The man in the cyan robe and purple scales took a step and vanished from the sky above Chaos City, reappearing at a remote area within the city—a vast but simple mansion.
The mansion’s gate was as black as ink.
“Haha, it’s rare to have a good friend visit me!” A voice rang out with laughter as the dark gate opened automatically. From within stepped a three-eyed elder wearing what appeared to be a coarse cloth robe. This elder was none other than the guardian ‘Kandri,’ who had split himself into fifty-two incarnations to protect the Chaos Steles.
“It’s been a while. I thought I’d drop by and see how you’re doing,” said the Nine-Sword Venerable with a smile.
The two walked side by side into the mansion’s parlor, sat down opposite each other, and the three-eyed elder poured some fruit wine with a smile. “Nine-Sword, you wouldn’t come here without reason. Tell me, what’s on your mind?”
“Well then, I’ll be straightforward.”
With a smile, the Nine-Sword Venerable said, “A new cosmic secret realm has just been discovered. Judging from the initial assessment, it must be of an extremely high level.”
“Oh?” The three-eyed elder’s eyes lit up.
Cosmic secret realms are strange and unique places naturally formed during the evolution of the vast universe. Normally, evolution might result in planets or stars, but under special circumstances, strange cosmic secret realms the size of the Black Dragon Mountain Star Region could also appear.
The Original Universe is the largest, oldest, and most powerful universe known.
Within the Original Universe, the danger levels of cosmic secret realms vary, as do the treasures they contain. However, even the weakest of these new cosmic secret realms would require at least a World Lord to dare to enter.
“How high?” The three-eyed elder asked eagerly.
“Those below Venerable rank will almost certainly perish if they enter,” the Nine-Sword Venerable chuckled. “As for the immortal Kings, their chances of survival are extremely low.”
“Oh? Interesting!” The elder’s heart was stirred.
In the Original Universe, few things could threaten an immortal. For a cosmic secret realm to be deadly even to those below Venerable rank meant it must be extremely perilous. The more dangerous it was, the more likely it was to contain true cosmic treasures—treasures that even Venerables would desire.
“It was discovered not long ago, and I only invite those I fully trust. I’ve come especially to invite you,” the Nine-Sword Venerable looked at the elder. “Kandri, are you in?”
Kandri hesitated.
“After all, your incarnations can continue to guard the Chaos Steles. Besides, the city lord of Chaos City is here—there’s absolutely no danger,” the Nine-Sword Venerable shook his head. “As for the Primeval Universe, it’s merely a newly formed small universe, not even a fraction of a millionth the size of our Original Universe. Our Original Universe is the true center. You haven’t left for tens of thousands of eons—don’t you think it’s time to take a chance? Perhaps great opportunities await.”
The elder’s eyes lit up.
“Let me know when it’s time to gather,” Kandri said, looking at the Nine-Sword Venerable.
“Haha, with you, our chances are much greater,” the Nine-Sword Venerable laughed.
Kandri was an ancient existence in the cosmos, possessing extraordinary strength. Among other races in the universe, he was known as the “Guardian of Chaos City,” a title even more renowned than that of the Nine-Sword Venerable.
His most famous technique was his ability to create incarnations.
His incarnations were not simple clones. For an immortal, creating clones was easy. But Kandri was different—each of his incarnations possessed nearly sixty percent of his own strength. Thus, using incarnations to explore dangerous places was extremely safe. Even if a clone was destroyed, it would have little impact on Kandri.
…
As these two super beings conversed, the Nine-Sword Venerable suddenly furrowed his brows.
“What’s wrong?” Kandri raised his eyebrows.
“Nothing serious,” the Nine-Sword Venerable replied calmly. “One of our Virtual Universe Company’s new generation of prodigies—Ronjun, who was taken as a disciple by Zhenyan—just passed the fourth level of the Heaven-Ascent Bridge.”
“The fourth level? Not bad. Very impressive,” Kandri praised. “Among the newcomers who came to Chaos City for the Genius Competition, very few have passed the fourth level on their first visit.”
“Yes. Including Ronjun, there are already three in this batch—Bolan, Luo Feng, and Ronjun,” the Nine-Sword Venerable smiled slightly.
“These three younglings are all exceptional. They might become your right-hand men in the future,” Kandri remarked.
The Nine-Sword Venerable smiled.
…
On the rooftop of a cultivation residence.
“What!” Luo Feng, who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, stood up abruptly, frowning. “Ronjun passed the fourth level?”
Ronjun had passed the third level in his thirteenth year in Chaos City.
However,
Every three levels formed a threshold. From the third to the fourth level, it was extremely difficult. Both Bolan and himself had taken a long time to pass the fourth level.
“He passed the fourth level, and now!” Luo Feng’s eyes burned with fighting spirit. “I’m going to challenge the fifth level now!”
Mental state affected combat performance.
Fueled by fighting spirit, Luo Feng acted decisively and immediately headed toward the Heaven-Ascent Bridge.
…
“Ronjun passed the fourth level? Another one at the fourth level?” Almost simultaneously, the other prodigies received the news.
…
Within the Heaven-Ascent Bridge dimension of the Virtual Universe.
In the center of the beautiful island, figures began to appear one after another.
“There sure are a lot of people,” Luo Feng remarked as he appeared, seeing more than twenty young figures already on surrounding islands, with more arriving rapidly. Clearly, this batch of over 800 prodigies all wanted to make one last attempt before leaving Chaos City. Ronjun’s breakthrough had spurred everyone to rush here immediately.
“There’s someone currently on the Nine-Heaven Bridge, Luo Feng, but you’re next in line,” the black-robed guardian Bafen smiled.
“Wuka, the Ax Heaven Bridge has someone too—you’re next in line.”
Guardian Bafen arranged the order for everyone, while some prodigies could immediately enter to challenge.
“Luo Feng, you’re challenging again?” Wuka stood beside Luo Feng, muttering, “You’re already so far ahead of me.”
“But Ronjun is catching up too. I can’t afford to slack off,” Luo Feng smiled.
“Hmm?” Luo Feng and Wuka both noticed a sudden figure appearing nearby—a white-robed youth, still carrying a blood-red sword on his back.
The Grim Reaper—Bolan!
“Him too?” Luo Feng slightly furrowed his brow.
The white-robed youth saw Luo Feng and nodded slightly, saying softly, “Luo Feng…”
“Bolan!” Luo Feng’s eyes burned with fighting spirit.
More than a hundred prodigies had already gathered around. Seeing Luo Feng and Bolan, they began whispering among themselves.
“These two are meeting again.”
“Last time, Luo Feng passed the fourth level, then Bolan passed the fifth. Could they be about to break through again today?”
“The Heaven-Ascent Bridge isn’t that easy to conquer.”
“But among this batch, the only one who can rival Bolan is Luo Feng.”
…
Luo Feng and Bolan exchanged glances but said nothing. Yet both burned with fighting spirit in their hearts.
“Luo Feng, you may now enter the Nine-Heaven Bridge,” Guardian Bafen announced. “Bolan, the Cosmic Heaven Bridge is currently occupied—you’re next in line.”
Luo Feng glanced at Bolan, and Bolan looked back.
Whoosh!
Luo Feng shot forward in a streak of light, flying directly toward the distant Nine-Heaven Bridge.
…
The Nine-Heaven Bridge—its first three levels were shrouded in mist.
The fourth and fifth levels were battered by fierce winds. At this height, the fifth level was so high above the sea below that only the gray, stormy winds of the fourth level were visible—the sea itself was invisible.
“Fifth level.”
Standing on the bridge, Luo Feng looked ahead at the whirlwind.
The ever-rotating whirlwind spoke, “Choose one—Warrior, Controller, or Illusionist. Defeat your opponent to enter the sixth level.”
“Controller!” Luo Feng chose without hesitation.
“Hmph!”
From within the whirlwind, a thin man clad in silver armor and boots, wearing a silver mask, swiftly flew out. He rode the Dark Cloud Shuttle and carried a dark-gold long staff. His weapon and style were of the same school as Luo Feng’s.
“Daring to challenge the fifth level at the Cosmic level? You’ve got confidence,” the silver-armored man sneered. “Bring out all your strength, or I’ll strike, and you won’t even have the power to resist.”
“Arrogant fool.”
Luo Feng rode the Dark Cloud Shuttle, glaring coldly at the silver-armored man ahead in the whirlwind.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The dark-gold long staff on Luo Feng’s back shot forward in a series of dazzling golden lights. A multitude of tiny golden swords hovered in front of Luo Feng, their golden threads weaving through the air. Each golden sword maintained a slight distance from the others, their complex runes emitting countless golden threads. A total of 1,600 tiny golden swords, each radiating law-force, connected rapidly to form a hazy, massive totemic golden pillar!
Fourth Transformation of the Divine Weapon—The Great Simplicity!
The totemic golden pillar hovered before Luo Feng.
“Only the fourth transformation?” The silver-armored man sneered. “It’s impressive for a Cosmic-level being to reach the fourth transformation of the Divine Weapon, but to dream of conquering the fifth level of the Heaven-Ascent Bridge? That’s impossible!”
Boom!
As he spoke, the dark-gold long staff behind him shot out countless beams of golden light in all directions like hidden projectiles, instantly forming a dazzling sun. In the air, the golden lights rapidly combined and condensed, with every 81 tiny golden swords forming a single golden sword. A total of 36 real golden swords, each over a foot long, hovered before him.
Hiss! The 36 golden swords instantly merged, their golden threads entwining.
A dark-gold longsword over three meters long, as real as any sword, with no visible seams. At a glance, one wouldn’t even notice the golden threads. This massive dark-gold sword hovered before the silver-armored man.
Fifth Transformation of the Divine Weapon—Spatial Severance!
“Fifth transformation?” Luo Feng thought. “As expected. The opponent I face at the fifth level of the Heaven-Ascent Bridge uses the fifth transformation of the Divine Weapon. My current mastery of the ‘Drizzle Diagram’ and my understanding of the Gold Essence still fall short of allowing me to reach the fifth transformation. However—”
“The first diagram, the ‘Raindrop Diagram,’ contains nine fundamental mysteries, all of which I’ve fully grasped and integrated into a unified cycle. My totemic golden pillar is far superior to what others can produce!”
Luo Feng clearly remembered.
The first time he challenged the first level of the Heaven-Ascent Bridge, he had used the ‘Heavenly Sword Style,’ yet his opponent had defeated him with merely three golden swords. This proved one thing—higher transformation levels of the Divine Weapon didn’t necessarily mean stronger power!
“Die!”
The silver-armored man glared coldly at Luo Feng.
Whoosh!
The three-meter-long dark-gold sword instantly slashed through the sky, leaving a golden afterimage.
“Boom~~” The totemic golden pillar also rolled forward.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage