The Golden Horned Beast was hurled into that spatial vortex... and the towering giant, 'Lord of Artificers,' whose body rivaled mountains ten million gongjia high, stood silently in the void, watching the vortex leading to the absolute dead zone. The Lord of Artificers was a mountain peak soaring ten million kilometers tall, with countless enormous, crystalline arms extending from its mass—at a glance, there were easily over a hundred such colossal limbs.
Simultaneously, a massive eye was etched onto the mountain's rock face.
"Golden Horned Beast, if you remain trapped in the absolute dead zone for eons, do not blame me." The Lord of Artificers gazed at the spatial vortex. "This is all arranged by Teacher Zuo Shan Rong."
"Poor fellow."
The Lord of Artificers sighed softly.
The directives of his opponent, Zuo Shan Ke, were absolute commands that the Lord of Artificers would execute without question.
In truth, given his strength, his artifact refinement capabilities, and his gigantic mountain-like divine body spanning tens of millions of kilometers... he genuinely had no fear of the strongest beings in the universe! Firstly, he was powerful himself, his divine body immense, and he possessed the flying palace-type supreme treasure, the 'Artificer Star,' allowing him to hold out against the universe's strongest for a very long time. Secondly, he had countless friends; among the universe's strongest alone, he counted several whose relationships were extremely close. Races like the Human Clan, the Demon Race, and others treated him exceptionally well, frequently requesting his aid in refining supreme treasures.
Thus, if any other universe's strongest dared to directly 'order' him, he would utterly disregard them.
But Zuo Shan Ke was different...
The Lord of Artificers held absolute reverence for Zuo Shan Ke!
Back when he favored forging weapons, possessing immense talent in that area, during the nascent stages of the universe when life was scarce, the Lord of Artificers was already a 'Universe Venerable.' While refining a major treasure, he was inadvertently observed by 'Zuo Shan Ke,' which enraged him. How could the secrets of forging supreme treasures be witnessed and possibly stolen by another powerful being?
He was furious, yet Zuo Shan Ke was already a universe's strongest at that time; his mere manipulation of the surrounding universe rendered the Lord of Artificers completely immobile.
Subsequently, Zuo Shan Ke critiqued the merits of the Lord of Artificers' forging techniques, pointed out the flaws, and detailed methods for improvement and refinement. This instantly astonished the Lord of Artificers... And so, during that period of loneliness, Zuo Shan Ke resided on the planet of the Lord of Artificers. At that time, the Artificer Star was unknown and had not yet been transformed into a flying palace-type supreme treasure.
Zuo Shan Ke offered occasional guidance...
This caused the Lord of Artificers' skills to advance by leaps and bounds! His comprehension of Laws also progressed immensely, finally leading to a breakthrough, elevating him to the level of a Universe Master! His weapon forging reached an extraordinary height.
"Your skill is already superb; my guidance is no longer useful. From here on, it depends on your own comprehension," Zuo Shan Ke stated one day before departing without ceremony.
From beginning to end, Zuo Shan Rong never claimed him as a disciple.
Nor did he pass on secret cultivation methods or bestow supreme treasures upon him. Zuo Shan Ke's assistance... was merely residing on that planet for a considerable time and pointing out techniques in artifact refinement.
Yet, the Lord of Artificers consistently referred to him as 'Teacher Zuo Shan Ke,' having long regarded Zuo Shan Rong as his master! He had even attempted to formally become his disciple several times... but Zuo Shan Ke had never agreed. Therefore, when Zuo Shan Ke commanded him this time, the Lord of Artificers naturally carried out the task flawlessly, without the slightest delay.
"Poor fellow, though you are a lucky one too." The Lord of Artificers sighed, "Teacher Zuo Shan Ke setting up a trial to temper you suggests he likely views you as a disciple as well."
"However, given Teacher Zuo Shan Ke's lofty perspective, if you cannot emerge on your own, you will be permanently confined to the absolute dead zone."
The Lord of Artificers sighed inwardly.
Whoosh!
Immediately, that colossal form vanished from the void and returned to the Artificer Star.
Moments later, "Teacher has returned."
"Teacher has returned."
"Hurry and prepare, Teacher will soon test you. Those who pass the final trial will be accepted as his disciples." At the foot of the mountain belonging to the Lord of Artificers, the more than five hundred Universe Venerables and Immortals, who possessed talent in artifact refinement and had been kneeling, looked up with excitement as the three disciples of the Lord of Artificers descended from high above, shouting the announcement.
And the Universe Venerables of various races within the architectural complex swiftly emerged.
"Quickly, the Lord of Artificers is about to appear."
"Hurry."
"The chance to request the Lord of Artificers to refine a supreme treasure is coming!" Swish, swish, thousands of Universe Venerables surged forth.
"Youluo, the Lord of Artificers is about to appear! Youluo, Youluo!" Venerable Yuhe searched Luo Feng's residence but found no sign of him, sighing in confusion.
Within the Yin Fa Secret Realm, inside the spaceship floating in the void, the original body of the Earthling sat. Beside him, a Dark Sea Clone had appeared (the previous Dark Sea Clone had expended all its divine power and annihilated itself to replenish the divine body of the Golden Horned Beast during its defense against the Lord of Artificers' grip, so it had naturally regenerated).
"Where on earth is he?"
"Where is my Golden Horned Beast clone? I can connect consciousness with the Golden Horned Beast clone, but I cannot sense its location at all." Luo Feng felt deeply shaken. This had never happened before; even on the Primal Star, the two clones could sense each other's positions.
"Where did the Golden Horned Beast clone go?"
"Where in the universe is this absolute dead zone?" Luo Feng grew increasingly puzzled.
Even at his current level, Luo Feng still felt the universe was impossibly vast and mysterious, with unfathomable regions constantly revealing themselves.
The starry sky shifted.
Passing through the massive spatial vortex, the Golden Horned Beast appeared in a patch of starry space, gazing around blankly. "Th-This is where?"
The Golden Horned Beast looked into the distance.
A brilliant galaxy, with distant stars and planets, and he even spotted a red giant star... With the Golden Horned Beast's vision, looking across the boundless sea of stars, this appeared to be an extremely ordinary and common stretch of the cosmos. But the Golden Horned Beast clone understood this place was anything but ordinary!
It couldn't sense spatial fluctuations! It couldn't sense its own Divine Kingdom! Nor could it sense the Virtual Universe!
"How is this possible?"
"Where are the spatial fluctuations?" The Golden Horned Beast roared, suspended in the void, observing its surroundings. "There is no spatial lock; how could the spatial fluctuations vanish?"
This endless expanse of stars seemed inherently devoid of any spatial ripple, as if completely isolated from the original universe.
"Cannot sense the Virtual Universe!"
"Cannot sense the Divine Kingdom."
"When I was on the Primal Star, I couldn't connect to the Virtual Universe. This is the second place in the universe that blocks my connection to the Virtual Universe." The Golden Horned Beast surveyed its surroundings, keenly aware of the power of the Virtual Universe, and a place capable of severing that connection must be extraordinary.
The only place he knew before this was the Primal Star!
"What about the spatial vortex?" The Golden Horned Beast looked around; it had passed through the spatial vortex directly into this star field, and then the vortex had vanished.
"How could it disappear?"
"Could it be..."
"The massive spatial vortex near the Artificer Star can randomly transport one to various points?" Luo Feng was utterly perplexed. Back in the Ancestral God Secret Realm, Luo Feng had encountered random spatial vortices that would transport him to a core location, where the Demon Clone eventually evolved.
The Demon Clone Luo Feng materialized in mid-air, while the Golden Horned Beast clone was concealed within the World Ring.
"What secrets does this absolute dead zone hold? I haven't detected any danger yet?" Luo Feng watched closely, but because he couldn't sense his Divine Kingdom, he couldn't use Divine Kingdom Teleportation, meaning his injuries could not be healed at all.
"What scheme has Teacher Zuo Shan Ke set up for me?" Luo Feng muttered to himself.
Luo Feng was not foolish!
When he had tried to steal the fourth metal plate, he hadn't assumed the Lord of Artificers was connected to Zuo Shan Ke. But when his Golden Horned Beast clone acquired it and was about to escape... the Lord of Artificers appeared. His appearance was normal enough. What was abnormal was that he only administered a minor punishment, didn't reclaim the black metal plate, and didn't even take any supreme treasures from him, before tossing him into the spatial vortex leading to the absolute dead zone!
"A weak, foreign creature."
"Daring to steal."
"And this creature actually emerged alive from the black gourd, meaning it must possess powerful defensive armor. Knowing this... yet the Lord of Artificers didn't take a single item from me, was he that benevolent? If he were benevolent, he could have simply killed me. There were countless ways to punish me; why throw me into this absolute dead zone?"
"As a supreme expert, fighting amongst themselves on the Primal Star for a few top-tier supreme treasures, yet ignoring the priceless treasures right under his nose."
"There's definitely something going on; I'm not an idiot to believe otherwise," Luo Feng mused internally.
"It must be an arrangement by Teacher Zuo Shan Ke." Luo Feng felt gratitude toward Zuo Shan Ke but had always pondered Zuo Shan Ke's intentions and purpose. Zuo Shan Ke typically paid him no mind, yet he caused Luo Feng to obtain the three black metal plates at the levels of 'Sector Lord,' 'Immortal,' and 'Venerable,' clearly setting three trials.
"That time I went to Venerable Qing Gou Kou and Venerable Zi Gou Kou... I ended up locked in the Ice Prison. If it hadn't been for the intervention of the Heavenly Wolf Master halfway through, I probably would have had to languish there for countless years, killing masses of experts in the Ice Prison, before finally emerging," Luo Feng reflected.
"Was that Teacher Zuo Shan Ke's previous objective?"
Luo Feng could only guess, as Zuo Shan Ke's arrangements were rather casual. Even if Luo Feng had gotten out midway due to 'Heavenly Wolf Master' or 'Chaos City Master,' Zuo Shan Ke would not have intervened.
"And this time?"
"What is the objective this time? If not for the Heavenly Wolf Master and Chaos City Master last time, I would have been trapped for an extremely long period." Luo Feng stared into the endless starry sky. "In this mysterious absolute dead zone, I cannot sense my Divine Kingdom, cannot sense the Virtual Universe, and cannot even determine my cosmic coordinates! I can't even call for help! My damaged divine body cannot be replenished by the endless Dark Sea..."
"If I fail, my Tribulation Armor, Nine Roar River, and Devourer of the Heavens Wings will be lost," Luo Feng realized.
"Can't worry about that now."
"Whatever scheme Teacher Zuo Shan Ke has set up, he is fostering me to rapidly increase my strength. No matter what—strength is the foundation!" Luo Feng stopped overthinking, swoosh! He immediately transformed into a streak of light and shot off rapidly, his speed climbing constantly until he reached the speed of light.
"Huh?" Luo Feng's eyes widened.
"The speed of light!"
"I have reached the speed of light! No, I'm already starting to surpass the speed of light! Why haven't I entered the Dark Universe yet?" Luo Feng, now a streak of light, was completely dumbfounded. "What exactly is this place? Is this truly the original universe, or is it another universe similar to the Initial Universe?"