A sphere of light drifted silently within the cultivation chamber.
This glowing orb was the access terminal for the Virtual Universe.
"Is this thing supposed to rge directly with my soul? Could there be a catch?"
Lance studied the object. According to the instructions, he simply needed to press it against his forehead, and the terminal would integrate itself into his Consciousness Hub.
The procedure carried a lethal risk. If the device were to malfunction or detonate after integration, death would be instantaneous.
Yet, if it were truly that dangerous, why did the powerhouses of countless races—even the Supre-tier grandmasters—choose to rge with it?
Lance fell into a silent contemplation.
"Forget it. I'll rge with it first, then find the ti to patch its Exploits later. Once I’ve secured it, I don't care how powerful the Virtual Universe is—the terminal will be under my control."
After a final mont of hesitation, Lance committed to the decision.
As long as he could utilize Reconstruction, it didn't matter if the device integrated with his Consciousness Hub or bound itself to his very Soul.
Without further delay, he pressed the sphere of light against the center of his brow.
Vroom—!!!
A dazzling radiance erupted from the sphere. In a flash, the orb vanished from his forehead. When it reappeared, Lance found it suspended deep within his Consciousness Hub, rotating slowly.
With this terminal, Lance could now project himself into the Virtual Universe from any corner of the cosmos.
It was an incredible piece of technology, though it left Lance with a nagging sense of curiosity. The functionality felt eerily similar to his own Secret Realm.
The primary difference, of course, was that his Secret Realm was a physical reality, whereas the Virtual Universe was entirely digital.
Steeling his resolve, Lance activated the terminal.
[Ding! Virtual Universe Terminal activated. Comncing Soul-Binding...]
A crisp notification echoed in his mind, followed imdiately by a surge of arcane, profound energy.
Hum—!!!
The power flooded through Lance’s body like a tidal wave.
His vision plunged into darkness as his consciousness was pulled into a high-speed transit tunnel.
Vroom—!!!
When Lance’s senses finally returned, he found himself standing in a vast, sterile expanse of pure white.
[Ding! Congratulations. You have successfully logged into the Virtual Universe!]
The synthesized voice echoed from the void.
Suddenly, the environnt began to shift violently.
A small, cramped room materialized around Lance. As he took in his surroundings, his pupils constricted.
This wasn't just any room. This was the exact apartnt he had lived in back on Earth, right before his transmigration.
Even the clothes on his back had been transford into the casual attire he wore in his previous life.
Had it not been for the fact that he could still feel the staggering power coursing through his veins, he would have struggled to believe this was an illusion.
[Ding! Based on your subconscious image of 'Ho,' the Virtual Universe has constructed your personal space. You may reset this space at any ti and redecorate according to your preferences.]
Lance’s eyes flickered as the notification faded.
A ho from my subconscious? It seed that despite everything, his mories of his past life still held more weight than his experiences after transmigrating.
Even if that ho had been a lonely one, he had lived there for over twenty years.
Unfortunately, that world was now a relic of a ti a hundred thousand years past.
"Keep it as it is. Now, give an overview of the Virtual Universe," Lance commanded, addressing the empty air.
[Ding! Comncing Virtual Universe Introduction...]
The system began its briefing imdiately.
[The Virtual Universe is managed by the Universal Supre Core. Its primary purpose is to accelerate the growth of all races within the cosmos.]
[Lyra-703703216220.]
[Any civilization that reaches Tier 10 is eligible to apply for entry. Civilizations below Tier 10 may join as vassals of an existing mber race. However, vassal civilizations are restricted to the sectors controlled by their sovereign civilization and cannot interact with the broader universe.]
[Furthermore, Tier 10 civilizations are limited to affairs within Tier 11 jurisdictions. Tier 11 civilizations are limited to Tier 12, and so on. Unless an individual possesses a Personal Account, they can only access content one tier above their civilization's rank.]
[Personal Accounts are exempt from these regional restrictions. To qualify, an individual must possess a Desolate Grade talent or reach the Universal Class in strength. A Personal Account grants direct access to the network of one's respective Supre God-Realm.]
[As you are currently located within the Supre God-Realm of Destruction, your account is authorized for full access to the Destruction network.]
The Virtual Universe continued its explanation, skipping over basic information Lance already possessed.
It detailed various sectors, such as the Leisure Zones, where users could socialize, cultivate, and study auxiliary paths like Alchemy or Engineering.
The Virtual Universe was a paradise for Alchemists and Subspace Engineers. Within this digital realm, every imaginable dicinal ingredient and material could be summoned at will. While the resulting products were virtual and could not be brought into reality, the experience gained from the process was 100% authentic.
In the physical world, learning Alchemy was a ruinous expense. Without the backing of a massive clan or a wealthy civilization, an apprentice would go bankrupt long before mastering the craft.
Even for those backed by powerful empires, reaching the peak of a civilization's techniques often ant hitting a dead end. Rare ingredients beca impossible to find, and higher-tier Alchemical manuals were guarded like sacred relics.
The Virtual Universe solved this. As long as one had the currency, every technique and recipe in existence was available for purchase. It provided a ritocratic environnt where wealth and effort could actually buy progress—a stark contrast to the restrictive, resource-starved reality of the physical universe.
This was rely one facet of the Leisure Zone. There were countless other territories waiting for Lance to explore.
After all, the Leisure Area was a perfect, one-to-one recreation of the entire universe.
This ant that any Secret Realm discovered here would exist in the exact sa location in the physical world.
One could even secure a Secret Realm within the simulation, grind through it countless tis to find the optimal path for the inheritance, and then claim the prize in reality with zero risk once the solution was found.
Of course, that was the ideal scenario. more often than not, a commoner might spend a lifeti failing to clear a trial, only for a true genius to sweep in and snatch the inheritance on their first try.
Ultimately, it was just a way to mitigate the risk of death.
This was rely one of many features, yet it was enough to leave Lance genuinely impressed.
He would definitely have to find so ti to truly explore the Virtual Universe later.
For now, however, Lance’s attention was fixed on the second zone: the Battle Zone!
The Battle Zone was exactly what it sounded like—a place where countless powerhouses from myriad civilizations clashed. Here, one could seek out opponents from any culture or challenge the elite leaderboards, such as the High Civilization Power Rankings or the Talent Rankings!
"In that case, send to the Dark-Heaven Universal God-Realm Great Grandmaster rankings! I’m going to challenge their leaderboard!"
Lance spoke his command directly to the Virtual Universe's interface.
"Confird. Initiating teleportation!"
The Virtual Universe responded instantly to Lance's order.
Vrrrrm!
Space rippled around him, and in the next heartbeat, Lance’s form dissolved into a stream of raw data, vanishing from the spot.
When Lance rematerialized, he found himself standing within a gargantuan, boundless void.
Directly ahead of him lood an infinite Sky Ladder that pierced the heavens.
Countless data entries were etched into the surface of the ladder.
"Aetheria Star Realm — Aetherius. Realm: Great Grandmaster (Rank 10). Rank: 100,000,000."
Lance’s gaze dropped to the very bottom of the list.
Based on the information displayed, this Sky Ladder recorded the top one hundred million combatants.
That ant the summit of this ladder held the strongest Great Grandmaster in the entire Dark-Heaven Universal God-Realm!
"Interesting. If that's how it works, then I’m in."
Lance didn't hesitate to issue his next command to the Virtual Universe.
"Ding! Command accepted. Since this is your first ti participating in the Great Grandmaster leaderboard assessnt, a power test is required. Upon completion, the Virtual Universe will evaluate your combat tier, allowing you to bypass the lower ranks."
A synthesized voice echoed through the sky. Lance nodded slightly; it made sense. If he had to start from the one-hundred-millionth spot, there was no telling how long it would take to reach the top.
After all, even the number of World Lord Class powerhouses in the Dark-Heaven Universal God-Realm was asured in the trillions. The population of the much weaker Great Grandmaster realm was likely astronomical.
Lance estimated that the number of Great Grandmasters would easily reach dozens, or even a hundred digits long if written out in Arabic nurals.
Rumble!
The ground began to groan and shake. A mont later, a colossal stone slab rose slowly from the earth.
The massive monolith soon reached a height of a million ters. Compared to this, Mount Everest on the Mother Planet was nothing more than a speck of dust.
This wasn't ordinary stone, either. It was so incredibly dense that a standard Great Grandmaster (Rank 10) wouldn't even be able to scratch its surface.
Given its terrifying material and sheer scale, even a Stellar Class (Rank 1) expert would find it impossible to shatter it completely.
"Ding! Please strike this Star-Iron Monolith with your strongest attack. The Virtual Universe will estimate your ranking based on the damage dealt."
The prompt echoed in Lance's mind.
He didn't waste ti. He reached out into the void and closed his right hand.
Hummm!
A sphere of light condensed in his palm instantly.
The brilliant radiance of the Holy Light erupted, illuminating the entire leaderboard space with a shimring glow.
"Shatter!"
Without a shred of hesitation, he thrust his hand forward and squeezed.
BOOM!
A blinding flash of light exploded. As the sphere detonated, the very foundations of the world began to tremble violently.
A shockwave of world-ending energy surged in every direction. In a re instant, the terrifying Star-Iron Monolith was erased.
It didn't just break; it was reduced to absolute nothingness. Not a single fragnt remained.
"According to what Blake said, the geniuses in the Dark-Heaven Universal God-Realm are monsters. So might even be stronger than at the sa level. I wonder where this level of destructive power ranks... can I make the top hundred?"
Lance’s eyes flickered with curiosity.
However, he had forgotten one crucial detail: when Blake told him that, Lance had only just obtained the Holy Light. Blake had no idea he possessed such a thing.
And that was to say nothing of his Destruction Power!
Therefore, the idea of soone being stronger than Lance was, frankly, an absurdity.
"Ding! Congratulations! You are the fourth contestant since the creation of the Dark-Heaven Universal God-Realm to reduce the testing stone to nothingness!"
"Your current maximum destructive power has surpassed all contestants in the Great Grandmaster realm!"
"However, a first-ti ranking boost cannot grant the number one spot directly. Your initial rank is capped at Rank 10. You must defeat the top ten individuals to claim the title of the strongest Great Grandmaster!"
Sure enough, the Virtual Universe’s notification confird the reality of the situation.
"Great. Blake lied to again. I didn't even use one percent of my strength and I already broke the scale, and he told soone might be stronger than ?"
Lance was completely speechless.
If Blake could hear him now, he’d probably be crying. How was he supposed to know Lance would beco this powerful?
Back when he made that comnt, Lance’s greatest feat was killing a Planetary Class (Rank 3) while still in the Grandmaster realm.
Blake had assud that after Lance’s realm skyrocketed to Great Grandmaster (Rank 0), his ability to fight above his level would naturally diminish. Even if it didn't, his estimate should have been reasonable. He never expected that instead of weakening, Lance would beco even more of a monster.
Lance didn't dwell on it for long. After a mont of thought, he addressed the Virtual Universe directly.
"Notify the top ten. Tell them to co together if they can. I’m in a hurry."
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