Time flew by as Hu Yanbo lost himself in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, seven hundred years had passed.
He still sat cross-legged on the rooftop. The vortex of energy gathered around him had not weakened at all. Instead, as his divine body's capacity for energy continued to increase, it grew ever more immense.
On this day, Chaos City welcomed another group of new cultivators. Led by the Black-Robed Envoy, they were all young, with cultivation levels ranging from Star Level to Universe Level.
They looked curiously around the legendary holy city as they listened to the Black-Robed Envoy explain its rules.
"...Remember, fighting is strictly forbidden within Chaos City, and you must never disturb anyone else's cultivation. Any violation will result in immediate teleportation out of the Initial Universe, ending your opportunity to study here," the Black-Robed Envoy warned solemnly.
Just then, a gifted Universe Level youth's gaze was drawn to the enormous energy vortex in the distance, which had persisted for hundreds of years. Unable to help himself, he pointed toward it and asked in bewilderment:
"Lord Envoy, you said we would be expelled if we disturbed someone else's cultivation."
"But that expert... the energy fluctuations he causes are so intense, and they cover such a vast area. Wouldn't they affect the people around him? Why isn't he expelled under the rules?"
The Black-Robed Envoy knew what the youth meant without even turning around. His solemn expression instantly gave way to respect, and his voice rose a little:
"Him?" the envoy said with a smile. "He is someone you will have to look up to and strive to catch up with on your future path of cultivation! Lord Hu Yanbo has been in Chaos City for barely a thousand years, yet his strength has already increased several thousandfold!"
"Once he successfully completes this seclusion, he will qualify for the permanent residency granted by Chaos City and become a true immortal resident of this holy city!"
His words exploded among the young geniuses like a thunderclap.
"What?! Spending a thousand years in Chaos City... can make you several thousand times stronger?!"
A Star Level girl covered her mouth and cried out, her eyes shining with disbelief.
She could not imagine such a terrifying rate of improvement.
To think Chaos City offered such tremendous benefits.
Another Universe Level youth, who came from a powerful clan and knew somewhat more, sucked in a sharp breath. "Permanent residency in Chaos City?! They say it's an honor countless Immortal Gods dream of but can never obtain. It represents recognition from the race!"
As they looked toward the center of the energy vortex, their curiosity instantly turned into utter awe and longing.
The Black-Robed Envoy took in all their reactions and said gravely, "Now you understand why no one would disturb him, don't you? It is our honor to witness the emergence of a future permanent resident."
High in the sky, the King Rank beings occasionally glanced at the spirited young faces below as they chatted casually among themselves.
"Come to think of it, ever since Seven Swords emerged from the Giant Axe Arena some years ago, the youngsters arriving in Chaos City hardly seem to include anyone quite so dazzling, anyone who makes you sit up and marvel," a King Rank expert surrounded by a cold aura remarked flatly.
"Indeed." The burly King Rank expert beside him nodded in agreement. "The last few groups of geniuses were certainly excellent, but they always seemed to lack that edge needed to truly shake things up."
Just then, a King Rank expert with a fierce aura, wearing armor bearing the insignia of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, suddenly chuckled. With barely concealed pride, he interjected, "Gentlemen, isn't that a little too sweeping a judgment? Hasn't our Universe Mercenary Alliance just discovered a promising talent who could well be called a second Mengsui King?"
At the mention of Mengsui King, the relaxed atmosphere abruptly froze.
The other King Rank experts fell briefly silent almost in unison, their gazes meeting for a moment in a subtle exchange.
Naturally, they knew whom he meant. Who else could it be but Hu Yanbo below, who had stirred up tides of energy for hundreds of years and was about to gain permanent residency?
Comparing Hu Yanbo to Mengsui King, another late bloomer in the Universe Mercenary Alliance's recent history, was high praise indeed-and no small expression of ambition.
Yet, for the moment, they found it difficult to refute him.
After all, the potential Hu Yanbo had displayed truly defied common sense.
Perhaps not a single one of the geniuses arriving below would ever match Hu Yanbo.
After a brief silence, only a few chuckles of ambiguous meaning sounded in response.
No one voiced an objection, but neither did anyone sincerely agree.
Seeing this, the Universe Mercenary Alliance's King Rank expert smiled a little more deeply. He did not pursue the subject, merely turning his gaze toward Hu Yanbo once more with undisguised anticipation.
For a time, only the faint exclamations of the young geniuses below reached the sky, accompanied by the unspoken, knowing silence among the King Rank experts.
Over the next several years, the tremendous tides of energy surrounding Hu Yanbo finally began to weaken and disperse.
When the last wisp of energy had been fully absorbed into his body, Hu Yanbo's tightly closed eyes snapped open. Countless spatial rifts seemed to form and vanish within them, and an aura far more concentrated and vast than before spread naturally outward.
He slowly rose to his feet, feeling the mighty divine power surging through him, imbued with King Level profundities of space law. His heart was utterly calm.
Initial King-my divine body was complete!
From this day forward, he, Hu Yanbo, had officially entered King Rank, becoming someone who could truly be called an expert in this boundless universe!
Almost at the very instant he stood, voices filled with warmth and goodwill flowed gently down from the sky like a tide:
"Hu Yanbo, congratulations on reaching King Rank!"
"Our Human Race has gained another King Rank expert!"
Hu Yanbo looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce through space as he clearly saw those figures standing in midair, their auras vast.
Once, when he had first arrived in Chaos City and looked up at these beings, they had seemed like primordial tyrannosaurs, their oppressive might overwhelming. He had been as insignificant as a mouse, needing to summon his courage even to look directly at them.
Now, although he could still clearly sense their power, and their auras remained unfathomable, the pressure they exerted on him felt entirely different.
It was no longer the despair and suffocation of a mouse facing a tyrannosaur, but more like... a lion cub encountering a grown lion.
Though he knew they were still powerful and he was no match for them, he could at least be considered barely their equal in standing. He had the confidence and qualifications to speak with them on equal terms!
This was the fundamental transformation that came with becoming a King-level Immortal!
Hu Yanbo smiled faintly and clasped his hands toward the sky, returning their greetings with calm composure. "Thank you, seniors!"
His gaze swept across Chaos City below, just in time to see a group of young Universe Level geniuses flying back together from outside the city. Many wore expressions mingling excitement and exhaustion. Clearly, they had been hunting chaos true spirits outside the city to temper themselves.
Looking at those spirited yet strikingly immature figures, Hu Yanbo could not help smiling a little more deeply.
Once, I was just like them.
No, I never enjoyed the treatment they receive!
But now... As he felt the King Level divine power surging within him, powerful enough to annihilate a star with ease, a strange realization arose in his heart.
To these Star Level and Universe Level youngsters still struggling for a few chaos true spirits, I must now be someone they have to look up to, someone they cannot even comprehend... a "great being."
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