Zhenyuan Venerable

"Whew, I've completed the first level of the Heavenly God Fist. Now I can unleash 140% of my strength," Sett exclaimed, letting out a long breath.

He had spent a week fighting monsters in the Wilderness Zone. It wasn't a long time, but he'd learned something from every battle.

After returning to base, he'd easily mastered the first level of the Heavenly God Fist.

The manuals on Earth weren't anything special, but for Sett, their main purpose was to teach him Force Application Technique.

After all, he hadn't learned to use any weapons. He relied on his fists to get by.

The better his Force Application Technique, the more his strength improved.

"I already have 1.4 times my normal punching power. Add Pummel, and that brings it to 2.8 times," Sett thought, stunned.

Multiplication made for a huge boost. Pummel alone gave him twice his normal punching power, but now it was up to 2.8 times—nearly a fifty percent increase.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Sett couldn't resist using Pummel.

A faint golden light shimmered across both fists. Sett threw a powerful punch.

His fist shot forward with immense force, as if it would tear through the air. A gusting wind howled in its wake.

"It feels so good to get stronger! I wonder if I'm strong enough to count as an Advanced War God now." As long as Sett kept using Pummel, his strength would continue to grow.

He'd used it countless times while fighting monsters lately.

"I need to find time to get tested," Sett thought, then excitedly threw a few more punches.

Sett was in the training room, absorbed in his practice, when—

"Hello, Sett."

The voice held no emotion. It sounded as if it came from far away, yet also as if it were right beside him.

Sett jolted in fright. His eyes darted around, and he spotted someone behind him.

The man stood two meters tall, dressed in a white robe, with several golden scales covering his forehead.

His gaze was like an abyss. Sett fell into it with a single glance.

"Wake up!"

A voice rang in Sett's ears, and he immediately came to his senses.

"Who is this person? Why did it feel like I'd passed out just from looking at him?" Sett was inwardly stunned.

"Hello. May I ask who you are?" Sett knew he was no match for this man, so he spoke politely.

The man with golden scales on his forehead chuckled and walked toward Sett.

With a single step, he crossed the distance between them.

"Heh, what an interesting little fellow." The man clasped his hands behind his back and circled Sett.

The pressure the man gave off was so immense that Sett broke into a cold sweat.

"I mean you no harm. In my long life, I simply happened to come across this interesting planet." The man walked into the living room, picked up the remote without asking, and started watching the soap opera Xia Hai had left on.

"I'm curious how a tiny Apprentice Level Martial Artist like you managed to use that kind of manual," the man said, watching the show.

"What manual? And what's Apprentice Level?" Sett followed him and sat on the sofa beside him.

At the same time, Sett was inwardly shocked. Very few Earthlings knew about Apprentice Level.

Martial Artists were generally divided into warriors, generals, and War Gods, with each level further divided into low, middle, and high ranks.

There were nine ranks in total. From lowest to highest, they corresponded to Apprentice Levels One through Nine. An Advanced War God, for example, was an Apprentice Level Nine fighter.

"I don't know what manual you mean, but the golden light that appeared around your fists contained a trace of law. Yet you haven't comprehended any laws at all, which makes me very curious.

"Oh, right. I forgot you're from an undeveloped planet. We usually call a civilization that hasn't yet entered the universe an undeveloped civilization.

"Apprentice Level is what you call warriors, generals, and War Gods. Of course, above Apprentice Level are Planetary Level Martial Artists. 'Hong' and 'Thor,' for example, are Planetary Level Martial Artists.

"Above Planetary Level are Star Level, Universe Level, Domain Lord Level, and World Lord Level."

Even though Sett knew the original story's power rankings, he was still shocked. As far as he knew, Hong and Thor didn't even understand that there was a universe beyond Earth. They might know about Universe Level at most, and this man was very likely not an Earthling.

But Earth was protected by an array set up by Hu Yanbo, the Master of Yunmo Star. That array had been set up by an Immortal Level being.

Immortals could live forever and were even more powerful than World Lords. Was this man more powerful than Hu Yanbo? Or had he come through a wormhole?

"Wait, even the War God Level, which is invincible to us, is only Apprentice Level?" Sett asked.

"Heh, the universe is far bigger than you can imagine. There's something interesting about this planet. It seems an Immortal once lived here and even set up an array. But it's far too crude for me. Come with me."

The man in white waved his hand, and Sett found himself standing with him on a street.

"This planet is quite like the one where I was born. We also faced a monster crisis back then. But our planet eventually fell into anarchy, and only the strong had any dignity.

"It was an apocalyptic world without laws or order. Only strength mattered. Your planet... Earth, is doing better than we did back then," the man in white said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Sett found himself back in the Wilderness Zone, beside a gigantic monster.

It stood more than ten meters tall and stretched over thirty meters long. A White-Haired Tiger King, a high-level Lord or perhaps even a King-level beast, had appeared beside Sett.

Sett was terrified. This White-Haired Tiger King was at least a high-level Lord, if not a King-level monster.

But the monster didn't seem to notice them.

Sett followed the man in white. After taking just two steps, they appeared beside a massive spherical object.

The enormous sphere, more than a hundred meters in diameter, released a faint mist.

"You even left a Zerg Mother Empress here. But a World Lord-level Zerg Mother Empress is nothing to me, so I'll leave it where it is."

"I was born during the darkest times. My family was killed, our food was stolen, and all I had left was my young self." After looking at the Zerg Mother Empress's nest, the man in white returned to the city.

Sett followed behind him, listening quietly as he spoke.

"Despite all those hardships, I still grew up. Back then, I thought that one day I'd kill every monster and restore order to this planet.

"But how naive I was. People bullied me, and I had to keep avoiding monsters. My planet's situation kept getting worse, and the number of humans still alive gradually dwindled.

"Our enemies weren't just monsters. They were each other, too.

"Once, a monster swallowed me whole. By sheer luck, I awakened inside its stomach. I instantly gained Planetary Level strength. After getting out, I grew stronger quickly and soon became the most powerful being on the planet.

"I killed every monster that threatened my people, but I awakened too late. Only a few dozen of my fellow humans were still alive across the entire planet.

"In the end, a World Lord from the universe took me away. He saw that I had great talent and taught me how to cultivate."

After finishing his story, the man in white returned to Sett's home and continued watching television.

"Mm, I've wandered for far, far too long. I like chatting with people I find interesting. You can call me Qing Feng. It was the first name I had, and I like it when people I'm close to call me that."

"Of course, if you're more comfortable with it, you can call me Zhenyuan Venerable." The man in white introduced himself.

"Ah! Zhenyuan Venerable..." Sett stammered in shock.

A Venerable was far more powerful than an Immortal. This man was actually a Venerable. Sett had initially thought he was, at most, a King-level Immortal.

"Yes. I am a Universe Venerable, an existence countless times more powerful than an Immortal. I'm one of the most powerful people in the universe. If I'm not mistaken, your secret technique is an Innate Secret Technique, one that can communicate with the Universe Origin.

"But you're too weak to bring out the full power of your Innate Secret Technique."

"That's right. It's an Innate Secret Technique granted to me by the Primal Universe, Venerable," Sett replied hastily.

"Heh, I don't know how you came to be granted an Innate Secret Technique by the Primal Universe, but you must have some secrets of your own. Don't worry, though. Someone like me wouldn't scheme against a person who hasn't even reached Planetary Level.

"Of course, if you're willing to take me as your master, I can take you around the universe and help you grow stronger quickly. What do you say?" Zhenyuan Venerable asked.

"Ah! Venerable, you're willing to take me as your disciple? But... but I'm only Apprentice Level, and besides..." Sett said, astonished.

"Heh, since the Primal Universe granted you an Innate Secret Technique, why shouldn't I take you as my disciple?" Zhenyuan Venerable said with a laugh.