Chapter 484: Changes Among the Human Race

Warriors who break through to the Lord Realm via the Way of the Beast God rarely conceal their true power.

First, since they broke through via the Way of the Beast God, it is naturally impossible to hide from the Zushen Sect, the original universe's primordial will's representative; the Zushen Sect will honor them as Guardian Lords.

Second, after becoming a Guardian Lord of the Zushen Sect, they may receive transmissions from other Beast God Ways, which aids their own cultivation—so they are unwilling to conceal their power.

Of course, if these issues can be properly resolved, there is still a chance to hide one's identity.

For instance, when the You Hou Zhi Zhu broke through, if Lu Qingshan had wished, he could have helped conceal his identity.

After all, the You Hou Zhi Zhu was Lu Qingshan's soul servant; even knowing concealment would slow his cultivation, he would obey orders.

As for the Zushen Sect, Lu Qingshan could use his own status as Guardian Lord to request their aid in hiding the news.

Unfortunately, the You Hou Zhi Zhu broke through within the Zushen Sect itself, and the disturbance was immense; many of the sect's warriors from countless cosmic tribes sensed it—concealment was impossible.

After news of the You Hou Zhi Zhu's breakthrough to the Lord Realm spread, the entire Meng Yao Zu went mad, for the You Hou Zhi Zhu had originally been their Meng Yao Zu Lord, yet had been enslaved by Lu Qingshan, a Lord Realm warrior who broke all rules.

If the You Hou Zhi Zhu had remained an ordinary Lord of the Cosmos, it might have been bearable—but now he had broken through to the Lord Realm; how could the Meng Yao Zu's high echelons tolerate it?

Thus, for a long time after the You Hou Zhi Zhu's breakthrough, the conflict between the Meng Yao Zu and the human race grew wildly intense.

Even the Lord Bingfeng Zhi Zhu of the Meng Yao Zu once attacked the You Hou Zhi Zhu, seeking to annihilate him completely, for Lords of the Cosmos cannot be resurrected by reversing time—if they perish, they perish utterly.

Fortunately, the You Hou Zhi Zhu barely escaped thanks to the treasure Lu Qingshan had granted him; afterward, Lu Qingshan likewise struck out in fury against the Meng Yao Zu's Lords of the Cosmos, and only then did an agreement form, limiting further conflict to below the Lord Realm.

As for the Machine Clan and the Insect Clan, they remained relatively calm during that turmoil.

After all, both the human race and the Meng Yao Zu possessed far more Lords of the Cosmos than they did; the fiercer the conflict between the two, the better it was for them.

After a long passage of time, the upheaval sparked by the You Hou Zhi Zhu's breakthrough to the Lord Realm gradually subsided.

"Yet…"

After reading the emails sent to him by the human race's many Lords of the Cosmos, Lu Qingshan silently thought: "After Xingyu's breakthrough, the Meng Yao Zu, the Insect Clan, and the Machine Clan won't be able to sit still!"

For over the past thirty billion eons, among the three factions of the Meng Yao Zu, only the Machine Clan had produced one new Lord of the Cosmos—the Meng Yao Zu and the Insect Clan had none.

Yet the human race first produced the You Hou Zhi Zhu, and now has produced the Xingyu Mozhu.

Moreover, the Xingyu Mozhu already possessed top-tier Lord of the Cosmos-level power; after his breakthrough, he would surely stabilize his position in an extremely short time.

Watching the human race grow ever stronger, the Meng Yao Zu, the Insect Clan, and the Machine Clan certainly won't remain passive.

"But that's fine!"

Lu Qingshan pondered briefly, then calmed: "As long as Ju Fu remains, none of the three clans will launch a full-scale war over a few new Lords of the Cosmos!"

"As for Xingyu, he possesses the ability to manifest avatars; even if he occasionally faces danger, he'll only lose some priceless treasures."

"Though this will be extremely difficult for him personally, it's no major matter for the entire human race!"

…

Not long after receiving these emails, Lu Qingshan received another from the Hun Dun Chengzhu, inviting him to convene in the Virtual Universe.

At the peak of Lei Ting Island in the Virtual Universe.

Amid boundless chaotic currents sat a plain, grayish-green ancient round table.

Beside this ancient table stood seven massive stone chairs, each carved with intricate patterns; even the central grayish-green stone table bore a series of special reliefs.

Hu!

A figure clad in dark-gold battle armor emerged from the boundless chaotic currents—it was Lu Qingshan, his consciousness linked to the Virtual Universe.

"Wan Jie!"

"Qingshan!"

Seeing Lu Qingshan appear, the other warriors nearby rose to greet him.

"Master, Master Hun Dun, Master Hei An, Long Xing…"

Lu Qingshan greeted each of the surrounding Lords of the Cosmos, then took his seat among them on his stone chair.

Soon after, the You Hou Zhi Zhu and the Xingyu Mozhu arrived together, bringing the total number of human race Lords of the Cosmos present to seven.

Though the You Hou Zhi Zhu had also broken through to the Lord Realm, he was not a human warrior and thus had no right to be here—just as the Machine Clan's Lord of the Cosmos, who served as the Virtual Universe's core intelligence, did not.

"Xingyu, congratulations on breaking through to the Lord Realm!"

"Xingyu, congratulations!"

Master Bingfeng Zhi and Long Xing Zhi Zhu spoke first to offer their congratulations.

Lu Qingshan followed immediately: "Xingyu, congratulations on breaking through to the Lord Realm!"

On the other side, the Xingyu Mozhu remained calm upon hearing the congratulations from Long Xing Zhi Zhu and the others, offering only polite thanks.

But when he heard Lu Qingshan's words, his expression shifted slightly.

"Wan Jie Zhi Zhu!"

The Xingyu Mozhu turned directly toward Lu Qingshan's direction and bowed slightly: "Thank you for bringing back the Beast God statues and transmissions to our clan!"

"Without these Beast God statues and transmissions, I would never have known when—or if—I could break through to the Lord Realm!"

"Xingyu, you're too humble!"

Seeing the Xingyu Mozhu's deference toward him, Lu Qingshan smiled: "Your breakthrough stems from your own efforts!"

"Now that we two are the only human Lords of the Cosmos who broke through via the Way of the Beast God, we should exchange insights often."

"Thank you, Wan Jie Zhi Zhu!" the Xingyu Mozhu quickly replied again.

As a cultivator of the Way of the Beast God, he knew better than anyone how terrifying Lu Qingshan's achievements on that path truly were.

Though Lu Qingshan spoke of "exchange," he was clearly offering guidance—and how could the Xingyu Mozhu not accept it gratefully?

Thus, after mutual congratulations, all took their seats.

"Xingyu, you've likely guessed already!"

Once seated, the lead Hun Dun Chengzhu spoke to the matter at hand: "After unanimous approval by the highest council of the human race, you are now our nineteenth Lord of the Cosmos!"

Upon hearing this, the Xingyu Mozhu's face showed a flicker of confusion.

He had long been the undisputed top warrior below the Lord Realm in the human race; yet according to his knowledge, the human race had only sixteen Lords of the Cosmos besides himself.

Next, Hun Dun Chengzhu naturally explained to Xingyu Mozhu the matter of the two hidden Universe Masters: the Lord of Darkness and the Lord of the River of Forgetfulness.

Although Xingyu Mozhu was somewhat surprised upon first hearing this news, he was quickly shocked by the strength of the Human Race, for among the two hidden Universe Masters, one was a Tier 5 powerhouse, already considered the most peak existence beneath the strongest in the universe.

After introducing the many Universe Masters of the Human Race to Xingyu Mozhu, Hun Dun Chengzhu quickly turned to introduce Xingyu Mozhu's strength to the powerful figures of the Human Race.

Xingyu Mozhu was of ordinary Human Race origin; when he first began cultivation, he did not become a disciple under any Universe Master of the Human Race. His teacher was merely an ordinary Universe Venerable within the Human Race, and even after receiving Xingyu Mozhu's help, he remained merely a High-Level Universe Venerable.

However, Xingyu Mozhu possessed a fortuitous encounter himself; before breaking through to become an Immortal Deity, he seized the body of a special lifeform with an extremely high level of Life Gene, and subsequently nurtured a second clone, which allowed him to possess strength at the peak of the Universe Hegemon level during the Universe Venerable stage.

In fact, after Xingyu Mozhu broke through to the Universe Venerable level, there were Universe Masters within the Human Race who wished to take him as a disciple.

However, Xingyu Mozhu cultivated the Path of the Beast God, and there were no powerful figures within the Human Race who had broken through to the Universe Master level via the Path of the Beast God, so they could only let Xingyu Mozhu cultivate on his own.