"Before my former master passed away, he liquidated all his assets and converted them into cosmic currency for training future successors," Rimuru explained, his blue form bobbing slightly with enthusiasm.
"Of course, he didn't sell everything. For instance, the Frost sword on your back is a second-rank Force weapon, equivalent in power to what a Stellar-level warrior might wield."
He paused, as if gathering his thoughts before delivering the truly staggering news.
"The master's remaining liquid assets total 2.37 million Hunyuan Units. Combined with the Ice Wasteland spacecraft itself, the total value exceeds 6 million Hunyuan Units, all of which I'm currently managing on your behalf."
Rimuru's tone shifted to something more educational. "Hunyuan Units are the currency used by Immortals. To put this in perspective, an ordinary Realm Master's total wealth typically amounts to only a dozen or so Hunyuan Units."
Han Jue felt genuine surprise ripple through him. Truly worthy of someone from the Virtual Universe Company.
A Realm Master from the Heaven and Earth Secret Realm possessed wealth that exceeded even some ordinary Immortals! The Lord of the Ice Wasteland had apparently subscribed to a remarkably straightforward philosophy when it came to training successors:
Buy whatever you need.
No expense spared.
"Master's funds are all deposited with the First Bank of the Universe," Rimuru continued, his voice taking on a slightly apologetic tone. "Unfortunately, you won't be able to access them until you leave Earth and enter the wider cosmos."
"Here on Earth, I have limited resources available to train you properly."
His form brightened with renewed determination. "However, the next Genius Battle is approaching. I'll do everything in my power to improve your strength before the competition begins, so you can enter the core ranks of the Virtual Universe Company!"
Rimuru produced a ring from seemingly nowhere and extended it toward Han Jue. The band gleamed with an inner luminescence that suggested it was far more than simple jewelry.
"This is a World Ring, capable of storing living things," Rimuru explained. "It has an internal space of ten thousand cubic kilometers, that's where all the remaining items are currently stored. Since you're not a Spirit Reader, you'll need to reach Planetary level before you can properly utilize it."
He paused suddenly, his form flickering with concentration.
"Wait one moment."
Rimuru's consciousness reached into the World Ring, retrieving a single object with obvious care. A crystal-clear fruit materialized in the air before them, hovering at eye level.
The fruit radiated an intense chill that seemed to lower the ambient temperature by several degrees. As Han Jue stepped closer to examine it, he felt as though invisible ice was crystallizing around him, the cold penetrating to his very bones despite his enhanced physique.
"The Heaven's End Ice Crystal Fruit," Rimuru announced with obvious reverence. "It's produced in a secret realm deep within the universe. Consuming it will slightly enhance your innate ability to comprehend the fundamental laws of water, a permanent improvement to your natural talent itself."
He let that sink in before adding, "The price of this single fruit could purchase several entire star systems. With proper auction bidding, perhaps even more."
Rimuru's tone shifted to something more pointed. "With this, combined with my training methods, your talent should have a genuine chance of qualifying for the Virtual Universe Company's core membership."
"To give you some perspective," he continued, "that Millennium Ice Marrow Crystal you used before? That was essentially a stone transformed from a trace of energy released during this fruit's growth process. I have plenty more of those if you need them, they're practically worthless by comparison."
Upon hearing this explanation, Han Jue reached out and carefully took the fruit, feeling its supernatural cold against his palm.
"Eat it directly," Rimuru instructed with an encouraging smile. "The fruit will strengthen your constitution and guide you through your breakthrough to Planetary level. The process should be relatively smooth, though not entirely without discomfort."
Han Jue didn't hesitate. After everything he'd already endured, the chalcedony, the Dragon Blood, the Millennium Ice Marrow Crystal, this was just another step on his path to power.
He bit into the fruit, and it dissolved instantly on his tongue, flowing into his body like liquid starlight infused with winter's essence. The substance seeped into every corner of his being, permeating his muscles, his bones, his blood vessels, flowing continuously through his entire system like an unstoppable tide.
Han Jue felt his body temperature spike dramatically, as if every single cell had begun to boil with barely contained energy. His cells gulped down the roaming power greedily, devouring it with desperate hunger. The genetic energy within him began to converge like droplets forming streams, streams becoming rivers, rivers flowing toward an ocean...
The accumulated energy swirled and condensed, finally settling in his dantian, the energy center located in his lower abdomen.
"Boom!"
The dantian burst open, carved from nothingness through sheer energetic pressure!
Han Jue felt a tremendous tremor throughout his entire body, as if the foundations of his being were being restructured. The swirling genetic energy accelerated to dizzying speeds, expanding outward before contracting inward, each cycle compressing it to a smaller, denser state.
A miniature blue planet materialized in the previously empty dantian, spinning continuously on its axis with perfect stability.
Planetary Level One!
Han Jue's entire physiology underwent radical transformation. It felt as though his body was being crushed to powder and then reconstituted from scratch, each cell rebuilt with superior architecture. A trace of blue genetic energy emanated from his skin, visible to anyone with sufficient perception.
"The special ability gained from consuming the Heaven's End Ice Crystal Fruit appears to be pure water manipulation," Rimuru's voice echoed directly in Han Jue's mind, bypassing his ears entirely. "Hmm, not bad at all. That should complement your Water Artistic Conception nicely."
"Nngh!"
Han Jue grunted through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched tight as he endured the transformation. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the supernatural cold still radiating from his body.
It's not over yet!
The tremendous energy flooding his system continued surging through him with undiminished intensity. Soon, a second micro-planet began condensing within his dantian, forming alongside the first.
Then a third materialized. Then a fourth...
When the energy began coalescing into a fifth micro-planet, the remaining power in his body finally reached exhaustion. The process halted abruptly, leaving him stabilized at Planetary Level Four.
Suddenly, Han Jue felt a sharp, needle-like sensation in his eyes, as if something was piercing them from within. When he focused his attention inward to examine the feeling more carefully, it had already vanished, leaving only a faint afterimage of discomfort.
Have the Six Eyes mutated again?
Not knowing the precise nature or extent of the mutation, Han Jue decided to investigate it later. For now, he simply cataloged the change and moved on.
"You've only advanced to Planetary Level Four?" Rimuru's voice sounded genuinely puzzled in his mind. "I calculated that the fruit contained sufficient energy to push you directly to Stellar level, or at minimum high-level Planetary. Something must have absorbed a significant portion of the energy during your transformation."
Han Jue suspected the unexpected mutation in his Six Eyes was responsible for the energy drain, but saw no reason to voice that speculation aloud. Some secrets were better kept, even from a well-meaning AI companion.
After breaking through to Planetary level, he could now externalize his genetic energy, which meant he'd finally gained the ability to properly utilize the World Ring's storage functions.
With a focused thought, Han Jue extended his consciousness into the ring, examining its contents with curiosity.
As Rimuru had indicated, what remained inside could only be described as "leftovers", items that were merely marginally useful to warriors below Stellar level. The best equipment available consisted of several third-rank Force weapons, respectable but hardly extraordinary by cosmic standards.
"Since my former master didn't know whether his eventual successor would be a warrior or a Spirit Reader, he left behind both types of weapons," Rimuru explained, anticipating Han Jue's next question. "For warriors, there's the Ice Wasteland Sword. For Spirit Readers, one of the Soaring Shuttle's Nine Divine Weapons."
Rimuru's tone grew more reverent as he continued. "The Ice Wasteland Sword is an Immortal God-tier weapon, it surpasses even fifth-rank Force weapons in power, though it hasn't quite reached the threshold of being classified as a true treasure. My master acquired it through fortunate circumstances during an expedition. If you were to sell it, the sword would likely fetch over a million Hunyuan Units at auction, making it your single most valuable liquid asset. Even some titled Immortals, those bearing the rank of Marquis or even King, would covet such a blade."
He paused before adding, "As for the Soaring Shuttle's Nine Divine Weapons, when used together by a skilled Spirit Reader, they can threaten even relatively weak Immortals if the wielder has reached Realm Master level. Individually, each weapon is still formidable, though not quite as devastating."
"Let's leave here first," Han Jue said, carefully placing the Ice Wasteland Sword into his World Ring where it would be safe. "Thunder God is still waiting outside the ruins. He's probably getting anxious by now."
"Whoosh!"
A cascade of white snow mixed with pulverized gravel and shattered ice chunks suddenly exploded outward from the ruins entrance, raining down across the frozen landscape.
Thunder God, who'd been waiting vigilantly near the sealed doorway, rolled sideways with surprising agility for someone of his size, narrowly avoiding the debris scattered from above. Even so, he felt an intense chill against his back that had nothing to do with Antarctica's natural temperature.
"Bang!"
Thunder God couldn't see the face of whoever, or whatever, was emerging through the smoke and debris. Operating purely on combat instinct, he barely had time to draw his weapon and raise it defensively before something struck him with tremendous force.
The impact sent him flying backward, his feet carving twin furrows through the snow and ice as he skidded to a halt dozens of meters from his original position.
"What the, ?!"
As the dust and snow settled, Thunder God peered through the clearing air, his eyes gradually focusing on the figure standing where the ruins entrance had been just moments before.
His expression transformed from combat-ready wariness to absolute shock.
"Han Jue?!"
Thunder God's eyes widened to an almost comical degree, as if he'd encountered something that violated the fundamental laws of reality. His gaze swept past Han Jue to look behind him, toward where the ancient ruins should have been standing.
The white jade gate had vanished. The entire structure, gone, as if it had never existed at all!
Looking back at Han Jue, Thunder God noticed the young warrior still wore that same infuriatingly confident smile, and he couldn't suppress his burning questions any longer.
"What did you do?" Thunder God demanded, his voice carrying equal parts alarm and disbelief. "Why are the ruins gone?! Did you destroy them? Collapse them? What happened in there?!"
"Of course it's because I'm extraordinarily talented," Han Jue replied with practiced nonchalance, his smile widening slightly. "The ruins recognized my potential and decided to follow me willingly."
"Be serious!" Thunder God glared at him with obvious irritation.
Why not just claim some peerless master was crying and begging to take you as his personal disciple while you're at it? Thunder God thought sarcastically.
"Rimuru, can I explain this to him?" Han Jue muttered under his breath, his lips barely moving.
"No problem," Rimuru's voice responded immediately in his mind. "Just don't reveal specific details about the inheritance itself, keep those secret. Everything else is fine to discuss."
Han Jue nodded slightly and proceeded to explain his general experience to Thunder God, carefully editing out the most sensitive information as instructed.
After omitting certain crucial details about the inheritance's true nature and value, there was actually relatively little to hide. The basic facts were extraordinary enough without embellishment.
Thunder God stood frozen after hearing the explanation, his mind struggling to process what he'd just learned. After what felt like an eternity, he shook his head violently, as if trying to physically dislodge his disbelief.
"So let me get this absolutely straight," Thunder God said slowly, his voice strained. "You're telling me that you reached Planetary level in just two days? And not even basic Planetary level, you jumped straight to Planetary Level Four?!"
Thunder God suddenly felt an irrational surge of jealousy course through him. Why wasn't I the one selected? What does this kid have that I don't?!
Han Jue was also somewhat curious about that particular question, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
Rimuru provided the explanation unprompted, his voice carrying a matter-of-fact tone.
"The inheritance primarily tests three aspects: learning ability, willpower, and innate talent for comprehending fundamental laws."
"That bald individual you call Thunder God, while his willpower and mental cultivation are genuinely impressive, his performance in the other two categories is unfortunately quite poor by universal standards. And you, Master Han Jue, while your raw talent for law comprehension is merely average compared to true cosmic geniuses, you demonstrate exceptional strength in learning ability and willpower. Your comprehension speed is also remarkably high, you've already begun creating your own secret techniques at the Apprentice level, which is quite rare."
"Of course," Rimuru added with obvious satisfaction, "it's also because you're far more compatible with my former master's specific inheritance. The Ice Wasteland Lord specialized in water and space, exactly matching your Six Eyes ability and Water Artistic Conception. The compatibility factor cannot be overstated when it comes to inheritance success rates."
Thunder God noticed Han Jue's expression shift slightly, as if he were listening to something he himself couldn't hear. That observation only deepened his suspicions.
"You acquired something in there, didn't you?" Lei Shen asked with resignation.
"Something like that," Han Jue confirmed, seeing no reason to deny the obvious.
Thunder God released a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Well, at least you survived and came back stronger. That's what matters most. Han Hechang would have my head if anything happened to you."
He straightened, his expression growing more serious. "We should return to the base and contact your father. He'll want to know about this breakthrough immediately, Planetary level at sixteen is going to cause quite the stir in the global warrior community."
"Actually," Han Jue said with a slight smile, "I'd prefer to keep this quiet for now. Let people assume I'm still at the invincible War God level. The element of surprise has its advantages."
Thunder God considered this for a moment, then nodded slowly. "That's... actually wise. Yes, we can do that. But you'll need to be careful about controlling your energy output. Planetary-level warriors emit a distinctly different aura, people will notice if you're not cautious."
"Rimuru can help me with that," Han Jue said confidently.
"Rimuru? Is that your AI's name?" Thunder God couldn't help but smile slightly. "Well then, let's head back. We have much to discuss, and I'm certain your 'Rimuru' has plenty of training plans already prepared."
As they boarded Thunder God's fighter craft and lifted off from the frozen wasteland, Han Jue gazed out at Antarctica's endless white expanse, his mind already racing ahead to the challenges and opportunities that awaited him.
Planetary Level Four at sixteen years old.
The universe was vast, but he would conquer it one step at a time.
☆☆☆
-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE
☆☆☆
-> 50 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/AshenMoon
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you