Chapter 225: Stretch

Time flowed ceaselessly, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred thousand years passed once more.

In the Initial Universe, spatial cracks were visible everywhere in the sky, with crystal threads flowing at the crack openings, constantly repairing these fissures.

Repair after repair, crack after crack, repeating endlessly...

And in the core region of this Initial Universe stood an ancient city, majestic and profound, which was precisely the Chaos City.

"Boom—!!"

Accompanied by a booming sound, an oval-shaped universe ship quickly stopped above the Chaos City.

Splash!

The hatch opened, and figures from various races of the Human Race streamed out one after another, among whom was a figure clad in purple battle armor.

This figure in purple battle armor was merely a Domain Master, blending in without standing out at all.

After all these people had left the ship, a streak of light suddenly flew out from the Chaos City below.

When this black light stopped before them, it quickly revealed the figure of a man with a face covered in purple scales, wearing a black robe.

The man in the black robe immediately grinned and said, "Everyone, I am the reception envoy of this Chaos City! Many of you arriving at the Chaos City are not here for the first time!"

"Those who have already visited the Chaos City and are familiar with its rules may act freely; I believe you know what to do! As for those visiting the Chaos City for the first time, please follow me!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Soon, dozens of figures from the crowd flew toward this black-robed guide envoy, while the others dove directly toward the Chaos City below, with the figure in purple battle armor among them.

"Over two thousand years!"

"After an interval of over two thousand years, I, Stretch, have finally returned to this Chaos City!"

Stretch, the figure in purple battle armor, stood on the wide streets within the Chaos City, looking around. In the distance, on the terraces of countless cultivation residences, cultivators sat cross-legged in meditation; apart from a few Domain Masters and World Masters, most were Immortal Gods.

"Chaos City, the holy land of human cultivation."

Stretch thought silently in his heart: "I hope that during this visit to the Chaos City, I can successfully become a disciple under a Hei Fengwang Immortal!"

Over two thousand years ago, Stretch, having achieved ninth place in the Peak Genius Battle, joined the Primordial Secret Realm of the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company, thereby obtaining thirty years of cultivation time in the Initial Universe.

After entering the Initial Universe, he quickly chose the Thunder Chaos Stele most suitable for himself, thus embarking on a new cultivation journey.

But unfortunately, during his cultivation period in the Chaos City, he failed to break through the third layer of the Thunder Tribulation Bridge, not even gaining the opportunity to attend lectures under the many Grandmasters of the Thunder lineage, let alone the chance to become a disciple.

Later, after leaving the Chaos City, he became a Universe-level member within the Primordial Secret Realm.

However, in the first Universe-level Qualification Battle a hundred years later, he was kicked down to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm;

In the second Universe-level Qualification Battle two hundred years later, although he successfully broke through the third layer of the Thunder Tribulation Bridge, he was still kicked down to the End Times Secret Realm;

After all, among the Universe-level members of the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, even the weakest had broken through the fourth layer of the Tribulation Bridge, while the strongest had broken through the sixth layer!

Of course, his situation was not an isolated case!

Back then, all the super geniuses from his same Genius Battle cohort, except for those in the End Times Secret Realm, were kicked out of their respective Core Secret Realms during the first Universe-level Qualification Battle, including even the first-place genius from the Primordial Secret Realm.

The second Qualification Battle was the same; the first-place genius was kicked down to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm again, while three of the top ten geniuses successfully remained in the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm; as for the others still alive, they had all ended up in the End Times Secret Realm!

In just two Qualification Battles, the Primordial Secret Realm member who was first in the Genius Battle was kicked down to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, while most members of the Primordial Secret Realm were kicked down to the End Times Secret Realm...

Such a huge gap made many unable to accept it, and even their cultivation was greatly affected.

But Stretch did not!

Although ranked in the top ten of the Peak Genius Battle, Stretch always knew deeply that his talent was nothing special in the universe, so even after being kicked down to the End Times Secret Realm, he never felt discouraged, but continued to cultivate diligently.

Two hundred and thirty years after leaving the Chaos City, he successfully broke through the fourth layer of the Tribulation Bridge, thus rushing back to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm during the third Qualification Battle!

After returning to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, he began to cultivate even more diligently.

Previously, his strength was insufficient, so he only dared to accept safe-level missions with zero mortality rates, and normal-level missions with a ten percent mortality rate;

But after returning to the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm, he finally began to accept difficult-level missions with a twenty percent mortality rate!

Although the mortality rate of difficult-level missions was significantly higher, the rewards obtained after completing them were also greater!

With the help of these rewards, he spent another three hundred years and finally broke through the fifth layer of the Tribulation Bridge!

Although such strength was not yet enough for him to rush back to the Primordial Secret Realm, compared to other members of the same Genius Battle cohort, he had already reached the forefront.

After all, among the geniuses of his same batch at that time, only over five hundred were still alive, and even the genius who ranked first in the Genius Battle had only broken through the fifth layer of the Tribulation Bridge!

In the days that followed, Stretch cultivated even more diligently.

One thousand years after leaving the Chaos City, he finally felt that cultivation missions with a twenty percent mortality rate were no longer enough to pose any danger to him.

After much deliberation, he decided to accept a dangerous-level mission to temper himself.

Of course, the mortality rate of dangerous-level missions was as high as fifty percent; a slight mistake would lead to demise, so he naturally had to prepare thoroughly.

Thus, Stretch prepared for over two hundred years before accepting the 'Blood Luo World' mission, which he had accidentally heard about in an open lecture and which was extremely beneficial for cultivation.

The cultivation missions within the Blood Luo World were divided into two:

The first was to obtain one Blood Luo Crystal; the second was to become a Blood Warrior.

But even the mission to obtain a single Blood Luo Crystal was incredibly difficult.

Because after Stretch entered the Blood Luo Continent, he discovered that most Blood Luo Crystals were controlled by Domain Masters, or even World Masters.

At that time, although he had acquired the ability to deal with Domain Masters through various means, he dared not act rashly.

After all, the natives of the Blood Luo Continent were extremely hostile toward outsiders like him.

Once his information was exposed, there might even be World Masters or Immortal Gods who would attack him.

Thus, Stretch schemed within the Blood Luo World for over ten years before finally snatching a Blood Luo Crystal from a Domain Master of the third stage, thereby completing the first mission!

However, he was not satisfied with this and attempted to fuse the Blood Luo Crystal, hoping to complete the second mission of becoming a Blood Warrior (which required fusing three Blood Luo Crystals).

He had thought becoming a Blood Warrior would be difficult, but contrary to his expectations, the process of fusing the Blood Luo Crystal turned out to be quite simple, and he easily fused the first Blood Luo Crystal.

So he began to scheme for the second, and even the third, Blood Luo Crystal!

Thus, he schemed within the Blood Luo Continent for nearly a hundred years before successfully obtaining the fourth Blood Luo Crystal, while simultaneously successfully fusing the first three, becoming a Blood Warrior.

After obtaining the fourth Blood Luo Crystal, Stretch originally intended to continue fusing, to see if he had any chance of becoming the legendary Black Warrior of the Blood Luo Continent.

But unfortunately, the difficulty of obtaining Blood Luo Crystals is simply too great.

To obtain the fourth Blood Luo Crystal, he had already exhausted all the treasures he had accumulated before traveling to the Blood Luo Continent.

If he were to seek new Blood Luo Crystals again, it would require spending a vast amount of time planning, and he might even encounter greater dangers!

Furthermore, since the cultivation mission offered no reward for becoming a Black Warrior, he chose not to continue fusing the fourth Blood Luo Crystal, but instead left the Blood Luo Continent directly.

And after completing the Blood Luo Continent cultivation mission, Stretch also smoothly received a reward of 110,000 points, far exceeding all his earnings from missions done over many years previously.

With the help of these 110,000 points, plus the fact that his comprehension of various origins had doubled after becoming a Blood Warrior, he quickly cleared the sixth layer of the Heaven Thunder Tianqiao, not much slower than the first place winner of the peak genius tournament back in the day!

And at this time, Stretch also began to attract the attention of other powerful beings; even several Marquis-level Immortals appeared, wanting to take him as a disciple.

But Stretch had always held a wish in his heart to become a disciple under a King-level Immortal, so he ultimately politely refused those Marquis-level Immortals who wanted to take him as a disciple.

Originally, Stretch had intended to clear the seventh layer of the Heaven Thunder Tianqiao at the Universe-level stage, then rush into the Primordial Secret Realm, thereby attracting the attention of some King-level Immortals.

But just as he was planning to attempt accepting a Desperate Situation-level cultivation mission to temper himself, the first-place winner of the genius tournament from his same cohort, who had also cleared the sixth layer of the Tianqiao faster than him, 'Priestley', fell in a Desperate Situation-level cultivation mission.

Priestley's fall was like a thunderclap to his head for him, quickly dispelling his idea of accepting Desperate Situation-level missions.

After all, a Danger-level mission with a fifty percent death rate was already extremely dangerous to him; if he were to accept a Desperate Situation-level mission with a death rate as high as ninety percent, wouldn't that be seeking death?

Later, after cultivating for several hundred more years, Stretch found that he was still some distance away from clearing the seventh layer of the Heaven Thunder Tianqiao.

But he was no longer willing to wait any longer, and decided to break through to the Domain Master level.

After all, after breaking through to the Domain Master level, his cultivation speed would certainly be able to increase quite a bit.

However, to avoid being kicked out of the Primordial Secret Realm again after breaking through to the Domain Master level just as before, he waited until the next Domain Master qualification tournament ended before breaking through to the Domain Master level.

And after breaking through to the Domain Master level, Stretch did not choose to immediately take up a post in the Universe Country, but instead directly submitted an application to cultivate secretly within Chaos City, and then smoothly arrived inside Chaos City.

"According to company regulations, core-layer members at the Domain Master level can cultivate within Chaos City for three hundred years!"

Stretch quickly found an empty cultivation residence, then sat in the living room seriously thinking about his upcoming plans: "I hope these three hundred years of cultivation time will allow my strength to advance further, so that I can be safer when dispatched to take up a post!"

"It would be best if I could become a disciple under a Grandmaster of my Heaven Thunder lineage; even if I am dispatched to take up a post in the Universe Country, no one would dare look down on me!"

"When I was in Chaos City before, I couldn't clear the third layer of the Heaven Thunder Tianqiao, so I had absolutely no way to attend lectures under a Grandmaster!"

"However, according to the information I gathered before, if one wishes to become a disciple of a certain Grandmaster, then during the first lecture, one must choose to attend lectures under that Grandmaster to show respect, and then find a way to formally become a disciple!"

"As long as this Grandmaster is willing to accept a disciple, then the discipleship is successful!"

Seeing this, Stretch quickly opened the files of the many Grandmasters of the Heaven Thunder lineage currently in Chaos City.

"Currently in Chaos City, our Heaven Thunder lineage has a total of 19 Grandmasters, but only three belong to our Virtual Universe Company lineage!"

After reading the information on the many Grandmasters, Stretch couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

It must be known that although the five major powers of the Human Race have no distinction of high or low, in fact, the Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Martial Arena lineages are the main ones!

Under normal circumstances, the Grandmasters of the Virtual Universe Company and Giant Axe Martial Arena lineages are also more numerous than those of the other three major powers, but now...

"Enough, why think so much? Better to first think about which Grandmaster's lectures to attend first!" Stretch thought silently in his heart.

Virtual Universe, Lei Ting Island, halfway up the mountain.

Inside the cultivation hall of the luxurious mansion where Venerable Yao Guang resides.

At this moment, the scene inside the cultivation hall had been transformed into a vast mountain forest, and within this vast mountain forest, a figure clad in purple-gold battle armor was facing off from a distance against a figure over a hundred meters tall, resembling a giant gorilla.

These two figures were none other than Lu Qingshan, and a opponent set up by Venerable Yao Guang for him to create his third sword technique: the Frenzied Giant Ape.

"Roar!!"

The Frenzied Giant Ape, bathed in endless Lei Ting, let out a roar, then dropped to all fours and came charging wildly towards Lu Qingshan's location.

"Bury Heaven Slash!"

Lu Qingshan saw numerous law threads instantly emanate from the purple long sword in his hand, then gather together in the void ahead, forming a giant sword phantom.

This sword technique was the third sword technique Lu Qingshan created based on 'Time Stop': 'Bury Heaven Slash'!

"Roar!!"

The Frenzied Giant Ape nearby flashed its body, instantly crossing a distance of over ten thousand kilometers, then directly attacked Lu Qingshan; its giant fist covered in black scales seemed to carry the might of heaven and earth.

"Slash for me!"

At Lu Qingshan's thought, that giant sword phantom which had become extremely solid immediately slashed towards the Frenzied Giant Ape.

Bang!

The giant sword phantom and the Frenzied Giant Ape's giant fist instantly collided violently.

In the past, although the Frenzied Giant Ape would be blasted flying backwards, the giant sword phantom slashed by Lu Qingshan would also collapse.

But this time, while the Frenzied Giant Ape was blasted flying backwards, the giant sword phantom condensed by Lu Qingshan not only did not collapse as before, but instead slashed towards the Frenzied Giant Ape's neck at a bizarre angle.

"Roar!"

The Frenzied Giant Ape held its fists horizontally, wanting to block this bizarre attack from Lu Qingshan.

But the giant sword phantom's speed was extremely fast, and its angle was also very tricky.

Slash!

The giant sword phantom instantly swept past the Frenzied Giant Ape's neck.

Afterwards...

Just like tofu cut by a knife, the Frenzied Giant Ape instantly had its head separated from its body, completely losing its life aura.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the Frenzied Giant Ape killed by him, Lu Qingshan's face soon showed a smile: "This level has stalled me for several decades; now I have finally cleared it!"

After Lu Qingshan rested for a while, a new opponent soon appeared before him.

This opponent was the Ruin-Saha Beast, one of the twelve peak bloodlines of Starry Sky Beasts; it was very difficult to deal with, so after fighting the opponent for a period of time, Lu Qingshan decisively gave up.

"With my current sword techniques, I estimate I still need to temper myself for a while longer before I can defeat this Ruin-Saha Beast!"

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan immediately left Venerable Yao Guang's mansion.

And just at this moment, the voice of the intelligent lifeform Deep Blue suddenly echoed in his mind: "Master, today is the day you lecture within the Chaos City!"

"Oh? Is it time already?"

Lu Qingshan shifted his thought, and soon his consciousness returned to reality, beginning to prepare for the lecture.

Yes!

During this period of secluded cultivation within the Chaos City, Lu Qingshan had also begun to teach within the Chaos City, just like other Grandmasters.

With his current strength and his comprehension of the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele, he naturally possessed the qualification.

Moreover, "reviewing the old to learn the new"; teaching within the Chaos City also counted as a form of cultivation for Lu Qingshan.

Half a day later, within the Chaos City.

"This is it!"

Stretchy walked to the gate of a mansion, yet his heart began to feel somewhat uneasy: "I wonder if the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds is willing to accept me as a disciple!"

Among the many Grandmasters of the Heavenly Thunder Lineage, the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds had cultivated for the shortest time, yet his strength was the strongest.

Precisely for this reason, after Stretchy had investigated the data of many Grandmasters, he decided to choose Lu Qingshan as his master.

After all, everyone wants to study under a strong person, and if the other Grandmasters of the Heavenly Thunder Lineage did not believe their own strength was inferior to the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds, they would certainly not be willing to admit that the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds possessed the strongest strength.

"Today the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds is lecturing; it is said he will explain the first image to the third image of the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele."

"That's right! Although I have already begun to contemplate the fourth image of the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele, every time I listen to the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds explain these basic contents, I am able to gain some insights!"

"Me too!"

"A Grandmaster is indeed a Grandmaster!"

"If only I could become a disciple under the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds!"

"Stop dreaming! How terrifying is the strength of the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds? It is said he can easily annihilate even an Immortal-level Insect Race Empress. Many Universal Zifeng Zunzhe are willing to befriend him; how could he possibly look favorably upon us?"

Cultivators one by one continuously walked into the mansion, while also continuously exchanging words.

And after Stretchy heard the exchanges of these strong ones, he became even more firm in his decision within his heart; even if he ultimately failed to become a disciple under the Lord of Ten Thousand Worlds, he still had to make an attempt.

(End of this chapter)