Swallow the starry sky, grind to become the strongest in the universe

Chapter 145 The Bridge to Heaven, Level 21, Passed! (Bonus Chapter)
Inside the courtyard, Yu Duan and Ke Di simultaneously closed their eyes, focusing their consciousness on the virtual universe.

To avoid distractions and to get into the absolute best state to unleash extraordinary strength.

Yu Duan also put the Frost Sky Beast clone, which was in the Sixth Domain Outer Battlefield, into a state of slumber.

……

In the virtual universe, in the Tongtian Mountain plane, three majestic peaks stand tall.

Suddenly, two figures appeared directly in the Tongtian Mountain plane, and then quickly landed at the foot of the original Tongtian Mountain.

"Your Highness Yu Duan, Your Highness Ke Di?"

The golden-haired ape-man on duty saw Yu Duan and Ke Di appear and said with a smile, "Are the two princes planning to join forces to conquer the Tongtian Mountain?"

Joining forces to venture into the Tongtian Mountains is naturally not permitted.

But if it's just for fun, the three intelligent beings also have the authority to play along with Yu Duan and the other person.

The lords of other primordial secret realms don't have this kind of face.

"You're overthinking it. I'm just here to watch the show. He's the one who broke through the Tianshan Mountains."

Kodi waved his hand and then pointed to Yu Duan standing to the side.

The last time Yu Duan ventured into the Lord-level Tongtian Mountain was two eras ago.

"Your Highness Yu Duan, are you... confident that you can conquer the Tianshan Mountains?"

The golden-haired ape-man was taken aback. He knew that Yu Duan had been cultivating in seclusion in Chaos City for six thousand years after breaking through to the Realm Lord level.

Even if one cultivates in seclusion within Chaos City for six thousand years, that time is still far too short.

Historically, those who conquered the Primal Tongtian Mountain at the Realm Lord level all spent at least 100,000 years cultivating in seclusion within Chaos City after passing through the eighteen levels of the Tongtian Bridge.

For example, the Venerable Fire Erosion in the neighboring Giant Axe Arena also faced a test similar to the Primal Heavenly Mountain within the Giant Axe Arena, which he accomplished after nearly twenty epochs of seclusion in Chaos City.

"I'm about to start my challenge!"

Yu Duan smiled and spoke, as the Time Sword appeared in his palm.

The moment the longsword appeared, Yu Duan's aura changed.

An endless killing intent and a bloody aura spread out, as if the entire Tongtian Mountain plane had been transformed into a living hell and an ancient battlefield.

At this moment, Kedi, who was standing next to Yu Duan, felt a terrifying sense of oppression.

"How could Yu Duan possess such a powerful killing intent? Just how many people has he killed?!"

Kodi's vision blurred, and he felt as if he saw countless undead roaring toward him.

"bring it on!"

A minotaur wielding a giant axe appeared, and the snake woman beside him also rushed over.

The battle is imminent!
But in that instant, a silver sword light pierced the sky, like the first light of day breaking through the darkness, and instantly annihilated the figures of the three gatekeepers.

In an instant, it soared from stillness to the speed of light.

The three gatekeepers at the foot of the mountain were instantly killed.

The three gatekeepers at the mountainside are all at the level of the 19th level of the Sky Bridge.

However, he was still killed by Yu Duan with a single sword strike.

It wasn't until they reached the summit that Yu Duan used his secret technique, instead of just casually wielding his sword.

"Endless!"

A brilliant sword light burst forth, a strange light that exploded at the speed of light, yet appeared unusually slow to the eye.

The third sword technique of Seeking the Path is also the weakest among the unique skills created by Yu Duan, and it can only defeat the 506th opponent in the Secret Space.

With a single strike, countless sword lights burst forth.

Each sword light was like a tide, endless and surging forth... like a long river of time, endless and boundless.

The river of sword light, moving at an extremely slow speed, completely engulfed the summit of Tongtian Mountain within a Planck's time, annihilating the three gatekeepers.

"Congratulations, Your Highness Yu Duan, on successfully passing through the Primal Tongtian Mountain, a Realm Lord level challenge."

The three guardians on the mountaintop were resurrected and respectfully congratulated Yu Duan, their faces beaming with joy.

They are all intelligent life forms generated in the virtual universe, and are members of the human race. Naturally, they are overjoyed that Duan has accomplished such a feat.

In mid-air, Kodi looked at Yu Duan, who had easily passed through the Primordial Tongtian Mountain, a level of World Lord, and a smile appeared on his face.

"As expected, the cultivation fanatic's progress is much faster than mine."

At the same time that Yu Duan broke through the Primal Tongtian Mountain, the Virtual Universe System sent this message to the Lord of Chaos City.

The Lord of Chaos City pondered for a moment, then said, "Let the other universe lords know about this news!"

At just over 20,000 years old, Yu Duan had already achieved this.

Such potential has never been seen since the rise of the Chaos City Lord. He must be given higher-level training.

To avoid any objections from other universe lords, this news needs to be known to them.

"Hahaha, Chaos, congratulations to your Virtual Universe Company for having another promising talent..."

"This little guy is also a disciple of darkness. Darkness is indeed very skilled at teaching disciples."

"..."

Immediately, figures appeared in this private space, conversing with each other.

……

Tongtianqiao plane.

The blue ocean ripples with waves, and a single island stands in the middle of this ocean.

"Shh!"

Yu Duan's figure appeared directly on the island.

This immediately attracted the attention of the watchman, Baffin.

"Greetings, Your Highness Yu Duan!"

When the guardian Baffin saw Yu Duan appear again, he quickly bowed and said, "The Myriad Universe Sky Bridge is currently unmanned."

"it is good!"

Yu Duan nodded slightly, his figure disappearing from the spot as he stepped onto the Myriad Universe Sky Bridge.

……

In the blink of an eye, Yu Duan arrived at the 19th floor of the Myriad Universe Sky Bridge, standing atop the dazzling accretion disk.

The 19th floor guardian, who once easily crushed Yu Duan, was now killed by Yu Duan with a single sword strike.

The Skybridge has 20 floors, and the bridge continues to extend, reaching the event horizon of the black hole.

Yu Duan seemed to be able to touch the black hole with a simple gesture.

In reality, this is an illusion; the so-called visual interface is simply the area from which light cannot escape.

At least in this world, the entity of a black hole is not its event horizon.

"Buzz!"

The surging of endless darkness coalesced into the figure of the gatekeeper.

Generally speaking, to pass this test, one must at least comprehend one of the highest changes in the laws of time to the extreme, and also create a top-level secret technique, one that is close to the peak level.

In terms of mastery of the principles, Yu Duan did not fully comprehend any of the three major transformations.

But when all three are combined, they are far superior to the insights gained from the laws of the 20 gatekeepers.

As for secret techniques, the difference is an entire level.

With just a glance, Yu Duan used the illusion technique "Reincarnation" to trap the gatekeeper in an illusion, where he was killed with a single sword strike.

In terms of the power of secret techniques, Yu Duan's soul illusion technique is already enough to defeat the 947th opponent in the decisive battle space, approaching the ultimate level.

As for the material-based secret techniques, the strongest is the second sword of the Seeking the Path Strategy, Instantaneous.

Without using any illusionary abilities, Yu Duan was able to kill the 897th opponent in the decisive battle space with just this one sword.

In fact, long before he earned the title of 'Spirit King', his instantaneous sword technique was enough to defeat his 800th opponent.

However, the closer one gets to the ultimate level, the harder it is to improve. This is not only a matter of mastering the laws, but also of reaching a bottleneck in technique.

……

The 21st level of the Skybridge. The bridge deck extends into endless darkness.

In this area, everything is absolutely dark, and vision is completely impaired.

To perceive the scenery here, one must use a powerful sense.

A moment later, Yu Duan's figure reached the end of the 21st floor.

Here, there is a sphere with a diameter of about two meters.

It's no longer accurate to describe it as a sphere; it should be called a singularity.

The spacetime here has completely collapsed, with countless spatial fragments turning into streams of the smallest particles, and even time itself has fallen into a state of stillness.

In a sense, time and space no longer exist here.

"Please choose your opponent: Warrior, Controller, Illusionist. Defeat one to pass the 21st floor and become a Universe Venerable."

"I choose, the Illusionist!"

The moment Yu Duan finished speaking.

Countless spatial particles converged and condensed into a human figure.

The guards looked exactly like the guards of the previous two checkpoints, wearing black armor and masks.

Behind the black-armored gatekeeper, a pitch-black roulette wheel floated.

Countless fine black threads are interwoven within, making it a weapon controlled by some form of telekinesis.

"It is an honor to have the opportunity to fight against His Highness Yu Duan!"

The gatekeeper spoke, his tone very gentle: "However... if one does not fully comprehend the fundamental laws of time, one will not be able to pass my test."

"No matter how strong His Highness's will is, and how well he is able to resist illusions, it is impossible for him to overcome this obstacle."

Upon hearing this, Yu Duan smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. If that were the case, there wouldn't be an invincible king who could reverse the Venerable's power."

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper immediately said, "In that case... remain still!"

The gatekeeper showed no intention of going all out; he didn't even use any secret techniques, only time-stopping.

Time can be paused, freezing an existence at the same level, but perhaps only for a fleeting moment.

In a battle of equal strength, even a moment of stillness can have a huge impact.

However, if used to crush noobs, it can basically decide the outcome in one move.

Having fully comprehended the fundamental laws of time, the static changes one can unleash are naturally incomparable to those merely at the peak of the King level.

In an instant, all of Yu Duan's senses were plunged into absolute darkness and silence.

All energy could not be mobilized; it was as if the power of the world had ceased to exist.

The only thing that remained unaffected was Yu Duan's will and consciousness!
"Let me... open it!"

At this moment, Yu Duan's soul seemed to be burning.

Time and again, they faced the terrifying power of the Lord of the Universe, and their indomitable will was honed through repeated trials, reaching its ultimate level!

Under the control of his will, Yu Duan's 'consciousness' frantically condensed and collapsed, as if it were about to turn into a miniature black hole.

The Three Swords of Seeking the Dao: the fearlessness of opening up new horizons, the decisiveness of a moment, and the perseverance of endless strength, are forged in the flawless Dao heart and transformed into a sword of the soul, suddenly blooming!

"Crack, crack, crack..."

At this moment, the stillness of time and space trembled.

It collapsed completely in an instant, and Yu Duan's figure transformed into an extreme stream of light, shooting straight towards the gatekeeper.

"what?"

The gatekeeper was stunned for a moment, almost at the same instant.

A complete domain of time laws emerged, no longer a simple, mysterious change, and directly enveloped Yu Duan!
Not only that, the dark roulette wheel behind the gatekeeper also collapsed instantly.

Countless black streaks of light burst forth, each one transforming into the figure of a gatekeeper, wielding a sword and slashing towards Yu Duan.

The soul ethereal annihilation and psychic energy attacks roared in, but they weren't exactly powerful secret techniques.

Newly promoted Venerables don't have time to perfect their secret techniques. Ordinary Venerables are promoted from the peak of the King level. It takes a long time after promotion for them to create their ultimate techniques.

It can be said that, apart from the mastery of the laws, everything else in this level is at the ordinary level of the peak of the King-level.

As long as those who have just entered the Venerable realm have a slightly stronger grasp of the laws and their secret techniques and amplitude compared to those at the peak of the King realm, they can pass through.

"cut!"

At this moment, Yu Duan also unleashed an absolutely powerful sword strike!
Within his inner world, the dormant undead demonic avatar erupted, unleashing a hundredfold soul amplification!
In an instant, Yu Duan's soul erupted, reaching a hundred times the power of the gatekeeper.

This can be compared to being crowned a king with ten thousand times the genetic bonus, or a venerable one with a blank slate!
As a checkpoint that almost everyone who enters the Venerable realm must pass through, this gatekeeper has absolutely no ability to amplify anything.

With a single slash, a torrent of demonic sound surged forth, unleashing endless illusions. The power of the illusory world roared out like a tidal wave.

Even with Yu Duan's soul amplified a hundredfold, it was still difficult to resist the attack unleashed by the gatekeeper, and he only managed to hold out for a moment.

But that one moment was crucial, allowing Yu Duan to successfully thrust his sword out.

"Boom!"

Spacetime collapses, and the near-ultimate level of soul and matter attacks are perfectly combined, breaking the upper limit of the peak secret technique and reaching the ultimate level.

A phantom light rippled out, and a misty, hazy river of time roared forth, its end and origin unseen... With an unstoppable force, it crushed everything into dust!
Almost at the same instant that the sword pierced through that realm of time.

Yu Duan's consciousness also fell into an endless illusion, where time was magnified billions of times, and endless sword light was strangling Yu Duan.

Endless soul torment swept over Yu Duan, and he was forced to disintegrate Yu Duan's soul through immense suffering!
My heart is unbreakable!

Yu Duan was boiling, his will roaring: "Reincarnation! Burn!"

The illusion, which was almost at the ultimate level, was unleashed, and the entire illusion space suddenly burst into flames!

A burning, searing pain swept over the will of the gatekeeper.

In battles at the level of illusion, it all comes down to the foundation of the soul, the understanding of the laws, and the will!

Yu Duan's understanding of the laws was far inferior to that of the gatekeeper, but his spiritual foundation and willpower completely surpassed that of the gatekeeper.

Even among the wills of those at the level of cosmic sovereigns, there are still differences in rank. The gatekeeper is merely a beginner, while Yu Duan is close to the peak.

"boom!"

Within the illusionary space, countless years passed... Yu Duan endured endless suffering and torment.

The gatekeeper, however, only endured the same level of pain for a moment!

Despite this huge gap, Yu Duan managed to withstand it, while the gatekeeper had to restrain his will and resist the excruciating pain of being burned by the illusion, making it impossible for him to maintain the use of the secret technique!
"die!"

Yu Duan's voice boomed out like thunder!

In fact, there was also an endless thunderous illusion that swept over the gatekeeper, whose face showed pain.

"Boom!"

The sword light shone brightly, as if it had swept across the past and present. A hazy and misty ancient river roared, and the boundless waves crashed down, annihilating everything into nothingness.

Similarly, the endless, dazzling light unleashed by the gatekeeper instantly annihilated Yu Duan. The attacks from both were almost mutually fatal; the body of a Realm Lord was simply too fragile.

The 21st level of the Skybridge fell silent... After a moment, it was announced that Yu Duan had passed.

……

Chaos City, in a quiet courtyard.

The moment the battle ended, Yu Duan's consciousness severed the connection to the virtual universe.

"Yu Duan, you actually made it past the 21st floor... Unbelievable!"

Kodi looked at Yu Duan, who was pale-faced, and took out a crystal ball with a flick of his wrist.

The crystal ball rippled with a brilliant, clear light, containing a cool power that soothed the pain Yu Duan suffered in his will.

Yu Duan's pale face quickly recovered, and his aura returned, like an invincible sword light.

"Strictly speaking, I lost. The gatekeeper was careless and didn't go all out at the beginning. The body of a realm master is also terribly fragile, which gave me the opportunity to perish together with him. However, the virtual universe judged that I passed. If it happened again, I would definitely lose."

“My soul burst is a hundred times stronger than his, my secret technique is much higher, my will is far superior to his, and I have a greater advantage in illusion battles. This is all I can do.”

Yu Duan was also somewhat moved; these were all Realm Lords. Without the blessing of immortality, he and the gatekeepers were like children shooting at each other with guns—they could both be instantly killed.

If the invincible king were to face a true cosmic venerable, even with the same advantages in energy, secret techniques, and willpower, it would likely be difficult to defeat the venerable.

(End of this chapter)