Provocation

Taichu District, Lecture Building Hall No. 2.

Spanning 80 kilometers long and 60 kilometers wide, it was far larger than an average city on Earth, yet it served merely as a venue for Undying beings to lecture. At the very back of Hall No. 2, there were over a thousand casually arranged seats. From time to time, members of the Taichu District would transform into streaks of light, traversing tens of kilometers to take their places.

Swoosh!

Luo Feng also appeared before the thousand-plus seats, casually selecting a spot in the front-left.

“Look, it’s Luo Feng.”

“Is he the newcomer Luo Feng from the latest Genius Battle? He seems quite handsome.”

“He hasn’t been with the Virtual Universe Company for long, yet he’s already cleared the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge. That’s impressive. We’ve only reached the eighth level, and we’re all Domain Lords.” In a corner, two women—one with beautiful luminous wings, the other with eyes of endless allure—chatted in low voices, unabashedly gazing in Luo Feng’s direction with keen interest.

Other members in different seats were also discussing.

“Is that Luo Feng?”

“Yes, that’s him.”

“That young man is quite formidable. When we were Universe-level, the highest we reached was probably the seventh level, and that was after over three thousand years with the Virtual Universe Company.”

“Given his rate of progress, he might not make it into the Primal Secret Region in this Qualification Battle, but for the next one… there might be hope. Give him a few millennia, and he’ll definitely secure a spot in the Primal Secret Region.”

Two Sector Lords also sat in a corner, discussing amongst themselves.

A flurry of discussions! Almost immediately after Luo Feng took his seat, nearly a hundred attendees in Hall No. 2 began talking about him, making him the center of attention. To clear the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge in such a short time, even before his first Qualification Battle, was an achievement only the most exceptional among these peerless geniuses could manage!

Luo Feng sat silently, his ears twitching slightly. He could clearly hear some of the discussions.

“I’ve become a zoo animal,” Luo Feng thought, feeling helpless.

“Hello, Luo Feng,” a gruff voice rumbled. Luo Feng turned to see a rather unsightly burly man with six protrusions on his forehead and dark fur on his face. The man, sitting a few meters from Luo Feng, turned and smiled, “My name is Suolong, a Domain Lord. I’ve heard many people talking about you today… and you truly are impressive.”

“Thanks,” Luo Feng replied. Internally, he felt a mix of amusement and exasperation. According to the population distribution, the Taichu District comprised 1,000 Sector Lords, 100 Domain Lords, and 30 Universe-level members. With the eight newcomers, including Luo Feng, the total number in the Taichu District had just increased to 1,138. However, after one Qualification Battle, the Taichu District membership would revert to 1,130. From the proportions, it was clear that Sector Lords were the most numerous, making up the vast majority in Hall No. 2, with a smaller number of Domain Lords, and a pitifully rare number of Universe-level members—only four in total, including Luo Feng. This already surprised Luo Feng, as usually only two Universe-level members attended such lectures.

“Today, there are two extra Universe-level members attending the lecture,” Luo Feng mused.

“For a Taichu Secret Region member to break into the Primal Secret Region, the odds are incredibly low!” Suolong said in a low voice. “My friends and I were talking, and we all believe that in a few centuries, you have a strong chance of making it into the Primal Secret Region! It’s rare for even one person from our Taichu Secret Region to advance to the Primal Secret Region. Every time it happens, it’s incredibly exciting.”

“A step ahead now means being steps ahead later.”

“Entering the Primal Secret Region earlier means faster progress,” Suolong remarked, seemingly quite emotional, as he continued speaking beside Luo Feng.

Luo Feng turned to glance at Suolong. “If you work hard, you also have a chance to enter the Primal Secret Region.”

“Haha…”

“Don’t make fun of me. It’ll be good enough if I can just stay in the Taichu Secret Region after the next Qualification Battle.” Suolong shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. “If I’m eliminated to the Heaven and Earth Secret Region in the next Qualification Battle, my authority and position outside will also be downgraded. That’s a real headache!”

Core Domain Lord members are dispatched to hold positions of significant power! As Luo Feng would put it, they go out to become high-ranking officials. However, the treatment for Primal members, Taichu members, Heaven and Earth members, and Apocalypse members when they are dispatched is entirely different. For a Primal Secret Region member, their guard squad alone is an army led by an Undying being! The official position they are assigned will match their status and standing! If a Primal member is suddenly demoted to a Taichu member, their official position will quickly be reassigned, and even their original Undying-led guard army will be replaced by a guard squad led by a Sector Lord.

“This guy is really unlucky.”

“He goes out as a high-ranking official, probably quite impressive at first. But with the Qualification Battle likely to demote him to the Heaven and Earth Secret Region… his official position will definitely change, and his status will plummet.” Luo Feng chuckled inwardly, while also casually chatting with the big man, learning about some common issues faced by ‘high-ranking officials.’

A moment later—the Undying instructor arrived and began the lecture, and the hall immediately fell silent. Even if they wished to discuss amongst themselves, they would only do so via telepathy, absolutely daring not to disturb the instructor’s lecture.

…

There were only four Universe-level members in Hall No. 2 in total. Two of them were present: one with a face covered in silver scales, and the other with bronze skin and a single black horn on his forehead.

“A Shi, look, Luo Feng is listening quite attentively,” the silver-scaled man transmitted.

“Hmm,” the black-horned man also looked at Luo Feng in the front-left corner. “Mo Yilin, Ni Nan told us to find an excuse to fight Luo Feng, to gauge his true strength. How do you suggest we challenge him? If we just go over and cause trouble, and Luo Feng simply ignores us and leaves the Virtual Universe, we’ll be left looking foolish.”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” The silver-scaled man’s eyes narrowed like a viper. “First, we’ll do this…”

“That’s a very ordinary plan,” the black-horned man frowned after hearing it.

“What else can we do? There’s no plan that’s 100% guaranteed,” the silver-scaled man said.

“Alright, once the lecture is over, we’ll go over,” the black-horned man nodded.

…

The King-level Undying lectured for a long time, then vanished into thin air under the fervent gazes of the peerless geniuses.

Luo Feng closed his eyes, savoring the many profound concepts that had just been explained. Only then did he open his eyes, immediately spotting two men standing before him: one with a face covered in silver scales, the other more robust, with a black horn on his forehead. The commonality was… both were Universe-level.

Both men were looking at Luo Feng.

“Who are you?” Luo Feng asked, remaining seated, looking at the two.

“Hello, Luo Feng, I am Mo Yilin,” the silver-scaled man smiled.

“Luo Feng, I am A Shi,” the black-horned man chuckled. “We are also Universe-level members, just like you, though we joined the Virtual Universe Company a little earlier.”

“What can I do for you two?” Luo Feng frowned slightly.

Luo Feng didn’t have much goodwill towards the older Universe-level members. Earlier today, when chatting with Wuka, Wuka had mentioned some things. Although Wuka didn’t specify exactly who, there were only 30 older Universe-level members in total, and it seemed most of them had conflicts with Wuka.

“We know you cleared the seventh level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge, Luo Feng, and we’re very impressed,” the silver-scaled man’s eyes gleamed. “I, Mo Yilin, love to battle. So, I’d like to go to the Duel Arena with you and have a good spar.”

“I also wish to fight you, Luo Feng,” the black-horned man said, looking at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng frowned.

A battle? If it were for cultivation, one could simulate powerful experts in the training grounds. But to specifically fight someone usually meant to compare strengths or to uncover the opponent’s true capabilities. ‘Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated.’

“They’ve probably never fought me before, so they don’t know my fighting style or my trump cards. Although there were videos from the Genius Battle back then, I was much weaker. Now, I’m countless times stronger than I was. Those old videos can’t reflect my current strength, so they’ve come to challenge me.” Luo Feng instantly understood.

“Sorry, not interested.” Luo Feng stood up and walked away.

Seeing this, the black-horned man and the silver-scaled man exchanged glances, realizing they had to resort to the other challenge method in their plan.

“Haha, Luo Feng, you’re supposed to be the top newcomer of this batch, yet I didn’t expect you to be such a coward,” the silver-scaled man said.

“You don’t even dare to accept a challenge from the two of us. It seems none of you newcomers have any hope,” the black-horned man added.

“That Wuka is foolish, weak yet insists on fighting us. Luo Feng, you have strength, but you don’t dare to fight us. For this Qualification Battle, you newcomers might as well just give up.”

In Hall No. 2, the Sector Lords and Domain Lords who had been attending the lecture all turned to watch with interest. Most of them held Luo Feng in high regard because he was indeed astonishing. However, their differing ranks meant they had no immediate conflicts of interest with Luo Feng, so they remained calm.

“Those two’s provocation is so low-level.”

“Indeed, it’s low-level. If it were me, I wouldn’t bother with them either.”

“Two clowns.”

The Sector Lords and Domain Lords discussed amongst themselves, with some Sector Lords speaking quite loudly, instantly making the silver-scaled man and the black-horned man’s expressions even uglier.

Luo Feng’s steps, however, suddenly halted.

This made the group of Sector Lords and Domain Lords raise their eyebrows in surprise… Was Luo Feng going to accept the challenge? Was he so easily provoked?

Luo Feng turned to look at the silver-scaled man and the black-horned man.

“Hmm?” The silver-scaled man and the black-horned man also noticed the unfriendly glint in Luo Feng’s eyes.

“Wuka fought with you?” Luo Feng asked, looking at the two.

“You mean that prince from Manka Star?” The silver-scaled man sneered, and the black-horned man beside him chimed in, “He’s just an idiot. He fought us, but he was trampled by our group.”

“Congratulations,” Luo Feng said.

The silver-scaled man and the black-horned man were taken aback.

“Congratulations?”

“Before, I didn’t want to fight because I didn’t want to waste time on you,” Luo Feng said, looking at the two. “But now, you’ve annoyed me greatly, and I’ve decided… I’m going to trample you once.”