Chapter 253: Difficult Cultivation, News of the Genius Battle

"Hahaha!"

Seeing the triangular poison-lin beast before him completely lose its life force, Lu Qingshan's face quickly broke into a smile: "After over ten million years of diligent cultivation, I've finally created this fourth technique at the peak level!"

"This fourth technique is built upon the complete fundamental laws of time—its power is simply too immense!"

Feeling the power of this self-created technique, Lu Qingshan silently thought: "My base strength hasn't increased, but with this technique alone, my combat power could easily rise over tenfold!"

And just then…

Hum!

As the surrounding space subtly rippled, a figure radiating overwhelming pressure instantly appeared before Lu Qingshan—it was Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu, the supreme powerhouse of the Virtual Universe Corporation.

Seeing Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu appear, Lu Qingshan quickly bowed respectfully: "Teacher!"

"Qingshan, I never expected you could elevate this technique to the peak level within just one billion years!"

After witnessing Lu Qingshan slay the triangular poison-lin beast, Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu sighed in admiration: "It seems you have a certain talent for creating secret techniques!"

"If you continue to strive, perhaps in the future you'll even create a Ultimate-level combat technique!"

Hearing these words from Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu, Lu Qingshan felt a twinge of embarrassment.

In truth, his speed in creating combat techniques was merely average—even slightly slower than most Cosmic Venerables.

The reason he could create this peak-level fourth technique so quickly was entirely because he had spent a massive amount of points to activate the Enlightenment Boost function within the chat group.

Otherwise, it would have taken him at least ten times longer to create this peak-level fourth technique.

As various thoughts flashed through his mind, Lu Qingshan quickly spoke: "My current progress is entirely due to your guidance, Teacher!"

Lu Qingshan spoke these words sincerely.

Originally, even after he broke through to the Venerable Realm, when he first began creating techniques, he had gone to his senior brother's residence—Venerable Yao Guang.

Later, it was only after Venerable Yao Guang's reminder that he came here to seek guidance from Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu.

Venerable Yao Guang, though a Cosmic Overlord, had not yet created an Ultimate technique;

but Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu was a Cosmic Master, and while creating an Ultimate technique wasn't effortless, it was still quite easy for him—and his realm was far superior to Venerable Yao Guang's, making his guidance of Lu Qingshan far more effortless.

Under Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu's guidance, Lu Qingshan's speed in researching self-created techniques had greatly increased; otherwise, even with the Enlightenment Boost function, he would have struggled immensely to create this peak-level fourth technique in such a short time.

"In truth, it's mainly because you've worked hard enough!"

Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu smiled: "Over countless eons, I've seen countless powerful beings—geniuses, late bloomers, all of them! But once many of them reached the Venerable Realm and gained immense power, they grew lax in cultivation!"

"After all, for a Cosmic Venerable, further improvement is already extremely difficult! When they see no hope of progress, they grow complacent, content with their current state!"

"Some even take reckless risks, die multiple times, and accumulate massive debts to their clan!"

"But you, Qingshan, are different!"

Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu's gaze toward Lu Qingshan was filled with admiration: "In these ten million years, while training under me, you have never once slacked off!"

"I believe that if you continue to strive, your future achievements will far exceed this!"

"Teacher, you flatter me too much!"

Lu Qingshan quickly replied humbly: "I've merely done what I ought to do!"

He fully understood what Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu meant—many powerful beings, once stuck at a bottleneck, simply cannot see the path forward.

But he was different!

With the help of the Multiverse Chat Group and the ability to use the Enlightenment Boost function, if he still slacked off in cultivation, he wouldn't deserve to walk the path of the powerful!

"Enough with these formalities before me!"

Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu waved his hand: "Qingshan, does your technique have a name?"

"A name?"

Lu Qingshan paused slightly, then quickly replied: "I've already named this technique, but the entire set of martial arts still lacks a title."

"What's its name?" Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu asked curiously.

"I've named this technique 'Era Slash'!" Lu Qingshan replied promptly.

"Not bad!"

Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu smiled: "You should also name your complete set of martial arts! After all, you've now entered the Venerable Realm—if you don't have even one complete set of supreme techniques, it would be inappropriate!"

"Though you've only created the fourth technique so far, your advantages in life gene level and amplification techniques mean this set will surely become legendary among countless cosmic clans—it deserves a proper name!"

"A name…" Lu Qingshan began to think deeply.

His future cultivation would continue step by step; eventually, this set of martial arts would surely evolve into a fifth, sixth, even seventh technique—it truly needed a fitting name.

"What should I call it?"

For a moment, countless names flashed through Lu Qingshan's mind.

Since his transmigration, he had always worked hard in cultivation.

Before becoming Immortal, he sought to break through to Immortality to gain eternal life and cling to Luo Feng's coattails when he rose to power;

after becoming Immortal and gaining the Multiverse Chat Group, he cultivated even harder, determined to grow stronger and witness the view at the journey's end!

Watching Lu Qingshan ponder, Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu stood silently beside him.

A supreme martial art is the testament of a supreme being's rise—even if that being perishes, his art will endure!

Thus, every powerful being takes great care when naming their supreme art, for it is an affirmation of their long cultivation journey.

After countless thoughts passed through his mind, Lu Qingshan finally made his decision.

"I'll name it 'Origin of Myriad Realms'!"

"Origin of Myriad Realms" signifies both the starting point of this martial art on the path of this "Myriad Realms Venerable," and reminds him that his future lies in the Origin Continent—even the boundless Chaos Space!

Thinking this, Lu Qingshan quickly spoke: "Teacher, the complete set of martial arts I've created shall be called 'Origin of Myriad Realms'!"

"'Origin of Myriad Realms'?"

Lord Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu nodded slightly, then continued: "I hope, Qingshan, that your 'Origin of Myriad Realms' will shock, enrage, and even terrify the countless cosmic clans!"

"I will strive with all my might!" Lu Qingshan replied respectfully.

"Hmm!"

The Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng nodded slightly, then continued, "With your current strength, Qingshan, you are already among the very top of the Zifeng Zunzhe in the medium universes!"

"Even among the many Zifeng Zunzhe of our Human Race, your strength is enough to rank within the top thousand!"

"Moreover, you possess the ability of a clone, so from now on you must also shoulder some corresponding responsibilities and contribute your own strength to our Human Race!"

"Disciple understands!" Lu Qingshan nodded quickly and replied.

His life gene level and the amplitude secret technique were both slightly stronger than those of ordinary Zifeng Zunzhe;

however, his comprehension of the laws and his combat secret techniques were still far inferior to those of the high-level Zunzhe, so combining all aspects, he was merely a medium Zifeng Zunzhe with relatively strong strength.

Of course, among the thousands of Zifeng Zunzhe of the Human Race today, fewer than a thousand possessed the strength of high-level Zunzhe, so Lu Qingshan's strength was already considered very good.

Especially since he possessed the ability of a clone, his comprehensive strength was fully capable of rivaling, or even surpassing, high-level Zifeng Zunzhe.

"Of course, the Primordial Star has only just closed not long ago; the various powers in the universe are still digesting the gains from this opening of the Primordial Star, and nothing major has happened for the time being!"

The Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng continued, "You may now continue to cultivate in seclusion, or you may go out and explore some Cosmic Secret Realms with other Zunzhe!"

"When exploring the Cosmic Secret Realms, I believe you will also gain more experience!"

"If the Race has an important mission for you, someone will certainly come to notify you!"

"Disciple understands!"

Lu Qingshan nodded hurriedly, then quickly continued, "However, the disciple still wishes to continue pushing forward to see if he can create an Ultimate Secret Technique; I hope the Master will continue to guide me!"

"Hahaha, since you have such ambition, this Master will naturally continue to target the flaws in your supreme arts and arrange opponents for you one by one!"

The Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng said with a smile, "However, if you wish to create a combat secret technique of the Ultimate level, you must continue from the first form!"

"Just like your senior brother Venerable Yao Guang; he has now elevated the fourth form combat secret technique to the Ultimate level and is researching the fifth form secret technique, but his realm is extremely high now, and only after creating the sixth form Ultimate secret technique will he truly be considered to have achieved something!"

"Disciple understands!" Lu Qingshan nodded quickly and said.

Just like Luo Feng in the original work, after failing to break through to the Immortal Realm, he once elevated all three forms of his 'Myriad Stars Spreading the Dao Map' secret technique to the Ultimate level.

However, after breaking through to the Immortal Realm, he quickly embarked on the path of the Secret Pattern Map school and directly created combat secret techniques of the Universe Master level.

Otherwise, the 'Myriad Stars Spreading the Dao Map' created by Luo Feng would surely, just like the 'Seven Transformations of the Divine Derivation', have created a fourth form, a fifth form combat secret technique, and so on...

"Then this Master will see just how far you can go in the future!"

After the Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng finished speaking, he quickly vanished.

After the Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng left, Lu Qingshan's consciousness quickly returned to reality.

"Cultivation at the Zifeng Zunzhe level is truly too slow!"

Thinking of his progress in comprehending the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law, Lu Qingshan, whose consciousness had just returned to reality, could not help but sigh; the smile on his face from creating the peak fourth form secret technique had already vanished.

In fact, he had already guessed before that comprehending the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law at the Zunzhe stage would be quite difficult, but he did not expect it to be this difficult.

Now, nearly ten million years have passed, and his progress in the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law is pitifully slow.

If judged solely by the Bridge of Heaven realm division, his current comprehension of the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law is equivalent only to the level of the seventh layer of the Bridge of Heaven.

Of course, during this past period, Lu Qingshan had also obtained some treasures capable of accelerating cultivation from others in the Chat Group, but the effect was still not very good.

On the contrary, the comprehension of other lower Origin Laws had progressed quite rapidly.

Among them, under the Time Origin Law, the Light, Lightning, and Wind Origin Laws; originally, he had only fully comprehended the Lightning Origin Law, but now, with the help of the Light and Wind Attribute Divine Seals, Lu Qingshan had fully comprehended these two lower Origin Laws;

as for the five lower Origin Laws of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth under the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law, he had also, with the help of the Earth, Water, and Fire Attribute Divine Seals, received the acknowledgment of the Earth Origin Law, the Flame Origin Law, and the Water Origin Law; as for the progress on the Metal Origin Law and the Wood Origin Law, it was slightly slower, but it was already equivalent to the comprehension of the seventh layer of the Bridge of Heaven!

It was a pity that the comprehension of the Shi Shi Jian Ben Yuan Law was interfered with by the complete Time Origin Law, so that even with the assistance of numerous treasures and even the help of the Dao Elder Gan Wu Enhancement function, his progress speed was extremely slow.

"If this progress continues, I fear I will need an extremely long time to break through in law comprehension!"

Lu Qingshan thought silently in his heart: "In this way, if I wish to continue improving my strength in a short time, one option is to replace the current supreme heavy treasure weapon I use with an ordinary Ordinary Ordinary Zhibao; the other is to create a combat secret technique of the Ultimate level!"

"My current strength is still relatively weak; Supreme Treasures are easily snatched by others, so I should slowly research the Ultimate Secret Technique!"

"Just right, during this time I can also continue to explore the Cosmic Secret Realms just as I did in the Outer Battlefield during the Immortal stage, and accumulate more wealth!"

"In this way, after my strength has improved, I will also have enough wealth to exchange for many precious treasures!"

Of course, it is foreseeable that this will absolutely be an extremely long process.

But just as Lu Qingshan was about to research which Cosmic Secret Realms were suitable for him to explore...

"Wan Jie!"

A figure wearing a fire-red long robe suddenly arrived outside the mansion of Lu Qingshan in the Hun Dun Cheng.

"It is Master Guiyi Zunzhe!"

Sensing the aura of the newcomer, Lu Qingshan quickly rose and went out to welcome him.

"Hahaha!"

Lu Qingshan, who had gone to the gate to welcome him, invited Master Guiyi Zunzhe into the mansion while saying with a smile, "Master Guiyi, it has been quite some time since you came to my place! The last time we met was over a million years ago, right!"

It must be known that Lu Qingshan's original body had been cultivating in seclusion within the Hun Dun Cheng all along, and Master Guiyi Zunzhe had also been following the Hun Dun Chengzhu during this time, so naturally he was also within the Hun Dun Cheng.

Although Lu Qingshan's strength was now slightly inferior to that of Master Guiyi Zunzhe, he possessed the ability of a clone, so naturally he was quite special.

Furthermore, one was a disciple of the Hun Dun Chengzhu and the other was a disciple of the Master of Lord Lord Bingfeng, so their relationship was also quite close.

So, over the past nearly ten million years, since both Lu Qingshan and Master Guiyi Zunzhe were within the Hun Dun Cheng, they naturally met a few times, and over time they became familiar with each other.

"Isn't that because Wan Jie was busy cultivating?"

Master Guiyi Zunzhe, walking into the mansion alongside Lu Qingshan, said with a smile, "Two hundred thousand years ago, Cang Lang Zunzhe of the Universe Mercenary Alliance came to the Hun Dun Cheng to exchange treasures; originally everyone wanted to invite you to gather, but at that time you were cultivating!"

"I was just having some comprehension at the time, so I turned off the virtual network reception!" Lu Qingshan quickly explained.

At that time, he was in the period of activating the Dao Elder Gan Wu Enhancement function, so time was naturally extremely precious.

And at the Zifeng Zunzhe level, sometimes a gathering would last for several months, or even several years; although Lu Qingshan had other clones, he was unwilling to waste such time during the period when the Dao Elder Gan Wu Enhancement function was maintained.

"Knowing that Wan Jie was busy just after breaking through!"

Master Guiyi Zunzhe said with a smile, "So after everyone saw that you had turned off the virtual network reception, they did not come to disturb you; anyway, our lifespans are infinite, so we can wait for the next opportunity!"

"That's true!"

Lu Qingshan had by now arrived in the main hall of the residence with Zifeng Zunzhe. After they took their seats as host and guest, Lu Qingshan first waved his hand to summon fine wine and delicacies, then raised his cup and invited, "By the way, Zifeng, since you've come to my place this time, is there something you need?"

"Indeed, I came to find Wanjie because I have a small matter to discuss!"

Zifeng Zunzhe lifted his wine cup and drained it in one gulp, then smiled and said, "Wanjie, you only recently broke through to the Venerable Realm, and you don't have many capable people under your command, do you? I've come this time to solve that problem for you!"

Hearing these words, Lu Qingshan's heart stirred.

After all, as a newly ascended Universe Venerable, he indeed had very few capable people under his command.

Under other Venerables, not to mention the formidable Sealed Marquis Immortals or Sealed King Immortals, there were even countless Immortal Army Lords;

especially at the entrances of their various residences, Immortal Gods stood guard.

But under Lu Qingshan, there were only a handful of people like Huo Gesi and Ai Na. As for Streich, his current strength was already quite impressive, and he still had great room for growth in the future, so Lu Qingshan naturally could not let him handle trivial matters.

Currently, most of the guards at the entrance of Lu Qingshan's residence were borrowed from the Transportation Department of the Virtual Universe Company.

Although these guards would have loved to serve under him, he couldn't possibly borrow people from the Transportation Department every time he needed them!

Thinking of this, Lu Qingshan quickly asked, "Is it the Genius Battle or the Stronger Battle?"

"It seems Wanjie has already guessed!"

Zifeng Zunzhe soon smiled and said, "This time, we've arranged the Genius Battle for you!"

"Actually, the main reason is that in our Human Race, far too many Universe Venerables have broken through recently. First came Mengyue, then Tian Shi, Jiufeng, Sovereign Beihai, and now you, Wanjie!"

"Five Universe Venerables appearing in succession over just tens of millions of years is the first time in our Human Race's history!"

"Moreover, this time Tian Shi, Sovereign Beihai, and you, Wanjie, are all from our Virtual Universe Company faction, so we need to assign capable people to serve under each of you. On top of that, other powerful figures from our Virtual Universe Company lineage have also applied, so the arrangements naturally became quite tight!"

"According to the rules of our Virtual Universe Company lineage, generally, a newly ascended Universe Venerable will be assigned to preside over ten thousand editions of either the Genius Battle or the Stronger Battle within a hundred thousand eras!"

"This way, once those young ones have grown up, even if the mortality rate is somewhat high, it can still guarantee that these newly ascended Universe Venerables will have people under their command!"

Hearing Zifeng Zunzhe's words, Lu Qingshan silently nodded in agreement.

The Virtual Universe Company's arrangement was certainly flawless. Ten thousand editions of the Genius Battle or the Stronger Battle, even with a somewhat high mortality rate among those geniuses, would still yield several Sealed King Immortals, thousands of Sealed Marquis Immortals, and tens of thousands of Immortal Army Lords.

Having these people serve under a Universe Venerable certainly meant having capable subordinates.

"Recently, the Stronger Battle of our Virtual Universe Company lineage has been presided over by Sovereign Beihai, who broke through before you! Since he also has no capable people under his command, it naturally isn't suitable to give the opportunity to you, Wanjie!"

Zifeng Zunzhe continued, "However, since you mentioned this matter to me before, I recently discussed it with Zi Hu Zunzhe, who had originally applied to preside over the Genius Battle. She is willing to let you take over her upcoming opportunity to preside over three thousand editions of the Genius Battle!"

"Zi Hu Zunzhe?"

After hearing Zifeng Zunzhe's words, Lu Qingshan's heart stirred once more.

Zi Hu Zunzhe was a High Universe Venerable of the Virtual Universe Company lineage and also the strongest member of the Fox Clan lineage where his master, Lei Huanwang, belonged.

However, since Zi Hu Zunzhe had not sworn allegiance to any Universe Master, her status within the Virtual Universe Company was naturally slightly lower.

Lu Qingshan had met Zi Hu Zunzhe once before when he hosted the Venerable Banquet, but there had been no further interaction since then. He never expected that she would actually give him the opportunity to preside over the Genius Battle.

"Zi Hu is not in Chaos City, so I came first to inform you, Wanjie!"

Zifeng Zunzhe continued, "If you, Wanjie, also agree, then we shall go to Zi Hu's residence to finalize this matter!"

"No problem!" Lu Qingshan quickly nodded and said.

Immediately, Lu Qingshan and Zifeng Zunzhe simultaneously connected their consciousnesses to the Virtual Universe and headed to Zi Hu Zunzhe's residence.

(End of this chapter)