The Second Bottleneck

The 64th!

The 65th!

...

The other candidates in the Rhinoceros Emperor Game Corridor might have been slower in comprehending the Rhinoceros Emperor Game, but as time progressed, the number of those meeting the requirements increased at an astonishing rate. Golden light-and-shadow palaces, scattered throughout the Rhinoceros Emperor Game Corridor, were now numerous.

“The Rhinoceros Emperor Game allows for such a long time to solve its puzzles. It seems Duan Dong River wants more candidates for his inheritance. There are already nearly 70 now!”

“Indeed, an inheritor cannot be chosen solely based on comprehension. Other aspects must also be considered. So, Luo Feng, who only has a slight advantage in this regard, is not much of a concern. Our East Emperor Holy Land already has 9 individuals who meet the requirements! The further we go, the greater our East Emperor Holy Land’s advantage will be!”

The candidates in the Rhinoceros Emperor Game Corridor occasionally communicated with each other through silent transmissions. After all, studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game was profoundly difficult, almost like being subjected to continuous soul attacks. Thus, depending on their willpower, most would take a short or long break after a certain period.

In the Virtual Universe.

“There are already 69 candidates who meet the requirements.” The Chaos City Lord rarely showed such anxiety. “And the further we go, I believe more candidates will join! At this rate, Luo Feng’s advantage will diminish.”

“What should we do?”

“Our human race’s chances of obtaining the inheritance are continuously decreasing.”

Eight Universe Masters and the Giant Axe Founder gathered. These eight Universe Masters included high-ranking leaders of the human race such as the Dark Master, Void Gold Master, Desolate Mirror Master, and Qing Dong Master. Although some were in the Tilted Peak Sector or the Universe Boat, and not in the Tomb Mausoleum Boat, they remained deeply concerned about the situation there.

Everyone knew…

This inheritance was a silent war! This war would determine who could transcend reincarnation and which side would establish the third Holy Land Universe!

“Don’t be agitated.”

The Giant Axe Founder laughed heartily, “There’s no use in us worrying about this. Let Luo Feng comprehend in peace! As for us… let’s go on adventures to distract ourselves. Are we supposed to keep staring if their inheritance takes ten thousand years or even longer?”

“Hmm.”

“But—”

“Alright, alright, everyone go back.” The Giant Axe Founder waved his hand.

In the independent plane, mist swirled, and stone pillars supported various holographic projections.

Luo Feng and a white-robed man, the Original Ancestor, were both there. Of course, Luo Feng himself was completely unaware of the Original Ancestor’s presence.

“This 2000th puzzle is truly difficult.” Luo Feng stood before the holographic projection of the 2000th endgame. Three thousand years had passed, and the fact that other candidates were meeting the requirements during this long period indeed put pressure on him. He also somewhat understood Duan Dong River’s intentions; clearly, Duan Dong River didn’t want to put all his bets on Luo Feng alone for now.

“This inheritance!”

“Since I’m already ahead, I must expand my advantage and secure this inheritance.” Luo Feng’s determination was immense.

“Moreover, ever since I started studying secret techniques and the Rhinoceros Emperor Game, reflecting them against each other, my comprehension speed has significantly increased,” Luo Feng mused inwardly.

Since solving the 1000th endgame last time, he had adopted a new research method. Eighty percent of his time was spent studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game, twenty percent on the Ninth Abyss secret technique, and occasionally he would temper his willpower...

Indeed!

Just as he had previously felt, the secret technique and the Rhinoceros Emperor Game indeed shared commonalities. By reflecting them against each other, Luo Feng gained insights and continuously improved. The first 1000 puzzles took him 500 years. At a normal pace, solving the 2000th puzzle successfully should have taken ten times longer, or even more. Yet now, having spent five times that 500-year period, he was close to successfully solving the 2000th puzzle.

“It seems Luo Feng…” The white-robed man not far away glanced at him and nodded slightly. “He should be close to solving the 2000th puzzle. If he can solve the 2000th puzzle, with his comprehension and foundation, creating a fused ultimate secret technique shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Impressive.” The white-robed man secretly praised.

Perhaps many candidates in the Rhinoceros Emperor Game Corridor weren’t entirely clear, but the Original Ancestor, after studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game for 3000 years (which, with ten thousand times acceleration, amounted to 30 million years), knew much more.

The Rhinoceros Emperor Game…

It demanded extremely high comprehension and deduction abilities! In short, the deeper one could delve into the Rhinoceros Emperor Game, the easier it would be to comprehend and research laws, create secret techniques, and so on. It might seem that the current candidates were breaking through and meeting the requirements one by one, but that was merely the first bottleneck.

The bottleneck for Undying Beings – the 500th puzzle!

The bottleneck for Universe Knights – the 1000th puzzle!

The bottleneck for Universe Masters – the 1500th puzzle!

The bottleneck for Universe Supremes – the 2000th puzzle!

“For those with extremely high aptitude, breaking through the first bottleneck with enough time isn’t difficult. Like Universe Supremes, each can forge their own unique path and open up a miniature universe. Their comprehension is inherently extraordinary, so given enough time, each can solve the 2000th puzzle.” The white-robed man was very clear on this point. “But this is merely the first bottleneck… The second bottleneck requires ten to dozens of times more time. And even further on, no amount of time will allow one to break through.”

For example, a Universe Master studying the 1998th puzzle…

Unable to solve it!

Even after ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million years… or even an entire reincarnation era, it would be impossible to solve! Because that was his limit. Unless his foundation, comprehension, and other aspects underwent fundamental changes.

“Luo Feng easily broke through the first bottleneck and has now reached the second bottleneck.” The white-robed man nodded secretly. “And his speed is still so fast; clearly, this is far from his limit.”

“Indeed!”

“He truly has great potential to become a Universe Supreme.”

“If he obtains Duan Dong River’s inheritance this time, it’s highly probable he will transcend reincarnation in the future.” A smile involuntarily appeared on the white-robed man’s face. For years, he had been studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game here, so he had observed all of Luo Feng’s movements and knew which holographic projections Luo Feng frequently studied. Thus, he was very clear about Luo Feng’s rate of progress.

Three thousand years had passed since Luo Feng began receiving the inheritance. The Rhinoceros Emperor Game Corridor was silent, with golden light-and-shadow palaces scattered everywhere, surrounded by an even vaster number of candidates. These ‘golden light-and-shadow palaces’ represented those who had met the requirements.

“Ding! Dong!”

A familiar sound rang out, echoing in the hearts of every powerful being.

All the powerful beings looked up.

“It should be the 70th now.”

“I wonder who the 70th person to meet the requirements is. It should be from our Primal Universe this time, it can’t always be the First Reincarnation Era and the two Holy Lands, can it?”

“It’s our Second Reincarnation Era’s turn.”

They all thought to themselves. Clearly, the two Holy Lands and the First Reincarnation Era accounted for the vast majority of candidates who met the requirements. The Second Reincarnation Era and the Primal Universe were at a disadvantage, with far fewer.

“I… am very happy.” Duan Dong River’s voice rang out.

“Hmm?”

All the powerful beings were startled. Even those who were distracted by studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game temporarily stopped and looked up. Happy? Duan Dong River happy? They had never seen such a thing.

Duan Dong River, smiling, hovered in mid-air, looking down at the nearly one hundred thousand powerful beings of various races eagerly awaiting below. Duan Dong River smiled and said, “Human Yinhe has broken through the second bottleneck… reaching a new level.”

A stir went through the crowd!

A commotion erupted. Everyone turned their heads to look at Luo Feng, the Yinhe Lord, who had almost been forgotten over the years.

“Rise!” Duan Dong River pointed from afar.

Immediately, a crystal pillar emerged from the ground beside Luo Feng with a series of clicks and clacks. Once the pillar fully rose, its surface began to emit dazzling red light. The hazy red light merged with the previous golden light palace, giving the entire light palace two colors—gold and red.

The golden-red palace enveloped Luo Feng.

Luo Feng himself was somewhat astonished… This, this… those who met the requirements were actually treated differently? Yes, he had just solved the 2000th puzzle, but still…

Luo Feng was shocked. The other factions were even more shocked and found it hard to comprehend. They had originally thought that once the requirements were met, everyone would be treated equally, but now it seemed… it was completely different.

“I have said it before,” Duan Dong River said, looking at the many astonished candidates below, “the more Rhinoceros Emperor Game puzzles you solve, the greater the benefits, and the greater the advantages during the inheritance.”

“Your breakthrough of your respective first bottlenecks counts as meeting my basic requirement… Of course, this is merely a basic requirement. If you can’t even meet the basic requirement, you naturally have no right to proceed further.”

“As for breaking through the second bottleneck… just like Human Yinhe.”

Duan Dong River continued, “Therefore, even among the candidates, there can be four distinct tiers. I’ll arbitrarily name them… Outer Candidates, Elite Candidates, Core Candidates, and Inheritors!”

“Those who previously met the requirements can only be considered Outer Candidates.”

“Someone like Human Yinhe is an Elite Candidate.”

“One tier higher is a Core Candidate.”

“And one tier even higher… that is a direct Inheritor, requiring no competition or selection, directly receiving my Duan Dong River inheritance.” Duan Dong River’s gaze swept over the seven Universe Supremes. “The seven of you have already nurtured your own miniature universes, making you stronger, and thus your bottlenecks are naturally higher. For you… as long as you can solve up to the 6000th puzzle, you can directly obtain the inheritance.”

“Of course, I estimate that the possibility of any of you breaking through the fourth bottleneck to become an Inheritor within my required time, or directly solving the 6000th endgame, is extremely low.”

“Therefore, you need to work even harder to solve the puzzles.”

“Those who solve more puzzles… at different tiers, will naturally have different access to the inheritance later on. For example, Human Yinhe’s chance of obtaining the inheritance is now ten to a hundred times higher than yours, unless you also break through the second bottleneck.”

“Strive hard.”

A profound silence fell. All the powerful beings present understood…

So that’s how it was. The number of puzzles solved truly made a fundamental difference. Solving enough puzzles could even lead to directly obtaining the inheritance. All other powerful beings would be considered eliminated failures!

The first bottleneck… the second bottleneck… the third bottleneck… the fourth bottleneck…

If one couldn’t even break through the first bottleneck, they would be eliminated, and elimination meant death! This also made all parties secretly anxious. Especially knowing that Luo Feng had already broken through the second bottleneck, they became extremely anxious.

“The second bottleneck?” Luo Feng quickly suppressed his excitement and calmly pondered, “The first bottleneck is the 1000th puzzle, the second bottleneck is the 2000th puzzle. Does that mean the third bottleneck is the 3000th puzzle? In other words, breaking through the 4000th puzzle would directly make me an inheritor?”