The Chaos Palace: Sitting Mountain Guest Appears

Three days were no more than the snap of a finger in the long years of cultivation, but for Luo Feng, the gains of those three days were greater than those of his past several thousand years of cultivation.

After three days of detailed explanations from Qin Yuan, Luo Feng had gained a thorough and deep understanding of the Universe Ocean's overall situation, the distribution of its factions, the ranks of its experts, and its perilous secret realms. His awe of the Universe Ocean had deepened, and he had also gained a clear understanding of the direction his future cultivation should take. No longer confined to the small world of the Primal Universe, he had turned his gaze toward the far vaster Universe Ocean.

Over those three days, Luo Feng had not only learned all manner of things about the Universe Ocean, but also, under Qin Yuan's guidance, had sorted through his own Origin Laws and deepened his understanding of the Law of Metal and the Space Law. The power of his divine body had also grown more condensed. Though he had made no breakthrough in his realm, his overall strength had improved by a wide margin, and he could now easily hold his own against an ordinary Universe Overlord.

Inside the Void God Hall flying vessel, Qin Yuan stopped his explanation and raised a hand to disperse the star map in the void. He looked ahead of the vessel, his gaze shifting slightly, his aura steady. "We're almost there," he said softly.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Void God Hall, which had been speeding through space, gradually slowed to a complete stop, floating in a stretch of chaotic void.

This chaotic void was utterly different from the violent chaos currents around it. It was exceptionally calm, with the surrounding currents flowing slowly. There were no chaos storms or spatial rifts; it was like a sheltered harbor in an ocean of chaos. Even with his Universe Venerable strength, Luo Feng could sense that the chaos currents here were relatively mild, nowhere near as violent as those in other parts of the middle layer.

Hearing Qin Yuan's words, Luo Feng immediately stood and hurried to a porthole of the flying vessel. Following his teacher's gaze, he looked toward the chaotic void ahead.

There, amid the endless chaos mist, he could just make out the outline of an enormous palace. As the mist drifted apart, the palace gradually came into clear view.

It was a gigantic palace, pitch-black from end to end. Rather than being built from ordinary divine stone, it had been formed from an unknown kind of chaos divine iron, its material ancient and heavy. There were no elaborate decorations on its walls, but countless ancient, profound patterns had been engraved upon them. These were neither offensive nor defensive divine patterns; they contained the supreme resonance of the Dao of time's cycle and the origin of chaos. Every pattern seemed connected to the origin of the Universe Ocean, exuding an endless sense of antiquity and the passage of ages.

The black palace was somewhat smaller than Qin Yuan's Void God Hall, lacking its majestic grandeur and golden splendor. Yet the aura it gave off was far deeper and more distant, as though it had stood in this chaotic void since the birth of the Universe Ocean, lived through countless cycles of universes, and witnessed the rise and fall of countless experts. It carried a vast imposing force that suppressed all ages and looked down upon all living beings.

Even across the distant chaotic void, Luo Feng could feel the invisible pressure emanating from the black palace. It was neither overbearing nor sharp, but gentle and warm. Yet it reached deep into his soul, filling even a Universe Venerable level expert like him with involuntary awe. He even breathed carefully, not daring to harbor the slightest irreverence.

"Teacher, where... where is this? Which senior's dwelling is this palace?" Luo Feng's voice held a barely perceptible tremor. He could clearly sense that the owner of this black palace was far stronger than he could imagine. Even his teacher, Qin Yuan, seemed to be a notch below this senior.

Qin Yuan looked at the black palace, his expression becoming profoundly respectful. It was an expression he had never shown before any expert in the Universe Ocean. He spoke slowly, his voice low but clear, enunciating every word. "This is where Senior Sitting Mountain Guest lives in seclusion. This black palace is Senior Sitting Mountain Guest's Chaos Palace."

Sitting Mountain Guest!

At those words, Luo Feng's whole body jolted as if struck by a thunderbolt. He froze on the spot, his eyes filled with disbelief, shock and astonishment written all over his face.

Luo Feng had already committed the name Sitting Mountain Guest to memory when his teacher had listed the Universe Ocean's experts over the past three days, engraving it deep in his soul. His teacher had said plainly that Sitting Mountain Guest was the most mysterious and powerful existence in the entire Primal Universe and even the surrounding reaches of the Universe Ocean. He was the strongest expert acknowledged by the Universe Ocean, known as a Universe Strongest!

Legends of Sitting Mountain Guest had circulated throughout the Universe Ocean for countless epochs. No one knew where he came from, no one knew the path he had taken in cultivation, no one had ever seen him truly take action, and still less did anyone know what realm his true strength had reached.

He lived in seclusion deep in the Universe Ocean year-round, paying no heed to worldly affairs and taking no part in disputes between races. He rarely dealt with experts from the outside world. Yet throughout the Universe Ocean, no matter how supreme a faction or how powerful a True God expert, none dared provoke him in the slightest. Even mentioning his name inspired the deepest awe. Even those top True Gods who roamed the Universe Ocean unchecked gave him a wide berth at the sound of his name.

Was this legendary supreme existence truly living in seclusion in the black palace before them? And was his teacher really going to take him to pay his respects to this foremost expert of the Universe Ocean?

Luo Feng's mind went completely blank. He could hardly believe what lay before him. He had never dreamed that one day he would meet a legendary figure like Sitting Mountain Guest. For a moment, nervousness and apprehension mingled with excitement and shock, leaving him at a loss.

"There's no need to be so nervous. Senior Sitting Mountain Guest has a mild temperament and won't readily make things difficult for a junior." Seeing how nervous Luo Feng was, Qin Yuan spoke softly to reassure him, then started toward the hall's exit. "Come, follow me to pay our respects to Senior Sitting Mountain Guest."

Luo Feng took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the myriad emotions in his heart, and followed close behind Qin Yuan as he stepped out of the Void God Hall flying vessel.

The two walked through the chaotic void, approaching the black palace's entrance step by step. The chaos currents parted of their own accord beneath their feet, offering them no resistance. Soon, they arrived before the black palace's enormous black gates.

The gates had been cast from a single piece of chaos divine iron. Their surface was smooth, without door rings or carvings. Plain and unadorned, they nevertheless gave off an indestructible aura.

Qin Yuan stood before the gates without rashly pushing them open. Instead, he bowed slightly and waited in silence, his expression respectful.

The moment the two came to a stop, the tightly shut black gates before them slowly opened to either side, without a sound or the slightest fluctuation of energy. An aged, calm voice drifted out from within the palace, as if it had weathered all the vicissitudes of the world and seen through the cycles of mortal life. It reached both men's ears clearly.

"Since you're here, come in."