"Jiang Li, let me remind you—you only have two days left."
Babata "kindly" reminded him, "Unfortunately, your crystal card balance is down to just 63 Qianwu Coins. In two days, you'll be thrown out of the Mercenary Castle."
"Alright."
Jiang Li nodded slightly, withdrawing his thoughts as he sat cross-legged, assuming the posture of someone entering a state of enlightenment with eyes closed.
...
Henglan Star System, Wan Zhong Mountain Region.
Atop the gigantic divine mountain shrouded in clouds and mist, Wan Shan Zun Zhe—who had been speaking with Qiong Feng Zun Zhe—suddenly revealed a faint smile on his face.
"Hm?"
Qiong Feng Zun Zhe's eyes moved as he laughed. "Found a promising seedling?"
"Just a star-level kid who grasped the second-layer domain."
Wan Shan Zun Zhe shook his head.
A star-level warrior who could master a second-layer domain could indeed be called a genius of galactic-tier talent. An ordinary Immortal might even consider taking such a person as a disciple.
But to a Universe Sovereign… the level was still far too low.
"Old friend, don't be so stubborn."
Qiong Feng Zun Zhe advised, "Eight hundred years from now, the Longsu Secret Realm will open. I'll come find you then!"
"Fine."
At the mention of the Longsu Secret Realm, even Wan Shan Zun Zhe had a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Some terrifying secret realms carried the risk of death even for Universe Sovereigns. Yet without venturing into them, he might be stuck in the Sovereign realm eternally, unable to take the next step.
After Qiong Feng Zun Zhe left, Wan Shan Zun Zhe suddenly stood up. His bright eyes erupted with terrifying light as he burst into loud laughter: "Good disciple, your teacher has finally waited long enough…"
The next moment, his figure vanished from the Henglan Star System.
At this very moment—
Jiang Li, who was in a state of comprehension, slowly opened his eyes.
He saw—
The tiny pebbles floating across his soul space swelled again, and among them, three stones clearly changed color.
One was flawless jade-green, ringed with a strange emerald glow.
One was gray-brown, exactly like the color of earth.
The last one flickered between real and unreal, shifting back and forth as though between existence and illusion.
"This…?"
Feeling the changes deep within his soul, Jiang Li couldn't help guessing, "Could it be… the 'little planets' floating in my soul space are actually representations of the cosmic laws?"
"Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Space."
"Wind, Lightning, Light, Time?"
"Exactly ten 'little planets'…"
Jiang Li's heart trembled, his pupils widening slightly.
"Earth, Wood, Space."
Closing his eyes, Jiang Li's mind became still like water as he sensed the fluctuations from the three Law planets deep in his soul.
Time passed little by little.
Suddenly—
Jiang Li revealed a look of delight. "So it is like this!"
On the Earth-element Law planet within his soul space, Jiang Li's phantom appeared. The entire planet was covered in Earth-element secret patterns, faintly resonating with the Origin Law of Earth.
By the same principle—
The Wood-element Law planet resonated with the Origin Law of Wood.
The three planets existed separately within his soul space, completely unaffected by the repulsion between different Laws.
"If that's the case… before fusing Laws, doesn't this mean I can comprehend all ten cosmic Laws?!"
The moment the thought surfaced, even someone as strong-willed as Jiang Li felt his heart tremble violently.
It was known that Laws repelled each other. Once you mastered one Law, learning a second became at least ten times harder.
A third one—difficulty increased geometrically.
A fourth—ten thousand times more difficult…
To become the strongest in the universe, one must understand all eight lesser Laws and the two supreme Laws.
"Huu…"
Now with confidence in his heart, Jiang Li called out, "Babata, you can exit the Virtual Universe Network."
"Giving up already?"
Babata froze, then said with a bitter face, "Alright, alright, consider it money spent to buy a lesson."
A few hundred Qianwu Coins—gone just like that.
Babata wasn't heartbroken, but…
"Hm?"
After they exited the Wan Zhong Mountain space, Babata suddenly froze. "You came out just like that? Weren't you supposed to erase the related memories?"
"Don't tell me??!!"
Babata's figure appeared, blood-red eyes widening as he stared at Jiang Li slowly removing the consciousness helmet.
"What?"
Jiang Li glanced up at the stunned Babata, the corner of his mouth lifting. "You have that little faith in me?"
"Heavens!"
"How is that possible?!"
"No one has done it in eighty million years!"
"Jiang Li, tell me—what race are you?! What kind of monster are you?!"
Jiang Li: "..."
And then—
In the gray sky above Black Kun City, a piece of space was suddenly torn apart. A terrifying figure appeared high in the heavens.
Even without releasing a shred of pressure, his mere presence shook every living soul in the entire city. Countless people looked up in fear, and some weak-willed sub-races even collapsed to their knees.
Jiang Li remained unaware of the situation outside.
He simply felt a strange thump in his heart—thinking it must be excitement at soon receiving 6.3 billion Qianwu Coins.
Red Mercenary Castle, fifth floor.
Walking along the wide corridor, Jiang Li soon reached the metal hall at the depths. At a glance, he saw a long-haired man wearing a gray battle robe standing inside, a faint smile on his face, his entire being calm and steady.
Just looking at him, Jiang Li couldn't help feeling his heart grow tranquil, as if blending into the vast, peaceful starry sea.
As though everything else vanished, leaving only that long-haired man in the entire hall.
"Huh?"
Jiang Li shuddered and abruptly snapped out of it.
"What a terrifying existence… even my soul strength was affected."
He was shaken to the core.
Only now did he notice that the three supervisors in black work uniforms inside the metal hall were all kneeling.
"This—?"
He didn't even have time to finish feeling shocked—
Rumble!
Time and space twisted. One moment he was still in the metal hall, but the instant he stepped inside, he felt stars shift—suddenly appearing in a world filled with swirling clouds and mist.
Before him rose a colossal mountain stretching straight into the heavens behind the long-haired man.
Only now did Jiang Li truly see him clearly—about two and a half meters tall, his gray battle robe covered in unimaginably complex law-patterns, his features rugged, appearance looking like a human male in his thirties.
"Jiang Li?"
A completely ordinary voice sounded. All illusions vanished, and Jiang Li returned to the metal hall.
"Jiang Li greets Wan Shan Zun Zhe!"
He hurriedly bowed.
In the entire universe, if any super-existence suddenly called out his name, the only one he could think of was the publisher of his mission—Wan Shan Zun Zhe.
"Heavens!"
Babata seemed to have also felt the space distortion, and only now screamed from within Jiang Li's consciousness: "A Sovereign—he's definitely a Universe Sovereign!"
"I'm going insane, I must be insane!"
"In the entire universe, countless geniuses—even the first place of the once-every-ten-thousand-years Universe Genius War—might not even catch the eye of a Universe Sovereign!"
"Jiang Li, you… you actually got a Universe Sovereign to come personally?!"
"Don't tell me he's really going to take you as a disciple?!"
"Jiang Li, you must apprentice under him!"
Babata was completely overstimulated, eyes bulging, roaring like a lion gone mad.