Luo Fan had long been curious about what exactly a Comprehension Crystal was.
From the name, it sounded like something that could help one comprehend the laws of the universe.
And now, he finally understood its true purpose.
Just as he had guessed, it really could aid in comprehending the laws.
The Comprehension Crystal could transform any energy poured into it into a unique form of special energy.
Once absorbed, that energy would temporarily accelerate one's comprehension speed of the laws!
However, this effect was only temporary.
But the Comprehension Crystal itself could be used repeatedly!
In fact, it could store an unlimited amount of this special energy within it.
The only problem was that converting energy into this special form was a slow and cumbersome process.
At the moment, the crystal contained only a trace of special energy, at the cosmic level.
If absorbed, it could double the speed of comprehension for about a month.
The effect, however, depended on Luo Fan's current cultivation level.
That is to say, it could double the comprehension speed of a Cosmic-level warrior for one month.
For a Domain Lord, the boost would drop to only ten percent.
For a World Master, it would be a mere one percent.
With each breakthrough in realm, the effect decreased by a factor of ten.
For someone of the same realm as the crystal's stored energy, converting even a single trace of such energy required continuously channeling power into it for an entire year.
In other words, one year of constant energy input would yield one month of doubled comprehension speed.
However, after reaching the World Master level, since their energy became world force, the converted energy could double comprehension speed instead of merely increasing it by one fold.
At the Immortal level and beyond, using divine power could raise the speed by threefold.
Moreover, for every hundredfold increase in divine power quality, the effect would increase by another fold.
In short:
– Ordinary Immortals could triple their comprehension speed.
– Newly advanced King-level Immortals, whose divine power was ten thousand times stronger than world force, could quadruple it.
– Those whose divine power reached a million times that of world force could quintuple it.
And so on, indefinitely.
The key advantage of this item was that it could be recharged and reused and recharging it for a year was trivial for Luo Fan.
After all, he had multiple avatars.
That meant he could essentially keep the Comprehension Crystal active permanently.
After putting the crystal away, Luo Fan went to a lakeside within his World Ring.
The entire lake was filled with Locke Divine Water, a reward from the Lord of Qianwu Nation.
There was about 0.1 cubic kilometers of it, worth nearly nine hundred thousand mixed-element units.
A fine resource indeed.
Then Luo Fan claimed another reward, this time from the system, granted for obtaining that Locke Divine Water: 1,000 cubic meters of additional Locke Divine Water!
In the next instant, the lake expanded more than tenfold in diameter!
A Ten Thousand Star Flower appeared on Luo Fan's body, shimmering with countless starlike motes.
It detached from him, extending its branches and leaves deep into the lake of divine water.
This Ten Thousand Star Flower was one of Luo Fan's earlier rewards, possessing a genetic level a hundred times that of ordinary life.
With the aid of matching resources, it had already reached the peak of the Cosmic level.
Now, Luo Fan merged his original Locke Divine Water with the new reward, preparing for the flower's breakthrough.
Though the lake looked vast, worth nearly ten billion mixed-element units, it would likely only be enough to push the Ten Thousand Star Flower to the World Master peak.
The flower was immensely powerful but consumed resources like a bottomless pit.
Still, the resources Luo Fan currently had were sufficient for now.
After setting the Ten Thousand Star Flower to begin its breakthrough, Luo Fan also prepared for his own advancement to the Cosmic level.
He established a system task and began the process immediately.
During this time, Luo Fan devoted himself entirely to training secret techniques in the Virtual Universe.
Meanwhile, his avatars continued hunting Water Source Beasts in the Law Source Secret Realm.
Since avatars could be dismissed and remade at will, there was no risk involved.
The Water Source Crystals they collected could be sent directly into the system space via the system-linked World Ring.
And so, more than two years passed like that.
…
Over the course of nearly three years, Luo Fan had been in constant cultivation.
He wasn't the only one, every other genius was the same.
All one thousand of them had been training diligently.
Even Luo Fan's ten avatars pretended to be cultivating.
During this period, everyone's progress had been tremendous.
After all, as official core members of the Virtual Universe Company, they could now purchase secret techniques from the company's immense treasure vault.
Though buying entire volumes was expensive, many techniques could be purchased in smaller parts.
Even those from the Endtime Secret Realm could afford some.
As for the geniuses from the Primal Beginning and Original Secret Realms, they had no such limitations.
Many of them bought secret arts that suited their paths perfectly.
Luo Feng and his companions, however, followed Luo Fan's advice and bought almost nothing.
Even so, their progress had been substantial.
Hong and Thunder God, though now members of the Virtual Universe Company, could still consult teachers from the Ten Thousand Leaf and Flowing Rock Secret Realms.
Those teachers were now even more enthusiastic in guiding them.
As for Luo Feng, his status was extraordinary.
Being from the Original Secret Realm, he was allowed to have an Immortal-level instructor permanently stationed at his manor.
He went so far as to request one at the peak of the Marquis level!
His progress soared as a result.
Luo Fan, on the other hand, never bothered applying for a teacher.
At most, he could've gotten a King-level Immortal mentor, and that wasn't guaranteed.
A Marquis-level one was more likely.
But Luo Fan already had two King-level mentors! (TL/N: He's talking about Grando and Tideblade King, and not the mentors in the virtual company)
One of them, Tideblade King, was at the pinnacle of the King realm, nearly an invincible King.
With such guidance, Luo Fan had no need for anyone else.
Under Tideblade King's tutelage, and aided by the Comprehension Crystal, his strength had improved dramatically.
Ordinary Cosmic-level cultivators needed a full year to charge the crystal for a single trace of comprehension energy.
But with a thousand avatars working simultaneously, Luo Fan could do it in just one day.
If his Space Worm avatar had also reached the peak of the Cosmic level, the charging would be even faster.
In short, Luo Fan's comprehension speed was now permanently doubled.
And so, after three full years, their ship finally reached the Virtual Universe Company headquarters.
A white-haired youth walked to Luo Fan's door and knocked lightly.
"Your Highness, we're almost at headquarters."
The avatar inside immediately rose and opened the door.
As Luo Fan stepped out, a shipwide alert sounded:
"Initiating universal transit, entering the Original Universe."
"10… 9… 3… 2… 1!"
The white-haired youth switched the vessel to full external simulation mode so Luo Fan could admire the scenery outside.
In the next moment, the hall around them turned completely transparent, revealing a breathtaking starry void.
And in the far distance hung a colossal supercontinent, floating majestically in the depths of space.
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