Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 95 'The Secret Realm of Death' (3rd update)

The Altar of Immortality.

Above the altar, next to a human-shaped target, a screen displays a string of numbers.

33、28、35、26、37。最终成绩为：26。

The final test of this challenge is the 'level of physical exertion'.

Beside him, the Illusion King frowned slightly and said, "You need to practice your control over your body. Even a mentalist cannot have any obvious weaknesses in their body."

Clearly, she was not satisfied with Jiang Chen's performance this time.

However, the Illusion King immediately changed the subject and said, "Although your physical strength is poor, your performance in terms of laws and will is quite good. Your overall evaluation can be considered 'excellent'. You have passed this test."

"As long as you agree to sign this agreement, from today onwards, you will be a member of my Cosmic Mercenary Alliance 'Death Realm'."

With a flick of his finger, the Phantom King presented an agreement to Jiang Chen.

The agreement is quite complex, but it can be summarized in just a few sentences.

Jiang Chen, or rather, the identity of 'Erso', became a core genius of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, receiving the treatment of a 'Death Realm' level genius.

Once 'Erso' grows up, he will be required to carry out missions assigned by the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance and will not be allowed to betray them or switch sides.

There are also some detailed clauses, such as the basic benefits Jiang Chen can receive, and how his level of benefits will be adjusted periodically based on his performance.

However, geniuses at the 'Death Realm' level are already at the lowest tier among core geniuses, and there is no room for them to fall any further.

If the ranking is lowered further, the individual will be expelled from the secret realm and demoted to an ordinary genius, and the agreement between the two parties will be renegotiated.

The five major powers all have roughly the same level of constraints on their core geniuses.

They are trained according to fixed internal standards, and the more talented they are, the more resources and privileges they can obtain.

Ordinary geniuses, even after they grow up, are nothing more than 'tools' for carrying out missions.

One must at least become immortal, and even then, one must be among the strongest immortals to possess a certain degree of autonomy.

Jiang Chen signed his name on the agreement without hesitation.

"As a member of the 'Death Realm,' you have one chance to enter the 'Initial Universe' and receive 10 Chaos Units, which is equivalent to 10 trillion Universe Coins as start-up capital. This capital will be transferred to your account in the Universe Mercenary Alliance in the form of 'points,' and the treasure trove of core geniuses will also be open to you. You can use points to exchange for whatever you need."

"However, the 'Initial Universe' will not be opened easily; we can only enter after we have gathered a group of geniuses."

"Before heading to the initial universe, you will be sent to the Alliance headquarters, from where you will depart for the 'Death Realm'."

The Phantom King looked at Jiang Chen and reminded him, "Don't underestimate the value of points. There are many treasures in the treasure vault that can be exchanged with points, and many of them are things that you can't buy with any amount of money outside! You don't have many points, so think carefully before you spend them."

"Yes, thank you for the reminder, Lord Illusionary Spirit King." Jiang Chen quickly replied.

“I have granted you access to Huanyu Island in the virtual universe. Your residence is located in the ‘Death Zone’ of Huanyu Island. The illusionist’s secret technique that I bestow upon you will be delivered to your residence later. If you can master the technique before arriving at the Alliance headquarters, you will become my disciple.”

The Illusionary King waved his hand and instructed, "Don't leave 'Black Dragon Star' recently. The Alliance will send someone to pick you up and take you to the Alliance headquarters. It should take a few days. Alright, you can go now. Contact me again when you have mastered the secret technique I gave you."

"Yes, thank you, Lord Illusionary Spirit King." Jiang Chen bowed again and respectfully took his leave.

-

Huanyu Island, a death zone.

Jiang Chen appeared in a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment.

"This place is so crowded," Jiang Chen couldn't help but complain.

Compared to the Virtual Universe Company's 'Primordial Zone' and 'Primordial Zone', the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance's 'Death Zone' is undoubtedly extremely crowded.

Every genius lives in an apartment in what is like a high-rise apartment complex on Earth, where hundreds of people live in one building.

Facilities such as the drill grounds are also public and located in public areas.

The only room that is somewhat independent is the study.

However, this is not because the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance is stingy.

The five giants treat their core geniuses the same way, according to the level of the secret realm. In the top-level secret realm, geniuses receive the best treatment.

In the lowest level of the secret realm, geniuses are treated much worse.

But even the worst of them are resources that are unimaginable to geniuses outside the field.

Although the living conditions were a bit cramped, opportunities such as the 'points exchange treasure vault' and the 'initial universe enlightenment quota' were things that ordinary geniuses could never even dream of.

Even for scions of powerful families, it is very difficult to obtain a 'spot for comprehending the initial universe' if they cannot enter the core layer of the five giants.

"The rules are similar to those of Virtual Universe Company. The five giants should all be exactly the same in this regard."

Putting down "The Genius's Guide to the Secret Realm of Death" from his hands, Jiang Chen muttered something and turned his gaze to a book on his desk.

This book is the test that the Illusion King gave to Jiang Chen, a secret technique of the 'Illusionist' lineage of spiritual masters.

The cover bears the title "Phantom God Transformation" in a universal language.

According to the Illusion King, this is a 'cosmic-level' secret technique for mentalists, but it is extremely difficult to cultivate. Among ten thousand mentalists, perhaps only one can successfully cultivate it.

The difference between a controller and an illusionist lies not only in their fighting methods, but also in the different characteristics of their mental powers.

The psychic powers of the controller are better at interfering with matter and manipulating physical weapons, while the psychic powers of the illusionist are better at infiltrating and attacking/defending at the level of soul and consciousness.

Of course, this is not absolute.

The controller can also cultivate illusion techniques, and the illusionist can also use psychic weapons in combat, they are just not as good at it as the other.

This secret technique, "Illusion God Transformation," has no combat ability whatsoever. Its only function is to alter the 'characteristics' of mental power, allowing one to switch freely between the characteristics of the controller and the illusionist.

Jiang Chen's main body, as well as his clone 'Erso', both exhibit mental and spiritual characteristics that lean towards the 'object control' of the Controller lineage, while being slightly weaker at the level of soul and consciousness.

However, once you master this "Illusionary God Transformation" technique, you can switch and adjust your psychic powers at will. When you need to control psychic weapons, you can switch to the psychic powers of the controller lineage, while when you need to launch a soul attack or penetrate the enemy's consciousness, you can switch to the psychic powers of the illusionist lineage. This will naturally be of great help in battle.

"That's rather interesting..."

Jiang Chen opened the book "Illusory God Transformation" and began to examine this secret technique.

-

Several days later, a spaceship from the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance arrived on 'Black Dragon Star', picked up Jiang Chen's 'Erso' clone, and embarked on a journey to the headquarters of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance.

However, the Alliance headquarters is too far away; even an F-class spaceship would need to travel for more than a year in the dark universe.

This period also marks the time limit for the Phantom King to test Jiang Chen.

Before arriving in the initial universe, one must master the "Illusionary God Transformation" to become a disciple of the Illusionary Spirit King and have a powerful and invincible "backer" at the King level.

Jiang Chen didn't seem to care much about this matter.

It would be great to become a disciple of the Phantom King, but it wouldn't matter if you failed.

However, the difficulty of the "Illusion God Transformation" secret technique is indeed very high.

The principle is very simple: it changes the characteristics of mental power through the 'resonance' of the soul.

But it is very difficult to do.

Jiang Chen tried for more than a month, but showed no signs of getting the hang of it.

However, since this clone of 'Erso' was flying in the dark universe and had nothing else to do, spending a lot of time studying arcane arts wasn't a waste.

However, occasionally, this clone of 'Erso' would still hone his combat skills in the virtual universe, either by going to the 'Killing Space' or by relaxing in the restaurants and bars in the public areas of 'Huanyu Island', and making friends with other core geniuses of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance.

time flies.

On this day, in a bar in the public area of ​​Huanyu Island.

"Senior Qinia, it's been a while." Jiang Chen skillfully poured wine for the two of them, pushing one glass towards Qinia.

Qinia took the wine glass, clinked it with Jiang Chen's, and smiled, "I took on a troublesome task, but thankfully I completed it smoothly and will receive a considerable reward."

A troublesome task?

Considering that Qinia is a 'Domain Lord', Jiang Chen guessed that it might be similar to the 'Domain Lord-level Outpost Mission' of the Virtual Universe Company.

Such matters usually involve some confidential information, so Jiang Chen wisely refrained from asking further questions. He simply said, "I really envy you, being able to travel in space. I'm going crazy flying around in the dark universe."

"Judging by the time, you should be arriving at the Alliance headquarters soon, right?" Qinia suddenly remembered something and asked, "How's your cultivation of the secret technique bestowed upon you by Lord Phantom King?"

"It took me almost half a year to get a clue, and now I can barely be considered to have entered the field, but I'm still a long way from mastering it." Jiang Chen shook his head and said, "At the current speed of the spaceship, we'll reach the Alliance headquarters in another three months. As for whether I can master it in these three months... I'm not sure."

"In any case, this is an incredible opportunity, and we should give it our all," Qinia advised.

As the 'introducer' who brought Jiang Chen into the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, Qinia naturally hoped that Jiang Chen would achieve as much as possible in the future.

With this connection, and considering that Qinya had taken the initiative to lower herself and interact with Jiang Chen over the past year, the two had developed a good relationship.

The greater Jiang Chen's future achievements, the stronger his backing will be, and the greater the benefits he can bring to Qinia and her family.

"Whether it works out or not, I have to thank Senior Qinia." Jiang Chen smiled and raised his glass, saying, "If it weren't for your recommendation, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to join the core secret realm of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance. Before joining, I didn't think much of it, but during this time, just what I've seen and experienced in the virtual universe has made me realize how great this opportunity is."

"Don't say that. If I successfully recommend a genius to join the core secret realm, the alliance will also give me a high reward. I'm just benefiting from your help."

Qinia displayed remarkable emotional intelligence, a stark contrast to her arrogant demeanor when she was both inside and outside the boundary.

It can only be said that scions of such large families are extremely perceptive when it comes to judging a person.

They go to great lengths to befriend and win over those who are valuable, while completely ignoring and disregarding those who are not.

While the high-ranking officials of various factions within the Black Dragon Mountain Empire were undoubtedly many times stronger than Jiang Chen, in Qinia's eyes, they were all 'worthless' and naturally didn't warrant her attention.

Jiang Chen's current strength is very weak, but as a genius of the core secret realm of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance, he also has the opportunity to become a disciple of the Illusionary Spirit King. In Qinia's eyes, he is actually the kind of person who is 'very valuable' and 'must be befriended'.

Although Jiang Chen couldn't completely see through the other party's thoughts at a glance, he could guess some of them.

However, Jiang Chen wasn't particularly averse to Qinia's attitude.

Building a good relationship with Qinia at this stage is a good thing for Jiang Chen from any perspective.

In the less than a year since Jiang Chen joined the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance's 'Death Realm', the suggestions and reminders from Qinia have saved him a lot of time and energy in 'adapting'.

In addition, some 'friends' introduced by Qinia helped Jiang Chen integrate smoothly into this group of geniuses.

“You didn’t join through the normal channels; you joined the core secret realm halfway through. Some of the procedures are different from those of geniuses who join normally.”

Qinia said, "You haven't been to the initial universe, so you can't use many of the core functions. Even after you arrive at the 'Death Realm' in reality, it will be difficult for you to obtain resources and grow normally. You will have to wait for the initial universe to open."

"I have reliable information that there are still seven or eight years before the initial universe opens. In other words, you will have to wait seven or eight years before you can officially access the most precious cultivation resources of the geniuses in the core secret realm."

"But you're only at the stellar level now. These seven or eight years are crucial for your growth and shouldn't be wasted."

"Your most important task now is to comprehend and cultivate the secret technique bestowed upon you by Lord Illusionary Spirit King. If you can master it and successfully become Lord Illusionary Spirit King's disciple, his subsequent cultivation will naturally be arranged for you, ensuring that your talent is not wasted."

Qinia spoke eloquently and offered many suggestions.

Even though Jiang Chen wasn't very familiar with how other geniuses grew up, he could tell that Qinia's words were entirely based on her own perspective.

"Thank you, Senior Qinia." Jiang Chen thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "If I fail to cultivate the secret technique and am unable to become a disciple of Lord Illusionary Spirit King, how should I spend these next few years? Do you have any suggestions?"

Qinia thought for a moment and said, "I really don't know much about your situation. You should focus on cultivating your secret technique and try to become a disciple of Lord Illusionary Spirit King. If you fail... I'll go back to my family and ask the elders after some time."