Laying low until he became a Universe Master

On an ordinary deserted island along the Pacific coast.

Lei and Hong hurried anxiously over to Chen Ao.

"Brother, that Devouring Beast is too powerful. We're no match for it. Please, just this once, kill it for us!"

"It's horrific, absolutely horrific! The Devouring Beast can swallow a million people in one gulp. At this rate, Earth will soon be destroyed! Please, brother, save Earth. Save humanity!"

The moment they saw Chen Ao, Hong and Lei pleaded with him, overcome with emotion.

They even dropped to their knees as their emotions surged, hoping only that Chen Ao would intervene.

"I already know what happened!" Chen Ao's expression remained unchanged. "Everything has its appointed course. This is a trial for Earth!"

Hong and Lei froze at his words.

They had known Chen Ao had a penchant for playing the mystic, but they had never imagined he would keep it up at this critical moment, when the lives of every human on Earth hung in the balance.

"Brother, stop talking nonsense. With your strength, I'm certain that Devouring Beast is no match for you!"

The Devouring Beast was powerful. It had surpassed councilor level and reached the stellar level.

Yet Hong and Lei still firmly believed that, if their brother intervened, the Devouring Beast would be no match for him.

"Brother, hurry and act! Who knows how many more people will die the next time the Devouring Beast appears!"

"Everything has its appointed course. I have already received guidance from Earth's will. A Child of Fortune will save Earth!"

"Brother!" Hong shouted. "This is no time for jokes!"

Faced with Hong's rebuke, Chen Ao said helplessly, "I'm an old man past seventy. I can't beat it!"

"Brother, are you really unwilling to help?" Hong was deeply disappointed. How had the brother who had fought through those harsh early days, slaughtered countless enemies, and possessed unrivaled strength become like this?

Playing the mystic was one thing, but he was so cold-blooded, too.

If you can't beat that Devouring Beast, I'll fucking swallow it myself.

"Go on, go on! Everything has its appointed course! Just wait for the Child of Fortune to appear!" Chen Ao remained unmoved.

At Chen Ao's words, a trace of sorrow flashed in Hong's eyes-the helplessness and grief of a man facing death.

"Brother, since you won't help, my second brother and I can only put our lives on the line for Earth's humans!" Hong's gaze quickly hardened with resolve.

"Thank you for saving my life back then. I have no way to repay you in this life. I can only repay you in the next!"

With that, Hong pulled Lei along to leave.

Chen Ao watched Hong. That adorable young fellow from back then had become a decrepit old man, while he himself was still so young.

"Trying such a childish provocation. He really must be desperate!"

After saying that, Chen Ao closed his eyes again, as though none of it had happened.

Hong glanced back at Chen Ao, then finally sighed.

He was closer to Chen Ao than Lei was. He had thought that putting his own life on the line would persuade Chen Ao to help, but he had never expected...

Just as Hong and Lei boarded their combat aircraft and prepared to leave the island, Chen Ao's voice rang in their ears.

"Before you go risking your lives, take care of the heroes' families. Don't let them shed tears after shedding blood! Also, remember to come see me on this day two years from now!"

Hong and Lei shuddered. Two years from now? Unless something unexpected happened, they probably wouldn't survive another two days!

"Ah, second brother, let's go!"

Hong and Lei soon returned to the base.

A large group of councilor-level experts was already waiting for them. "Hong, how did it go? When will that expert you mentioned make his move?"

They had already despaired in the face of the Devouring Beast, only for Hong and Lei to reveal that a hidden super-expert on Earth could kill it.

That had given them hope.

"He refuses to help. Perhaps he really has grown old!"

"Ah!"

Everyone sighed.

"Master, in that case, let's risk it all!" Luo Feng was the youngest, but he was the first to speak.

"All right. Let's risk it all!"

Soon, a large group of Earth's experts, led by Hong, charged toward the Golden Horned Beast.

Chen Ao watched the Golden Horned Beast appear, along with two tiny points beside it that shone like fireworks.

"Fifty years. I've waited fifty years! It's finally here-the familiar plot!"

Chen Ao murmured as he watched those fireworks battle the Golden Horned Beast.

Originally, he had been frantically hammering Q in an internet café, preparing to use Alpha Strike for the fifth time.

Then his vision had gone black, and he had transmigrated.

As soon as he arrived, he discovered that the apocalypse had come!

The apocalypse itself wasn't such a big deal. After awakening the Sword Saint System, Chen Ao worked hard to kill monsters and level up, intending to save the collapsing world and perhaps become an emperor someday.

But that plan hadn't lasted long before he rescued a young fellow named Hong.

Because of that, he looked into this world's history.

The discovery left him numb.

This was actually the Swallowed Star World!

"I found Babata forty years ago. Unfortunately, he wanted a spirit reader, while I was purely a warrior. Babata had no interest in me!"

He, too, had once brimmed with ambition, wanting to use his system to venture into the universe.

But Babata had no interest in him, and he had no way to leave Earth and enter the universe on his own.

He had no choice but to sit here, waiting for Luo Feng's rise and an opportunity to leave Earth.

After waiting for Luo Feng's rise and coming this far, he naturally couldn't ruin Luo Feng's opportunity to possess the Golden Horned Beast.

Recalling all of this, Chen Ao watched the two lights in the distance fade away.

Those were Lei's and Hong's dissipating soul energies!

"They won't die anyway. It's fine!"

Chen Ao closed his eyes and stopped paying attention.

Just then, a young man approached from behind Chen Ao. His aura was immensely powerful, actually on par with Hong's and Lei's.

"Benefactor, we've settled the million-plus new arrivals!"

Hearing the young man's report, Chen Ao nodded.

He dared not alter the course of history, lest Luo Feng fail to appear, but he still saved people whenever it was within his power.

"Clear out more land. If you encounter powerful monsters you can't handle, tell me. I'll eliminate them!"

"Thank you, benefactor!" After expressing his gratitude, the young man left.

Chen Ao watched him leave, then looked at the tribal-looking city nearby. Over the past fifty years, he had saved more than eight million people and settled them all here, in a corner of Australia.

He had also rescued the people Hong believed the Golden Horned Beast had swallowed, getting to them before it did, and settled them here as well.

After all, the current Golden Horned Beast was little more than a toy in his hands. He could save over a million people without it even noticing.

"Luo Feng, hurry up and possess the Golden Horned Beast. Hurry up and rise! I've already waited fifty years. I don't want to stay on Earth forever as some native!"

Soon, Chen Ao vanished from where he stood.

This was his system's Q skill-or rather, the Q skill on his Sword Saint panel.

It had no offensive effect, but it allowed him to enter spatial rifts.

He had also used this ability to successfully gain insight into space law.

When Chen Ao entered the spatial rift, more than nine thousand Space Phantoms appeared around the island.

His Phantom Bodies differed from the ones Luo Feng would have in the future. Luo Feng's were merely Spatial Afterimages produced to evade attacks, phantom bodies used for movement. As a warrior, Chen Ao could use his for offense and defense.

"The more I understand the laws, the more insignificant I feel!"

He was now approaching the fourth stage of Ten Thousand Line Flow: ten thousand phantom bodies.

But throughout these forty years, Chen Ao had constantly reminded himself to respect the universe and its powerful experts.

After all, he had only just crossed the threshold of space law. He still needed to analyze space essence.

Even after analyzing space essence, he would still need to master the Three Great Space Techniques.

Even if he mastered those three great techniques and became a Venerable, he would only be ordinary. Venerables were a dime a dozen in the universe, and they would still die if they encountered a Universe Master.

Even if he became a Universe Master, that would still... actually, that would be pretty good.

"My goal is to survive safely until I become a Universe Master! Stay alive first, then plan how to become a Strongest One!"

Becoming a Strongest One required deadly battles and the Creation Secret Technique, but there was a safe, reliable way to become a Universe Master.

"I'll lay low and develop for a few tens of thousands of eras first!"

And the prerequisite for all of that was leaving Earth.

P.S.: System panel skills.

Q skill, active effect: Allows up to four bodies to enter space and move through it. Passive ability: Like the Golden Horned Beast's innate ability, it can create three clones. These clones are granted by the system and differ slightly from those bestowed by the universe.

W skill, active effect: Rapidly restores injuries (divine power). Passive ability: Greatly increases comprehension, with excellent effects when used to understand and study laws.

E skill, active effect: Attacks inflict True Damage that ignores defense. Passive effect: Increases power when using sword weapons.

R skill, active effect: Grants a Buff that increases attack speed and movement speed. Passive ability: Extracts an opponent's genes during slaughter to increase the gene multiplier.