Chapter 742: Direct Disciple

Inside the inner court of the City Lord’s Mansion.

“Prince Luo Feng, the City Lord has already given orders. You may enter directly,” the immortal guards in front of the inner court did not stop Luo Feng.

Luo Feng smiled and walked in directly.

As Luo Feng entered the inner court, the immortal guards gazed at his back and whispered among themselves.

“He didn’t even announce his arrival before entering. Except for a few rare individuals, only the City Lord’s direct disciples are allowed such privilege. Could it be that Luo Feng has become one of them?”

“It’s very likely.”

“The City Lord issued this order not long ago. He must have officially accepted Luo Feng as his direct disciple.”

…

Luo Feng stood before the courtyard known as the “Hundred-Void Expanse.”

He took one step forward and entered.

Boom!

Time and space shifted. Luo Feng appeared on a vast wasteland, strewn with the corpses of countless beings. In the distant horizon sat a figure cross-legged in meditation.

“Master,” Luo Feng approached respectfully, carefully avoiding the scattered corpses beneath his feet, and bowed.

The figure slowly rose.

Turning to face Luo Feng, his terrifying and grotesque face bore eyes as gentle and warm as jade. The Chaos City Lord smiled and nodded, “Have you completed the first layer?”

“I just completed the first layer, the ‘Scale Armor Section.’ I came immediately to report to you, Master,” Luo Feng replied respectfully.

“Your ninth senior brother told me it would take half a year at best or three years at worst. I never expected you to succeed merely three months after he informed me,” the Chaos City Lord nodded approvingly. “Show me the first layer now.”

“Yes, Master.”

Luo Feng complied respectfully.

In truth, during the past eight hundred years of secluded cultivation, although he had completed the first layer, the ‘Scale Armor Section,’ Luo Feng had only grasped the fundamental principles of its laws. As for the secret techniques and combat methods associated with the first layer, he had not had time to learn even one. Understanding the laws was one thing; mastering the techniques and combat methods was another, equally important.

Eager to meet the Chaos City Lord sooner, Luo Feng came without practicing the combat techniques.

“Fortunately, in my daily training, I had the Golden-Horned Giant Beast practice these techniques, and during my training in the virtual universe, my Earthling clone also practiced the ‘Three-Thousand Star Skies’ claw techniques. I have grasped the most basic applications,” Luo Feng thought with relief.

Boom!

Luo Feng’s primal energy surged rapidly, and layers of scales emerged on his body. Even his hands were covered in scales. Most of the scale patterns were identical to those on the “Slumbering Beast God Statue,” only miniaturized. A very small number of scales bore the patterns of the “Miniature Beast God Statue.” Luo Feng dared to imitate only a few of these scales, for any more would attract the oppressive force of the cosmic laws.

“Hmm,” the Chaos City Lord observed and smiled slightly.

At this moment, Luo Feng resembled a monstrous beast, fully armored in scales, exuding the domineering and ferocious aura of the Beast God. Simply by executing the foundational technique, “Beast God Transformation,” his combat prowess had surged to terrifying heights.

“Tearing Heaven Claw!” Luo Feng lunged forward suddenly.

Haa!

His scaled right hand tore through the air like the Golden-Horned Giant Beast unleashing the Tearing Heaven Claw.

Crash! The space of the wasteland trembled. A vague and terrifying giant claw mark tore through the sky before gradually dissipating. After completing the move, Luo Feng’s scales immediately receded into his body as primal energy withdrew, and he returned to his original form.

“Master,” Luo Feng bowed respectfully.

“Your claw technique is quite impressive,” the Chaos City Lord nodded in satisfaction. “You have grasped the first layer of the Scale Armor Section in terms of laws, but in application, you can apply it to ‘mental force weapons,’ sword techniques, blade techniques, movement techniques, defensive techniques, and more. However, mastering the application techniques also requires diligent cultivation and refinement. Your claw technique is indeed commendable.”

Luo Feng listened and inwardly sighed.

How could it not be impressive?

The Tearing Heaven Claw was his ultimate move. He had studied the ancient images of the Beast God and had painstakingly refined this single move. Although the Golden-Horned Giant Beast had practiced it countless times, it was through repeated attempts at using the Tearing Heaven Claw that he had come to understand the essence of the Beast God’s intent.

“From today on, you are my thirty-second direct disciple,” the Chaos City Lord declared solemnly.

“Disciple pays homage to Master.”

Luo Feng immediately knelt.

The Chaos City Lord gazed at the young figure kneeling before him. Compared to his long lifespan and supreme strength, this young disciple was indeed weak. It was like parents who, no matter how many children they had, usually doted on the youngest. In essence, parents cared for all their children, but the youngest, being the most vulnerable and in need of care, naturally received more affection.

The same principle applied here.

Including Luo Feng, the Chaos City Lord had a total of thirty-two direct disciples. Twenty-seven were still alive: twenty-five were Cosmic Sovereigns, one was a peak Emperor-level immortal, and the last was Luo Feng, the weakest.

Naturally, the Chaos City Lord would pay more attention to his weaker disciples.

As he looked at Luo Feng kneeling before him, the Chaos City Lord was momentarily reminded of another young prodigy who had knelt before him long ago—Kedi.

“Kedi…” At the thought of Kedi, another of his direct disciples, the Lord of Chaos City couldn’t suppress the rising tide of grief and fury within him. Long ago, through the intricate machinations of a Zerg Overlord, he had lost Kedi forever. At his level of power, slaying one of his personal disciples was an act of near-impossible defiance.

Even if they were killed and their souls scattered,

The Chaos City Lord could reverse time and space, turning back the timeline to before the disciple’s death and reviving them.

Of course, reversing time and space was extremely difficult, and it defied the natural laws of the universe, inviting backlash and a heavy price…

In short, time-space reversal itself was fraught with many challenges.

Moreover, this technique was far from “invincible”—not every deceased soul could be reclaimed from the abyss. In Kedi’s tragic fate, the cunning machinations of the Zerg Overlord proved insurmountable, and thus the Lord of Chaos was ultimately robbed of his most promising disciple.

“Rise,” the Chaos City Lord sighed softly.

Luo Feng obediently stood up.

“Among my disciples, including you, there are thirty-two in total. Five have already perished,” the Chaos City Lord said. “Of the twenty-six living disciples, twenty-five are Cosmic Sovereigns, and only one is a peak Emperor-level immortal. You are still young. I believe reaching the peak Emperor level will be easy for you.”

When Luo Feng heard “you are still young,” he couldn’t help but mutter inwardly.

Young?

He had been in the Chaos City for over nine hundred years. In the original universe, three thousand years had already passed. If calculated by Earth’s calendar, he was already over three thousand years old! In three thousand years, the human population had exploded to an astonishing number, spreading throughout the Milky Way and even to other star systems.

Population growth was mainly limited by territory and food supply.

Without such limitations, even a small tribe of a few dozen people could grow to over a hundred million in a thousand years!

Thus, after more than three thousand years, the human population and the Luo family had expanded to an incredible size. The Earthlings had long revered Luo Feng as their supreme figure, and the Luo family did the same. Many referred to him as “Ancestor Luo” or “the Sage of Earth.”

Yet, standing before the Chaos City Lord, he was still called “young.” Luo Feng knew the Chaos City Lord wasn’t wrong.

“Compared to the Chaos City Lord and other Cosmic Sovereigns, anyone who hasn’t lived for tens of millions of years is still considered a junior,” Luo Feng mused.

“From now on, you may directly teleport to my palace on Thunder Island,” the Chaos City Lord said. “If you have any questions during your cultivation, you may ask me in my palace on Thunder Island in the virtual universe. As for this ‘Hundred-Void Expanse,’ unless I give you permission, you need not come here again.”

“Yes, Master,” Luo Feng replied respectfully.

“There is also this… When you reach the King-level realm, and when you are about to leave the Chaos City, come to the Hundred-Void Expanse to see me once each time,” the Chaos City Lord added.

“Yes,” Luo Feng took note.

Come to see the Chaos City Lord on the day he becomes a King? And again on the day he leaves the Chaos City?

“Now you may take your leave,” the Chaos City Lord smiled faintly. “Oh, your access privileges have been upgraded. You can now search for much more information through the virtual universe network.”

“Disciple takes his leave,” Luo Feng felt joy and quickly responded.

Flash!

The Chaos City Lord immediately teleported Luo Feng out of the Hundred-Void Expanse.

Now alone in the wasteland, the Chaos City Lord gazed at the vast desolate land and the countless corpses of powerful beings, then sat cross-legged once more, silently sitting…

…

Luo Feng felt the space and time shift before his eyes, and in an instant, he stood at the entrance of the Hundred-Void Expanse courtyard.

“I thought becoming a direct disciple would earn me some reward,” Luo Feng mused with a smile. “But the Chaos City Lord wants me to visit him when I become a King and when I leave the Chaos City. There must be something special. If not, we could just meet in the virtual universe.”

“An increase in privileges, huh?”

Filled with joy, Luo Feng walked through the City Lord’s Mansion and soon exited, returning to his quiet cultivation residence. Sitting cross-legged on the rooftop terrace, he immediately split his consciousness into the virtual universe to search for information about the “Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain.”

Different privileges meant access to different levels of information.

Previously, even as a member of the Primordial Secret Realm, Luo Feng had been unable to gather much information, including detailed data on the “Hong Alliance.”

But now, as a direct disciple of the Chaos City Lord, his access privileges were extremely high.

“Higher privileges do make a difference. The information I can access now is much more detailed,” Luo Feng smiled slightly as he sat cross-legged on the terrace. “Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain… Hmm, it’s indeed challenging.”

“To conquer the Cosmic-level Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain, one must possess the ability to clear the Heaven-Piercing Bridge up to the twelfth level.”

“To conquer the Domain-level Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain, one must be capable of clearing the Heaven-Piercing Bridge up to the sixteenth level.”

“To conquer the King-level Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain, one must be able to clear the Heaven-Piercing Bridge up to the twentieth level.”

Luo Feng gazed at the information he had gathered, sighing involuntarily.

Difficult.

The Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain was indeed the most challenging trial. As Zhenyan once said, it was practically designed to prevent even the most gifted talents from passing. Yet, throughout history, there had been rare geniuses, appearing once in tens of millions of eons, who managed to conquer the Primordial Heaven-Piercing Mountain. Of course, even the more common geniuses, appearing once in tens of thousands of eons, usually lacked such capability.