Chapter 278: The Greatest Power in the Universe

Although Zijing Island is merely an island, its diameter reaches several million kilometers, and within a range of tens of thousands of kilometers around it, no aurora from the Five-Colored Aurora Lake draws near.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two dazzling streaks of light flew into Zijing Island, one after the other; they were Lu Qingshan and the Spirit Wind Divine General.

As Lu Qingshan and the other walked across Zijing Island, they saw the island covered with various lakes, mountain ranges, rivers, and so on.

Besides that, the island also featured numerous palaces scattered like stars, each with a distinct style.

Lu Qingshan could even clearly sense the auras emanating from these palaces; the most prevalent were those of Hei Fengwang, while auras at the Zifeng Zunzhe level were relatively scarce.

From this, it was evident that even within the Zushen Sect, where powerful figures were as numerous as clouds, a Zifeng Zunzhe still counted as a formidable power in their own right.

Moreover, the Beast God Inheritance Tokens within the Zushen Sect were randomly scattered across all regions of the Primal Universe, so even powerful beings from weaker races had a chance to obtain a Beast God Inheritance Token.

As long as they carried a Beast God Inheritance Token to the Zushen Sect, they would receive the sect's protection.

At the very least, within certain core areas of the Zushen Sect, no one dared to make a move against them.

Furthermore, from the moment a Beast God Inheritor arrived at the Zushen Sect carrying a Beast God Inheritance Token, the bond between the two was already sealed; even if others killed the Beast God Inheritor, they could not obtain the Beast God Inheritance Token held by the deceased.

Precisely because of this, across the vast universe and its billions of races, whether metal-based, plant-based, rock-based, flesh-and-blood-based, energy-based, or other strange lifeforms, especially rarer special lifeforms, were all very willing to come to the Zushen Sect.

"Wan Jie Zunzhe, look there," Spirit Wind Divine General said, raising a finger toward the sky.

"Hmm?" Lu Qingshan followed Spirit Wind Divine General's gesture and looked up, seeing that the sky was now filled with ring after ring of hazy light circles; these hazy circles enveloped the entire Zijing Island and were constantly expanding, vanishing automatically upon reaching the edge regions, after which new light circles would be born again at the center of the rings.

Birth, annihilation.

Repeating endlessly, without cease.

Yet each ring of light and shadow was composed of countless profound threads of laws; the two supreme origin laws of time and space, along with the other eight inferior origin laws, were completely mixed within, and even intertwined with numerous incredibly complex fusion-law threads.

These law threads intertwined with one another, endowing each ring of light with a sense of perfection.

Seeing these constantly cycling rings of light and shadow seemingly reveal all the profundities of the universe's operational laws, even Lu Qingshan, who already possessed the strength and law comprehension of a Zifeng Zunzhe, could not help but become immersed in them.

"Wan Jie Zunzhe, that is the outward manifestation of the universe's operational laws!"

Spirit Wind Divine General now wore a faint smile on his face and continued, "I know your Human Race's Initial Universe has similar effects, but its efficacy is surely far inferior to that of our Zushen Sect!"

"After all, our Zushen Sect is the greatest power in the Primal Universe; its very existence is to uphold the universe's operational laws, and it is simultaneously protected by those same laws!"

"Within this Zushen Secret Realm, there are the greatest number of special lifeforms in the Primal Universe, countless special treasures, and even the Five-Colored Aurora Lake, that supreme treasure, was bestowed upon our Zushen Sect by the Primal Universe's Original Will!"

At this moment, Spirit Wind Divine General's eyes were filled with pride: "Everything our Zushen Sect does aligns with the universe's operational laws; anyone who defies our Zushen Sect is, by definition, defying the operation of the universe's origin laws and will naturally incur the punishment of the Primal Universe's Original Will!"

"The Zushen Sect is indeed formidable!" Lu Qingshan quickly sighed with a smile.

With the Primal Universe's Original Will as its backing, the Zushen Sect was indeed exceptionally skilled at mass-producing powerful beings.

Especially those Divine General inheritances; once fully accepted, one would possess strength at the Universe Dominator level, and upon inheriting a Divine General's title, like the Spirit Wind Divine General before him, one could even attain top-tier Universe Dominator strength.

In contrast, the Human Race, despite accumulating power over countless ages, had only three top-tier Universe Dominators in total.

Of course, all these Divine Generals and Candidate Divine Generals had accepted complete inheritances, making any further advancement in strength virtually impossible thereafter.

"However, even if the Zushen Sect is so powerful, couldn't it protect the Eight Born Beast Gods?" Lu Qingshan muttered inwardly.

The Eight Born Beast Gods had existed since the birth of the universe, and were born as Universe Masters, absolutely the most heaven-defying special lifeforms.

Yet even such supreme powers, once other newly born powerful beings in the universe learned that their entire bodies were precious treasures, were mercilessly hunted down.

Even the Zushen Sect, which boasted itself as the greatest power in the Primal Universe, could not protect a single Born Beast God.

In the end, they could only wait until these Born Beast Gods fell, after which other powerful beings who had perfected the path of the Beast Gods would inherit the Divine General titles.

Meanwhile, Spirit Wind Divine General beside him was naturally unaware of Lu Qingshan's inner thoughts, so he quickly continued, "Wan Jie Zunzhe, after living on Zijing Island for tens of millions of years, you will understand how fortunate it is for you to have chosen to join our Zushen Sect!"

"Fortunate?"

Lu Qingshan silently shook his head in his heart.

His greatest fortune should have been joining the Myriad Heavens Chat Group!

Whether it was the previously enhanced comprehension or the Dao-comprehension buff function within the chat group, both were far more important to him than the opportunity to join the Zushen Sect!

However, Spirit Wind Divine General was merely fulfilling his duty as a guide, conveying some basic information about the Zushen Sect to Lu Qingshan, so Lu Qingshan naturally saw no need to argue with him and quickly nodded in agreement with the other's statement.

Spirit Wind Divine General then continued his introduction: "On Zijing Island, aside from the Island Lord, everyone else is a Beast God Inheritor! As for the number of inheritors, since the birth of the universe, it is beyond counting."

"Perhaps your Human Race has had only several hundred inheritors join our Zushen Sect over countless ages, but our Zushen Sect scatters Beast God Inheritance Tokens randomly across the universe!"

"Your Humans are indeed one of the peak races and occupy the most core portion of territory, but the total number of lifeforms within the entire Primal Universe is surely hundreds of millions of times greater than that of your Humans."

"Unfortunately, most inheritors have already perished over the long ages! Although those great Universe Masters can reverse time and space to resurrect these Beast God Inheritors, they will not resurrect the Beast God Inheritance Tokens, which are linked to their very lives!"

"Therefore, the number of Beast God Inheritors still alive on Zijing Island now is roughly around one hundred million!"

Amidst this continuous introduction, Spirit Wind Divine General soon brought Lu Qingshan to the foot of a towering mountain range and then said with a smile, "Wan Jie Zunzhe, the environment here is excellent, and the surrounding area is populated by members of your Human Race and Beast God Inheritors within the Hong Alliance; you may build your palace here!"

"However... on Zijing Island, the palaces of all Beast God Inheritors may occupy no more than one kilometer in length and width, even for Zifeng Zunzhe. Just like those starry sky giants with immensely vast divine bodies, or special lifeforms, they too must shrink their divine bodies to reside within!"

"At the same time, the palace and estate of every inheritor on Zijing Island belongs to their own private domain; no other powerful being is absolutely forbidden from entering without the owner's consent."

"With the protection of the Five-Colored Aurora Lake, every Beast God Inheritor is absolutely safe within their palace; you may leave a divine power token in your palace, and thereafter you can directly teleport to Zijing Island via your Divine Kingdom."

"I understand!" Lu Qingshan quickly nodded and said.

"Of course, there is no rush to build the palace; I will first take you to meet the Island Lord!"

Having said this, Spirit Wind Divine General continued to lead Lu Qingshan to the highest mountain range on Zijing Island.

And atop this highest mountain range, only a single majestic palace had been built.

Moreover, unlike the other palaces on Zijing Island, this majestic palace spanned a full thousand kilometers; it was the palace of the Zijing Island Lord.

Upon this majestic palace were numerous strange carvings, the most conspicuous of which were eight strange beasts, each corresponding to the image of one of the eight Born Beast Gods who had mastered the eight fusion laws.

"The Zijing Island Lord is appointed from among the Sect-Protecting Beast Gods; every new inheritor joining our Zushen Sect must come here to pay respects and then be granted authority by the Island Lord."

"Wan Jie Zunzhe, you may look up," Spirit Wind Divine General said, pointing toward the sky.

Lu Qingshan quickly looked up.

From this direction, one could see a distinct fissure within the Five-Colored Aurora Lake.

Following this fissure, one could directly see the core region enveloped by the Five-Colored Aurora Lake.

There stood a colossal palace of blinding brilliance, and surrounding that radiant, massive palace floated eight slightly smaller palaces.

"Zijing Island is merely the outermost region of our Zushen Sect; those residing in those palaces are the true core of our Zushen Sect!"

Lingfeng Divine General spoke with great pride: "That most colossal palace is the Zushen Palace! Our Zushen Sect has three Zushen in total, and at least one Zushen always guards this core stronghold!"

"Outside the Zushen Palace lies the Eight Directions Beast God Hall; only the eight Beast Gods who have inherited the Beast God throne are qualified to reside there!"

"As for the subsidiary halls surrounding the Eight Directions Beast God Hall, they are the Guardian Beast God Halls."

"Guardian Beast Gods refer to those supreme existences who have obtained the complete Beast God inheritance and also cultivated to the Lord Realm."

"Some among them cannot inherit the Beast God throne because the current Beast God exists, while others simply do not wish to inherit the Beast God throne! However, since they have crossed into the Lord Realm, our Zushen Sect will honor them as 'Guardian Beast Gods'."

"As for the seventy-two continents outside the Guardian Beast God Halls, they are the residences of us Divine Generals; the area of each Divine General Continent is no less than that of this Zijing Island."

"As for those dense, sky-filling stars, they are the Three Thousand Divine Envoy Worlds; each star corresponds to one Guardian Divine Envoy!"

Lingfeng Divine General continued introducing: "Besides these core regions, within the Five-Colored Aurora Lake there are numerous ordinary islands, and those islands are inhabited by the outer members of the Zushen Sect!"

The so-called outer members of the Zushen Sect refer to candidate Divine Generals like Zifeng Zunzhe, candidate Divine Envoys, powerful Beast God inheritors, and so on.

Candidate Divine Envoys and candidate Divine Generals are all supreme experts who have received the complete Divine Envoy inheritance or the Divine General inheritance, thereby greatly advancing their strength.

To allow them to obtain the complete inheritance, the Zushen Sect paid a huge price; therefore, after receiving the complete inheritance, they must serve the Zushen Sect.

As for those powerful Beast God cultivators, they must at least cultivate the Beast God inheritance to an extremely high level; they must have fully received the five layers of inheritance before they have a chance to become outer members of the Zushen Sect.

Of course, the Zushen Sect can be said to be the most free faction in the entire Primordial Universe, so outer members are basically not subject to any constraints.

"Alright, everything that needed explaining has been explained; my task ends here!"

Lingfeng Divine General quickly spoke: "Wan Jie Zunzhe, you may proceed directly to the Island Lord's palace to wait; someone will attend to you there! I hope we will have the opportunity in the future to explore some special areas within the Zushen Secret Realm together!"

"No problem!" Lu Qingshan quickly nodded and agreed.

Although Lingfeng Divine General's strength could no longer increase, he possessed strength at the level of a top-tier Universal Hegemon; unless Lu Qingshan crossed into the Lord Realm in the future, his strength would definitely be inferior to the other's.

Lingfeng Divine General nodded slightly, then immediately broke through the void and flew into the Five-Colored Aurora, subsequently disappearing from sight.

After the other departed, Lu Qingshan also quickly flew toward the towering palace high above.

The palace was vast, but Lu Qingshan's speed was also very fast, so he soon arrived at the location of the main hall.

"Inheritor!"

Seeing Lu Qingshan appear, a rock-like lifeform sitting cross-legged at the palace door quickly stood up: "I am one of the servants under the Island Lord, stationed here specifically to guard the palace. I have already transmitted your information to the Island Lord; you need only wait here for news!"

Hearing these words, Lu Qingshan was not overly anxious and simply began to wait quietly within this divine hall.

Of course, while waiting, Lu Qingshan also exchanged words with this rock-like lifeform guarding the palace.

This person was also a Universal Venerable, and moreover, a special rock-like lifeform.

Born without a soul, he naturally could not be enslaved by soul control; the reason he became a servant of the Zijing Island Lord was entirely because the Zijing Island Lord had once saved his life from other powerful beings.

Thus, two months later.

"Come in."

A heavy aura, suffocating to the point of breathlessness, instantly enveloped the entire palace, followed immediately by a low voice transmitting from within the main hall.

"Fortunately, the waiting time was not particularly long!"

Upon hearing the voice, Lu Qingshan quickly rose and then followed that rock-like lifeform into the main hall.

He had already learned this while chatting with this palace guardian earlier.

When seeking an audience with the Zijing Island Lord, if the other party was busy, the maximum wait time was merely ten years.

If the other party had not appeared after ten years, other Beast Gods would be asked to handle the matter.

A mere ten years was truly insignificant for Beast God inheritors possessing eternal lifespans, and furthermore, Lu Qingshan had only waited for two months this time.

The moment he entered the main hall, Lu Qingshan felt his entire divine body grow heavy, and the surroundings were filled with endless earth-yellow qi flows.

On the tall Wang Zuo ahead sat a strange lifeform resembling a tiger but possessing a pair of wings; he wore a suit of earth-yellow armor and radiated an extremely heavy aura.

This strange lifeform was the controller of this surrounding spacetime, the Earth Beast God who had completely mastered the Earth-Space Fusion Law and then inherited the Beast God throne.

"Eh, I didn't expect this inheritor to be a human Universal Venerable; that is quite rare!" Earth-Space Beast God said with a smile upon seeing Lu Qingshan: "Wan Jie Zunzhe? Possessing the ability of clones?"

"Excellent, excellent!"

Earth-Space Beast God looked down upon Lu Qingshan and then said with a smile: "Possessing the ability of clones means that at the very least, it will be very difficult for you to perish while exploring within this Zushen Secret Realm!"

"Human, from this moment on, you are the Beast God inheritor of this Zijing Island."

A low voice issued from Earth-Space Beast God: "First, I grant you permission to enter the 'Glory World'."

Whoosh!

As soon as the words fell, an artifact resembling an intelligent light-brain instantly appeared out of thin air in the void and flew directly toward Lu Qingshan.

At this moment, Earth-Space Beast God continued: "This is the receiving sensor for our Zushen Sect's Glory World!"

"Although the Glory World cannot compare to your human race's Virtual Universe, it is still a major virtual world within our Zushen Sect and can completely cover the entire Zushen Secret Realm!"

"Next, I grant you permission to enter the 'Inheritance Land', the 'Treasure Land', and the 'Secret Realm Land'."

Earth-Space Beast God continued: "The three water curtains before the palace are the teleportation channels leading to these three areas respectively. Of course... if permission has not been granted, one cannot enter."

"The water curtain on the far left leads to the Inheritance Land, the place where inheritors receive the Beast God inheritance and test their comprehension of the Beast God Dao."

"The water curtain in the middle leads to the Treasure Land; there lie the treasures left behind by the supreme experts of the Zushen Sect through the ages. If an inheritor can meet the conditions set by those supreme existences who left the treasures, they may obtain the treasures left within."

"And the water curtain on the far right leads to the Secret Realm Land. Crossing that teleportation channel allows one to enter the depths of the Zushen Secret Realm directly."

"The Zushen Secret Realm is the most mysterious Secret Realm in the Primordial Universe, containing various precious treasures rarely seen in the universe! However, the more precious the treasures a place holds, the more dangerous it is. Although you possess the ability of clones, you must still be prepared to perish before entering that Secret Realm Land!"

"The Inheritance Land, the Treasure Land, the Secret Realm Land, and the Glory World... these are the places you Beast God inheritors must become most familiar with in the future."

"Human, you may first build your own residence here on this Zijing Island, and then proceed to the Inheritance Land to receive the inheritance!"

"Go!"

Earth-Space Beast God looked down from above, his voice booming: "I hope you will have the opportunity in the future to become an outer member of our Zushen Sect!"

"Yes, Island Master!"

Lu Qingshan bowed slightly in salute, then withdrew from the palace under the guidance of the Rock Clan's powerful cultivator.

(End of this chapter)