Apprenticeship

"I admit my starting point is very low," Luo Feng said, though a clear disparity weighed on his heart. On Earth, especially in martial arts, he had always been a genius. From a young age, he excelled among his peers in the Martial Arts Hall! In high school, he was the best in his school! Even after becoming a Warrior and entering the global elite training camp, he remained the most outstanding! At just 21 years old, he became a Planet-level powerhouse, one of the six great Inspectors! He could even go head-to-head with the Third Speaker! Yet, according to Babata... his aptitude was pitifully low! But Luo Feng understood that what the other party said was indeed true; it was just that the scope was placed within the vast cosmos. "Babata, if I don't take over a body, how long would it take me to cultivate to Star-level? How long to Universe-level?" Luo Feng pressed. "Fifty years to Star-level, I'm confident," Babata said confidently, "Five hundred years to Universe-level, no problem! As for becoming a Domain Lord... with all the preparations my master left for his disciple before his death, 5,000 to 10,000 years should be enough! I'm absolutely certain about these four stages. As for becoming a Sector Lord... it might take 100,000 years, but that's just barely, it might even take longer." "Fifty years to Star-level? Five hundred years to Universe-level?" Luo Feng blinked twice. The time seemed quite long. From birth until now, Luo Feng was only just over 20 years old. Five hundred years, that was too long. In Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels, Sun Wukong was trapped under the Five-Finger Mountain for only 500 years, and Huaxia Nation's culture was only 5,000 years old. Too long. "What, you think that's long?" The black-robed child, Babata, immediately jumped up in a rage, baring his fangs and roaring, "Luo Feng, you need to understand, the entire Milky Way Galaxy, where your Earth is located, normally only produces one Universe-level! Do you think Universe-level is so easy to achieve? And your aptitude is still so low. If I weren't stuck on Earth... looking across the cosmos, countless geniuses of various human races would be kneeling and begging me, Babata, to become my master's disciple." "Do you know my master's identity?" "The Yunmo Star Master!!!" "He's not just an Immortal being, but a 'powerhouse' among Immortal powerhouses! My master had a total of nine Immortal powerhouse servants under him! Looking across the cosmos, even a mid-level cosmic civilization, such a vast nation! They would be respectful and dare not utter a single word of dissent in front of my master! Even high-level cosmic civilizations would treat my master with utmost courtesy! My master, he walked sideways across the cosmos! Do you understand? With my master's meticulous preparations and arrangements, he can enable someone with your weak aptitude to reach Star-level in 50 years, Universe-level in 500 years, Domain Lord in 5,000 to 10,000 years, and even Sector Lord in 100,000 years! And you still complain it's too long?" Babata roared in exasperation, "You truly don't know how good you have it!!!" Luo Feng actually understood... After all, in the Ancient Civilization Ruin No. 9, it was determined that Luo Feng had no hope of reaching Universe-level, let alone Domain Lord or Sector Lord! One must know, only one Sector Lord emerges from every 1,000 star systems through normal evolution! Within these 1,000 star systems, there are probably billions of geniuses from various human races far more talented than Luo Feng, yet countless of them cannot become Sector Lords... The difficulty of becoming a Sector Lord was imaginable! "Babata, what did you just say, nine Immortal powerhouse servants?" Luo Feng's eyes widened. "Are those Immortal powerhouse corpses outside all servants?" Having not decayed in 50,000 years, with hair and skin still lifelike, Luo Feng naturally guessed that, apart from the one reduced to golden bones, the others were all Immortal powerhouses. But he hadn't expected... them to be servants! "Hmph!" Babata lifted his head, a proud expression on his face. "Do you understand my master's greatness now?" "Among the seven corpses inside this 'Yunmo Star Ship,' one has decayed, leaving only bones. The other six are Immortal." Babata looked at Luo Feng. "You must have seen that among the six Immortal powerhouses, one has a large hole in its chest, yet no internal organs, right?" "Yes," Luo Feng nodded. "That was an enemy, an Immortal powerhouse of the Machine Race." Babata sneered, "But he came in only to die. Did he think a heavily wounded master was so easy to provoke?" "Machine Race?" Luo Feng silently noted. That was a race completely different from humans, their bodies not composed of flesh and blood. "The other five Immortal corpses are all my master's servants! My master actually had nine great Immortal powerhouse servants in total, but in that battle back then... too many supreme powerhouses from across the cosmos were involved. Four of my master's Immortal servants perished, and my master's soul was also severely damaged, cutting off his life force. Even this powerful 'Yunmo Star Ship' suffered heavy damage." Babata shook his head. Luo Feng listened in shock. Four Immortal powerhouses perished? The Yunmo Star Master's life force cut off? "Actually, my master had reached a stage where even if his body and soul were obliterated, as long as a single cell fragment remained, he could be reborn. It's just that the enemy back then was even stronger than my master, and their methods were too ruthless." Babata shook his head. "Is that even human?" Luo Feng was dumbfounded in shock. Body and soul destroyed, even the soul gone, yet a single cell fragment could allow rebirth? "Don't be surprised. At my master's realm, every single cell fragment contains a soul imprint (mental imprint), so rebirth is naturally possible." Babata was very proud. "And my master's life-saving methods weren't just this one. He had many other techniques... It's just a pity that in the vast cosmos, over endless eons, there are indeed beings stronger than my master!" Luo Feng nodded slightly. There's always a higher mountain, one should never be too arrogant. "Babata, you said my Earth belongs to the low-level cosmic civilization, the 'Silverblue Empire'!" "And the Silverblue Empire is controlled by the mid-level cosmic civilization, the 'Black Dragon Mountain Empire,' which governs over 8,000 star systems." "What about high-level cosmic civilizations?" Luo Feng pressed. Babata smiled slightly: "Luo Feng, in the cosmos, a map unit, 1 star sector, typically contains about 1,000 to 20,000 star systems. Of course, there are also extremely rare super-small star sectors, and extremely rare super-large ones! The Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector, for example, has over 8,000 star systems. Above a star sector is a star region! The largest unit in the cosmos. One star region, on average, contains about 10,000 star sectors, roughly equivalent to 100 million star systems. Of course, different star regions vary in size. Your Earth belongs to the 'Ganwu Great Star Region, Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector, Milky Way Galaxy'," Babata said. "And the Ganwu Great Star Region governs over 13,000 star sectors, with more than 100 million star systems, and is ruled by the high-level cosmic civilization, the 'Ganwu Universe Nation.' It has nearly a thousand mid-level cosmic civilization vassal states under its jurisdiction. This is considered one of the highest-level cosmic nations among the human race in the vast cosmos." Luo Feng took a deep breath. The highest-level nation in the cosmos? It governed over 13,000 star sectors? Had nearly a thousand vassal states like the Black Dragon Mountain Empire? Low-level civilizations like the Silverblue Empire were probably as numerous as grains of sand... No wonder they were seen as ants in the Yunmo Star Master's eyes. "High-level cosmic civilization, mid-level cosmic civilization, low-level cosmic civilization." Luo Feng silently noted these three tiers. "My Earth belongs to the Ganwu Great Star Region, Black Dragon Mountain Star Sector, Milky Way Galaxy." "Don't aim too high too soon." Babata admonished, "The 'Ganwu Universe Nation' has existed for an incredibly long time, and its territory is so vast... even Immortal powerhouses couldn't explore it all in endless eons." Luo Feng nodded. The Milky Way Galaxy alone has a diameter of over 100,000 light-years, and the Ganwu Universe Nation has over 100 million star systems. How immense was that? "Luo Feng." Babata looked at Luo Feng. "In the vast cosmos, the human race is just one of the peak races! Do you know why humans can be at the peak?" "Hmm?" Luo Feng was puzzled. "Sheer numbers!" Babata stated solemnly. "Humans are divided into many races. The Manka Star people and Longke people I mentioned earlier are extremely powerful bloodlines! However, there are thousands of human bloodlines, some strong, some weak! Earth's bloodline is relatively low, but don't feel inferior; there are plenty of races in the cosmos even weaker than Earthlings. With many human races and even greater numbers, they became one of the peak races in the cosmos." "Besides the peak races, there are all sorts of strange life forms and races in the cosmos! Don't ever think these life forms and races are easy to deal with! They only have a low status in the cosmos because their numbers are too small, but in terms of individual power, many racial life forms are astonishing. All kinds of strange and peculiar life forms, numbering in the thousands, are very unique. Most have relatively weak combat power, but many are quite strong. Among humans, the Manka Star people become 'Domain Lords' upon reaching adulthood, making them one of the most abnormal few. However... in the vast cosmos, there are a very few unique life forms even stronger than the Manka Star people! The most famous among them are the 'Starry Sky Behemoths'." "Starry Sky Behemoths, once they reach their peak, can roam the cosmic starry sky with their physical bodies," Babata said. Luo Feng was secretly astonished. "Starry Sky Behemoths are divided into many types. The weakest, upon birth, are 'Planet-level,' reach 'Star-level' during their growth period, and 'Universe-level' at their peak. These are the weakest Starry Sky Behemoths. Some are similar to Manka Star people: 'Planet-level' in their infancy, 'Star-level' during growth, 'Universe-level' in their youth, and 'Domain Lord' at their peak. The most terrifying Starry Sky Behemoths are 'Planet-level' in their infancy... 'Universe-level' in their youth, 'Domain Lord' in their prime, and 'Sector Lord' at their peak. This is the absolute pinnacle in the cosmos." Babata looked at Luo Feng. "Immortal powerhouses cannot be achieved through bloodline alone, so a bloodline capable of reaching Sector Lord is the ultimate peak bloodline." "Among humans, the most peak bloodlines can grow to Domain Lord. That's considered very excellent. However, in the cosmos, there are bloodlines that can directly grow to 'Sector Lord,' which is truly heaven-defying. Of course... defying the heavens incurs heaven's jealousy. Their numbers are astonishingly small!" Babata chuckled, "For example, the peak bloodline among the Starry Sky Behemoths—the 'Blaze Star Behemoth.' A Blaze Star Behemoth is born inside a star; high temperatures and flames cannot harm it. It usually devours many stars and spends many years before it can become a Sector Lord. Once it becomes a Sector Lord, it no longer needs to devour stars. A Blaze Star Behemoth has a long lifespan! But from its birth to death, roaming the cosmos, it might not even encounter a second Blaze Star Behemoth! There are a few other life forms similar to Starry Sky Behemoths. Without exception, they are pitifully few!" Babata shook his head. "However, if you encounter such life forms in the cosmos later, you must be careful." Luo Feng nodded slightly. My goodness, a Starry Sky Behemoth that eats stars, truly heaven-defying! It's a pity it might never encounter another of its kind in its entire life; their numbers are truly small. "In summary, there are countless human races in the cosmos, and countless other strange life forms. The vast cosmos is so complex that even Immortal powerhouses find it hard to fully comprehend. Even someone as strong as my master can fall." Babata looked at Luo Feng. "Luo Feng, my master once said before his death... no matter how powerful you become, you must always hold reverence for the cosmos!" Luo Feng nodded. The Yunmo Star Master, with nine great Immortal powerhouse servants under him, still perished! "Luo Feng, make your decision: will you take my master as your teacher?" Babata looked at Luo Feng. "If you become his disciple, you will receive the many gifts my master prepared for his disciple. Of course, you can choose not to become his disciple." Babata smiled slightly, baring two fangs. "If you don't, to keep my master's secrets, I will have no choice but to kill you. Choose now, the choice is yours."