Devouring the Stars: Soul Master

Chapter 159 The Genius War Begins

"Breakthrough."

The mountain giant that occupied the Guiyan Stone Mother Mine withdrew from its Earth King form and reverted to its six-armed crystal giant form, standing up with a rumbling sound.

Its enormous body, thousands of kilometers high, resembles a giant standing tall between heaven and earth.

Meanwhile, inside the mountain giant's body lies a world of its own.

That enormous world, with a diameter of 90 kilometers, trembled violently after absorbing enough essence from the Guiyan Stone Mother Vein.

The metals and minerals surrounding the continent turned into mist, which was swallowed up by the thick continent and expanded wildly.

The length and width are constantly expanding, and the height is constantly expanding!

This continent also became more solid.

In just a few hours, this continent expanded from 90 kilometers in length and width to one million kilometers in length and width, with its area increasing significantly compared to before the breakthrough.

Mountain giants are rock-based life forms, and even more so, unique life forms.

Its true core is still the prokaryote!
The six-armed giant body made of black crystal is merely an external form; even if it is shattered, it can be reformed.

At this moment, with the improvement of its inner world, the mountain giant, which had devoured a large amount of Guiyan Stone Mother Ore Vein and G-grade metallized [Star Tear Gold], was finally freed from its restrictions and began to change.

Amidst the roar, the mountain giant's colossal body, spanning a thousand kilometers, began to slowly grow larger, and the black crystals became even darker, their density becoming increasingly astonishing.

The golden runes covering its entire body also emitted a dazzling light, continuously penetrating into the mountain giant's body.

……

in the pronucleus.

In a nine-layered hell that covers the entire void, nine fireballs of miniature stars are orbiting each other along strange trajectories, forming a bizarre celestial structure.

This is the essential structure of Qin Ming's soul!
The palace that once enveloped the outside was no longer the Void Tower.

The Void Tower, as the first defensive arcane technique Qin Ming encountered, has considerable potential.

However, after practicing the secret method of "Ten Thousand Tribulations Reincarnation", Qin Ming abandoned it and instead practiced the Eighteen Hells in "Ten Thousand Tribulations Reincarnation"!
Eighteen hells, combining offense and defense.

It is constructed within the sea of ​​consciousness, which can be used to launch attacks, drag enemies into the eighteen hells to suffer painful torment, or it can serve as a defensive system.

It is even more advanced than the Tower of the Void.

However, Qin Ming's strength was still insufficient, and for the time being he could only condense the first nine levels of hell.

When the suppression of the inner world was removed, the nine miniature stars, which had reached their limit, began to tremble and their volume began to expand rapidly.

"Boom~~~"

Within an astonishing vortex of energy, nine miniature stars exploded in succession, turning into countless star fragments and forming a vast dust nebula.

The Big Bang produced a vast number of nebulae, star clusters, dust, and many incredibly tiny planets.

It's like a galaxy, with an extremely dark region inside.

That was the first black hole in the entire Whirlpool Galaxy!
It is also a cosmic-level source of power.

"Chichi~~"

Like a thin mist, psychic energy surged from the black hole, enveloping the entire galaxy in a halo.

"The cosmic level is a watershed moment in the universe. After reaching the cosmic level, the Mountain Giant's talent begins to truly emerge, and his understanding of the laws becomes increasingly clear."

The massive mountain, the giant's body, uttered a sound.

Just as a star-level behemoth with peak bloodline naturally comprehends a domain when breaking through to the cosmic level, the mountain giant also possesses a similar talent, and it is even more astonishing.

If Qin Ming had not comprehended the laws of earth and space before this, this one breakthrough would have allowed him to directly cross the threshold of the laws of earth and space.

As for now, Qin Ming feels that he has a higher affinity for the laws!

"Earth King!"

Qin Ming wasn't too excited about breaking through to the cosmic level, a natural progression. His body's secret patterns lit up, and the giant mountain body merged back into the earth.

Qin Ming could clearly sense that his perception of the surrounding land and space had become significantly stronger after the breakthrough.

Even the speed at which it devoured the Guiyan Stone Mother Ore Vein and Star Tear Gold was greatly enhanced.

A few days is not enough time to digest the F-grade Guiyan Stone mother vein and the G-grade Star Tear Gold.

"So that's how it is! I understand now the tenth essence of the laws of space!"

"Hehe, I thought it would be good enough to master the fourth level before the Genius Battle, but now I can master the fifth level as well. I have accomplished the small goal I set for myself ahead of schedule."

After only a moment, Qin Ming burst into laughter.

The cosmic-level mountain giant, in its Earth King form, possesses an immense enhancement in its understanding of the laws of space.

There are still two years until the battle of geniuses, and five years until the final showdown.

Perhaps, I can set myself another small goal.

For example, the sixth level of the Divine Weapon, 'Universe World'?
After acquiring the Mountain Giant clone, Qin Ming discovered some very interesting things.

That is the treasure that is the Divine Weapon. When one's understanding of the laws progresses through the layers, it seems to be very similar to the Mountain Giant.

For example, the fourth level is called 'Mountain Colossus'.

In fact, it is formed by fusing the power of the Earth and Void laws through the Zhenxing Stone to create a huge rock giant.

The controller of the Divine Weapon can remotely control its attacks or attach it to their own body to command it in battle.

The fifth level, 'Spatial Cage', and the sixth level, 'Universe World', seem to resemble the Mountain Giant entering the Earth King form.

No, it should be called imitation!
That is why, after acquiring the Mountain Giant clone, he became increasingly adept at controlling the Divine Weapon.

"The secret technique of 'Black Hole Evolution' bestowed by the teacher is extremely profound. I have benefited greatly from the first level. Although it is a combat secret technique, it also contains an analysis of the laws."

Many of these secret techniques are well-suited for mountain giants.

"The Mountain Giant's clone is well-suited for melee combat." "We have the Black Hole Evolution technique, but what weapons should we give the Mountain Giant: a halberd, a heavy hammer, a battle axe, or a shield?"
It has six arms and can use six weapons.

However, with such a massive body, finding suitable weapons would be difficult.

While overjoyed, Qin Ming also had a headache.

The mountain giant was enormous.

It was already 1000 kilometers tall when it was at the stellar level, and its size continued to increase dramatically after the breakthrough, making it completely unusable for ordinary fifth-order Force weapons.

Although fifth-tier Force weapons can adapt and change according to their master, this adaptation also has its limits.

The maximum range is generally only a few hundred meters or a few thousand meters.

It is certainly enough for humans.

But for the mountain giants, that wasn't enough.

……

Time passes quickly like flowing water.

Month after month...

In the days to come.

Qin Ming then became completely immersed in cultivation.

With two bodies, Qin Ming's time did not become more abundant, despite his understanding of laws, secret techniques of the soul, control of the divine weapon, and close combat methods for martial artists.

Instead, they became even busier.

He didn't simply retreat into seclusion for ascetic training. Every so often, his human form would venture into the Qianwu Continent to gain practical experience.

Simply having a high level of spiritual attainment is useless.

The same understanding of the principles and the same techniques, when used by different people, can produce drastically different results.

Even though they are both wielders of divine weapons, some are at the fourth level and some at the fifth.

But is a fifth level necessarily stronger than a fourth level?
wrong!
Different combat experiences result in vastly different actual combat capabilities.

Some people lack combat experience. Even if they have grasped the laws, their combat style is too rigid and they don't know how to adapt. They can only exert 60% or 70% of their strength.

Some people, however, can unleash ten or even twelve levels of power!

This is the difference!
Therefore, Qin Ming also values ​​his practical experience.

In addition to fighting in the virtual universe, they will also accept some universe-level or even domain lord-level missions to train in the Qianwu Continent and increase their practical combat experience.

A year has passed in the blink of an eye.

When there was still a year to go before the Genius Battle, the ruler of Qianwu Kingdom was guiding Qin Ming's understanding of the laws and cultivation, and at the same time, he also began to guide and arrange Qin Ming's actual combat!

Not only Qin Ming, but Luo Feng was the same.

In the virtual universe, opponents are specially customized for the two of them to familiarize themselves with the battles of many powerful human races, and to gain a clearer understanding of their talents.

Battles between powerful humans are completely different from those between ferocious beasts!

Different races often comprehend different laws due to their different innate talents.

For example, the Dark Gara race, a very famous race in the Qianwu Universe Kingdom, is a powerful race at the adult universe level. They have two legs and four arms, and a single eye. They are born with an extremely high affinity for the law of earth.

Or perhaps it's the Nightmare Maiden race, who are born with the ability to bewitch.

Familiarity with their fighting styles is of great benefit, whether it's a battle of geniuses or simply for training.

It's alright for Qin Ming, after all, he's too strong.

It doesn't matter who the opponent is.

But for Luo Feng, the benefits were enormous.

Nine years in the Qianwu Secret Realm was a qualitative change for Qin Ming, and the same was true for Luo Feng!

His strength is far greater than in the original timeline.

Although the special life form has not yet been conceived, the Golden Domain has already reached the ninth level, and the Spatial Law has also stepped into the threshold, enabling the use of the second level of the Divine Weapon!

After devouring the Golden Horned Beast avatar and numerous precious metal minerals, the strength of his inner world surged, and its potential far surpassed that of other Golden Horned Beasts.

Of course, given Qin Ming's profound understanding of the laws and his overwhelming strength, making him unmatched even at the stellar or cosmic level, the Qianwu Kingdom Lord also has ways to deal with him.

That means letting Qin Ming fight directly against Domain Lords, Realm Lords, and even Immortal powerhouses!
All we need to do is make them suppress their strength.

Within the Qianwu Secret Realm, there are plenty of elite Domain Lords and Realm Lords, as well as ordinary Immortals; one can easily find a large number of sparring partners.

It was precisely through such tireless training that Qin Ming not only comprehended the fundamental laws at an extremely fast pace, but also greatly improved his combat abilities.

The resources consumed during that period were simply outrageous.

Only a venerable figure like the ruler of the Qianwu Kingdom could mobilize them.

This also meant that Qin Ming's reputation had already spread among the high-ranking officials of many universe nations even before he participated in the Genius Battle.

The Qianwu Kingdom has made such a big move that it's hard for others not to know, even if they wanted to!
……

"Live-fire training completed."

March 9th, 2066 in the Chinese calendar, virtual universe, Qianwu Continent.

Qin Ming walked out of the cultivation hall and looked up at the sky.

Suddenly, an enormous, radiant black notice appeared out of thin air in the sky.

"The battle of geniuses has begun."

(End of this chapter)