Directing to the True Heart

On the day Luo Feng was imprisoned, within a palace on Thunder Island in the Virtual Universe, a structure entirely black and exuding an aura of boundless dread...

Beneath the grand hall.

Longjue King knelt respectfully, his head bowed to the ground.

“That son of Etchfire has always sought trouble with Zhenyan,” a deep, oppressive voice echoed through the boundless palace, accompanied by a ‘hissing’ sound. “But targeting Luo Feng is rather foolish. Luo Feng is, after all, one of the ten confirmed elite seeds among this generation of geniuses. To try and incriminate Luo Feng without any evidence is truly a joke.”

High above the hall, a grotesque being sat upon a throne. Covered in black scales and sporting a pair of black horns, this tall, robust, scaled creature casually raked its impossibly sharp right claw across the armrest of the throne, producing a grating, hissing sound. An invisible, oppressive aura emanated from its entire being.

It was heart-stopping! Terrifying!

Idly tracing the armrest with its fingers, the black-scaled entity commanded, “Issue the order: release Luo Feng.”

“Yes, my lord.” Longjue King remained prostrate, still unwilling to lift his head.

Whoosh! Longjue King vanished instantly, departing the Virtual Universe.

...

In the Wulong Starfield, the majestic palace where Yanzhu King resided welcomed a guest—Longjue King.

“Tian Huan, what brings you here?” The handsome ‘Yanzhu King’ lay reclined on a chair at the edge of the ninth-floor hall of his palace. Two beautiful, shapely Illusory Spirit Clan maidens massaged his shoulders and legs. From his seat, he could gaze out at the boundless starry sky, even observing the endless stream of goods filling the distant cosmos.

“Yanzhu King,” Longjue King approached, his voice low. “I’ve been ordered from above to release Luo Feng.”

“Above? Which ‘above’?” Yanzhu King looked up, glancing at him.

“My direct superior, Youmo Venerable,” Longjue King stated.

Yanzhu King’s eye twitched. The cosmos was vast, and the birth of every Universe Nation Lord or Universe Venerable was incredibly difficult, spanning endless eons... There were only so many Universe Nation Lords and Venerables, and even among those of the same rank, there were still distinctions of hierarchy.

If Sky Eclipse Palace Master was a legend, hidden within Sky Eclipse Palace, having not acted for billions of years, inspiring dread with just his name, then Youmo Venerable was a ‘bloody’ myth. His fearsome reputation was forged entirely through slaughter. Even his terrifying body wasn’t natural; it was a result of his self-created secret cultivation method, which naturally transformed his physique into the most optimal structure for killing. He was absolutely a ‘God of Slaughter’ within the Virtual Universe Company.

“I understand,” Yanzhu King said, frowning.

“Yanzhu King.” Longjue King revealed a faint smile, simultaneously waving his hand, and the two Illusory Spirit Clan maidens immediately withdrew.

Yanzhu King looked at him.

Longjue King chuckled, “You and I have worked together for endless eons, and I’ve rarely defied you. But Yanzhu King... Luo Feng is, after all, one of the few absolute geniuses of this generation within our Virtual Universe Company who is highly valued. This loss is merely 10 million mixed units. To try and bring down an absolute genius over such a small loss is simply impossible.”

“Thanks,” Yanzhu King’s eyes lit up.

He understood. Longjue King had hinted that... Luo Feng was one of the most highly regarded among this batch of geniuses (referring to all the geniuses currently on Yuxiang Mountain) by the Virtual Universe Company. Without true certainty, it was best not to target Luo Feng. Otherwise, it would incur the wrath of the Virtual Universe Company’s higher-ups.

“Haha, then I’ll be taking my leave,” Longjue King said with a laugh as he departed.

Yanzhu King personally rose to see Longjue King off.

...

A moment later, Yanzhu King returned to the stone chair draped with the hide of a Nine Meng Beast, a royal beast of the demon race. Lying on the soft fur, Yanzhu King narrowed his eyes.

“This Longjue King is quite smooth, playing both sides,” Yanzhu King murmured.

The five overseers each represented a major power. Any transaction exceeding 1 million mixed units required the joint approval of all five. After working together for such a long time, it was natural for these five to form certain unspoken agreements.

For instance, Yanzhu King was dominant, so the other four would yield slightly. Naturally, they wouldn’t provoke Yanzhu King over trivial matters, such as small transactions or dealing with some minor individual.

When it came to dealing with Luo Feng, Longjue King also had his limits... For example, if Yanzhu King wanted to send Luo Feng to the First Starfield Prison, he would definitely refuse. But as long as the line wasn’t crossed, he would naturally turn a blind eye. After all, Luo Feng’s connection to him was ultimately shallow. As long as Yanzhu King didn’t overstep, he could do as he pleased.

But when it came to truly large transactions, no one could afford to be lenient! And if it involved the prestige of the powers behind them, they would never back down, even if it meant death!

A minor punishment, imprisoning Luo Feng, was a small matter, a bit of petty squabbling. But sending Luo Feng to the First Starfield Prison would be a genuine loss of face.

“Too bad we couldn’t find any evidence,” Yanzhu King’s eyes gleamed with malice. “If we could frame Luo Feng, claiming he set up the scheme, that he killed those guides to steal tens of millions of mixed units worth of insectoid corpses... then Luo Feng would be finished. With his favored disciple ruined, Zhenyan King would surely be hopping mad.”

“Hmph hmph.” “Zhenyan King, don’t get too smug just yet.”

Yanzhu King’s expression twisted. “I have endless patience. I will make you suffer, make you die! As long as I achieve this goal... I’ll die content!” Yanzhu King’s eyes held a pathological madness. He had always had things his way, unchallenged, with his father’s deterrence ensuring even powerful beings treated him amicably. For tens of millions of years, he had been arrogant and unrestrained.

Until he met Zhenyan King! That violent, fierce Zhenyan King! The Zhenyan King who never bowed his head!

He suffered his greatest setbacks. He returned again and again, only to be crushed repeatedly, even to the point of breakdown, driving him into a state of madness. He had hysterically screamed at his father, “Kill Zhenyan, kill him! If he doesn’t die, I will! It’s either him or me, me or him!”

But his father, Etchfire Venerable, had sent him to the ‘Ninth Starfield Prison’.

A nightmarish 1000 years. The 1000 years in prison brought him many blows, some even surpassing those inflicted by Zhenyan King. He felt as if he had fallen into hell. Yet, these setbacks and frustrations only made Yanzhu King resent Zhenyan King even more, believing that Zhenyan King was the cause of everything, the source of all his troubles!

When he emerged from the Starfield Prison, Yanzhu King had become capable of enduring, but his heart was even more insane, with only one goal.

“Make Zhenyan King suffer, kill Zhenyan King!”

“I want Zhenyan King to fear, regret, and be unwilling because of me.”

“Achieve all this.” “I’ll die content!”

...

“Vinien,” Yanzhu King murmured softly, lying on the soft Nine Meng Beast hide chair.

A ghostly figure appeared.

“Master,” the ghostly figure bowed.

“Go to Luo Feng’s homeworld... Earth,” Yanzhu King commanded. “You don’t need to do anything else, just conceal one of my Immortal Crystals on Earth. Depart now.”

“Yes, Master,” the ghostly figure replied respectfully.

Buzz~~~ Streaks of emerald light enveloped the surroundings, and ripples spread through space.

Whoosh! A faint spatial tunnel instantly appeared and vanished, and the ghostly figure had already left the Wulong Starfield via ‘God Kingdom Teleportation’.

“Zhenyan King, I am an Immortal God. I have all the time in the world. Let’s take it slow,” Yanzhu King smiled, his expression exquisitely beautiful.

...

In the Siyu Palace. Luo Feng sat cross-legged in the Siyu Palace, his consciousness having entered his inner world.

In the vast inner world, Black-Clad Luo Feng hovered above an endless ocean.

“Insectoid Island, condense!” Black-Clad Luo Feng pointed towards the endless ocean below. Immediately, the boundless seawater roared, then puff-puff-puff shattered, transforming into pure World Power. All the seawater within a hundred thousand kilometers reversed and became endless World Power, which then began to continuously condense, forming continuous mountains and rocks.

The endless World Power echoing in the sky also surged in.

In a moment, an island with a diameter of a hundred thousand kilometers was born. The island had soil, vegetation, hills, valleys, and lakes, appearing exactly like a normal landmass.

“Yilina, from today onwards, you will reside here,” Black-Clad Luo Feng commanded, holding a World Ring. Mother Queen Yilina was inside it, transferred from the central continent to an island on the endless ocean.

“Yes, Master.” Mother Queen Yilina and the Insectoid Mother Nest landed simultaneously on the island.

“These are 300 Sector Lord Insectoid Units. I estimate they should be able to create a 3 million-strong Sector Lord army composed of Tiger Beetle Insectoid warriors,” Black-Clad Luo Feng said, simultaneously taking out a large quantity of insectoid corpses from his World Ring. Even within his ‘inner world’, Luo Feng couldn’t teleport, nor could he directly move the insectoid corpses from the central continent. He had to transport them using a storage tool.

“300 units?” Mother Queen Yilina asked, puzzled.

“Each Sector Lord Insectoid Unit consists of 100,000 peak Sector Lord insectoid corpses,” Luo Feng explained. Beside them, a massive mountain of corpses appeared, piled high with the equivalent of 30 million peak Sector Lord corpses.

“Wow.” Mother Queen Yilina’s eyes gleamed, her chest heaving with excitement.

“How fast can you cultivate peak Sector Lord Tiger Beetle Insectoids?” Luo Feng asked.

“I can cultivate 10 Tiger Beetle Insectoids a day,” Mother Queen Yilina replied. “After all, they are peak Sector Lord Insectoids, and each contains immense energy, so the speed is slow. If I were to create some Star-level Insectoids, they could continuously pour out of the various openings of my Insectoid Mother Nest without end.”

“Ten a day? That’s over 3,000 Tiger Beetle Insectoids a year. It would take 300 years to cultivate a million-strong Sector Lord army. Well, my cultivation will also take a long time anyway.” Luo Feng nodded slightly. “Then begin now.”

“Yes, Master.” Mother Queen Yilina seemed very excited and expectant.

Whoosh! Mother Queen Yilina flew into the Insectoid Mother Nest. Immediately, the Insectoid Mother Nest, over 800 meters tall and resembling a spherical mountain, lifted into the air and plunged directly into the mountain of Sector Lord insectoid corpses, burrowing deep inside.

It began to gestate... Black-Clad Luo Feng watched silently.

A little over two hours later, the mountain of insectoid corpses subtly writhed. Then, a ferocious insectoid, over ten stories tall, crawled out. Its entire body was covered in incredibly thick armor. This mighty and savage peak Sector Lord Tiger Beetle Insectoid warrior, upon seeing Luo Feng, immediately made a tiger-like leap, crashing onto the ground with a rumble, appearing extremely respectful before Luo Feng.

“The first Tiger Beetle Insectoid...” A hint of joy flickered in Luo Feng’s eyes.

“A million-strong Sector Lord army!” Luo Feng seemed to see an endless army of Sector Lord Tiger Beetle Insectoids, and his heart couldn’t help but surge with hot blood, filled with excitement and anticipation.

As for the insectoid corpses used to create the Sector Lord army, which he had acquired from the Wulong Starfield, Luo Feng felt no guilt or unease whatsoever. Having reached Luo Feng’s level in heart cultivation, he had long since achieved ‘seeing one’s true nature and directing to the true heart’, seeing through all illusions, and would not easily have his true self obscured.

His heart was like a bright mirror, seeing through all illusions. Seeing one’s true nature! Directing to the true heart!

Luo Feng was very clear about his true heart. Ever since leaving Earth to venture into the cosmos, as Earth’s strongest, especially after witnessing the schemes and deceptions in the universe, seeing ancient families crumble one by one, planets enslaved, and even the Golden Horn Clan becoming vassals of humanity, with the inherent inferiority and unwillingness in the Golden Horn people’s bones.

Luo Feng felt a sense of crisis!

“I must become stronger!” “I must do everything in my power to fight for my ‘root’. If the root dies, how can the leaves live?”

Back then, Luo Feng was willing to die with the Golden Horned Beast, having long considered Earth his root. Perhaps he was powerful, surpassing the collective strength of all humanity on Earth. But his root was on Earth... If one day Earth perished and all his compatriots died, what meaning would there be in him living alone?

Luo Feng knew his true heart... He had known it when he burned his soul to fight the Golden Horned Beast. He needed to protect! To protect his home, his ‘root’—Earth!

“Advance, keep advancing.” “I need to constantly grow stronger, and I will fight with all my might.” Luo Feng’s eyes were like blades, filled with unwavering determination.

On the path to becoming stronger, he might encounter many situations, such as the previous assassination attempt by the insectoid killer... The Flame Immortal God self-destructed, destroying a large number of insectoid corpses. In such a situation, Luo Feng would very decisively take away 300 insectoid units of corpses. Taking such a small amount of corpses would have virtually no impact on the entire Wulong Starfield, yet it would greatly benefit his own growth, and he wasn’t harming anyone... So why not do it?

Luo Feng rarely harmed others. But if it involved the survival of Earth, even if it meant innocent other life forms, Luo Feng would still slaughter them without hesitation.

With a clear true heart, one could act without hesitation, decisively and resolutely! Taking those corpses was simply taking them. Slaughter was slaughter, so what?

...

Seeing one’s true nature and directing to the true heart. Only by firmly adhering to one’s true heart, unaffected by external illusions—whether becoming a demon of slaughter, a perfectly benevolent person, or an eccentric who acts on whims—can one truly walk further and further on the long path of cultivation! However, even with a clear true heart, the path of a strong practitioner remains fraught with danger, as Luo Feng nearly died this time.

Clap! Clap! Clap! A knocking sound echoed from outside the Siyu Palace.

“Luo Feng, you may come out now,” Longjue King’s voice rang out.

Luo Feng, sitting cross-legged within the Siyu Palace, opened his eyes, a faint smile in them.