Chapter 44: The Passage of Time

“My complete dossier on him costs 5,000 Cosmic Sands at the Flame Wind Guild?” Luo Feng was astonished.

Mo Li Meng said, “The Flame Wind Guild, through causal confirmation, has determined that tonight, an immensely powerful Eternal True God named ‘Ying Cang’ died within your cave mansion, Lord Luo He.”

“The assassin tonight… was Ying Cang?” Luo Feng murmured softly; he had never heard of him. After all, since arriving on the Origin Continent through the Cycle, the only major city he had ever resided in was Hu Yang City.

Outside Hu Yang City, the boundless vast world beyond—Luo Feng had only purchased basic intelligence on it, so naturally he didn’t know Ying Cang.

“Here is Ying Cang’s dossier.” Mo Li Meng sent a detailed dossier via his communication token.

Luo Feng immediately understood: Ying Cang was an equal to Mo Li Xiao and Xue Yun in strength, and most importantly… his survival ability was extraordinary—he had escaped from a elite squad dispatched by the Chaos Sovereign.

“Killing an assassin has skyrocketed the price of my intelligence.” Luo Feng shook his head in regret. “Had I known he was Ying Cang, I’d have taken his bounty at the Flame Wind Guild’s Shadow Hall. Too bad—I missed out on a fortune.”

Luo Feng usually only checked bounties within Hu Yang City.

Bounties from other cities? Countless.

Upon Ying Cang’s death, the Flame Wind Guild revoked his bounty; the original reward, minus a ten percent fee, was refunded to all claimants.

“Just a few bounties—nothing significant to Lord Luo He,” said General Mo Li Xiao.

The Governor of Hu Yang City added, “As a frontier metropolis, Hu Yang City stands at the frontline of conflict with the Food Nation. Both I and General Mo Li Xiao face immense pressure—we must devote all our strength to countering the Food Nation’s forces. If Lord Luo He is willing to assist, he could easily earn vast bounties.”

“The three of you may return.” Luo Feng had no desire to speak further with them.

“We won’t disturb you further.” The Governor of Hu Yang City, Mo Li Xiao, and Mo Li Meng all rose.

Soon, the three of them took their leave.

As the cave gate closed, Mo Yu Qing Yan trembled inwardly: “The Governor of Hu Yang City and the General came together, yet the Master didn’t greet them. When dismissing them, the Master didn’t even see them off… yet they showed no anger whatsoever.”

“During our interactions, the Master clearly holds greater dominance.” Mo Yu Qing Yan’s heart surged with excitement. “What great fortune have I stumbled upon to possibly become the Master’s disciple! I must strive harder—first, master the Ten Fundamental Laws!”

The Master’s unfathomable strength drove Mo Yu Qing Yan to work even harder.

…

“As long as the Five Great Families and the Food Nation aren’t foolish, they won’t dare provoke me,” Luo Feng thought. “I can now focus on cultivation in peace for a while.”

Luo Feng took a few steps and entered the underground hall.

In the underground hall, he released the Star Tower; Mo Luo Sa was currently digesting food in one of its inner spaces, while Luo Feng moved to another level.

With a wave of his hand, a pile of battle spoils appeared before him.

“This haul isn’t large,” Luo Feng glanced at it.

“Qian Yu, as a full commander of the Hu Yang Guard, left behind treasures worth only about 200,000 Cosmic Sands. Mei Wu Qi’s remaining assets totaled around 300,000 Cosmic Sands. Neither was particularly wealthy.” Luo Feng shook his head.

It was normal—Mei Wu Qi and others like them were ordinary Eternal True Gods of great clans; though high in status, their expenses were enormous, and the Cosmic Sands allotted by their families didn’t allow them to accumulate much. In terms of personal wealth, they were inferior to the leader of the Blood Serpent Guild.

“Ying Cang was rich,” Luo Feng turned to the rest of the spoils. “His most valuable items were two single-purpose mechanical artifacts; the rest of his personal treasures and the Cosmic Sands he carried were modest. All his remaining assets totaled about 3.5 million Cosmic Sands.”

“Compared to his status, it’s still a bit low—likely most of his accumulated wealth was poured into his own cultivation,” Luo Feng understood.

Bloodline cultivation consumed immense resources.

Vast quantities of resources were invested solely to strengthen the bloodline—a bottomless pit. Many powerful beings poured in enormous resources yet still failed to become Chaos Sovereigns.

“The two mechanical artifacts: one is the Realm Blade, possessing only the technique ‘Condense Chaos Divine Power,’ worth roughly 1.5 million Cosmic Sands. The other is the ‘Ten Thousand Realms Teleport Token’—Ying Cang used this to teleport within Hu Yang City, and even under my ‘Dominion of Chaos’ suppression, his movement still surpassed mine.”

Luo Feng, wielding the Shi Wu Wings and activating Dominion of Chaos, unleashed terrifying power—the Blood Serpent Guild leader had been utterly suppressed with no ability to resist.

Yet Ying Cang, despite enduring such suppression, still moved faster than Luo Feng… this couldn’t be achieved by realm alone—it required a powerful mechanical artifact for teleportation.

“Mechanical artifacts are currently quite useful to me, but their value will diminish over time,” Luo Feng understood.

His perfected Divine Body, refined twice over—even with low realm and crude techniques—already matched the power of mechanical artifacts.

Even the Zi Yu Hou had been pierced through the body by a single palm strike from Luo Feng.

“As my realm advances, my perfected Divine Body’s power will grow further. If I undergo a third refinement… the enhancement will be immense. Mechanical artifacts will become utterly insignificant to me.”

The perfected Divine Body and willpower—these are my true foundations.

Luo Feng closed his eyes, focusing his perception on the tangible Chaos Laws of the neighboring ‘Chaos Wastes,’ sinking into cultivation.

…

All factions within Hu Yang City assumed the Five Great Families wouldn’t give up—they waited to see the next clash between the Five Great Families and Lord Luo He.

But the result was… the Five Great Families cowered!

At first, other factions thought the Five Great Families were secretly summoning experts who needed time to reach Hu Yang City. But as time passed, everyone realized the truth. As for the news of ‘Ying Cang killed by Lord Luo He’—being a 5,000 Cosmic Sand dossier, only a handful of factions purchased it, and none dared leak it.

Why should others freely obtain intelligence they paid dearly for?

As time passed, only the very top tier of factions in Hu Yang City knew that ‘Lord Luo He had slain Ying Cang’—and these factions grew increasingly wary of Luo Feng.

Time flowed like water, and before anyone noticed, twenty-six cycles had passed.

In a dim hall within Hu Yang City.

A white-robed figure wearing a red mask stood before a flickering crimson flame in midair, the flame radiating an aura of calamity and darkness.

“My Lord,” the white-robed figure bowed respectfully.

“Blood Cloud, you’ve been in Hu Yang City for a long time,” the crimson flame spoke. “Yet you’ve yet to complete the task I assigned you.”

Blood Cloud Shenjun bowed deeply: “My Lord, I have not slackened. I’ve exhausted every means to uncover Hu Yang City’s complete array diagram. But the city’s array has been repaired and expanded generation after generation—it has become impossibly vast and complex. Even the master array designers who personally repaired it only understood the small section they were responsible for; none could grasp the entire array.”

“I only care about results,” the crimson flame’s voice was cold. “I give you one final cycle. You must obtain Hu Yang City’s complete array diagram. I will send two experts to assist you. If you fail within one cycle, return. I’ll assign someone else to handle Hu Yang City.”

Blood Cloud Shenjun’s heart lurched.

!.

If he failed within one cycle, Hu Yang City would no longer be his responsibility?

As the leader of the Food Nation’s forces in Hu Yang City, though perilous, he received constant resource support from his side—much of which ended up in his own hands.

Blood Cloud Shenjun longed to break through to Chaos Sovereign—and that required vast resources.

If recalled, and with his mission failed, his resource allocation would plummet.

“My Lord, within one cycle, I will risk my life to seize Hu Yang City’s complete array diagram,” Blood Cloud Shenjun said respectfully.

“I’ve assigned you helpers and ensured your resources aren’t cut. I hope… you don’t disappoint me again!” The crimson flame’s voice turned icy, then faded into silence.

Only then did the deeply respectful Blood Cloud Shenjun relax.

No matter how powerful he was, before a Lord who had existed for eons as a Chaos Sovereign, he dared not show even a trace of disrespect. After all, even the mightiest Eternal True God could be crushed like an insect by such an ancient Sovereign.

“The Lord has lost patience,” Blood Cloud Shenjun mused. “Such urgency… he must be preparing some grand move.”

“I wonder how strong the two assistants he sends will be,” Blood Cloud Shenjun remained patient—he planned to wait until they arrived before finalizing his strategy to seize the array diagram. “Within one cycle, even if I can’t obtain the full diagram, I must achieve enough to prove my worth. Otherwise, the Lord won’t spare me!”

One receives abundant resources—so one must deliver commensurate results.

…

Heavy snow fell, blanketing the world in white.

The snow in Hu Yang City was bitterly cold; each flake resembled a crystalline gem.

Luo Feng sat atop the peak of his cave mansion, catching falling snowflakes in his palm—each flake’s structure was exquisitely intricate, resembling a miniature array diagram.

“Comprehending the Laws is slowing down,” Luo Feng thought. “I’ve been on the Origin Continent for twenty-seven cycles. At first, I advanced rapidly—but now my progress grows ever slower.”

It was natural—he was already at the peak of Eternal True God realm.

Integrating countless fragmented insights into a complete ‘Chaos Law’ was never easy.

“Hmm?” Luo Feng looked down the mountain and saw his servant, Mo Yu Qing Yan, deep in meditation.

“You fool, is comprehending the Laws really that hard? You still haven’t mastered the Ten Fundamental Laws after all this time,” Mo Luo Sa muttered, gnawing on meat.

Mo Yu Qing Yan couldn’t help but retort: “Lord Luo Sa, I’ve mastered eight Fundamental Laws in just over twenty cycles—that’s already fast! Even my father says my comprehension speed is exceptional.”

“Too slow! With me teaching you, and you still haven’t mastered the Ten Fundamental Laws—you’re stupid,” Mo Luo Sa sneered. “Comprehending the Laws is simple. You must understand—they’re not isolated. They’re interconnected.”

“It’s precisely because of their interconnections that all things function,” Mo Luo Sa said. “I’ve told you before—think about how they relate to each other, and you’ll grasp their essence.”

“I don’t understand,” Mo Yu Qing Yan shook his head.

“Sigh. Your older and third brothers in the Mo Yu family are already Void True Gods. Only you remain a True God. Put in some effort! You’re so weak, I’m embarrassed to be seen with you!” Mo Luo Sa shook his head. “Both the Master and I advanced far faster when we trained!”

Mo Yu Qing Yan stayed silent—he still needed Mo Luo Sa’s guidance, so he dared not argue, and had to find ways to flatter him.

Huh!

Luo Feng landed beside them.

“Master,” Mo Luo Sa and Mo Yu Qing Yan immediately rose.

“Come with me,” Luo Feng ordered.

(End of Chapter)