Inside the Limit Dojo's Global Headquarters, in the giant spacecraft building.
In a spacious room on the top floor.
Li Qingxu and Hong were sipping tea and discussing the cultivation of the Secret of Practitioner, though most of the talking was done by Li Qingxu.
Hong listened beside him, comparing Li Qingxu's explanations with his own understanding.
"Bang, bang, bang."
Suddenly, urgent knocking sounded from outside.
"Hm?"
Hong frowned slightly. "Come in."
The door opened automatically.
Three people came in: two personal guards in black robes and Golden Masks, and an Inspector Wang.
"What is it?"
A flicker of surprise crossed Hong's eyes. The three had come together.
"Dojo Master, Councilor Li."
Inspector Wang looked excited and hurriedly said, "Luo Feng really did come out."
One of the burly beasts beside him rumbled, "Dojo Master, Luo Feng, who spent a year and three months inside Ancient Civilization Ruins No. 9, came out alive."
"Good."
Hong smiled with relief.
A year and three months—and inside ancient ruins that even he couldn't understand. Luo Feng must have gained something special from spending so long there.
"Feeling less worried now?" Li Qingxu teased, lifting his teacup for a sip.
Half a year ago, Hong had emerged from seclusion. After hearing news about Luo Feng, he'd personally dealt with several people who had made trouble for Luo Feng's family.
That had scared those factions out of their wits. If Thor hadn't talked him down, more than three High-level War Gods would have died.
"Haha."
Hong gave a helpless laugh. "Come on. Let's go welcome our dojo's Inspector Luo."
"Go ahead. I'm going back into seclusion," Li Qingxu said, waving a hand.
"All right. Your cultivation is most important. It would benefit humanity if you could reach Star Level as soon as possible."
Hong nodded, then left with his personal guards and Inspector Wang.
Li Qingxu returned to the training hall and immersed himself in cultivation once more.
Now that Luo Feng had come out of that place, the time to enter the universe was drawing near. He had to advance his cultivation quickly.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, three thousand meters below the surface.
The black giant egg, about twelve meters across, had been there for over a year. It was covered in mud and weeds and had become easy to overlook.
"Crack, crack~"
The mysterious black giant egg trembled slightly. Some of the weeds and mud covering it slid off.
"Crack~~"
It trembled again, and more weeds and mud slid away, gradually exposing the strange golden markings on its surface.
"Buzz!"
The black giant egg began to shake violently. A crack appeared across its surface.
Snap! After several heavy cracks, the egg split open where it had fractured. A pitch-black, mucus-covered creature poked out from inside.
The creature began devouring the eggshell, as if it hadn't eaten in countless years. It gobbled it down ravenously.
In just over ten minutes, it had eaten about a third of the twelve-meter-wide egg, revealing its entire dark form.
It was a pitch-black reptilian creature with black scales and powerful limbs.
A pair of scaled wings spread from its massive black body, and a tail like a dragon's swayed slowly behind it.
A single horn jutted skyward from its raised head.
As it devoured the shell, its body kept growing, increasing from around twelve meters long to sixteen.
"Woo~"
A sharp, cheerful cry came from its throat.
Its body carried an inexplicable, suffocating pressure. Its fearsome scaled wings, powerful limbs, tail, and single horn were all a cold black.
Faint golden markings could be seen on the sharp black horn, but they were hard to notice unless someone came close and looked carefully.
The mysterious golden patterns spread from the horn along the scales of its head, neck, and back, as if golden-patterned armor had fused with its back.
Dense golden markings even branched from its back onto its wings, then split into more patterns across its limbs and claws.
After finishing the eggshell, the mysterious beast coiled on the seabed and surveyed its surroundings. Ancient memories embedded in its bloodline began to flood into its mind.
Its dark golden eyes suddenly lit up, turning a brilliant gold.
The mysterious golden patterns on its horn, neck, and back scales glimmered faintly, glowing with a visible golden light.
The surrounding currents seemed to still for an instant, while the seabed rocks beneath the coiled beast trembled slightly.
Waves of energy poured into its body.
But after only a moment, it stopped absorbing energy.
Starting that very night, a bloody hunt began in the surrounding waters!
The mysterious beast's stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. Wherever it went, it ate.
It devoured countless terrifying sea monsters along the way, every one of them a Lord-level monster. If all those enormous sea beasts were piled together, they could have formed a mountain.
Yet in less than a day, after eating so many monsters, its body had barely changed in length.
The mysterious beast's birth had sparked a bloody hunt in the Pacific, but humanity on Earth remained completely unaware.
Time passed, and another three months went by.
At the Limit Dojo's headquarters, in Li Qingxu's private suite on the top floor.
"Too slow."
Li Qingxu opened his eyes in the middle of the training hall and sighed.
After months of painstaking cultivation in seclusion, he still hadn't broken through to the Dao Palace Fourth Heaven.
At his current level, he needed so much energy that the cosmic energy on Earth was simply too thin.
He estimated that if he relied only on the cosmic energy on Earth, it would take at least another year to reach the fourth level of the Dao Palace.
The fifth level would take even longer, to say nothing of breaking through the Dao Palace and advancing to the Four Extremes Realm.
"Eh? Why do I have so many missed calls?"
Li Qingxu looked at his communication device. It showed a long list of missed calls, the most recent from Hong two days ago.
He called him back.
Two seconds later, the video call connected.
"Hey, Hong. What's up?"
Li Qingxu poured himself a cup of tea as the black-clad man appeared on the screen.
"You're finally out of seclusion. Something's happened on Mist Island. A new Emperor-level monster has appeared. I suspect there's more than just Vegetation Spirits there—there may be a hidden treasure, too."
As Hong spoke, the video feed changed.
Small fighter jets were spread around the shores of a lake that stretched for a hundred miles. Some had laser cannons mounted on them, while others carried special detection and monitoring equipment.
Under the protection of a group of warriors, large numbers of staff members went about their work.
Besides the small fighter jets, there were also six enormous saucer-shaped passenger aircraft.
"I see."
Li Qingxu understood at once.
Babata must have thrown out more Wood Bud Crystals, trying to gather all the Planetary-Level warriors on Earth so he could choose one to inherit the legacy of Black Ink Star.
"Fine. I'll come over right away."
With that, Li Qingxu ended the video call. His figure vanished from the room as if he'd teleported.
He stepped through the sky, and within moments, he had disappeared into the distance.
He wouldn't steal Luo Feng's opportunity, but he wasn't going to pass up free Wood Bud Crystals.
After all, they were far more effective than absorbing the cosmic energy on Earth.
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