"Guardian Divine Lord?" Luo Feng was startled. The Lord of Nine Nether was precisely a Guardian Divine Lord of the Ancestral God Cult, and the Guardian Divine Lord was already the highest tier among the peripheral members of the Ancestral God Cult, with a status second only to the Ancestral God, comparable to the Beast God.

"No wonder they helped me so much; it turns out they took a liking to me and want me to become a Guardian Divine Lord," Luo Feng mused internally. "Right now, facing the most powerful beings in the universe, I still need the ultimate supreme treasure for protection! But once I advance to the Universe Master level, my divine power will surge again, and my consciousness will naturally ascend as well."

"By then, even without a soul-type supreme treasure, I won't have to fear Xu Zhen Demon God's illusions anymore." Luo Feng thought to himself.

Currently, his strength was immense; he dared to contend with a Universe Master...

But when encountering the universe's apex beings, he still had to rely on the Star Tower to survive. It seemed that "Sitting Mountain Guest," the ultimate expert, was the most perceptive; he had once said that Luo Feng, relying on the Star Tower... was already invincible and fearless throughout the universe. The hidden meaning of that statement was that without the Star Tower, Luo Feng had not yet reached a level where he feared any existence in the universe.

Understanding the Ancestral God Cult's intentions, Luo Feng was still grateful.

After all, they were showing him respect by doing this. Furthermore, based on his investigations, the Ancestral God Cult had no conflict with the Human Race; moreover, the Ancestral God Cult had once promised... that once they accepted peripheral members like humanity, they would absolutely prevent Human Race powerhouses from targeting the Human Race. Peripheral members could even refuse certain mission requirements.

"Xu Zhen Demon God tried to deal with you once, and you should know how deeply the Bug Clan, Machine Clan, and Monster Clan desire your death," said the Janus Ancestral God, looking at Luo Feng. "Think carefully about what you should do."

"Mmm." Luo Feng nodded solemnly.

"Of course, there's no need to panic too much. Xu Zhen Demon God is an ultimate expert of the universe, what an identity! Asking him to act comes at a considerable cost. Since he has already made one attempt and failed... at the very least, Xu Zhen Demon God absolutely will not assassinate you a second time within the Ancestral God Cult. To invite another ultimate expert..." Haha... that won't be easy. I fear the Bug Clan, Machine Clan, and Monster Clan might not even be willing, considering one failure; if the second attempt also fails, wouldn't that be equivalent to gifting away a supreme treasure?" The Janus Ancestral God chuckled. "Think carefully about what you should do. I shall return to the Ancestral God Palace now."

The Janus Ancestral God immediately turned and left.

In just three steps, his figure blurred and completely vanished.

"Return to the Ancestral God Palace?" Luo Feng secretly nodded. The Ancestral God's identity was lofty; helping him once from seclusion was already a huge favor; he couldn't just act as his bodyguard forever.

"First, I'll return to the God Kingdom."

Luo Feng turned and walked directly toward the hall of his residence.

Leaving Purple Thorn Island, using God Kingdom Teleportation, he returned to his God Kingdom.

The Endless Nether Sea was constantly sensing the universe's origin, absorbing divine power, and continuing its conversion. After all, when transitioning from Undying to Universe Venerate, only one-eighth of the volume (a sphere with a diameter of ten billion kilometers) had been converted... and now, the process was continuing to increase.

"Star Tower." Luo Feng, clad in silver armor and silver wings, stood on the sea surface. In the distance, a Golden Horned Beast flew over, its head—now the size of a million kilometers—supporting a massive Star Tower. The Star Tower had also expanded to a length of one hundred thousand kilometers.

Over the years, the Golden Horned Beast had been diligently studying the secret patterns carved on the Star Tower.

The secret pattern carvings of the Star Tower were profoundly mysterious and complex, layered one upon another, like mountains shrouded in white mist, making them impossible to fully discern! Luo Feng was in the same state now; he could only vaguely make out three layers of secret patterns, having only completely comprehended the most shallow first layer; of course, the second layer was close to completion as well.

"Come," Luo Feng extended a hand.

Whoosh!

The Star Tower in the distance immediately flew over, shrinking as it came. By the time it settled into Luo Feng's palm, it was only the size of a walnut.

"Guard the soul." With a thought from Luo Feng, the Star Tower instantly drilled into Luo Feng's divine body, then directly suspended itself in the center of Luo Feng's chest cavity. The single Tower Bead that was previously there naturally flew back into the Star Tower, completely reintegrated.

A single Tower Bead possessed the effect of guarding the soul.

The ultimate supreme treasure, the Star Tower, was exponentially stronger in soul defense.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh... Countless threads of divine power, using the Star Tower as the core, spread out like a network woven by the Star Tower, rapidly permeating Luo Feng's entire body. Every life imprint within every fraction of divine power was instantly and completely guarded. This made Luo Feng sigh in awe—it was truly too powerful.

The Tower Bead guarded the soul like a massive boulder pressing down.

The Star Tower guarded the soul like a majestic, towering mountain suppressing everything; the stability it provided was countless times greater than before.

"Truly worthy of being an ultimate supreme treasure," Luo Feng rejoiced inwardly. No wonder they said one ultimate supreme treasure could serve as a foundation treasure for an entire race or sect... even among the ultimate experts of the universe, many did not possess an ultimate supreme treasure.

"Although the probability of them inviting an ultimate expert to kill me again is low after the first failure, I still cannot afford to be careless." Luo Feng immediately connected his consciousness to the Virtual Universe. "I once requested information about the ultimate experts, but I couldn't access it. Now that news has spread, and I'm recognized as a top-tier Universe Hegemon... my access privileges should have increased, right?"

In the Virtual Universe, on Thunder Island, at Luo Feng's residence.

In a tranquil hall, one could overlook the endless Thunder Island through the windows. Luo Feng was seated before his desk, staring at the notebook screen.

"Indeed, my privileges have been raised." Luo Feng smiled upon seeing the confirmation.

Last time, Luo Feng had the authority level of a mid-tier Universe Venerate.

This time, however, it was the authority level of a Seven-Star Universe Hegemon.

"Master," the voice of the Virtual Universe assistant, Babata, sounded. Of course, this was merely Babata's auxiliary intelligence. The true Babata was quietly cultivating on Earth, benefiting from Luo Feng's resources, and had long since reached the Undying level. However, even as an Undying, he could not participate in the level of combat Luo Feng was involved in.

Thus, he remained on Earth.

However, Babata had provided considerable assistance with many matters concerning the Luo Family Clan.

"Query Universe Master and Ultimate Expert," Luo Feng commanded.

"Yes."

Whoosh!

Streams of information instantly appeared on the screen. Luo Feng immediately clicked the first entry, which generally contained the largest volume of data.

"The Seven-Star Universe Hegemon authority is truly different... it seems I can now access some of the highest secrets." Luo Feng smiled and praised the volume of information as he began to read.

The myriad lives of the universe were birthed by the universe itself, like its children, favored by the cosmos.

Special lives possessed eternal life inherently.

Ordinary lives had to reach the Undying realm to gain eternal life; otherwise, they would simply fade away upon reaching the end of their lifespan, growing and falling generation after generation, from which Undying beings would occasionally emerge.

Below Undying, there was no need to elaborate.

Undying beings only needed to comprehend one of the lowest fundamental laws, and with the aid of the Law Ocean, their divine body would be transformed, granting them eternal life.

Universe Venerates comprehended either the Law of Space or the Law of Time; their divine bodies were stronger, and their grasp of the laws reached a higher level.

Universe Masters comprehended Spacetime itself! Or they comprehended a fusion law such as Metal-Space, Wood-Space, Time-Wind, etc... Only upon reaching this level could one truly become a Universe Master. Once one became a Universe Master, even a Golden-Space Beast God could exert control over Spacetime.

This was a boon bestowed by the universe upon them!

For the stages of Undying, Universe Venerate, and Universe Master... the universe's origin had continuously bestowed! Bestowed! And bestowed again!

Bestowing endless divine power!

Through opportunities, bestowing innate secret techniques!

Bestowing complete control over Spacetime, bestowing the possibility of reversing Spacetime for resurrection!

Even after becoming a Universe Master... the universe's origin still treated them like children, constantly bestowing favor and protection! Moreover, the cultivation process was never intentionally disturbed or sabotaged. However, the journey from Universe Master to Ultimate Expert... firstly, there was absolutely no clear path laid out!

When an Ultimate Expert was born, the path they walked would be sealed off!

Other experts could not follow the exact same path to become an Ultimate Expert.

Secondly...

Even if one endured endless hardship, possessing great wisdom, great opportunity, and great perseverance, finally breaking through the final bottleneck and taking that last step! Upon becoming an invincible Ultimate Expert, they could then directly manipulate the laws and rules of the universe. Their power was so immense that they could achieve "where words become law."

At this stage, they were actually subjected to suppression, restraint, and binding by the universe itself.

From being weaklings all the way to Universe Master, during this long journey, the universe was consistently benevolent.

But once they became an Ultimate Expert, they were instead bound, suppressed!

Their power was suppressed, allowing them to exert only slightly more strength than the strongest Universe Master! Although they could only exert this much power, their inherent strength was still tremendous, which is why reversing Spacetime to resurrect a Universe Overlord was effortless for them.

Moreover, if an Ultimate Expert killed a Universe Master or Universe Venerate, one must know that Universe Venerates and Universe Masters are all protected by the universe's origin! If they truly killed one... the Ultimate Expert would suffer punishment from the universe's origin! The stronger the one killed, the heavier the punishment.

For example, killing a Universe Overlord, the punishment meant nothing to an Ultimate Expert.

Killing a Universe Master, the punishment would be far heavier.

Of course, certain Ultimate Experts, like the Lord of Nine Nether or Chaos City Master... even if they exerted their full power, preferring to endure the punishment, they still lacked the absolute capability to kill them, precisely because the power they could exert was always limited.

"So that's how it is." Luo Feng was dumbfounded as he read. "The universe breeds all life, naturally showering them with favor... but once one becomes an Ultimate Expert, their status changes; it seems they are instead resisted, oppressed, and restrained by the universe? Even killing a Universe Venerate or Universe Master incurs punishment..."

"How bizarre."

"They are all life forms nurtured by the same original universe, constantly protected by it. But the moment they become an Ultimate Expert, they face suppression? And every single Ultimate Expert must find a different path to breakthrough?" Luo Feng realized that the Ultimate Experts must possess even greater secrets—secrets so profound that his Seven-Star Hegemon access level was still insufficient to view them.

PS Chapter One concludes!