Ganwu Mystic Region, Golden Star Island.
This place was incomparably far from Wind Thunder Island. There was a peculiar spot on the island that slightly improved one's comprehension of the higher Time Law.
Marquis Silvermoon, one of the three Immortals of the Ganwu Mystic Region, had always lived here...
At this moment, in the great hall at the island's center, a woman wearing a hazy veil frowned slightly and immersed a wisp of her consciousness in the Virtual Universe.
"Bai Mei, why have you come to me instead of properly guiding Ling Yu's cultivation?"
Inside a manor on the Ganwu Continent in the Virtual Universe, Marquis Silvermoon spoke slowly.
"My lady."
Bai Mei lowered his head, not daring to look upon this great Immortal God's face. His voice was apprehensive as he said, "There have been some problems with Her Highness Ling Yu's cultivation."
Hmm?
It was merely a glance.
Even in the Virtual Universe, Bai Mei's body could not help trembling. In the real world, a powerhouse like Marquis Silvermoon could reduce him to dust with a single glance.
Bai Mei dared not hesitate. He recounted everything about Ling Yu's circumstances over the past five years, along with everything she had just said.
"Nonsense!"
A trace of anger colored Marquis Silvermoon's cool voice.
"How could gaining an initial grasp of a higher law be so easy? If there were still several hundred years, that would be one thing, but the Genius Battle will begin in just thirteen years. Yet she dares divide her attention and dream of comprehending the Time Law..."
As an Immortal God who had lived for countless years, Marquis Silvermoon had only begun studying the Time Law after breaking through to Immortal. By now, she had made some gains, and her strength approached that of a Marquis.
Even a fraction of her countless years of cultivation was thousands or tens of thousands of times longer than Ling Yu's. A little Star Level fellow... actually harbored such a wild dream!!
And that Lu Qingshan. It was one thing for Ling Yu to act recklessly, but why was he joining in!
Marquis Silvermoon had originally held a somewhat favorable impression of Lu Qingshan and thought he had some skill at teaching. Now, she was quite dissatisfied with him.
Although Bai Mei had not explicitly said so, Ling Yu was cultivating a secret technique created by Lu Qingshan. She would never believe that he had nothing to do with this.
"Bai Mei, withdraw for now. I will go to Wind Thunder Island myself."
The moment Marquis Silvermoon finished speaking, she vanished from the Virtual Universe.
Looking toward where Marquis Silvermoon had just stood, Bai Mei gave a faint, bitter smile.
"Your Highness Ling Yu, this matter is too serious. I cannot help you conceal it. I hope you will not blame this old man."
With that, his body likewise disappeared from the spot and reappeared in Ling Yu's manor on Wind Thunder Island.
Ling Yu said nothing, seemingly already aware of what Bai Mei had gone to do. His gaze rested halfway up Wind Thunder Island, where Teacher Lu Qingshan's villa stood.
"Teacher, you clearly helped me resolve every difficulty. Why am I still unable to gain an initial grasp?"
"But I've clearly already sensed the fluctuations of time."
"Why!"
There was a bleakness on Ling Yu's face. If she had not persisted for five years and reached the point where she could no longer hide it, she would never have said those things to Bai Mei. She had only wanted to cultivate in silence, then astonish everyone with a single brilliant feat.
But now...
She could refuse to listen to Bai Mei, but he could not defy her teacher, Marquis Silvermoon!
"Teacher Lu, just where does that final sliver I'm missing lie?"
Unfortunately, no one answered him. Lu Qingshan had not visited her manor in five years.
Ling Yu's gaze continued upward, toward the summit of Wind Thunder Mountain.
Amid the flashing lightning, a fierce gust howled past, and Ling Yu's face grew a little paler.
"Your Highness!"
Bai Mei felt both heartache and regret. It seemed as though he had personally destroyed Her Highness's dream and broken her wings...
But he was a tutor dispatched by Marquis Silvermoon herself, and he had to answer to her for everything.
Besides, matters had already reached this point. Nothing could be undone...
Just then, a faint ripple appeared in the air. Marquis Silvermoon appeared overhead, wearing a long white dress, her face shrouded as if by thin mist.
Looking at the obstinately misguided disciple below, a flash of fury passed through his eyes!
She was just about to speak.
Suddenly, she stopped.
Ling Yu below seemed to have entered a wondrous state of enlightenment.
"I see it. I see it..."
"Wind, lightning, time... So that's how it is. So that's how it is!"
Ling Yu's laughter left World Lord Bai Mei somewhat bewildered.
Suddenly.
Ling Yu's body moved. A Phantom Body drifted out of him, followed by a second, a third... a ninth... a tenth!!!
"How is this possible... Her Highness..."
Even Bai Mei, standing nearby, sensed the changes in Ling Yu's ten Phantom Bodies.
Although the number of Phantom Bodies had increased by only one, each of these ten felt different from before.
It seemed... each Phantom Body occupied a different temporal dimension.
A possibility occurred to Bai Mei, leaving him deeply shocked. For the first time, he dared raise his head to look at the figure in the sky, seeking an answer from Marquis Silvermoon.
Marquis Silvermoon watched Ling Yu's Phantom Bodies, her eyes lowered. The reproach she had originally intended never left her lips.
She chuckled.
Her voice sounded like swaying wind chimes.
"Ling Yu, my disciple, you've done well, very well... You have gained an initial grasp of the Time Origin Law..."
"It really is true!"
Bai Mei's mind reeled.
Her Highness Ling Yu had truly accomplished this almost impossible feat. Then his face filled with trepidation. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with him; he had even nearly ruined things for Her Highness.
"Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations! With your grasp of the Time Law, your future prospects are boundless!"
Bai Mei hurriedly offered his congratulations.
"Teacher Lu, I did it. Did you see?" Ling Yu moved her gaze away from the villa on Wind Thunder Mountain.
Then she bowed to Marquis Silvermoon, who had landed. "Teacher, your disciple was wrong to make you worry."
Looking at this considerate yet stubborn disciple, a trace of helplessness flashed through Marquis Silvermoon's starry eyes. She stepped forward and helped Ling Yu up, saying, "You did nothing wrong. Your teacher underestimated you. I nearly buried a true genius."
The hardest part of comprehending a law was gaining an initial grasp. Once that threshold was crossed, subsequent cultivation became much easier. Ling Yu had gained an initial grasp of the Time Law thirteen years before the Genius Battle began, leaving ample time to turn her comprehension of the law into strength of her own.
Marquis Silvermoon was not some stubborn old fossil. When she was wrong, she would neither fly into a rage nor try to argue her way out of it.
Wrong was wrong.
She had misjudged her disciple's potential and nearly sent a genius capable of ranking in the universe's top ten into the Apocalypse Mystic Region.
If the great Ganwu Country Lord learned of this, he would probably punish her.
The Country Lord placed such importance on geniuses, yet the Ganwu Universe Country's geniuses were growing fewer and fewer. They had even performed poorly in successive Genius Battles for many years. Could there be something wrong with the mystic region's methods of nurturing geniuses?
Marquis Silvermoon began reflecting and reviewing, wanting to know whether, over these countless years, there had been other geniuses like her disciple Ling Yu whose progress had been held back.
Just then.
"Greetings, Lady Marquis Silvermoon."
Dressed in blue robes, Lu Qingshan slowly approached. When Ling Yu had broken through just now, he had sensed some temporal fluctuations from afar, halfway up Wind Thunder Mountain. He had come over to confirm, only to encounter Marquis Silvermoon...
Sorry, this was a few minutes late.
(End of chapter)