In the days that followed, Zhou Yuan almost completely immersed himself in the Virtual Universe's simulated artifact-refining field, repeatedly attempting to forge a fifth-tier Zhenkong Blade. Although he had yet to succeed, every failure deepened his understanding of Artifact Refining Secret Art 2.0.
Zhou Yuan was absorbed in the rhythm of tempering molten metal and engraving secret patterns when the communicator on his wrist suddenly rang. It was a message from his butler, Qian Hong: "Your Highness, the goods sent by your Third Senior Brother, Di Rui, have arrived. Please come to the front hall to receive them."
A flash of delight crossed Zhou Yuan's eyes. He immediately ended the artifact-refining simulation and withdrew from the Virtual Universe. He hurried to the villa's front hall, where Qian Hong stood respectfully to one side, holding a simple black wooden box in his hands.
"Your Highness, this is the package sent by your Third Senior Brother. There is a longsword inside." Qian Hong handed over the wooden box he had received.
Zhou Yuan took the wooden box. It felt heavy in his hands, and its surface was covered in dense Law secret patterns. He opened the lid, revealing an ancient-looking two-handed longsword lying quietly within.
"Good blade!" Zhou Yuan praised as he reached out, gripped the hilt, and gently drew it. The instant the blade left its sheath, the surrounding space warped slightly, and a fierce aura of Space Law rushed toward him.
This Cosmos Blade had been forged entirely from G-grade metal. Its value far exceeded that of a fifth-tier force weapon, amounting to at least hundreds of millions of Hunyuan units. It had been personally refined by Cosmos, a Human Race artifact-refining grandmaster and King-level Immortal expert. Its interior contained complete Space Law secret patterns, enough to support Zhou Yuan's use until the King-level Immortal stage.
"All right, you may leave now." Zhou Yuan could not wait to try Myriad Transformations, so he quickly instructed Qian Hong to depart.
"This subordinate takes his leave." Qian Hong respectfully bowed before leaving the villa.
Once Qian Hong had left, Zhou Yuan activated the Myriad Transformations Secret Technique, intending to replicate the form and aura of the Cosmos Blade. To his surprise, the technique failed. He could not transform into the Cosmos Blade.
After a moment's thought, Zhou Yuan understood the reason. The gap in level between himself and the Cosmos Blade was simply too great. A King-level weapon exceeded the range of his Myriad Transformations.
Unable to analyze it directly through the secret technique, Zhou Yuan could only use the most traditional method to comprehend its secret patterns. He carefully observed every detail of the blade while circulating his spiritual power, cautiously sensing the operational patterns of the secret markings inside it. This was the method ordinary people used to comprehend secret patterns.
Although this method was far slower than Zhou Yuan's Myriad Transformations, his comprehension had long been transformed by the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique. In only three days, he had gained a preliminary understanding of the basic secret patterns inside the blade, enough that it would not affect his normal use of it.
What delighted him even more was that, while comprehending the spatial secret patterns, his understanding of the Space Origin Law also deepened. Without realizing it, he had made obvious progress in the Space Origin Law.
Zhou Yuan suddenly became alert. He had been too immersed in artifact refining lately and had neglected the most essential task: comprehending Laws. For a warrior of his level, Laws were the foundation, while artifact refining was only an auxiliary means. He could not neglect the root for the branches.
Realizing this, Zhou Yuan immediately adjusted his cultivation plan. He devoted most of his time to comprehending the essence of the Space Origin Law, only practicing artifact refining occasionally. As he concentrated his mind, his comprehension speed increased once more, and he began analyzing the essence of the Space Origin Law piece by piece.
Unknowingly, two years passed quietly, and the Arena Competition of the first stage of the Genius Battle came to an end. During this period, Zhou Yuan had spent most of his time comprehending the essence of the Space Origin Law. He had now grasped thirty-five types, only one step away from understanding the simplest thirty-six spatial origin essences.
During that time, he occasionally followed the Arena Competition to observe the performances of other geniuses. Quite a few dark horses had emerged in this year's Arena Competition. They had not taken first place in the elimination rounds, yet their performances in the Arena Competition were more dazzling than those of many elimination-round champions.
For example, Karen of the Purple Chen Universe Nation had fought in a match Zhou Yuan had watched before. With absolute strength, Karen had earned a place in the finals with a perfect record in the Arena Competition.
The various universe nations of the Human Race were all gathering information on the participating geniuses, and the Purple Chen Universe Nation was no exception. As the personal disciple of the Purple Chen Nation Lord, Zhou Yuan naturally had access to the most complete information immediately.
On the afternoon the first-stage Arena Competition ended, Qian Hong came to visit with a light screen containing the genius information gathered by the Purple Chen Universe Nation. "Your Highness, this is the information our Purple Chen Universe Nation has received from the various universe nations."
Zhou Yuan accepted the information screen and swiped his fingers across it, examining the contestants' information one by one. Most of them were far too weak to interest him at all. Even the occasional stronger contestant still had an enormous gap compared to him.
When he saw Karen's information, Zhou Yuan nodded slightly. "This Karen has improved quickly. The Myriad Avatars Secret Art should be close to breaking through to the second level. Getting into the top ten should not be a problem."
This Karen should be able to enter the top ten. Myriad Avatars is about to break through to the second level.
When he turned to the information on the Flame Dragon Universe Nation, Yan Lie was listed first. A trace of approval flashed through Zhou Yuan's eyes. "This Yan Lie has a deep comprehension of the Fire Origin Law, and he has also crossed the threshold of the Space Origin Law. He should have the strength to contend for the top ten as well."
"This Auster probably has the strength to make the top ten too. He actually fought his way through the Arena Competition as well."
Kien, Shafir, Gu Hong...
One genius after another flashed across the screen. Zhou Yuan casually evaluated them in his mind, but not a single one made him feel threatened.
A feeling of invincibility rose within Zhou Yuan. Looking at the names on the light screen, he could not help recalling a song from Earth in his previous life: "How lonely, how empty it is to be invincible..."
He went through the entire list but did not find any familiar figures from the original work. It seemed this Powerhouse Battle did not have any exceptionally dazzling special geniuses who would leave a mark on the future.
"Ah, there isn't a single one who can fight," Zhou Yuan sighed softly. "I wonder whether the group of geniuses in the Primal Secret Realm will be any stronger."
Just as Zhou Yuan lamented how hard it was to find a worthy opponent, the other three great races beyond the Human Race were also acting urgently.
Inside a Divine Kingdom located within a spatial interlayer, an insect race Mother Empress was raging at the Immortal gods under her command. "Useless trash! After searching for so long, you still can't even find Zhou Yuan's whereabouts! What are you good for?"
The Immortal gods below lowered their heads and answered tremulously, "My lady, all information regarding Zhou Yuan has been tightly sealed by the Purple Chen Universe Nation. We have mobilized every intelligence network we possess, yet we still failed to find his exact location."
Similar scenes were playing out within the intelligence agencies of the Machine Race and the Demon Race. The terrifying talent Zhou Yuan had displayed during the elimination rounds had already aroused the vigilance of the three great races. All of them wanted to strangle him in the cradle before he could grow.