Original Secret Realm

“My apologies,” Luo Feng shook his head. “I still can’t forget my previous battle with Ke Luofu.”

“Lost badly?” Hong countered.

“Is that even a question!” Lei Shen chuckled teasingly.

Luo Feng picked up the teacup beside him and took a small sip. The tea leaves, specially cultivated by Pinghai Company in the Virtual Universe environment, truly left a rich aroma lingering on his palate. After a sip, he sighed, “I really lost too badly. It’s left me with no confidence at all for the Original Secret Realm challenge!”

Before the qualification battles, Luo Feng had been ambitious, determined to enter the Original Secret Realm!

He had even received part of the Demonic Sound General’s Legacy, his mental power amplitude soaring, giving him absolute confidence in challenging the Original Secret Realm... Yet, his battle with Ke Luofu felt like a bucket of cold water poured over his head!

The gap!

A massive gap!

“Losing isn’t scary,” Hong said with a faint smile. “What’s scary is losing confidence.”

“Big Brother?” Luo Feng looked at Hong.

“I spent my childhood in an assassin training camp,” Hong said, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. “In terms of physique, we Yellow-skinned people naturally have a gap compared to Caucasians and Black people... Though I started behind, I kept pushing forward until I became the most terrifying assassin! And those who were originally more talented than me, I surpassed them one by one.”

Luo Feng listened quietly.

“Therefore!” Hong smiled, looking at Luo Feng. “Third Brother, while talent is important, it’s not absolute. You’re talented, and you cultivate quickly. That’s fine... You might become an Undying in ten thousand years! But if I cultivate for a hundred thousand or a million years and become an Undying, isn’t that just as good? Who knows... those with great talent might even fall prematurely!”

Luo Feng was stunned.

Indeed.

That super genius his teacher once spoke of, the one who could kill a Marquis-level Undying while still a Sector Lord, didn’t he fall? He didn’t even manage to become an Undying!

“So, astonishing progress for a short period is nothing. What’s important is a steady, continuous flow, stability!” Hong looked at Luo Feng. “The most important thing in cultivation isn’t to compare yourself to others, but to compare yourself to yourself! As long as you keep improving, keep surpassing yourself, you will eventually grow stronger and stronger... One day, you’ll find... that in the entire world, you can no longer find an opponent. You will be number one under heaven!”

Luo Feng listened quietly.

Luo Feng held great respect and admiration for his Big Brother, Hong.

While he might be stronger in pure combat power, in terms of mental fortitude, his Big Brother could rival some of the so-called sages in Huaxia’s history.

“Haha, Boss, is that how you became number one under heaven back then?” Lei Shen chuckled, looking at Luo Feng.

“Exactly!” Hong’s gaze was calm as he nodded and smiled. “Back then, I was loyal to the long spear in my hand, using it to expound upon the truths of heaven and earth! Surpassing step by step... I never expected that during the Great Nirvana period, I would become the number one person on Earth. Luo Feng, do you understand what I mean?”

“I understand. Don’t seek quick success and instant benefits! One must calmly pursue their own limits,” Luo Feng replied.

Hong nodded in satisfaction.

...

The gathering with his Big Brother and Second Brother lasted for about three hours before the three brothers parted ways. Big Brother continued his focused cultivation, Second Brother attended to his own matters, and Luo Feng himself returned his consciousness to fully immerse himself in receiving the Demonic Sound General’s Legacy.

Luo Feng realized something...

Every time he was with his Big Brother and Second Brother, he would gain new insights, seeing his future path more clearly.

“This is mental fortitude! In terms of cultivating the mind, Second Brother is stronger than me, and Big Brother has reached an unprecedented level.” Luo Feng also felt that although Big Brother hadn’t yet revealed his brilliance, one day, in this vast universe, he would certainly display his dazzling light. This feeling was purely subconscious.

Although Big Brother spoke calmly, his confidence was completely ingrained in his bones.

...

The day after the internal qualification battles for the Taichu Secret Realm concluded, the Original Secret Realm qualification battles began.

Because there were only five Universe-level members in the Original Secret Realm, their qualification battles would conclude within a single day. The ‘Original Secret Realm qualification battles’ clearly drew immense attention from the geniuses in the other core secret realms; for a time, countless individuals were focused on these battles.

...

In the Taichu District, at the manor of Prince Wuka of Manka Star.

Luo Feng, Rongjun, and Wuka were gathered in the living room, drinking wine and watching the screen, observing the Original Secret Realm’s qualification battles one after another.

“Ah, my manor!”

“It won’t be long before I’ll probably have to move out of the Taichu District and go to the Tiandi District,” Wuka exclaimed loudly from the sofa, glancing at Luo Feng and Rongjun. “You two guys, we ‘Three Heroes of Taichu’ should have stayed together! One of you made it into the top three, and the other can also remain in the Taichu Secret Realm!”

Luo Feng and Rongjun both smiled.

In the qualification battles, Luo Feng ranked 2nd, and Rongjun ranked 19th.

Rongjun barely managed to stay within the top 20... This meant he wouldn’t have to fight against the top ten from the Tiandi District. It was practically set in stone that he would remain in the Taichu Secret Realm.

Wuka, however, was predictably ranked sixth from the bottom.

In fact, the other six newcomers—Wuka, Aopatela, Lansiluo, Aichen, Jiangmo, and Qianshui—were precisely the bottom six! Wuka ranking sixth from the bottom was already quite good. However, they were still about to face off against the top ten from the Tiandi District... But apart from these six, everyone else had already passed the sixth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge.

They were destined for the Tiandi Secret Realm!

“Hmph!”

“Every batch of newcomers is like this; they suffer losses and get eliminated to the next secret realm. I’m a newcomer, after all,” Wuka said, staring at Luo Feng and Rongjun. “You two just wait, I’ll soon fight my way back to the Taichu Secret Realm.”

“Alright, we’ll wait,” Rongjun said with a chuckle.

“Work hard, Prince Wuka,” Luo Feng teased.

No sooner had he spoken than a battle from the Original Secret Realm, ‘Feituo’ versus ‘Longyun,’ which was being broadcast on the screen, concluded.

“Longyun is so pitiful,” Wuka sighed.

“Indeed,” Rongjun nodded slightly. “He’s simply not on the same level as the other members of the Original Secret Realm.”

Luo Feng also nodded slightly.

The Original Secret Realm had a total of five members: three veterans and two newcomers.

The two newcomers were, of course, Bolan and Longyun, selected from the Genius Battle. After being provoked by Luo Feng, Bolan finally awakened, clearly realizing that he wasn’t a truly heaven-defying, invincible genius, and that indulging and wasting his talent in such a way was idiotic. Thus, he changed his mind and decided to focus primarily on ‘Space Law.’

Two years ago, Bolan had successfully passed the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge!

The three veterans were Feituo, Sima Yan, and Mo Luo. Among them, Feituo was the only Universe-level member in the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company who had passed the eighth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge! Sima Yan and Mo Luo had both passed the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge... Of course, they had both passed the seventh level a long time ago.

“Longyun is truly pitiful; he loses to everyone he faces. If it were me, I would have forfeited long ago, why even bother fighting?” Wuka shook his head. “They’re simply not on the same level.”

Out of the five, one had passed the eighth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, three had passed the seventh, and only Longyun had passed the fifth.

“Don’t underestimate him,” Luo Feng said, looking at Longyun’s fallen body on the screen. “To fight battle after battle, knowing he’s bound to lose, that’s not something an ordinary person can do.”

“Mm,” Rongjun also nodded lightly.

“Look! Mo Luo versus Bolan!” Wuka exclaimed.

Luo Feng and Rongjun immediately focused their attention, staring at the screen. Among the two newcomers in the Original Secret Realm, only Bolan had some ability to resist, but when Bolan previously encountered Feituo, the strongest of the three veterans, he had lost terribly.

“He and Mo Luo have both passed the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge!” Rongjun said in a low voice. “And they are both close-combat warriors. This battle... perhaps Bolan has a slight chance!”

“Mm,” Luo Feng nodded lightly.

Yes, there was a slight chance.

Only a slight chance!

The battle began...

Bolan’s swordsmanship was incredibly sharp, and his movement technique was elusive and unpredictable. Mo Luo, however, stood his ground, responding to all changes with his unchanging stance, using his ‘Beast Fist’ technique to block Bolan’s repeated attacks. The scene of their battle caused mountains to collapse and forests to be annihilated. Each of Bolan’s sword strikes could create astonishing bottomless abysses on the planet’s surface, while every punch and kick from Mo Luo left massive scars on the vast land.

They exchanged blows dozens of times in an instant!

Mo Luo instantly seized an opportunity, sacrificing a leg to get close and instantly kill Bolan!

“Roar!” Mo Luo’s eyes instantly burst with wild light, his right hand shooting out like a coiled python, grabbing Bolan’s neck!

*Crack!*

He instantly twisted Bolan’s neck, his fingers piercing directly into Bolan’s skull.

Bolan, dead!

...

Silence!

Luo Feng, Rongjun, and Wuka remained silent for a long time before the screen. Bolan’s strength was undeniably formidable, yet he was still killed before the veterans of the Original Secret Realm.

“Such terrifying close-quarters combat,” Wuka murmured.

Wuka also specialized in close-quarters combat, but compared to Mo Luo, he clearly realized how astonishing the gap between them was.

“Very terrifying,” Rongjun also frowned.

Luo Feng, however, watched with bated breath, his mind constantly replaying the scene where Mo Luo instantly seized the opportunity to kill Bolan. As he replayed it again and again, his expression grew more solemn... Mo Luo’s ‘Beast Fist’ truly lived up to its name, manifesting as a fox, a python, a wild wolf, or a fierce tiger...

That ferocity! Cunning! Insidiousness!

Completely natural!

“His ‘Beast Fist’ is his own creation, while others learn secret techniques from others,” Luo Feng thought silently. “Naturally, using one’s own creation makes it easier to unleash maximum attack power! Mo Luo is very strong...”

“But...”

“Why do I always feel like he’s not as strong as the werewolf Ke Luofu?” Luo Feng frowned. “Yet Ke Luofu is only in the Taichu Secret Realm... It’s truly strange!”

Mo Luo’s strength merely made Luo Feng cautious.

Ke Luofu, however, made Luo Feng feel despair!

“No hope left,” Wuka shouted from the sofa. “Bolan lost to Mo Luo, and he’ll probably lose to Sima Yan, the ‘Illusionist,’ who is the bane of warriors... So it’s certain that Bolan and Longyun will be among the bottom three of the Original Secret Realm this time.”

The rules of the Virtual Universe Company were—

The bottom three of the Original Secret Realm and the top three of the Taichu Secret Realm, a total of six individuals, would compete for a single spot in the Original Secret Realm.

It now seemed!

Longyun! Bolan! Both would likely be two of the bottom three.

As for Feituo... as the only one who had passed the eighth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, his advantage was incredibly obvious, and taking first place wouldn’t be an issue.

“The bottom three of the Original Secret Realm: one is Bolan, one is Longyun. Who’s the third?” Wuka frowned.

“It’s definitely one of Mo Luo or Sima Yan,” Rongjun said. “Luo Feng, which one do you think it is?”

Luo Feng, however, frowned.

Which one?

Mo Luo!

It *had* to be Mo Luo. Only if Mo Luo ranked among the bottom three... would he have a chance to fight him!

“I must defeat him with my own hands, and trample him underfoot, absolutely!” Luo Feng had long harbored an unvented grudge. This qualification battle was merely an outlet... If he had the chance in reality, Luo Feng would show no mercy. The moment Mo Luo delivered that kick back then... it was decided—

One of them was destined to die!