Chapter 92: Disguise

‘Drip!’

Following the traction signal emitted from Origin Star, Lu Qingshan soon boarded a spacecraft and flew along a designated corridor into the interior of Origin Star, where it docked at the spacecraft parking platform.

“Class-E spacecraft? Must be a Domain Lord!”

A young man in a silver uniform said upon seeing Lu Qingshan’s spacecraft: “This should be the 91st Domain Lord. Just nine more, and this batch can head to the Outer Battlefield!”

Beside this middle-aged man, another middle-aged man, upon seeing Lu Qingshan’s spacecraft, immediately said: “What do you know? Class-E spacecraft differ among themselves. Don’t stand there—come with me to greet this elder!”

As he spoke, the middle-aged man swiftly walked toward the direction of the spacecraft.

Whoosh!

The hatch opened.

A figure stepped out from within the spacecraft—a middle-aged man clad in purple-gold battle armor, his face resolute, radiating an immense aura of pressure.

This man was Lu Qingshan, who had used a secret technique to alter his appearance. After casually stowing the spacecraft into his personal World Ring, Lu Qingshan turned to face the staff nearby.

“Respected Immortal, I am a staff member of Origin Star. How may I assist you?”

The middle-aged man in standardized battle armor bowed respectfully, secretly astonished: “The pressure radiating from this Immortal is so intense—he must have crossed into the Marquis realm! But why is his spacecraft so ordinary?”

After all, for a Marquis-level powerhouse, crafting a Class-F spacecraft was trivial. Lu Qingshan’s current spacecraft, worth only 2,000 credits and of Class-E, looked plainly shabby.

Lu Qingshan casually glanced at the staff member clad in standardized armor—he was covered in golden fur, with a long tail trailing behind him: a Domain Lord of the Ape Clan.

“I intend to reach the Outer Battlefield. Which way should I go?” Lu Qingshan asked softly.

“My lord, the Cosmic Army uses collective corridors. As a solitary traveler, you must follow this corridor to the assembly point!”

The Ape Clan Domain Lord staff member swiftly pointed to a wide corridor composed entirely of transparent crystal, then bowed respectfully: “My lord, this corridor is roughly three thousand kilometers long. Simply walk to its end—you will reach the assembly point, where personnel will be waiting to receive you.”

“Hmm.”

Lu Qingshan nodded slightly and walked forward along the corridor. Moments later, he reached its end—a vast, beautiful square.

Lu Qingshan looked out: the square was enormous, over a hundred kilometers in diameter. Even with nearly ten thousand cosmic warriors gathered here, it still appeared sparsely populated.

At the corridor entrance, several Domain Lords were gathered.

“Sigh, us solitary travelers—we must gather a hundred Domain Lords before we can depart. Such a waste of time!”

“Tell me about it! I spent over ten years traveling by spacecraft just to reach Origin Star, and now I have to wait even longer!”

“No choice. Compared to the Cosmic Nation armies, our numbers are pitiful. If every arrival could be instantly teleported to the Outer Battlefield, the logistical costs for Origin Star would be astronomical. You’re lucky—you came relatively early. When I arrived, there were only three Domain Lords here. I’ve waited sixteen days already!”

“What can we do? Our strength is weak—we can only wait.”

These Domain Lords gathered together, drinking and chatting.

“Hey, look—someone else has arrived,” said a Domain Lord idly glancing toward the corridor.

Hearing this, another Domain Lord turned his head—and immediately stood up, bowing deeply toward the middle-aged man in purple-gold armor: “Greetings, my lord!”

The other Domain Lords nearby also quickly rose and bowed slightly.

Seeing this, Lu Qingshan merely nodded slightly, silently marveling at the power of time.

When he first came to the Outer Battlefield, he was just like these Domain Lords are now—but now he had crossed into the Marquis realm!

At that moment, murmurs echoed through the hall.

“Wow—an Immortal!”

“Is this an Immortal from within Origin Star?”

“No, I’ve seen Origin Star’s Immortals—they usually wear white robes!”

As these murmurs arose, a gate on one side of the square opened, and a white-robed Immortal stepped out.

This white-robed Immortal stood four meters tall, with two powerful legs and four immensely thick arms, and only a single vertical eye on his face.

He clearly belonged to a renowned human race: the Anjialuo Clan!

Anjialuo Clan members reached Cosmic Level upon adulthood. Though not as strong as Maneka Starfolk or Huangshen Clan members, who reach Domain Lord level at maturity, their bloodline was still among the finest in the human race.

Of course, whether Anjialuo, Maneka, or Huangshen—all their bloodlines had been enhanced over generations through effort, so their life gene levels remained only double that of ordinary cosmic life.

Still, as darlings of the earth, Anjialuo Clan members possessed a significant advantage in comprehending the Earth Primordial Law. The dense aura radiating from this white-robed Immortal confirmed he had broken through using the complete Earth Primordial Law.

“Hello!”

The white-robed Immortal of Anjialuo soon walked to Lu Qingshan’s side: “I am Wang Feng, assigned to guide lone powerhouses arriving at Origin Star. You’re here to reach the Outer Battlefield, correct?”

“Correct,” Lu Qingshan smiled and nodded.

“Wait a moment,” replied Immortal Wang Feng.

He then turned to the other lone powerhouses on the square: “You youngsters are lucky! Because you’ve encountered an Immortal, you no longer need to wait for a full hundred Domain Lords—you’ll be teleported directly to the most glorious and brutal Outer Battlefield!”

Hearing this, the lone powerhouses on the square were delighted.

“Great! Finally no more waiting!”

“We’re really lucky this time!”

“Of course! That’s a true Immortal—how many Immortals does a Cosmic Nation even have? Even if Origin Star’s logistical costs are high, no Immortal would wait here!”

“Exactly! In our entire star region’s endless history, only one Immortal has ever appeared! But now that I’ve reached the Outer Battlefield, I’ll become our star region’s second Immortal!”

“Silence!” Immortal Wang Feng barked.

The square fell utterly silent.

Wang Feng swiftly scanned the crowd, dividing the lone powerhouses into squads by cultivation realm.

“Cosmic Level—gather here.”

“Domain Lords—gather here.”

Most solitary travelers were quickly separated, leaving only dozens of Domain Lords still standing.

Wang Feng continued: “As for Domain Lords, follow me afterward—I will conduct your Permission Granting Ceremony.”

“Permission Granting Ceremony?”

“What does that mean?”

“What’s it for?”

The Domain Lords whispered among themselves, while those familiar with the Outer Battlefield’s rules remained calm.

Wang Feng explained further: “Permission Granting determines your rank within the army after you reach the Outer Battlefield.”

“The army is not your casual, unstructured environment—it’s strictly hierarchical. All subordinates must obey their superiors.”

“Therefore, before you depart, the Virtual Universe Network will evaluate each of you based on your maximum displayed strength within the Virtual Universe, and assign your military permissions accordingly.”

“Domain Lord evaluations have three tiers: ‘Regular Domain Lord Soldier,’ ‘Elite Domain Lord Soldier,’ and ‘Domain Lord Warlord.’”

“If any of you have never displayed your maximum strength in the Virtual Universe, you may now connect your consciousness to it and do so.”

Lu Qingshan stood quietly listening.

He had already experienced this once before, when he first came to the Outer Battlefield—back then, he was one of those Domain Lords, and had been rated Elite Domain Lord Soldier merely for crossing the threshold of Thunder Primordial Law.

Fortunately, he’d been lucky: one Domain Lord Warlord in his batch, who held the authority to form an elite squad, refused to join any existing team and instead recruited over a dozen Elite Domain Lord Soldiers—including Lu Qingshan—to form a new squad.

Had it not been for that, he would have been assigned to an Immortal-led Cosmic Army unit.

Later, after years of fighting on the Outer Battlefield, most of the dozen Domain Lords from his original squad perished there—only he and his squad leader survived until retirement.

But the squad leader was much older than Lu Qingshan, and had perished over three million years ago. Lu Qingshan had even visited his family to pay respects.

After instructing the Domain Lords, Wang Feng delegated the Permission Granting to his subordinates, then turned to Lu Qingshan: “You’re a newcomer too, but as an Immortal, you’re different from them—come with me.”

Lu Qingshan followed immediately.

Correct!

When Lu Qingshan had left the Outer Battlefield before, he had chosen retirement—his military merit records had been erased.

And now, hundreds of thousands of years had passed; he had broken through to Immortal realm. Naturally, he was treated as a newcomer.

Leading Lu Qingshan down a corridor, Wang Feng asked as they walked: “How should I address you?”

Lu Qingshan paused briefly, then said: “Call me ‘Thunderstorm.’”

This time, Lu Qingshan had no intention of revealing he was Lu Qingshan of the Virtual Universe Transport Department. After all, the Body-Doubling Technique was exceedingly rare—he didn’t want to draw attention.

Before coming to the Outer Battlefield, he had already learned a secret technique to alter his appearance and adjusted his identity data accordingly.

Of course, such disguise couldn’t fool the Virtual Universe—whether body or original self, his consciousness was identical upon entry.

But the Mechanical Race Cosmic Master who controlled the Virtual Universe surely wouldn’t care about a minor figure like him—so there was no need to fear exposure.

As for the issue of identical divine power signatures—he had never set foot on the Outer Battlefield since becoming an Immortal. No one here could possibly know Lu Qingshan’s divine power signature, so no one could recognize him.

Moments later, Lu Qingshan followed Wang Feng into a spacious hall.

Wang Feng smiled and introduced: “Thunderstorm, the war between our Human Clan and the other three peak clans involves countless cosmic powerhouses. The entire Outer Battlefield is divided into eleven zones—all beyond our human territory, hence the name ‘Outer Battlefield.’”

“Normally, our logistics bases randomly teleport new arrivals to one of the many garrison bases on the Outer Battlefield, as directed by the Virtual Universe system.”

“But Immortals enjoy certain privileges—you may choose which Outer Battlefield zone and garrison base you wish to go to.”

“If you’re unfamiliar with these eleven zones, I can give you a brief introduction.”

“No need.”

Lu Qingshan shook his head slightly and said: “I wish to go to the Seventh Battlefield, Garrison Base 026.”

The Seventh Battlefield was originally a vast cosmic mystery spanning over a million light-years, filled with numerous dangers.

After eons of brutal warfare, most of its original hazards had vanished; now the main threat came from enemy alien races of opposing factions.

The Seventh Battlefield contained one hundred garrison bases, each corresponding to a different combat zone.

For Lu Qingshan, his primary goal in returning to the Outer Battlefield was to hone himself through life-or-death combat—any zone would do. So he chose the place he had fought during his Domain Lord days.

“Back then, by chance, I was assigned near Yanji Continent—but I never got to explore Yanji Continent before leaving the Outer Battlefield!”

Lu Qingshan thought inwardly: “Now that I’ve returned, I can finally fulfill that wish—perhaps I’ll even have a chance to claim the Pagoda Treasures!”

“Also, I wonder if the Purple Bell King from the original story has appeared yet. If he has, once I grow stronger, I’ll take his Purple Bell!”

Lu Qingshan remembered the Purple Bell vividly—it was a supreme treasure worth 89 Heavy Treasure Points, nearly as valuable as the Soul-type treasures he had once obtained!

But all of this depends on the Purple Bell King having already appeared on the Outer Battlefield and already possessing the Purple Bell!

Of course, even if the Purple Bell King has not yet appeared, it doesn’t matter—after all, wherever one trains, it doesn’t hinder Lu Qingshan from honing himself.

“No problem!”

Wang Feng smiled and said: “The Seventh Star Domain Battlefield has an average mortality rate of 96.8%, ranking third among the eleven Outer Battlefields—definitely a good choice!”

He saw Lu Qingshan had quickly chosen a location, so he understood Lu Qingshan was well-acquainted with the Outer Battlefields and thus gave no further explanation, continuing instead: “Also, Lei Bao, I now need to grant you authorization rights!”

“Though you are an Immortal Spirit, once you enter the Outer Battlefield, your status and military merit requirements differ—roughly divided into three tiers: ‘Immortal Commander,’ ‘Marquis,’ and ‘King.’ Moreover, within each tier, military merit varies depending on your faction!”

“I understand!” Lu Qingshan nodded.

“Then let’s begin!”

Seeing Lu Qingshan nod, a beam of blue light shot from the screen on Wang Feng’s arm, swiftly enveloping Lu Qingshan.

“Marquis, Initial Rank!”

A voice rang out from Wang Feng’s arm-guard screen, and simultaneously, Lu Qingshan, bathed in blue light, received several messages from the Outer Battlefield’s military merit system.

“So he’s truly a Marquis Immortal!” Wang Feng thought inwardly.

He had already suspected as much when he sensed the powerful aura emanating from Lu Qingshan—and now his guess was confirmed!

Though there are many Immortal Spirits on the Outer Battlefield, the vast majority are merely Commander Immortals!

Even Wang Feng himself is merely an ordinary Commander!

Of course, even a Marquis Immortal with an immortal body faces great danger on the perilous Outer Battlefield.

After completing the authorization ceremony, Wang Feng quickly led Lu Qingshan to a quiet chamber to rest.

Only after all others had received their authorizations did Lu Qingshan follow him into a grand hall.

This grand hall had a diameter of over a thousand kilometers, with eleven water-curtain-like space passages built around its perimeter.

Each water curtain was a kilometer wide and over a kilometer tall.

Wang Feng soon led the group to the seventh water curtain, then announced loudly: “This is the space passage to the Seventh Outer Battlefield. You will soon be transported to Outpost 026 on the Seventh Outer Battlefield—your journey there begins there!”

“Before you depart, I wish each of you the fortune to survive and leave the Outer Battlefield alive!”

“Thank you, Immortal!” The lone warriors bowed respectfully.

Wang Feng’s gaze turned to Lu Qingshan, who gave a slight nod in response.

Wang Feng then glanced at the others and gave the order: “Depart!”

Whoosh!

All eyes turned to Lu Qingshan, clad in purple-gold armor at the front.

Lu Qingshan stepped forward at once, stepping into the water curtain and vanishing.

The others, seeing this, followed one by one into the water curtain.

(End of Chapter)