Chapter 144: Hunt — The Demon Grand Duke!
At the same moment.
Inside the Virtual Universe, Thunder Island was bustling with activity. All members of the Virtual Universe Company's management above the rank of Universe Venerable had received the same piece of news—Jiang Zhe had passed the Universe-Level Primal Tongtian Mountain!
There was certainly shock, but it came quickly and faded just as fast.
After all, Jiang Zhe already possessed the law comprehension equivalent to the 12th level of the Tongtian Bridge. All the Venerables knew he would eventually clear Primal Tongtian Mountain. The only question was when he would choose to do so and pocket the 100 million points reward.
When members of the Secret Realms passed Tongtian Mountain, it wasn't publicly announced. The news only circulated among the circle of Venerables. But as long as news circulated, there was always a chance of leaks.
Some Venerables told their disciples.
Some Undying Kings heard it from the Venerables and passed it on to their own disciples…
In this way, gradually, members of the Primal Secret Realm and the Taichu Secret Realm all learned that Jiang Zhe had conquered Primal Tongtian Mountain.
Some were unconvinced and tried their luck—
only to get thrashed at the mountain's base and kicked out of the Tongtian Bridge dimension.
This included Phito, Sima Yan, Morrow, and Berlan—four members of the Primal Secret Realm who directly competed with Jiang Zhe.
It also included Luo Feng, Rong Jun, and other members of the Taichu Secret Realm who eyed the Primal Secret Realm eagerly.
Primal District — Berlan's Estate
Berlan, dressed in white, sat cross-legged inside a meditation chamber. A blood-red sword rested across his lap. He gently ran his fingers along the blade's back, eyes dull, staring at a framed photograph on the opposite wall—an old man teaching a young boy swordsmanship.
"Luo Feng has already surpassed me.
Those people also favor Rong Jun more.
And Jiang Zhe… I can't even see his shadow anymore."
"Teacher, was my choice really a mistake?
If it was, then I must pay the price."
Berlan's eyes dimmed as he sat there in silence.
Still in the Primal District — Morrow's Estate, No.113
Crash! Bang! Clatter!
The sounds of things being smashed and thrown never stopped inside the room. But thanks to a soundproofing array, the guards outside heard nothing at all.
"Damn Jiang Zhe!"
"Why won't you just leave the Primal Secret Realm? Why haven't you advanced to Domain Lord yet? You're already so strong, why still fight us over these precious slots!"
"Ahhh! I hate it! I hate it!"
"I'll kill you! Jiang Zhe, I'll remember this grudge. If I ever get the chance, I'll kill you!"
"And Luo Feng, you fool—your life is ridiculously tough. Even that didn't kill you!"
"Luo Feng, Jiang Zhe… it's all your fault! Damn it! I'm bound to fall to the Taichu Secret Realm now. What am I supposed to do?"
Morrow's face twisted, like a cornered jackal driven to madness.
Achoo! Achoo!
"Eh? What's going on? Since when do Universe-level experts sneeze?"
Jiang Zhe rubbed his nose, looking puzzled.
But it was just a casual comment. He didn't pay it much mind.
"Anna, this is probably the last training world we'll visit," he said, gazing at the computer screen, his expression a little wistful.
"After this, whether or not the demon race is suitable for a clone, I'll have to advance to Domain Lord and get dispatched elsewhere. This 'nursery camp' isn't worth wasting more time on."
"It's been almost 200 years since I left home. It's about time I went back to Earth for a look."
"Also… even though it's roughly 600 million light-years away from the Silver-Blue Empire, I can feel the secret within the Wuxian constellation ripening, calling for me to return and harvest it."
Orianna: "…"
"Master, be careful what you say!"
Orianna sighed helplessly.
"To borrow a saying from Earth—you're like an old general on stage with flags stuck all over your back."
Jiang Zhe chuckled and shook his head.
"We're going to the Abyss World. The Dark Lord didn't forbid you from taking action. With my near 15th-level Tongtian Bridge law comprehension, plus your 3000-fold Domain Lord power, won't we completely dominate there?"
"Uh…" Orianna hesitated.
"Master, have you considered that maybe, just maybe, your teacher knows our strength—and still believes that even at our level, the Abyss World is a near-certain death?"
Jiang Zhe tilted his head to look at his best partner.
"That probably, maybe, most likely… can't be true, right?"
Orianna handed him a hypothesis.
"We know the Abyss World has demon races with a thousandfold life gene baseline. If one of them breaks through to Undying, even with terrible law comprehension—just a hundredfold Domain Lord power—that's still a total of 100,000-fold Domain Lord power. That's a peak Undying King."
Jiang Zhe's face went dark.
"3000 vs. 100,000? That's… dangerously absurd."
But then he remembered how Luo Feng, upon becoming Undying, immediately reached 300 million-fold Domain Lord power.
Such were the rules of the universe: the higher your life gene multiplier, the more ridiculously powerful you could become.
"Come on, let's see what this Abyss World is really about."
Jiang Zhe straightened up in front of his desktop, moved the mouse, and clicked open the page.
Training Missions:
Safe
Normal
Difficult
Dangerous
Desperate
"Desperate!" Jiang Zhe selected without hesitation.
This was actually his first time taking on a desperate-level mission.
All three of his allotted slots were still unused.
Since leaving the initial universe and entering the Primal Secret Realm, the only training worlds he cared about were the Blood Luo World, the Demon Mountain, and the Abyss World.
The Ancient God World had been an unexpected temporary stopover, just to avoid entering Blood Luo World too early and accidentally ruining Luo Feng's beast god statue—his biggest opportunity.
But good deeds are rewarded. In the Ancient God World, he'd found a life embryo that massively benefited both him and Orianna.
As for the "Demon Mountain," it only tempted him because of the Ice God General's inheritance to boost his body amplitude.
Now that he had the complete "Black Crystal Nine Refinements Body", raising his max body amplitude to 99 times, he had no further interest in that inheritance.
Which left only the Abyss World. Before, it was curiosity. Now, he wanted to go there to seek a suitable clone.
Only a thousandfold? Not enough.
For his second clone, even if it couldn't be ten thousandfold, it needed at least a five-thousandfold baseline.
Plus, the Dark Lord had said the Abyss World contained secrets waiting for Jiang Zhe to discover himself.
Beep—Beep—Beep—Beep—
A harsh alarm blared from the computer speakers.
"Jiang Zhe, please note: this is a desperate-level mission. Many members of the Taichu and Primal Secret Realms have died attempting these. It is recommended you gain more experience through additional qualifying battles before taking on a desperate-level mission."
The electronic voice echoed in the study.
Jiang Zhe ignored the program's built-in warnings and insisted on accepting the mission.
Beep!
The page refreshed, displaying the desperate-level mission list. At the top was a line of text:
"Desperate-level missions have an average mortality rate of 90%. Surviving such a mission requires not just strength, but also luck. You may attempt desperate-level missions up to three times. Choose carefully."
Mission list:
Purgatory Abyss (Virtual Universe Company Primal Secret Realm)
…
Jiang Zhe's gaze froze there.
This was a million-point mission—equal to a sixth of his total net worth.
Not a small sum at all.
Its mortality rate?
A staggering 99%.
Remember: only Universe-level Secret Realm members could undertake these training missions. And how many of them were there?
Typically:
Primal Secret Realm: 3 members
Taichu Secret Realm: 30 members
Heaven and Earth Secret Realm: 300 members
(The End World Secret Realm didn't count—they were future servant material.)
Primal Secret Realm had 3 attempts.
Taichu Secret Realm had 2 attempts.
Heaven and Earth Secret Realm had 1 attempt.
End World Secret Realm also had 1 attempt.
Who in their right mind from the latter two realms would risk their lives on the hardest desperate-level mission?
Looking at these figures, that 99% mortality rate was simply chilling.
But Jiang Zhe still clicked his mouse to accept.
Beep!
"Please confirm acceptance of the Purgatory Abyss training mission."
"Detected permissions change. The mission has been modified to include Task Two and Task Three. Please review carefully…"
Jiang Zhe and Orianna exchanged looks after reading the new mission content.
"Master, your teacher's intervened."
"Yeah, I figured. As the top executive of the Virtual Universe Company, he can modify training missions however he likes."
The electronic voice sounded again.
"Do you wish to proceed with the Purgatory Abyss training mission?"
Jiang Zhe clicked confirm.
"Please select your departure time. The Virtual Universe Company will arrange transport to the Abyss World."
Jiang Zhe set it for half a month later. He needed time to purchase supplies and prepare in top form.
Abyss World
A strange space born from the corpse of a supreme being—a special refining ground.
Madness, brutality, bloodshed, slaughter… every word for evil could describe this cursed land.
Members undertaking the mission didn't have to worry about revealing their identities. Whether exposed or not, it made no difference. The locals, or even other species, didn't distinguish—you had to be ready to be killed and turned into evolution material at any time.
To communicate with the native demon race, you needed to learn the Demonic Tongue.
The Abyss World had nine layers, each spanning nearly a trillion kilometers. Countless demons with demon bloodlines lived here, though pureblood demons were extremely rare.
Purgatory Abyss Mission:
Task One: Kill 10 Demon Counts (Domain Lords), consume all their hearts, survive, and receive 1 million points.
Task Two: Kill 10 Demon Marquises (Sector Lords), consume 1 Marquis heart, survive, and receive 2 million points.
Task Three: Kill 1 Demon Duke (Undying), consume 1 Duke heart, survive, and receive 10 million points.
Generous.
So generous.
Unbelievably generous.
That was the only thought in Jiang Zhe's mind after reading the revised mission.
Especially Task Three!
His eyes shone with a crazed light.
"Anna, if we use all our trump cards, taking down a Demon Duke shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Orianna recalled the mission details, eyes full of doubt.
"Master, which trump cards do you mean?"
"The Blood Transformation Blade! And our puppet combination strike!"
"But if we use those… will there be anything left of the Duke's heart for us to eat afterward?"
Jiang Zhe froze.
The Virtual Universe Company's confidentiality really is terrible. Luo Feng had barely stepped out after clearing Tongtian Mountain when he was already being pointed at by a bunch of Undyings… there truly are no secrets.
(End of this chapter)
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