Chaos Steles

Within the inner estate of the City Lord's Residence stood a secluded courtyard. On a stone stele outside the courtyard were carved the three words: "Chaos Ruins"!

The courtyard did not appear very large, yet it contained an incomparably vast and desolate expanse within.

Across this desolate land lay countless corpses of varying forms. Some were as enormous as planets, while others stood less than a meter tall. Yet without exception, every corpse here emanated a terrifying aura, countless times stronger than even Black Peak King, who had previously escorted Lu Qingshan's group to the Initial Universe.

On a throne deep within this endless land sat a burly, towering man around three meters tall.

He wore an ancient dark-red battle armor covered in countless mysterious law-pattern engravings, with combat boots on his feet. A scaled tail extended from his back, while two fiery red horns rose from his fierce face, which was likewise covered in strange secret engravings.

This was the Chaos City Lord, the true wielder of power within the Virtual Universe Company and a genuine super powerhouse of humanity!

"Hm?"

Just as Lu Qingshan and the others entered Chaos City, the Chaos City Lord was slightly startled. "Someone actually dared enter the Initial Universe after taking over the soul of a human powerhouse?"

"So they are remnants of the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives!"

After investigating the details, the Chaos City Lord suddenly understood. "Ever since the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives were jointly exterminated by the powerhouses of our four great races, their hatred for humanity has run as deep as the sea! However, their race never possessed a great being such as a Universe Master to begin with. By now, they likely do not even have a Universe Venerable left, so naturally they could not know the might of a Universe Master!"

"This little fellow was able to take over a human powerhouse and successfully cultivate to the peak of the World Master level. His strength is fairly decent!"

The Chaos City Lord could not help sighing. "However, those not of our race must harbor different intentions! Fine, go join your race!"

With a thought from the Chaos City Lord, one peak World Master among Lu Qingshan's group instantly vanished, as though he had never existed.

Neither Lu Qingshan's group nor even the escorting envoy noticed anything.

Then, the Chaos City Lord looked directly outside. "Gui Yi!"

The moment the Chaos City Lord spoke, a bald man dressed in a fiery red battle robe instantly appeared before him.

Gui Yi Venerable was suddenly teleported into the Chaos Ruins by the Chaos City Lord, yet he was not surprised at all. Over the long years, this had happened many times.

Since the Chaos City Lord had teleported him here, he naturally had something to instruct him to do!

"Teacher!" The bald man, Gui Yi Venerable, hurriedly bowed respectfully to the Chaos City Lord.

"Among those little World Master-level fellows who entered the Initial Universe this time, one was once taken over by a remnant of the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives!"

The Chaos City Lord directly instructed, "Since this person was able to cultivate to the peak of the World Master level and obtain a spot to study in the Initial Universe, he must hold some status in his homeland. He may even be secretly sheltering some remnants of the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives. Arrange for someone to handle this matter!"

"Remnants of the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives?" Gui Yi Venerable was slightly stunned.

Back when the Seventh Extraterritorial Battlefield was being opened, the four pinnacle races had dispatched powerhouses to sweep through a vast starfield around the region where the Star Tower was located. Naturally, the natives of that starfield had suffered a terrible calamity, and the Flame Sacrifice Continent natives were among them.

Gui Yi Venerable had also been one of the human powerhouses who opened the battlefield back then, and the Flame Sacrifice Continent had been one of the areas under his responsibility.

After killing several Universe Venerables on the Flame Sacrifice Continent, he had even obtained several secret-pattern weapons unique to the Flame Sacrifice race. However, those weapons had been of no use to him. Other than keeping one to bestow upon his disciple, he had sold all the rest to other human powerhouses at high prices.

Of course, Gui Yi Venerable only reminisced briefly before quickly recovering. He then respectfully replied, "Teacher, please rest assured. Your disciple will handle this matter properly and will not allow a single Flame Sacrifice remnant lurking within humanity's territory to escape!"

"Hm." The Chaos City Lord nodded slightly, then instructed, "You may leave."

"Yes, Teacher." Gui Yi Venerable respectfully bowed.

Rumble!

Space shifted, and Gui Yi Venerable's figure instantly disappeared from the ruined continent covered in countless corpses.

While the Chaos City Lord was instructing Gui Yi Venerable, the black-robed escorting envoy had also brought Lu Qingshan's group to a dreamlike corridor within the City Lord's Residence.

Along both sides of this dreamlike corridor hung mysterious paintings.

"Displayed along both sides of this corridor are rubbings of the fifty Chaos Steles in Chaos City!"

The black-robed escorting envoy pointed at the mysterious paintings around them and introduced them to Lu Qingshan and the others. "Although these paintings cannot fully display every mystery contained within the Chaos Steles, they can still give you a preliminary understanding!"

"According to the rules of Chaos City, every cultivator who enters the Initial Universe receives one opportunity to study a Chaos Stele. Each person may study it for seven days!"

"Only seven days?"

"How can it be so short?"

The World Master-level powerhouses around them immediately widened their eyes after hearing the envoy's words.

After all, which one of them did not now spend thousands or tens of thousands of years in a single cultivation session?

A mere seven days was practically negligible to them!

"Quiet!"

The black-robed envoy frowned slightly before saying in a deep voice, "What do you think these Chaos Steles are? Let me tell you, even great beings such as Universe Country Lords never study the Chaos Steles for more than seven days at a time!"

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

The group of World Master-level powerhouses around them instantly erupted!

In their eyes, the Universe Country Lords who governed vast universe countries were already among the most powerful experts in humanity!

Such powerhouses still needed to study the Chaos Steles? And they were likewise limited to seven days each time?

"Hmph!"

The black-robed escorting envoy snorted coldly and continued, "Now you understand how precious these Chaos Steles are! If you had not come to Chaos City, you would never see treasures of this level even in your entire lifetimes!"

"Furthermore, although you have each received one opportunity to study a Chaos Stele, if you wish to continue studying them, then aside from fulfilling certain conditions, you must also join the core layer of one of the five great powers!"

"Among you, some are core members of the five great powers, some are external members, and some simply obtained study slots through auctions! There is naturally no need to say anything about the core members, but the rest of you must think carefully. If you wish to continue studying the Chaos Steles, you must completely join one of the five great powers!"

"This..."

Lu Qingshan had not paid much attention to the escorting envoy's earlier words, because he was familiar with the original story and understood these matters well. However, these latest words surprised him somewhat.

After all, the difference between external members and core members of the Virtual Universe Company lay in their freedom!

Under normal circumstances, external members enjoyed a high degree of freedom and even had the right to refuse missions issued by the Virtual Universe Company!

But if one became a core member, one had to completely obey the Virtual Universe Company's orders unless one's strength reached a certain level!

The super geniuses in the Virtual Universe Company's core layer were like this!

Given those geniuses' cultivation speed, many of them could become immortal even if they remained in safe places and cultivated in seclusion.

Yet they could not refuse the various cultivation missions and life-or-death trials arranged for them by the Virtual Universe Company!

Of course, these cultivation missions and life-or-death trials were also of great help in increasing their strength!

But they were of no use to Lu Qingshan.

According to Lu Qingshan's own plans, once he successfully became immortal, he could simply take it easy.

He only needed to offer Luo Feng some help before his rise in the future, and his future life would be absolutely secure.

But if he completely joined the Virtual Universe Company, then should it assign him dangerous missions, he could very well encounter fatal danger!

Forget it. There's no need to think so much about it for now!

Lu Qingshan secretly thought, First, I'll see how effective my first study of a Chaos Stele will be! If I can successfully become immortal, there'll be no need for me to completely join the Virtual Universe Company!

Just then, the black-robed envoy's voice rang out again.

"Next, you will view these fifty rubbing paintings and decide which Chaos Stele you wish to study!"

The black-robed escorting envoy said in a deep voice, "But I must remind you that each of you has only one chance. Once you choose, you can never change it again."

"Alright, you have only half an hour to make your choice. Begin now!"

After explaining everything, the black-robed escorting envoy quickly walked to one side of the corridor and began waiting quietly.

Half an hour was a tight amount of time, and everyone quickly began searching for a Chaos Stele suited to them.

The surroundings were silent. Everyone stared at the paintings with utmost concentration, sensing the faint mysteries contained within them.

Lu Qingshan's gaze also swiftly swept across every painting on the walls. Each painting was ten meters long and ten meters wide, with the corresponding Chaos Stele's name beside it.

Some of the paintings were covered in withered yellow leaves, some depicted raindrops, while others showed sharp blade light...

After more than twenty minutes, Lu Qingshan quickly settled on two paintings that were highly suitable for him.

For the painting representing the Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele, merely glancing at it allowed Lu Qingshan to feel a great stirring in his comprehension of the time origin laws, which had only recently crossed the threshold.

Even a painting containing only a trace of its mysteries had such an effect, let alone the actual Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele!

As for the painting representing the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele, it was the most helpful for Lu Qingshan's comprehension of the lightning origin laws. However, its apparent effect was inferior to the Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele's help with the time origin laws!

Of course, Lu Qingshan understood that this was merely an illusion.

The reason he felt that the Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele helped him more was entirely because his comprehension of the time origin laws was very low. He had only just crossed the threshold of the origin laws and would likely struggle even to pass the first level of the Heavenward Bridge.

Meanwhile, his lightning origin laws had long since gained the recognition of the origin laws. His realm was extremely high, enough for him to pass the ninth level of the Heavenward Bridge. Thus, when viewing the painting representing the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele, the effect was naturally less obvious!

Choosing the Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele would indeed allow my comprehension of the time origin laws to advance by leaps and bounds!

Lu Qingshan secretly thought, But for me, the most important thing now is to break through and become immortal before my lifespan runs out! As for the time origin laws, I can slowly comprehend them after becoming immortal! Besides, the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele was also created by a super powerhouse of humanity. Its later sections will definitely contain aspects involving the time origin laws!

That was indeed the case!

Among the fifty Chaos Steles, there were roughly three types.

One type was like the Giant Axe Chaos Stele, focusing primarily on comprehending secret techniques while gaining insight into origin laws through those techniques. Another was like the Universal Ultimate Chaos Stele and the Nine Universe Chaos Stele, focusing primarily on comprehending either the time origin laws or the space origin laws. The final type was like the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele, beginning with a lower origin law and then gradually comprehending higher origin laws!

For true geniuses, choosing the first or second type was naturally suitable!

But for an ordinary genius like Lu Qingshan, who had cultivated for millions of years before gaining recognition from a lower origin law, the Heavenly Thunder Chaos Stele was undoubtedly the best choice!

Thanks to reader "Light Up Life" for the 100-coin reward, and to reader "Shining Morning Star" for the 2,000-coin reward. Future updates will be posted around 6:30 PM whenever possible. If anything changes, I will try to announce it in advance.