Chapter 4: Initial Universe

The headquarters continent of the Virtual Universe Company is incomparably vast, so even though it appears very close, there is actually a very long distance to cover.

Just like that, Lu Qingshan's spaceship flew at sub-light speed toward the vast continent ahead, and only after flying for most of a day did it finally arrive near the headquarters continent.

At this moment, Lu Qingshan also saw countless spaceships in the outside world through the external scene simulation.

Some of these spaceships were flying toward the headquarters continent, while others were leaving it.

Looking at those spaceships of all shapes and sizes from a distance, Lu Qingshan knew that not a single one was inferior to the Class E spaceship he was riding; even the incredibly precious Class F spaceships were not few in number.

Just then, Lu Qingshan quickly received a reception message sent by staff inside the Virtual Universe Company's headquarters continent.

Guided by this reception message, Lu Qingshan soon flew his spaceship close to one of the entrances of this continent, then followed the entrance passage to a vast hall.

The spaceship gradually slowed down until it came to a complete stop.

Splash!

The cabin door opened, and Lu Qingshan, clad in dark golden battle armor, flew out from inside the spaceship.

At this moment, a staff member wearing a silver robe was already waiting outside.

"Hello, I am Lu Qingshan from the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom!"

Lu Qingshan quickly handed a credential to the other person and then said, "I have come here this time to enter the Initial Universe for enlightenment!"

After carefully verifying Lu Qingshan's identity information through the credential, the man in the silver robe smiled and said, "Please follow me!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then, after storing his spaceship into his inner world, followed the man in the silver robe onto a dreamlike corridor and soon arrived in an oval-shaped hall.

The surroundings and the sky above this oval hall were transparent; looking up, one could see the infinite starry sky outside, which was extremely spectacular.

Lu Qingshan walked inside and found that over a thousand people had already gathered there, but since the space within this hall was very large, it did not feel crowded even with over a thousand people gathered.

"This is the waiting hall!"

The man in the silver robe introduced with a smile, "You only need to wait here for a period of time!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan hurriedly said, "I wonder when I can go to the Initial Universe?"

"Probably another ten-plus days!"

The man in the silver robe said with a smile, "Actually, you arrived quite timely; the earliest one in your batch has already been waiting here for over a month!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan nodded slightly, then found a corner to sit down and began to wait quietly.

"Hey, hello there!"

A powerful werewolf walked over to Lu Qingshan, saying, "Did you come alone? I am Krimo from the Noah Universe Kingdom!"

Lu Qingshan looked at the other person with interest.

In the original work, the human territory consisted of a full 1,008 universe kingdoms, but not many were mentioned; the Noah Universe Kingdom was one of them.

Bolan, a supreme genius from the same generation as Luo Feng, was from the Noah Universe Kingdom.

However, since the Flame God Clan has not yet broken away from the human race, who knows how long it will be before Bolan appears!

"I am Lu Qingshan from the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom!"

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly and replied, "Indeed, I came alone this time!"

"It must not have been easy to rush here alone!"

The werewolf powerhouse Krimo sat directly opposite Lu Qingshan, flipped his hand, and took out a bottle of wine and two wine cups.

Watching him control the power of his world to pour wine, he said, "I traveled from the Noah Universe Kingdom by spaceship; the journey alone took over twenty years!"

"Thanks!"

Lu Qingshan raised his wine cup and then said, "I am a bit better off; the Yanfeng Universe Kingdom is closer here, so I only spent over ten years!"

"Yes!"

Krimo raised his cup in invitation, drained the wine in his cup in one gulp, and continued, "Among the 1,003 universe kingdoms of our human race, our Noah Universe Kingdom is considered one of the farthest from here!"

"Our region is actually quite close to the headquarters of the Universe Mercenary Alliance, but I chose to join the Virtual Universe Company back then, so I could only come here!"

"Brother Qingshan, how did you obtain your Initial Universe enlightenment quota? Through an auction? Or by applying through internal company channels?"

"Applied through internal company channels!" Lu Qingshan answered calmly.

"Hahaha, me too!"

Krimo said with a smile, "Actually, my previous contribution points were far from enough to apply for an Initial Universe enlightenment quota, but later I established a great merit for the company, which earned me a large number of contribution points, and then I immediately applied for the Initial Universe enlightenment quota!"

"However, the competition for these Initial Universe enlightenment quotas is simply too fierce; I waited a full three thousand-plus years before this opportunity finally came!"

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan was slightly stunned.

Waited for over three thousand years?

It seems Krimo did not bribe the staff at all, or bribed them very little; otherwise, he certainly would not have had to wait such a long time!

Lu Qingshan chatted casually with Krimo, and occasionally other powerhouses would join in.

Just like that, twelve days passed in the blink of an eye, and the Virtual Universe Company staff soon appeared in the hall again.

A middle-aged man shrouded in a plain white robe looked at everyone; the aura faintly emanating from his body made Lu Qingshan and the others feel immense pressure.

"An Immortal!"

"That's right! And a very powerful Immortal; the aura on his body is even stronger than that of my ancestor!"

"The Virtual Universe Company is truly too powerful; such a powerful Immortal is merely a staff member!"

The middle-aged man paid no attention to everyone's murmurs and said directly, "Everyone, please follow me."

As soon as he finished speaking, a mighty force instantly enveloped everyone present.

Whoosh!

The middle-aged man directly turned Lu Qingshan and the others into a streak of light, and after flying for several minutes, arrived before a spaceship with a diameter exceeding ten thousand meters.

"Everyone, enter the spaceship; it will take you into the Initial Universe!" The middle-aged man put everyone down and said coldly.

Urged by the middle-aged man, Lu Qingshan and the others entered one by one through the cabin passage and soon arrived inside the spaceship's hall.

In the hall, an invisible pressure instantly enveloped everyone present.

Lu Qingshan and the others looked up and immediately saw over a dozen Immortals standing before them; at their head was a burly man clad in black battle armor, his aura as deep and boundless as an ocean.

"Welcome to the Initial Universe!"

The black-armored burly man's gaze swept over all present, then he said in a deep voice: "I, Lord Heifeng, am in charge of leading you to the Initial Universe!"

"Thank you, Lord Heifeng!"

Lu Qingshan and the others quickly bowed in salute.

"Hahaha…"

Lord Heifeng laughed heartily, then gave a direct order: "Depart—head for the Initial Universe."

No sooner had he spoken than a loud "Boom—" echoed.

The massive starship shuddered slightly and vanished from its spot in an instant.

The atmosphere inside the hall was rigid.

All those heading to the Initial Universe were Realm Lord-level experts like Lu Qingshan; even those with the deepest backgrounds found it extremely difficult to meet even a single King-Sealing Immortal.

Take Lu Qingshan—he had trained for millions of years and had only seen two King-Sealing Immortals in his life.

So even though Lord Heifeng had not deliberately released his pressure, the aura naturally emanating from him was enough to instill fear in everyone present.

"Stop!"

A thunderous voice suddenly rang out from outside, then penetrated the ship's interior, echoing in everyone's ears.

"I have been ordered to escort these cultivators to the Initial Universe; please open the cosmic passage!" Lord Heifeng's calm voice quickly reached outward.

"Boom—boom—boom!"

A roar came from outside, and then the ship resumed its advance.

Suddenly, Lu Qingshan and the others felt a wave of discomfort, as if time itself had become disordered.

"We are now within the passage between the Initial Universe and the Primitive Universe."

Lord Heifeng's gaze swept over Lu Qingshan and the others, then explained: "Since the flow of time differs between the Initial Universe and the Primitive Universe, time within this spatial passage is chaotic—naturally causing you some discomfort!"

After roughly five or six minutes, the discomfort on Lu Qingshan and the others finally vanished.

At that moment, Lord Heifeng spoke again: "We have now arrived at the Initial Universe. Open the top space."

Hssss…

The metal ceiling above them automatically split open, revealing a layer of transparent, glass-like film.

Lu Qingshan looked up and saw only darkness outside, with occasional wisps of chaotic energy drifting by.

Far in the distance, heaven and earth periodically cracked open and resealed, while countless strange mystical patterns appeared within the rifts.

Threads of cosmic laws interwove, mystical patterns drifting like a loom, weaving the distant heavens and earth ever larger.

"Stars and planets within a universe have lifespans; naturally, so too does the universe itself—though its lifespan is unimaginably long."

Lord Heifeng continued: "This Initial Universe is a newborn universe in the 'Cosmic Dawn' period. During this phase, the universe is still refining itself, so its governing cosmic laws manifest visibly."

"The mystical patterns repairing those distant spatial rifts are the manifested cosmic origin rules—including the fundamental laws you have all cultivated."

"Within this Initial Universe, you can directly observe these manifested fundamental laws with your naked eyes—making cultivation vastly easier than in the outside world! You all know how precious your cultivation quotas are; I hope you seize this opportunity!"

The starship continued forward.

"We will reach Chaos City soon."

Lord Heifeng added: "Chaos City is where you will reside and cultivate during your time in the Initial Universe. I have escorted you here—I hope each of you gains something from this place!"

Moments later, the starship flew above an ancient city.

This ancient city was immensely majestic, situated within the boundless expanse of the Initial Universe, appearing majestic and profound, eternal and unyielding.

Whoosh!

The hatch opened, and under Lord Heifeng's reminder, Lu Qingshan and the others quickly streamed out of the ship.

The hatch closed immediately; the starship shuddered slightly and transformed into a streak of light, shooting off into the distance.

Suddenly, a black streak of light flew from afar.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the Chaos City escort envoy."

The black streak landed before Lu Qingshan and the others, revealing a man in black robes, who smiled and said: "Chaos City has existed for an unimaginably long time—it is the true holy land of our human race!"

"Currently, Chaos City is jointly governed by five major forces: the Virtual Universe Corporation, the Giant Axe Combat Arena, the First Cosmic Bank, the Cosmic River Bank, and the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance."

Lu Qingshan and the others watched the black-robed escort envoy in silence.

"Follow me."

The black-robed man smiled and led Lu Qingshan and the others down from the sky, landing on the broad streets of Chaos City.

Within Chaos City stood countless small buildings; on many of their rooftops, humans of varied appearances sat cross-legged in meditation or pondered deeply.

Even above the distant space rifts, powerful beings stood suspended in midair.

"In Chaos City, there are many supreme beings."

The escort envoy walked as he explained to Lu Qingshan and the others: "You have been granted three hundred years to cultivate here in the Initial Universe—but do not dare disturb others while they meditate on fundamental laws. If you disturb anyone, your cultivation privileges will be revoked immediately, and you will be expelled from the Initial Universe!"

Lu Qingshan and the others all nodded—they would never do such a thing.

The black-robed escort envoy then continued to explain various rules and precautions within Chaos City.

For example: human cultivators are forbidden from killing one another in the Initial Universe; the three treasures within the Initial Universe—the visible cosmic operation laws, the Chaos Beasts that yield Chaos True Spirits, and the most precious fifty Chaos Steles…

As he spoke, the black-robed escort envoy soon led Lu Qingshan and the others to a towering, majestic building three hundred meters high.

The black-robed envoy looked at the grand structure and said respectfully: "Look—there is the City Lord's Mansion!"

Lu Qingshan and the others looked up and immediately saw the three most brilliant characters written in universal cosmic script above the building—"City Lord's Mansion."

Merely seeing those characters made Lu Qingshan feel his soul tremble, as if it might be pulled from his body.

"Hahaha!"

The black-robed envoy said with a smile, "The plaque above the City Lord's residence—even an Immortal existence would generally not dare to keep staring at it. You little fellows at the Realm Lord level, you'd best be a bit more careful!"

"Alright, next, I'm going to take you to choose the Chaos Steles suited to yourselves!"

(End of chapter)