"Sigh, I've already gone through every ancient text from other nations," Luo Feng said with a weary sigh. "But I still haven't found the path of my own state of mind."
When it came to Luo Feng's mental realm, Luo Fan knew it would eventually be the "Heart Like a Blade" and the "Heart Like a Mirror."
However, he didn't tell him.
The state of mind was something one had to realize personally, no amount of advice could replace understanding born from one's own heart.
"Still, your suggestion was really good, Big Brother. My willpower has improved a lot over these years," Luo Feng added.
Hearing that, Thunder God's face fell, his tone turning sour.
"That Space Worm clone of yours is just too convenient. Why couldn't I have stumbled upon something like that?"
Luo Fan's advice to Luo Feng had been simple, let several of his Space Worm clones disguise themselves as ordinary people and live among them.
Although Luo Feng's Space Worm clone wasn't as strong as Luo Fan's, after breaking through to the Cosmic level, he could also create a hundred avatars.
After Luo Fan finished opening wormholes to other races, he had assigned a small number of his clones to live disguised as ordinary humans on Earth.
This had caused his willpower to break through the Domain Lord level.
When that happened, he had even set a mission:
[Mission: Break willpower through the Domain Lord level. Reward: +1000 State of Mind Comprehension, +10 Basic Willpower Talent]
Before this, his willpower had always risen passively alongside his cultivation realm, so he had never been able to create a mission for it.
But now that his willpower surpassed his cultivation level, it was finally possible.
Following Luo Fan's suggestion, Luo Feng had also sent out several avatars to live as ordinary people on Earth, and this had greatly strengthened his willpower.
He could now better suppress the Golden-Horned Beast's inherent bloodlust, though he would still release it occasionally in moderation.
"I wonder if I can make it into the top thousand of the universe with my current strength," Thunder God said, a spark of battle intent flashing across his face.
"I think the chances are pretty good," Luo Fan replied calmly. "You and Hong have already advanced a fair distance along the paths of the Lightning and Light Laws, you're far beyond just stepping into their thresholds."
"So entering the top thousand of the universe is quite possible. Of course, if you two manage to step into the threshold of the Time Origin Law, entering the top hundred, or even top ten, wouldn't be impossible."
In past Cosmic Genius Battles, anyone who had comprehended an upper-level Origin Law could basically secure a top ten ranking.
But this time, the competition was filled with far too many monsters.
"Luo Fan, thank you. If you hadn't brought us to the Law Source Secret Realm, we never could've reached this level of Law comprehension at this time," Hong said seriously, looking him straight in the eye. "Whatever happens in the future, just say the word."
Thunder God nodded firmly. "Yeah! Even if it's through fire and blades, we'll go with you!"
Though his face was smiling as usual, his eyes were completely sincere.
Luo Fan waved his hand and smiled.
"I didn't help you hunt Thunder Source Beasts or Light Source Beasts. I just took you to the Law Source Secret Realm, that's all."
"After all, among our generation of Earthlings, only a few of us have real talent."
"I don't want to reach the peak one day, only to turn around and find no one standing behind me."
Thunder God and Hong exchanged glances, said nothing more, and simply smiled, silently engraving his words in their hearts.
They both knew exactly how much Luo Fan had helped them.
...
Time passed quickly, and before long, the day of the preliminary round arrived.
"This is insane! Just in the Flowing Rock Cosmic Nation alone, more than seven hundred billion people signed up for the Cosmic Genius Battle!" Thunder God exclaimed in disbelief to the others.
Because all four were participating, they had gathered in Luo Fan's cultivation chamber.
With Space Worm clones guarding the area, even a peak Domain Lord–level powerhouse couldn't threaten them here.
"The Qianwu Cosmic Nation has 822.5 billion participants," Luo Fan said evenly, he had already known this number in advance.
"The Star Tower Cosmic Nation actually has over nine hundred billion contestants!" Luo Feng added.
His clone was part of the Star Tower Secret Realm.
Hong looked at the three and said calmly, "The Myriad Leaf Cosmic Nation has more than a trillion Star-level contestants."
"What? A trillion!"
"Damn, that many?!"
Even Luo Fan was surprised. He hadn't expected the Myriad Leaf Nation to have such an enormous number of participants.
But he quickly understood.
From what he knew, the Lord of the Myriad Leaf Nation was among the wealthiest of all cosmic rulers, and the nation's territory was slightly larger than that of the Qianwu Cosmic Nation.
So, it was indeed reasonable for it to have over a trillion contestants.
"A trillion participants, and only a thousand winners," Luo Feng said, shaking his head in amazement. "That's brutal competition."
"That's nothing," Thunder God said. "Think about it, if every cosmic nation has between seven hundred billion and a trillion participants, then how many contestants are there in the entire human race?"
"At least several quadrillion!"
"And out of all those people, only a thousand will become final victors."
When Thunder God finished, the four of them fell silent.
Several quadrillion Star-level warriors, and only a thousand would be chosen.
How cruel was that?
But that was the reality of the universe.
Without talent, without strength, who would care about you?
Resources would always be focused on nurturing the most gifted.
Even though in the Original Universe, low-level warriors didn't require much, and resources were abundant, the human race would never waste them on ordinary people.
After all, countless Star-level warriors appeared every few thousand years.
Even among the top talents selected from those quadrillions, only about two thousand appeared every ten thousand years, and even among those, most could never become even a King-level Immortal.
And to the human race, even King-level Immortals weren't of great importance.
Only those who reached at least the rank of a Universe Venerable could truly contribute.
If one Universe Venerable could be created in exchange for a hundred billion core geniuses from the Virtual Universe Company, the upper echelons of humanity would agree without hesitation.
Not just a hundred billion, even ten billion would be worth it.
After talking for a while longer, the four entered the Virtual Universe together.
...
When Hong entered the Virtual Universe, he immediately appeared within the Myriad Leaf Secret Realm.
By now, countless Star-level geniuses from that realm had gathered.
This time, only about a thousand geniuses from the Myriad Leaf Secret Realm were participating.
Compared to the total number of those who had joined the secret realm, this was an enormous drop.
But that was normal among the higher cosmic nations' secret realms.
Not every cosmic ruler was as enthusiastic about nurturing geniuses as the Lord of the Qianwu Nation.
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