In the Lord of Eclipse Palace of the Absolute Beginning Secret Realm.
Lord of Eclipse Palace, clad in a dark-gold robe, his face veiled by endless starlight, slowly opened his eyes.
"How many years have passed?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular, but rather confirming the passage of time.
"Reporting to Palace Lord, twenty years have passed since you bestowed that trial upon Qing Yu."
"Twenty years…" Tian Shi Palace Leader [Lord of Eclipse Palace] gently tapped the void with his finger, and a virtual screen, visible only to him, immediately appeared, displaying Qing Yu's information.
"Tongtian Bridge… which level has he reached?"
The attendant quickly checked, his voice carrying a subtle hint of surprise:
"Palace Lord, records show… that since Qing Yu passed the third level twenty years ago, he has… not stepped foot into the Tongtian Bridge plane again. He has been in secluded cultivation in his residence."
"Hmm?" A clear trace of doubt, for the first time, flickered in Tian Shi Palace Leader's ancient, unmoving eyes.
"Twenty years… in secluded meditation?" This did not align with his expectations. With the comprehension and temperament Qing Yu had displayed, even if the universe chaos tablet was difficult, he shouldn't have made no progress in twenty years.
"Investigate! What has he done in Primordial Chaos City these past twenty years?" Tian Shi Palace Leader's voice carried an unquestionable authority; his permissions were extremely high, and the Virtual Universe system was virtually undefended against him.
Instantly, countless streams of information about Qing Yu flooded his perception, including records of his frequent comprehension of the chaos tablet, and… records of Marquis Tianyi sacrificing his dignity to exchange for a "world heart" for him and delivering it!
"world heart?!" For the first time, a clear emotional fluctuation appeared on Tian Shi Palace Leader's normally placid face.
"This is simply absurd!"
He instantly saw through Marquis Tianyi's intentions and immediately understood the hidden risks!
"Foolish! This Marquis Tianyi is truly doing a good deed with bad results!" Tian Shi Palace Leader's voice was like cosmic ice.
"world heart, forcibly guiding an consciousness not yet at World Lord Rank into the land of cosmic origin! How can a Universe Rank soul and will withstand that place?!"
"If the will is not strong enough to withstand the torrent of laws in the land of cosmic origin, forcibly entering will, at best, cause mental collapse, making the comprehension time as short as an instant with minimal effect; at worst, it will damage the soul and hinder one's path!"
Tian Shi Palace Leader's status and authority clearly made him fully aware of the hidden dangers of the "world heart," making him even more displeased with Marquis Tianyi.
"To endure its effects without repercussions, one needs at least the will strength of a World Lord Rank! How dare this Marquis Tianyi be so reckless!"
"Forget it! Let's see what state this Qing Yu fellow is in now!"
Tian Shi Palace Leader's powerful consciousness instantly swept through all of Qing Yu's records in Primordial Chaos City, and after his anger, it was replaced by immense surprise!
"This fellow… is actually fine?!"
"Not only is he fine… he even goes to comprehend the chaos tablet every three years? The intervals are stable… his spirit shows signs of fatigue, but no signs of damage to his origin?"
This could only mean one thing!
"A Universe Rank first-tier… actually possesses a will comparable to a World Lord Rank?!" Even with Tian Shi Palace Leader's temperament, he felt surprised at this moment!
He was all too aware of the importance of "will"! It was the cornerstone to reaching the peak, its value even surpassing certain talents!
To possess a World Lord Rank will at the Universe Rank could be described as… monstrous! This tenacity of character exceeded his initial assessment!
"Interesting…" The shock and surprise in Tian Shi Palace Leader's eyes slowly receded, replaced by a deeper inquiry and… a hint of genuine interest.
"With this will! Even if his talent isn't outstanding, as long as he doesn't fall into a certain death situation, he will eventually become a powerful expert!"
"Marquis Tianyi… although reckless and foolish, perhaps… you truly stumbled upon a treasure?"
"Let's first see if this young fellow can complete my trial!" Tian Shi Palace Leader had some anticipation.
Residence number 0197165293, rooftop.
Qing Yu sat cross-legged, having just finished a session of comprehending the chaos tablet. His face was still pale from prolonged mental stress, like someone recovering from a long illness.
But his eyes were astonishingly bright, like a divine weapon about to be unsheathed, sharp and unparalleled, burning with a nearly tangible flame of urgency!
"Myriad Tribulations secret technique… one level, one heaven!" Qing Yu's consciousness sank deep into his sea of consciousness.
Of the eighteen secret techniques in the second level of Myriad Tribulations, Qing Yu had completely mastered and assimilated the first seventeen, using them as easily as his own limbs.
However, this last one, like a sighing wall spanning the long river of space-time laws, remained unmoving, having blocked him for a full year!
"The difficulty of the last few secret techniques in each level of Myriad Tribulations is a geometric multiple of the preceding ones. It was like this for the last nine secret techniques in the first level, and it's the same for the last eighteen secret techniques in this second level…" Qing Yu frowned deeply.
Twenty years… a full twenty years had passed!
"No! Must be faster! Faster!" Qing Yu's fists clenched on his knees, his knuckles turning white from the effort, his fingernails almost digging into his palms.
"Time… time is running out! This won't do!"
Forcibly suppressing the urge to once again sink into the land of origin, Qing Yu knew that at this moment, with his mind agitated, a forced attempt would be harmful rather than beneficial. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his surging emotions.
His gaze subconsciously swept across the rooftop wall.
"In over twenty years, I've never properly looked at these carvings. I'll just treat it as a way to relax my mind, just a casual look!"
For the first time, Qing Yu's gaze truly fell upon the shallow and deep, disorganized etchings covering the rooftop floor, walls, and even corners.
The buildings in Primordial Chaos City were constructed from a special material; these etchings would not be eroded by time even after billions of years, so every mark was extremely clear.
But they formed no system, left by countless geniuses who had once lived here. Some looked like casually drawn lines, others like twisted runes, as chaotic as a child's scribbles.
Qing Yu stood up and slowly paced along the edge of the rooftop, his fingers unconsciously brushing over the cold, rough etchings.
Initially, these etchings were just chaotic "scribbles" in his eyes, but when he walked to a relatively flat area in the center of the rooftop, his gaze swept over a few seemingly random intersecting lines, and his footsteps suddenly halted!
"This…" Qing Yu's pupils abruptly constricted!
The subtle arc and turn contained within those seemingly disordered intersecting lines actually… vaguely matched a certain basic spatial vibration trajectory in the first-level Myriad Tribulations secret technique he had already mastered!
A jolt like an electric current instantly coursed through his entire body!
"So familiar! This is… a first-level secret pattern carving!" Qing Yu's heart pounded. He immediately squatted down, examining the marks inch by inch.
"Here! It's like the execution of the first secret technique… it wasn't like this originally… this is Yi Yun's thought process when he first created Myriad Tribulations!"
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