Chapter 43: Sixth Councilor

On the third day after the first‑level Beast Tide erupted, Luo Feng paid a visit and entered Xiao Yu's private training chamber inside the Extreme Hall.

"The Extreme Martial Arts Hall has already issued me a notice to enter Site No. 9 of the ancient civilization," Luo Feng said, "It's scheduled for the end of this month; I'm to rendezvous on the 29th at the headquarters of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Hongning Base City."

"After entering the No. 9 civilization ruins, each person encounters different circumstances," Xiao Yu said, "And the time each needs varies: most finish within a month, the longest takes about seven months. That was before—there had never been an Elite Trial before! Yet I ran into an Elite Trial."

"Elite Trial?" Luo Feng asked, puzzled.

"Whether the Elite Trial activates depends on one's brain‑domain breadth; if the brain‑domain breadth exceeds 18, the Elite Trial triggers," Xiao Yu smiled, "I'm a gene warrior, so the Elite Trial I face is essentially a death trial—pass within the limit or die. As for you, Spiritual Mind Master, I can't say how it will go. The timing is uncertain; you'd better be prepared for a long stay."

Luo Feng looked somewhat confused.

"You should tell your family in advance so they won't worry. According to the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's usual practice, if you're inside for more than six months without emerging, we'll officially announce your death," Xiao Yu explained.

The two then discussed their cultivation experience with the Nine‑layer Thunder Blade, and Xiao Yu even suppressed his power to spar with Luo Feng for half an hour.

While sparring with Luo Feng, Xiao Yu recalled his agreement with Hong to practice regularly.

The next day, his specialized Qian Kun intelligent combat aircraft flew to Hongning Base City.

Hong happened to be there as well.

After the failed sparring session at the end of July, Hong has been training continuously for over a month, and his strength has increased considerably.

In the training arena, shockwaves raged, and after wave after wave of sonic booms…

Both drenched in sweat, they sat in the tea room beside the arena, sipping a rare liquor brewed from materials harvested from a King Level monster.

It's Hong's special supply, not offered to outsiders.

"Master, your Light Domain is about to break through again, right?" Xiao Yu said with a smile.

"Hmm, I feel it will break through the second layer; then you won't be my opponent," Hong said calmly.

"Ha ha." Xiao Yu chuckled, saying nothing more.

It goes without saying that Xiao Yu has now reached three times the gene tier, granting triple strength, genetic force, defense, neural reaction speed, and so on. Moreover, he will continue to raise his gene tier.

"Your power was already revealed during the last Wu Island expedition; now members of the War God Palace have already suggested you become the Sixth Councilor," Hong laughed, "If you ask me, you might as well fully expose your strength and become the First Councilor."

"No, just settle for the Sixth." Xiao Yu said with a smile.

The War God Palace's efficiency remains very high.

On September 29, the day Luo Feng rushed to Hongning Base City, the War God Palace held a grand meeting.

At 20:30, in the War God Palace's main hall, almost every War God was present, along with the leaders of the five major nations, the HR Alliance Chairperson, and Hong, Lei Shen, Mo Handeson, Ister, and Atkin, all arriving on time.

Standing in the void, Hong suddenly said, "Everyone has seen the fight between Xiao Yu and Councilor Far. Given Xiao Yu's strength, the title of councilor no longer fits; I propose promoting Xiao Yu directly to Sixth Councilor."

In the void, a bald man beside the black‑haired Hong said, "I agree with the First Councilor's proposal."

At that moment, Councilor Far below spoke up, "I also agree."

Xiao Yu was watching from below; he dared not dissent.

Strong council members such as Liu He and Bing Shan from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall and Thunder Lightning Hall all voted in favor, followed by the Huaxia faction's councilors, then some councilors from the five major nations, and even the top‑ranked members of the HR Alliance expressed their support.

Finally, Mo Handeson, Ister, and Atkin, the three chairpersons, also voiced their approval.

"Unanimously passed!" boomed the man in black, "From today onward, Xiao Yu is our War God Palace's Sixth Councilor."

From below came a wave of applause.

Afterward, the War God Palace held a grand banquet, with Hong providing free drinks and food.

Although Xiao Yu, as Sixth Councilor, must attend some global‑scale summit, such gatherings occur less than once a year, and there are currently no major events.

Xiao Yu's primary focus remains improving his own strength.

He retrieved two hundred cubic meters of Universe Crystals from the Space Ring, equivalent to two hundred million Cosmic Coins.

"System, absorb two hundred cubic meters of Universe Crystals."

【Absorbed two hundred cubic meters of Universe Primordial Energy Crystals, obtained 20,000 Wish Silver Coins.】

"System, check remaining Wish Points."

【Remaining: 2 Wish Gold Coins, 67 Wish Silver Coins, 8,600 Wish Copper Coins.】

For the next year, he continuously used the system to raise his gene tier.

He almost doubled his gene tier each month.

First month.

"System, increase my gene tier by onefold."

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Increase my gene tier by onefold (30 Wish Silver Coins).】

"System, fulfill the First Wish."

【30 Wish Coins have been deducted】

【Wish is being realized】

Streams of blood‑red energy surged into Xiao Yu's body…

【Wish has been fulfilled】

Xiao Yu's gene tier rose to four times that of Earth humans; over the following month he continuously cultivated to adapt to the increased power while restoring his body's fatigue.

Although the system's upgrades are perfectly safe, the body still feels fatigued during such enhancements.

Second month.

"System, increase my gene tier by onefold."

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Increase my gene tier by onefold (45 Wish Silver Coins).】

……

Third month.

……

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Double one's own gene level (75 Wish Silver Coins).】

……

Fifth month.

……

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Double one's own gene level (195 Wish Silver Coins).】

……

Ninth month.

……

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Double one's own gene level (1335 Wish Silver Coins).】

……

Twelfth month.

……

【Setting successful!】

【First Wish: Double one's own gene level (5655 Wish Silver Coins).】

……

【Wish fulfilled.】

Xiao Yu's gene level had already reached fifteen times; he felt an immense fatigue that sprang from his soul.

Over the past year, twelve gene-level upgrades consumed a total of 14,760 Wish Silver Coins.

"System, check remaining wish points."

【Remaining: 5307 Wish Silver Coins 8600 Wish Copper Coins.】

When Xiao Yu regained perfect control over his body, the date was already September 20, 2058.

Although Xiao Yu did not deliberately cultivate the Moyun Vine this past year, his strength has been steadily increasing, now reaching the seventh level of planetary rank.

Luo Feng has been inside the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins for nearly a year.

Since Luo Feng entered the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins, at the three-month mark someone had proposed defining Luo Feng as dead, but Xiao Yu did not agree, and Hong vetoed the proposal based on Xiao Yu's opinion.

When Luo Feng had been inside for half a year, even Hong could do nothing, so they could only tentatively define it as possible death, not yet confirmed.

At Xiao Yu's request, headquarters sent Jiang Fang, Luo Feng's former teacher at the Elite Training Camp, to explain the situation to Luo Feng's family and console them.

September 29, 2058, another Round Table meeting was convened.

Hall Master 'Hong' and the six inspectors were all present.

The meeting mainly discussed whether to announce Luo Feng's death externally and the distribution of Luo Feng's assets.

"Everyone, I still do not agree to announce Luo Feng's death." Xiao Yu spoke.

"Luo Feng has been inside the No. 9 Ancient Civilization Ruins for a full year; even if initially he couldn't understand the language or read the characters, the longest anyone could survive and come out is just over seven months in there! After understanding the language and characters, the longest is just one and a half months." A white person said slowly.

"Before me, no one had participated in the death trial." Xiao Yu said: "Perhaps Luo Feng is also undertaking the death trial task in the elite channel. My limit is one month; perhaps his task limit is one year, two years, or even three years."

With Xiao Yu's precedent, no one could refute this argument.

"Then when should death be confirmed? There should be a limit, right." A black-robed black person said.

"Two years, then—let's set the limit at two years." Xiao Yu said.

"Good, two years as the limit; for now we'll maintain Luo Feng's missing status, but transfer the cash portion of his assets to his family, while the ownership of the remainder remains unchanged." Black-haired man Hong said.

After the Round Table meeting, Xiao Yu personally went to Luo Feng's home to visit Luo Feng's parents. Xiao Yu's parents also often visited Luo Feng's home, and the two families frequently interacted.

Even Xu Xin often came to see Luo Feng's parents.

Luo Feng's cash is no small amount—he still has billions of Huaxia Currency. Just the materials from the three High-level Lord Monsters he hunted during the first-tier beast tide are worth nearly billions of Huaxia Currency, and adding the tens of billions of Huaxia Currency he won from betting matches at the Elite Training Camp, the total surely exceeds billions.

After obtaining such a large sum of funds, Luo Hua made big moves in Earth's stock market, quickly becoming the eighth shareholder of Huaxia Nation's Industrial and Commercial Bank.

The Poison Scorpion and Vulture couple, upon hearing the news that Luo Feng had not returned from the No. 9 Civilization, were overjoyed; deep down they had already confirmed Luo Feng's death.

He then had people go cause trouble for Luo Feng's parents, deliberately creating some disputes.

Because Luo Feng caught the attention of Li Dawei, he was granted a quota of a thousand personal guards, whom he assigned to protect his family.

Furthermore, Xiao Yu resides in the Yangzhou Cheng Mingyue Xiaoqu.

They only dared to act on the two days when Xiao Yu went out to headquarters to spar with Hong, stirring up trouble—for example, finding a shrew to harass Luo Feng's mother and starting a fight.

Any somewhat larger trouble was stopped by the personal guards.

Even such minor matters were noticed by Luo Hua, who spent a lot of money to hire some high-ranking warrior guards for his parents.

The Poison Scorpion and Vulture duo even considered whether to take action themselves.

——

Luo Feng followed Hong's alluring personal guard into the No. 9 Civilization Ruins; upon entry, he was detected to have a brain domain width of 21, reaching the Spiritual Mind Master level, which meets the activation standard for the elite channel. After entering, in the Nine Palaces Labyrinth he encountered an encirclement and interception by eighteen black-robed individuals.

Luo Feng, who had cultivated the Fivefold Ninefold Lightning Blade, was somewhat stronger than in the original work; after dispelling three black-robed figures, while breaking out to find an exit, he was enveloped by a crystal structure five meters high and eight meters long and wide.

The death trial mission was activated.

Passing brings reward; failure results in death.

Passing brings reward; failure results in death.

Upon hearing this news, Luo Feng was very worried.

First, he worried that being unable to leave for so long would cause the Extreme Martial Arts Hall to announce his death, making his family anxious.

As for his family's safety, he wasn't worried, because his good friend Xiao Yu was in Jiangnan Base City, and those people would not dare to act.

The second is worrying about Xu Xin—what would happen if she found out about his death?

For that reason, he worked even harder, risking his life in cultivation.

Finally, after one year and two months, on November 29, 2058.

Luo Feng, after successfully controlling 16 flying blades, broke through the room, passed the assessment, and completed the death assessment task.

He obtained four rewards: the Black God Set, the Auxiliary Light Brain, the Control Master's Attack Method "Heavenly Escape", and the Falling Ink Star Token.

In fact there was another: the Controller's Secret Transmission "Basic 312 Form".

—

On November 29, 2058, the monthly Sparring Day began.

Hong, Lei Shen, and Xiao Yu began sparring in a training arena the size of a football field. At first they fought individually, but when Xiao Yu's formation showed some strength, even Hong's Light Domain, already at the second layer, began to show signs of defeat.

Hong and Lei Shen started cooperating; their teamwork was seamless, a textbook example of one plus one being greater than two.

However, with Xiao Yu now at ten times amplitude and fifteen times gene tier, his power equals 150 times the peak of Planetary-level Ninth Tier. Even showing only ten percent of his strength would still be fifteen times that peak.

Lei Shen is currently only at Planetary-level Eighth Tier, with seven times amplitude, a level he only reached thanks to being crushed in every battle and constantly striving.

As for Hong, his power remains at Planetary-level Sixth Tier, though his Domain has reached the second layer.

When Xiao Yu fought him, his strength was heavily suppressed; however, the gap between them was so large that even a fifty‑percent suppression wouldn't suffice.

Xiao Yu always has to hold back a bit when sparring with them in reality.

But in Virtual Space, the sparring is unrestricted.

Without power limits, Xiao Yu essentially one‑against‑two and instantly kills.

When physical attributes are capped at Planetary-level Sixth Tier, Xiao Yu can only draw with Hong, unable to win. Against Lei Shen, however, he remains crushed, the amplitude gap being significant.

"I've always been pressed down by Hong, I accepted it, after all we're from the same era. Now even a junior is stronger than me!" Lei Shen collapsed on the sofa, speaking despondently.

"Lei Shen, the power‑application technique can be used not only for strength and speed but also for defense. Your defense can't keep up, that won't do."

Previously in Virtual Space, in the battles between Xiao Yu and Lei Shen, Lei Shen was shocked to death seven out of ten times, even with combat suit protection.

"Curator, Luo Feng is out," Hong suddenly received a message transmitted from within the Site 9 Civilization Relic.

"Good," Hong said happily. After hanging up the video, he turned to Xiao Yu and said, "Your judgment was correct. Luo Feng is out. Thank you!"

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(End of Chapter)