The Dark Marquis Lord

Dark Lord's gaze fell on Zhang Dong, his eyes full of satisfaction—a disciple with such comprehension, if properly nurtured, could very well become a Universe Master.

When that time came, he would have two Universe Master disciples, enough to become a celebrated tale within the human race.

"You're taking worship under me directly as a personal disciple. You have a senior apprentice-brother called Dark Marquis Lord." Dark Lord smiled. "By the rules of our Virtual Universe Company, before the Realm Lord stage, it's all about accumulation. I'll gift you some useful things."

With Zhang Dong's talent, there was no need to go through the process of becoming an entry disciple first before being promoted to personal disciple.

Moreover, Zhang Dong's temperament pleased Dark Lord quite a bit—he had stubbornly spent thirty years in Chaos City without ever attempting the Heavenly Bridge, staying silent until his single burst of brilliance.

Back in the day, Dark Lord himself had been extremely low-key under Origin Ancestor.

"Thank you, Teacher." Zhang Dong was overjoyed.

Anything that could help him accumulate was enough. The most important thing in cultivation was realm; external things were secondary. As for the later Realm Lord stage, whether Teacher bestowed gifts or not didn't matter.

In Zhang Dong's thinking, he would wait until he had sufficient self-protection ability before advancing to Realm Lord and undergoing life-and-death tempering.

As for what counted as sufficient self-protection ability, Zhang Dong had no intention of going to the Domain Battlefield or Cosmic Secret Realms at the Second-Class Divine Heart stage or the First-Class True Intent Triple Realm stage.

His requirement wasn't high—he'd go after becoming a Realm God.

Dark Lord pondered for a moment, then spoke: "I'll grant you thirty opportunities to comprehend the Universe Chaos Stele, the complete text of the secret method Universe that you cultivate, and I'll also give orders for the race to find a suitable special life for you to possess."

This was what it truly meant to have a big tree to lean on for shade.

Dark Lord opened his mouth and offered thirty comprehension opportunities, the complete Universe secret method, and even promised to find Zhang Dong a suitable special life to possess.

After displaying enough talent in the Virtual Universe Company, resources like avatars and secret methods didn't need to be sought out personally.

If he had to struggle alone as a lone ranger, where would so many resources come from? Forget treasures and secret methods—even basic advancement would require slowly absorbing cosmic energy.

"Possess a special life?" Zhang Dong didn't hold much hope for that.

It would be good enough to find a Golden Horned Beast. Those high-gene special lives were far too hard to find; the Hong Alliance's stockpile likely didn't have any.

Truly high-gene-multiple special lives were all in those extremely harsh Cosmic Secret Realms.

Places like the Ancestral God Secret Realm, where even High Venerables and ordinary Cosmic Overlords faced great risks.

And special lives weren't stupid—without sufficient strength, they simply wouldn't show themselves. Ancient powerhouses had generally already possessed them, making it harder and harder to possess one as time went on.

Humans only had three top-tier Cosmic Overlords in total, which showed just how rare special lives were—possession was far too difficult.

"Teacher, is this the junior apprentice-brother you just took in?"

Suddenly, another figure descended onto this rooftop. This person was somewhat gaunt, his entire body shrouded in deep cyan armor, exuding overwhelming killing intent. Zhang Dong couldn't make out his features at all.

This person was Dark Marquis Lord.

When Dark Marquis Lord approached and the killing intent dissipated somewhat, Zhang Dong could finally see his appearance—ears like sickles, a third eye at the center of his brow, and on his back, his highly iconic treasure: the Youhou Thorn.

"Senior Apprentice-Brother." Though Zhang Dong addressed him as senior apprentice-brother, the other party was, after all, a Universe Master. At their first meeting, he performed a grand salute to show his respect.

Dark Marquis Lord laughed heartily: "Junior Apprentice-Brother, I finally have a junior apprentice-brother."

Dark Lord rarely showed himself among the human race and naturally took few disciples. Most of those in his lineage were disciples taken by Dark Marquis Lord.

"I spend most of my time in the Cosmic Sea," Dark Lord said softly. "If anything comes up in the race, you can always find your senior apprentice-brother. Every three thousand years, I'll also instruct you within the Virtual Universe."

Dark Lord had thought things through thoroughly. He spent too little time in the Primordial Universe, so having Dark Marquis Lord look after Zhang Dong was best.

Outwardly, most Cosmic Venerables would probably assume Zhang Dong was Dark Marquis Lord's disciple.

"Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, Senior Apprentice-Brother. I'll trouble you from now on, Senior Apprentice-Brother." Zhang Dong replied politely.

His manner of conduct also earned him more goodwill from Dark Marquis Lord.

He didn't become arrogant because of his talent and teacher; instead, he was courteous and showed considerable respect.

After giving a few more instructions about Zhang Dong's cultivation, Dark Lord left first, while Dark Marquis Lord took Zhang Dong away from the Initial Universe and headed to the Primordial Realm.

From now on, Zhang Dong could go to Chaos City to cultivate at any time—Dark Lord's disciples directly obtained permanent residence rights.

After crossing the passage between the two universes, Dark Marquis Lord used a single teleport to arrive at the Primordial Realm.

The estates in the Primordial Realm were all extremely vast, spanning thousands of kilometers in diameter. Dark Marquis Lord directly brought Zhang Dong to Estate No. 113.

The entire Primordial Realm had 100 Realm Lords, 10 Domain Lords, and 3 Cosmic Level members. Zhang Dong, arriving later, naturally took No. 113. In the long years to come, this estate would have another owner, named Luo Feng.

The distance from the Initial Universe to the Primordial Region was not short, yet Dark Marquis Lord crossed it with a single teleport.

He even entered directly into the depths of the mansion—such methods were truly miraculous.

"Junior Apprentice-Brother, according to our Virtual Universe Company's rules, the captain of a Primordial Realm member's guard will be an Immortal God."

Dark Marquis Lord smiled. "But with your talent, you naturally deserve special treatment. It won't be long before you become a Domain Lord and return to the Ganwu Universe Kingdom. I'll find you a stronger Immortal God to serve as your guard captain."

Zhang Dong felt this was completely unnecessary. After thinking it over, he replied: "Senior Apprentice-Brother, after I become a Domain Lord and return to the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, I'll usually stay at my teacher's place. There's no need to change the guard captain."

Once back in the Primordial Universe, he planned to go to the Boundary Heart Continent again, first finding a sect or some force to join.

Learning a few secret arts and improving his True Intent level would naturally give him the combat power of a King—why would he need someone to guard him?

"Your teacher? That works too." Dark Marquis Lord knew of the Thirteenth Divine General. With his Universe Master's mental capacity, he had impressions of all the Marquis and King level powerhouses in the race who were slightly stronger.

Peak Marquis level combat power, and he could contact the Ganwu Kingdom Master at any time.

Zhang Dong was a Universe Master's personal disciple. With such status, the Ganwu Kingdom Master would naturally do his utmost to protect him, daring not to make any mistakes, and absolutely would not allow any assassination by alien races to occur.

Dark Marquis Lord openly gave Zhang Dong special treatment, which showed the difference in his and Chaos City Lord's conduct. Chaos City Lord always considered balance above all else.

And Dark Marquis Lord was even thinking of sending a King to serve as Zhang Dong's guard.

After a few pleasantries, Dark Marquis Lord teleported away.