Palace Master Lihua

Inside the palace, Palace Master Lihua was a graceful woman of an alien race. Her appearance was crystal-clear and dreamlike, pure as snow. Beneath her platinum scales lay delicate, beautiful features and a pair of green vertical ears. She had three eyes: a pair of horizontal eyes filled with endless allure, and a vertical eye on her forehead that exuded the majesty of a superior. That vertical eye was tightly shut, yet the golden pattern upon it proclaimed her nobility.

Yet this woman, so captivating in appearance, was now surrounded by murderous intent. Even the space around her seemed to have turned much colder.

"Human Galaxy!" This name had been deeply branded into her heart.

Because of this person, her disciple had been killed, along with billions upon billions of her clansmen.

Her most prized disciple, Evil Eye, had also passed through reincarnation not long after she had transcended it. Master and disciple had both crossed reincarnation, becoming a celebrated tale in that region of the Universe Ocean.

She had crossed reincarnation countless eras ago. On the Origin Continent, she had obtained a powerful Saint Realm inheritance. Later, she successfully possessed the Primal Universe and began advancing by leaps and bounds. As the "White Lotus City Lord" of You Mountain, she broke through into the Saint Realm, entered the upper ranks of the You Mountain Empire, and became one of the Saint Realm experts granted a title.

After becoming a Saint Realm expert, she had exhausted every means to find her disciple Evil Eye and bring him to the You Mountain Empire. In the end, he too became the lord of a domain.

As the ruler of the Demon Eye Clan, her disciple had been exceptionally outstanding. He had obtained an extremely terrifying innate secret technique and possessed Saint-level will. Reaching Saint-level was only a matter of time.

She, Mu Lihua, had possessed the Primal Universe's will. She had a certain chance of becoming a God King, so her ambitions were naturally immense. She hoped that the Demon Eye Clan could establish a God King kingdom of its own and even become one of the peak races of the Origin Continent.

But her finest disciple, her greatest hope, had still fallen.

Along with him, countless Demon Eye Clan members within the Sacred Land Universe had also perished.

"Human Galaxy, no matter what, you must die! I swear upon the Supreme Rule that I will tear you into ten thousand pieces in this life and avenge my clan!" The third vertical eye on Palace Master Lihua's forehead faintly flickered with demonic flames. Boundless killing intent spilled out, and the temperature inside the palace instantly plunged below freezing. Even the wine in the cups froze solid in an instant.

But Palace Master Lihua understood that her true body was not in Lihua Palace. She had been dispatched to guard a forbidden region and could return only after her term ended.

"There is still nearly one reincarnation era left. I cannot endure that long. Galaxy must die—he must die now!" Palace Master Lihua could not suppress the hatred in her heart and roared loudly.

"Right, Mad Demon should still be in the imperial capital. I can spend some treasures to have him act, capture Galaxy, and torture him ruthlessly until he wishes he were dead before killing him. Mad Demon is not part of You Mountain, so he has fewer restrictions. When the time comes, even the Nine Regions Palace will be unable to hold him accountable." Palace Master Lihua's eyes flashed.

She immediately used her communication token to contact Mad Demon.

Mad Demon was not a Saint Realm expert within the You Mountain Empire and acted without restraint. Although he was considerably weaker than her, he was still a fairly renowned Saint Realm expert. His strength was at the Four Sources level. Dealing with an Eternal True God would be absurdly easy.

If a titled Saint Realm expert invited him, Mad Demon would give her face. The chance of persuading him was practically absolute.

Azure City, City Lord's Manor.

The two stewards were sensible enough to arrange a welcoming ceremony for the new city lord within the manor. As for the inauguration ceremony across the entire domain, it was scheduled for a little over a year later.

Luo Feng had not wanted to make things so complicated, but when he heard the two stewards say it was an excellent opportunity to receive gifts, he no longer refused. He even had the two stewards deliberately spread word of some of his needs while sending invitations, so the guests would know what he wanted and he could better gather sufficient supplies.

Morosa needed considerable resources to evolve and break through to the Saint Realm, while nurturing warriors required an enormous quantity of resources. With such a perfect opportunity to receive gifts, they naturally had to make good use of it.

The two stewards handled matters smoothly. The previous domain lords had surely done this sort of thing more than once.

Azure City's City Lord's Manor.

This was a living-palace treasure that had taken the form of a manor. It was loyal only to the holder of the Domain Lord Token. With Luo Feng in control of the Domain Lord Token, he could easily control this living palace. Following his own preferences, Luo Feng had the entire City Lord's Manor transformed and remodeled, forming a beautiful grand estate in the style of a Huaxia garden.

The heart of the garden was where Luo Feng normally cultivated and lived. Without his permission, no one could enter.

Looking at the exquisite garden estate, Luo Feng nodded in satisfaction.

After returning to his personal residence, Luo Feng finally had time to inventory the spoils Evil Eye had left behind...

The Domain Lord Token was the most important gain.

The moment he refined the Domain Lord Token, Luo Feng received all of its information.

The Domain Lord Token itself contained a Realm Stone space with functions similar to the Virtual Universe. At the same time, it was also a map containing coordinate maps of the entire You Mountain Empire, with every coordinate marked in extraordinary detail.

More importantly, the Domain Lord Token represented the identity of one of the nine domain lords. For every newly appointed domain lord, aside from the prescribed rights and responsibilities it carried, it also represented an immense opportunity.

Every newly appointed domain lord had one chance to study the Primal Chaos Stele for ten thousand epochs.

It was said that the Primal Chaos Stele had been created by the founding emperor of the You Mountain Empire, the You Mountain God King. It contained the mysteries of the ten fundamental laws merging into Chaos Law, as well as ten kinds of fundamental mysteries. Whoever could comprehend all of its mysteries would be qualified to enter the God King Realm.

However, the Primal Chaos Stele was far too obscure and complex. Since its creation, fewer than five Eternal True Gods had comprehended even a fundamental mystery within ten thousand epochs.

Aside from such an opportunity, as the lord of a domain, one was already an internal member of the You Mountain Empire. Naturally, certain tasks had to be completed every reincarnation era.

Domain lords themselves also had to undergo a strict assessment system.

Every reincarnation era, or three hundred and sixty trillion epochs, they had to complete one assigned assessment mission. Missions could not be chosen freely and were arranged uniformly by the You Mountain Empire. The deadline for each mission was one reincarnation era. Once issued, a mission could only succeed and could not fail. If it failed, one would lose the qualifications of a domain lord, and someone from within the empire would reclaim the Domain Lord Token.

Aside from missions assigned by the empire, domain lords could also take on certain internal missions themselves. Completing them would earn corresponding contribution point rewards.

Within the You Mountain Empire, contribution points were worth more than Source Crystals and even Soul Crystals.

One contribution point was roughly equivalent to Source Crystals worth ten Qiankun Units. The purchasing power was obvious. Within the You Mountain Empire, the Thousand Treasures Pavilion was controlled internally by the empire, and contribution points could still be used for settlement at its auctions. Within the empire, some treasures were not sold externally, but could be exchanged internally with contribution points.

After understanding this, Luo Feng more or less grasped it. "Assessment missions maintain one's status as a domain lord. Other missions carry risks, but they can also earn contribution points."

These mechanisms were somewhat similar to those within humanity. However, assessment missions were never simple tasks and even carried a certain risk of death. Over the past one hundred reincarnation eras, more than one hundred domain lords had fallen because of missions, giving a mortality rate above ten percent.

There were also simple records regarding the risks of assessment missions.

"That makes sense. A mission without a mortality rate would not be enough to bring out one's potential or meet the requirements for cultivating powerhouses." Luo Feng thought to himself.

"Let's look at the other missions first." With a thought from Luo Feng, a mission list appeared before him.

The missions were mainly divided into three categories and four levels.

The three categories were "rotational garrison duty," obtaining certain treasures, and assassination.

The four levels were ordinary, dangerous, desperate, and hellish death.

Among the three categories, garrison duty was the most ordinary. It generally involved guarding a forbidden region and only required one to stand watch and relay alerts. Missions to obtain treasures included dangerous and desperate levels, depending on the difficulty. Assassination missions were basically all dangerous level or above, and even hellish death-level missions fell under assassination.

There were only three hellish death-level missions.

The first was to assassinate a super genius of the Fuyi Kingdom, "Tanaer Buchuan Fuyi." The Fuyi Kingdom was an enemy faction of the You Mountain Empire, and Tanaer Buchuan Fuyi was its most promising genius. At the Void True God stage, he could kill peak Eternal True Gods. It was said that he followed the path of comprehending and fusing laws simultaneously. Once he became an Eternal True God, he would be close to Saint level.

Successfully assassinating Tanaer Buchuan Fuyi would earn one hundred thousand contribution points, equivalent to one million Qiankun Units. Many powerful Saint Realm experts did not necessarily possess such wealth.

The second was to assassinate the Manling Kingdom genius Tuman. Success would earn seventy thousand contribution points.

The third was to assassinate the Yi Kingdom genius Hexiang. Success would earn fifty thousand contribution points...

The Fuyi Kingdom, Manling Kingdom, and Yi Kingdom were all hostile to the You Mountain Empire. Naturally, it sought every possible means to eliminate the absolute geniuses of enemy nations. The You Mountain Empire had long been in conflict with these three nations, and wars along their territorial borders continued without end.

Among the listed missions, there were also assignments to guard the borders, but they were only ordinary-level missions. Conflicts between nations were low-level battles, as both sides used them to temper their powerhouses. It was difficult for them to escalate into wars involving top-tier combatants. Once they did, it would inevitably become a war of national annihilation—the cruelest kind of war.

Unless major interests were involved, matters would not escalate to that level.

"Every assassination mission is incredibly difficult. Even if one succeeds, one would likely die in enemy territory, which is why the rewards are so high. But what use are high rewards if there is no life left to enjoy them?" Luo Feng thought. Assassinations deep within enemy territory were the most dangerous. Unless the target came out and handed you an opportunity.

Luo Feng was in no hurry to take on other missions. If he were to consider them, it could only be after studying the Primal Chaos Stele.

"The Primal Chaos Stele..." Luo Feng looked forward to it.