Direct Disciple

Inside the City Lord's Mansion's inner sanctum.

“Your Highness Luo Feng, the City Lord issued an order long ago. You may enter directly,” the group of Immortal God guards at the inner sanctum's entrance said, not obstructing Luo Feng.

Luo Feng smiled and walked straight in.

Watching Luo Feng’s retreating figure as he entered the inner sanctum, the Immortal God guards quietly discussed amongst themselves.

“Entering without announcement, besides a select few, only the City Lord’s direct disciples can do that. Could it be that Luo Feng has also become a direct disciple?”

“Most likely.”

“The City Lord’s order was given not long ago. It must be confirmation that he has accepted Luo Feng as a direct disciple.”

…

Luo Feng stood before the courtyard, ‘Chaos Ruins.’

He stepped in.

Boom!

Space and time shifted, and Luo Feng appeared on a vast, desolate continent of ruins, strewn with the corpses of billions of races. In the distant reaches, a figure sat cross-legged in meditation.

“Master,” Luo Feng approached, carefully avoiding the skeletal remains underfoot, and bowed respectfully.

The figure slowly rose.

Turning to face Luo Feng, the eyes on his terrifying, grotesque face remained as warm and gentle as jade. Chaos City Lord smiled and nodded, “You’ve mastered the first layer?”

“I’ve just mastered the first layer, the Scale Armor Chapter, and immediately rushed here to report to you, Master,” Luo Feng replied respectfully.

“Your Ninth Senior Brother said you’d take half a year at the fastest, three years at the slowest. I didn’t expect you to succeed just three months after he reported to me.” Chaos City Lord nodded, “Demonstrate this first layer for me.”

“Yes,” Luo Feng said respectfully.

In truth, during these eight hundred years of secluded cultivation, although he had mastered the first layer, the ‘Scale Armor Chapter,’ Luo Feng had only comprehended the laws within the first chapter. He hadn’t had time to learn any of the secret techniques or combat secret techniques for applying the ‘Scale Armor Chapter.’ Law comprehension was one thing, but application and combat techniques were also crucial.

Luo Feng had wanted to see Chaos City Lord sooner, so he came without practicing the combat secret techniques.

“Fortunately, I usually have my Golden Horn practice, and when my Earthling true body practices in the Virtual Universe training grounds, I often cultivate the ‘Three Thousand Starry Skies’ claw technique. So, I’ve grasped the most basic application methods,” Luo Feng secretly mused, feeling fortunate.

Boom!

Luo Feng’s internal primal energy surged rapidly. Then, layers of scales emerged on his body’s surface, even appearing on his hands. Most of the secret patterns on each scale were identical to those on the ‘Sleeping Beast God Statue,’ only smaller in size. Only a very, very small portion of the scale patterns matched the ‘Small Beast God Statue.’ This was because Luo Feng only dared to imitate a tiny fraction of the scales from the Small Beast God Statue; any more, and he would face suppression from the universe’s laws.

“Hmm,” Chaos City Lord revealed a faint smile at the sight.

At this moment, Luo Feng was practically a humanoid fierce beast, covered in scales, exuding the domineering and ferocious aura of a Beast God. It could be said that with just a simple application technique, ‘Beast God Transformation,’ Luo Feng’s combat power saw a terrifying surge.

“Sky-Rending Claw!” Luo Feng suddenly lunged forward.

Hmph!

His scaled right hand tore directly, as if the Golden Horn itself was unleashing the Sky-Rending Claw.

Whoosh~~~ The space of this ruined continent vibrated because of it, and a terrifying, blurry giant claw shadow ripped through the air before gradually dissipating. After performing this move… Luo Feng’s body scales immediately transformed back into primal energy and retracted into his body, and he returned to his original appearance.

“Master,” Luo Feng said respectfully.

“Your claw technique is quite good,” Chaos City Lord nodded with satisfaction. “You’ve comprehended the first layer, the Scale Armor Chapter, purely in terms of laws. Its application… can be used with ‘Psychic Weapons,’ with sword techniques, blade techniques, and so on. It can be applied to movement techniques, defense, and many other aspects. However, application secret techniques also require continuous arduous practice and refinement. Your claw technique is quite impressive.”

Luo Feng sighed inwardly upon hearing this.

How could it be bad?

The Sky-Rending Claw was his ultimate move. He had studied ancient images of the ‘Beast God’ and painstakingly refined that very technique. While the Golden Horn had mimicked it billions of times, beyond mere imitation, it was a continuous effort to use the Sky-Rending Claw to comprehend the Beast God’s essence.

“From today onwards, you are my 32nd direct disciple,” Chaos City Lord stated solemnly.

“Disciple greets Master,” Luo Feng immediately knelt.

Chaos City Lord looked at the young man kneeling before him. Compared to his own long lifespan and supreme power, this young man was indeed very weak. It was much like how parents, if they have several children, tend to dote a little more on the youngest. In essence, parents care for all their children, but the youngest child needs the most care, so naturally, they are doted upon.

It was the same principle.

Including Luo Feng, Chaos City Lord had only 32 direct disciples in total. 27 of them were still alive, with 25 being Universe Venerables, one a Pinnacle King-level Immortal God, and the last one being Luo Feng, the weakest in strength.

Towards his weaker disciples, Chaos City Lord naturally showed more care.

And today, as he looked at Luo Feng kneeling before him, in a trance, he seemed to see that spiritual young man, Ke Di, who had once knelt before him.

“Ke Di…” The thought of Ke Di, another one of his direct disciples, brought a surge of sadness and anger to Chaos City Lord’s heart. Years ago, due to the meticulous schemes of Bug Tribe powerhouses, he had lost his disciple Ke Di. In fact, for someone at Chaos City Lord’s level, it was difficult for anyone to kill his disciples.

Even if they were killed, their souls scattered.

Chaos City Lord could reverse time, making time flow backward to before his disciple’s death, and forcibly revive them.

Of course, ‘reversing time’ was extremely difficult, and it went against the laws of the entire universe’s operation. It would incur backlash and a price…

In short, reversing time itself presented many difficulties.

Moreover, this technique was not ‘invincible’; it didn’t mean that everyone who died could be revived. For someone like Ke Di, under the meticulous planning of the Bug Tribe powerhouses, Chaos City Lord ultimately lost this disciple.

“Rise,” Chaos City Lord sighed softly.

Luo Feng obediently stood up.

“Including you, I have 32 disciples in total, five of whom have already fallen,” Chaos City Lord said. “Among your 26 living senior brothers, 25 are Universe Venerables. Only one is a Pinnacle King-level Immortal God. You are still young, and I believe reaching Pinnacle King-level will be easy for you.”

Luo Feng couldn’t help but mutter inwardly when he heard ‘you are still young.’

Young?

He had spent over 900 years in Chaos City, and over 3000 years had passed in the original universe. If calculated by Earth’s years, he was already over three thousand years old! With three millennia of development, Earth’s human population had reached an astonishing level, spreading throughout the entire Milky Way Galaxy, and even establishing large numbers of Earth immigrants in other star systems.

Population limits were mainly due to territory, food, and so on.

Assuming no territorial or food restrictions, a small tribe of just a few dozen people could reach a population of over a hundred million in a thousand years!

So, after more than 3000 years, Earth’s population and the Luo family’s population had expanded to an astonishing degree. Earthlings had long elevated Luo Feng to the highest status, and the Luo family was no different. Thus, many people referred to Luo Feng as ‘Ancestor So-and-so,’ or a ‘saint of Earth,’ and so on.

Yet, before Chaos City Lord, he was told, ‘you are still young.’ But Luo Feng also knew that Chaos City Lord wasn’t wrong.

“Compared to super-beings like Chaos City Lord and Universe Venerables, anyone who hasn’t lived for hundreds of millions of years is probably considered a junior,” Luo Feng muttered to himself.

“From now on, you can directly teleport to my palace on Thunder Island,” Chaos City Lord said. “If you have any questions about cultivation, you can ask me in my palace on Thunder Island within the Virtual Universe. As for ‘Chaos Ruins’ here, you don’t need to come unless I command it.”

“Yes, Master,” Luo Feng replied respectfully.

“Also… on the day you reach Sector Lord level, and on the day you leave Chaos City. Come to Chaos Ruins once on each of those occasions,” Chaos City Lord instructed.

“Yes,” Luo Feng noted.

The day he becomes a Sector Lord? The day he leaves Chaos City?

To meet Master Chaos City Lord on both occasions?

“You may withdraw now,” Chaos City Lord said with a faint smile. “Oh, your authority has been increased. You can now search for much information you wish to know through the Virtual Universe Network.”

“Disciple takes his leave,” Luo Feng said, delighted, and quickly responded.

Whoosh!

Chaos City Lord directly teleported Luo Feng out of the Chaos Ruins.

Only Chaos City Lord remained in this ruined continent. Looking at the vast, desolate land of ruins, and the corpses of billions of powerful beings, Chaos City Lord once again sat cross-legged, silently meditating…

…

Luo Feng felt space and time shift before his eyes, and in an instant, he found himself standing at the entrance of the Chaos Ruins courtyard.

“I thought becoming a direct disciple would come with some reward,” Luo Feng chuckled inwardly. “But Master Chaos City Lord told me to meet him once when I ‘become a Sector Lord’ and once when I ‘leave Chaos City.’ There must be something special. If there wasn’t, meeting in the Virtual Universe would suffice.”

“Increased authority?”

Luo Feng was joyful. He walked through the City Lord’s Mansion, quickly exited it, and returned to the rooftop of his quiet cultivation residence. Sitting cross-legged on the rooftop, Luo Feng immediately sent a wisp of his consciousness into the Virtual Universe to search for information regarding the ‘Original Sky-Reaching Mountain.’

Different levels of authority granted access to different information.

For example, before, even as a member of the Primal Secret Region, Luo Feng couldn’t access much information, not even detailed information about the ‘Hong Alliance.’

But the identity of ‘Chaos City Lord’s direct disciple’ came with extremely high authority.

“High authority truly makes a difference; the information I can search for is incredibly detailed,” Luo Feng, sitting cross-legged on the rooftop, smiled slightly. “Original Sky-Reaching Mountain… Tsk tsk, it’s indeed difficult.”

“To pass the Universe-level ‘Original Sky-Reaching Mountain,’ one needs the ability to clear the 12th level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge.”

“To pass the Domain Lord-level ‘Original Sky-Reaching Mountain,’ one needs roughly the ability to clear the 16th level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge.”

“To pass the Sector Lord-level ‘Original Sky-Reaching Mountain,’ one needs roughly the ability to clear the 20th level of the Sky-Reaching Bridge.”

Luo Feng couldn’t help but sigh as he looked at the information he had found.

Difficult.

The Original Sky-Reaching Mountain… it truly lived up to its reputation as the most challenging trial. As Zhenyan King said, it wasn’t even meant for those geniuses to pass. Yet, historically, there were still a few peerless geniuses, appearing once every ten million eras, who managed to clear the Original Sky-Reaching Mountain. Of course, geniuses who appeared only once every ten thousand eras typically didn’t possess that ability.