Inside the side hall, there were two rows of stone pillars.
Above each stone pillar floated a phantom.
These phantoms came in various shapes.
Some were cubes, some pyramids, and some were polyhedral forms. In short, every stone pillar had a phantom above it.
The stone pillars on the left had solid, condensed phantoms, containing thousands upon thousands of different fluctuations.
The stone pillars on the right had loose phantoms, barely forming a skeletal structure.
There were 123 stone pillars on the left.
There were 10,080 stone pillars on the right.
These three-dimensional phantoms were all enormous, containing massive amounts of fluctuations.
Moreover, the 123 phantoms on the left corresponded exactly one-to-one with the first 123 phantoms on the right.
On the left, the phantoms were complete and solid, like a Great Wall stretching endlessly.
On the right, the phantoms were only skeletal frameworks, like a Great Wall with many bricks removed, on the verge of collapse.
Everyone soon noticed Qing Qiong.
At this moment, he stood in front of the 10,080th stone pillar on the right.
The surrounding Universe Masters curiously observed the stone pillars.
They guessed that these pillars were very likely related to the upcoming trial.
Although they could not immediately understand what these pillars represented, they could all sense that they were far from simple.
Luo Fan, on the other hand, knew what these pillars were.
However, he only had a general idea and did not know how to play.
After all, he had only read about it in novels.
At this moment, Qing Qiong slowly spoke.
"This is a game that originated in my homeland, within the civilization I belong to."
"It is also a method used to train and cultivate comprehension."
"In our place, nearly all factions and special inheritances use it to test the comprehension of candidates."
"It is called the Rhinoceros Emperor Game."
Hearing this, everyone became curious.
"The Rhinoceros Emperor Game?"
"These stone pillars can actually test comprehension?"
"As expected of an ancient civilization, to have such a method to measure comprehension!"
These Universe Masters of the Universe Sea all understood that the further one progressed, the more important comprehension became.
For ordinary people during the planetary era, physical growth speed and the ability to absorb cosmic energy were important.
But after entering the universe, affinity with laws became crucial.
At even higher levels, comprehension became the key factor.
Only with strong comprehension could one create powerful secret techniques and walk a path of one's own.
However, in the Primal Universe and the Universe Sea, methods for measuring comprehension were extremely crude.
They mainly relied on indirect indicators, such as understanding of laws over the same period of time, Chaos Monuments, the Bridge, and the speed of creating secret techniques.
Finally, they judged by growth rate.
All of these could only reflect comprehension indirectly.
Yet in ancient civilizations, it could be measured directly through a game.
Comprehension could actually be quantified.
If Luo Fan knew what they were thinking, he would definitely complain.
Back when he was still an ordinary person, his comprehension had already been quantified by the system.
He glanced at his system panel. His comprehension had already reached over 50 billion.
This was not only due to system rewards.
He had discovered that as his realm improved, his comprehension also increased.
However, he did not know what level over 50 billion represented.
Now, with the Rhinoceros Emperor Game present, he could use it to test how his comprehension compared to true geniuses.
While the surrounding Universe Masters were still curiously observing the stone pillars, Qing Qiong spoke again.
"The Rhinoceros Emperor Game was created by an ancient and powerful being from my homeland, the Rhinoceros Emperor, before his death, after exhausting all his efforts."
"Although he himself was extremely powerful, he is remembered by all experts of my civilization mainly because of this game."
"Even so, his strength was far above mine."
"After his death, the game spread."
"At first, countless experts treated it merely as entertainment."
"But later, they discovered that it demanded extremely high comprehension."
"Not only that, regularly studying it could actually improve comprehension."
"In my homeland, from newborn children to supreme beings, everyone enjoys playing this game."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked again.
Studying the Rhinoceros Emperor Game could actually improve comprehension.
It must be known that improving comprehension was extremely difficult.
No matter where, any treasure that could enhance comprehension would be snatched away instantly.
Such treasures were invaluable everywhere.
Yet now, merely a game could improve comprehension.
Everyone began to wonder what kind of person the Rhinoceros Emperor was.
A single game he created could enhance comprehension.
How powerful must his own comprehension have been?
How strong was he?
And the homeland Qing Qiong spoke of, was it the place beyond reincarnation?
How terrifying were the experts there?
After all, even ordinary children studied such a game from a young age.
Generation after generation, how many powerful experts would that produce?
At this moment, these experts felt even more wary of the world beyond reincarnation.
After pausing for a moment to let them digest the information, Qing Qiong continued.
"The Rhinoceros Emperor Game has 10,081 fundamental configurations."
"There are 10,080 incomplete configurations on the right."
"As for the so-called 10,081st configuration, it is the 'no-configuration.'"
"On the left are the perfect solutions."
"Completing the first 123 configurations means solving them."
Hearing this, everyone looked toward the 123 perfect solutions on the left.
Some had already begun to study them secretly.
At this moment, even the slightest advantage was extremely important.
"By studying these first 123 solutions, you should be able to grasp the fundamental rules."
"Of course, if you cannot even comprehend the basic rules…"
"Then your comprehension is simply too low."
"In that case, I advise you to end your own life."
Qing Qiong's tone was indifferent.
In his eyes, those who could not even understand the rules were not even worth being called ants.
They might as well die and free up space for others.
"If you comprehend the basic rules, begin solving the configurations."
"Start from the 124th configuration, then the 125th… and proceed in order."
"I will give you a relatively long time."
"Do your utmost to solve them. When time is up, if you have not met my minimum requirement…"
"Then your only outcome will be death."
"If none of you meet my minimum requirement, I will eliminate all of you."
Hearing this, everyone was shocked.
Failing to meet the requirement meant immediate death?
What exactly was the minimum requirement?
And how many needed to be solved to pass?
Someone immediately asked.
"What is the minimum requirement?"
"How many must be solved to pass? Do we need to solve all 10,081 to obtain the inheritance?"
Qing Qiong let out a disdainful laugh.
"All of them?"
"Not that I look down on you, but even in my homeland, those who can solve them all within the time limit are exceedingly rare."
"If you truly could, your future achievements would be no less than mine, and most likely even greater."
"As for the minimum requirement…"
"It differs by realm. You only need to pass the first stage."
"For Immortals, the requirement is 500 configurations."
"For Law Venerables, 1,000."
"For Law Masters, 1,500."
"For True Gods, 2,000."
Although Qing Qiong used different terms, many present understood the corresponding realms of ancient civilizations.
Even those who did not could roughly infer them.
"To obtain my inheritance, you must reach at least the fourth stage."
"Once you complete the first stage, even if you do not reach the fourth stage, I will not kill you."
"As for the King's inheritance, you must reach at least the fifth stage."
"Of course, this is not the only criterion. Failing to reach the fourth or fifth stage does not mean immediate elimination."
"If you reach the fourth stage, you become a candidate for my inheritance. If no one else completes the remaining trials, you will directly obtain it."
"The same applies to the fifth stage."
"The rest, those who pass the second stage, may proceed to the third trial."
"In the end, one inheritor of Star Abyss Sect will be chosen from those who pass the third trial and those who directly reach the fourth stage in the second trial."
"As for the King's inheritance, there will be a fourth trial."
"But we will discuss that after you pass."
"Speaking of it now is meaningless."
He paused briefly before asking one last time:
"Is there anyone who wishes to withdraw? Especially those without Clones or Clone Secret Techniques."
"If you fail the second stage, I will only destroy your divine body here."
"If you fail the third stage, I will destroy your true body as well. Do not think you can self-destruct beforehand, you cannot."
Hearing this, everyone chose to participate.
After all, those present were the first group of Universe Masters who had come to explore the Eternal Ancient City.
All of them possessed Clone or Clone Secret Techniques.
Thus, they had nothing to fear.
At worst, they would lose some divine power.
Compared to the benefits of obtaining an inheritance, this was insignificant.
Seeing that no one withdrew, Qing Qiong waved his hand.
In the next moment, hundreds of colorful crystal pillars rose from the ground.
"Once you comprehend the rules, begin solving from the 124th configuration."
"After solving, use divine power to outline the complete solution and transmit it into the crystal pillar."
"If correct, the pillar will notify you."
"If incorrect, there will be no response."
"Go."
"The time is long, but limited."
Many Universe Masters immediately approached the crystal pillars to begin studying the game.
However, a few asked:
"My lord, how much time do we have?"
"Yes, you said the time is limited. How many eras?"
The others also turned to look at Qing Qiong.
He answered plainly:
"Three eras. You have three eras in total."
"I do not care what methods you use to accelerate time."
"But here, you only have three eras."
With no further doubts, the Universe Masters immediately began.
Luo Fan did the same, stepping before a crystal pillar.
However, his attention remained on the 123 perfect solutions on the left.
He knew that to solve the game, he first needed to understand its rules.
And those rules were hidden within those 123 solutions.
Only by understanding them first could he proceed.
Unfortunately, the original work had not fully explained all the rules.
However, Luo Fan still remembered several of them.
His memory from before transmigrating was extremely clear.
Now that his strength and soul had grown stronger, forgetting was impossible.
He began recalling:
The Rhinoceros Emperor Game had nine major rules, though only a few were recorded.
"First, there are 10,081 fundamental units."
"Second, within each micro three-dimensional diagram, each line can contain each fundamental unit only once."
"Third, each fundamental unit changes the structure, creating nearly infinite variations. No two diagrams in a sequence may be identical."
"Fourth, the final solution forms a complete cycle of divine power, achieving a perfect, eternal, indestructible state."
Each configuration had countless valid perfect solutions.
Each person's understanding would differ.
Thus, copying others was impossible.
Now that he knew four rules, analyzing the first 123 solutions became much easier.
Without hesitation, Luo Fan activated his Mechanical Race Clone to begin detailed analysis.
This was what the Mechanical Race Clone excelled at.
…
Virtual Universe.
"This is the content of the second trial."
"For now, there is no danger. You can bring the Immortals and Venerables over."
"After all, those participating all have Clones."
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