The Gathering of Eight Hegemons

The two True Gods who ventured to the Beast God Lair, the 'Dim Land,' were Hong, who had only recently become a True God three hundred billion epochs ago, and the Demon Eye True God, from the first reincarnation era of the Universe Ocean. While they were considered ordinary among all True Gods in the Universe Ocean, they shared two common traits:

First, both possessed mechanical-type treasures.

Second, both had exceptionally strong willpower!

They traveled to the Dim Land aboard a True God-level battleship, but upon reaching its periphery, they were attacked by Beast Gods and fled in terror.

***

Within the vast chaotic currents of the Universe Ocean, besides the Four Great Perilous Lands, there were other dangerous areas. Of course, some of these had been claimed by True God powerhouses as their residences.

Juehe Sea was one such place.

Originally named 'Golden Sand Sea,' True Gods, though not fearing it, dared not recklessly traverse it. However, after Juehe True God's strength greatly advanced in Jinzhi World, he swept through the Golden Sand Sea upon his return. He even placed a palace supreme treasure at its center, making it his residence.

“Be careful, everyone. Our teacher is about to host the other seven most supreme powerhouses of the Universe Ocean. You must not be negligent,” a Universe Master with a pair of reddish-bronze curved horns on his head looked down and instructed a group of Universe Venerables.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes, sir.” All the Universe Venerables responded with utmost respect.

The Universe Master with the reddish-bronze horns nodded. “Go and prepare.”

The Universe Venerables immediately dispersed, quietly communicating with each other, filled with excitement and anticipation.

Juehe True God was a solitary True God.

Although he had remained low-key and cultivated in seclusion for a long time during the second reincarnation era, his strength was undeniably formidable. Many special lifeforms and affiliated groups served him. This time, to host the other seven super powerhouses, Juehe True God specifically summoned some Universe Venerables from his miniature universe to serve as attendants.

“The other seven hegemons will arrive soon. We are actually privileged enough to meet these seven hegemons of the Universe Ocean.”

“Including our teacher, that makes eight hegemons.”

“They’ll be here any moment.”

These Universe Venerables eagerly awaited their arrival.

After a long while, two streaks of light flew from afar, astonishingly fast, quickly decelerating as they approached.

“Haha, Shenyan, Beichi, you two arrived together!”

A barefoot, fiery-skinned deity emerged from the palace. He strode forward, treading through the void, with each step radiating strange fiery blossoms. His head was adorned with dozens of small golden horns, and his six eyes glowed with emerald light.

“The others haven’t arrived yet?”

“You two are the first; the others must be close behind.” Juehe personally welcomed them, and the three conversed as they entered the palace.

***

After Shenyan True Master and Beichi Star Master arrived, Haizhu soon followed.

Next was Nine-Headed Demon Master.

“Boom~~~” Three magnificent streaks of light flew from afar.

The previously arrived Haizhu, Shenyan True Master, Beichi Star Master, Nine-Headed Demon Master, and the host, Juehe True God, all personally stepped out to greet them. The three streaks of light in the distance transformed into three figures: one was a human male in golden robes, with a faint smile and eyes subtly flickering with strange golden light.

Another was an eccentric middle-aged man with a pale complexion and black secret patterns on his face, exuding an eerie charm.

In the center of the two was a man in seemingly ordinary white robes. He surveyed his surroundings, his eyes containing an incredible demonic power… Simply meeting his gaze caused even Juehe True God, Shenyan True Master, and the others to tremble.

These three were, respectively, the highest authority of the Universe Ocean’s largest power—Chaos City Master! The representative of the Ancestral God Sect, the second largest power in the Original Universe, and one possessing an ‘undying body’—Jiuyou True Master! And the third… was the universally acknowledged strongest powerhouse in the entire Universe Ocean, rumored to wield immense power in Jinzhi World—Yinhe Lord!

“Chaos, Jiuyou, Yinhe, only you three were left.”

The other five all welcomed them.

The entire power structure of the Universe Ocean had completely changed.

Ancient civilizations significantly increased the probability of True God emergence. However, True Gods could only be born within the Original Universe! Therefore, the strongest force in the Universe Ocean now belonged to the Original Universe era; the first and second reincarnation eras combined could not compare to it.

As for the two Holy Lands?

Dealing with Beast Gods relied on True Gods!

And the two Holy Lands had no notable True Gods, so they had long been excluded.

Currently, in terms of the number of True Gods:

Huaxia Nation ranked first, Ancestral God Sect ranked second, and Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance ranked third. This was the ranking within the Original Universe.

Most of those who became True Gods within trillions of epochs were those who had already become Universe Masters. For example, the Demon Race, Bug Clan, and Machine Race, among others, had over 200 Universe Masters annihilated by Luo Feng in Jinzhi World. This batch of Universe Masters had achieved their status without ancient civilization inheritances and were all elite, having undergone rigorous selection.

Because Luo Feng wiped them out, the remaining Universe Masters of the Demon Race and Bug Clan were few and far between, naturally resulting in very few True Gods being born from them!

However, the Ancestral God Sect and Starry Sky Behemoth Alliance suffered no losses, leading to a greater number of True Gods!

In fact, the foreign races within the Hong Alliance were numerous, and logically, more True Gods should have emerged from them. But… after the dissolution of the allied forces, the greatest threat to humanity came from these very foreign races within the Hong Alliance! These foreign races, after all, numbered in the hundreds of Universe Masters, while humanity only had about 20 at the time.

The disparity in strength was too great.

Humanity naturally had to suppress them.

Over the past ten thousand epochs, humanity’s primary focus had been suppressing the foreign races within the Hong Alliance. If they hadn’t been suppressed and allowed to develop freely, humanity might now lack the ability to restrain them. It was precisely because of this continuous suppression and control that these foreign races dared not harbor rebellious thoughts and could only respect humanity as their leader.

***

To counter the Beast God crisis, reliance was placed on the most supreme powerhouses.

After all, there were only so many True Gods in the Universe Ocean; victory could not be achieved through numbers, only through quality! Thus, over trillions of epochs… through the gains and tempering in Jinzhi World, eight universally recognized supreme beings emerged in the Universe Ocean, becoming the eight strongest.

The first was Shenyan True Master, long hailed as the strongest! He hailed from the first reincarnation era.

The second was the strongest of the Haizu race, Haizhu. The Haizu and Shenyan races had contended for an unknown duration, and Haizhu also had significant encounters in Jinzhi World, rapidly growing in strength to rival Shenyan True Master.

Third was Beichi Star Master. He frequently gave public lectures at the Black-Patterned Stone Pillar, a highly respected and extremely powerful figure.

These were the three from the first reincarnation era.

Fourth was Juehe True God.

Fifth was Nine-Headed Demon Master.

These two were the strongest of the second reincarnation era, both special lifeforms. Clearly, special lifeform powerhouses held a high status in the Universe Ocean. For instance, ‘Guest of Mountain,’ who always remained low-key and avoided all conflicts; although everyone knew this old fellow was powerful, no one knew exactly how powerful, so he wasn't included among the eight hegemons.

Sixth was Jiuyou True Master, whose seemingly infinite divine power was envied by countless powerhouses.

Seventh was Chaos City Master. Even as a Universe Master, he was exceptionally brilliant. After becoming a True God, and through long periods of cultivation, especially with Luo Feng as his excellent disciple, the detailed ancient civilization inheritances allowed Chaos City Master’s strength to reach an extremely high level.

Eighth was Yinhe Lord. Luo Feng’s strength continued to puzzle the major powers of the Universe Ocean. Because Luo Feng was merely a Universe Master, yet he possessed the strength of the ‘Universe Ocean’s strongest’… It should be noted that other True Gods understood divine power burning secret techniques and mechanical-type treasures, yet they still couldn't defeat Luo Feng.

If Shenyan True Master had once fought Luo Feng trillions of epochs ago, now, the other seven hegemons… had all publicly admitted that they were no match for Luo Feng.

Clearly, over trillions of epochs, although Luo Feng had not broken through, his strength had become even greater than before!

***

In the center of the endlessly swirling sand sea, within the magnificent palace, around a crystalline round table, stood eight grand thrones. The table was laden with exquisite fruits and fruit wines sourced from various reincarnation eras of the Universe Ocean.

Luo Feng and the other seven took their seats.

“Your human Illusory Heart True God and the Demon Eye True God from the first reincarnation era went to the Dim Land.” As the fiery-skinned Juehe True God spoke, flames naturally spewed from his mouth and nostrils. “Yinhe, Chaos, you two must know quite a bit about the Dim Land, right?”

Chaos City Master nodded. “Hong and Demon Eye, both of them are True Gods exceptionally skilled in illusion techniques! They are also extremely proficient in willpower… When they cautiously arrived at the edge of the Dim Land, they were immediately attacked by three Beast Gods simultaneously. While safe inside their battleship, the moment they stepped out, the three Beast Gods roared in unison. Although they could resist the invisible soul attacks, Hong and Demon Eye still suffered greatly. Immediately after, the three Beast Gods attacked simultaneously, and the Demon Eye True God was instantly severely wounded. They immediately retreated and fled.”

“First, the Beast Gods’ soul attacks are extremely powerful. One must possess a soul supreme treasure! Even then, it will still be very painful, and you must remember that both their willpowers surpass the True God level,” Chaos City Master stated solemnly. “Second, the Beast Gods’ strength is immense, completely surpassing theirs. And merely an energy attack severely wounded the Demon Eye True God; they didn’t even truly engage in combat. The energy used by the Beast Gods is different from our divine power; the Beast Gods’ energy will furiously annihilate our divine power. Of course, while annihilating our divine power, the Beast Gods’ energy will also gradually dissipate.”

Luo Feng nodded. “Indeed, it’s like a power completely opposite to divine power.”

Luo Feng had experienced this power firsthand on Haolei Star Master back then.

Now, the Beast Gods were using this very power!

This was why, despite possessing mechanical-type treasures, the Demon Eye True God was quickly severely wounded. Because both Demon Eye True God and Hong had ordinary divine bodies and simply couldn't withstand the consumption.

“To deal with Beast Gods, ordinary True Gods won’t suffice,” Shenyan True Master gently shook his head. “And we still don’t know how many Beast Gods are left!”