Chapter 7: Arrival at Hu Yang City

“He died before even reaching Hu Yang City?” Chairman Zan Yun pondered. “Where did he die? What killed him? I know nothing—this must be reported immediately!”

He dared not delay; with a thought, a miniature universe descended, churning clouds swirling around Tianyun Tower, naturally concealing its entire top floor.

Eternal True Gods using the “One Thought, Universe Born” technique usually did so silently and unobtrusively, their Jianglin universe scenes seamlessly blending into the heavens and earth, fully controlling the surrounding area.

Immediately, Chairman Zan Yun rose and performed a secret technique with utmost reverence; a speck of crimson flame spontaneously formed, radiating an aura of disaster and darkness.

“Marquis,” Chairman Zan Yun said respectfully, “just now, my message talisman lost all connection with Hei Duomo.”

“His life talisman has shattered—he is indeed dead,” the crimson flame slowly emitted its aura of calamity. “He died the moment he arrived at Hu Yang City—was it a master sent by Yu State? Or one dispatched by the Nine Jiang Marquis?”

Shi State eyed all neighboring divine states with hunger; its relations with Yu State were naturally poor, and covert struggles had never ceased.

A subordinate’s death was normal.

“He hadn’t reached Hu Yang City yet,” Chairman Zan Yun immediately explained.

“Oh?” The crimson flame sounded puzzled. “He should have arrived.”

“Hei Duomo was due to arrive today—the final deadline,” Chairman Zan Yun said respectfully. “Today, I even contacted and urged him. He said he needed a few more days to arrive, and gave no other details.”

The crimson flame transmitted its voice: “Since he said a few more days would suffice, he must still be within the Nine Jiang Chaos Region. Investigate carefully—find out exactly how he died.”

“Yes,” Chairman Zan Yun said respectfully. “Marquis, I’m short on skilled personnel here...”

“Soon, you won’t be short,” the crimson flame vanished.

Chairman Zan Yun exhaled in relief.

“That fool Hei Duomo—died just from traveling,” Chairman Zan Yun sat back calmly after his report. “Whoever killed him must be formidable. I have no ability to investigate—and the Marquis won’t blame me.”

Serving a Chaos Dominator—even entering another state’s territory at such great risk—Chairman Zan Yun naturally sought substantial rewards.

As for risking his life? He avoided it whenever possible.

Behind Hei Duomo’s death lay a powerful master—Chairman Zan Yun had not the slightest intention of investigating.

Charging ahead recklessly? He wouldn’t have lived this long.

Beneath the night sky.

Luo Feng sat cross-legged beside a blue-purple blood-crystal flower.

The captured flying vessel could be released after harvesting the blue-purple blood-crystal flower—no rush.

“My first battle with a native Eternal True God of the Origin Continent has revealed many of my own flaws,” Luo Feng thought. “I’ve only just become an Eternal True God—I haven’t even begun training many secret arts.”

In close combat, he was utterly crushed.

Only his Perfect Divine Body allowed him to withstand all attacks.

“If I encounter an opponent skilled at trapping enemies, they could pin me down in two or three moves. Then I’d have to rely on willpower secret arts—or mechanical artifacts!” Luo Feng thought. “Long-term, my opponents will likely be on the level of the Three Sovereigns of Shi State.”

“So I must still strengthen my strengths—cultivate the Lie Yuan Art to elevate my willpower to a higher level!”

“Simultaneously, advancing my major realm is critical—I must find a way to break through to the Chaos Dominator realm.”

“To become a Chaos Dominator, I must comprehend the Chaos Dao,” Luo Feng thought. “On one hand, actively contemplate the Chaos Dao; on the other, study secret arts related to the Chaos Dao.”

Gain insight into the fundamental mysteries of the Chaos Dao through practice.

Combining practice with theory accelerates mastery of the Chaos Dao.

“The body refinement arts I chose—Chaos Great Strength Diagram and Break-Realm Nine Cuts—are both paths toward the Chaos realm,” Luo Feng thought. “I’m not lacking in secret arts—just resources.”

“For the foreseeable future, I will focus on the Chaos Great Strength Diagram, Break-Realm Nine Cuts, and Lie Yuan Art, while supplementing with Duan Mie, Dong Hua, and Nine Phantom Realm.”

From the perspective of his own growth, he had decided his primary and supplementary cultivation methods.

The Three Inheritances of Duan Dong River were excellent—but all were auxiliary, merely making Lidai inheritors better at survival. Resources? Each inheritor must secure them themselves.

“The Chaos Great Strength Diagram requires training the Divine Body like a treasure—demanding vast resources. I wonder how long this single ‘blue-purple blood-crystal flower’ will last me,” Luo Feng thought.

The key to the Divine Body is the “True God Heart.” As long as the True God Heart remains unharmed, the Divine Body can be refined without restraint.

Thus, generations of Qiangzhe on the Origin Continent developed countless body refinement arts. Undoubtedly, the stronger the base Divine Body, the greater the effect of body refinement arts. Luo Feng possessed a Perfect Divine Body—he naturally chose body refinement arts to make himself even stronger!

“The resources needed for body refinement arts can only be purchased upon reaching Hu Yang City,” Luo Feng resolved, then began contemplating the Break-Realm Nine Cuts.

…

Within one layer of the Star Tower.

A flying vessel rested here; the clan chief and over a dozen True Gods stared in confusion at this layer, sensing only a boundless gray haze at the space’s edge, with time and space utterly sealed—no escape possible.

“Chief, what does this Honored One intend by bringing us here?” “Could he be using us as test subjects?”

“I heard many True Gods in Hu Yang City volunteer for drug trials—is this Honored One planning to test us?” The True Gods speculated anxiously, powerless to resist.

Suo Zi and Suo Yun, the two young True Gods, listened to their elders’ murmurs and grew increasingly uneasy.

The clan chief smiled: “Without this Honored One, we’d all be dead already. He saved our lives. If he needs anything from us, it’s an opportunity. In Hu Yang City, many True Gods beg for a chance to serve an Eternal True God.”

The clan chief had dealt with Eternal True Gods before—he knew they cared nothing for the weak.

If he saved them, he wouldn’t kill them out of mere caprice.

“Chief, what should we do now?” Suo Zi asked.

“Wait patiently,” the clan chief said.

…

Day and night turned.

A day on the Origin Continent was extremely long; Luo Feng cultivated beside the blue-purple blood-crystal flower for three days, gaining some insight into the Break-Realm Nine Cuts, Lie Yuan Art, and Duan Mie.

!.

“A day on the Origin Continent is extremely long—roughly equivalent to a year on my home Earth,” Luo Feng thought.

The sky was now bright, white clouds drifting—daytime. Yet if one looked upward, a few of the most brilliant stars remained visible.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng suddenly sensed the flower’s fragrance intensify, filling his soul with profound joy. He turned his head—and saw the blue-purple blood-crystal flower gently swaying, its petals glowing as if radiating light.

“It’s finally reaching full maturity,” Luo Feng smiled. After emitting its most potent fragrance, the flower’s glow faded, becoming ordinary, then silently detached from its stem and fell toward the ground.

Luo Feng gestured; divine power enveloped the flower, suspending it before him.

“I heard this blue-purple blood-crystal flower greatly aids bloodline cultivation,” Luo Feng marveled. “But I’m not native to the Origin Continent—I can’t practice bloodline cultivation.”

Geniuses who crossed the Lunhui from the Three Thousand Primordial Universes to the Origin Continent could only contemplate Dao.

Natives of the Origin Continent possessed latent special bloodlines—only they qualified for “bloodline cultivation methods.”

Luo Feng sealed the blue-purple blood-crystal flower in a wooden box.

“Time to go to Hu Yang City.”

Luo Feng stepped forward, instantly teleporting through space, while summoning Mo Luo Sa and Mo Yu Hu.

“Mo Yu Hu, guide the way,” Luo Feng said.

“Yes,” Mo Yu Hu dared not ask questions; he glanced briefly around, then continued leading.

Luo Feng looked at Mo Luo Sa beside him: “You look pleased—gained a lot?”

“I’ve gained quite a bit,” Mo Luo Sa grinned, sending a mental message. “Master, if this happened a thousand times, I might even reach the Chaos realm.”

Luo Feng glanced at him.

Devour a thousand Eternal True Gods? How bold!

“Just absorb the natural energies,” Luo Feng dismissed him. The Origin Continent’s ambient energy was so dense it had solidified into mist—absorbing it worked well enough.

Whoosh—

After traversing space for a long while, Luo Feng’s eyes suddenly brightened.

“What’s that?” As a Perfect Divine Body, his observation range was immense—he could already see, far ahead at the horizon, an endless, towering city.

The city resembled a world’s edge; its walls towered higher than any mountain Luo Feng had seen since arriving on the Origin Continent! Hei Duomo’s true form, compared to the wall’s height, was less than one ten-thousandth.

Beneath clouds condensed from cosmic energy, the majestic city flickered in and out of view—Luo Feng could not see its end.

“I knew large cities on the Origin Continent were vast—but seeing it firsthand still shocks me,” Luo Feng thought.

“Honored One, we are approaching Hu Yang City,” Mo Yu Hu, having spotted the city’s silhouette, said. “The entire Nine Jiang Chaos Region has only three large cities—each built atop the Chaos Wastes, jointly constructed by mechanical sect experts, and utterly unbreakable fortresses.”

As they drew nearer, Mo Yu Hu pointed ahead: “Honored One, ahead is the East Gate of Hu Yang City. Those two colossal floating objects above the eastern wall are two of the Ten Hu Yang Armies—the Tengjiao Army and the Jinyu Army!”

Luo Feng looked—above the southern wall floated a massive plant, entirely emerald green, covered in countless vines. Countless True Gods moved in and out along the vines.

Above the northern wall floated a golden octahedron, equally colossal, with countless True Gods entering and exiting along beams of light.

One massive plant, one golden octahedron—two of the Ten Hu Yang Armies.

—

Thank you to the eight new Alliance Masters: Juebie Xiao Hu Ya, Wo Jiao Tang Wu Tong, Wo Mei Jiao Sheng Xian Qi Tian, Ban Gen Yan Zen Me Chou, Newmoon, Yao Xiang Gao Zhong Bi Ye Shu Jia Pan Long, Fang Fei Xin Qing, Pangxieyaohengxing

Thank you all for your support! ^_^

(End of Chapter)