Luo Feng stood outside the light barrier, not in a hurry to enter. He released his Origin Force into the depths of the Mother Nest, carefully probing the Mother Emperor's condition.
The Mother Emperor was dormant.
Although her soul was powerful, she had no master, and her consciousness was in a state of chaos. This made it much easier to enslave her.
"Begin."
Luo Feng sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
Intangible mental power streamed from between his brows like threads, piercing through the energy cage and the Mother Nest's outer shell, then penetrating to the deepest part of the nest, where the Mother Emperor's sleeping soul core lay.
The hand seals of the Ten Thousand Heart Soul Control Secret Technique turned in his consciousness. His mental power rapidly disassembled and reassembled, transforming into countless crimson soul threads that seeped into the Mother Emperor's consciousness.
At first, the Mother Emperor's sleeping soul showed no reaction. But with every layer he penetrated, Luo Feng felt the resistance grow stronger.
When he reached the very core of her soul, the dormant Mother Emperor's soul suddenly shuddered like a giant beast disturbed in its sleep.
"She reacted a little faster than I expected." Rather than panic, Luo Feng smiled and instantly increased his soul power.
After Luo Feng unleashed his full Mental Power Amplitude and activated the Golden Horned Beast's "enhancement" talent, the crimson web of soul threads overwhelmed the Zerg Mother Emperor. Even when she awoke at the last moment and tried to resist, Luo Feng forcefully suppressed her and successfully enslaved her.
"Master." The Mother Emperor slowly opened her eyes, sending out a deep, gentle mental wave.
Luo Feng nodded, then suddenly thought of something. "By the way, what's your name?"
"Master, my name is Irina."
In the days that followed, Luo Feng did not hurry to leave Earth.
Instead, he began cultivating while planning his path forward.
He now had quite a few valuable aids to cultivation, and his Golden Horned Beast clone had already broken through to World Lord Level.
His cultivation speed now far surpassed what it had been at Domain Lord Level.
His comprehension and will were also transforming in step.
Luo Feng was now beginning to reveal his talent and potential.
"It seems it takes a lot of resources to nurture enough Zerg Warriors."
After listening to Irina's explanation, Luo Feng fell into thought.
But a moment later, he remembered that there were vast numbers of Zerg corpses in the Trash Book Star Sector, and he could buy enough of them for a very low price.
Luo Feng immediately contacted his teacher, King Zhen Yan.
After a series of arrangements,
Luo Feng really did secure favorable terms.
So he and his guard Dylan headed to the Wulong Star Sector, one of the nine great garbage star sectors.
There, Luo Feng bought the planned number of Zerg corpses as he had hoped, but unexpectedly discovered Soldier Armor Beads as well.
While searching for fragments of the Soldier Armor Beads under the pretext of treasure hunting, Luo Feng was attacked.
After using every means at his disposal to kill the Immortal Level assassin, Luo Feng took advantage of the chaos to collect Zerg corpses worth several million Hunyuan Units.
Afterward, he was harassed by King Yan Zhu of the Giant Axe Martial Arts Arena.
However, Luo Feng was already a member of the Primal Secret Region of the Virtual Universe Company.
And with the human leadership now investing far more in nurturing geniuses, this kind of harassment was nothing but a joke.
After collecting two complete sets of Soldier Armor Beads, Luo Feng left the Trash Book Star Sector, bringing his treasure hunt to an end.
He had gained a great deal from this trip.
After returning,
Luo Feng resumed his secluded cultivation.
At the same time, he completed the various missions assigned by the Virtual Universe Company.
Because of the Sky Screen,
the Human Race had suddenly attached vastly greater importance to nurturing geniuses.
As a result, Luo Feng was now assigned a difficult cultivation mission roughly once every hundred years.
The company also recommended that every Domain Lord Level member of the Primal Secret Region spend at least ten thousand years at Domain Lord Level before breaking through to World Lord Level!
Luo Feng, however, did not mind.
After all, his Golden Horned Beast clone had already reached World Lord Level.
It did not matter much whether his Human Main Body broke through or not.
Thus,
Luo Feng began making rapid progress under the cultivation plan the Virtual Universe Company had specially devised for him.
In an unnamed star sector, Yang Yu withdrew his gaze. "As expected, the Sky Screen's appearance still affected the original storyline."
According to the original storyline,
not long after Luo Feng returned from Garbage Mountain, he completed the Highest Points Mission and went to Chaos City for secluded cultivation. Later, his talent in the Way of the Beast God emerged, and City Lord of Chaos accepted him as a nominal disciple.
From then on, he began to soar.
But now,
the Sky Screen had changed the course of events.
What remained unchanged was that Luo Feng's talent was rapidly emerging.
Over the next several thousand years,
Luo Feng began undertaking various missions, while having the Zerg Mother Emperor nurture large numbers of Zerg Warriors.
As if fate had ordained it, Luo Feng still discovered Panxi's secret while on a mission and obtained a vast quantity of Locke Divine Water.
At last,
after spending the required time at Domain Lord Level,
Luo Feng prepared to go to Chaos City to cultivate. There, he would have his Human Main Body break through to World Lord Level and take on even greater challenges!
Chaos City.
Gray, chaotic currents had shrouded the sky above this ancient city for countless years. Cracks in the Origin Laws opened and closed across the heavens, laying the deepest mysteries of the universe bare above the heads of every cultivator.
Luo Feng sat cross-legged on the cultivation platform in Area Three. Not far away stood the lecture platform reserved for Venerable Gui Yi.
This was his second time coming to Chaos City for secluded cultivation.
King Zhen Yan had spent eight billion points to exchange for more than a hundred manuals for Luo Feng.
Among them, Beast God Seven Transformations was the most profound and mysterious.
Luo Feng was stunned as soon as he opened it to the first page:
"The Primal Universe evolved, giving birth to billions of races and countless wondrous life forms. Among these life forms was a mighty Beast God. This mighty Beast God was a naturally born supreme being created by the evolution of the universe. Its body was the embodiment of the fusion of the 'Space Law' and the 'Law of Gold.' Every casual swipe of its claw, every lash of its tail, every charge contained the ultimate principles of the universe. I, Shi Luoduo, comprehended the supreme technique Beast God Seven Kills from the Beast God. It is also known as Seven Changes of Yan God."
Master the first three levels, and one will be invincible below Universe Venerable.
Master the first six levels, and one will be invincible below Universe Master.
Master the seventh level, and one will become a true Beast God, as if the Beast God itself had returned to the world. One would rival a true Universe Master and stand at the pinnacle of the universe.
"I created Beast God Seven Kills (Seven Changes of Yan God), yet mastered only the first six levels. The seventh level exists only in my imagination and is not truly complete. To become a true Beast God, to be as invincible as the Beast God itself... It is difficult, difficult, difficult! I hope that a successor of my Golden Horn Race will one day perfect the seventh level and master it."
After reading this, Luo Feng recalled the Xueluo Crystals he had fused with in Xueluo World and the Golden Beast God Statue he had obtained.
At last, Luo Feng discovered the path best suited to him.
That was—the Way of the Beast God!
From then on,
Luo Feng followed the instructions in the manual and began cultivating Beast God Seven Kills.
During his first century of secluded cultivation in Chaos City, all three of Luo Feng's bodies began working at once. His Golden Horned Beast clone focused on the Origin of Gold, using the vast expanse of its Internal World and the tenfold amplification of Xueluo Power to push the substance of the Law of Gold to its limit.
The Mosha Race clone, naturally attuned to the Space Law, plunged into the deeper deductions of the Rainstorm Diagram on the Nine Universes Chaos Tablet.
Meanwhile, his Earthling Main Body tried to combine his insights into both laws, searching for the fused intent of the Way of the Beast God.
But this path was far more difficult than he had imagined. The Law of Gold was fierce and sharp, while the Space Law was ethereal and elusive. The two were like the hardest metal and the wildest wind. Whenever he tried to force them together, either the metal shattered or the wind spiraled out of control like a raging storm.
Luo Feng tried tens of thousands of times and failed tens of thousands of times. In the worst attempt, he tried embedding a Space Fragment into a blade arc of golden force, but his Origin Force circuit broke. The Space Fragment slipped free and pierced his right shoulder. If the Mosha Race armor had not promptly shed the damaged area, his entire right arm would have been severed.
"Space and gold... How can they possibly be fused?"
Luo Feng sat on the platform, frowning deeply.
He stared at the Beast God Statue before him, which he had obtained in Xueluo World, silently tracing its form and contemplating it.
Suddenly,
a flash of inspiration crossed Luo Feng's mind.
He stopped sitting in meditation and stood up, beginning to imitate the Beast God Statue's posture with his body.
His limbs mimicked the Beast God's arc as it strode through the air. His spine followed the curve of its twisting body. His fingers traced the paths its claws carved through space.
At first, he merely imitated the statue's shape. But after he channeled Origin Force throughout his body, the 72,000 threads of the Nine Tribulations Manual within him, forming a cosmic circuit, began turning of their own accord. Like a mirror, they reflected the trajectories of the laws flowing through the outside world.
When his Golden Horned Beast clone also began to enact the Beast God's movements with its World Lord Level body, Luo Feng's senses abruptly cleared. He struck out with a claw right where he stood. It was no known secret technique, but a pure, instinctive motion produced by his body in response to the synchronized urging of external forces and his consciousness.
The power of the Space Law and the Law of Gold fused into one in that single strike.
Above the cultivation platform, a space rift no larger than a fingernail blossomed open, deep enough to make one's heart tremble, then silently closed again.
Luo Feng froze.
The Space Law and the Law of Gold had finally begun to fuse, and he had at last mastered the first kill of Beast God Seven Kills!
Three days later, Luo Feng received a summons from the City Lord's Mansion.
"Primal Secret Region Member Luo Feng, please report to the inner hall of the City Lord's Mansion today."
Luo Feng's heart skipped a beat.
The inner hall of the City Lord's Mansion was where City Lord of Chaos summoned his core disciples. Luo Feng did not dare delay. He immediately ended his meditation and flew toward the mansion.
The inner hall of the City Lord's Mansion was plainer than he had imagined.
There were no gilded decorations, only a massive stone wall covered in densely carved names—the names of the Universe Masters and Universe Venerables of the Human Race who had fallen over countless eras.
A tall figure in a golden robe stood before the wall, his hands clasped behind his back.
It was City Lord of Chaos.
Luo Feng bowed. "Greetings, City Lord."
City Lord of Chaos turned around. His features were firm and composed, and his eyes were calm as an endless starry sky. His brows held an air of authority that commanded respect, despite having witnessed the vicissitudes of time. He offered no pleasantries and went straight to the point. "How long have you been contemplating the Beast God Statue?"
Luo Feng made a quick estimate. "More than ten thousand years."
City Lord of Chaos fell silent for a moment. Only the names on the stone wall flickered soundlessly within the inner hall.
"More than ten thousand years." City Lord of Chaos slowly repeated the number, his tone carrying a complex emotion that was difficult to discern. "Your aptitude is quite good."
Luo Feng opened his mouth, but did not know what to say.
City Lord of Chaos did not give him a chance to speak, changing the subject. "But entering the path is only the beginning. The farther you go on the Way of the Beast God, the harder it becomes. Still, you are very suited to this path. Are you willing to become my disciple?"
Luo Feng dropped to one knee.
"Of course, Master. Please accept this disciple's bow."
City Lord of Chaos nodded and raised a hand slightly, gesturing for him to stand. "From today onward, you will be my nominal disciple. Once you comprehend the first level of Seven Changes of Yan God through the Way of the Beast God, you will formally join my lineage. Do you have any objections?"
"I have none, Master."
With a wave of City Lord of Chaos's hand, a jade slip flew from his sleeve and landed in Luo Feng's palm. "This is the complete Seven Changes of Yan God. The first level, the Scale Armor Chapter, must be comprehended within three thousand years. This is your test from me. Only after you pass it can you become my personal disciple."
Luo Feng gripped the jade slip, his palm growing slightly warm.
"Go."
"Yes."
When Luo Feng left the inner hall, he still felt as though he were floating.
City Lord of Chaos had taken him as a disciple. Whether nominal or personal, the news was enough to make the headlines of every major power's intelligence reports across the Primal Universe.
And now City Lord of Chaos had personally told him that he could become a personal disciple by comprehending the first level within three thousand years.
He took a deep breath, gripped the jade slip tightly, and headed for the cultivation platform.
The news that Luo Feng had become a nominal disciple of City Lord of Chaos quickly spread through the upper ranks of the Human Hong Alliance.
Yang Yu, who had been keeping an eye on Luo Feng, also heard the news.
Seeing it, Yang Yu felt anew the wonder of fate and the karma surrounding the Lord.
More accurately, it was the powerful way the Hunyuan Lord's own timeline and fate line converged upon him.
Even with a miraculous thing like the Sky Screen appearing, at most it could influence minor details in Luo Feng's growth.
It could not affect the overall direction.
Knowing this, Yang Yu felt relieved.
At the same time, he took his own cultivation even more seriously. Having obtained the Hunyuan Void Fire Spirit Fruit, Yang Yu felt that his talent had been greatly enhanced. Perhaps he could reach an even higher realm through his own cultivation!
The news that City Lord of Chaos had taken a disciple also reached the other races.
Their reactions varied.
The Sky Screen's Genius Ranking, set to appear a million years later, would take stock of all beings below Immortal Level.
So everyone was busy now!
Before, they might have focused their attention on such geniuses and then tried every means to assassinate them.
Now, although they would still assassinate such geniuses when the right opportunity arose, their focus had shifted to nurturing their own talents.
After all, geniuses could never be wiped out.
Only by nurturing more geniuses, and even more exceptional ones, could they hope to make the ranking a million years from now.
City Lord of Chaos had taken few nominal disciples. Across all generations, there had been only a little over thirty. Most eventually became Universe Venerables, but none had yet become Universe Masters.
Those accepted as nominal disciples at Domain Lord Level could be counted on one hand in the entire history of the Human Race.
The spies each major power had stationed within the Human Hong Alliance almost simultaneously sent the intelligence back to their respective races.
At the same time, the Virtual Universe Company continued increasing its investment in the rising generation of geniuses.
The Sky Screen's announcement that it would reopen in a million years and select the "Top Ten Geniuses Below Immortal Level" was like an invisible whip lashing every race.
The Human Race, by contrast, was the most methodical in this regard.
City Lord of Chaos personally oversaw the effort. Meanwhile, Dragon Walk Master, Peng Gong Lord, Void Gold Master, and other Universe Masters took turns giving lectures in the various Core Secret Realms. All secret realm members at Universe Level or above received notices that their resource allotments had been doubled.
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