Chapter 128: The Direct Disciple (Part 4)

The Heaven Bridge.

Urso, draped in purple robes, hovered in the void, facing off against an enemy conjured by the Virtual Universe who wore black battle armor. They stood tens of kilometers apart, neither moving a muscle.

Outside the Heaven Bridge, the guardian Baffin couldn't help but yawn, muttering to himself, "This is why I hate watching duels between illusionists. Both of them just stand there, and then one of them suddenly collapses. You can't see the process of the battle at all..."

Of course, not all illusionists were like this. The vast majority of illusionists would still use mental energy to attack their enemies while casting illusions. When they couldn't quickly terminate an enemy's soul through illusions alone, using illusions to distract the opponent and then delivering a fatal blow with a mental weapon was a far more efficient method—at least, until one reached the level of immortality and attained an "undying body." An illusionist's mental weapon might not be as powerful as that of a dedicated controller, but it was more than enough to easily kill an enemy trapped in an illusion and unable to resist. Among the geniuses of this batch, the highly acclaimed "Phantom Demon" Galese belonged to this school.

However, Urso, hailing from the Universe Mercenary Alliance, belonged to the faction that focused entirely on illusions. Whenever he encountered an opponent within the Heaven Bridge, he would only ever destroy their soul with illusions, refusing to use mental weapons. The opponents generated by the Heaven Bridge mirrored the "profession" and methods of the challenger. Since Urso didn't use mental weapons, the guardian created by the Virtual Universe naturally didn't either. Their battle was a pure contest of souls and illusions, a test to see who could penetrate the other's consciousness first and erase their soul. To an outside observer, it simply looked like two people standing perfectly still until one of them eventually collapsed—it was terribly boring.

A moment later, the soul of the black-armored guardian flickered out, and he transformed into a mass of black liquid that flew back into the mist.

From within the mist, a voice emerged: "Ninth floor successfully cleared. You may proceed to the next level!"

Urso flew onto the long bridge, arriving at the tenth floor. However, he wasn't as lucky this time. The opponent’s illusion techniques and level of insight into the "Darkness Chaos Monument" were superior to his own, and the intensity of the soul attacks was significantly higher. As soon as the battle began, although Urso’s clone managed to struggle free from the illusion, he could not withstand the enemy's soul attack and was instantly killed.

The gap between each floor of the Heaven Bridge was astonishingly wide. It was perfectly normal to instantly defeat a guardian on one level only to be instantly defeated by the guardian of the next.

"The tenth floor is the level of an immortal. But while the techniques and laws reach the immortal level, the guardian's physical constitution and soul are the same as mine. In terms of raw combat power, they are probably comparable to the weakest World Lords. It seems that by relying solely on illusions and soul attacks, I haven't even reached the level of a World Lord yet..."

As Urso’s figure respawned in the square of the Heaven Bridge plane, his mind was busy reviewing and analyzing the battle. It had been ten years since he first entered Chaos City. In those ten years, Jiang Chen's three clones had made leaps and bounds along their respective paths. His main body, however, had remained low-profile, not attempting the Heaven Bridge again since his first run. Of his five opportunities to contemplate the Chaos Monument, he had only used four so far, with one remaining. Without the need to contemplate the monument, he naturally had no reason to challenge the Heaven Bridge.

The two clones, "Urso" and "Uchiha Shisui," had no such constraints. Over the past decade, any new talent points Jiang Chen acquired were not spent on "leveling" specializations, but rather on several illusion and sword-art specializations to enhance the talent and potential of those two paths. Coupled with the fact that these two clones visited the Chaos Monument more frequently than the main body, their progress was incredibly rapid.

The "Uchiha Shisui" clone had cleared the eighth floor of the Heaven Bridge using only his sword arts. The "Urso" clone had gone even further, clearing the ninth floor of the "Darkness Heaven Bridge," becoming the publicly recognized number-one genius of this generation. As for Jiang Chen, who had placed first in the Genius Tournament, although he kept a low profile, he had not faded from the public eye. Having cleared five floors on his very first attempt, no other genius had managed to match his performance from a decade ago—not even ten years later. Every proud and ambitious genius was holding their breath, training desperately, hoping to catch up to Jiang Chen's pace to prove themselves.

***

Virtual Universe.

The "Urso" clone, having failed the tenth floor, was preparing to log out when he suddenly received an email from the Phantom Spirit King. The message contained only one sentence: "Come see me at once."

Closing the email, Jiang Chen immediately activated his teleportation permissions, entering the manor of the Phantom Spirit King on Thunder Island. As a disciple of the Phantom Spirit King, Urso naturally had long since been granted access. Without the master's permission, ordinary geniuses were not qualified to set foot on Thunder Island.

"Teacher," Jiang Chen bowed to the Phantom Spirit King and asked, "Did you summon me for something, Teacher?"

"You've cleared the ninth floor of the Heaven Bridge?" The Phantom Spirit King looked at his youngest disciple, a smile of immense satisfaction on his face. He was truly delighted with this disciple's talent. In just ten years since first entering the Initial Universe, he had already cleared the ninth floor. Such talent was extremely rare in the history of the human race. Even the Phantom Spirit King himself, when he joined the Universe Mercenary Alliance as a genius and first entered the Initial Universe, had not performed this well; it had taken him thirty years just to reach the eighth floor. And even that had made him the most monstrous genius of his generation. Now, this new disciple was even more prodigious than he had been, which naturally put the Phantom Spirit King in an excellent mood.

"Replying to Teacher, I have indeed just cleared the ninth floor of the 'Darkness Heaven Bridge,'" Jiang Chen replied, not bothering to ask how the Phantom Spirit King had obtained the news. A peerless King-level immortal already held significant weight within the human race, and his permissions were naturally high; checking the Heaven Bridge results of a few geniuses was trivial.

"Not bad," the Phantom Spirit King nodded with satisfaction. "Although you did not choose the 'Void Chaos Monument' that I contemplate, this 'Darkness Chaos Monument' seems to suit you better. To clear the ninth floor in a mere ten years—your talent in the way of the soul has once again exceeded my expectations."

At this, the Phantom Spirit King couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder. He had made several assessments of this disciple, yet every single time, the disciple had shattered those expectations and surprised him. After a pause, the Phantom Spirit King continued, "I set three trials for you originally. Let's set aside the first two; the third trial—surely you are close to completion?"

Initially, the Phantom Spirit King had thought it would be quite an achievement if Jiang Chen could master six hundred soul secret techniques within three hundred years. Later, as Jiang Chen’s talent continued to manifest, he had revised that estimate down to thirty years. But now, seeing Jiang Chen's performance on the Heaven Bridge—clearing the ninth floor without even using a mental weapon, relying purely on soul attacks to eliminate his opponents one by one—he realized he had underestimated him again. At this level, even if he hadn't fully mastered all the secret arts he had provided, he couldn't be far off.

Jiang Chen nodded. "There are only 12 secret arts left that I haven't had time to cultivate yet. However, I am confident that I can master them all within a month at the latest." The secret arts of the illusionist school provided by the Phantom Spirit King varied in difficulty, but even the highest level barely reached the World Lord tier. For the current Jiang Chen, the difficulty was not particularly high. After all, his main body had already become a Domain Lord ten years ago. Although the "experience points" required for each level-up surged drastically after reaching the fourth tier, meaning he had only leveled up once in ten years, his soul and willpower had reached the Domain Lord level. Combined with the talent granted by various stacked specializations, there was truly no barrier to contemplating World Lord-level soul and illusion techniques.

"Very good," the Phantom Spirit King nodded. "Although you haven't technically finished, with your talent, completing the trials is only a matter of time; there is no need to wait. Tell me, are you willing to become my personal disciple?"

When Jiang Chen first became a student of the Phantom Spirit King, the master would never have asked this. For an ordinary Star-level or Universe-level genius, the chance to be accepted by a peerless King-level immortal was an earth-shattering opportunity. But now, the Phantom Spirit King wasn't sure if his disciple was still willing. There was a vast difference between a registered disciple and a personal disciple. A registered disciple was merely a follower of the lineage, a fellow practitioner. But a personal disciple was a true successor to one's legacy. Especially since powerful beings lived for eons and often outlived their own families; cultivating a talented disciple meant having someone who could accompany them through long, lonely ages, forming a bond even closer than blood.

With the talent displayed by the "Urso" clone, he had plenty of opportunities to be accepted by even more powerful figures. In fact, an expert at the "Universe Country Lord" level had already contacted Urso, wishing to take him as a disciple, only to be politely refused by Jiang Chen. The Phantom Spirit King had been kind to him, and Jiang Chen had no intention of changing loyalties. As for the idea of gaining another backer by taking on another teacher—perhaps the old Jiang Chen would have thought that way, but now, an ordinary Universe Venerable was not enough to move him. At the very least, it would have to be a powerhouse among Universe Venerables, or even someone above that—a true "pillar" of the human race.

Hearing the Phantom Spirit King's words, Jiang Chen did not hesitate for a second and immediately prostrated himself: "Disciple greets Teacher."

Saying these words for the second time, his status was entirely different.

"Good, good! Stand up!" The Phantom Spirit King helped Jiang Chen up, laughing, "I was afraid you might look down on my strength and be unwilling to become my personal disciple. You haven't disappointed me; you have a loyal heart."

Jiang Chen joked, "Teacher is a peerless King-level existence; how could I ever look down on you?!"

"You rascal! I don't believe for a second that no other stronger powerhouses have tried to recruit you!" The Phantom Spirit King tapped Jiang Chen on the forehead.

"You can't hide anything from you, Teacher," Jiang Chen said with a grin. "Some time ago, Lord 'Jiu Feng, Country Lord of the Universe' sent me an email wanting to take me as a disciple, but since I already have a teacher, I declined."

"You!" The Phantom Spirit King immediately said, "As a cultivator advances, it is perfectly normal to have several teachers. Don't pass up the opportunity to be mentored by a stronger master just because of me! The strength of 'Jiu Feng' is considered mid-tier among Universe Country Lords, but he has the advantage of having studied the 'Darkness Chaos Monument,' which fits your path perfectly. If you could have him as a teacher, it would have been a great opportunity for you."

"Teacher, I have my own plans," Jiang Chen shook his head. An ordinary Universe Country Lord really wasn't worth the trouble of taking on as a master in Jiang Chen's eyes. With the Phantom Spirit King's guidance, he had more than enough until he reached immortality. As for after he became an immortal, Jiang Chen believed that by then, he would surely be noticed by even more powerful entities. In his heart, the minimum threshold for him to take on a new teacher would be a Universe Overlord. However, Jiang Chen didn't state this directly.

"As long as you know what you're doing," the Phantom Spirit King sighed, saying, "I actually have a close friend who was also interested in taking you as a disciple and wanted me to persuade you..."

"If Teacher wishes me to take him as a master, then I shall. But if Teacher is merely acting as a bridge..." Jiang Chen was about to refuse, but suddenly remembered he hadn't asked who the person was, so he quickly changed his tone. "Teacher, may I ask the title of your friend?"

"He is called Venerable Bei Hai. He hasn't been a Venerable for long, and his strength is actually weaker than that of 'Jiu Feng.' However, we have known each other for a long time, and I know his character. If you were to become his disciple, he would certainly spare no effort in cultivating you." The Phantom Spirit King explained briefly, then shifted the topic, "I was just acting as a go-between. If you have no interest, we shall say no more of it."

Jiang Chen thought for a moment and nodded. "If it won't cause trouble for you, Teacher, please decline on my behalf. Until I reach immortality, your guidance is more than enough for me. Unless it is a powerhouse above the level of a Universe Overlord, I don't want to waste time taking on another master."

"Others would give anything to be taught by a Universe Venerable, yet you look down upon it," the Phantom Spirit King sighed. "Do you know how many Universe Overlords there are in the entire human race? And not a single one of them follows the illusion path! Only among the top-tier Universe Overlords is there one who specializes in illusions. But such beings choose disciples based on fate and personal connection, not just talent."

A top-tier Universe Overlord who specializes in illusions? Jiang Chen silently noted this information. There were only three top-tier Universe Overlords in the human race, and they were barely mentioned in the original history. Their true trump cards and combat systems were rarely described. The only one with a detailed description of an attack was the Palace Master of Tian Shi, and that was just a demonstration of a technique, not his true combat system.

"Is it the Palace Master of Tian Shi? Or the Demon Master of the Star Prison? Or the Ancestral Tree Venerable?" Jiang Chen wondered to himself.