Predicament

The Golden Horned Beast strode through the waters of the endless Youhai, its hooves like celestial pillars, tens of thousands of kilometers high, its body stretching over ninety thousand kilometers long. Its scaled tail rivaled the main divine body in size... and its scaled wings, when spread, seemed to cover the heavens and earth, imbued with boundless divine power. Every inch of its divine body's skin perfectly matched the top-tier treasure set, the 'Beast God Armor'! Its natural scales merged with the treasure's scale pieces, and on its head were six sharp horns—five small and one large! Furthermore, due to the 'Beast God Armor,' the Golden Horned Beast appeared even more ferocious. "A perfect divine body!" "A divine body over ninety thousand kilometers long! My divine body's mass is much stronger than before now." Luo Feng was thrilled and overjoyed. From this point on, the innate secret technique 'I Am the Universe' could be unleashed at any time. Within his miniature universe, his strength would undoubtedly increase further. "Roar~~~" The Golden Horned Beast raised its head and let out a joyful roar. "Everything is ready. It's time to find that Tianyang Venerable," Luo Feng smiled. "Back then, it was precisely because I couldn't deal with Tianyang Venerable, feeling my strength was lacking, that I first exchanged for the domain-type supreme treasure 'Nine Xia River' with my race's contribution points, and then sought to obtain the fourth black metal board. I never expected so many things to happen." His original plan was merely to obtain the fourth black metal board, allowing the Golden Horned Beast to achieve a perfect divine body to unleash 'I Am the Universe.' But now, things were even better than planned! With the top-tier supreme treasure set 'Beast God Armor,' the high-tier supreme treasure 'Zhan Yue,' and his self-created ultimate secret technique for Universe Masters... his mastery of the Secret Pattern Flow, cultivated over 180 million years, made Luo Feng far more confident. Dealing with the Mechanical Race's Tianyang Venerable... would surely be effortless, allowing him to seize the other pair of supreme treasure wings. "The problem now is, I need to find this Tianyang Venerable." Luo Feng, wearing his Calamity Armor, carrying the Zhan Yue Blade on his back, and with his Shi Wu Wings unfurled... brought his Golden Horned Beast clone and other clones into his World Ring, then directly left his God Kingdom and headed for the Primitive Region. Although his main clones were heading to the Primitive Region, normal human powerhouses would usually condense a clone to connect to the 'Virtual Universe.' But Luo Feng didn't need to— Because the endless Youhai was Luo Feng's largest divine body, and also one of his clones. Through the Virtual Universe sensor, Luo Feng's consciousness could naturally connect to the Virtual Universe. ... In the Virtual Universe, within Hong Alliance City in the starry sky, at the open-air bar specifically for Hong Alliance Universe Venerables to exchange information. Luo Feng walked in. "Luo Feng." "Daohe." Along the way, other Universe Venerables greeted Luo Feng warmly. However, once Luo Feng walked away, they all shielded their surroundings and quietly discussed: "When the Primitive Region was about to open, many Universe Venerables borrowed supreme treasures from Luo Feng. I heard even Luo Feng's senior brother, Guiyi Venerable, went to borrow one, but Luo Feng stubbornly refused, saying he also wanted to go to the Primitive Region. Yet, almost two epochs have passed since the Primitive Region opened, and he has never entered." "If his strength isn't enough, is he going to seek death? He's not a fool. If he went in, he'd be a walking treasure trove, and with his fame, he'd be targeted immediately. Those foreign races would definitely besiege him. But what he did was indeed not good. If he wasn't brave enough to enter, he shouldn't have used such an excuse! If he truly didn't want to lend them, he should have just said so directly." "Exactly, wouldn't it have been simpler to be straightforward? Fabricating that he also wanted to enter, truly..." This open-air bar gathered thousands of Hong Alliance Universe Venerables. When Luo Feng arrived, it did indeed cause some discussion, but it was all private... After all, Luo Feng was able to kill Howling Mirror King at the Undying level, and once he stepped into the Universe Venerable stage, becoming a 'Universe Overlord' was almost a certainty. No one truly wanted to offend Luo Feng. "Niuzhou Venerable," Luo Feng called out. The burly man with three horns on his head, holding a large wine glass, turned his head and immediately laughed heartily: "Daohe!" He walked over. "Let's sit over there." Luo Feng walked directly to an empty table and sat down on one of the massive chairs. Because the divine body structures of powerhouses from various Hong Alliance races differed, these chairs, though exquisite, shared a common characteristic—they were huge! Niuzhou Venerable sat down directly. Luo Feng casually ordered a fruit wine, and an Undying attendant immediately brought the fine drink. Being an attendant here... was definitely a dream for many Undying powerhouses, as they could easily meet Universe Venerables whom they rarely saw. If they were lucky, they might even forge a connection with a certain Universe Venerable. They could also occasionally hear some confidential information from the universe. "Daohe, you're a busy man; you wouldn't come looking for me for no reason," Niuzhou Venerable said, setting down his large wine glass with a hearty laugh. "Tell me, what's up." The surrounding sounds had already been shielded. "Help me investigate a foreign race Venerable," Luo Feng said. "Who?" Niuzhou Venerable asked. "Tianyang Venerable," Luo Feng replied. "I want to know information about this Tianyang Venerable, which Primitive Region he's in, and his coordinates within that Primitive Region." "The Mechanical Race's Universe Overlord, 'Tianyang Venerable,' the one famous throughout the universe for his 'Eight Shuttles'?" Niuzhou Venerable was surprised. "What do you want with him? He's not easy to deal with. Although not as terrifying as some heaven-defying special lifeform Universe Overlords, he's still an extremely troublesome Universe Overlord." "You don't need to worry about that. Just do me this favor," Luo Feng said. "Once you get the information, notify me." "Alright, small matter." Niuzhou Venerable nodded. "Haha, thanks. Come, let's drink." Luo Feng raised his wine glass. His consciousness was merely in the Virtual Universe via the Youhai, so he was naturally relaxed. He immediately chatted casually with Niuzhou Venerable about some events that had occurred in the Primitive Region. Indeed, many things had happened over the past nearly twenty thousand years. ... As Luo Feng and Niuzhou Venerable were drinking, they suddenly heard an angry shout. "Ganwu! It's not that I'm being overly pushy, but I was just killed in the Primitive Region and resurrected by a Universe Master reversing time and space! You must understand the price of this resurrection... This time, reversing time and space for my resurrection has caused my debt to the race in contribution points to reach 1.3 supreme treasure points! All the contribution I accumulated over countless years has been given to the race, and it's still not enough to cover this deficit; I'm still short. The treasures you owe me... I didn't press you before, but now..." An angry, high-pitched voice rang out. Many Universe Venerables in the open-air bar looked over. Luo Feng and Niuzhou Venerable also looked. "Hmm?" Luo Feng frowned slightly. In another corner, two powerhouses were seated. One was the angry, scolding foreign race Venerable with purple skin and silver scalp, and the other was the Ganwu Country Lord. The Ganwu Country Lord also looked embarrassed, glancing around before quickly shielding the surrounding sounds and continuing to speak persuasively. "Shield what?!" "Why shield it?" The foreign race Venerable once again broke through the surrounding shield and angrily said, "Ganwu, our friendship spans billions of years. You owe me, and I know it hasn't been easy for you, so I never demanded it... But now I'm in such a state. I urge you, but you always procrastinate... You truly make me..." The Ganwu Country Lord sat there, his expression grim. Seeing this, the foreign race Venerable gradually lowered his voice and stopped shouting. ... "What's going on?" Luo Feng frowned. "It's still because of reversing time and space for resurrection!" Niuzhou Venerable shook his head with a sigh. "Reversing time and space for resurrection goes against the laws of the universe, so every time, a Universe Master will also be injured. Like that foreign race Venerable 'Mei Lie Venerable' just now. He's a high-tier Universe Venerable... As you know, resurrecting a Universe Overlord requires the Giant Axe Creator to act." Luo Feng nodded. Yes, even if Chaos City Lord were to resurrect a Universe Overlord, the backlash would be enough to cause Chaos City Lord's demise. "Resurrecting a high-tier Universe Venerable will injure a Universe Master, and the injuries are not light," Niuzhou Venerable lamented. "With a Universe Master acting and getting injured, the cost of each such action is naturally not small. For example, Mei Lie Venerable's death in the Primitive Region this time, after being resurrected... his debt to the race in contribution points also reached 1.3 supreme treasure points. This is equivalent to a common supreme treasure. Ordinary Universe Venerables simply cannot repay it and can only slowly repay it over a long period." "As for Ganwu Country Lord, he's even worse off than Mei Lie Venerable." "Worse off?" Luo Feng frowned. "Indeed." Niuzhou Venerable said, "The 1008 Country Lords are all extremely ancient Universe Venerables." Luo Feng nodded. Right, ever since the number of Countries reached 1008, the human race had not established any new Countries, mainly because there wasn't enough territory. Clearly, those who held the position of 1008 Country Lords were indeed very ancient Universe Venerables. "Living long also means their potential has almost been fully tapped," Niuzhou Venerable shook his head with a sigh. "Over countless epochs, Ganwu Country Lord has died three times, and all three times he was resurrected by reversing time and space. But the cost of being resurrected... was immense. Especially one time when he died in the Primitive Region and lost the supreme treasures he had borrowed. Although he didn't lose supreme treasures the other two times, he did lose some set treasures and the like." Luo Feng sighed inwardly upon hearing this. Indeed. One death, and supreme treasures are lost. "If he had truly died, that would be that. But after being resurrected, those who had lent him supreme treasures naturally came to demand them back," Niuzhou Venerable continued. "Debts to the race can be repaid slowly; they won't be too pushy. But debts to other powerhouses are often demanded. It's not easy for other powerhouses to obtain even one supreme treasure." "Ganwu Country Lord has been resurrected three times by reversing time and space, and he owes six Universe Venerables. He also owes the race," Niuzhou Venerable said helplessly. "He can't recover unless his strength greatly increases and he steps into the Universe Overlord level. But he hasn't reached that level despite cultivating for so long; wanting to reach it now? Difficult!" "In fact, those ancient Country Lords, even with the ability to have clones, dare not borrow supreme treasures to go to dangerous places like the Primitive Region. They're afraid of dying and being unable to repay." "Only those with strength, or ambition, dare to borrow supreme treasures." "Currently, Ganwu Country Lord stays in the Ganwu Country for long-term secluded cultivation, and manages the Country, nurturing generations of successors. This is also a way to earn contribution points. Although it's very slow, it's safe. Or he goes to less dangerous Universe Secret Realms," Niuzhou Venerable said. "Falling to this state... he can only be considered unlucky." "However, this is within our human race, where Universe Masters reverse time and space to resurrect people again and again." "If it were in a weaker race, if you died, you'd truly be dead. So he's still fortunate; he died three times and was resurrected each time." Luo Feng turned to look. Ganwu Country Lord and Mei Lie Venerable were communicating, clearly trying to appease the other's emotions.