Chapter 191: Primordial Soul: Third Rank

In less than a month, Xiao Yu saw an oval‑shaped spacecraft hovering over Chaos City; its hatch opened, and a multitude of silhouettes from various races poured out, among them a human clad in blue battle armor.

Xiao Yu glanced aside and knew that Luo Feng had already arrived.

From his residence's balcony he flew into the sky and called, "Luo Feng."

"Third Brother."

"You pick a residence first, then come to my place for a meeting," Xiao Yu said with a smile.

"Mm," Luo Feng nodded.

The next day Luo Feng came to visit; Xiao Yu invited him into the first‑floor living room and poured a cup of "Diamond Star," which isn't expensive—only 1,000 Mixed Yuan Units per bottle.

That's still less than the annual dividend Xiao Yu receives from the Earth Commercial Alliance, let alone his own assets.

Of course Xiao Yu rarely drinks it himself; he only brings it out when entertaining honored guests.

"Finally, it's over!" Xiao Yu stood up, feeling instantly much lighter, and his perception of the Space-time Origin Fluctuation doubled.

Xiao Yu's complexion turned pale, his whole body drenched, teeth clenched, persisting continuously.

In the City Lord's inner residence, the Chaos Ruins, the Chaos City Lord glanced toward Xiao Yu's dwelling, nodded approvingly, and thought, "My little disciple's soul will is so strong that he can fuse more than ten Divine Crystals."

Even though Xiao Yu has now risen to Domain Lord Level, with his soul will amplified to 10,010 times, he still feels the limit of what he can bear.

After Luo Feng left, Xiao Yu went to the top‑floor balcony and began fusing the twentieth Divine Crystal, the "Void Crystal."

Hong's cultivation has reached the Third Rank; his heart embraces everything, so it can naturally endure this pain.

"These three artifacts are of Immortal Divine Spirit level, but they only require perception of spatial laws. This battle armor can reduce an Immortal's material attacks by 99.999%, bringing the damage down to what a Realm Lord can withstand. Even a Venerable's attack can be weakened by ninety‑nine percent," Xiao Yu said with a smile, "I'll trade these three artifacts for that 50 cubic kilometers."

Pain—excruciating pain.

"Luo Feng, agree quickly; such treasures even your teacher never encountered at the high‑level Auction Event. Each of these is priceless," Baba Ta said.

It seems the fusion of the tenth Divine Crystal poses no problem, yet he still doesn't know where this little disciple's limit lies.

Ten minutes later.

One is shield‑shaped, one is battle‑armor type, and one is battle‑saber shaped for attack.

"This is why you came; I only took them out now," Xiao Yu said with a smile, then waved his hand and retrieved the three artifacts from the Space Ring.

"Persist, you must hold on!" Xiao Yu kept shouting in his heart.

Luo Feng tossed a Space Ring over, taking the three artifacts.

"Third Brother, how extravagant!" Luo Feng lifted a cup, took a sip, "Really good, even better than the taste in the Virtual Universe."

"Third Brother, your three artifacts are far too precious to trade for only 50 cubic kilometers; that's a loss," Luo Feng smiled, "How about this: I'll give you 100 cubic kilometers, I have no more beyond that."

"If it were Brother Hong's fusion, it probably wouldn't be this arduous," Xiao Yu sighed.

Xiao Yu placed the Space Ring into his internal space, handed it to the World Tree, extracted 100 cubic kilometers of Rock Divine Water, five specimens of Thousand Vine Star‑Eating Herb—each 10 cubic kilometers—and let the remainder be absorbed entirely by Mo Yun Vine.

Thereafter, Xiao Yu resumed his cultivation path like a machine.

As the controller of the Virtual Universe Company, the Chaos City Lord naturally knows the effects and fusion requirements of Divine Crystals. He speculates that Xiao Yu had already fused Divine Crystals before arriving in the Primordial Universe, and not just one or two, but now ten more.

"Fine," Xiao Yu nodded in agreement.

His perception speed of the Space-Time Origin Law doubled.

While the human main soul cultivated, he continuously experimented with new Primordial Soul schemes.

In the 100th year of the Primordial Universe, Xiao Yu tested scheme number 362, achieving Soul Strength of 10,050 times and Soul Calculation Speed of 10,050 times.

…

In the 120th year, scheme 835 raised Soul Strength by 10,068 times and Soul Calculation Speed by 10,068 times.

…

In the 136th year, scheme 1235 increased Soul Strength by 10,075 times and Soul Calculation Speed by 10,075 times.

…

In the 145th year, scheme 1735 boosted Soul Strength by 10,080 times and Soul Calculation Speed by 10,080 times.

For the next twenty years, thousands of schemes were tested, the highest still being 10,080 times.

Yet those twenty years of experiments ultimately made Xiao Yu feel he had found a clue toward perfection.

After countless searches, finally at

the 180th year, scheme 5,735 raised Soul Strength by 10,081 times and Soul Calculation Speed by 10,081 times.

At that moment, Xiao Yu's soul felt immensely light, perceiving everything with unparalleled clarity and finer detail, countless nuances flooding his sight.

"Primordial Soul" Second Rank has finally completed cultivation!

With a flicker of consciousness, Xiao Yu reappeared in the "Primordial Soul" Inheritance Space.

Endlessly, in the dim star‑filled universe.

Xiao Yu stood upon a meteor.

The entire world, aside from this meteor less than a kilometer in diameter, was empty.

Dark!

Lonely!

These were Xiao Yu's genuine feelings at that moment.

"Meng Lao!" Xiao Yu shouted, "I have already completed the Second Rank cultivation."

Suddenly the world shifted to an endless water realm; Xiao Yu stood on the surface, and massive fish tens of kilometers long swam past him intermittently.

"What's all the noise! You're ruining my beautiful dream, old man!" a voice echoed from all directions, reverberating.

The sound arrived before the person.

Suddenly a red‑bearded old man appeared above Xiao Yu's head, brandishing a massive Langya staff that hammered Xiao Yu's head.

"Hmph! Not respectful at all!"

"Meng Lao! I'm here to receive the Third Rank inheritance," Xiao Yu said with a beaming smile, feeling no ill at all from the Langya staff's head.

Not at all!

"Cultivating the third layer is actually very simple: continue with soul power, and transform the nine‑layer Core structure into a myriad‑layer structure." This time Meng Lao did not, as before, toss a book to Xiao Yu, but let him practice on his own.

"Myriad‑layer structure?" Xiao Yu asked, puzzled.

"Now that your nine‑layer Core structure is perfect, when you encounter soul‑type attacks it will automatically generate a hundred‑layer structure, each layer containing a ripple of the Fundamental Law that you have comprehended," Meng Lao explained, "but such temporarily derived layers are ultimately unreliable; a strong cultivator who has refined soul power can find a gap and enter your soul entity."

"Hmm." Xiao Yu nodded. Previously, when merging divine crystals, the Core's defense was as if it didn't work at all.

"And the myriad‑layer structure derived from the third layer is solid; if an enemy wishes to invade your soul, they must break through each layer one by one," Meng Lao continued, "Moreover, for each additional outer layer beyond the nine‑layer Core, the defensive capability of the inner layers is increased."

"That's amazing! If the entire myriad‑layer structure is fully generated, how many times will the soul's defensive power increase?" Xiao Yu exclaimed.

"The increase varies per person, but it's at least a thousandfold," Meng Lao said with a smile.

"Hmm." Xiao Yu nodded satisfactorily, harboring hope in his heart.

A purple book appeared before Meng Lao, one meter long and wide, and also one meter thick.

"Remember, you must successfully cultivate the third layer before advancing to Immortal," Meng Lao instructed, "Little guy, you can enter the Inheritance Space for one day every hundred years; any questions, ask them together then."

(End of chapter)