Arrival at Chaos City

For some time afterward, Chen Ao no longer dared to study the Law of Wood.

"I never imagined meditation could be this terrifying!"

When he used his Q Skill to study the Space Law, the effects of meditation had not been particularly obvious. Even after more than forty years, he could only create just over ten thousand Phantom Bodies.

But once he had a clear subject to study, such as the secret patterns of the Law of Wood on the Sunken Water Vine, his meditation ability could reach its full potential.

In just over two years, he had actually reached the level of gaining recognition from the origin of the Law of Wood.

Gaining recognition from an origin law was extremely difficult. Many World Lords lived for ten million years without ever achieving it.

Of the three conditions for becoming an Undying, recognition from an origin law could be considered the hardest.

And he had achieved it in just over two years.

At this rate, I'm studying laws incredibly fast. Once I reach Chaos City and have subjects for studying the other laws, I can comprehend all ten!

Even if studying in Chaos City was less effective than studying the complete secret patterns of the Law of Wood on his Sunken Water Vine clone, spending a few hundred years there should let him gain an initial understanding of the other eight laws, right?

At that thought, Chen Ao looked forward to Chaos City even more.

There were still two months before they reached Chaos City. During that time, Chen Ao focused entirely on nurturing his Sunken Water Vine clone, learning how to use its Innate Secret Technique, Absorption, to draw energy from the universe and increase its size.

Every bit of size it gained now meant its divine body would be that much larger in the future.

Time flew by, and soon the spaceship came to a stop.

"Your Highnesses, we have reached our destination!"

Luo Feng then marveled at the sheer size of this continent in the Primal Universe.

Afterward, with the receiving staff's help, Chen Ao and Luo Feng joined the other geniuses.

"Haha, Madman, you're here!" Wuka, the youth from Manka Star, greeted him warmly.

As for Chen Ao, he quietly walked into the crowd and vanished from notice, leaving Luo Feng speechless.

None of the others paid any attention to Chen Ao, who had been following behind Luo Feng.

No one thought particularly highly of Chen Ao, even though he was a Primal Secret Region Member. They all felt he had merely been lucky. In terms of strength, several people here might well be his equal.

Besides, that had been three years ago.

Everyone had trained hard over those three years and made tremendous progress. Without a contest, how could anyone know who was stronger?

Luo Feng knew Chen Ao's personality, so he said nothing more and turned to greet the other geniuses.

When he saw Bolan in his white robes, he greeted him softly. "Bolan!"

"Mm!" Bolan replied quietly.

Although he was aloof, everyone understood that it was simply his personality, not a deliberate attempt to snub them.

No one minded.

Besides, as the acknowledged top genius of their generation, he deserved that much standing.

Rong Jun soon arrived and mingled with the other geniuses. Although he wore a deadpan expression, he had a good personality and an easygoing boldness that readily won people over.

This time, however, Rong Jun immediately began looking for Chen Ao.

To his surprise, he could not find any trace of Chen Ao.

"Madman, where's Chen Ao?"

"Over there..." Luo Feng was about to point to where Chen Ao had disappeared earlier, but when he looked closely, Chen Ao was gone.

Where was Chen Ao?

Luo Feng looked around as well, but he could not find him.

Amid their speechlessness, Rong Jun and Luo Feng felt a trace of alarm. Anything unusual had a reason behind it. Their inability to find Chen Ao could only mean that he was on a higher level than they were.

"Damn it, now we can't even find him, let alone beat him?"

If Chen Ao wanted to assassinate him, wouldn't it take no more than a flick of his hand?

They were given little time to think before Venerable Nine Swords arrived and ordered them to enter Chaos City.

The Biological Spaceship crossed through turbulent space on its way to Chaos City. All the geniuses turned pale, and even Bolan looked terrible.

Chen Ao was no different. He was even a little dizzy, putting on an exceptionally poor showing.

I remember this little fellow being quite promising back then. Why is he performing so poorly now? Has he made no progress in these three years?

Venerable Nine Swords shook his head.

He had once thought rather highly of Chen Ao and had nearly taken him as a disciple.

Now it seemed that not rushing to accept Chen Ao back then had indeed been the right decision.

Turning his attention away from Chen Ao, Venerable Nine Swords pointed outside.

"We have now entered the Initial Universe," the purple-scaled man said with a smile.

"The Initial Universe?"

"We're already in the Initial Universe?"

The geniuses from the many Universe Countries were filled with curiosity... Even the dozen or so Undying who had accompanied the purple-scaled man, Venerable Nine Swords, had anticipation in their eyes and kept looking upward.

"Open the ceiling," the purple-scaled man said.

Hiss, hiss~~

The metal ceiling above the hall automatically parted, revealing an outermost layer that looked like transparent glass.

The ceiling of the hall became transparent, allowing everyone to look up through it at the outside.

Chen Ao also looked up and immediately saw a dim expanse outside, with occasional currents of chaos drifting through it.

In the distance, they could faintly see space splitting open from time to time. Countless strange secret patterns flowed along the edges of the ruptures, and strands connected to one another, with secret patterns drifting along them. Like a loom, they wove the universe ever larger.

"What is that?" Everyone sensed the strange secret patterns flowing along the crystalline strands in the distant spatial ruptures.

The dozen or so Undying, however, stared upward, sometimes closing their eyes in thought and sometimes studying the sight intently.

The spaceship continued flying.

They frequently saw ruptures in cosmic space, along with those strange strands and secret patterns...

"Stars and planets have lifespans, and so does a universe. Its lifespan is simply incomparably long," the purple-scaled man said with a smile. "This Initial Universe is a new universe in its earliest stage. During this initial period, the universe is continually taking shape and perfecting itself, so the operating rules of the universe origin manifest externally."

"What continually repairs those ruptures in cosmic space is the operating rules of the universe origin, which contain all the different origin laws."

The thousand listeners were dumbfounded.

Those crystalline strands repairing cosmic space, and the countless secret patterns floating along them, were all the laws governing the universe?

"The Original Universe we live in... is an incomparably vast, immense, and perfect universe," the purple-scaled man said. "Precisely because it is perfect, its operating laws cannot manifest externally, making them very difficult to comprehend. In the Initial Universe, however, you can observe them directly with the naked eye. You can also see how the various laws combine perfectly, how the universe forms, and how its rules operate. Everything is directly visible, making comprehension much easier."

"That is why opportunities to study in the Initial Universe are so precious." As he spoke, the purple-scaled man glanced at the dozen or so Undying.

Every one of those Undying was looking upward, clearly treasuring every moment.

"Close it," the purple-scaled man said.

The ceiling closed immediately.

In fact, upon seeing the strands and secret patterns floating in those spatial ruptures, Luo Feng had understood why an external-view simulation could not reproduce them. Those secret patterns had to be sensed as well as seen. Recreating them through technology alone was unrealistic. If they could be simulated... there would be no need for everyone to seek entry into the Initial Universe.

"We'll reach Chaos City shortly," the purple-scaled man said. "Chaos City is where those who enter the Initial Universe to study live and cultivate. I'm the one bringing you here, and I hope to see all of you still alive thirty years from now."

"We could die?"

"Is there danger?" Luo Feng and the others shared that question.

"Remember, once you enter Chaos City, listen to the Chaos City Reception Envoy first and learn the rules carefully. Mm, we're here." As the purple-scaled man finished speaking, the spaceship began slowing down.

The gigantic fish traveled through the boundless expanse of cosmic space.

Only moments after its ceiling closed, the gigantic fish flew above an ancient city... A hatch opened on its belly, and all one thousand geniuses flew out. Then the hatch closed, and with a flick of its tail fin, the "giant fish" swam away again and vanished into the distance.

"This Initial Universe feels so comfortable?"

"It feels comfortable."

"Yes, incredibly comfortable." The young people stood in midair. Luo Feng looked down at the ancient, majestic city below. Built within the Initial Universe, it carried a sense of profound weight.

A streak of black light flew toward them from afar.

"Everyone, I am Chaos City's reception envoy." A deep voice rang out as a black-robed man whose head was covered in blue-green scales flew over. He stopped and said with a smile, "This city is called Chaos City. It has existed longer than most of your Universe Countries! It is currently administered jointly by the Virtual Universe Company, the Giant Axe Arena, the Universe First Bank, the Universe Galaxy Bank, and the Universe Mercenary Alliance."

Silence fell.

All one thousand young people looked at the Chaos City envoy.

"Follow me." The reception envoy smiled and flew down.

The thousand youths descended from the sky and landed on a street in Chaos City. Its streets were wide enough for dozens of people to walk abreast.

"Chaos City has existed for countless years," the reception envoy explained as he led the way. "One supreme being after another has emerged through studying here."

"Hmm?"

Luo Feng looked around. Chaos City was filled with small buildings, and on many rooftops, he could see humans of all different appearances sitting cross-legged in quiet meditation. Some were carving things into the rooftop floors. Their powerful auras far surpassed those of World Lords, and some of these experts were muttering to themselves.

Luo Feng looked up at the sky.

High above, near the most distant ruptures in cosmic space, he could faintly see figures standing in midair. Occasionally, they looked down at Luo Feng and the others.

"Another group of youngsters has arrived."

"Envoy Number Eleven is receiving them, so they must be the Virtual Universe Company's youngsters."

"I heard the Virtual Universe Company recruited a young man named Bolan this time... He's quite impressive." Some of the great beings standing at the edges of the spatial ruptures chatted among themselves.

Luo Feng and the other youngsters all kept a low profile. They could sense that there were many Undying here.

And those Undying were keeping themselves restrained, not daring to release their auras freely...

Yet throughout Chaos City, more than a dozen mighty auras soared into the heavens, so distinct that even Luo Feng and the others could sense them clearly.

It was as though more than a dozen peerless beasts occupied different parts of Chaos City.

"Many supreme beings reside in Chaos City," the reception envoy said, turning back. "Never disturb them while they are studying the origin laws. If you do, we will have no choice but to send you out of the Initial Universe and end this opportunity for you to study."

The group nodded.

The reception envoy entered an unoccupied building nearby.

"There are many small buildings in Chaos City. A pale white door means the building has no owner." The reception envoy pointed at the door. "Simply place your hand on the door for a moment, and its sensor system will activate automatically, turning the door dark gray. You will then become the owner of this residence, and your information will be recorded automatically. Each person may choose only one residence."

As he spoke, the reception envoy reached the rooftop.

The rooftop was quite large, nearly a hundred meters in both length and width... enough to hold a thousand people.

"These are..." Everyone saw numerous carved diagrams and inscriptions on the rooftop floor. Many of the carvings seemed faintly wondrous.

"This... what is this?" Quite a few people studied them closely and began to lose themselves in them.

"The space origin law."

"These contain the space origin law," several young people cried.

"Everyone." The reception envoy's voice entered each person's mind, jolting their souls and bringing them back to their senses.

"In Chaos City, countless powerful beings have sat on these rooftops studying for generation after generation. Sometimes, they carve things during their studies. As a result, they have left behind many carvings containing their reflections on the origin laws. If these interest you, more than half the residences in Chaos City are currently unoccupied. You can visit them one by one to examine their rooftops. Some of the carvings may even contain insights left by Venerables."

The young people's eyes lit up.

"First, I must tell you an extremely important rule!" the reception envoy said solemnly. "In the Initial Universe, humans are forbidden to kill one another. Anyone who attacks... will die without question."

"No matter who they are, even the ruler of a Universe Country cannot defy Chaos City's rules."

"Understood."

All the young people nodded.

"The time ratio between the Initial Universe and the Original Universe is one to 3.28," the black-robed reception envoy said with a smile. "Your period of study here will be a little over thirty years."