Xiao Feng Was Now in the Past

"If I stay alive..." With hope of survival, Xiao Feng's thoughts gradually grew more active. "I can train Luo Feng myself and protect him every step of the way. Even if he becomes True Yan King's disciple later, our bond as master and disciple will still be strong!"

As for the price of the advance?

Xiao Feng had worked it all out.

If he could fulfill the conditions, all the better. He could keep making his way through this world with his cheat.

If he truly couldn't...

"At worst, I'll just be a pure angel investor!" Xiao Feng thought. "I'll focus on raising Luo Feng into someone capable. With a living teacher like me teaching him everything early on, he'll be better off than with Babata. Once Luo Feng rises to power, that will give me another way forward. No matter how you look at it, it's ten thousand times better than having my soul destroyed right now!"

As Xiao Feng confirmed his choice, the dim, shattered remnant of the six-story Void Tower, which Demon Hand King's Soul Attack had blasted apart, instantly reassembled and restored itself as though time had reversed!

Hum!

A mysterious resonance of the soul spread through every bit of divine power in his divine body!

Above the radiant phantom of the six-story pagoda, the outline of another story rapidly formed, grander, more complex, and sturdier than the rest.

In an instant, a complete Seven-Layer Soul Pagoda was clearly imprinted on Xiao Feng's soul core! Secret patterns flowed across its surface, firmly suppressing the attack eroding his soul beneath the pagoda!

"That's it?" Xiao Feng marveled at the changes deep within his soul.

Although he had not read all of Hu Yanbo's memories, he subconsciously knew that the body's original owner had spent millions of years trying to reach the seventh level without success!

The seventh level was the true pinnacle of soul defense!

It could make his soul as resilient as a King-level Immortal's!

The difficulty of cultivating it was beyond imagination! Yet now, he had achieved it in a single leap.

Life and death had turned in an instant. One second he had been dying; the next, he was alive. Xiao Feng's lips curled upward uncontrollably, and the radiance of an Immortal God returned to his face.

"Master! You... what's happening?" Babata had been watching anxiously. Seeing the change in his expression, especially that smile, Babata couldn't help feeling bewildered.

He had been on the verge of death just moments ago. Why was he suddenly smiling? The five severely wounded soul slaves also struggled to lift their heads, their eyes filled with confusion and a glimmer of hope.

Xiao Feng laughed heartily. "Haha! I gained a little insight! In that moment between life and death, my Void Tower technique broke through its bottleneck and reached the seventh-level pagoda realm! The newly formed pagoda has completely suppressed and neutralized Demon Hand King's Soul Attack! I'm safe for now!"

"W-what?! The seventh level of the Void Tower?!" Babata shuddered, then let out a scream even more ecstatic than when they had escaped into the Dark Universe. "Master! You did it! Wonderful! This is wonderful!"

The five severely wounded slaves also roared and cried out! Cheers instantly filled the hall!

Only after the cheering subsided did Hu Yanbo truly begin learning about this real Swallowed Star World and the existence of Immortal Gods.

With a thought, he slowly closed his eyes.

The system would protect his independent will. Merging the memories would only supplement his knowledge and posed no risk.

His consciousness sank into the depths of his sea of consciousness.

As though an enormous database had been opened, countless fragments of memory, law comprehension, combat instincts, and emotions flooded toward the core of his consciousness.

Under the system's protection, there was no risk of his being overwritten or losing himself. Like a calm observer and heir, he rapidly absorbed everything about Hu Yanbo-his pride, his restraint, his battles, and his past.

Several days were merely an instant to an Immortal God, but for the figure on the throne, they marked a complete transformation of identity.

When his eyes opened again, a glimmer of newborn divine light flowed within them.

The confusion and panic that had once belonged to Xiao Feng, the soul from Earth, had vanished completely, replaced by composure and restraint.

"Xiao Feng was now in the past..."

"Here in this universe, I am Hu Yanbo!"

Hu Yanbo felt the surging yet somewhat unfamiliar immortal divine power within him. He gently flexed his fingers, and a ripple of power flowed around his fingertips.

"As expected, even with the memories merged, I'll still need time and practice to perfectly control this divine body, honed over hundreds of millions of years, and wield its power as naturally as moving my own limbs."

Now, he was Hu Yanbo, and he was also Xiao Feng. More importantly, however, he had survived. And as the Lord of Yunmo Planet-Hu Yanbo-he had begun a new journey in the Swallowed Star World.

The Yunmo Star Ship traveled through the Dark Universe at a constant thirty times the speed of light, heading toward its designated star region.

The hall remained a wreck, but the shadow of death had dispersed.

Hu Yanbo sat in the seat of honor. The terror and bewilderment of his Earth-born soul had dissolved into the laws of survival in the universe.

What remained now was the bearing and confidence of a Marquis Immortal.

But with the lethal threat resolved, a new concern arose.

How was he to fulfill the conditions of the advance?

Becoming Hu Yanbo meant inheriting not only a powerful divine body, immense wealth, and influence, but also hundreds of millions of years of memories, emotions, and fundamental aspirations.

Once Xiao Feng's consciousness and Hu Yanbo's memories had fully blended, forming a coherent, reborn personality, what ran through his veins was an unwillingness to settle for obscurity and a refusal to admit defeat.

Starting as a weak life-form, he had trodden over bones and bathed in blood and pain, struggling, fighting, and scheming his way forward until he finally reached the rank of Marquis Immortal.

His entire life had been a thorn-filled journey of climbing ever higher on the path of strength.

His thirst for power, his yearning for higher realms, and his determination to control his own fate had long since been etched into his divine body and fused into his soul.

"Besides, the seventh level of the Void Tower has only saved my life. If Demon Hand King learns that his Soul Attack failed..."

Hu Yanbo's antennae tensed slightly. "A King-level Immortal would never spare a Marquis with an undying body after becoming mortal enemies with him. If he can't kill me through my soul, he can still use physical attacks! If he's willing to burn his divine power, even the Yunmo Star Ship might not withstand him for long."

"What's more, I've only begun to gain control of myself. Without a qualitative improvement, if Demon Hand King tracks me down or finds some way to confirm my condition, our next encounter will leave me with no way out."

If he didn't want to spend the next tens of thousands of years cowering in his divine kingdom to escape Demon Hand King's threat, he needed greater power!

And the only way to achieve all of that quickly was through the system.

Swallowed Star was a grand stage. Without a cheat, you had no business stepping onto it.

Since he had one, why back down?

Hu Yanbo swept his gaze across the hall.

Babata stood nearby, still brimming with excitement, along with the five severely wounded slaves whose spirits had revived with their master's survival-Wu Ying, Xuan Yi, Jiu Xia, Green Vine, and Yan Yao.

"Wu Ying, all of you should enter seclusion to heal," Hu Yanbo instructed. "I'm fine now. There's no need to guard me."

With a slight shift of his thoughts, information about the Void Tower surged out of his memory fragments.

He had not created this top-tier Soul Defense Secret Technique himself. Rather, it was a legacy he had obtained ten million years ago, at enormous cost, through a special channel of the Universe Mercenary Alliance.

"The creator, the one who devised the Void Tower..." Hu Yanbo delved deeper into his memories.