On Earth.
Luo Feng was in secluded cultivation.
Universe Lord-level Origin Force surged through his body like a tide, and his comprehension of the Rainstorm Diagram on the Nine Universes Chaos Tablet had reached a critical point.
The Luo Family's renovations to Earth were also nearing completion. The planet's infrastructure, defensive systems, and energy network had all been completely overhauled. According to Dylan, Earth could now withstand an attack from a Peak World Lord for quite some time.
Luo Feng was very satisfied. After checking on the progress, he turned his attention back to cultivation.
In the secret chamber.
Space Law fluctuations curled around Luo Feng's fingertips as he repeatedly tried to analyze the seventy-two more profound Space Essences.
"This is too difficult." He shook his head and opened his eyes.
The seventy-two Space Essences in the Rainstorm Diagram were countless times more profound than the thirty-six in the Drizzle Diagram. Even Lian Luo had needed three thousand years of comprehension in Chaos City to understand them all. Though Luo Feng had the support of the Golden Horned Beast's Xueluo Power and the help of his Mosha Race clone, a born favorite of Space Law, breaking through in a short time was still a pipe dream.
"At this rate, I'll need at least a few hundred years." Luo Feng sighed.
He had time. A Universe Lord could live for a million years, and a few hundred years would pass in the blink of an eye. Yet, for some reason, he felt a sense of urgency—as if something awaited him at the end of the river of time, urging him to move faster and faster.
Suddenly, an email arrived through the Virtual Universe.
"Ah Feng, come take a look! We found a mysterious metal fragment!"
It was Xu Xin's voice.
Unlike her usual gentle tone, she sounded slightly urgent.
Luo Feng opened the email, and a holographic projection instantly appeared in the secret chamber.
The image showed a black metal plate about the size of a palm.
Ordinary-looking patterns were engraved on its surface.
"What is this?" Luo Feng's gaze was instantly drawn to the metal plate.
"I don't know either." Xu Xin continued speaking as she turned the plate over, revealing its irregularly broken edges. "A few days ago, a construction crew was digging the foundations in the new district when they found it several thousand meters underground. Mr. Dylan said it's harder than F-Grade Metal. He struck it with all his Immortal Divine Power, but it didn't even leave a mark!"
Luo Feng raised an eyebrow.
Dylan was only an Immortal Army Lord, but his actual strength was already close to Marquis level. A full-strength attack from him could reduce a planet to rubble. And this metal hadn't been damaged in the slightest by such force?
"There's something even more incredible." Xu Xin lowered her voice. "Based on the age of the rock layers, it must have been buried there at least six hundred million years ago. Six hundred million years, Ah Feng! Think about it—there might not even have been dinosaurs on Earth back then!"
"Six hundred million years?" Luo Feng's pupils contracted slightly. He rose at once. "I'm coming over."
A moment later, Luo Feng appeared in the Luo Family's First Treasure Vault.
Xu Xin stepped forward and handed him the black metal plate.
The moment it touched his hand, Luo Feng sensed something strange.
It was too light.
Though it was palm-sized, it weighed no more than a pencil.
Its surface was cool and smooth, like some kind of jade, yet it also had the distinctive cold hardness of metal. Its edges were irregularly broken, clearly smashed apart by some terrifying force.
Luo Feng carefully examined the patterns on its surface. At first glance, they really did look like ordinary decorative markings. But when he focused his Spiritual Force on them, their arrangement seemed to follow a certain pattern—not random decoration, but some kind of incredibly intricate... writing?
"I'll try penetrating it with my Spiritual Force."
Luo Feng closed his eyes, sending threads of invisible Spiritual Force into the metal plate.
Something strange happened.
The instant his Spiritual Force touched the plate, it passed through the surface without any resistance, as if the metal plate didn't exist. But right afterward, layer upon layer of resistance appeared in his perception.
"Interesting."
Luo Feng grew intrigued.
His Spiritual Force had long since reached the peak of Universe Lord level, and it had been tempered countless times during his trials in Xueluo World. In terms of purity, it far surpassed that of others at the same level. Yet even his powerful Spiritual Force was struggling against those layers of resistance.
Eight hundred layers... three thousand layers... ten thousand layers...
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Luo Feng's forehead. The resistance seemed endless: breaking through one layer only revealed another, and the deeper he went, the more unyielding they became. He gritted his teeth and reached out to his Internal World.
On the vast metal continent, the enormous black Golden Horned Beast threw back its head and roared soundlessly. The four horns on its forehead lit up at once: Innate Secret Technique, "Enhancement"!
His soul strength surged!
Luo Feng's Spiritual Force, which had begun to falter, suddenly grew sharp. Like a divine weapon reforged, it pierced through layer after layer of resistance with unstoppable momentum.
After who knew how long,
the instant he broke through the final layer,
Boom!
An ancient, majestic voice exploded deep within his consciousness.
"I am Mountain Sitting Guest. I leave the Nine Tribulations Manual here."
The voice was so ancient it seemed to come from across billions of years, yet it was as clear as a whisper in his ear. Every word contained an indescribable rhythm of the Great Dao, making Luo Feng's entire consciousness ring.
"This manual transcends the Universe Operation Rules and defies the heavens."
"Flesh-and-blood lifeforms have two parts: the body and the soul. This manual focuses on cultivating bodily genes. Using the Force Crystal Ball and Soul Crystal Ball within the body as its core, it builds a cosmic cycle to drive the active evolution of genes..."
"Upon completing the First Tribulation, genes improve threefold; the Second Tribulation, sixfold; the Third Tribulation, twelvefold; the Fourth Tribulation, twenty-fourfold... Upon completing all nine tribulations, one's genes improve ten thousandfold, forming the foundation of the strongest!"
"This is the First Tribulation. The remaining eight tribulations are scattered elsewhere."
"Remember: every breakthrough while cultivating this manual is accompanied by a life-or-death tribulation. Genes may collapse, the soul may be annihilated, and the slightest mistake may turn you to ash. Unless fully prepared, proceed with caution! With the utmost caution!"
The voice faded, and a vast torrent of information poured into Luo Feng's consciousness.
It consisted of passages of incomparably profound techniques, more than thirty thousand characters in all, written in some kind of ancient, square script.
Luo Feng didn't recognize a single character, yet they somehow seemed familiar. They bore an astonishing resemblance to certain variant characters in ancient Chinese writing. Their strokes and structure carried the same underlying rhythm.
Luo Feng suddenly opened his eyes, his forehead drenched in sweat.
"Ah Feng!" Xu Xin anxiously steadied his arm. "What's wrong? You look terrible."
"I'm fine." Luo Feng drew a deep breath and clenched the black metal plate in his hand. His gaze burned as if he could melt it. "I just... discovered something incredible."
Luo Feng looked down at the black metal plate in his palm and slowly said, "A chance that could change my fate."
Back in the Luo Family's secret chamber, Luo Feng could no longer contain his shock.
"The Nine Tribulations Manual... Mountain Sitting Guest..."
He sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber, gently running his fingers over the seemingly ordinary black metal plate.
Mountain Sitting Guest!
The number one being in the Primal Universe, ranked first among the top ten powerhouses in the Sky Screen Ranking!
Just a few months ago, that enormous Sky Screen spanning the entire Primal Universe had let billions of lifeforms see those three characters.
Founder Giant Axe was second, Shihua Island Master third, True Void Demon God fourth, Starry Sky Progenitor fifth, Beast Ancestor sixth, Zerg Queen seventh, Machine Father God eighth, and the two Monster Race ancestors brought up the rear in ninth and tenth place.
And the one who stood above them all, the foremost being of them all, was Mountain Sitting Guest!
The Sky Screen's appraisal was still engraved in Luo Feng's mind: "Secret technique level: Divine King realm. Combat strength: absolutely surpasses all lifeforms in the Primal Universe."
Divine King realm.
It was a level Luo Feng had never even heard of. The fact that another realm existed above Universe Strongest was enough to overturn the entire cultivation system of the Primal Universe.
And a manual left behind by such a being could hardly be ordinary.
Luo Feng closed his eyes and began to carefully sort through the information in his mind.
The Nine Tribulations Manual focused on cultivating bodily genes. With the Force Crystal Ball and Soul Crystal Ball within the body as its core, it formed 72,000 auxiliary threads and 1,440 main threads to simulate a cosmic cycle.
As the cycle turned, it gradually drove the evolution of the body's genes.
"Active gene evolution... This goes completely against the Cosmic Rules." Luo Feng opened his eyes, full of amazement.
After all, every genetic leap made by a lifeform was driven by the Cosmic Rules when it broke through a major realm.
From apprentice to Planetary Level, then from Planetary Level to Star Level—each leap represented a qualitative change in the level of one's life.
Never had there been a secret technique that could let a cultivator actively drive gene evolution without changing realms.
What did that mean?
It meant that someone who cultivated the Nine Tribulations Manual would have a body several times, dozens of times, or even tens of thousands of times stronger than a cultivator at the same level, with the same comprehension of the laws!
"With a threefold genetic improvement at Universe Lord level, one could rival Special Lifeforms with naturally powerful bloodlines."
Luo Feng calculated silently. "If I complete the Second Tribulation, my genes will be six times stronger, and at Universe Lord level I'll be able to fight ordinary World Lords head-on. The Third Tribulation gives twelvefold improvement, the Fourth twenty-fourfold... By the Fifth Tribulation, my body alone will crush all others at the same level."
"And if I complete all nine tribulations—ten thousandfold improvement, the foundation of the strongest!"
His breathing grew hot.
But he soon calmed down. The manual's opening made it perfectly clear: cultivating it was a one-in-nine chance of survival. Every time he broke through a tribulation, the slightest imbalance in the cosmic cycle within his body would cause his Force Crystal Ball, Soul Crystal Ball, and body to collapse together, destroying both body and soul.
If he collapsed just once, that would be manageable. He could transfer himself to his Mosha Race clone and Origin Core. Even if his Earthling Main Body turned to ash, it could be reconstituted.
But the warning that followed was even more terrifying: the higher his Gene Level, the more complex the cosmic cycle he built within his body would become, and the more terrifying the backlash would be if it collapsed.
By then, even his Origin Core might be affected.
"As expected of Mountain Sitting Guest's work." Luo Feng gently stroked the patterns on the metal plate. "This manual is incredibly difficult to cultivate."
First, he needed exceptional insight to comprehend the cosmic cycle diagram formed by the 72,000 threads.
Second, he needed an extremely powerful body, or he wouldn't even be able to construct the cycle.
Third, he needed a clone or some other means of preserving his life. Otherwise, one failure would mean certain death.
Not a single one of the three conditions could be missing.
Luo Feng happened to meet all of them.
"I just don't know why Mountain Sitting Guest left the manual on Earth... or why I was the one to find it..."
He shook his head and set those thoughts aside for the time being. He was still too weak. There was no point thinking about such questions now.
"Babat, help me search the Virtual Universe for all information related to 'Mountain Sitting Guest,' the 'Nine Tribulations Manual,' and 'Yan God Race script.' Use my highest authorization. Don't overlook the slightest clue."
"Got it, got it!" Babat's excited voice sounded in his mind. "Luo Feng, Mountain Sitting Guest is the number one powerhouse in the Primal Universe. How could anything he left behind be ordinary? We've struck the jackpot!"
"Keep it quiet." Luo Feng's lips curved slightly upward. "No one can know about this except you and me. Not Dylan, not even my teacher, King Zhen Yan, and certainly not the Virtual Universe Company."
He understood that the manual was far too valuable. Valuable enough to make the Universe Strongests disregard their status and fight for it. Before the Sky Screen's rewards appeared, even a Supreme Treasure could make Universe Strongests slaughter one another. And the Nine Tribulations Manual was worth far more than a Supreme Treasure!
"Understood, understood. My lips are sealed," Babat promised again and again.
Luo Feng put away the metal plate and began comprehending the cultivation method for the First Tribulation.
What he didn't know was that from the moment he touched the metal plate, his fate had already changed completely.
Meanwhile, deep in the endless starry sky, in the desolate and silent Desert Starfield, Yang Yu's towering figure slowly withdrew his gaze. He lifted his wine jar, took a drink, and gave a satisfied smile.
"Universe Lord level... Completing the First Tribulation in three months. About what I expected."
A smile appeared on his face.
As long as Luo Feng's growth didn't stray too far from its intended course, the future was assured!
Leaving behind a thread of consciousness to keep watching Luo Feng, Yang Yu sent another thread of consciousness to monitor the other forces in the Primal Universe.
The Sky Screen's rewards had completely transformed the balance of power in the Primal Universe.
Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor had ranked at the bottom of the Sky Screen's top ten. Their rewards were decent, but ultimately insufficient.
After being crushed time and again by Beast Ancestor, the Zerg Queen, and humanity's Giant Axe, the Monster Race had no choice but to cede more than half its territory in order to survive.
In the Demon Ancestor Secret Realm,
Tremor Demon Ancestor and Dream Demon Ancestor summoned all the Monster Race Universe Masters for a closed-door meeting.
It was said that on that day, the entire Demon Ancestor Secret Realm trembled under the fury of the two ancestors.
But anger was useless. They couldn't withstand the God-Slaying Axe wielded by Founder Giant Axe.
The Monster Race's affiliated groups had also read the situation and quietly begun contacting humanity to seek a way out.
The affiliated forces gathered by the Monster Race at the height of its power were now disintegrating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, the Zerg Queen was in a very good mood in Zerg Territory.
She reclined deep within the Queen Palace, her slender fingers rubbing the translucent "Eternal Pearl" as an enchanting smile curved her lips.
Her Zerg Mother Nest was working at full capacity to nurture a new generation of Zerg prodigies, preparing for the Genius Ranking a million years in the future.
"Soul Amplitude can be cultivated later, but individuals born with strong wills are truly promising seedlings. Pass down my order: for the next million years, all Zerg Mother Emperors must raise their standards for selecting young lifeforms threefold. No! Fivefold. Quality over quantity!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
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