Chapter 1187

Fang Yu nodded.

His consciousness was currently at the headquarters of the Virtual Universe Corporation, where he needed to cross the Tianqiao; once his true body arrived in the Chaos City, he could seek out a Chaos Stele to comprehend it—the deeper his comprehension, the farther his consciousness could advance through the virtual Tianqiao, creating mutual reinforcement between the virtual and the real, ultimately selecting the most powerful prodigies.

Fang Yu's true body had not yet reached the Chaos City, but his consciousness could test first.

At this moment, his consciousness in the virtual world arrived at a Tianqiao stretching to the ends of heaven and earth, before which stood a stone stele inscribed with the words "Nine Universes."

The Tianqiao extended endlessly to the horizon, wreathed in misty white fog, with turbulent seas churning below.

Ding-ding.

At that moment, Fang Yu received an email regarding the point reward rules.

Points were extremely useful within the Virtual Universe Corporation—sufficient points could be exchanged for various weapons, secret techniques, but acquiring them was no easy task.

Crossing the Tianqiao granted points.

The Nine Universes Tianqiao had twenty-seven levels: ordinary cultivators received 100 points for clearing the first level, another 200 points for the second, another 400 for the third, doubling each time thereafter—800, 1600, 3200.

If one cleared all twenty-seven levels, the total points would be enormous.

This reminded Fang Yu of when he earned points during the Four World Competitions in the Eternal Life Realm at the Kanlishen Sect—exactly the same: the Holy Light Great World, the Kanli Great World, the Zhen Gang Great World, the Wuwang Great World—four great worlds in combat; if a disciple won one battle, he earned one thousand points; two victories earned two thousand; three victories earned four thousand; if he maintained an unbroken streak to the end, he could earn massive points to exchange for vast quantities of Pure Yang Pills or divine artifacts.

The Virtual Universe Corporation operated similarly, except instead of fighting others, one crossed the Tianqiao.

"For young prodigies, the Virtual Universe Corporation has special reward rules—anyone who crosses the Tianqiao within thirty years of arriving in the Chaos City receives a tenfold point bonus."

Fang Yu saw the company's support for newcomers, and now the reward system matched the Four World Competitions exactly.

Because now, clearing the first level granted one thousand points, the second level added two thousand.

Identical rules, provided the Tianqiao was crossed within thirty years.

"Then let's begin."

Fang Yu stepped onto the Tianqiao, and immediately a voice emerged from the mist: "Choose your opponent—you may select a martial artist, a Spirit Nurturer controller, or a Spirit Nurturer illusionist; choose any one opponent. Defeat your opponent to pass the first level of the Tianqiao."

"I choose the Spirit Nurturer illusionist."

Fang Yu listened to the voice, smiled, and spoke.

Hu!

From the mist instantly flew a black liquid that coalesced midair into a figure resembling Fang Yu, who spoke: "Fight!"

"Defeat him to enter the second level of the Tianqiao."

At the same time, the mist issued a voice.

"Spirit Nurturer illusionist."

Fang Yu gazed at his opponent—crossing the Tianqiao still required combat, yet he could choose his opponent.

So he effortlessly selected an illusionist.

Illusionist.

The art of crafting illusions through spiritual energy could be used in the Eternal Life Realm at the 10th Stage of Physical Body's Divine Transformation Realm, and even at the 9th Stage of Spirit Communication Realm; after entering the Divine Ability Secret Realm, some Divine Abilities were related to illusions—such as True Form Illusion Technique, Mirage Mist Technique, and others—but these were mostly Great Divine Abilities, none even reaching Supreme Divine Ability status.

Illusion techniques held extremely low status in the Eternal Life Realm—any powerful prodigy could see through all illusions, for Eternal Life cultivators constantly trained their spiritual will, refining it into Daoist Gang Qi; mere illusions were beneath notice.

"Kill!"

At that moment, the mysterious figure across from Fang Yu roared and lunged forward; instantly, the environment around Fang Yu seemed to change, and the figure's body vanished.

Now Fang Yu appeared to stand beneath a torrential downpour, rain pelting from every direction—each drop struck violently, and no one knew whether any drop was real rain or merely sword qi.

"Is this all your trickery? Calling it a difficult first-level challenge? Break!"

For another person, this might have meant being trapped in endless rain illusions—but Fang Yu felt no illusion at all; the virtual raindrops were negligible in his eyes. In truth, to him, the appearing mysterious figure looked like a fool hopping around before him, seemingly seeking an opening to attack—so Fang Yu thrust one sword: the Three Thousand Dao, the Sword of Non-Existence, the Great Killing Art, piercing the figure clean through.

Instantly killed!

In an instant—break!

Tianqiao, first level, passed.

"Hm? Fang Yu has already passed the first level? So fast—it seems illusions have no effect on him whatsoever."

In the Virtual Universe, Thunder Island—the gathering place of the corporation's immortals, its true highest tier.

Vast beyond measure, Thunder Island was wreathed in clouds; if Rain Phase Mountain dwarfed ordinary planets, Thunder Island surpassed a million Rain Phase Mountains.

"That prodigy recruited specially—Fang Yu, right? His spiritual power is exceptionally strong; those illusions are useless against him."

A man in a blue battle robe sat upon the Wang Zuo, looking down from above, his voice booming through the immense divine hall.

"Venerable. Yes, it appears he was unaffected."

Below the blue-robed man stood a giant like a iron tower, his body covered in golden fur, resembling a lion; he bowed respectfully to the blue-robed man: "This prodigy named Fang Yu, others say he has profound comprehension of Time and Space Laws—but now it seems his mental fortitude is equally formidable, his spiritual power terrifying, his sword cultivation formidable—he slew the Tianqiao guardian in a single strike."

"Mm."

The blue-robed, purple-scaled man nodded slightly. "This Fang Yu is indeed a remarkable prodigy. Since he has arrived, assign him to reside in the Tai Chu District first. When his true body reaches the Chaos City, I wish to see him."

"Yes, Venerable."

The iron-tower giant bowed respectfully, his gaze fixed on Fang Yu's examination footage. "I wonder if this prodigy will attempt the second level of the Tianqiao?"

"Passing the first level already proves his genius. If he clears the second, even Yuan Chen and Gu Lun will be stirred."

The blue-robed, purple-scaled man's gaze also fixed on the distant Tianqiao—but saw Fang Yu did not proceed to the second level, and he smiled.

"We will meet eventually."

"So I've passed the test, then?"

At the Tianqiao's location, Fang Yu did not attempt the second level; he returned to the Tianqiao's entrance and spoke to the nearby guardian, Ba Fen.

"Yes, certainly. I didn't expect you to clear the first trial so quickly—those illusions in the first trial are extremely difficult even for prodigies who've endured hundreds of battles; yet you seemed utterly unaffected. Truly a strange genius."

Ba Fen's face showed astonishment. "You'll soon become famous here. Congratulations."

Fang Yu smiled, saying nothing more.

As an Eternal Life cultivator who trains the mind, if one could be easily disturbed by illusions, one might as well throw away one's brain.

These illusions were far too primitive—Fang Yu felt he could simply choose an illusionist each time and pass effortlessly.

Of course, he could also choose other opponent types, such as warriors or Controllers—he, Fang Yu, was inferior to no one.

"Congratulations, Fang Yu. I just received news that a certain Revered Lord has decided you will reside in the Grand Beginning Secret Realm."

Laisuo walked over from not far away and offered his congratulations to Fang Yu.

"So I can finally move in. Good."

A group of people left the Sky-Reaching Bridge, arriving at the public area, and then arriving before the Grand Beginning District.

Laisuo no longer pressed forward; only Fang Yu himself entered the Grand Beginning District, advancing along a beautiful, tranquil bluestone path, smelling the scent of grass and flowers drifting from the side. He quickly reached the entrance of the Grand Beginning District.

At the entrance, there were quite a few servants. Upon seeing Fang Yu arrive, one of their leaders immediately came forward to greet him.

"Your Highness Fang Yu, you've arrived. You may simply call me Fus. I am specifically in charge of managing the various trivial affairs of the Grand Beginning District."

A lady smiled at Fang Yu as she spoke. She was a beautiful lady with a fox tail, exceedingly warm and enthusiastic. At the center of her brow was a flame mark—clearly a master who had comprehended the Origin of Fire.

She was a Realm Lord.

"Please come with me, Your Highness Fang Yu."

Realm Lord 'Lady Fus' smiled and led the way beside him.

"The Grand Beginning District has many cultivation sites, reading rooms, restaurants, and so on… As for the residences, they are all at the very back—over a thousand manors, each one ninety-eight kilometers long and eighty-one kilometers wide."

Lady Fus explained.

Fang Yu hummed an acknowledgment. This was indeed far better than a single apartment in the End of Days District—a super-large manor was much more comfortable.

"Your Highness Fang Yu's manor is number 1128."

Lady Fus pointed at an incomparably tranquil manor in the distance. That manor looked very simple and unadorned, its courtyard walls completely covered in all manner of plants and flowers.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two arrived at the manor's gate.

"We pay respects to Your Highness!"

At the manor's gate, two bull-headed giants over six meters tall bowed respectfully to Fang Yu.

"Your Highness Fang Yu. As a member of the Grand Beginning Secret Realm, Your Highness will be granted a guard unit. The entire unit consists of one General, ten Captains, and one hundred soldiers. The General is a Realm Lord of the End of Days Secret Realm, the Captains are ten Domain Lords, and as for the soldiers, they are one hundred Universe-level warriors. Whether in the Virtual Universe or in reality, they will all protect Your Highness's safety and obey Your Highness's commands."

Lady Fus said with a smile.

"Good heavens."

Fang Yu's expression shifted. Indeed, the gap between Earth and the Virtual Universe Company was far, far too vast.

On Earth, Hong, Lei Shen, and Luo Feng were currently attempting to break through to the Star-level realm, but here, having reached a status like Fang Yu's, Domain Lords were his doormen, and the leader of his guard unit was a Realm Lord.

"If only a Realm Lord were equivalent to a Realm King realm cultivator in my Eternal Life Realm—that would be wonderful. Unfortunately, it isn't."

Fang Yu thought to himself.