Chapter 501

"In addition to this..."

The Axe Creator quickly spoke again: "This expansion of territory is vital to our human race—once war truly breaks out, it won't be the petty skirmishes of before!"

"Although our human race currently holds an advantage in strength, we must still prepare for defeat and first protect the seeds of our race’s future!"

"Whether it’s our Five Major Factions or the divisions within each cosmic nation—anyone in our human race who has reached the level of Immortal Deity must be relocated to the Ancestor’s Original Universe and my small universe before the war begins!"

Upon hearing this, the many powerful figures of the human race all nodded slightly.

The reason Cosmic Sovereigns can serve as pillars of peak races is not only because of their immense personal strength and ability to reverse time and space to resurrect fallen Cosmic Lords, but also because of their small universes.

With a small universe, the race retains its final place of inheritance—no fear of total extinction of lineage!

"Those geniuses with great potential living in the cosmic territories must also be arranged for!"

Lord Peng Gong quickly spoke: "Especially the geniuses within the secret realms of the Five Major Factions and the sacred lands of the cosmic nations—we have ample time to prepare, so we can surely bring them all into the small universes and only let them emerge after the war ends, or once we’ve finalized new territorial divisions with the demon race, insect race, and mechanical race!"

At that moment, Lord Huang Jian of the Cosmic Mercenary Alliance quickly spoke: "I think we must be extremely cautious when transferring the race’s seeds into the small universes—there are certainly alien spies among the Immortal Deities; if we make a grand show of it, the news will leak prematurely, and if the demon race, insect race, and mechanical race get prepared, it’ll be troublesome!"

"This is simple!"

Lord Chaos quickly spoke from beside him: "This information is to be known only by the Cosmic Sovereigns present here! As for escorting the Immortal Deities into the small universes, leave that to the Cosmic Lords!"

"Just give them a general idea—when we’re about to act, have them move everyone into the small universes!"

"Besides, even if the news leaks, those aliens will never suspect we’re preparing to strike them!"

"Chaos is right!"

"Cosmic Lords are still trustworthy—alien spies are unlikely among them!"

"Indeed! Cosmic Lords have extremely strong wills—the chance of being soul-enslaved is still very low!"

After hearing Lord Chaos’s words, the many powerful figures of the human race all nodded in agreement.

In truth, for a territorial war, this is merely a minor matter—what truly decides victory or defeat are the Cosmic Sovereigns and Cosmic Sovereigns of the Peak, so no side would ever massacre the other’s ordinary lives.

After all, if one side chooses massacre, the other will do the same.

As for ordinary lifeforms—even if wiped out entirely—once a portion of the lifeforms within the Immortal Deities’ divine realms are released and scattered across numerous life-bearing planets, they can be restored over hundreds or thousands of years.

Next, under the leadership of the Axe Creator and Lu Qing, the many powerful figures of the human race deliberated on other details, finally settling the matter of territorial expansion.

After making these decisions, the many powerful figures of the human race immediately sprang into action.

Those seeking to apply for divine treasures went to the race’s treasure vault; warriors roaming the Cosmic Sea began returning immediately…

Even the Dark Sovereign and Wangchuan Sovereign, who had long concealed their identities, prepared to join the war!

After all, such a major undertaking demands the full strength of the race!

After the meeting ended, the Axe Creator and the Cosmic Sovereigns departed one by one, leaving only Lu Qing and the Ice Peak Sovereign behind.

"Qingshan!" the Ice Peak Sovereign called out, stopping Lu Qing.

"Master!" Lu Qing turned to look.

"The thing I’m most proud of is taking you as my disciple!"

The Ice Peak Sovereign couldn’t help but sigh: "It’s only been a few hundred billion eons since you became my student—I still clearly remember the scene back then!"

"I never imagined that in such a short time, you’d reach this level—able to influence the entire Original Universe’s grand strategy!"

The Ice Peak Sovereign’s words were true!

Even in the Cosmic Sea, where the strong are countless, adding three six-stage Cosmic Sovereigns is a major event—let alone in the Original Universe, where the strong are fewer and the maximum power level is capped at the peak of the sixth stage.

Right now, if Lu Qing were alone, he could likely roam as freely as those lone Cosmic Sovereigns of the Peak.

And due to his clones, he might even be even more unrestrained when exploring the Cosmic Sea than those Cosmic Sovereigns of the Peak!

"Master, you flatter me too much!"

Upon hearing the Ice Peak Sovereign’s words, Lu Qing quickly said seriously: "If you hadn’t taken me as your disciple back then, I would never have attained this strength today!"

Since becoming the Ice Peak Sovereign’s disciple, Lu Qing has received countless favors from him.

When he was still at the King-level, the Ice Peak Sovereign gifted him a pair of Purple Thunder Treading Heaven Boots worth over a hundred Divine Treasure Points;

Later, after breaking through to the Cosmic Lord realm, the Ice Peak Sovereign granted him four Divine Treasure Points so he could exchange them for suitable treasures—those four points were precisely why he could stabilize his position in the Cosmic Lord realm at the fastest possible speed;

The high-grade palace-type divine treasure, "Chaos Return to Void Tower," also saved his life from other Cosmic Sovereigns;

Beyond that, the Ice Peak Sovereign guided him over long centuries in creating his own secret arts…

With the Multiverse Chat Group, Lu Qing’s strength would inevitably keep rising—but without the Ice Peak Sovereign’s help, he could never have reached this level in such a short time.

"I’m not exaggerating!"

The Ice Peak Sovereign quickly smiled: "Since the Original Universe’s primordial will suppressed me, our human race’s overall strength has steadily grown—but it has only matched the insect race and mechanical race, still falling short of the demon race in overall power!"

"Now, because of you, Qingshan, our human race is about to claim even vaster territories—possibly surpassing even when the Ancestor was still free. This is certainly something to rejoice over!"

Upon hearing the Ice Peak Sovereign’s words, Lu Qing did not feel overly elated, nor did he believe himself superior to the Ancestor.

After all, before he was suppressed, the Ancestor’s strength had reigned supreme across the Cosmic Sea—Cosmic Sovereigns of the Peak could even perish before him;

The reason our human race didn’t claim more territory back then was simply because there were too few Cosmic Sovereigns and Cosmic Lords!

Of course, with the Multiverse Chat Group, Lu Qing will inevitably surpass the Ancestor in strength someday.

Thus, Lu Qing and the Ice Peak Sovereign chatted for a while longer before departing the Axe Divine Palace.

…

In the Virtual Universe, within Lu Qing’s independent dimension.

"Third son, Mingrui, Yunshan!"

Lu Qing, seated on the main throne, looked at his three sons and two disciples, then gave direct orders: "You three, prepare immediately—gather the core members of the Lu family and await my instructions!"

"Father!"

"Master, what is this…?"

Upon hearing Lu Qing’s orders, Lu Hongwen, Lu Mingrui, and others all wore expressions of confusion.

"A great event is about to occur within the human race!"

Lu Qing quickly gave further orders: "Just follow my instructions—don’t ask any further questions!"

"Once you receive the notification, take these core members to the Original Universe!"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing Lu Qing’s words, Lu Hongwen and the other two felt a sudden tightening in their chests.

After all, Lu Qing’s status within the human race was now immense—if even he called it a great matter, it must profoundly impact the entire human race.

Selecting core members and sending them to the Original Universe clearly meant preserving the race’s seeds.

Yet they couldn’t imagine what kind of great event could prompt such action from Lu Qing—but since he had given the order, they dared not ask further.

Soon after, Lu Hongwen and the other two found suitable excuses and began gathering the Lu family’s core members.

Thus, time passed steadily, and before they knew it, over a hundred years had gone by.

…

In the Original Universe, within the Original Secret Realm.

In a luxurious mansion, Lu Qing’s three clones sat cross-legged in deep meditation, cultivating intently.

Although the decision to launch the territorial war had already been made, the human race still needed time to prepare.