Chaos City Lord recounted Zhang Dong's past in full, including how long he had been cultivating.
His previous life hadn't belonged to an especially old Cosmic Level cultivator. He had cultivated for decades, entered the Genius Battle, and then joined the Ganwu Secret Realm.
All told, he was still under two hundred years old, yet already so astonishingly talented.
"With talent like this, if he's properly nurtured, he'll surely become a Universe Master," Chaos City Lord said with a smile. "I'm going to ask Ice Peak Lord if he'd be willing to take him as a disciple."
"Heh."
Dark Lord smiled but said nothing.
On Heavenly Bridge.
The guardians of the Tenth, Eleventh, and even Twelfth Layers hadn't posed much of an obstacle to Zhang Dong.
He had exchanged over a hundred moves with the guardian of the Twelfth Layer; every other battle had ended within ten.
"I've cleared the Twelfth Layer. I'll take a look at the Thirteenth first." Zhang Dong's thoughts stirred. "Then I'll try the Primordial Heaven-Reaching Mountain. I wonder which Universe Master will take me as a disciple."
With potential like his, those High Venerables and ordinary Overlords certainly weren't qualified to take him on. At the very least, it would have to be a Peak Cosmic Overlord.
Most likely, it would be Chaos City Lord.
There were only so many Universe Masters in the Virtual Universe Company, and even fewer of them regularly took on disciples.
Dark Lord, for example, had spent a long time in the Cosmic Sea. Many forces didn't even know he was a Universe Master of the Human Race, so Zhang Dong wouldn't have thought of him.
After passing the Twelfth Layer, Zhang Dong arrived at the Thirteenth. From here onward, the difficulty soared again. Given the difficulty of the Universe Chaos Stele, he wouldn't be able to clear the layer even if he reached the Fifteenth Layer in a single law.
The surroundings changed abruptly. Beneath his feet was no longer a stone bridge. He now stood on the surface of a star.
A crimson figure stood quietly on the star's surface, a sea of flames beneath his feet and a golden saber on his back. He regarded Zhang Dong calmly.
"A Cosmic Level cultivator made it here. You're strong," the Crimson Robe said with a smile. "The last Cosmic Level cultivator to reach this place was Ke Di. You might be even more monstrous than he was."
Ke Di's era had come tens of thousands of years before King Zhenyan's, but by now, Ke Di had long since died and couldn't be resurrected.
Though he had been extraordinarily brilliant, he had died young. Whenever Chaos City Lord mentioned this disciple, he grew sorrowful. Even after countless years, he still couldn't let it go.
It was precisely because Ke Di had died young that Chaos City Lord had given Luo Feng the Supreme Treasure Wu-Slaying Wings, hoping he would go farther.
"Let's see how tough the Thirteenth Layer is."
Zhang Dong grinned, his eyes blazing with fighting spirit. He said no more, charging forward as the long saber in his hand tore through space and time.
At that moment, he unleashed his full strength. Countless flashes of saber light seemed to slash out from different points in time, yet appeared in the same space.
After comprehending the essence of time, he had gained a measure of control over its flow. This was genuine control, not the mere sensation of disorientation he had once inflicted on his opponents.
Simply changing the speed of time around his own attacks was easy for Zhang Dong. In the mere 0.1 seconds that passed in the eyes of others, he could already swing his saber hundreds or even thousands of times.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The Crimson Robe stayed where he was and swung his saber lightly. Endless saber light raged through the stars, dismantling every one of Zhang Dong's attacks.
Both of them had touched upon the mysteries of time. In the instant their battle began, hundreds of moves had already passed. But his opponent's realm was higher, and his techniques more profound. With their strength equal, Zhang Dong could hardly win.
Aside from Pole True Intent, Zhang Dong had no other means of amplification. Naturally, he couldn't defeat an opponent with a higher realm.
"That's enough."
The Crimson Robe shouted, his long saber sealing off every escape route. A full 3,600 saber lights formed a vortex.
Once Zhang Dong was swept inside, he lasted only a few seconds before being completely cut to pieces. Saber light was everywhere, leaving him nowhere to hide.
He had lost the Thirteenth Layer.
"If my Pole True Intent reached the second stage, I should be able to clear it easily by combining the two." Zhang Dong smiled helplessly.
For a Cosmic Level cultivator to reach this point was already astonishing. His Law Comprehension surpassed that of ordinary Immortal Gods—how terrifying was that? If he really cleared the Thirteenth Layer, even Origin Ancestor might come out to take him as a disciple.
After leaving the Tongtian Bridge Plane, Zhang Dong was about to head to the Cosmic Level Original Tongtian Mountain.
But in an instant, an indescribable sensation came over him. His consciousness returned to reality, and he looked ahead.
At some point, someone had appeared right in front of him, only a few inches away: a bald man dressed in black.
A great many strange secret patterns covered his bald head, as if they contained the most fundamental mysteries of the universe, space, and time.
The moment the bald man appeared, darkness shrouded the entire space and time. Zhang Dong's pupils contracted. He could no longer see anything at all; there was only endless darkness.
"Dark Lord?!" Zhang Dong was shaken to his core. Hardly anyone in the Human Race knew of this mighty figure, but he knew exactly who he was.
He had thought Chaos City Lord would take him as a disciple. He never expected this person to show up instead.
"You're very good."
The corners of Dark Lord's mouth lifted into a smile. "You can meet my gaze. Not bad."
Though he hadn't deliberately exerted any pressure, this darkness alone was enough to terrify most Realm Lords into silence.
"Greetings, senior." Zhang Dong immediately rose and bowed.
"Are you willing to become my disciple?" Dark Lord asked without preamble.
Even if an ordinary Cosmic Level cultivator—or even a Realm Lord—cleared the Primordial Heaven-Reaching Mountain, Dark Lord wouldn't bother taking them as a disciple. He had only taken Dark Marquis Lord on because of a fortunate coincidence.
Chaos City Lord took on many disciples for the sake of the Human Race.
But Zhang Dong was simply too exceptional. His First-Class True Intent was extraordinary, and he was still so young. In the Tianyu Universe, his monstrous talent would have been enough to make Bloodshed God Emperor, Space-Time Island Lord, and the other True God Sovereigns fight over him.
Dark Lord was only equivalent to a True God in the Creation Realm. In another place, he wouldn't have been qualified to take Zhang Dong as a disciple.
Zhang Dong didn't hesitate at all. He immediately performed the formal disciple's bow. "This disciple is willing."
After all, this wasn't the Tianyu Universe. Becoming Dark Lord's disciple was good enough. The Human Race had only two True Gods in total, and Giant Axe belonged to a neighboring force. Surely Origin Ancestor wasn't really going to come out himself.
In fact, Origin Ancestor had also noticed Zhang Dong, but he had no intention of taking on disciples now.
So what if Zhang Dong was talented? Origin Ancestor's thoughts had long since reached another level.
As for the Universe Masters of the Virtual Universe Company, they had been deeply astonished by Zhang Dong's extraordinary First-Class True Intent.
"Haha!" Dark Lord laughed heartily. "I haven't visited the Initial Universe in billions of years, and yet the moment I arrived, I saw you challenging Heavenly Bridge. It seems fate brought us together. I am Dark Lord. And you mustn't tell others."
Chaos City Lord had originally planned to have Ice Peak Lord take Zhang Dong as his disciple, but Dark Lord had happened to arrive.
Ke Di had died not long ago, and Dark Lord was still somewhat grieved. For the time being, he hadn't wanted to take on a disciple.
"Yes, teacher," Zhang Dong replied. Even if he went and told Ganwu Kingdom Master and the others that his teacher was Dark Lord, they wouldn't know who that was.
Within the Human Race, Dark Marquis Lord was far more famous.
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