Chapter 116

In the Virtual Universe, Thunder Island, within the residence of Lei Huanwang.

It must be said that powerful beings of different strengths have entirely different permissions within the Virtual Universe.

When Lu Qingshan first entered the Initial Universe and joined the Virtual Universe Corporation, before he had broken through to become an Immortal Spirit, he could only reside in an apartment in the Endtime District of Rain Phase Mountain and needed to travel to a fixed location in the Endtime District—the Killing Ground—to use a training space.

But after he became an Immortal Spirit and moved to reside on Thunder Island, he could directly use the virtual training space within his residence.

Later, as Lu Qingshan's strength continually increased, his permissions within the training space also rose accordingly.

Now, using his teacher Lei Huanwang's training space, his permissions were even higher, allowing him to simulate opponents he had previously been unable to simulate.

Of course, these permissions were no longer the most important to Lu Qingshan—he now needed most of all to defeat the first opponent Lei Huanwang had assigned him.

At this moment, the training space had been simulated into a cosmic starfield shrouded in misty fog.

"Hum…"

As the space shifted, a graceful, alluring figure immediately appeared not far before Lu Qingshan.

She wore a purple gauze robe, possessed violet eyes and a fluffy tail, and every movement radiated boundless seduction.

Looking at the opponent before him, Lu Qingshan couldn't help but sigh: "I never expected my teacher's first opponent to be this formidable!"

His opponent was clearly a member of the Meng Yao Zu, a human subgroup exceptionally skilled in illusion arts—the illusionist "Nightmare" from Marquis Xuan Kong's squad also came from this race, so Lu Qingshan was certainly familiar with them.

But the power of this opponent was clearly at the Marquis level, far beyond what "Nightmare" could match.

Hum!

Upon seeing Lu Qingshan, the immortal Meng Yao Zu before him quickly wore a soft, watery smile, yet at the same time, a thread of ethereal immortal spiritual force slipped into Lu Qingshan's mind.

"Cut!"

Deep within Lu Qingshan's soul, a small purple sword lightly swept, instantly dissolving the opponent's soul attack, while also sending a thread of ethereal spiritual force seeping into the opponent's body.

Thus, Lu Qingshan's first battle began swiftly.

…

In the years that followed, Lu Qingshan began his journey of self-creating a soul-attack technique within Lei Huanwang's residence.

But even the first opponent had been incredibly difficult to handle, let alone the many that followed.

Each opponent Lu Qingshan faced possessed terrifying power and deliberately targeted the weaknesses in his secret technique.

These weaknesses were so subtle that even Lu Qingshan, the creator of the technique, struggled to detect them—only Lei Huanwang, a Marquis-level supreme expert who had created multiple peak-tier soul-attack techniques, could easily spot the flaws and even arrange suitable opponents for him.

To defeat these opponents, Lu Qingshan could only create a stronger, more perfect soul-attack technique!

"According to my teacher, if I can defeat a hundred opponents, this soul-attack technique will have entered the ordinary tier—and will be presentable at last!"

"If I can defeat five hundred opponents, it means my technique has reached the top tier, comparable to most Marquis Immortals!"

Lu Qingshan secretly speculated: "Though my teacher didn't say more, based on Luo Feng's experience in the original novel, if I defeat a thousand opponents, the technique enters the peak tier; if I defeat two thousand, it reaches the ultimate tier!"

"Of course, among humanity's countless Immortal Spirits, I doubt anyone has created an ultimate-tier technique—after all, the Zushen Sect claims to gather the supreme Marquis Immortals from billions of cosmic races, yet even among them, few have created ultimate techniques!"

"It seems that creating an ultimate technique at the Immortal stage may be even harder than becoming a Cosmic Sovereign!"

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan couldn't help but admire Luo Feng from the original novel.

After all, in the original novel, Luo Feng, while still at the Realm Lord stage, broke through his shackles to become an Immortal by creating three ultimate techniques in less than a hundred thousand years.

That was something countless Marquis Immortal geniuses across billions of cosmic races could not accomplish even after billions of years!

Compared to Luo Feng's prodigious talent in the original novel, Lu Qingshan now clearly seemed ordinary—even he had no right to compare himself with Luo Feng.

"Fortunately, I have the chat group's help!"

Lu Qingshan thought inwardly: "As long as I have enough time, I can accumulate sufficient points, and with the help of the Enlightenment Boost function and other opportunities, I will surely become a supreme powerhouse!"

Of course, becoming a true supreme powerhouse requires taking one step at a time.

And Lu Qingshan's current goal for himself is to rapidly elevate the power of his self-created soul-attack technique, "Lù Hún Jiàn," to surpass the peak-tier soul-attack techniques within "Lei Huan Secret Art."

According to Lu Qingshan's estimation, raising "Lù Hún Jiàn" to the top tier should be sufficient to achieve this.

Of course, even with Lei Huanwang's guidance, the process of self-creating a technique is extremely arduous.

For instance, the first opponent from the Meng Yao Zu took Lu Qingshan over half a year to defeat.

As for the later opponents, they were even more difficult—sometimes, even after ten years, Lu Qingshan might still fail to overcome a single one.

…

Hum!

In the endless starry void, a figure of perfect form suddenly appeared before Lu Qingshan.

Her entire body was white and seemed forged from crystal, standing over ten meters tall, with a pair of transparent, butterfly-like wings on her back, their delicate membranes wrapping her frail form like a sheer veil.

This was Lu Qingshan's hundredth opponent—a Hive Empress, a Hive Empress who had trapped him for over forty years!

The true members of the peak-tier Hive race are composed of these Hive Empresses; though their numbers are exceedingly rare, they command cosmic awe and stand as one of the peak races.

Even humanity, with its multitude of powerful beings, and the Meng Yao Zu, could at best match the Hive race in strength.

Of course, Hive Empresses in the universe have no ranks of Military Lord Immortal or Marquis Immortal—once a Realm Lord Hive Empress breaks through, she is at least at the Marquis level, and combined with her mastery of swarm tactics, she is among the most formidable beings below the Cosmic Sovereign tier.

The Hive Empress before Lu Qingshan, however, was merely a simulation created by Lei Huanwang through the Virtual Universe.

"Every Hive Empress is a natural master of soul arts—even her every movement carries an innate, effortless seduction!"

As this thought flashed through his mind, Lu Qingshan acted swiftly.

Hum!

An intangible, formless ethereal immortal spiritual force instantly pierced into the Hive Empress's body, transforming into a phantom little sword, attempting to shatter her soul.

Within the Hive Empress's body, vast amounts of spiritual force resembled countless threads of energy, interweaving into a strange network!

This strange network formed due to the Hive Empress's unique internal structure—though most races, upon becoming Immortals, transform their bodies entirely into immortal spiritual force, they still retain certain racial characteristics, and the Hive Empress is no exception.

A Realm Lord Hive Empress possesses ten thousand soul origins, each equivalent to a human Realm Lord's Origin Pearl—this is also one reason why Hive Empresses find it so difficult to break through to Immortal status.

After breaking through to Immortal status, these soul origins disperse, yet persist within her body in another form, providing a certain enhancement to her soul.

Meanwhile, upon suffering Lu Qingshan's soul attack, the Hive Empress's body immediately manifested a towering, majestic pagoda—her soul defense technique.

The illusory small sword slashed fiercely at the towering pagoda, and after a brief stalemate, finally shattered it into fragments, then slashed toward the soul of the Insect Race Mother Empress.

And in the outer starry sky, the body of the Insect Race Mother Empress stiffened, then completely lost its aura of life.

"Hahaha! It's already been over forty years, and now I've finally killed this Insect Race Mother Empress!"

Seeing the Insect Race Mother Empress ahead completely lose its aura of life, Lu Qingshan couldn't help but show a faint smile on his face, then secretly thought: "I wonder when I'll be able to kill a true Immortal-level Insect Race Mother Empress?"

"Now my secret art can be considered to have stepped into the ordinary level!"

Lu Qingshan felt the profound mystery of this self-created soul attack method and discovered it had already undergone tremendous changes from the original embryonic form of the secret art.

Originally, the embryonic form of the secret art Lu Qingshan created still bore traces of the soul attack method gifted to him by his senior brother Lei Ting, as well as several soul attack methods recorded in his teacher Lei Huanwang's "Lei Huan Secret Art."

But now, this secret art had undergone a complete transformation!

And just at this moment…

Hum!

Accompanied by a slight ripple in space, a burly figure in a purple robe quickly appeared beside Lu Qingshan.

Seeing the visitor, Lu Qingshan hurriedly greeted respectfully: "Teacher!"

"Disciple, you spent only a little over a thousand years to elevate your secret art to the ordinary level—this pace is indeed quite impressive!"

Lei Huanwang said with a smile: "If I didn't know you were still working at the company's transportation department, I'd probably think you'd gone off to the Extraterritorial Battlefield to make a name for yourself! But this恰恰 shows that you do have very high talent in creating your own soul attack methods!"

Hearing these words, Lu Qingshan felt somewhat embarrassed inside.

After all, during these past thousand-plus years, his second avatar had been making a name for itself on the Extraterritorial Battlefield the whole time.

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan quickly said: "The reason this disciple has been able to make such astonishing progress is mainly thanks to your help, Teacher!"

What Lu Qingshan said this time was all true—after all, when creating this soul attack method this time, he hadn't spent any chat group points to use the enlightenment-boosting function within the chat group. To be able to make such rapid progress, apart from the life-and-death battles on the Extraterritorial Battlefield, it could only be attributed to Lei Huanwang's tireless and dedicated guidance.

"Actually, I haven't helped you that much!"

Lei Huanwang said with a smile: "Take your senior brothers and sisters—haven't I helped every one of them plenty? Yet the time they spent creating their secret arts far exceeded yours!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan quickly said modestly: "You're too kind, Teacher. Compared to my senior brothers and sisters, this disciple still has a long way to go!"

"Alright, no need for such pleasantries!"

Lei Huanwang waved his hand, then asked with a smile: "Disciple, your self-created secret art has now achieved some small success. Even if placed in the company treasury, it would probably fetch a price of ten to twenty thousand points. Have you thought of a name for it?"

"This disciple's secret art already has a name—it's called 'Soul-Slaying Sword'!" Lu Qingshan quickly replied.

"Soul-Slaying Sword?"

Hearing the name Lu Qingshan had given his secret art, Lei Huanwang seemed to sense a killing aura emanating from it.

"I didn't expect that while you've been working at the company's transportation department all this time, you harbor such grand ambitions in your heart!"

Lei Huanwang quickly sighed: "Very well, then as your teacher, I look forward to the day you carry this secret art to its full glory, making countless alien races tremble in fear!"

"This disciple will certainly give his all!" Lu Qingshan quickly pledged.

"Mm."

Lei Huanwang nodded slightly, then continued: "Then I'll continue arranging new opponents for you, but the opponents from here on will be increasingly difficult to deal with. You'll need to prepare yourself mentally in advance!"

"This disciple understands!" Lu Qingshan nodded and said.

Seeing this, Lei Huanwang immediately waved his hand, and a new opponent quickly appeared before Lu Qingshan.

……

The Seventh Extraterritorial Battlefield, Blazing Sacrifice Continent.

During this past period, although Lu Qingshan's true body had been cultivating secret arts at Lei Huanwang's residence, his second avatar had also been active on the Extraterritorial Battlefield the whole time.

Under normal circumstances, Lu Qingshan would go out to fight every few years, then return to continue reflecting and comprehending his cultivation.

During these thousand-plus years, Lu Qingshan had experienced nearly two hundred battles, large and small.

And in these battles, he had slain a total of 181 alien Immortal Army Commanders, as well as 51 alien Immortals at the initial Marquis level.

And the fall of these alien enemies had successively brought him wealth of over seventy million Primordial units, as well as a military merit quota of over six hundred billion!

And this was only because Lu Qingshan would always first temper his swordsmanship and movement techniques at the start of battle, only finally beginning to burn his Immortal divine power to erupt.

After all, for Lu Qingshan, the most important thing was to temper himself through life-and-death battles; the accumulation of military merit and wealth was secondary—even if enemies truly escaped, it didn't matter.

Over a thousand years of slaughter had also allowed Lu Qingshan to earn a reputation on Blazing Sacrifice Continent.

Relying on cultivating "Lei Ting Phantom Body," which granted him a fourfold body amplification, along with top-tier swordsmanship and movement techniques, he barely possessed the strength of a high-level Marquis.

Of course, to those alien races, the most terrifying thing was that Lu Qingshan's soul attacks were powerful enough to slay initial-Marquis-level Immortal gods—this was something even many high-level Marquis illusionists couldn't accomplish.

After all, even illusionists with bizarre methods rarely managed to enslave or slay cultivators of the same level through soul attacks.

And the reason Lu Qingshan was able to achieve this was entirely due to his powerful will, which rivaled that of peak-level King cultivators!

One must know that while ordinary illusionists generally had fairly strong wills, they were usually only one or two minor levels higher than their own realm. Yet Lu Qingshan, at the initial Marquis level, possessed a powerful will rivaling peak-level King cultivators, so naturally his soul attacks would be far more devastating in actual combat!

Coupled with the fact that Lu Qingshan often burned his Immortal divine power to fight desperately in battle, over time, as strong allies on Blazing Sacrifice Continent passed word among themselves, everyone came to know that the human faction on Blazing Sacrifice Continent had gained a Marquis-level Immortal who specialized in soul attacks and was utterly mad. At the same time, Lu Qingshan gradually earned the nickname "Burning Soul Marquis"!

Of course, during all these years Lu Qingshan had been making a name for himself on Blazing Sacrifice Continent, he had also encountered several rather dangerous situations.

One such time, while traveling by spaceship searching for alien powerhouses, he was surrounded and attacked by four soulless rock-alien-race Marquis-level Immortals—one peak-level Marquis and three high-level Marquises!

Because his探测器 failed to detect them, he was completely surrounded by the four of them at the start of the battle. Fortunately, they were rock lifeforms and weren't adept at movement techniques, and in the end he managed to break free from them by burning his Immortal divine power frantically while relying on movement techniques that had already stepped into the top tier.

……

Another time, he directly encountered an Immortal from the Mechanical Race, who didn't even show himself in person, but had already dispatched numerous mechanical puppets and mechanical weapons to surround and attack him.

The might of those mechanical weapons and mechanical puppets was all extremely terrifying. Even burning his Immortal divine power, Lu Qingshan couldn't break out of the encirclement, and in the end he only managed to escape successfully with the help of a squad of strong allies from the human faction!

It was only afterward that Lu Qingshan learned from other strong allies of the human race the identity of that Mechanical Race Immortal who had attacked him—Mar弥天侯, who possessed numerous powerful mechanical weapons, one of the most untouchable existences below King-level Immortals on Blazing Sacrifice Continent!

……

Of course, although these crises Lu Qingshan encountered were all very dangerous, he ultimately managed to escape all of them safely, which could be considered fairly fortunate.

However, for Lu Qingshan—who possessed an avatar and had already sent most of his spoils into his divine kingdom—even if he couldn't escape, there wouldn't be too great an impact.

During the encounter with the Mechanical Race's 弥天侯, he had actually already prepared to self-destruct, but he just happened to run into a powerful squad of same-faction strong allies. However, he also paid out a reward of two million Primordial units for it, which had even exceeded the value of the treasures he was carrying on him!

(End of this chapter)