In the atmosphere of that sapphire-blue planet in the Milky Way, a blood-red triangular spacecraft swiftly pierced through the atmosphere, its cloaking system activated—the Yinstar, undetectable by Earth’s current defense systems.
“We’re back.”
Standing inside the control room of the spacecraft, Luo Feng gazed down at the mist-shrouded, blurry continents below. As the ship passed through the clouds, the landscape became clear—vast lands, cities, roads, and occasionally, the preserved ruins of the Great Nirvana Era. These ruins, now functioning as museums, allowed the younger generations, who had never experienced that era, a glimpse into history.
Hss!
The hatch opened. Luo Feng, accompanied by Dylan and others, flew out and hovered midair, before withdrawing the Yinstar into his inner world.
“Counting the time spent flying through the dark cosmos, it’s been nearly 183 years since I left Earth,” Luo Feng mused.
“Your Highness, you’ve not yet lived five centuries, so it feels lengthy. But once you attain the Monarch rank, you might lose yourself refining secret arts for millennia. Then you’ll understand—for a cosmic sovereign, centuries or even ages pass like the flutter of a butterfly’s wing,” Dylan answered with a knowing smile.
Luo Feng gave him a dry look.
Thousands of years in the blink of an eye?
He hadn’t even lived five hundred years yet—less than half a blink.
“Home!” Luo Feng commanded.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, the seven of them vanished from the sky. When they reappeared, they were already above Yangzhou City in the Huaxia Nation of Asia. Their arrival quickly caught the attention of the three Monarch-ranked guards stationed at Luo Feng’s ancestral estate—three of the five Monarch-ranked guards originally left behind by Luo Feng.
“Hail to Your Highness!” The three guards soared into the sky and knelt on one knee midair in salute.
“Hmm,” Luo Feng nodded with a smile.
He then entered the estate directly. The main defense and alert system of the estate was an auxiliary AI created by Babata. Although not a true lifeform, it was an extremely advanced artificial intelligence, crafted with great effort by Babata as a derivative of its own consciousness.
Luo Feng’s arrival naturally triggered no defensive response.
…
“You returned without even telling me,” Xu Xin exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide as she looked up from her tea in the quiet, centuries-old courtyard. Then her face lit up with joy. “You said last time you’d be staying in the Lasor World of the Gold-Horned Race for a long time—I thought it would be centuries or even a millennium. I’m glad you still remembered to come back.”
Luo Feng quickly gave a sheepish grin.
To be honest, he had returned mainly because of the Zerg Hive. But he couldn’t say that—Xu Xin would definitely be furious.
“Can’t we still meet in the virtual universe?” Luo Feng quickly added.
“That’s not the same!” Xu Xin suddenly gave a strange smile. “Are you going to call a family gathering this time?”
“Eh, maybe not,” Luo Feng replied hastily.
A family gathering?
Good heavens.
The Luo family had grown significantly since his last visit. In the history of Huaxia, even royal families that lasted two or three centuries could have over ten thousand members. The last time Luo Feng returned, there were already over five hundred male family members, and the total number exceeded a thousand. In later years, polygamy became more common.
He had only stayed on Earth for fifty years.
Now, 183 years had passed.
The youngest family member was already his 26th great-grandson! The number of people with the Luo bloodline alone had reached into the hundreds of thousands. If one included all the spouses, the number was even more staggering. Take Luo Kedi, for instance—he once had only a hundred wives and concubines, but now he had 1021 wives alone. Since he had many sons and lived in the early stages of the family’s growth, his branch of the family had gained significant influence.
“Out of the question? The head of the family hasn’t returned in nearly two hundred years. Now that you’re back, of course there must be a gathering,” Xu Xin teased.
“It’s just too many people.”
Luo Feng sighed helplessly. “In less than five hundred years, the male members of the Luo family have already reached hundreds of thousands. I finally understand why ancient cosmic families can have billions of members and produce entire generations of Monarchs.”
“What’s so strange about that?” Xu Xin mused. “In Huaxia’s history, during the Three Kingdoms era, the entire population of Huaxia was only a few million. But over a thousand years of reproduction, it still reached over a billion. That was with limited land, food, constant wars, and short lifespans. If you remove those restrictions, in another one or two centuries, a family could easily surpass a hundred million in population.”
Luo Feng increasingly realized the incredible reproductive power of humanity. One need not fear their numbers—as long as there was enough land, food, and living space, even starting with just a few dozen couples, in a hundred million years, the population would be unimaginable.
Thus, creating a cosmic nation wasn’t difficult.
The real difficulty was the lack of sufficient territory!
…
At home, Luo Feng met with his family and old friends like Wei Wen. After all, Luo Feng was under five hundred years old, and even a Stellar-ranked human could live a thousand years. So many of his friends were still alive. Wei Wen, for instance, had reached the Star-ranked level with the resources Luo Feng provided, even without much effort.
With enough resources, even a pig could reach the Monarch rank!
Though the resources required to raise a pig to that level could probably cultivate a million Monarchs.
…
After staying home for two days, Luo Feng set off with Dylan toward Shennongjia.
In Shennongjia stood an ancient castle covering nearly ten kilometers. Though called a castle, its size was more akin to a city.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Luo Feng and Dylan appeared instantly before the castle gates.
“The castle,” Luo Feng gazed at the ancient structure. Its walls bore the marks of time, covered in climbing plants. On the castle walls, figures occasionally moved—Cosmic-ranked guards. A Cosmic-ranked slave army was stationed here for defense.
Boom! The main gate of the castle rumbled open.
Four figures stepped out, followed by a group of Cosmic-ranked slave guards.
“Greetings to the Master.”
“Hail to Your Highness.”
The four bowed respectfully, while the slave guards knelt in unison.
“Hmm, Divan, Bakarlo, and the two Monarch captains, you’ve all worked hard,” Luo Feng said. Divan and Bakarlo were primarily in charge here, with the two Monarch-ranked guards assisting.
“Oh,” Luo Feng looked at Divan with slight surprise. “Divan, you’ve broken through to the Monarch rank?”
“Guided by two elders, one day while I was gazing at the stars on the Shennongjia Mountains, I broke through unintentionally,” Divan replied respectfully.
Divan and Bakarlo had once been soul slaves. Back then, Luo Feng had only mastered the ‘Soul Slave Seal’ technique, allowing him to control only a few souls. Even someone as powerful as Huyan Bo could only control nine immortal slaves, showing how rare such control was. Yet Luo Feng had chosen Divan and Bakarlo precisely because of their potential.
Divan, born into slavery, had endured countless hardships, yet still reached the ninth Cosmic rank without good resources.
Bakarlo was even more gifted than his master, Noranshan.
After following Luo Feng, they easily advanced to Domain Lord ranks. With the nutrient chambers and solutions Luo Feng provided—though not as advanced as those of the Virtual Universe Company—within decades, they reached Domain Lord 9th Stage. For Luo Feng, advancing from Domain Lord 1st to 9th Stage was no great challenge. But reaching the Monarch rank was another matter entirely.
Divan and Bakarlo had long reached Domain Lord 9th Stage.
Because Luo Feng had left five Monarch-ranked guards during his last visit, the two could always seek guidance from these five Monarch-level experts. Divan was the first to break through to the Monarch rank, ahead of Bakarlo.
“And with the secret techniques and resources bestowed by His Highness, ascending to the Cosmic 9th Stage has become far more attainable than when I was still shackled in servitude,” Divan proclaimed with reverence.
Luo Feng smiled.
“Keep striving,” he encouraged. “Bakarlo, you must keep up too.”
“Yes, Master,” Bakarlo bowed.
These two soul slaves had originally been planned for heavy investment and future campaigns alongside Luo Feng. However, now that Luo Feng had mastered the “Ten Thousand Hearts Soul Control Secret Art,” allowing him to control many more soul slaves, and with the Zerg Hive soon to be his new assistant, his standards had risen. Ordinary Monarch-level warriors were no longer of much use.
His current plan was—
Continue to cultivate Bakarlo and Divan, as they were soul slaves, absolutely loyal. Let them guard the Luo family well.
…
Walking and chatting with Bakarlo and Divan, they soon reached the most central and dangerous part of the castle.
“Hmm?” Luo Feng leaned on the railing, gazing down at the massive sphere below. Over 800 meters in diameter, the sphere was enormous, its surface pitted with craters, oozing toxic liquids and emitting poisonous mists. The Zerg Hive inside appeared hazy and blurred, surrounded by toxic clouds that kept even the Cosmic-ranked slave guards at bay.
“The Zerg Hive,” Dylan also stared intently.
This Zerg Hive was undoubtedly a priceless treasure.
Whoosh! At Luo Feng’s will, the dormant Zerg Hive was instantly drawn into his inner world, revealing a massive crater below, with faint traces of toxic gas lingering.
“This castle can be abandoned now,” Luo Feng ordered. “Divan, Bakarlo, return to the Luo family and report to Xu Xin. Await her arrangements.”
“Yes, Master,” Divan and Bakarlo replied respectfully.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In a flash, the two vanished into streaks of light.
“You two Monarch guards come with me,” Luo Feng instructed. “As for this slave army—remain here at the castle and await further orders.”
“Yes, Master!”
The slave army responded in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
The two Monarch guards also bowed respectfully.
…
Without delay, Luo Feng, accompanied by Dylan and the two Monarch guards, flew back to Yangzhou City.
Now that the Zerg Hive was in his inner world and he had mastered the third layer of the “Ten Thousand Hearts Soul Control Secret Art,” Luo Feng could no longer contain his eagerness. He decided to return home immediately, shut himself in seclusion, and devote all his efforts to quickly subjugating the Queen within the Zerg Hive.
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