Lord's school, and Marquis Huanming, the lord of the Huanming Star Sector, was also one of the Kingdom Lord's disciples.
By that reckoning, Marquis Huanming was Jiang Luo's senior fellow disciple.
And Ji Chen was Marquis Huanming's disciple.
By seniority, Ji Chen should call him Martial Uncle.
Ji Chen gave a wry smile. "Actually, I'd always thought the teacher might take you on as a disciple someday, and you'd become my junior fellow disciple. I never expected you to join the Kingdom Lord's school directly."
It was difficult for him to call someone he'd personally brought to the Ancient Wheel Hall, and had always looked after as a talented junior from his home world, Martial Uncle.
With that awkward matter out of the way, Ji Chen looked impressed. "You're even bolder than I thought. If I were you, I wouldn't have wanted to advance to Universe Level.
"That was your chance to enter the Giant Axe Secret Realm, the foremost of the Giant Axe Arena's Four Great Secret Realms!
"And you just threw it away."
Is he calling me an idiot...?
Seeing that Jiang Luo still looked unconcerned, Ji Chen shook his head helplessly. "The Peak Warrior Battle and the Genius Battle are completely different.
"The Peak Warrior Battle's registration and selection rules don't restrict age. Even Universe Level fighters who've lived for tens of thousands of years can compete.
"In the Genius Battle, the finalists are generally young—most are one or two hundred years old. Anyone over five hundred is considered old.
"That's why people say the Genius Battle mainly tests innate talent.
"But the Peak Warrior Battle is different. Universe Level fighters live for a full hundred thousand years!
"With their strength and long lifespans, Universe Level fighters have far more time and resources than Star Level fighters to explore and adventure across the universe.
"Among the Universe Mercenary Alliance's mercenaries of various ranks, Universe Level One-star Mercenaries are the main force of the universe's adventurers.
"Star Level Apprentice Mercenaries are too weak to enter many dangerous places and secret realms.
"There are so many of them, and they spend so long adventuring. Most Universe Level mercenaries never encounter any great opportunities, but there are always lucky ones who stumble upon an extraordinary encounter.
"Some people might not stand out at Star Level, but once they reach Universe Level, they keep having lucky breaks and make rapid progress.
"Those lucky ones are few, of course. But each time, the Peak Warrior Battle selects just a thousand people from all 1008 Universe Kingdoms, doesn't it?
"So in each Genius Battle, the top thousand from a Universe Country often include more than half Sacred Hall disciples and Outer Members from the Sacred Hall's various star sectors.
"But in the Peak Warrior Battle, the proportion of Universe Level fighters cultivated by the Sacred Hall and the major forces among a Universe Country's top thousand drops dramatically!
"Someone you've never heard of might suddenly appear out of nowhere as a powerful fighter.
"This becomes even more obvious during the finals among all 1008 Universe Kingdoms!
"That's why people have always said the Peak Warrior Battle depends on the opportunities you encounter after birth!"
Jiang Luo gave it some thought.
The Genius Battle tested innate talent, while the Peak Warrior Battle depended on opportunities after birth.
That did make some sense.
After all, a Star Level fighter who was a hundred years old might be a genius, but one who was a thousand years old would definitely be a failure!
Besides, the Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Arena didn't recruit Star Level geniuses solely through the Genius Battle.
Every hundred years, the two giants took turns sending people to the various Universe Countries to select Star Level geniuses.
That was why those who stood out in the Genius Battle were so young: most relied on innate talent.
But Universe Level adventurers made their homes all across the universe.
The odds of someone traveling and adventuring for tens of thousands of years and gaining a precious opportunity were certainly extremely low. But with such a vast number of adventurers, those cases couldn't be ignored.
The Peak Warrior Battle had no age limit and didn't consider potential. It only judged strength.
Who knew what trump cards a Universe Level adventurer who'd lived for tens of thousands of years might have, or what secret techniques he'd cultivated?
Even an unparalleled genius could hardly be expected to beat an old monster who was tens of thousands of years old if he was still young.
In Jiang Luo's view, the Genius Battle and the Peak Warrior Battle were somewhat like the difference between campus recruitment for new graduates and hiring experienced professionals.
Before you continue