Entering the Universe

Then Hong also stepped forward to spar with Yin Congyang. The bout dragged on for a long time, until Hong went all out, unleashing the full power of his Second-Layer Domain and Planetary Level seventh-stage strength, barely winning by a single move.

Hong couldn't help but praise, "Congyang, you truly have extraordinary talent. That day I just spoke from the heart, a casual remark, and yet you were able to grasp such profound insight, making such great progress in your understanding of Hard-Soft Yin-Yang. If your cultivation were to reach Planetary Level fifth-stage—no, even if you were at fourth-stage, I'm afraid I wouldn't be your match. So you see, a solid foundation in cultivation is still very important..."

Yin Congyang nodded silently. He had broken through to Planetary Level only a few months ago, and though his progress was swift, he had only reached the peak of the first stage. He still needed some time to advance to the second stage.

Whether it was Planetary Level, Star Level, Universe Level, or the higher Domain Lord and World Lord levels, the first three stages were the fastest to advance through. The fourth through sixth stages took more than double the time of the first three, and the final three stages required even more than double the time of the middle three. Breaking through the life gene level demanded the combined time of all nine stages, along with meeting every condition for breakthrough.

Otherwise, Hong, who had already broken through to Planetary Level decades ago, wouldn't have only recently advanced to the seventh stage. So Yin Congyang's current cultivation speed was already considered very fast.

Of course, this was without using any auxiliary treasures, relying purely on self-cultivation. With suitable treasures, cultivation speed could be shortened by dozens or even hundreds of times. For example, Luo Feng's Golden Horned Behemoth's Internal World could shorten evolution time through metal combinations, and in a while, after Luo Feng purchased Green Wave Marrow in the universe, Hong and Thunder God would quickly break through to Star Level after using it.

Months later, time arrived at August 2062.

That day, Babata excitedly told Luo Feng that the Black Dragon Mountain spaceship had been repaired and could now perform universe shuttles, urging Luo Feng to go register his identity in the universe as soon as possible so he could enter the Virtual Universe.

In the original story, Luo Feng waited until a month later, when the Golden Horned Behemoth broke through to Star Level fourth-stage, before going to Qiu Long Planet. But now, with both the agreement with Yin Congyang and his promises to Hong and Thunder God, he decided not to delay any further. After all, the Golden Horned Behemoth could still cultivate in the Internal World without wasting much time.

So Luo Feng made a call, summoning Yin Congyang, Hong, and Thunder God to Yangzhou City.

The three arrived in Yangzhou City quickly.

Luo Feng asked with a smile, "Are you all ready?"

The three nodded, full of anticipation. Before coming, Hong and Thunder God had already arranged the dojo's affairs. This trip would take at least a month, so they needed to avoid the chaos of having no leader like last time, and arrange for someone to monitor the monsters on Earth. If any high-level Lord Level monster broke through to Planetary Level, someone had to act immediately to kill it.

Luo Feng led the three as they shot into the sky. Eight thousand meters above Jiangnan Base City, a massive black spaceship hovered silently.

The hatch opened, and the four flew into the ship together, quickly arriving at the central control room.

On the central control room's screen, Babata's small face appeared, grinning smugly at the four. "The spaceship has left Earth."

"Exterior simulation 100%," Luo Feng said.

Swish!

The surrounding control room, walls, and floor all vanished, as if the four were standing in midair. Yin Congyang, Hong, and Thunder God experienced this powerful 3D simulation technology for the first time and were all greatly amazed.

A massive, azure-blue planet appeared in their view. Except for Luo Feng, the other three were seeing Earth from outer space for the first time, and they all held their breath.

It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Though they had seen such images on the internet and television, actually standing in space and witnessing it with their own eyes—the soul-shaking impact left them all silent.

The azure-blue planet kept receding, growing smaller...

The spaceship continued accelerating. Luo Feng explained to them, "This ship has an Automatic Gravity Regulation System. It can automatically adjust, keeping the gravity inside the ship at a fixed value. Right now, it's at one Earth gravity."

"About to accelerate to light speed! Closing exterior simulation!"

"Ten seconds to reach light speed," Babata shouted from the screen.

"10-9-8...3-2-1!"

In the vast starry sky, a certain spot in space rippled faintly. A blurry black spaceship suddenly vanished.

The ship vibrated slightly for a few seconds, then steadied.

"Universe shuttle successful. We've entered the 'Dark Universe,'" Babata called from the screen. "Do you want to see the Dark Universe?"

"Can we turn on the exterior simulation now?" Yin Congyang asked. He was quite curious about the Dark Universe.

"The ship is flying at light speed now, so we can't capture exterior views. We'd need to decelerate for that," Babata said with a mischievous grin. "But accelerating and decelerating consumes a lot of energy. How about this—I'll directly simulate some scenes of the Dark Universe for you to see!"

A holographic screen appeared before them, showing a series of dazzling images. It was a vast space, filled only with countless glowing points like fireflies—an ocean of "light points." Beyond these beautiful specks, the boundless space had nothing else.

"The Dark Universe corresponds to the Original Universe we live in, with a coordinate ratio of 1:10.081 million," Babata explained. "That means flying one light-year in the Dark Universe and shuttling back to the Original Universe covers a distance of 10.081 million light-years."

"In the Original Universe, matter can't exceed light speed. Once you reach light speed, you directly shuttle into the Dark Universe. In the Dark Universe, you can exceed light speed. This ship's maximum speed is 1.5 times light speed, but for energy efficiency, a cruising speed of 1.2 times light speed is ideal. At that speed, it'll take about ten days to reach Qiu Long Planet. You can rest or cultivate as you like."

"One more thing to consider," Babata said, feeling like she was worrying herself to death. "You've all learned the Universe Common Language, right? Right now, you're all undocumented, with no nationality in the universe. So you need to apply for citizenship at some cosmic nation. Low-level cosmic civilizations are easiest to apply to, mid-level ones are okay, but high-level cosmic empire citizenships are more troublesome—they require review."

"Also, when you go to Qiu Long Planet, it's best to have a disguised identity. That's why I had Luo Feng bring the Flowing Silver Guard. You can pretend to be young masters from a big family out on a training trip, which will save you a lot of trouble..."

"Mm, Babata, you've thought of everything," Yin Congyang praised. "Anything else to watch out for?"

Babata beamed at the compliment. "Just so-so. Not much else to worry about. If anything unexpected comes up, I'll let you know through the Optical Computer."

Luo Feng suddenly remembered a question. "Babata, when we enter Qiu Long Planet, there'll be fees, right? Parking the ship costs money, eating and lodging costs money. Where do we get the cash?"

Babata tilted her head, thinking. "Let me check... Got it. The master left behind some coins he carried with him. Sometimes, pocket change comes in handy."

"Coins?" Luo Feng was taken aback. "Is that enough to cover the ship's parking fee?"

"Yeah, I searched the entire storage space. There are only 932 Ganwu Coins. But these are Ganwu Coins, not Black Dragon Coins, and certainly not cheap Silver Blue Coins! One Ganwu Coin can be exchanged for 1,000 Black Dragon Coins. Don't worry, it's enough for you to get by for a while—provided you don't have any spending sprees."

Nine days later.

"Everyone come to the main control room. The ship will perform a universe shuttle in ten minutes. We're about to arrive at Qiu Long Planet." Babata's voice came over the intercom.

The ship gradually decelerated until it came to a stop, vibrating slightly for a few seconds before everything calmed down.

"Universe shuttle successful. Back in the Original Universe. Exterior simulation 100%. Welcome, you've entered the true universe..."