"Your Highness Li Che, welcome to the Giant Axe Battle Arena as a World Master Level member of its core Giant Axe Secret Realm. Your Virtual Universe identity, information access permissions, and other details will be updated within one hour..." "Giant Axe Secret Realm core member, the points system has been activated. The Initial Universe tenfold points mechanism, exclusive to newcomers, has been activated..." "The points store has been activated. Please select your delivery address. Please note that physical items cannot currently be delivered to the Initial Universe. (Giant Axe Secret Realm: 30% discount; Quenched Glory Secret Realm: 20% discount; Hundred-Forging Secret Realm: 10% discount; Furnace Secret Realm: full price.)" "Updated points balance: 0." "Esteemed Giant Axe Secret Realm core member, your residence within the Giant Axe Secret Realm has been confirmed. Its coordinates are..." "Esteemed Giant Axe Secret Realm core member, the Battle Arena's core intelligent system has arranged your guard force. Its captain is the undying deity Army Lord Mo Alanni..." "Esteemed Giant Axe Secret Realm core member, your current strength has been verified as World Master Level. Under the Giant Axe Battle Arena Core Member Management Regulations, your personal guards will no longer provide close protection. Army Lord Mo Alanni has automatically become your steward within the Giant Axe Secret Realm..."
As he strode out of the Void Gold Master's residence, Li Che felt a powerful sense of dislocation in spacetime, as though he had just been transported into an entirely different spacetime. The contrast left even his World Master Level body dizzy.
Meanwhile, his Virtual Universe inbox was practically bursting with messages from the Giant Axe Battle Arena's Giant Axe Secret Realm, handling the various arrangements following his admission.
Yes, after becoming the Void Gold Master's nominal disciple, Li Che had automatically joined the Giant Axe Battle Arena's highest-ranking core secret realm. With his permissions activated, the dense barrage of arrangements made his head spin.
"Bai Yue, organize the messages from the Giant Axe Secret Realm in two hours. Consolidate them and report to me," he instructed, having no choice but to summon his intelligent computer assistant.
"Understood, sir," Bai Yue replied at once.
Only after finishing all this did Li Che rub his slightly dizzy head. He cupped his hands once more toward the towering beast, Venerable Junshan, then left the area around the Void Gold Master's residence.
"I see your Giant Axe Secret Realm permissions have been activated. What did my grandmaster say?" Not far away, King Yongbo watched Li Che approach with a broad smile and asked.
"I'm a nominal disciple for now. If I clear the eighteenth floor of the Heavenly Bridge within five hundred years, I'll become a direct disciple. During that time, Senior Brother Lü Hai will personally guide my cultivation," Li Che replied, seeing no reason to hide anything from King Yongbo.
Lord Luhai was one of the Void Gold Master's direct disciples. Though Li Che had never heard his name before, he could guess that his strength was considerable.
"Hahaha! Then congratulations, Junior Martial Uncle! With support from the core ranks' resources and personal guidance from Martial Uncle Lü Hai, you should have an excellent chance," King Yongbo said cheerfully.
"Let's hope so." Li Che sighed softly.
He connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe's points store and selected cultivation secret techniques. An immense collection appeared, meticulously sorted by type, level, and focus, all neatly listed.
Spacetime Essays, Black Hole Evolution, Beast God Seven Kills, and numerous other secret techniques explaining the three major branches of spatial laws-sealing, strangulation, and instantaneous movement... Li Che searched through them one by one and found that all the works he had heard of, both before and after transmigrating, were there.
Black Hole Evolution in particular had a section covering everything before the Universe Venerable level that was so expensive Li Che nearly choked.
"I won't disturb you any longer, Junior Martial Uncle. The next five hundred years are yours to cultivate. I'll be watching closely from here on." Seeing Li Che standing there in a daze, King Yongbo guessed what he was thinking and took his leave.
"Sorry for all the trouble during this time."
Li Che bid King Yongbo farewell, then continued browsing the prices of those top-tier secret techniques in the Virtual Universe, feeling rather helpless.
As expected of the five greatest powers at the pinnacle of the Human Race, the cultivation texts sold through their points systems far surpassed anything he had imagined.
For instance, the renowned Spacetime Essays cost an outrageous ten billion points for the portion below the Universe Venerable level-more expensive even than the first three volumes of Hirodo's Seven Transformations of the Evolutionary God.
Li Che's points balance was zero.
"Points..."
Li Che clicked his tongue. With nearly ten million Hunyuan Units to his name, he was almost a prestigious five-star client of the Universe Galaxy Bank. Across the Ganwu Universe Country's star domains, he could be considered filthy rich, yet in the Giant Axe Secret Realm, he was a completely broke bastard.
As he pondered this, he raised his head and looked into the distance. Not far from the Void Gold Master's residence, another building stood silently amidst faint streams of chaos. It was equally majestic and mysterious, yet even larger and more imposing.
"The City Lord's Mansion."
Li Che nodded inwardly, bowed once more toward the Void Gold Master's residence, then turned and strode toward the City Lord's Mansion.
Because the Initial Universe's entry requirements were so strict they bordered on harsh, this vast, ancient city was usually peaceful and quiet. Only occasionally would a few Universe Level geniuses or undying deities walk about.
The City Lord's Mansion, however, was undoubtedly the liveliest place in all of Chaos City.
It was truly special. The City Lord's Mansion was not merely where the Chaos City Lord lived, but the heart of Chaos City itself. It housed one of the city's most precious resources for lower-level cultivators-the fifty-two Chaos Steles.
"I'm a core member of the Giant Axe Battle Arena. I've come to select a Chaos Stele."
In a place like this, even Li Che could not act too conspicuously. He quietly waited in line and arrived before a corridor inside the City Lord's Mansion that stood taller than a mountain. Along its tens of thousands of meters, enormous pictures hung silently, each encompassing many of the universe's fundamental laws and bearing unimaginable mysteries.
These were reproductions of the Human Race's fifty-two Chaos Steles.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Li Che began carefully studying the copies of the Chaos Steles.
Leaves slowly drifted down from an ancient, withered yellow tree that towered into the sky. Though those falling leaves had long been frozen within the picture, he could almost see the paths of their descent. Those paths were utterly natural, conforming to every subtle variation in the laws of time.
The Mother Ancestor Chaos Stele.
An ancient, desolate void held nothing at all. All that met the eye was a blade scar that seemed to cut deep into the very origin of space. It looked as though some mighty expert had left it with a casual slash. In a hazy instant, the scar began to ripple without warning, one becoming ten thousand. Every slash was different, and every slash expounded the ultimate truths of the laws.
The Heartmark Chaos Stele.
There were also the Nine Cosmos Chaos Stele, the Great Axe Chaos Stele, the Yanshan Chaos Stele, the Universe Chaos Stele... Reproductions of fifty-two Chaos Steles in all, and each stirred something in Li Che's heart. It was as though, through those copies, he could see the mighty experts who already stood at the very pinnacle of the Human Race.
Fifty-two Chaos Steles, but the Human Race should only have twenty Universe Masters at present... Even counting those who died unexpectedly, quite a few must have been left behind by Universe Overlords. Could some of the Hong Alliance's alien Universe Masters have left Chaos Steles here too? That does seem possible... Li Che pondered inwardly.
"Time's up!"
When the allotted time finally ended, Li Che had just finished examining the last one, the Windshadow Chaos Stele. At the same time, he had settled on his choice.
"Li Che, member of the Giant Axe Battle Arena's Giant Axe Secret Realm, tell me which Chaos Stele you choose. This choice will determine your destiny. Once you select one, you will never be able to change it."
At the end of the corridor stood an undying deity whose aura was likewise immensely powerful and profound, and whose strength was likely no less than King Yongbo's. He asked in a deep voice.
"I choose the Great Axe Chaos Stele," Li Che said firmly.
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