The Qualification Battle Begins!

His soul was constantly transforming. Luo Feng simultaneously conversed with Babata: "Is there anything I should be aware of when refining the Luofu Liupan?"

"Using the Luofu Liupan is naturally different from using ordinary psychic weapons!" Babata shrieked. "The Luofu Liupan... already faintly possesses a trace of life characteristics. Refining the Luofu Liupan is similar to how you refined the Moyun Teng back then."

"Cut my wrist, then?" Luo Feng chuckled.

"In short, you must first let it absorb your blood," Babata said. "Although the Luofu Liupan has a trace of life characteristics, it isn't truly alive. The Moyun Teng, however, is already a living being. Refining the Moyun Teng was relatively easy, but the Luofu Liupan will be a bit more troublesome."

"First, it will devour your fresh blood!"

"Afterward, you'll keep it with you and continuously soothe it with your psychic energy. This is a long-term endeavor, like water eroding stone. It will require a long period of soothing before your mental imprint can fully integrate with it! Once successful... this Luofu Liupan will be able to merge with your skin and transform into various shapes," Babata explained.

Luo Feng exclaimed in surprise, "Transform? Can it protect me like a force battle suit?"

"While it can transform into the shape of armor, the Luofu Liupan doesn't have the ability to actively deflect attacks! The armor it forms will, at most, provide resistance, just like the battle armor on your body," Babata said. "Its specialty is flight. How fast it can fly depends on your ability. Of course, it's definitely far, far superior to the Dark Cloud Shuttle."

Luo Feng nodded.

He immediately took out the ancient, peculiar stone disk and simultaneously cut his wrist. Blood spurted directly onto the disk, staining it red. The disk rapidly and continuously absorbed the blood, especially the bird-like pattern formed by intricate lines in its center, which seemed to stir.

...After feeding it blood once, Luo Feng then used the stone disk as a cushion, sitting cross-legged on it. He dedicated a wisp of psychic energy to continuously integrate with the disk, slowly soothing and refining it, while also continuing to receive the Demonic Sound God General's inheritance.

The Golden Soul Fruit was a truly miraculous fruit.

This kind of fruit had extraordinary effects even on powerful Undying Gods, let alone Luo Feng. The lower the foundation, the more pronounced the effect! Luo Feng ate a Golden Soul Fruit... and felt an incredibly obvious transformation of his entire soul. The color of his soul had become a complex mix of crimson and gold.

"I've been receiving this inheritance for over three years now, and the survival mission in the Demonic Mountain was completed long ago. If I don't leave soon, my teacher will surely worry," Luo Feng finally instructed. "Babata, activate the Virtual Universe Network reception."

"Understood," Babata replied.

It was like someone concentrating intently on a task, not wanting to be disturbed.

While receiving the inheritance, Luo Feng didn't want to constantly answer calls. After all, if he didn't turn it off... his relatives and friends combined would probably result in a call every one or two days on average.

"Connecting to the Virtual Universe!"

...He split off a wisp of consciousness to connect to the Virtual Universe Network, arriving at Yuxiang Mountain in the Virtual Universe.

Inside Luo Feng's manor in Taichu District.

"Whoosh!"

Luo Feng appeared out of thin air.

The guards and servants were all startled to see Luo Feng, then quickly came to their senses and respectfully bowed, "Your Highness."

"Your Highness, Your Highness." Odo, the Sector Lord and captain of the guards, who had been lounging in a distant chair, eyes squinted, holding a wine glass, immediately sprang up. His face filled with pleasant surprise, he rushed over. "Your Highness, we haven't heard from you in years. We've all been very worried about you."

Luo Feng smiled.

"Your Highness taking on a desperate-level mission has long been known. In Yuxiang Mountain... rumors have been circulating that Your Highness perished in the Demonic Mountain," the bald old man Odo quickly added.

"Perished?" Luo Feng frowned. "Where did this rumor come from?"

"I don't know," Odo shook his head.

Luo Feng glanced towards the southwest, where the Primal Region was located, and silently mused, "Mo Luo, you wouldn't have spread the news of my demise, would you? But... don't worry! I'll give you a surprise very soon."

Immediately, Luo Feng quickly headed towards his residence and entered his study.

Sitting at his desk, he opened his laptop and quickly sent mass emails to his friends, family, and teacher, informing them that he was well.

Just a moment later—

Call after call came in!

"Luo Feng, you're too much! Disappearing for over three years, and losing contact during a desperate mission at that, you really scared us! We actually thought you'd perished in that Demonic Mountain," Prince Wuka of Manka Star excitedly exclaimed. "Come to my place immediately! I haven't seen you in years."

"I knew you wouldn't perish!" On the screen, Rongjun smiled as he looked at Luo Feng.

"Dad!"

"Grandpa! This is my great-grandson..."

"Luo Feng!"

Luo Feng looked at the large group of his family members on the screen and couldn't help but inwardly acknowledge that the sheer number of the human race was indeed a crucial reason for it becoming a peak cosmic race. He had been away from Earth for nearly 200 years. In those 200 years, his family had only consisted of a few people.

His parents, his brother's family, and his own family.

And now?

The entire Luo Clan had become a large family. If this continued for thousands, tens of thousands, or even millions of years, having millions or tens of millions of family members would indeed be a very normal occurrence.

"You, come back immediately!" Xu Xin appeared both happy and annoyed on the screen.

"Mm!" Luo Feng nodded.

...However, just as Luo Feng was about to go find his wife, his teacher, Zhenyan King, personally arrived in Taichu District.

In the living room of Luo Feng's residence in Taichu District.

Zhenyan King sat on the sofa, staring at Luo Feng. Luo Feng stood obediently to the side.

"Over three years without a single word," Zhenyan King's gaze was like lightning as he swept over Luo Feng. "And in the Demonic Sound Mountain at that... Tell me, why did you turn off your Virtual Universe Network reception while in the Demonic Sound Mountain?"

"Teacher."

Luo Feng bowed respectfully. "This time, your disciple was in the wrong."

Luo Feng held Zhenyan King in extremely high regard. Unlike Huyan Bo, whom he had never truly met, he had spent a very long time with Zhenyan King... Through their extended interactions, Luo Feng clearly understood his teacher's character: extremely generous, and someone who valued his disciples as if they were his own children.

Extremely protective of his own!

It's easy for someone to maintain a facade for ten or a hundred years, but to do so for hundreds of millions of years... that's no longer a facade.

Zhenyan King's character was well-known and respected in Chaos City.

After over a century of interaction, Luo Feng could also feel his teacher's concern, and immediately said respectfully, "This disciple had some fortuitous encounters this time."

"Fortuitous encounters?" Zhenyan King's eyes lit up. "The Inheritance Palace?"

Although surprised, Luo Feng didn't hesitate: "Yes!"

There was simply no other way to explain it, because in the Demonic Sound Mountain... unless one was dead or cultivating, there was no reason to turn off Virtual Universe Network reception. And cultivating in the Demonic Sound Mountain, apart from the extremely safe environment of the Inheritance Palace, was impossible anywhere else.

"Really?" Zhenyan King suddenly stood up, looking at his disciple in disbelief. "How is that possible? How could you get in?"

"By chance," Luo Feng smiled helplessly.

"Still acting all innocent," Zhenyan King said, a smile he couldn't hide on his face, as he stared at Luo Feng. "But you shouldn't have been able to get in at all. Tell me... how many Inheritance Palaces are there in total?"

"Thirty-two," Luo Feng replied.

"Haha, hahahaha..." Zhenyan King couldn't help but burst into laughter. "I didn't expect that fellow, Meng Cang King, to get his comeuppance from my disciple this time. What terrible luck!"

"What happened?" Luo Feng asked, puzzled.

Zhenyan King smiled at his disciple and explained, "The Demonic Sound Temple inheritance was discovered long ago... and there are many powerful individuals capable of entering. But the slots are limited! Your entry into the Inheritance Palace this time naturally took one of those slots. And that slot belonged to Meng Cang King."

"His slot?" Luo Feng was stunned.

He truly hadn't known...

That these inheritance slots were all pre-assigned.

"Ignorance is bliss. You entered by taking a desperate mission, so even if it's revealed in the future, no one can find fault," Zhenyan King chuckled. "What's more, neither Meng Cang King nor his teacher are from my Virtual Universe Company. So there's no need to fear... Besides, I'll keep it a secret, and you keep it a secret too. They might not even discover that it was you who entered the Inheritance Palace."

Luo Feng nodded repeatedly.

Right.

As long as he didn't say anything, even if someone suspected, they probably wouldn't dare to believe that a Universe-level Ninth-tier could enter the Inheritance Palace. After all, even his own teacher, after Luo Feng admitted it, initially couldn't believe it.

"There's one more thing," Zhenyan King said, looking at Luo Feng. "That young genius from the Primal Region, Mo Luo, once gave me information about you."

"Mo Luo!"

A sharp glint flashed in Luo Feng's eyes, and he snorted, "That guy is absolutely a treacherous villain. He appears so righteous on the surface, but in reality... Hmph, if I hadn't been lucky this time, he really would have killed me."

"So he ambushed you," Zhenyan King nodded slightly. "He previously claimed that you ambushed him."

"What? I ambushed him?" Luo Feng felt an unquenchable surge of anger in his heart and couldn't help but curse, "This Mo Luo is shameless!"

"Haha... For the qualification battle, do you have confidence if you encounter him?" Zhenyan King asked.

"Of course!" Luo Feng's eyes lit up.

"Mm," Zhenyan King nodded. "Your fortuitous encounter this time is indeed a truly great one. It's just a pity that your soul is still weak, so you can only receive a small portion of the Demonic Sound God General's inheritance! However... even so, that Demonic Sound God General's inheritance secret technique will be enough for you to benefit from for hundreds of millions of years."

Luo Feng nodded.

Having cultivated it, he himself knew the preciousness of the secret technique.

From a psychic amplitude intensity of 70-80, it now reached over 1200, an increase of more than ten times! What kind of treasure or weapon could have such terrifying effects?

...A moment later, Zhenyan King departed, relieved to know his disciple was safe.

Luo Feng watched his teacher's figure disappear and felt a silent gratitude, because his teacher hadn't pressed him for details, asking how he had entered the Inheritance Palace... Regarding his identity as a Golden Horn Behemoth, Luo Feng truly didn't want to reveal it. He hadn't even told his own brothers or parents, because he couldn't bring himself to say it.

How could he say it?

To say that he wasn't human in essence, but a Golden Horn Behemoth? Psychologically, Luo Feng always considered his Earthling clone to be his true self!

"Time to see my wife!" Luo Feng immediately teleported back to Nine Star Bay on Black Dragon Mountain Island.

...A wisp of Luo Feng's consciousness entered the Virtual Universe to reassure his family and friends, while in reality, he continued to stay in the core of Demonic Sound Mountain—the Land of Inheritance.

In the void, Luo Feng ascended the inheritance steps, advancing layer by layer!

The Golden Soul Fruit's efficacy was indeed potent, bringing about earth-shattering changes to Luo Feng's soul. Even after cultivating on the inheritance steps for five years, he still felt no strain whatsoever. And at this moment... the century-long qualification battle for the Virtual Universe Company's Universe-level core members was about to begin!