Qianwu Secret Realm, Jinchen Island.
This was a place exceedingly far from Wind Thunder Island. On the island lay a peculiar area that had a modest boosting effect on comprehending the upper Time Law.
Silver Moon Marquis, one of the three Undyings in the Qianwu Secret Realm, had always resided here...
At this moment, within the grand hall at the island's center, a woman veiled in a hazy mist frowned slightly, sinking a thread of her consciousness into the Virtual Universe.
"White Eyebrows, instead of properly guiding Ling Yu's cultivation, what brings you here to me?"
In an estate on the Qianwu Continent of the Virtual Universe, Silver Moon Marquis spoke slowly.
"My Lord."
White Eyebrows kept his head bowed, not daring to look upon the face of this great Undying Deity. With trepidation in his voice, he said, "It is Her Highness Ling Yu... some issues have arisen with her cultivation."
"Hm?"
It was merely a single glance.
Even in the Virtual Universe, White Eyebrows' body could not help but tremble. If this were the real world, a powerhouse like Silver Moon Marquis could reduce him to ashes with just a look.
White Eyebrows dared not hesitate and recounted in full Ling Yu's circumstances over the past five years, as well as the words she had spoken just moments ago.
"Nonsense!"
Silver Moon Marquis's cool voice carried a hint of wrath.
"How could crossing the threshold of an Upper Law be so easy? If there were still several centuries left, that would be one thing, but the Genius Battle begins in a mere thirteen years! Yet she dares to divide her attention, even harboring delusions of comprehending the Time Law..."
As an Undying Deity who had lived for countless years, Silver Moon Marquis herself had only begun delving into the Time Law after breaking through to Undying. By now, she had gained some results, her strength nearing the marquis level.
Even a mere fraction of her countless years of cultivation exceeded Ling Yu's by thousands, tens of thousands of times! A little Star Level fledgling... dared to harbor such wild delusions!
And that Lu Qingshan! It was bad enough that Ling Yu was acting foolishly, but why was he humoring this nonsense as well?
Silver Moon Marquis, who had initially held some favorable regard for Lu Qingshan and considered him reasonably capable as a teacher, was now quite dissatisfied with him.
Although White Eyebrows had not explicitly said so, what Ling Yu practiced was a Secret Method Lu Qingshan had created. She would never believe he had nothing to do with this.
"White Eyebrows, step down for now. I shall make a trip to Wind Thunder Island in person."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Silver Moon Marquis vanished from the Virtual Universe.
Staring at the spot where Silver Moon Marquis had stood, a wry smile crossed White Eyebrows' face.
"Your Highness Ling Yu, this matter is too grave. I could not conceal it for you. I hope you will not blame this old man."
With that, his body also vanished, reappearing once again in Ling Yu's manor on Wind Thunder Island.
Ling Yu did not speak, seemingly already knowing what White Eyebrows had done. Her gaze was fixed halfway up Wind Thunder Mountain, where Teacher Lu Qingshan's villa was located.
"Teacher... you already resolved every single bottleneck and doubt for me. Why still can I not step across the threshold?
"Yet I can clearly feel the fluctuations of time.
"Why?!"
A trace of desolate sorrow appeared on Ling Yu's face. If she had not persevered for five years and reached a point where she could no longer hide it, she would never have told White Eyebrows what she did. She had only wanted to cultivate quietly and then shock everyone with her brilliance.
Yet now...
She could ignore White Eyebrows' words, but she could not disobey her master, Silver Moon Marquis!
"Teacher Lu, where is Ling Yu falling short by that final sliver?"
Alas, no one answered her. Lu Qingshan had not visited her manor in five years.
Ling Yu's gaze drifted higher, looking toward the peak of Wind Thunder Mountain.
Amid flickering lightning, a howling gale swept past, leaving Ling Yu's face a shade paler.
"Your Highness!"
White Eyebrows felt a pang of heartache, mingled with regret. It felt as though his own hands had shattered Her Highness's dream and snapped her wings...
Yet he was an instructor personally dispatched by Silver Moon Marquis, and he had to answer to her in all things.
What was more, matters had already come to this; nothing could be undone...
At that moment, a subtle ripple appeared in the air. Dressed in a long white dress, her face veiled as though shrouded in mist, Silver Moon Marquis manifested in the sky above.
Looking down upon her obstinate disciple, a flash of fury crossed her eyes.
Just as she was about to speak—
Suddenly, she halted.
Down below, Ling Yu appeared to have entered a wondrous state of epiphany.
"I see it... I see it...
"Wind, thunder, time... So that's how it is! So that's how it is!"
Ling Yu's laughter left World Master White Eyebrows utterly baffled.
Suddenly.
Ling Yu moved. An Illusion Body drifted out from her form, followed by a second, a third... ninth... tenth!
"How is this possible... Her Highness, she..."
Even White Eyebrows nearby could sense the transformation within Ling Yu's ten Illusion Bodies.
Although the number of Illusion Bodies had only increased by one, each of these ten felt completely distinct from before.
It seemed... each Illusion Body existed in a different dimension of time.
White Eyebrows thought of a possibility, and shock seized his heart. For the first time, he dared to raise his head and look toward the figure in the sky, seeking an answer from Silver Moon Marquis.
Silver Moon Marquis gazed at Ling Yu's Illusion Bodies, her eyes lowered, the words of reprimand she had intended to speak left unsaid.
She let out a soft chuckle.
Her voice sounded like wind chimes chiming in the breeze.
"Ling Yu, my disciple. You have done well. Very well... You have crossed the threshold of the Time Origin Law..."
"It's actually true!"
White Eyebrows' mind trembled violently.
Her Highness Ling Yu had truly achieved this nearly impossible feat. Then panic and dread crept over his face—alas, none of this had anything to do with him, and he had nearly ruined Her Highness's great breakthrough!
"Congratulations, Your Highness! Tremendous congratulations, Your Highness! With Your Highness mastering the Time Law, your future prospects are boundless!"
White Eyebrows hurried to offer his congratulations.
"Teacher Lu, I did it. Can you see?" Ling Yu shifted her gaze away from the villa on Wind Thunder Mountain.
Then she bowed to Silver Moon Marquis as the latter descended to the ground. "Master, your disciple was in the wrong and caused you to worry."
Looking at this sensible yet stubborn disciple, a trace of helplessness flitted through Silver Moon Marquis's star-like eyes. Stepping forward to help Ling Yu up, she said, "You were not in the wrong. Your master underestimated you. I nearly buried a true genius."
The hardest part of a law was crossing the threshold. Once across, subsequent cultivation became far simpler. With thirteen years remaining before the Genius Battle, Ling Yu had crossed the threshold of the Time Law, leaving her ample time to convert that comprehension into practical strength.
Silver Moon Marquis was not one of those obstinate old fogies. When she was wrong, she would neither lose her temper nor make excuses.
Wrong was wrong.
She had misjudged her disciple's potential, almost consigning a talent capable of reaching the top ten of the entire universe to the Last Phase Secret Realm.
If the great Qianwu Country Master learned of this, he would likely have punished her.
The Country Master placed such great value on geniuses, yet the Qianwu Universe Kingdom produced fewer and fewer of them, even performing poorly in the Genius Battle for consecutive editions. Could it be that something was wrong with how the secret realm fostered genius?
Silver Moon Marquis began to reflect and review, wondering whether over all these countless years, other geniuses like her disciple Ling Yu had been held back.
Right at this moment—
"Greetings, Lady Silver Moon Marquis."
Clad in green robes, Lu Qingshan walked over slowly. Just now, when Ling Yu broke through, he had sensed faint fluctuations of time from halfway up Wind Thunder Mountain and came over to check, only to run into Silver Moon Marquis...
Chapter 50