The Slaughterhouse was one of the Virtual Universe's most iconic large-scale structures. There was one on each of the 1,008 continents corresponding to humanity's 1,008 Universe Countries, as well as on the countless islands scattered around those continents.
Li Che and the two Undying Deities, Rong Bing and Qi Yao, passed through a teleportation passage and soon arrived at the Slaughterhouse on Rong Bing Island.
The main structure of the Virtual Universe's Slaughterhouse stood amid a vast sea of blood. Above that boundless sea hung an enormous, planet-sized building shaped like a drop of blood, with people coming and going at every moment.
This facility, operated by the Virtual Universe, claimed that any expert at the planetary level or above could configure any imaginable opponent to suit their needs.
The opponent's race, talents, genetic multiplier, weapons, comprehension of laws, and even the secret techniques they had mastered...
The Slaughterhouse never minded how particular its clients were about the details of their enemies. The Virtual Universe had more than enough computing power to simulate almost any situation.
This virtual spacetime, created through the Origin Ancestor's secret technique, had already replicated all ten great laws of the Primitive Universe. Li Che had no doubt that even if someone wanted to simulate several Universe Venerables who had mastered the complete laws of space or time, the Slaughterhouse could oblige.
Of course, making the Virtual Universe expend computing power to simulate such a formidable opponent would also cost a truly staggering amount of money.
The Slaughterhouse had one ironclad rule: the stronger the opponent you wanted to simulate, the more you had to pay.
"The combat environment will be outer space. One opponent: an Undying-level human warrior who uses the gold and space origin laws, wields a tier-six force heavy sword, and possesses an undying body. His law comprehension and secret techniques should both be at the level of a low-tier Marquis-level Undying."
"For myself, I select a Ninth-Level World Lord human warrior equipped with standard-issue Divine Amplification Armor and the top-grade tier-six force weapon, the Dark Sea Battle Spear."
Li Che and the two Immortal Military Lords made their way through the Slaughterhouse and soon entered a combat space, where he began configuring the virtual opponent for this simulation.
Naturally, the information he used was that of the Iron Sword Marquis, the Marquis-level Undying Deity who served as a slave under the Master of Yunmo Star.
Running a simulation in the Slaughterhouse was the simplest and most direct way to determine whether Li Che had the strength to stand against the Iron Sword Marquis.
"Simulation requirements confirmed. The target is a Marquis-level Undying human warrior who uses the gold and space origin laws and wields the tier-six force weapon, the Heavy Star Sword. The time limit is six hours. Payment required: 12,000 Hunyuan Units."
Beside him, Bai Yue, an intelligent assistant in the form of a slender snake woman, sat on Li Che's shoulder and reminded him.
"Deduct it from my Virtual Universe account." On the distant spectator platform, Divine Master Rongbing nodded slightly and volunteered to pay.
The enormous sum of universe currency required to simulate a Marquis-level Undying Deity was indeed expensive. Still, for an Undying Deity as seasoned as her, running a few short simulations would hardly put a serious dent in her finances.
"Payment deducted. Simulation commencing!"
The next instant, Bai Yue's figure vanished from Li Che's shoulder, but her voice rang throughout the combat space.
Rumble!
The combat space began to change. The original starfield faded, and they seemed to have been transported instantly above a star that blazed incessantly.
At the same time, a suit of gray-black armor gradually appeared on Li Che's body. Fluctuations of law beside him intertwined, slowly forming a pitch-black battle spear.
The Divine Amplification Armor and the top-grade tier-six force weapon, the Dark Sea Battle Spear, were both equipment Li Che routinely used.
Meanwhile, his simulated World Force, Gene Origin Force, and Life Gene Level were all set to the standard of a human Ninth-Level World Lord.
Li Che needed little effort to familiarize himself with the body simulated by the Virtual Universe.
Or rather, this was Li Che's usual configuration when fighting on the Extraterrestrial Battlefield.
His comprehension of laws was profound enough for him to activate the secret law patterns on his Divine Amplification Armor with ease. Combined with his tier-six force weapon, this sent his power soaring, bringing his base strength to nearly three hundred times that of a peak World Lord.
At the same time, far away from Li Che, light formed from data and laws intertwined in space, taking the shape of a burly man nearly three meters tall and clad in golden Divine Battle Armor.
Li Che could clearly sense the surging fluctuations of the gold origin law emanating from the man. Sharp law power intertwined around him, leaving distinct slash marks even in the fabric of space.
The Virtual Universe certainly lived up to its reputation. This man was every bit a standard low-tier Marquis-level Undying.
"Kill!"
At a certain moment, a vicious gleam suddenly burst from the eyes of the burly man formed from virtual data. He locked onto Li Che instantly, and the tier-six Heavy Star Sword flashed in his hand, cleaving toward Li Che in almost the same instant.
At the speed of a Marquis-level Undying Deity, tens of thousands of kilometers could be crossed in a heartbeat.
Faced with a sword strike that crashed down like a mountain of gold, both swift and heavy, Li Che remained unhurried. He simply raised his battle spear and held it horizontally to block that utterly domineering blow.
Clang!
The instant the two tier-six force weapons clashed, the power of the earth and gold origin laws surged. The flames burning across the star's surface churned violently, spreading outward like a tsunami.
On the spectator platform, Rong Bing and Qi Yao, both Army Lord-level Undying Deities, did not so much as blink. The power of laws flowed through their eyes as they stared fixedly at the two combatants in the center of the battlefield.
The simulated figure's savage sword strike had unquestionably been at the Marquis level. By human standards, his base strength alone was between 1,000 and 1,100 times that of a peak World Lord. With Marquis-level law comprehension, strength amplification, and other factors added in, its power reached an almost unimaginable degree.
Either of them could have blocked it head-on, but doing so would certainly have cost them a small amount of undying divine power.
Yet Li Che, a mere World Lord, had not evaded that terrifying sword strike. Instead, he met it head-on, countering it directly with his weapon.
What shocked the two Immortal Military Lords even more was that Li Che had actually blocked that domineering blow. The Dark Sea Battle Spear clashed with the Heavy Star Sword, stopping the massive, weighty blade cold.
"Incredible!"
With four pairs of luminous white, sacred wings extending from her back, Divine Master Qiyao watched the battlefield below with a solemn expression.
After all, the body Li Che had selected was only that of a peak World Lord with a normal onefold genetic level. Even with Divine Battle Armor and a top-grade force weapon, his base strength was only three hundred times that of a peak World Lord, still nowhere near that of a Marquis-level Undying Deity.
The five great factions classified Undying Deities according to strict standards, assessing them from multiple angles. A base strength of one hundred to one thousand times that of a peak World Lord qualified as Army Lord level. To be recognized as a low-tier Marquis, however, one's base strength under normal conditions had to exceed one thousand times that of a peak World Lord.
Beyond that, one needed Marquis-level law comprehension, the enhancement of secret techniques, and corresponding battle achievements. Only then would the five great factions recognize one as a Marquis-class Undying Deity.
These requirements were far stricter than the standards the rulers of the various cosmic nations used for the kings and marquises under their command!
Yet Li Che, with nothing more than a World Lord's body, had reached a level where he could clash head-on with a low-tier Marquis-class Undying Deity.
In other words, Li Che had only three hundred times a peak World Lord's strength-the base strength of a mid-tier Undying Deity-but through his profound law comprehension and secret techniques, he had forcibly closed the gap between himself and a Marquis-class Undying.
Divine Master Rongbing was also staring intently at the battle between Li Che and the simulated figure.
Neither she nor Qi Yao had become Undying through the earth origin law, but they were both widely experienced. They soon recognized Li Che's fighting method.
The pitch-black battle spear in Li Che's hands was wreathed in an almost tangible earth origin law. Every strike was ferocious and crushingly heavy, matching his low-tier Marquis opponent in both speed and power.
"The earth origin law... He really has learned to harness it to this extent on his own!"
Only after a while did the ruler of the Rongbing Empire let out a soft sigh. On the distant battlefield, Li Che and his opponent had already plunged into a fierce struggle following their first clash. The battle spear swept through the air and the great sword cleaved down, each movement stirring fluctuations of law that were as beautiful as they were deadly.
P.S. The enhancement provided by the Divine Battle Armor is my own invention, intended as a comparison to the Soldier Armor in the original work. Soldier Armor is a lesser product of the supreme treasure, the Tribulation Armor, and can amplify a World Lord's strength to a maximum of one thousand times World Lord strength. Humanity may not necessarily have such treasures, but I think it is reasonably plausible for standard-issue Divine Battle Armor, when fully activated, to amplify strength to two or three hundred times that of a World Lord.
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