Three Individuals

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed. In the Virtual Universe, on Black Dragon Mountain Island, Nine Star Bay, under a quiet, entirely wooden pavilion, the black-haired man 'Hong' in a black robe and the bald Lei Shen in a white robe were leisurely seated, sipping some rare tea produced by Pinghai Company while conversing. “Big Brother, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, or Third Brother,” Lei Shen remarked. “What difference does seeing or not seeing make? If you hold them in your heart, what does distance matter?” Hong gently sniffed the tea in his hand. “Excellent tea! For enjoyment, the Virtual Universe truly far surpasses reality.” Lei Shen looked at Hong, speechless. “Big Brother—” “Haha!” Hong put down his teacup and smiled at Lei Shen. “These past few years, under my teacher’s arrangements, I’ve been in secluded cultivation, so I didn’t want to be distracted by the Virtual Universe Network. Oh… you sent me an email earlier, saying Third Brother was participating in the qualification battles within the Taichu Secret Realm?” “It’s all over, just finished today,” Lei Shen said, looking at Hong. “So Third Brother will have time today. I’ve arranged for both Third Brother and you, Big Brother, to come. Let’s have a good get-together, us three brothers!” Among the three brothers, although Lei Shen often ventured into the cosmos, he mostly remained in the Milky Way Galaxy, on Earth. Hong, however, had been wandering the cosmos with his teacher, ‘Time Realm Lord Luo,’ whose remaining lifespan was short. As for Luo Feng, he was receiving the most elite training in the core secret realm of the Virtual Universe Company. “It’s over?” Hong’s eyes lit up, and he smiled at Lei Shen. “My teacher said that those absorbed into the ‘Taichu Secret Realm’ by the Virtual Universe Company are all peak geniuses in the cosmos, and Third Brother, having just joined, should be at a disadvantage… How did the qualification battles turn out?” “In the Taichu Secret Realm qualification battles, out of 38 participants, the top 3 qualify to challenge for the Original Secret Realm,” the white-robed Lei Shen revealed with a smile. “Third Brother, he made it into the top three.” “Oh?” Hong nodded immediately. “What was his score?” Hong pressed. “According to my call with Third Brother just now, it should be 36 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws, ranking him 2nd in the Taichu District,” Lei Shen replied. “Second?” Hong showed a smile, nodding in praise. “That’s very impressive, extremely impressive. You should know, I’m now part of the Giant Axe Martial Arena.” “Mm,” Lei Shen nodded. Hong’s teacher, Time Realm Lord Luo, had earned the title of ‘Domain Lord-level Giant Axe.’ So Luo had long been absorbed into the Giant Axe Martial Arena… Of course, the current Time Realm Lord Luo had little lifespan left. Thus, his status in the Giant Axe Martial Arena wasn’t high. However, recommending his disciple for priority cultivation was still not an issue. Hong was being cultivated by the Giant Axe Martial Arena. Naturally, due to the short time, Hong hadn’t yet been absorbed into the ‘core layer.’ “The Virtual Universe Company and the Giant Axe Martial Arena, which I belong to, are two of the five strongest powers among cosmic humanity,” Hong said with a slight smile. “And in every genius battle, only the top 1000 out of billions of geniuses from 1008 Cosmic Nations are absorbed into the core layer. So, getting into the core layer is extremely difficult! Even I… haven’t been able to enter the core layer of the Giant Axe Martial Arena yet.” “Big Brother, you’ll definitely get in!” Lei Shen quickly said. Hong smiled indifferently. “The core layer also has its ranks! Third Brother’s ‘Taichu Secret Realm’ is considered extremely core within the Virtual Universe Company. Everyone there is among the absolute peak geniuses of all cosmic humanity… Haha, to be honest, the gap between us and Third Brother is growing wider!” Lei Shen pouted. Hong, however, smiled. Although both of them were considered geniuses, Luo Feng’s current stage was the pinnacle of genius among cosmic humanity. “Why the pout?” Hong glanced at Lei Shen. “As long as we’re steady and keep improving, even if we’re temporarily behind, one day, we’ll reach the peak too!” “Big Brother, I have faith you’ll catch up to Third Brother. But as for me… heh, I’ll just rely on luck,” Lei Shen chuckled. “Third Brother is here,” Hong said, looking towards the distant courtyard gate. Under the exquisite arched courtyard gate, Luo Feng, wearing a simple casual shirt and with short, cropped hair, walked in with a smile. With a flicker of his body, he covered hundreds of meters to reach the pavilion, directly taking the only empty seat. He called out with a smile, “Big Brother, Second Brother, it’s been a while! I heard Big Brother joined the Giant Axe Martial Arena?” “My teacher recommended me!” Hong nodded. “My teacher has some connections in the Giant Axe Martial Arena, which helps me avoid detours.” “The Giant Axe Martial Arena is excellent,” Luo Feng praised. According to the information Luo Feng currently possessed, the Giant Axe Martial Arena and the Virtual Universe Company were two of the stronger among the five major powers. The other ‘Cosmic Mercenary Alliance,’ ‘Universe First Bank,’ and ‘Cosmic River Bank’ were slightly weaker in terms of influence. “Looks like you’re in a good mood,” Hong said, smiling at Luo Feng. “He made it into the top three, didn’t he?” Lei Shen teased. Luo Feng immediately gave a helpless smile. Yes, he made it into the top three. Having received the inheritance of the Demonic Sound General on ‘Demonic Mountain,’ his strength had greatly increased, giving Luo Feng full confidence in the Taichu Secret Realm qualification battles. And the battles indeed unfolded as he expected. He won 12 consecutive matches at the start! The victories were exhilarating, and Luo Feng won without exerting too much effort. However, the veterans of the Taichu Secret Realm began to gossip… believing that Luo Feng had long passed the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, so winning against those veterans was normal. But once he encountered the five top experts, he would likely be in trouble. Luo Feng finally met one of the five top experts among the veterans in his 13th battle! The first he encountered was… Werewolf Ke Luofu! The strongest Ke Luofu! “Ke Luofu!” Luo Feng muttered to himself. Ke Luofu was the first of the five top experts Luo Feng encountered in these qualification battles. That battle attracted a lot of attention! Luo Feng himself was also very cautious. The ‘battleground’ for that match was above the ocean of a planet. Luo Feng and Ke Luofu exchanged only a couple of words before engaging! Once they moved, it was with ruthless intent! Luo Feng first directly exerted pressure with his ‘consciousness suppression,’ then relied on his ‘Yan Shen Weapon’ to unleash its strongest power… Overwhelming with sheer power! Suppressed by Luo Feng’s consciousness pressure, Werewolf Ke Luofu was indeed affected. However, this consciousness pressure instead drove Werewolf Ke Luofu into a frenzy. The frenzied Werewolf Ke Luofu’s speed was astonishing, especially his burst speed… even Luo Feng, controlling his Dark Cloud Shuttle, was put in a difficult position. In just three moves! The first claw blocked Luo Feng’s Yan Shen Weapon’s ‘Sword World’ attack. The second claw left Luo Feng battered and injured. The third claw directly killed Luo Feng! Clean and decisive! Luo Feng had no power to resist! Stunned! The defeat in this battle left Luo Feng completely stunned. He had previously defeated Sajin Huolong and then received the Demonic Sound General’s inheritance, making him very confident… But who would have thought that upon encountering the first of the five top experts, ‘Werewolf Ke Luofu,’ the lightning-fast exchange would also end in a flash! He lost too miserably! While Luo Feng was deeply frustrated by his loss, the veterans of the Taichu Secret Realm were jubilant, believing Luo Feng’s strength was nothing special. Although he had defeated Sajin Huolong back then… they speculated that Sajin Huolong had been too careless! Now, upon encountering Ke Luofu, wasn’t his true ability exposed? Those veterans believed that since Luo Feng lost to Ke Luofu first, he would also lose when he encountered the other four top experts! …In the 16th match, Luo Feng faced Sajin Huolong! With the Yan Shen Weapon unleashed, Luo Feng’s current ability to control it allowed him to completely overwhelm and kill Sajin Huolong! This battle significantly boosted Luo Feng’s confidence. It turned out it wasn’t that he had a huge gap with the five top experts, but that Werewolf Ke Luofu was simply too abnormal! And this battle also left the veterans of the Taichu Secret Realm somewhat dumbfounded… Sajin Huolong’s loss was truly miserable; he was completely suppressed. …In the 20th match, Luo Feng faced Ni Nan! Ni Nan was a very insidious fellow, but unfortunately, his speed simply couldn’t keep up with Luo Feng’s. When a warrior couldn’t even match a ‘psychic master’ in burst speed, they were destined to be crushed. He also lost without any dispute! …In the 28th match, Luo Feng faced Alchemist Yu Feng! This was a battle Luo Feng was very worried about, because according to the videos, Alchemist Yu Feng’s abilities were truly too abnormal, and those strange concoctions were indeed impossible to guard against. To be cautious… at the start of the battle, Luo Feng immediately created distance and directly unleashed his ‘Sword World.’ He used the power of his world to suppress his opponent, intending to kill him! Yet, unknowingly, he was still hit by a special concoction that affected the soul. Fortunately, Luo Feng’s will was incredibly firm, and he managed to resist the adverse effects, finding a way to desperately kill his opponent. A victory won by the narrowest of margins! After winning, Luo Feng even received an email from Yu Feng: “Newcomer, I didn’t expect you to be able to resist the ‘Caswo No. 6 Concoction’ I created. But… you won’t be so lucky next time!” The victory in this battle completely awed the cosmic-level veterans of the entire Taichu Secret Realm. Werewolf Ke Luofu and Alchemist Yu Feng, these two were the strongest among the veterans. Luo Feng’s ability to defeat Alchemist Yu Feng had already proven his strength. …In the 35th match, Luo Feng faced ‘Ge’! Luo Feng had already seen Ge’s ultimate move by watching videos of ‘Ge and Werewolf Ke Luofu,’ so he was well-prepared. He gave Ge no chance to get close, directly killing ‘Ge’ with his Yan Shen Weapon. A total of 37 battles! Luo Feng had 36 wins, 1 loss, 0 draws! Werewolf Ke Luofu had 37 wins, 0 losses, 0 draws! Alchemist Yu Feng had 35 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws! According to the points ranking, Luo Feng and these two naturally had the three highest scores. Naturally, the final top three candidates for this Taichu Secret Realm internal qualification battle were these three. These three… qualified to contend for a spot in the Original Secret Realm! “Ke Luofu,” Luo Feng recalled the battles he had experienced over the past three days, and the one with Ke Luofu was still the most shocking. “His strength is far greater than the other top experts! My Yan Shen Weapon was unleashed with such power, yet he blocked it with a single move.” “Haha, still thinking about the previous battles?” the white-robed Lei Shen said with a smile from under the pavilion. “Only those who are obsessed can achieve great things,” Hong said with a slight smile. Luo Feng then snapped out of his recollections.