The Four Divine Heavens occupied a region spanning tens of millions of kilometers around a wormhole. They had placed the entire area under Space Lockdown, lifting it only after travelers paid a hefty toll.
After roughly five years of flight from the Meng'an Tribe, Luo Feng and his party finally reached the outer edge of the wormhole.
From afar, space across tens of millions of kilometers ahead appeared twisted, as though it had collapsed into an enormous vortex. This was the Natural Wormhole leading to Azure City.
Luo Feng and the others stopped.
The space directly ahead was already within the reach of a powerful formation.
"The Four Divine Heavens really spared no expense." Sensing the formation's fluctuations, Luo Feng could not help feeling impressed. An ordinary Eternal True God would barely be able to move inside it. Even if he forced his way in, escaping would probably take some time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The moment their ship stopped, the surrounding void fell under someone else's control. Four figures of different appearances teleported in front of the ship, plainly from different races.
"Are you two here to pass through the wormhole?" a thunderous voice rolled toward them.
"We are," Luo Feng replied. "Bring out your four leaders. Otherwise, let us through. I don't want to waste words with you."
At the same time, an invisible pressure spread from Luo Feng.
"An Eternal True God." The four newcomers felt crushing pressure descend upon them, and their expressions changed. It was no weaker than the pressure of any of their four leaders—perhaps even stronger.
The strong did not pay tolls. Demanding one would be an insult.
The four did not dare anger Luo Feng. He had made his position clear, and if they failed to take the hint, he could probably kill them in an instant. But they did not dare let him through on their own authority either. Their best option was to notify their leaders and leave the decision to them.
"My lord, I've notified our leaders. Please wait a moment," said the leader of the four, sounding rather nervous.
Luo Feng did not mind waiting a little longer.
After only a short while, the surrounding world suddenly seemed to become a Miniature Universe. Primal Chaos Currents drifted through it, and a terrifying pressure filled the space.
"Hm? Nothing? I can't even sense him within my universe. He's a tough one." The Miniature Universe vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
"Let them through!" A voice rang in the minds of the four.
Having received the order, they did not dare delay. They immediately withdrew the Spatial Formation.
"Please proceed, seniors," said their leader, still nervous.
Luo Feng frowned slightly. With a thought, he formed his own universe. Far more vast and powerful, it enveloped the entire wormhole region, bringing down an overwhelming pressure. The four before him lost their footing and tumbled from the sky. The four Eternal True Gods cultivating in their residences were also caught inside the Miniature Universe. They instantly felt its appalling pressure; within it, they feared they could not bring even a tenth of their strength to bear.
Most frightening of all, the Miniature Universe was filled with the Origin Power of destruction. They did not dare entertain a single thought of resistance.
"So this is his answer." The Eternal True God who had sent out his Miniature Universe to probe Luo Feng looked grim, but he did not dare respond.
The other three leaders looked equally grim, yet none dared voice their anger.
They had shown disrespect first. This was merely Luo Feng's response—and a minor punishment.
Realizing that the four Eternal True Gods were easy targets, Luo Feng shook his head inwardly. Using his awareness of space within his universe, he wrapped the Mechanical Flow ship in divine power and teleported directly to the wormhole entrance. The ship plunged in and vanished from that region of space.
"What terrifying strength. Who was he? We've never encountered him before."
"I tried to control this spacetime and examine him, but I couldn't sense him at all. He's far stronger than I am. No wonder he was so arrogant, even on our territory."
"Second Brother, you were too reckless. Luckily, he had no intention of killing us. Otherwise, the Four Divine Heavens would be finished."
"We need to be more careful next time. If we run into someone with a worse temper, our good days will be over."
After the Miniature Universe disappeared, the four exchanged thoughts rapidly, still shaken by what had happened.
The other end of the wormhole opened onto a desolate part of the Azure Domain. Azure City was still nearly seventy thousand light-years away.
As soon as Luo Feng emerged, he clearly felt a sweep of divine sense pass over him.
The powers of the Origin Continent were tangled and complex. Bandits could be found almost everywhere, making a living by robbing travelers.
The Four Divine Heavens counted as one bandit organization, and another force occupied the wormhole's far end. This group was plainly much weaker, however, with only seven Void True Gods.
For Void True Gods to try robbing an Eternal True God would be a joke.
Luo Feng swept his divine sense over them in warning. No one dared make a move; they could only watch his ship depart.
More than forty years passed in the blink of an eye.
Within the Inheritance Space, more than four hundred thousand years had passed. Yet Luo Feng still had no lead on the third move of his Eternal True God-level Blade Technique. Fusing six Laws had been hard enough; adding a seventh multiplied the difficulty. Even another million years might not be enough.
Azure City was a renowned metropolis even within the You Mountain Empire. It sprawled across a vast plateau like a great lion.
The city was immense, measuring more than two light-years in both length and width. Countless living beings dwelled within it.
Apart from the City Lord's Residence, eight major powers dominated Azure City. All eight were ancient, established forces long before the Evil Eye Domain Lord arrived. Even he dared not press them too hard. If they united against him, his position as city lord would become difficult.
"Azure City." Luo Feng gazed at the distant city, awed by the grandeur rolling toward him.
He had never seen a city on such a scale. Ships and flying figures of every kind were visible everywhere outside it, yet not a single ship or figure could be seen in the skies within.
Flying was prohibited across most of Azure City. Violators were killed outright by the city's defensive formation.
Luo Feng knew that a massive formation enveloped the entire city. It was the work of a God King of the Secret Pattern School. Even a Saint-level expert would not dare force a way through; doing so would mean death or, at best, severe injury.
Formations had been unknown in the Primal Universe and the Universe Ocean. They were a major branch of the Secret Pattern School.
Azure City was the first city Luo Feng and his companions had reached. Countless beings of different races gathered here, including humans, but humans were rare compared with other races. Among the countless figures Luo Feng saw outside the city, fewer than five looked human.
Humanity did not seem to be a major race in Azure City.
"Let's go in." Luo Feng put away the ship. For a moment, he felt as though he had returned to when he had first ventured into the universe. Everything was new again.
The guileless Morosa followed beside him, looking forward to it as well.
So World Beasts don't only care about killing. Luo Feng smiled and shook his head. Morosa, a World Beast King, seemed even more eager than he was to see these new sights.
Anyone without an established identity in the city had to pay to enter.
The most widely accepted "money" on the Origin Continent was a crystal called a Source Crystal. Like universe crystals, Source Crystals could restore divine power, which made them a common currency.
Another widely used currency was the Soul Crystal, which could rapidly restore mental energy. Where there were no wormholes or teleportation formations, travelers had to rely on repeated teleportation. That drained mental energy quickly, and excessive depletion seriously impaired one's strength. Since mental energy could not recover in an instant on its own, Soul Crystals were especially valuable.
Most people were willing to accept Soul Crystals, and over time they had become one of the main currencies.
One unit of Soul Crystals was worth a hundred units of Source Crystals. Soul Crystals were scarcer, so most transactions used Source Crystals instead.
Luo Feng had gathered nearly a hundred thousand units of Soul Crystals and a trillion units of Source Crystals from the Meng'an Tribe, so he was not short of money.
After paying twenty thousand units of Source Crystals, Luo Feng and Morosa entered the city.
One rule required everyone inside to keep their bodies no taller than a hundred kilometers. They could be as small as they liked, but could not exceed that limit. Those with divine bodies spanning hundreds of millions of kilometers, or even light-years, had to shrink themselves before entering.
Luo Feng was accustomed to an Earthling's height, but that would make him seem minuscule here. He expanded his divine body to nearly a hundred kilometers tall, which felt more balanced.
As he entered the city, towering buildings filled his view from near to far. Each seemed like an intricately carved work of art, elegant and beautiful, with designs and styles of every kind.
It was Luo Feng's first time seeing anything like it, and he was amazed.
The buildings even seemed alive, able to change their appearance according to their owners' wishes.
"Remarkable. Every building feels like a work of art." He had expected this place to be crude, but he had been completely wrong.
The Origin Continent had existed for endless ages. Countless civilizations had clashed and then blended, developing an understanding of beauty far beyond anything in the Primal Universe.
"Come on. Let's visit the Thousand Treasures Pavilion first and see if we can find something to help you evolve to Saint level." Luo Feng had planned this before arriving: first, he would seek materials to help Morosa, who was at the Eternal True God Pinnacle, break through to Saint level.
With a Saint-level fighter at his side, Luo Feng could go almost anywhere on the Origin Continent with confidence.
"Thank you, Master," Morosa said happily.