Yuxiang Mountain

This was a combat sword-shaped spaceship, approximately 600 meters long, 100 meters wide, and nearly 100 meters thick. Its entire body was jet black, and even from a distance, one could sense an ancient aura emanating from it, as if it had existed in the river of time for an eternity.A cold wind blew, and snowflakes drifted.Through the falling snow, Luo Feng walked up to the ancient spaceship.“Guǐyán Stone Mother, this is an F-grade spaceship forged from Guǐyán Stone Mother!” Babata's exclamation echoed in his sea of consciousness.“I know it’s an F-grade spaceship,” Luo Feng thought, his gaze fixed ahead. A group of people emerged from the front hatch. Leading them was a lean, hawk-nosed old man, almost identical in appearance to an Earthling, clad in black combat attire. He had a head of sharp, short hair, a smiling face, and an ice-snow mark on his brow.The subtle sense of control over the world around him made Luo Feng realize that the other party was a Sector Lord, acknowledged by the universe's fundamental laws.“Sha Wu greets Your Highness!” the lean old man bowed slightly.“Greetings, Your Highness!”Behind him, a group of Domain Lords and Universe-level cultivators respectfully saluted Luo Feng.“Your Highness?” Luo Feng was taken aback.“It seems there are many things Your Highness is not yet aware of,” the lean old man chuckled. “Your Highness, let us board the spaceship first. It will take three years to reach the company’s universal headquarters from here, and we cannot waste time.”“Understood,” Luo Feng nodded.He then flew into the F-grade spaceship, respectfully escorted by the group. The interior of the spaceship was vast. The 'hilt' section of the combat sword-shaped vessel housed the main engine room, and other compartments filled almost the entire lower deck. Luo Feng now found himself in a luxurious and spacious hall on the upper deck, measuring 300 meters long and 60 meters wide.Comfortable sofas, mellow fine wine, and rare spirit fruits were already laid out. Behind them, beautiful maids stood ready to receive orders at any moment.“Your Highness, please be seated,” the lean old man said with a slight smile.Luo Feng and the lean old man then sat opposite each other.“This place is impressive,” Luo Feng nodded, looking around. “This F-grade spaceship, forged entirely from Guǐyán Stone Mother, is a treasure!”“Your Highness has excellent discernment,” the lean old man’s smile widened. “It’s forged from F6-grade Guǐyán Stone Mother metal. The sharp edges of the spaceship have been further reinforced and integrated with fundamental laws, making them incredibly keen. If it accelerates, it can directly pierce through a planet, passing straight through without significantly affecting its speed.”Luo Feng nodded.Like the Yunmo Star, in terms of materials, the Yunmo Star was actually even stronger.“Mr. Sha Wu, why do you address me as Your Highness?” Luo Feng asked, puzzled.“It seems Your Highness has many questions,” the lean old man smiled faintly. “Allow me to introduce myself first. I am Sha Wu, a Sector Lord within the ‘Apocalypse Sector’ of the Virtual Universe Company’s core echelon.”Luo Feng nodded slightly.Apocalypse Sector?The last of the Four Secret Sectors. In fact, the names of the Four Secret Sectors are quite easy to understand. Imagine the evolution of a world: first, it's a primordial, undifferentiated whole, hence ‘Primordial’; then it gradually begins to form, entering ‘Primeval’; finally, it becomes a vast expanse, thus ‘Heaven and Earth’; and when it's on the verge of decline and destruction, it naturally becomes ‘Apocalypse’.Primordial, Primeval, Heaven and Earth, Apocalypse—it feels like the evolutionary process of a world.“Core members of our Virtual Universe Company are very rare,” the lean old man smiled. “There are typically three ways to be inducted as a core member: first, through talent competitions and power contests that select the most elite geniuses from across the universe; second, through outstanding elites cultivated internally by the Virtual Universe Company itself; and third, a small number of Sector Lords who can be absorbed.”“A small number of Sector Lords?” Luo Feng was startled.Sector Lords don't even have the right to become core members.“Indeed,” the lean old man nodded. “Because ordinary Sector Lords have no hope of breaking through to Immortality, and some haven't even been acknowledged by the fundamental laws. Why would the company value or recruit them? After all, there are simply too many Sector Lords within the company.”Luo Feng couldn't help but nod.Yes, the Ganwu Universe Nation alone had millions of Sector Lords. So what about the Virtual Universe Company, one of the five great behemoths? Would it be a hundred times more than a universe nation? Or even more?“Only true elites and genuine powerhouses can become core members,” the lean old man smiled. “As for the address ‘Your Highness’… among the four Secret Sectors of the core echelon, the Apocalypse Sector is the outermost layer. Core members of the Apocalypse Sector, upon encountering members of the preceding three Secret Sectors, if the latter are below the Immortal level, must all address them as Your Highness!”“And Your Highness, you have entered the ‘Primeval Sector’, so your status is much higher,” the lean old man chuckled. “Furthermore, ordinary subordinates who are not part of the core echelon must address any core member below the Immortal level as Your Highness.”“Oh,” Luo Feng nodded slightly.Your Highness?In the universe, this is generally an honorific title given to princes, royal heirs, and similar figures. Clearly, core members of the Virtual Universe Company who are ‘below Immortal’ are akin to princes, holding the hope of becoming super powerhouses. In terms of status, they are far superior to the princes of universe nations, many of whom have no hope of inheriting the throne in their lifetime!“Your Highness, let us enter the Virtual Universe together,” the lean old man smiled. “I will take you to the Virtual Headquarters of my Virtual Universe Company.”“Oh?” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.The spaceship had already warped into the dark universe, its speed continuously climbing, reaching nearly 20 times the speed of light, and then it proceeded at this constant velocity through the dark universe.…Luo Feng first entered the most comfortable and luxurious lounge in the spaceship, then his consciousness connected to the Virtual Universe Network.…Now that Luo Feng was a core member, his virtual assistant, Babata, automatically gained a new function: upon entering the Virtual Universe, he could be directly teleported to a special plane within it.“Teleport!”Whoosh!Luo Feng vanished from the Nine Star Bay Community on Heilong Mountain Island.…Virtual Headquarters Plane.This was a floating mountain peak, enveloped in swirling mist, an incredibly massive mountain, even larger than an ordinary planet in reality. On one of its bluestone paths, a figure abruptly appeared—it was Luo Feng.“Hmm?” Luo Feng looked around.There were many people in the distance along this street, and buildings stretched out. To the far left, beautiful villas dotted the landscape.“Your Highness,” a figure ran from down the street—it was Sha Wu.“Mr. Sha Wu,” Luo Feng called out with a smile.“Your Highness,” the lean old man chuckled, “This entire plane is our Virtual Universe Company’s ‘Virtual Headquarters’. In fact, compared to the real headquarters, the Virtual Headquarters is actually more bustling. That’s because many important figures cannot always remain in the physical headquarters.”“Understood,” Luo Feng nodded.“Come,”The lean old man began to guide Luo Feng around. “This mountain, suspended amidst the clouds and mist, is called Yuxiang Mountain. Yuxiang Mountain has a diameter of approximately 89,000 kilometers.”“That big?” Luo Feng was astonished.Earth’s diameter is only a little over 10,000 kilometers. This single mountain peak is nearly seven times the diameter of Earth.“Of course, it has to be large, otherwise there wouldn’t be enough training grounds,” the lean old man chuckled. “The entire Yuxiang Mountain is divided into five districts: the ‘Primordial District’, ‘Primeval District’, ‘Heaven and Earth District’, ‘Apocalypse District’, and the ‘Public District’. The area of these five districts is roughly similar.”“Among them, the Primordial District has no more than 120 residents.”“The Primeval District has roughly over a thousand people.”“The Heaven and Earth District has about ten thousand people.”“And the Apocalypse District has tens of millions of people,” the lean old man stated. “As for the Public District, it’s for commerce, entertainment, and so on; residents from all four other districts can enter the ‘Public District’. Oh, and Your Highness… members of the Primordial, Primeval, Heaven and Earth, and Apocalypse Districts cannot enter other districts.”Luo Feng nodded slightly, puzzled. “You said the five districts are roughly similar in area, yet the Primordial District has fewer than 120 people, while the Apocalypse District has tens of millions?”“That is status,”The lean old man sighed with emotion. “When the headquarters screens elites for the core echelon, they all enter the Apocalypse District. Some excellent Sector Lords who are absorbed also enter the Apocalypse District! The vast majority of past talent competitions and power contests also take place in the Apocalypse District… which is why it has the most people. Housing in the Apocalypse District consists of high-rise buildings, with each person allocated an apartment.”“In the Heaven and Earth District, everyone gets a villa.”“The Primeval District, on the other hand, grants access to exclusive training grounds, unique study areas, and so on—it’s quite luxurious.”“As for the Primordial District, with a total of no more than 120 people, it’s essentially a luxurious estate spanning thousands of kilometers in diameter. The estate boasts various training facilities, and there are even Immortal powerhouse instructors residing there long-term, along with a multitude of servants attending to them. They can also summon numerous sparring partners at any time,” the lean old man’s eyes were filled with envy.Luo Feng was stunned.The difference in benefits and treatment was immense. The Apocalypse District had dormitory-style high-rises, the Heaven and Earth District had villas, the Primeval District was akin to an estate, and as for the Primordial District… My heavens, an estate spanning thousands of kilometers in diameter built for a single person? Could that even be called an estate? It was larger than an entire province on Earth before the Great Nirvana! It was practically a kingdom! And there were even ‘Immortal beings’ specifically stationed there?“The Primordial District has no more than 120 people in total, and among them, no more than 100 are Sector Lords. Each Sector Lord there is considered a truly invincible existence at the Sector Lord level throughout the universe,” the lean old man chuckled. “Every single one of them is a true elite of our company, so such treatment is not surprising.”Under Sha Wu’s guidance, Luo Feng gained a general understanding of the entire Yuxiang Mountain. This was where the ‘below Immortal’ core members of the Virtual Universe Company gathered.…Standing on a steep rock, the lean old man pointed towards an incredibly vast island shrouded in mist in the distance, surrounded by arcs of lightning. “Look, that is Thunder Island, also known as ‘Immortal Island’. It is hundreds, even thousands of times larger than Yuxiang Mountain. All Immortals of the Virtual Universe Company generally reside there. If Yuxiang Mountain is the gathering place and talent cultivation ground for ‘below Immortal’ core members, then Thunder Island is the true gathering place for powerhouses, for Immortals.”“Understood,” Luo Feng nodded slightly, gazing at Thunder Island in the mist.That place could be considered a holy land for the entire human race in the universe.“Your Highness, I will escort you to the Primeval District. Of course, I can only take you to the outskirts of the Primeval District,” the lean old man chuckled. “While the benefits of the Primeval District are slightly inferior to the ‘Primordial District’, they are still the second highest. Once Your Highness receives your allocated residence, you will understand why countless people yearn to get in. And there are only a little over a thousand slots in the Primeval District. On average, that’s only one per universe nation.”“Primeval District, let’s go!” Luo Feng was also filled with anticipation.