Wu Yuan smiled and cupped his hands. "Wu Yuan greets Fellow Daoists."

"Daoist Wu Yuan."

"Daoist Wu Yuan." High Eldritch Liu Hong and High Eldritch Wu Jian returned the gesture.

They were all members of the Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court. Having long heard of Wu Yuan's exploits, they understood that while their current strength might not be inferior to Wu Yuan's, their potential paled in comparison.

Moreover, this trip to the Cang Feng Eldritch World was, to some extent, a contest over Wu Yuan's providence. They had no right to take the moral high ground, and thus were extremely courteous.

"Greetings, Fellow Daoist." High Immortal Nan Yin gave a slight nod.

Even within the Eldritch Court headquarters, she was an exceptionally dazzling genius, a High Immortal of the core circle.

Wu Yuan? She acknowledged his prowess, but it was not enough to make her admit defeat. At least, in High Immortal Nan Yin's view, her current strength surpassed Wu Yuan's.

"Mm. Nan Yin, Liu Hong, Wu Jian, you will all temporarily reside in the First Origin Eldritch Field. In a hundred years at the latest, when the great battle between my Cang Feng Eldritch World and the Voltari Temple begins, I will notify you again." Sovereign Kua Chi's gaze swept over the group as he smiled.

"In this contest for providence, you are theoretically competitors, but you must first understand that when our Eldritch Court faction faces external enemies, we must stand united. Competition and internal strife are two different matters!

When the time comes for the Megaverse Crossroads, you will all belong to our Eldritch Court faction. The Immortal Court is the greatest enemy of our Eldritch Court. Do you all understand?" Sovereign Kua Chi said solemnly.

"Yes!"

"Yes." Wu Yuan, High Immortal Nan Yin, and the other four responded with complete seriousness.

Overthrowing the Immortal Court was an obsession etched into the bones of every Eldritch Court powerhouse.

Wu Yuan might not be a native of the eldritch world. But after ten thousand years of benefiting from his master's grace, enjoying various resources from the Eldritch Court, and befriending the powerhouses of the eldritch world, he gradually came to truly consider himself a member of the Eldritch Court. Moreover, he had also faced assassination attempts from the Immortal Court.

In the struggle between factions, there was no good or evil, only life and death.

"Astral Monarch Hou Qu, please escort High Immortal Nan Yin and the others down," Sovereign Kua Chi said.

The three geniuses were all exceptional, especially High Immortal Nan Yin, who had a high probability of breaking through to become a Sovereign in the future.

However, Sovereign Kua Chi, being a Sovereign himself, didn't care much for it. Even if he were to help Nan Yin with all his might, what of it? She might not even appreciate it.

Besides, the providence of any macrocosm was limited. In his eyes, his disciple Wu Yuan had far greater potential than Nan Yin. The relationship between master and disciple was far more solid.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Everyone successively withdrew from the temple. High Immortal Nan Yin, High Eldritch Liu Hong, and the other two followed Astral Monarch Hou Qu, taking the teleportation array to the First Origin Eldritch Field. Ｒ𝓪𐌽ǒ𝔟Е𐌔

Wu Yuan and Jiang Huan walked through the sky above the Cang Feng Continent.

"Senior Brother, how was your trip to the Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court?" Wu Yuan asked with a smile.

"It was eye-opening," Jiang Huan said with some emotion. "I've been cultivating for so long, but only roamed the eldritch world in the past. I had never seen so many monstrous prodigies in one place before.

Previously, I had consulted with numerous intelligence records and heard that the core of the Saintdom was formidable. But it was only after this visit that I truly understood the full picture," Jiang Huan said with a smile.

"Oh?" Wu Yuan smiled and said, "Can Senior Brother elaborate?"

Saintdom? The entire Ling Jiang Universe had twelve Saintdoms.

In fact, the Spacetime Dao Realm was considered the core of one Saintdom, but it was somewhat special and didn't gather many monstrous prodigies.

Meanwhile, the cores of other Saintdoms like the Taiyuan Divine Court headquarters and the Eldritch Court's Ling Jiang headquarters gathered numerous peerless geniuses from various macrocosms.

The top-tier geniuses of various major factions generally had two paths they could take for training. One path was to be sent to the Saintdom headquarters, but spots there were limited and the entry requirements were often high.

The other path was to train within the macrocosm. If they performed well enough, they could still receive guidance from Astral Monarch powerhouses or even Sovereigns, and the treatment would be equally excellent.

After all, even if sent to the Saintdom headquarters, they would still only receive guidance from Astral Monarchs and Sovereigns, and the resources they received would be similar. At most, the Saintdom headquarters' resources might be more comprehensive.

As for guidance from Overlords, how many Overlords were there in a Saintdom? Unless one had the potential to become a Sovereign, most Overlords were too lazy to bother.

For instance, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self was essentially sent by Immortal Sovereign Bei You to be trained in the core of a Saintdom.

"The Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court doesn't train many geniuses, only a few million," Jiang Huan said.

A few million? Wu Yuan nodded.

The entire Ling Jiang Universe had over eight thousand macrocosms, of which more than half were at least partially occupied by the Eldritch Court. The geniuses gathered from the territories of numerous macrocosms only amounted to a few million? This showed how strict the selection process was.

It should be noted that even the First Origin Eldritch Field of the Cang Feng Eldritch World trained over ten million High Immortals and High Eldritches.

"The numbers may be small, but each one is an elite," Jiang Huan said with emotion. "Excluding those extremely young with a cultivation period of fewer than ninety thousand years, the rest of those training there are on par with the earth-tier members of the First Origin Eldritch Field at minimum. Those slightly stronger have late-stage Astral Lord Dao comprehension.

There are thousands with Dao comprehension at the Astral Monarch level, on par with me."

Thousands? Wu Yuan mused to himself.

Senior Brother Jiang Huan, as the top genius of the Cang Feng Eldritch World, would be among the top 0.001% even within the Ling Jiang Saintdom of the Eldritch Court.

"There are hundreds with Dao comprehension comparable to High Eldritch Liu Hong and High Eldritch Wu Jian.

The top twenty, in terms of Dao comprehension alone, can each rival High Immortal Nan Yin," Jiang Huan said solemnly.

Wu Yuan pondered.

This meant that just in the Eldritch Court's Ling Jiang headquarters alone, there were dozens with Dao comprehension reaching the late-stage Astral Monarch level?

Looking at the entire Ling Jiang Universe, there had to be at least a hundred at this level.

However, there was a major bottleneck between the late-stage Astral Monarch and the Sovereign levels. At least, according to publicly available information, only Yu Xiang from the Desolation Divine Court had completed the breakthrough.

No wonder Master didn’t have any expectations, saying I should just do my best during the upcoming Megaverse Crossroads.

Wu Yuan thought to himself.

And these are just the geniuses from one river of space and time... At the Megaverse Crossroads, it will be a clash of geniuses from the entire megaverse.

The Saintcrest Prodigy title is not limited to just one recipient, and the one who obtains it may not necessarily be the strongest; there is an element of luck involved. But looking at past Megaverse Crossroads, the number of recipients doesn't exceed three.

When the time comes, the competition will only be more brutal.

But competition was what ignited one's fighting spirit, and Wu Yuan felt a burning desire to win.

"Junior Brother, you truly have a great mindset," Jiang Huan looked at Wu Yuan and smiled. "Even after hearing about the Saintdom's geniuses, you're not afraid at all."

"Fear is useless. We should face challenges head-on and fight our way to the top," Wu Yuan smiled. "Senior Brother, you have hope too."

"Me?” Jiang Huan smiled and shook his head. "I know myself; my chances are very slim. If it weren't for Master's wholehearted guidance, I might not even have achieved what I had. I will do my best in this contest of providence and the upcoming Megaverse Crossroads battle.

But if I get it, it's my destiny; if not, it doesn't matter.

Throughout history, most Sovereigns weren't Supreme Geniuses. And most of the Supreme Geniuses throughout history ultimately failed to become Overlords," Jiang Huan smiled, unworried. "I'll take it slow. After many years, I might not be inferior to others."

"Senior Brother's Dao Heart is admirable," Wu Yuan said sincerely.

The Dao Heart was unfathomable.

Wu Yuan could sense in Jiang Huan a strong Dao Heart that was steady, unhurried, and unmoved by the external. With such a Dao Heart, coupled with decent talent, he was bound to achieve greatness.

Senior Brother is quite similar to Archimmortal Xiang Fei. Both have excellent temperaments and strong Dao Hearts.

A thought flashed through Wu Yuan's mind.

However, in terms of talent, Senior Brother is far superior to Archimmortal Xiang Fei.

"Senior Brother, regarding your cultivation of the supreme burst secret art, to what level can you boost your ether now?" Wu Yuan suddenly asked.

This was crucial. Besides Dao comprehension, secret arts, and artifacts, combat power depended most heavily on the power of ether and mana.

"This supreme burst secret art bestowed by the Eldritch Court this time is divided into six levels," Jiang Huan said, clearly not intending to conceal anything.

"It can boost one’s mana to first-stage Archimmortal, third-stage Archimmortal, fifth-stage Archimmortal, seventh-stage Archimmortal, ninth-stage Archimmortal, and base-level Astral Monarch mana respectively."

Information about these secret arts had long been spread, so there was no need for secrecy.

"Currently, I can boost my ether to the fifth-stage Archimmortal level," Jiang Huan said. "Once activated, my strength should approach the Astral Monarch level for a short time.

Liu Hong, Nan Yin, and the others should be able to boost their mana and ether to the seventh-stage Archimmortal level," Jiang Huan said. "This secret art becomes increasingly difficult to cultivate at later levels.

According to the Sovereign who instructed us, one needs Sovereign-level Dao comprehension to cultivate to the fifth level, which is ninth-stage Archimmortal mana," Jiang Huan said.

Wu Yuan listened.

This meant that High Immortal Nan Yin, High Eldritch Liu Hong, and High Eldritch Wu Jian should all be able to unleash Astral Monarch level combat power. High Immortal Nan Yin in particular would have even more formidable combat power.

Of course, the base mana and ether of High Immortal/High Eldritch peerless geniuses were inferior to Archimmortals and Archdeities, so the duration of intense combat using such burst secret arts would be very short.

After chatting for a while, Wu Yuan and Jiang Huan parted ways.

…

The Cang Feng Temple, in the world where Wu Yuan's body refiner self resided.

Originally, I was hoping to easily dominate the other geniuses with my supreme burst secret arts.

Wu Yuan smiled and shook his head.

It seems that the Saintdom factions of various rivers of space and time are not foolish. They actually bestow supreme burst secret arts to the various participants before the opening of the Megaverse Crossroads.

It wasn't easy for supreme beings to create such secret arts, but after long years, it was only natural that they would achieve success. Moreover, once created, it became easier to impart.

With this, I've lost my biggest advantage.

Wu Yuan thought to himself.

But overall, I still have an edge.

Wu Yuan pondered.

According to Senior Brother Jiang Huan, the supreme burst secret art they learned is rather crude. It requires Sovereign-level comprehension just to unleash ninth-stage Archimmortal mana?

He made a comparison.

The requirement is slightly higher than for 'Genesis Law Sacrifice' cultivated by my qi refiner self.

Wu Yuan mused silently.

If one's comprehension of the Great Dao of Spacetime reaches the Dao Field stage, there is hope of cultivating the final part of 'Genesis Law Sacrifice'.

The final part of 'Genesis Law Sacrifice' allowed one to unleash mana at the base-level Astral Monarch level.

And compared to the 'Creation Saint Prohibition' cultivated by his body refiner self, the gap in difficulty was even greater.

Thinking of this, a surge of powerful, majestic vital aura spread out from Wu Yuan's body. Simultaneously, a pair of black wings materialized from Wu Yuan's back. The vital aura emanating from him grew increasingly intense.

"Master, you haven't activated Beast Fusion in ages. I'm dying of boredom here," Little Black's voice resonated in Wu Yuan's spirit.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Soon. In a little while, we'll be able to fight side by side," Wu Yuan transmitted back with a smile.

Little Black had its own consciousness, with its own joys and sorrows.

My body refiner self has cultivated part three of 'Creation Saint Prohibition' to a small degree. Now, at full power, my ether is also at the seventh-stage Archimmortal level.

Wu Yuan thought to himself.

However, Little Black’s immortal root has also been upgraded to the first degree. With Beast Fusion's enhancement, my vital ether strength approaches that of a ninth-stage Archimmortal.

Little Black and Wu Yuan shared the same source. As a lifebound eldritch beast, when Wu Yuan's eldritch root evolved to the Apotheosis level, Little Black also underwent an astonishing transformation, and its third-degree immortal root was upgraded to the first degree.

His qi refiner self possessed nine lifebound flying swords, unrivaled in their destructive capability. Meanwhile, his body refiner self, with his formidable lifebound eldritch beast, had ether and burst power augmented to terrifying levels when in Beast Fusion mode. Each had its strengths and weaknesses.

The stronger the immortal root of the lifebound eldritch beast, the greater the empowerment during Beast Fusion.

Wu Yuan reflected.

A lifebound eldritch beast with a first-degree immortal root is, in a sense, as rare and powerful as my lifebound flying swords that have followed the optimal evolution pathway.

In the past, Wu Yuan maintained a low profile, and his body refiner self rarely engaged in life-or-death battles. Thus, Beast Fusion was seldom utilized. But infrequent use did not equate to weakness.

My body refiner self has comprehended the Great Dao of Creation to the ninth-level True Intent stage, nearing the limit of an Astral Monarch.

Wu Yuan pondered.

To break through in less than six thousand years? That seems...

Truthfully, Wu Yuan wasn't confident.

This hurdle was like a heavenly moat, trapping countless Astral Monarchs at this level. It wasn't something that could be overcome with just one or two moments of epiphanies or sudden inspiration. It required long-term accumulation.