Planning the Avatar's Departure
In the course of Lu Qingshan's breakthrough to World Master and the creation of his inner world, the One-Horned Ghost King had likewise broken through to the World Master level.
The One-Horned Ghost King was itself a favorite of the Time Law. Having inherited his true self's comprehension of the Time Law, breaking through to World Master was a very simple matter for it.
Once one broke through to World Master, comprehending law let one connect to the Origin Land and gain a thousandfold speed in law comprehension. This was the greatest advantage of the World Master stage. Were it not for the World Master's lifespan limit of a thousand epochs, many Undying Deities would probably have been unwilling to break through.
Breaking through to Undying did boost one's strength, true enough—but as for comprehending the origin laws so easily afterward, one could forget about that...
This was also why many World Masters, though clearly of mediocre aptitude, after breaking through to World Master could rely on grinding away with time and ultimately be acknowledged by the origin of law...
Comprehending law during the World Master stage was simply too easy, and the threshold for law recognition was not high. As long as many World Masters did not give up midway and endured until the limit of their lifespan, they could basically all reach it.
Such ascetic cultivators, however, were ultimately a minority. Most World Masters, once they perceived that the road ahead was hopeless, would basically give up and turn instead to managing their family, cultivating disciples, and raising descendants.
For even with the origin law's recognition, one was still only a World Master. The end of one's lifespan would not change, and between the origin's acknowledgment and becoming Undying, the distance remained as vast as ever.
By the time a cultivator reached the World Master stage, whether they had what it took was actually clear to themselves... Even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of breaking through to Undying was not something anyone would give up on. Yet the reality was that most World Masters knew perfectly well they had no hope whatsoever!
Lu Qingshan tried his hand at comprehending the law.
His brow eased, and a trace of excitement showed.
The law was so clear. The thousandfold increase over before was real enough, but the One-Horned Ghost King avatar was even more fearsome—it had reached an astonishing ten-thousandfold.
Which meant that one year of comprehension by the One-Horned Ghost King equaled ten thousand years for Lu Qingshan before!
Such speed was utterly intoxicating. No wonder countless top geniuses were unwilling to break through to Undying, and instead sought to gain as much comprehension time as possible during the World Master stage.
Lu Qingshan's consciousness entered the Stellar Chart.
The earlier Stellar Chart of nine stars had already been fully comprehended and thoroughly mastered by Lu Qingshan. Now the Stellar Chart had changed, becoming twenty-seven gleaming stars.
Lu Qingshan knew that these represented the twenty-seven essences of medium difficulty in the universe's Time Origin Law.
The nine in the first chart had been relatively simple to dissect, but these twenty-seven, though of medium difficulty, were in fact more than a hundred times harder than before.
Lu Qingshan had previously spent a very long time without ever figuring out what the first of these twenty-seven stars actually represented.
But now, the Time Origin Law upon that star was crystal clear in his consciousness. It was like working a problem where the data and conditions were all given, and producing the answer would take only time.
The first star posed no difficulty; I should be able to fully understand it in about a month.
Drawing on some earlier accumulation, Lu Qingshan quickly finished dissecting the first star.
Next came the second.
Which could also be called the eleventh essence of the Time Origin Law.
"The second is a bit more challenging, but I've already found the method—it should take about three years!"
Dissecting a single medium-difficulty essence of Time in three years—if word of such speed got out, it would probably leave many Time Venerables astonished.
Consider that even Lianluo, a genius who appears only once in countless epochs, had sat in seclusion in Chaos City for three thousand years, expending untold effort, before he worked out the 108 essences of the Space Origin Law—and that was despite his already having a foundation.
The conditions for comprehending law in the Primal Universe simply could not compare to those in the Initial Universe, and the Stellar Chart's effect certainly could not match the Primal Chaos Tablet. By comparison, Lu Qingshan was still at an absolute disadvantage.
However, the Stellar Chart, which he could comprehend at any time, was in turn Lu Qingshan's advantage. After all, even Lianluo could not go comprehend the Nine Universes Primal Chaos Tablet whenever he pleased.
"In about a century, I should be able to fully master these twenty-seven medium-difficulty essences of the Time Origin Law..."
Fully mastering something and merely comprehending it were two different concepts. If a perfect exam score was one hundred points, then fully mastering it meant having to score a full hundred, whereas a successful comprehension only needed to pass with sixty.
There was a huge gap between them, and this was also the difference between dissecting the origin law and merely comprehending it.
Dissecting was far too difficult and took much longer, but the foundation was solid and the potential greater. Upon breaking through to Undying, one could usually be granted a marquis title directly, and creating secret methods in the future would also be much easier.
Comprehension was relatively easier; one only needed it to be usable. It took less time, but the potential was ordinary, and upon breaking through to Undying, one would be merely an ordinary Undying Army Leader.
Dissecting the essences of law looked like the better path, yet most people simply were not qualified to take it.
Because World Masters had a lifespan limit. How many proud, self-satisfied geniuses had set off down this road brimming with enthusiasm, only for the end of their lifespan to arrive with not a sliver of light in sight.
For geniuses who were not top-tier talents like Lianluo, Bolan, or Luo Feng, comprehending the law first and then breaking through to Undying was the best choice. The Undying possessed eternal life, and although their comprehension speed was far inferior to that of the World Master stage, by grinding away with time they might still be granted a marquis title, or even become an Undying King... It was a road without risk.
The path of dissecting the origin law had not become widespread even at the core of the Five Great Hegemons, for fear that geniuses who could have become Undying would set their sights too high and make the wrong choice.
Even top geniuses generally had to take a grandmaster as their teacher, and only under a teacher's guidance would they step onto that path.
Time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye three years had passed.
Lu Qingshan had mastered the eleventh essence of the Time Origin Law, and only then did he end his cultivation.
"Lei Ming and Paris haven't even taken the first step into the Lightning Origin Law, and the feedback their cultivation gives me is less and less useful... Ling Yu's progress in the Time Origin Law is fast and helps me a good deal, but for dissecting more essences of Time, it's still a drop in the bucket."
Without realizing it, Lu Qingshan had found that his own growth was too fast, and his disciples could hardly keep pace with him.
Of course, it was not that Lu Qingshan looked down on his disciples.
Both Paris and Lei Ming had grown fast enough. Over these years they had begun to distinguish themselves in the Qianwu Secret Realm, and even White Eyebrows praised them highly.
Ling Yu needed even less mention—her progress in the Time Law was rapid, and compared to ten years ago, it was worlds apart.
"Once Ling Yu takes part in the Genius Battle and enters the Virtual Universe Company, then goes to the Initial Universe to cultivate and comprehend the Primal Chaos Tablet, it will surely be of enormous benefit to me."
Lu Qingshan glanced at the One-Horned Ghost King avatar hidden within his inner world.
"Now that I have the avatar and have broken through to World Master, it's time to go out and make my mark on the world."
"And then there's the Treasure Pavilion..."
Lu Qingshan gave a cold snort.
He had not forgotten how Kunshaluo had pressured him. Over these years, that fellow had probably never given up monitoring him.
Lu Qingshan's true self would certainly not leave, so he decided to let the One-Horned Ghost King out. That creature carried a bloodthirsty, savage aura to begin with, and keeping it by his side all the time was actually detrimental to his cultivation.
In any case, the One-Horned Ghost King was an avatar, and it too had given birth to an inner world. If the ghost king died, no great loss—he could simply gestate a new one.
"Still, before the ghost king avatar leaves, some preparations are in order..."
Lu Qingshan walked out of the manor, cast a glance toward the distant east of the secret realm, and then soared away. This was the first time in the more than ten years since he had come to the Qianwu Secret Realm that he was leaving Wind Thunder Island!!
Chapter 68