The Genius Battle Was Coming

Luo Feng's eyes narrowed slightly when he heard that they could attack however they pleased.

Whatever else might be true, Chen Ao was undeniably powerful. Surely he wouldn't go out of his way to swindle Luo Feng out of a single Hunyuan Unit?

Besides, Chen Ao had done him a favor. Even if he was being swindled, he could consider it repayment for that favor. It wouldn't really be a loss.

Luo Feng stopped Babata, then transferred one Hunyuan Unit to Chen Ao.

"You three, train hard. The Genius Battle is coming soon. Whether Earth can rise to prominence will depend on young people like you!"

The three remained silent for a while longer, then left together.

Chen Ao looked at the single Hunyuan Unit in his account and smiled faintly.

"Finally, I've got money. One Hunyuan Unit-what a paltry figure. But for me right now, it really is an enormous help!"

One Hunyuan Unit did sound rather small, but expressed as a trillion Universe Coins, it instantly became clear that this was anything but a modest sum.

After all, it could buy five million Earths!

Before long, he found a shop and purchased two secret manuals.

One was "Thousandfold Combat Power," and the other was "Space Cleave."

Their names alone made it clear just how laughably low-grade these two secret techniques were.

In fact, both had been created by World Lords who had comprehended space law, drawing on tens of millions of years of accumulated experience.

Although they were low-grade by the universe's standards, they were good enough for Chen Ao.

Thousandfold Combat Power taught methods for using phantom bodies.

Compared to the "Ten Thousand Line Flow" Luo Feng was studying, it seemed quite inferior. Ten Thousand Line Flow could produce over ten thousand phantom bodies at its highest level, whereas Thousandfold Combat Power could only control a little over a thousand.

However, Ten Thousand Line Flow was a movement technique, unlike a close-combat secret technique such as Thousandfold Combat Power.

If I remember correctly, even Bolan, the strongest competitor, only had a little over a thousand phantom bodies by the end of the Genius Battle. Fundamentally, I still have the advantage!

Still, he knew that his ability to use those thousand-plus phantom bodies would be nowhere near Bolan's.

That was the difference a teacher made. Bolan at least had an Immortal teaching him.

He, on the other hand, had only himself.

As for the second secret technique, it would allow Chen Ao to use space law more efficiently.

Space Cleave was a sword technique, which suited him perfectly.

Together, the two secret techniques cost exactly nine hundred billion Universe Coins. The remaining hundred billion would cover Chen Ao's fees for using the Virtual Universe's Battle Space.

"Once I've learned the secret techniques, I'll still need to fight. Otherwise, I won't even know how to use them in battle!"

On Earth, he had long since become invincible. Even a Golden Horned Beast could be killed with a jab of his finger from across the Pacific Ocean.

But in the universe, his meager strength only made him a few dozen times stronger than Bolan. It really amounted to nothing.

Once he received the manuals, Chen Ao immediately began training.

Meditation!

Chen Ao activated his W skill and entered a meditative state.

Besides restoring health and reducing damage, this W skill also had a passive effect.

In fact, all four active skills had passive effects.

W's passive allowed him to enter a meditative state, greatly increasing the speed of his comprehension.

His Q skill had opened the door to reaching nine thousand phantom bodies within forty years, but W had been the real key.

Chen Ao stopped attending lectures and devoted himself to practicing the two secret techniques.

Meanwhile, as soon as Luo Feng and the other two boarded their spaceship, they began looking up information on the Genius Battle.

"Quick, Babata, help me look it up! What's this Genius Battle all about?"

Babata's voice soon rang out, explaining the Genius Battle to them.

"The Genius Battle is held by humanity's five major powers. Competitors must be at Star Level. Luo Feng, you could give it a try!"

Luo Feng glared. "What do you mean, give it a try? Can't I win the championship?"

Babata replied with a hint of mockery, "Luo Feng, you need to understand something. With the opportunities you've had, you might count as a genius in the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield. But in the Qianwu Universe Country as a whole, you're nothing special, let alone among all of humanity!"

Babata then began explaining everything about the Genius Battle to the three of them.

"Generally speaking, the five major powers only recruit the top thousand, and everyone in the top thousand is, at the very least, a genius who has crossed the threshold of law comprehension!"

At that point, Babata looked at the three. "You're all very talented, but you're still a long way from a ninth-level domain, never mind crossing the threshold of origin law comprehension!"

The three entered a search for crossing the threshold of origin law comprehension in the Virtual Universe and soon found the information.

After reading it, they couldn't help falling silent.

"Now you know how wide the gap is, don't you? Forget the championship-even among the top thousand in the Qianwu Universe Country, most are geniuses who have crossed the threshold of origin law comprehension!"

At that point, Babata suddenly couldn't help looking in Chen Ao's direction.

"If anyone has a chance of advancing, that fellow just might!"

Babata had to admit that Chen Ao's talent was truly outrageous. Even after all the years the great little devil had spent traveling with his master, Babata had never seen anything like it.

"That fellow is at least beyond the Nine Line Flow level. Even in the entire Genius Battle, he'd belong to that tiny handful at the very top!"

Hong and Lei soon recovered from the blow. "Is our elder brother really that strong?"

Babata nodded. "He is. Extremely strong, in fact. You've all experienced what a casual strike from him with a battered sword could do!"

The three couldn't help falling silent. For some reason, whenever Chen Ao came up, they seemed unable to do anything but fall silent, not knowing what to say.

Deep down, however, Luo Feng refused to accept it. He had never been willing to admit defeat. Even in a Genius Battle encompassing all cosmic humans, he didn't believe he had no chance at all.

Cross the threshold of origin law comprehension? I'll definitely do it!

The fighting spirit in Luo Feng's eyes burned even brighter.

He wasn't one to show off, nor was there any need to make bold declarations. Ignoring Babata's nagging, Luo Feng took out the metal plate.

Someone as strong as Senior wouldn't be playing a joke on me, would he?

Previously, he hadn't known what level Chen Ao had reached. But after analyzing and comparing the strength required for the Genius Battle, he understood that Chen Ao ranked among the strongest Star Level humans in existence. A genius like that wouldn't go out of his way to invent a lie just to cheat him out of one Hunyuan Unit.

Soon, the information in the metal plate entered Luo Feng's mind.

It seemed to contain a secret technique. There was a great deal of information, but most of it was incomplete. Even the technique's name was missing parts.

"There's only the first section!"

Luo Feng soon finished reviewing it.

But once he had finished, his eyes were filled with shock.

"This... this is actually a secret technique that can improve one's life genes!"

He was no longer a complete novice. After checking the relevant information, he soon realized that this secret technique was indeed incomparably precious.

"Senior was right. Even hundreds of millions of Hunyuan Units couldn't buy this technique!"

Before long, Luo Feng began practicing the Nine Tribulations Secret Manual.

After practicing it, Luo Feng was even more astonished. He discovered that not only had his strength increased, but his comprehension had improved as well. Even understanding the origin of gold had become easier.

"Senior, just who are you?"

While studying his low-level secret techniques, Chen Ao sensed something and looked into the distance. "Luo Feng should have started practicing the Nine Tribulations Secret Manual by now, right?"

He had found the thing over forty years ago. Of course, he could have practiced it too, but he had chosen not to.

"Once you practice it, you have to go inherit the Star Tower. I don't think I could survive that. Unless you're the chosen one, anyone who goes there is just marching to their death!"

Since he cherished his life, choosing to give it up had only been natural.

"Staying alive is what matters. God King Weapons and all that mean nothing to me!"