On Muli Star, inside Lihua Palace.
Palace Master Lihua lost her mind again, and this time, she was utterly hysterical.
"Galaxy, how is this possible? How?!" Palace Master Lihua had gone completely mad, especially over that final jump in his ranking, which had taken less than an hour. "How could he clear that floor so quickly? Could he also be a life-form from the Universe Ocean? Did he seize the Primal Universe Origin Will too?"
Mu Lihua thought of this possibility and was almost certain it was true.
The primal universe architecture was an absolutely perfect energy model for a solution to the Rhinoceros Emperor Puzzle, even more profound and complex than other solutions. Back then, she had only cleared the first floor of the third Dragon Tower by relying on the energy model of the primal universe architecture. Without the primal universe architecture model, even a God King would need considerable time to clear that floor.
"Galaxy has far too much potential. I must find a way to kill him as soon as possible, whatever the cost!" Palace Master Lihua was truly beginning to panic. Although she had also seized the Primal Universe, it had taken her endless ages to reach her current level. Compared to Luo Feng now, she was far behind.
Back when she challenged the second Dragon Tower, she had needed at least ten attempts to clear it. Yet Galaxy's speed made her heart tremble.
When she was at the Eternal True God pinnacle, her will had only just reached saint transformation, and she had lacked the strength to clear even the first floor of the Strength Dragon Tower. Her disciple Evil Eye had been far more talented than she was, yet Luo Feng had still slain him. If she allowed Luo Feng to keep growing, she felt she might never have a chance to avenge him.
"Yes, I'll prepare right now. He's bound to leave on a mission. Once he leaves the You Mountain Nation, I must kill him! Even if it takes everything I have!" Even Palace Master Lihua's true body, stationed far away in a perilous region, could no longer sit still. She began contacting friends and even secretive, powerful assassin organizations on the Origin Continent.
Inside the second-floor space of the Dragon Tower.
The moment Luo Feng arrived, he learned how difficult this second floor was. The difficulty had shot up a hundredfold.
He had to create one hundred perfect solutions!
Yet the time limit was the same as on the first floor: only one thousand eras. With the Inheritance Space's time acceleration, that amounted to ten million eras. Even with ten million eras, Luo Feng was not confident he could accomplish it in a single attempt. After all, he had taken a shortcut to construct his first perfect solution.
"I'll do my best," Luo Feng sighed.
The first solution was easy enough. "One Origin Beginning, a hundred thousand heavens" was no less perfect than the Primal Universe's structure. Following the structure of his own Miniature Universe, Luo Feng quickly completed his first solution.
But from the second onward, Luo Feng would truly have to comprehend and construct them himself. That would not be easy.
He sat cross-legged before a stone pillar and began devoting himself fully to comprehension and analysis.
Analyzing things from the perspective of universe architecture was relatively easier. After all, Luo Feng's previous two solutions had both been models derived from universe architecture. He analyzed the structure of every solution model from the previous Dragon Tower through that lens and discovered that only some could be constructed as universe architectures. The others could not sustain such a structure.
"Universe architecture is probably just one possible approach," Luo Feng said as he gradually discovered the problem.
Universe architecture could not encompass every solution to the Rhinoceros Emperor Puzzle.
"I'll start by analyzing them through the approach I'm familiar with." Luo Feng selected some of the energy models and focused on analyzing them through universe architecture.
To understand and verify whether certain ideas were feasible, Luo Feng often used One Thought Universe, studying its architecture. After countless experiments, he discovered that it was indeed possible to reconstruct a Miniature Universe through One Thought Universe using the architectural method.
At first, whenever Luo Feng tried to sustain a Miniature Universe with that method, it would fall apart immediately.
Later, however, after repeated experiments, he actually managed to keep it barely stable several times. It only collapsed when Luo Feng tried altering its energy.
"Again." Luo Feng was not discouraged in the slightest. After so many attempts, he instead felt as though he had discovered a whole new world, and grew increasingly excited.
"Could One Thought Universe be an innate secret technique? Why does everyone learn this move so easily after becoming an Eternal True God?"
Luo Feng kept thinking, constantly deconstructing and reconstructing.
First, he tested the existing solution models. If one could not sustain the form of a universe, he would try constructing it anew according to his own ideas and understanding.
Ten thousand times, a million times, ten million, even hundreds of millions of times—Luo Feng kept trying, completely forgetting the passage of time.
Before he knew it, 9.3 million eras had passed within the Inheritance Space.
With a thought, Luo Feng formed a Miniature Universe, then immediately withdrew his divine power and will. Yet the Miniature Universe remained stable. Even when Luo Feng stirred up the energy inside it, its own circulation kept it utterly steady.
"It worked!" Luo Feng was delighted. This Miniature Universe had an extremely stable architecture. As long as an attack did not exceed the sixth order of Eternal True God, it would not collapse even without active maintenance. If Luo Feng reinforced it with his will, even a ninth-order Eternal True God would likely be unable to blast it apart.
Luo Feng sensed this Miniature Universe and was quite satisfied.
"Gather!" Luo Feng willed it.
All the power within the Miniature Universe converged toward a central structure, soon forming a massive finger of divine power. The finger was incredibly solid, like real platinum. A heart-stopping fluctuation instantly radiated from it.
"Go!" At Luo Feng's thought, the massive finger turned into a streak of white light and blasted toward the ground.
Boom!
The tremendous sound resounded throughout the Dragon Tower's space, but the ground was so sturdy that it did not suffer the slightest damage.
"That finger strike definitely has ninth-order power. With Divine Power Burning, it would be even stronger." A sharp gleam flashed through Luo Feng's eyes. He had never expected that studying the blank Rhinoceros Emperor Puzzle would lead him down a new path and allow him to create this move.
"I comprehended this move inside the Dragon Tower, so I'll call it Dragon Tower Realm. With this alone, I'm strong enough to be invincible below the Saint Realm." This "One Thought Universe" of Luo Feng's was naturally different from others. His Dragon Tower Realm had an incredibly stable architecture, a stronger domain-binding ability, and could even condense a divine finger to kill with a single thought.
Having completed Dragon Tower Realm, Luo Feng was in excellent spirits, but he had not forgotten his actual task of solving the puzzle.
Within the stone pillar, Luo Feng traced out the structure with his divine power. Soon, an energetically stable solution model for the Rhinoceros Emperor Puzzle formed above the pillar, and the pillar lit up immediately afterward.
"The second solution is complete! It took more than ninety percent of my time." Luo Feng sighed, but he was not dissatisfied in the slightest.
After completing the second solution, Luo Feng continued solving the puzzle along his original line of thought.
Time flew by unnoticed, and soon the final seven hundred thousand eras had passed. Yet despite countless attempts, Luo Feng still had not completed a third solution.
The blank puzzle was harder than he had imagined. Luo Feng had exhausted ten million eras and only created a single solution of his own. Yet the great Rhinoceros Emperor had created a full 10,081 puzzles. Luo Feng could not help marveling at his prowess.
"Time to go." Luo Feng felt a force envelop him, and he was soon transported out.
Outside, at the Nine Dragons Tower.
Led by Wu Chen, numerous members of Nine Regions Palace were already waiting there, some in their true bodies and others as divine power avatars.
On the Nine Dragon Ranking, whether on the Heavenly Dragon Ranking, the Azure Dragon Ranking, or the Hidden Dragon Rankings, Galaxy of Nine Regions Palace's name had remained unchanged for ten million years. The Hidden Dragon Rankings showed that Galaxy was currently on the second floor of the third tower in the Comprehension Dragon Tower. Judging by the elapsed time, if his displayed floor did not change, Galaxy of Nine Regions Palace might emerge sometime soon.
Whoosh!
Luo Feng's figure was suddenly sent out of the Dragon Tower, and Wu Chen and the others spotted him immediately.
"Galaxy!" Wu Chen's eyes lit up.
"Galaxy." The other Nine Regions Palace members accompanying him also looked over.
Naturally, Luo Feng saw Saint Lord Wuchen and the others at once, but even he was bewildered by such a reception.
"Chief Steward, what's going on? Why are you all here?" Luo Feng was puzzled.
"Hahaha, Galaxy, you've really brought honor to Nine Regions Palace this time! We've never had such a satisfying moment." Dressed in a blue-green robe, Wu Chen spoke joyfully.
"Galaxy."
"Galaxy."
The four Saint Realm members of Nine Regions Palace—Heng Tieshan, Suimo, Fang Xingyu, and Yuansan—as well as Kong Shenyi and several other Eternal True Gods, also greeted Luo Feng.
"Let me introduce you. These four are all Saint Realm members of Nine Regions Palace. This is Saint Lord Tieshan, this is Saint Lord Suimo, this is Saint Lord Xingyu, and this is Saint Lord Yuansan." Wu Chen introduced the four one by one. Three had come as avatars; only Heng Tieshan was present in his true body.
"Galaxy greets the Saint Lords." Luo Feng returned their greetings.
"Come on, let's head back to Nine Regions Palace first. The palace master is waiting to see you, Galaxy." Wu Chen walked up to Luo Feng with considerable warmth and patted him on the shoulder.
"The palace master wants to see me?" Luo Feng was stunned.
Luo Feng knew that the master of Nine Regions Palace was Shadow God King, one of the You Mountain Empire's three God Kings. He had never expected a challenge of the Nine Dragons Tower to earn him an audience with a God King. Luo Feng had met Mountain Guest, but Mountain Guest was not a God King in the true sense at that point. Shadow God King might well be the first God King he would meet since coming to the Origin Continent.
"Hahaha, it should be about an imperial title," Wu Chen said with a smile. "Come on. This is wonderful news of the highest order, the sort of thing even I can only envy."