stonecrandall Page 89
Page 89
"Anyway, there's no rush. I can pick it up next time I visit the Ancestral God Sect."
Lu Ming didn't take the reward too seriously at all, and was too lazy to even make a special trip for it.
He stroked his chin and suddenly thought of a place to go.
"If all else fails, when Luo Feng grows up and needs treasures, we can give him this precious item. Consider it a little 'pocket money' from the teacher to his disciple."
Chapter 107: Witchcraft
Of course, only someone as wealthy and powerful as Lu Ming could think this way.
A high-level treasure is a precious asset that most immortals, and even many cosmic venerables, would fight tooth and nail to acquire.
Putting this minor matter aside, Lu Ming's attention returned to his cultivation.
A trivial task, a minor incident, and that's it.
Time seemed to lose its meaning in the Chaos City, flowing silently by.
Lu Ming's true form remained immersed in the depths of the "Burning Void" Palace, devoting most of his mind to cultivating the third level of the "Secret Codex of Life".
The further you progress in cultivating this "Secret Manual of Life," the more difficult it becomes.
His Nine Flying River clone and Nether Sea clone had already reached the perfect gene level through the first two layers, and their strength had increased dramatically.
Only his true self, due to the lower level of his original genetic material and the fact that the cultivation of the third level involves a deeper transformation of the essence of life, is progressing relatively slowly.
"The third level... is indeed a tough nut to crack in a short time."
Lu Ming would occasionally wake up from deep cultivation and sigh to himself.
This requires patience and a deeper understanding of the structure of life; it cannot be rushed.
He wasn't anxious, after all, both of his clones were already at their peak, and his main body's strength was steadily increasing, enough to handle most situations.
As long as he doesn't act recklessly, he won't die. Both his Nether Sea clone and Nine Dragons clone are in the Divine Kingdom.
His true form is in Chaos City, and there is absolutely no way that the alien races could do anything to him. Even if they hate him to the bone, they would never come to Chaos City to do anything to him.
With a calm and composed mind, he methodically guided the divine power, gradually reconstructing his own life's genetic blueprint.
In the blink of an eye, several years have passed.
On this day, even in the relatively isolated Chaos City, one could feel the boiling fervor sweeping across the entire human territory through the virtual universe.
The highly anticipated battle of human geniuses has finally begun!
Countless geniuses from countless galaxies, star regions, and cosmic nations, having undergone rigorous selection processes, will emerge as elites to engage in the fiercest competition on the ultimate stage built in the virtual universe, for glory, for opportunity, and to prove themselves.
As for Lu Ming's nominal disciple, Luo Feng, under Qing Yuan's guidance and with the abundance of resources Lu Ming had accumulated, he had naturally already signed up.
"Oh? It's started..."
Lu Ming slowly opened his eyes from his cultivation. A wisp of his divine sense connected with the virtual universe, and his gaze seemed to pierce through endless space, landing on the noisy arena.
"Luo Feng, let me see just how much you've grown these past few years. Can this stage of the Genius Battle bring out even more of your potential?"
In the virtual universe, above the First World Zone of the Genius Battle Division of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom.
Lu Ming's virtual image appeared quietly, standing with his hands behind his back, overlooking the vast and brutal battlefield below.
His gaze easily locked onto one of the figures engaged in fierce combat—Luo Feng!
At this moment, Luo Feng was standing on the Purple Cloud Shuttle, surrounded by nine golden streams of light, which was the form of the first level of the Divine Weapon, the "Illusion Sword Style".
However, when he unleashes his power, speed, and agility, it is far more terrifying than that of an ordinary ninth-level stellar-level mentalist!
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
The nine golden illusion swords, like living golden dragons, were controlled with exquisite skill. Sometimes they scattered and attacked, and sometimes they merged into one to thrust forward. They charged left and right among the densely packed participants, and almost no one could withstand a single blow in their path!
Screams, the clash of weapons, and the collapse of buildings rose and fell, but Luo Feng's figure moved like a ghost through the ruins and the crowd. Every flash of his divine weapon was accompanied by the fall of one or even several opponents.
"Judging from this momentum, taking first place in the Qianwu Universe Kingdom should be a sure thing."
Lu Ming nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
Due to his involvement and the influx of massive resources, Luo Feng's growth trajectory has long deviated from the original story.
The Golden Horned Beast's clone has long since broken through to the cosmic level, and the Shadow Shuttle Beast's clone has also been successfully conceived!
This made Luo Feng's feedback to his true self stronger, his foundation more solid, and his understanding of the laws of space far surpass that of his contemporaries!
More importantly, the cultivation resources he enjoyed were simply "inhumanly extravagant"!
This little guy, at the stellar level, receives guidance from several immortal gods every day in turn!
The Law of Metal, the Law of Space, the Mastery Techniques of Spiritual Masters... each with their own specialty, the immortal teachers teach according to individual aptitude!
Such treatment is something that even the core members of royal families of cosmic kingdoms can only dream of, let alone ordinary geniuses!
"It seems that he has already reached the threshold of the third level of the Divine Weapon, the 'Heavenly Sword Style'."
Lu Ming understood as he watched Luo Feng occasionally attempt to condense a more powerful sword aura.
"There are still a few years until the final showdown. With his current rate of progress, he might be able to give that 'Grim Reaper' Berlan a run for his money by then."
Berlan's spatial law talent is indeed terrifying, giving him a huge advantage in the early game.
However, under Lu Ming's lavish and costless tutelage, Luo Feng's foundation became frighteningly deep, coupled with his own monstrous growth characteristic that became more and more extraordinary as time went on...
"Tsk tsk, a stellar-level being, yet enjoying resources and treatment that even a personal disciple of a cosmic venerable might not have."
Even Lu Ming himself felt it was a bit of an exaggeration.
"If I still can't achieve some results, then what's the point of being a teacher?"
Lu Ming was watching Luo Feng's rampage with great interest when suddenly he raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to the void beside him.
"Qianwu? I didn't expect you to come and watch this little guy's match."
The space around him rippled slightly, and a figure dressed in a magnificent golden robe, with a handsome face but exuding the majesty of a long-time ruler, appeared. It was none other than the supreme ruler of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom—the Qianwu King!
Upon hearing this, the ruler of Qianwu Kingdom smiled slightly and looked at Lu Ming: "I didn't come to watch the competition, but to see you, Venerable Fenkong."
He addressed Lu Ming directly as "venerable one," clearly acknowledging Lu Ming's strength and status.
Although Lu Ming's apparent realm is still Immortal, his remarkable feat of killing fifteen high-level universe venerables has already spread among the upper echelons of the human race, and it would not be an exaggeration to call him a "venerable" or even a "hegemon".
Lu Ming simply accepted this title without question.
"Why did you come to me?"
Lu Ming was a little curious. Although he and the Qianwu Kingdom Lord belonged to the same high-level human race and were both from the same Virtual Universe Company, they didn't have much interaction.
After all, he hasn't been on the rise for very long; at most, it's enough time for a powerhouse like Qianwu to take a nap.
"No big deal."
The ruler of Qianwu Kingdom smiled warmly.
"I just happened to see you there, so I came over to say hello."
Chapter 108: Palace of Time
His gaze then turned to the First World Zone below, landing on the figure wielding the Divine Weapon with unparalleled might, his tone carrying a hint of inquiry.
"You seem to be quite interested in this little guy named Luo Feng?"
Lu Ming smiled and said frankly, "That's right, Luo Feng is my disciple."
"Oh?"
A genuine look of surprise flashed in the eyes of the ruler of Qianwu Kingdom.
Lu Ming's disciple!
Although he was only a nominal disciple, this status was still astonishing enough!
Given Lu Ming's current status and strength among the human race, what kind of extraordinary talent would he have chosen as his disciple?
The ruler of Qianwu Kingdom couldn't help but pay close attention to the young man fighting below.
His mind raced, and he instantly devised a plan. Seemingly casually, he asked, "Venerable Burning Void, may I ask which faction of my Qianwu Universe Kingdom your disciple comes from? His performance in this Genius Battle has been outstanding. It would be a good opportunity for the official government of my Qianwu Universe Kingdom to show its appreciation and reward him handsomely. This would also be a way for our Qianwu Universe Kingdom to contribute to the cultivation of geniuses for our race."
His words were well-chosen, expressing both his appreciation for the geniuses within his territory and his subtle intention to use this opportunity to build a closer relationship with Lu Ming, the newly emerged super powerhouse.
After all, being able to establish a relationship with "Burning Void Venerable" would be entirely beneficial to his Qianwu Universe Kingdom.
As expected, Luo Feng displayed overwhelming strength in the preliminary rounds of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom.
He won first place in the First World Zone with an almost unchallenged victory!
On the leaderboard, his score was far ahead, leaving the other contestants far behind.
Besides Luo Feng, two other people also caught Lu Ming's attention: Thor and Hong.
Out of consideration for these two top geniuses on Earth, Lu Ming, through Qing Yuan, provided them with some preferential treatment and guidance, considering they were from the same hometown and their own potential. Although it was far from the treatment Luo Feng received, it was still much better than their original fate.
In this battle of geniuses, Thor and Hong also successfully broke into the top 1,000 in their respective world zones, earning the qualification to participate in subsequent arena battles.
"Thor and Hong, their talents, especially in terms of mental state, are truly remarkable."
Lu Ming looked at the two students' scores and nodded slightly in approval.
At this point in the original story, due to objective reasons such as the scarcity of Earth's resources and the short time they had to cultivate, they were defeated early in the battle of geniuses.
But this time, with the basic resources and insightful guidance provided by Lu Ming, their strength was much greater than that of the same period in the original work, and they finally made a few more steps in this grand event of cosmic geniuses.
"However, given their current level of resources, it is still unlikely that they can enter the final four secret realms."
Lu Ming knew very well.
Too little time!
Without the "cheat code" of Luo Feng, who possessed the Golden Horned Beast, had clones, and had an unlimited supply of top-tier resources, it would be a pipe dream to try to close the huge gap between himself and the top geniuses of the universe who had cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years in just a few years.
Thor and Hong's ability to break into the top 1,000 is already considered an extraordinary performance, largely due to their mental fortitude and combat wisdom that far surpass those of ordinary people.
"Being able to reach this point and witness the vastness of the universe will greatly benefit their future spiritual practice."
He had no intention of taking the two as his disciples; Lu Ming himself had no intention of casually accepting disciples.
Firstly, when he teaches disciples, he is bound to prepare to nurture them with all his might. The resources required to teach one disciple are completely different from those required to teach three disciples.