Swallowing the Stars: I Have a Primordial Dao Seed

In the days that followed, Zhou Yuan was almost completely immersed in the simulated weapon-refining arena of the virtual universe, repeatedly attempting to forge a fifth-tier Zhenkong Blade. Although he hadn't succeeded yet, each failure deepened his understanding of the weapon-refining secret technique 2.0.

Zhou Yuan was immersed in the rhythm of quenching molten metal and engraving secret patterns when the communicator on his wrist suddenly rang. It was a message from the steward, Qian Hong: "Your Highness, the goods sent by your third senior brother, Di Rui, have arrived. Please come to the front hall to receive them."

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes. He immediately ended the weapon-refining simulation and exited the virtual universe. He strode to the front hall of the villa, where he saw Qian Hong standing respectfully to the side, holding an antique black wooden box in his hands.

"Your Highness, this is a package sent by your third senior brother. Inside is a long sword." Qian Hong handed over the wooden box he had received.

Zhou Yuan took the wooden box; it was heavy in his hand, and its surface was covered with intricate runes of laws. He opened the lid, and inside lay a simple, ancient-looking two-handed longsword.

"What a fine blade!" Zhou Yuan exclaimed, reaching out to grasp the hilt and gently drawing the sword. The moment the blade was drawn, the surrounding space slightly distorted, and a sharp aura of spatial laws swept over him.

This Cosmos Blade is crafted entirely from G-grade metal, far exceeding the value of a fifth-tier Force weapon, worth at least hundreds of millions of Chaos Units. It was personally forged by the human race's master weapon refiner, the King-level expert Cosmos, and its interior is inscribed with perfect spatial law runes, enough to support Zhou Yuan's use until he reaches the King-level Immortal stage.

"Alright, you can leave now." Zhou Yuan couldn't wait to try out the ever-changing techniques, so he quickly told Qian Hong to leave.

"This subordinate takes his leave." Qian Hong bowed respectfully and then left the villa.

Seeing Qian Hong leave, Zhou Yuan activated the Myriad Transformations Secret Technique, attempting to simulate the form and aura of the Cosmos Blade. However, he failed to transform into the Cosmos Blade.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Yuan understood the reason: the difference in level between himself and the Cosmos Blade was too great; the level of the King-level weapon was beyond Zhou Yuan's ever-changing range.

Unable to analyze it directly through secret methods, Zhou Yuan could only use the most traditional method to comprehend the runes. He carefully observed every detail of the blade while circulating his spiritual energy, cautiously sensing the operating rules of the runes within the blade. This is the way ordinary people comprehend runes.

Although this method was much slower than Zhou Yuan's ever-changing techniques, Zhou Yuan's comprehension had been greatly enhanced by the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique. In just three days, he had gained a preliminary understanding of the basic runes within the blade, which would not affect its normal use.

What surprised him even more was that, in the process of comprehending the spatial runes, his understanding of the fundamental laws of space also deepened, and before he knew it, his understanding of the fundamental laws of space had made significant progress.

Zhou Yuan suddenly realized that he had been too engrossed in weapon crafting lately, neglecting the most crucial aspect: understanding the laws of nature. For a martial artist of his level, the laws of nature were fundamental; weapon crafting was merely an auxiliary means. He couldn't abandon the essential for the trivial.

Realizing this, Zhou Yuan immediately adjusted his cultivation plan. He spent most of his time comprehending the essence of the fundamental laws of space, only practicing weapon crafting occasionally. As his mind focused, his comprehension speed increased again, and he dissected the essence of the fundamental laws of space one by one.

Two years have passed in the blink of an eye, and the first stage of the Genius Battle is over. During this time, Zhou Yuan has spent most of his time comprehending the essence of the fundamental laws of space, and has already grasped thirty-five of them. He is only one step away from comprehending the thirty-six simplest fundamental laws of space.

During this time, he would occasionally keep an eye on the competition and see how other talents performed. This year's competition saw the emergence of many dark horses. Although they did not win first place in the elimination rounds, their performance in the competition was more impressive than that of many elimination round champions.

For example, Karen from the Zichen Universe Kingdom; Zhou Yuan had previously watched his matches. Karen qualified for the finals with an undefeated record in the arena battles, demonstrating absolute strength.

All the various cosmic nations of the human race are collecting information on the participating geniuses, and the Zi Chen Cosmic Nation is no exception. As the personal disciple of the Zi Chen Nation's ruler, Zhou Yuan naturally has access to the most complete information at the first opportunity.

On the afternoon of the day the first stage of the arena competition ended, the steward Qian Hong came to pay his respects with a light screen containing information on geniuses collected by the Zi Chen Universe Kingdom: "Your Highness, this is the information that our Zi Chen Universe Kingdom has received from various universe kingdoms."

Zhou Yuan took the data screen and swiped his finger across it, reviewing the contestants' information one by one. Most of the contestants were far too weak for him to be of any interest. Even the few who were slightly stronger were still far inferior to him.

Upon seeing Karen's information, Zhou Yuan nodded slightly: "This Karen is progressing very quickly. His Myriad Incarnations Secret Technique should be breaking through to the second level soon. Entering the top ten shouldn't be a problem."

Zhou Yuan glanced at Karen's information and thought, "This Karen should be able to make it into the top ten. His Myriad Avatar is about to break through to the second level."

Turning to the information on the Flame Dragon Universe Kingdom, the first name that appeared was Yan Lie. A hint of approval flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes: "This Yan Lie has a deep understanding of the fundamental laws of fire, and he has also crossed the threshold of the fundamental laws of space. He should have the strength to compete for the top ten."

"This Auster is probably also in the top ten, and he actually earned his place in the arena."

Keane, Safir, Gu Hong...

The names of geniuses flashed across the screen, and Zhou Yuan casually commented on them in his mind, but none of them posed a threat to him.

A feeling of invincibility welled up in Zhou Yuan's heart. Looking at the list on the screen, he couldn't help but recall a song from his previous life on Earth: "How lonely it is to be invincible; how empty it is to be invincible..."

He went through the entire list but didn't find any familiar characters from the original work. It seemed that this year's battle of the strongest didn't produce any extraordinary talents that would leave a mark on the future.

"Sigh, there's not a single one who can fight." Zhou Yuan sighed softly. "I wonder if those geniuses in the Primal Secret Realm are any stronger."

Just as Zhou Yuan was lamenting the difficulty of finding a worthy opponent, the other three major races besides the human race were also taking intensive action.

Within a divine kingdom located in a spatial interlayer, a Zerg queen was raging at her immortal gods: "Useless! After searching for so long, you can't even find a trace of Zhou Yuan! What are you all good for?"

The immortal deity below bowed his head and answered tremblingly, "My lord, all information about Zhou Yuan is strictly blocked by the Zi Chen Universe Kingdom. We have used all our intelligence networks, but we still haven't been able to find his exact location."

Similar scenarios were unfolding within the intelligence agencies of the Mechanical Race and the Demon Race. Zhou Yuan's terrifying talent displayed in the elimination rounds had already aroused the vigilance of the three major races, who all wanted to nip him in the bud before he could grow any stronger.