Li Che

Without a doubt, Li Che was a transmigrator.

Over fifty thousand years ago, Li Che had been eating hot pot and singing on Earth when an unexpected accident killed him. Yet that death had also brought him to this universe.

He still remembered waking up to discover that he had become a tiny infant, cradled in an enormous hand. That hand was so absurdly large that the newborn Li Che had felt like a broad bean, liable to be crushed at any moment.

Only later did he learn that the hand belonged to his father.

By the time he was one or two years old, Li Che had gained a fairly thorough understanding of his circumstances.

He had been born in the Rongbing Empire, an intermediate civilization under the Ganwu Universe Country in the Primitive Universe. Its territory encompassed a vast star region spanning an unknown number of light-years, and he was a member of its imperial family.

Unfortunately, membership in the Rongbing Empire's imperial family was not nearly as valuable as he had imagined.

After all, Undying Deities generally lived for unimaginably long periods, and their imperial families typically numbered in the billions. There was no way every descendant could receive excellent training.

Li Che's father, for instance, had received very few resources from the imperial family as he cultivated from the planetary level to the universe level. Only many years after reaching the universe level, when he placed among the top two hundred thousand in his universe country during the Universe Peak Powerhouse Battle, did the imperial family finally take notice of him.

Li Che's aptitude clearly surpassed his father's.

While still in his teens, Li Che had already displayed outstanding talent for cultivation. Whether in Gene Origin Force or martial knowledge, he progressed remarkably quickly.

In his sixties, Li Che made a breakthrough during a family trial. At planetary level eight, he successfully broke through his bottleneck and mastered an earth domain.

News that he had mastered a domain while still at the planetary level soon reached the Rongbing Empire's inner circle. They swiftly suppressed the information and brought Li Che into the Rongbing Empire Divine Kingdom to cultivate.

It was during that period that the cheat ability which had accompanied Li Che through his transmigration awakened, bringing another leap in his strength.

It was a void space that Li Che called the Infinite Land.

Through that cheat ability, Li Che learned that he had not merely transmigrated into the Swallowed Star World beneath his feet. Numerous counterparts of his had also transmigrated into countless other worlds.

And the Li Che who had entered the Swallowed Star universe was the main body of all those counterparts.

Whenever another transmigrated Li Che died, he would appear in the Infinite Land and become an avatar of the original Li Che.

Those avatars' original selves had truly died, but lingering obsessions always remained. As long as the main body fulfilled the obsessions they had held in life, he could receive everything they left behind.

Their bodies, souls, talents, memories, cultivation...

Those essences had clearly played an immensely important role in Li Che's early cultivation.

Their bodily essences merged, and their souls and talents accumulated. Every time Li Che fused with himself from another world, his sensitivity to cosmic energy, the strength of his body and soul, and other attributes transformed and evolved, making him more powerful.

At the same time, those Li Ches who had transmigrated into other worlds became parts of the main body. He could manifest an avatar at any time and appear in the world into which that avatar had transmigrated.

With the power of his cheat ability, Li Che successfully fused with an avatar from Love Apartment. Although that avatar had no valuable cultivation memories, the fusion still brought a considerable transformation to his main body.

In his seventies, Li Che successfully reached the stellar level. His domain also advanced to the eighth stage in a remarkably short time, delighting many veteran World Lords.

Around the age of eighty, Li Che took another step forward. While still at the stellar level, he crossed the threshold of the earth origin law, becoming the most dazzling genius in the history of the Rongbing Empire's imperial family.

Naturally, that talent drew the attention of the Divine Master Rongbing herself. The deity personally named Li Che the Rongbing Empire's First Prince and nurtured him as its youngest prospect for becoming an Undying Deity.

Unfortunately, Li Che had not been born at a particularly favorable time.

When he was born, a little over a thousand years had passed since the previous Peak Genius Battle held by the Virtual Universe Company, and there were at least three thousand years to go before the next genius battle hosted by the Giant Axe Battle Arena.

The most recent Peak Powerhouses Battle had also ended over twenty thousand years before his birth.

Thus, when Li Che was in his hundred and thirties, with his domain at the ninth stage and his comprehension of the earth origin law comparable even to that of some weaker World Lords, the Divine Master Rongbing personally offered him a choice.

First, he could advance to the universe level and head to the Extraterrestrial Battlefield. After spending some time tempering himself through life-and-death struggles there, he could return and determine his future path.

Second, he could join the Ganwu Secret Realm of the great Universe Venerable, the Ganwu Nation Lord, and become a high-ranking genius member directly. He might even have the chance to become the disciple of a King-level powerhouse under the great Ganwu Nation Lord.

Third, he could join one of the five major powers as an outer member, starting at the very bottom and gradually seeking opportunities to shine.

Fourth, he could continue cultivating in the Rongbing Divine Kingdom and wait for the next Peak Genius Battle or Peak Powerhouses Battle, then use it to join the Giant Axe Battle Arena or the Virtual Universe Company.

"So, on your Divine Master's recommendation, you came to the Extraterrestrial Battlefield and spent over fifty thousand years grinding away here?"

As he listened to Li Che recount his past, the golden-red flames of law in Army Lord Zhuoyan's eyes flickered involuntarily. He spoke in a low voice, with clear traces of anger.

"My Divine Master was using herself as an example, after all. She entered the Extraterrestrial Battlefield at the universe level and endured nearly a hundred epochs on the battlefield. She became powerful, and after living for over five hundred epochs, she became an Undying Deity."

"She sent me to the Fourth Battlefield because an old comrade of hers served as an army lord here. I spent several hundred years following that army lord while I was at the universe level. Unfortunately, he had bad luck and fell during a reinforcement mission. Luckily, the World Lord leading our unit at the time was a powerful fellow, and he saved all the troops in our world ring."

As Li Che recalled it, a trace of lingering fear entered his voice. Only when that Immortal Military Lord died in battle did he realize that heading straight to the Extraterrestrial Battlefield had indeed been a rather reckless choice.

"An undying who's barely seen anything of the world-that's all she is. Her thinking was far too narrow! For someone at the universe level, the Extraterrestrial Battlefield offers plenty of danger and little benefit. It doesn't even compare to the other options. She clearly never consulted the powerful undyings under the Ganwu Nation Lord. Only an undying from some backwater would do something so foolish!"

"Back then, if you'd entered the Virtual Universe Company's genius battle, you should have made it into the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm no matter how poorly you performed. Even if you'd started as an outermost member of one of the five strongest powers, after all these years, you should have become a fairly high-ranking core member."

At those words, the indignation and helplessness on Army Lord Zhuoyan's face deepened, but there was nothing he could do.

"You're from a major race like the Desolate God Race, after all, my friend. My Divine Master was simply following her habitual way of thinking back then. Her intentions were good."

Li Che leaned back into the deep, soft, oversized sofa and narrowed his eyes for a brief rest. He had not dispelled the effects of the bottle of Ochrefire Vintage he had just drunk. For a peak World Lord, only wine of that caliber could make him feel even a little tipsy.

Looking back from where he stood now, his rash decision to enter the Extraterrestrial Battlefield at the universe level had indeed been somewhat ill-considered.

Of course, Li Che himself had been rather fearless at the time. The properties of the myriad worlds legacy were powerful: even if his main body in the Swallowed Star universe died, his avatars could be reborn in other worlds. When he inherited another counterpart later, he could simply make that counterpart his main body.

"It's fortunate that you survived, but the risk you took back then was still enormous. An army lord leading troops suddenly falling in battle isn't actually uncommon. For Universe Level and Domain Lord soldiers, that's an absolute disaster."

"In any case, our Desolate God Race would never allow Universe Level members to enter the Extraterrestrial Battlefield."

Army Lord Zhuoyan shook his head. This World Lord of the Desolate God Race had lived for over seven hundred epochs and was thoroughly familiar with how truly major powers nurtured their geniuses.

That was precisely why he understood just how boundless the potential of a young genius like Li Che truly was.