Luo Feng and Bolan

Cosmic Sky-Reaching Bridge, Seventh Level.

The blue-robed man, with a blood-red sword strapped to his back and a cold mask covering his face, stared indifferently at the white-robed youth before him: "Young man, the 'Cosmic Chaos Tablet' is the most profound and difficult to study among the 52 Chaos Tablets. It tests comprehension of both time and space. Your achievements in space are so remarkable that you could even attempt the ninth level! However, your comprehension of time is only at the third or fourth level. I advise you to go back and meditate further, and return when your comprehension of the 'Law of Origin of Time' has improved!"

The white-robed youth's face was expressionless, his eyes icy.

Whoosh!

He slowly drew the blood-red sword from his back.

"Hmm." The blue-robed man shook his head.

Buzz!

A section of the surrounding area instantly blurred. Space and time were simultaneously mobilized at that moment. Despite the white-robed youth instantly manifesting tens of thousands of illusory figures, he was still pierced through the head by a single sword strike!

Seventh level, failed!

...

At the center of that island, Bafen, the sole overseer who could directly observe this scene, shook his head and sighed: "Too arrogant, this Bolan is too arrogant! He's probably been far ahead of everyone else since childhood. That's why he developed such an absolutely arrogant heart. With his comprehension of the Law of Origin of Space... during the genius battle, his spatial comprehension already surpassed many Sector Lords. He even rivaled some Immortals!"

"Such high spatial comprehension!"

"With such strong talent, logically, the best approach would be to specialize in 'space,' dedicating all his energy and time, and all resources, to the 'Law of Origin of Space.' The strong would become stronger! Play to his strengths! This way, he might have a slim chance of becoming a 'Space Venerable.'"

"What a pity!"

"He's too arrogant!"

"So, even before the genius battle, he had already begun to delve into the 'Law of Wind Space,' using 'wind' as a springboard to study 'time.'"

"The most crucial decision in Chaos City is choosing one of the 52 Chaos Tablets to cultivate. Logically, our Virtual Universe Company has always respected each genius's own choice. But at that time... we made an exception and spoke with him, persuading him to spend all his time and energy on 'space.' To choose a Chaos Tablet that focuses on space, like the 'Jiuyu Chaos Tablet' that Luo Feng chose, would have been very, very suitable for Bolan, but..."

"He was too arrogant."

"His extreme self-confidence meant he wouldn't listen at all. He still chose the most difficult 'Cosmic Chaos Tablet.'" Overseer Bafen sighed endlessly.

How many people regretted it for him?

What terrifying talent?

After cultivating in Chaos City, Luo Feng's Earthling original body could at most manifest a few hundred illusory figures! But Bolan, during the genius battle, could already manifest thousands! If Bolan had studied the 'Jiuyu Chaos Tablet,' he would likely have fully comprehended the 'Raindrop Diagram' and 'Drizzle Diagram' in a very short time, moving directly to the 'Downpour Diagram.'

In terms of spatial talent alone, he was even more terrifying than Lian Luo.

What a pity.

Those with exceptionally high talent often possess an overly arrogant heart.

"He's anxious now, his arrogance... has made him anxious. Finally, his peers are starting to catch up to him." Overseer Bafen gazed at the Cosmic Sky-Reaching Bridge in the distant void and softly said, "He probably never experienced this feeling since he was young. Last time, at the final moment in Chaos City, when Luo Feng passed the fifth level, he immediately rushed to attempt the sixth. Fortunately, he succeeded. His pride was protected."

"But this time, in just over two years, Luo Feng passed the sixth level, and he became anxious again, rushing to attempt the seventh level without any certainty! What a pity..."

"This time wasn't as lucky as last. He failed!"

"The seventh level is far, far more difficult than the sixth. He was defeated in a single move."

"Failure!"

"Finally being caught up to, this... might actually be a good thing for him." Overseer Bafen whispered, "It all depends on whether Bolan will sink into despair or, spurred by Luo Feng's rivalry, gain a clearer understanding of himself!"

...

Yuxiang Mountain remained as tranquil as ever. Wuka, Rongjun, Luo Feng, and the others had no idea that Bolan had attempted and failed the seventh level.

While Bolan silently endured a major setback,

Luo Feng was in an excellent mood.

"Successfully fused the second Xueluo Crystal, comprehended the 12th profound mystery, and now passed the sixth level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge. I truly am blessed with good fortune." Luo Feng had just enjoyed a lively reunion dinner with his wife, father, mother, sons, and a large group of family members at Nine Star Bay on Black Dragon Mountain Island.

Afterward, he smiled and came to the Illusory Sea plane.

...

On the Illusory Sea plane, Luo Feng stood by the sea.

His heart was like a mirror; even a speck of dust falling upon it would be clearly visible. This state allowed him to see his true nature.

Because he could see his true nature,

He laughed when he should, raged when he should, and showed no hesitation when he needed to kill.

His heart was like a blade, making Luo Feng decisive in his actions, never procrastinating.

"I spent two years in the giant pit, constantly assailed by the increasingly strong will of slaughter. My will, tempered in this environment, has become more condensed and firm. My control over my consciousness has also strengthened. Let's see... what happens if I challenge the tenth island of the Illusory Sea." Luo Feng smiled faintly, then shot into the sky, quickly flying into the depths of the sea.

The Illusory Sea was, for now, where Luo Feng earned the most points.

Successfully clearing nine islands consecutively had earned Luo Feng a massive amount of points—51,100 points! Of these, the ninth island alone accounted for 25,600 points, and the tenth island was worth 51,200 points.

Points from clearing the Sky-Reaching Bridge were pitifully few; successfully passing the sixth level only yielded 3,200 points! After all, there was no longer the 10x reward from Chaos City; once that reward was missed, it was gone forever. This was also why... when Luo Feng attended classes, everyone wanted to exchange points with him.

Both the Illusory Sea and the Sky-Reaching Bridge were difficult to clear.

It was just that Luo Feng's consciousness was abnormal (that of a Golden Horned Beast), and his will was terrifyingly strong (personally guided by his two elder brothers, plus his own talent), which allowed him to achieve such feats in the Illusory Sea.

...

Illusory Sea, Tenth Island.

Whoosh!

Luo Feng descended from the sky, landing on a small mountain peak, only a few hundred meters high, on this tenth island.

"Here it comes?" Luo Feng concentrated, looking up at the sky.

Finally, the endless illusion, accompanied by an even more heart-pounding pressure, descended directly. This boundless pressure... was like a colossal mountain covering the heavens and earth, crashing down. Under Luo Feng's will, his consciousness instantly condensed, continuously compressing and solidifying like a diamond. Will and consciousness integrated, also known as the mind.

Boom!

The mountain of pressure crashed down, striking that incredibly condensed mind. The condensed mind only held for an instant before shattering and instantly dissipating.

"The pressure of the tenth island is simply too strong! Although I've made significant progress in the past two years, this progress... is still directly crushed and pulverized before the pressure of the tenth island. I still need to work harder! The fifty thousand-plus points from this tenth island aren't so easily obtained." Luo Feng wasn't discouraged in the slightest.

Because...

He was different from Bolan. Bolan had always been first.

But Luo Feng had almost never been first. On Earth, he wasn't considered first among Martial Arts Hall students. After becoming a Warrior, Hong and Lei Shen were the most dazzling. Even after entering the Elite Training Camp... Luo Feng still wasn't first. And in the genius battle, whether it was the preliminaries, the Cosmic Nation finals, or the overall peak battle, Luo Feng never placed first.

Because he had never been first,

Failure, for Luo Feng, was instead an opportunity for introspection, allowing him to reflect on why he failed and learn from his mistakes to make progress.

...

One had always been first, the most dazzling genius of the Cosmic Genius Battle.

The other had never been first; even Babata, who knew him well, thought it would be difficult for him to enter the top 1000 in the universe.

Now, they were neck and neck.

...

In the 'Ancient God Ruins,' the most mysterious and vast area of Xueluo Continent.

The Giant Pit Estate.

"I've been cultivating in this giant pit for over two years, my mind entirely focused on cultivation. When I first came, I planned to thoroughly explore the bottom of this giant pit. But I haven't explored it in these two years." Luo Feng stood at the edge of the passage, gazing at the endless malevolent aura ahead, overlooking the bottomless abyss below.

This was a terrifying giant pit.

The outermost diameter alone was nearly ten thousand kilometers, and its depth? Still unknown.

"Let's take a good look at what's down there." With a thought, a common black stone beside the entrance instantly vanished into his inner world. This 'black stone' was actually his Demon Killer Clan clone transformed.

The Demon Killer Clan clone could transform in countless ways, and its innate secret technique 'Replication' allowed its aura to change endlessly.

"Go down!"

Luo Feng leaped down, directly falling into the abyss, continuously descending under the astonishing gravitational pull.

...

An endless abyss, with a diameter of ten thousand kilometers. How deep was it?

"Five thousand kilometers already."

The fierce wind howled in his ears as Luo Feng continuously descended, his heart filled with shock. "I've descended five thousand kilometers, and this deep pit still hasn't reached the bottom? The malevolent aura is still so dense."

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The astonishing resistance generated by Luo Feng's descent speed finally balanced with the gravitational pull. He continued to descend at a stable speed.

"Eh, it changed? The density of the malevolent aura changed?" Luo Feng, still descending, was shocked. "This is at a depth of about 9,000 kilometers!"

"Kill! Kill, kill!!!" An endless will of slaughter impacted Luo Feng's Sea of Consciousness. The intensity of that impact had doubled! Not only the will of slaughter, but the density of the malevolent aura also increased by about twofold.

Whoosh!

Luo Feng continued to descend.

"How deep is this giant pit, exactly?" Luo Feng kept falling, plummeting into the abyss.

"The density of the malevolent aura is gradually increasing." The further he descended, the more Luo Feng felt the concentration rise. "The current malevolent aura density is already about three times that of my Giant Pit Estate."

He had already descended nearly fifteen thousand kilometers.

"No!" Luo Feng's expression changed.

Swish!

He instantly stopped his extremely high-speed descent in the endless abyss. Luo Feng's expression was solemn, his brows deeply furrowed: "Weaker? The malevolent aura density... is weaker?"

Since he began descending, it had instantly doubled at 9,000 kilometers, then continuously strengthened until it reached a peak of 'about three times' the original malevolent aura. Luo Feng continued to descend... but found that the malevolent aura was weakening.

"Hmm?"

"The strongest area of this malevolent aura is actually in the center of the giant pit, not the bottom?" Luo Feng wondered, then slowly flew upwards, searching for the peak concentration area of the malevolent aura.