From the Metropolis to the Strongest in the Cosmos

”Commander Xuan Mo, why has the Ancestor sealed off the mountain?”

Lunba Wu arrived on a planet and couldn’t help but ask as he gazed at the enormous, hazy mountain range, barely visible in the distance.

”Prince Lunba Wu, the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall will soon be selecting geniuses. The Ancestor will be personally instructing Lentz for the next few days, right up until the selection begins.”

”The Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall is selecting geniuses?”

Shock flashed in Lunba Wu’s eyes upon hearing this.

But as he heard the rest, his expression shifted slightly.

’The Deity of their Golden Moon Empire had actually sealed the mountain to personally instruct Lentz.’

’No matter the outcome, this sent a powerful signal: in the future, the Golden Moon Empire would be inherited by his younger brother, Lentz!’

’This was the last thing Lunba Wu wanted to hear.’

’He, Lunba Wu, was in the Longevity Realm, yet to this day, he had only seen their Ancestor Golden Moon a handful of times.’

Though his heart was heavy, Lunba Wu forced a smile. ”With the Ancestor’s guidance, Lentz is certain to be recruited by the Human Race’s Eternal Saint Hall.”

”Since the Ancestor is personally instructing him, I won’t disturb them.”

He glanced at the massive, faintly visible mountain range. A trace of resentment lingered in his heart, but he still turned and left without hesitation.

「...」

Inside the Virtual World, Li Yang’s figure flickered in and out of sight.

There were a shocking twenty figures in this Virtual Space!

The auras radiating from these figures were terrifying—they were at the level of the Early Longevity Realm!

They were all virtual opponents at the Early Longevity Realm!

This Virtual Space was, of course, set to Hell Mode!

Previously, Li Yang couldn’t even defeat a single virtual opponent in Hell Mode, yet now, he was actually fighting twenty at once!

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Li Yang’s figure weaved through them, moving so fast it left afterimages. He swung his longspear, arcs of lightning crackling along its length.

Li Yang’s speed was astonishing, but the strength of these virtual opponents was simply too immense.

Even though Li Yang was much stronger than any single opponent, he was no match for twenty of them working in concert. His own aura was steadily weakening.

But Li Yang’s eyes only grew brighter!

’Faster, just a little faster!’

The longspear in his hand blurred, creating its own afterimages as fluctuations of the Thunder Law and Space Law pulsed across it.

Li Yang’s aura grew weaker and weaker. It looked as if he would be killed in a matter of seconds.

But in those final moments, the aura around Li Yang suddenly exploded outward. His speed increased dramatically, and with uncanny skill, he evaded the combined attack of the Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents.

RRIIIP!

Simultaneously, his longspear sliced through a virtual opponent’s body.

The Longevity Realm opponent offered no resistance at all as it was killed with ease!

”Haha, success!”

Li Yang’s eyes were filled with excitement!

”Second form of the Hexagram Spear!”

After a year of continuous training in the Virtual Combat Space, Li Yang had, at this very moment, finally mastered the second form of the Hexagram Spear!

The Hexagram Spear was a Cultivation Technique of terrifying power. Mastering its first form granted invincibility in the Law Realm!

Mastering the second form allowed one to easily slay those in the Early Longevity Realm!

Mastering the third form... would even grant invincibility across the entire Longevity Realm.

The difficulty of each subsequent form skyrocketed.

Mastering the second form was at least tens of times more difficult than mastering the first!

In other words, if someone spent a year mastering the first form, they would need at least several decades for the second!

As for the third form, the difficulty and time required would skyrocket again, taking several hundred years!

Li Yang had previously spent four months mastering the first form of the Hexagram Spear. Based on the difficulty curve, the second form should have taken him several years.

However, with the birth of Li Yang’s Sky-Fierce Flood Dragon clone, a lifeform of that caliber was born innately grasping the three great profound truths of the Space Law!

Furthermore, the Space Law greatly accelerated his mastery of the Hexagram Spear’s Body Technique!

In addition, Li Yang’s Thunder Star Beast clone was also rapidly improving!

When these two factors were combined with his main body constantly absorbing the Law comprehensions from both clones, and on top of that, his own insane tempering...

Coupled with the Soul Chapter of the Cultivation Technique from the mysterious small sword, which made Li Yang’s soul absolutely top-tier during the Law Realm stage and granted him astonishing comprehension!

With all these factors combined, one could only imagine the speed of Li Yang’s progress!

Now, in just one year, he had completely mastered the second form of the Hexagram Spear!

’It’s not just the second form of the Hexagram Spear!’

Li Yang’s aura wasn’t particularly strong, but as he faced the remaining nineteen Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents, there was no trace of panic on his face.

”Illusion Body Skill!”

His figure blurred.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

All around him, illusory bodies appeared one after another, creating ten figures in total, including his true self.

The moment he fully mastered the second form of the Hexagram Spear, Li Yang felt his mastery of the Illusion Body Skill’s second form also click into place!

With this Space Law Body Technique mastered, not even a Mid-Longevity Realm expert could stop him; he could now leave any situation at his leisure.

’Time to end this fight!’

The ten versions of Li Yang swung their longspears in unison.

RRIIIP!

Gleams of light shot from the spears, slicing through the bodies of ten Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents.

HUMMM...

Before the ten charging virtual opponents could even get close to Li Yang, their auras dissipated like a receding tide, and their forms vanished from the space.

Insta-kill!

Just moments ago, facing these Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents, Li Yang had been outmatched. Though stronger than any single opponent, he was no match for them combined, and his life force had been steadily draining.

But the very moment he fully mastered the second form of the Hexagram Spear, his power underwent a qualitative transformation, increasing severalfold in that single instant!

There is a fundamental difference between fully mastering a Cultivation Technique and falling even a hair’s breadth short!

Even though he had been just a sliver away from mastery, the previous Li Yang had been unable to handle twenty Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents.

But the instant that final sliver was bridged and the second form was completely mastered, his combat prowess skyrocketed!

SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

With another attack, the remaining nine Early Longevity Realm virtual opponents were all instantly killed!

Only Li Yang remained standing silently in the combat space, a broad smile covering his face.

”Haha, that felt amazing!”

’I’ve mastered the second form of the Hexagram Spear and the second form of the Illusion Body Skill. My combat power now completely matches Celestial Net of the Yuanlan Clan... I might even have surpassed him!’

Celestial Net’s power was comparable to the Mid-Longevity Realm.

A year and a half ago, Li Yang would have been instantly killed if he faced Celestial Net. But now, he felt no more fear!

In just a year and a half, he had completely closed the gap!