Golden mist surrounded the continent, a continent forged entirely from metal.
Above the continent.
An oval shaped egg floated in the air.
Crack. Crack.
Gradually, cracks appeared across the eggshell. As an arm pushed through the shell, it finally shattered apart. A completely naked man with short black hair and a lean, powerful physique floated in the sky. His eyes were as deep as the ocean. Anyone looked at by those eyes would feel an inexplicable sense of fear.
He stood 1.78 metres tall. Though slightly slim, he resembled refined steel forged a hundred times over, radiating boundless power.
The black haired man looked around the golden continent.
“So this is my internal world?”
A trace of wonder flashed through his eyes.
Whoosh!
He vanished into thin air.
At the same moment.
Boom!
A Golden Horned Beast, 320 metres long and covered in black scales, appeared on the continent.
Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, amidst the surging underwater currents.
The Golden Horned Beast disappeared instantly.
At the same moment, the naked black haired man appeared.
“Finally. Finally I’ve changed back.”
Excitement was impossible to hide in Luo Feng’s eyes.
“The Origin Core!”
With a thought, his consciousness entered his body. He clearly saw that between his heart and lungs, at the location of the Tanzhong acupoint, there was now a slowly rotating Origin Core covered in mysterious golden patterns and emitting a faint golden glow.
The Origin Core was extremely small.
When the Golden Horned Beast had been 180 metres long, the Origin Core’s diameter had only been a little over twenty centimetres. Now that Luo Feng was in human form, its diameter was merely a few millimetres.
“Genetic Force. Spiritual Force!”
With a thought from Luo Feng.
Rumble…
Large amounts of golden mist were transmitted from the internal world into his body, rapidly gathering at the dantian in his abdomen. They spun and condensed rapidly. With the vast supply of metallic cosmic energy from the internal world, miniature planets quickly formed within his dantian.
One.
Two.
Three.
Planetary Level, Third Stage.
At present, Luo Feng’s body could only withstand this much. To improve further, he would need to gradually strengthen his body and increase the capacity of his dantian.
“Rumble…”
At the same time, within the Origin Core, Luo Feng’s soul, already at Stellar Level Third Stage, frantically absorbed cosmic energy from the outside world.
The moment the cosmic energy entered the Origin Core, it was immediately refined.
However, it underwent only basic refinement. Once it reached roughly Planetary Level Fifth or Sixth Stage, it rapidly left the Origin Core and poured into Luo Feng’s sea of consciousness.
An immense amount of spiritual force gathered continuously.
Soon, a qualitative transformation occurred.
A soul planet formed.
After about half an hour, the process finally stopped.
Within the sea of consciousness.
A blood coloured planet sat at the centre, while five other planets revolved around it endlessly.
Planetary Level, Sixth Stage.
“Luo Feng, your physical body is at Planetary Level Third Stage. However, because your previous special ability was the Diamond Body, your body’s toughness is comparable to that of a Planetary Level Fourth Stage martial artist. Carrying a Planetary Level Sixth Stage spiritual force planet is already your limit.” Babata said.
“I understand.”
Luo Feng smiled and opened his eyes.
A Silver Guard flew over.
Luo Feng took a spatial ring from it. Using his spiritual force, he pushed the seawater aside to form a protective barrier, then took out a set of clothes and put them on.
“Mo Yun.”
Luo Feng looked into the distance.
The blood red vine that stretched across several thousand metres of seabed suddenly shrank rapidly before flying directly towards him.
Once the Mo Yun Vine acknowledged a master, it would only ever have one master in its lifetime. If Luo Feng’s soul were destroyed, the Mo Yun Vine would die as well.
Whoosh!
After shrinking, the Mo Yun Vine merged into Luo Feng’s skin and disappeared.
Waves of emotion flowed from its consciousness.
“Happy. Happy…”
“It seems I’m still the same as before.” Luo Feng sighed. “But fundamentally, my soul’s core is now the Origin Core and the internal world.”
His body had been nurtured by the internal world.
This meant that Luo Feng’s current human body and the Golden Horned Beast’s body were essentially the same.
Their true vital points were the Origin Core, the soul, and the internal world.
Even if Luo Feng’s head were destroyed, he would not die. As long as energy was supplied, it would regrow just like the Golden Horned Beast.
“Luo Feng, I told you to choose the body of another race, but you insisted on choosing a human from Earth.”
“The evolution speed of the Golden Horned Beast’s body will far exceed the evolution speed of your human body.”
“Even though the internal world supplies metallic cosmic energy, your body’s genetic potential is simply too poor. No matter how much energy you have, what is the point if your body cannot absorb it?” Babata still sounded dissatisfied.
Luo Feng smiled.
He understood.
The Golden Horned Beast improved through the internal world.
Whenever the internal world expanded to a higher level, the beast would immediately absorb massive amounts of energy and rise to the same level.
Thus, the Golden Horned Beast and the internal world could progress at the same pace.
However, compared with the Golden Horned Beast, the genetic potential of Luo Feng’s human body was vastly inferior.
Its evolution simply could not keep up.
“It’s fine. There’s no need to be greedy.” Luo Feng smiled. “At least I’m now a Planetary Level Sixth Stage Spirit Reader.”
In human form, he was a Planetary Level Sixth Stage Spirit Reader.
Once he used the Golden Horned Beast body, however, he would become a Stellar Level Third Stage Golden Horned Beast.
In just over a year, he had advanced from Stellar Level First Stage to Third Stage.
That was already very fast.
The higher one went, the slower advancement became.
Breaking through to the Universe Level took the longest.
Boom!
Standing atop the Soaring Sky Shuttle, Luo Feng shot through the seawater.
High in the sky.
Luo Feng stood upon the Soaring Sky Shuttle, flying towards Europe with a cold expression.
“Luo Feng, after the Devouring Beast battle, the world’s strongest experts died. The God of War Palace closed down. Without leaders, and without absolute figures like Hong, Thunder God, or you to suppress everyone, the situation quickly became chaotic.”
“The former Fifth Speaker, Atkin, became the strongest person alive.”
“Atkin and Yan Hai were originally Council Members backed by the HR Alliance. After the death of East, the strongest expert of the European Union and the HR Alliance, Atkin became the leader. He joined forces with Yan Hai and, through threats and forceful methods, rapidly seized control of the HR Alliance.”
“Furthermore, Atkin and Yan Hai befriended Saigo Nehru. As a genius from India, Nehru was naturally invited into the Thunderbolt Dojo and is now one of its Inspectors.”
“According to the intelligence I gathered through infiltration.”
“This faction is led by Atkin, the former Fifth Speaker, and Yan Hai, who once competed unsuccessfully for the position of Speaker and whose strength was comparable to Jia Yi’s. Both are extremely powerful. Saigo Nehru is now Earth’s only Planetary Level Spirit Reader, and the same person whose talent I once praised as second only to yours.”
Luo Feng remained expressionless.
“This faction is led by Atkin, Yan Hai, and Nehru. These three form the ruling triumvirate. Under them are several Planetary Level First and Second Stage Council Members. They are currently the strongest force on Earth.”
“Below them is the Extreme Dojo. Because of Hong’s three absolutely loyal personal guards, it remains highly united.”
“After that come the five great nations.”
“Only then comes the Thunderbolt Dojo. Since Thunder God fell into a deep sleep and Nehru joined, internal struggles within the Thunderbolt Dojo have become severe.”
Even Luo Feng was surprised.
Controlling the entire HR Alliance while also infiltrating the Thunderbolt Dojo.
This was indeed a terrifying force.
“With iron blooded methods and ruthless actions, killing people and seizing treasures, they have already established the strongest foundation. No nation dares provoke them lightly.” Babata said.
Atkin, the strongest martial artist.
Nehru, the strongest Spirit Reader.
And Yan Hai, whose strength was close to Atkin’s.
“Have the families of Mohanderson, East, Tripathi Singh, Jia Yi, and Sokolov suffered?” Luo Feng asked.
He would never forget those five heroes who had fought alongside him against the Golden Horned Beast.
“More or less, none of them have had an easy time. However, nobody dares openly bully the families of the Eight Heroes. Only Mohanderson’s family suffered a little worse. One relative died. Officially, it was reported as a car accident.” Babata replied.
Luo Feng’s expression became even colder.
Power struggles were cruel.
Outwardly there was peace.
In secret, countless people died while new figures rose to power.
“The moment life becomes a little easier and danger disappears, scum starts crawling out.” Luo Feng’s killing intent intensified. Influenced by the Golden Horned Beast bloodline, he had become far more violent than before. “When everyone was risking their lives, these people were nowhere to be seen. Now they jump around more than anyone. They even dare threaten the families of fallen heroes and seize their possessions.”
“They deserve to die.”
“They deserve to die!”
Luo Feng’s gaze turned icy.
“When the tiger leaves the mountain, the monkeys proclaim themselves kings. Atkin? Yan Hai? Nehru? They can all die.”
Back when he was only Planetary Level Third Stage, Luo Feng already stood above nearly everyone, capable of killing Beast Emperors and standing alongside Hong and Thunder God.
Now, as a Planetary Level Sixth Stage Spirit Reader.
Killing those people would be as easy as crushing ants.
European Union, Paris Base City.
Dawn was just beginning to break.
Dressed in an elegant suit, his formerly greying hair neatly trimmed, Yan Hai sat on the large terrace of his villa’s third floor holding a wine glass.
His mood was exceptionally good.
“Tsk tsk.”
He sniffed the wine and seemed to savour the aroma before tilting his head back and drinking it.
“Wonderful.”
Yan Hai sighed with satisfaction.
He loved his current life.
Back during the Great Nirvana Period, he had believed the apocalypse was a dream world for powerful people like himself, a world where they could live like emperors.
A group of ruthless followers, including Vulture Li Yao, had gathered around him.
However, Jia Yi possessed an overwhelming sense of justice.
The two had become bitter enemies.
They were China’s two greatest experts and were nearly equal in strength.
In the end, Jia Yi had forced Yan Hai into exile.
He fled China and hid in Europe, not daring to return for decades.
But now?
He could go to China whenever he wished and do whatever he pleased.
Jia Yi was dead.
Four Speakers had died.
That monstrous Luo Feng was dead as well.
Only the Fifth Speaker, Atkin, remained.
And Atkin happened to be his ally.
“Good wine. Excellent wine.”
Yan Hai smiled broadly as he poured himself another drink.
Life had once been oppressive.
Now it was exhilarating.
“Hm?”
Yan Hai’s body trembled slightly.
Slowly, he turned around.
Inside, however, he was terrified.
“How is this possible? With the help of Mu Ya Crystals, I’ve already reached Planetary Level Third Stage. Even if Atkin is somewhat stronger than me, he couldn’t possibly appear behind me without me noticing. There can’t be anyone on Earth capable of this. Impossible!”
He roared inwardly.
Yet he continued turning slowly.
His eyes locked onto the figure behind him.
He had to know who it was.
Military trousers.
A simple vest.
Short black hair.
A lean and capable build.
And eyes colder than ice.
“You… you…”
Yan Hai’s eyes widened to their limits.
“No. No…”
His face turned bright red.
He looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“Impossible. You…”
“Don’t look like you’ve seen a ghost. If you’ve done nothing wrong, you needn’t fear ghosts knocking at your door. I am Luo Feng, and I’ve come to take your life.”
The icy voice echoed.
Boom!
Yan Hai felt his soul explode.
His spirit shattered instantly.
With his soul completely dispersed, his body went limp and crashed to the ground.
“Hmph.”
Luo Feng swept a cold glance over him.
“You are the first.”
Whoosh!
He was already speeding towards the distant horizon.