Seven Universe Masters were seated around a circular table.

"Knowing you were coming, we all rushed back from various corners of the Crushing Peak Boundary just to greet you," chuckled Lord Youhou. Both he and Luo Feng belonged to the lineage of the 'Primal Ancestor'—one a disciple of the Dark Master, the other a disciple of the City Lord of Chaos. Their conversation naturally flowed with a sense of kinship.

Luo Feng smiled, looking around. "Lord Penggong, Lord Anjue, Lord Suishi, Lord Lang'an, thank you all for gathering here to welcome..."

"It is proper for us to welcome you on your first foray into the Sea of Chaos," Lord Penggong stroked his long beard and smiled. "The other Universe Masters are deep within the waters or the inner regions of the Crushing Peak Boundary. Simply emerging requires flying past countless perils—it takes a minimum of a hundred million years, sometimes stretching across entire epochs. That’s why they couldn’t make it."

Luo Feng nodded.

The more perilous the area, the less one dared to use instant transmission; one wrong move and you could be lost.

"Luo Feng is newly entering the Sea of Chaos, so according to the old custom," the City Lord of Chaos waved his hand with a smile. Instantly, a wine goblet appeared before each of the seven Universe Masters present, each brimming with liquor.

"Galaxy Lord, may your supreme treasures be endless, and your life eternal!" the City Lord of Chaos toasted his disciple with a smile.

"Endless supreme treasures, eternal life."

The other five Universe Masters echoed the sentiment.

Luo Feng also nodded: "Endless supreme treasures, eternal life!"

He was aware of this custom.

After all, venturing into the Sea of Chaos was an undertaking steeped in risk; even Universe Masters with avatars faced the possibility of demise! Even the supreme experts of the universe could fall; who dared claim immunity? One could only move cautiously to avoid the most dangerous zones to prolong life, but without a doubt—

This was an adventure!

The sole pursuit was treasure!

"Galaxy Lord, while we wish you endless supreme treasures and eternal life, there are still things that must be said," Lord Suishi stated directly.

Luo Feng raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Lord Suishi, please speak." Luo Feng had long heard that Lord Suishi was naturally stubborn and spoke bluntly.

"If your strength is only to gain experience alongside other Universe Masters in the outer regions of the Crushing Peak Boundary, that would be acceptable. But if you intend to venture out alone to seek and seize treasures, you are far too weak." Lord Suishi’s voice was deep, echoing through the hall. "Especially against the most fanatical experts from the First Universe Era. If you go out alone and encounter one, your demise is highly likely! Of course, I know you possess the ability to create avatars, but at least your Human Race avatar is currently stripped of its supreme treasures. In my estimation, the supreme treasures you carry are not insignificant in value."

Luo Feng shook his head and smiled wryly.

This Lord Suishi truly lived up to his reputation; his words were certainly blunt. Luo Feng knew he was somewhat lacking, but did he need to be so directly humiliating?

"Indeed, the experts of the First Universe Era are notoriously fierce," Lord Youhou quickly interjected to change the subject. "They might go into a frenzy and fight to the death; they are the most difficult to handle."

"It's not surprising they are desperate," Lord Anjue rasped. "Across the successive cycles of the Original Universe, even if they survived the Great Destruction of the Original Universe! Based on the information we possess, experts can live for at most three reincarnation eras. Once that time comes, everyone from their First Universe Reincarnation Era will perish, including the supreme experts of the universe."

"Yes, at most three reincarnation eras."

"The cycles of the Original Universe—just look at the more than ten thousand ruined miniature universes scattered across the Sea of Chaos to see how many supreme universe experts have perished. No one can fundamentally surpass the three reincarnation eras."

"Only the two great Sacred Lands are exceptions."

"And the two great Sacred Lands are just two universes."

Luo Feng secretly nodded as well.

The Sea of Chaos indeed held many unsolved mysteries.

Why was the limit precisely three reincarnation eras?

Why were those two great Sacred Lands exempt?

How vast was the Sea of Chaos? How many miniature universes existed within it? How many perilous zones? How many absolute death zones? Was it truly only the three great death zones, or could there be a fourth comparable to the Crushing Peak Boundary, the Flowing Heavy Mountain, or the Universe Ark in unexplored regions?

"The First Universe Era faces extinction," the City Lord of Chaos stated. "That is why they hone themselves with greater ferocity. Without question, only greater strength offers a chance to break the great limit! Since the two great Sacred Lands succeeded before, no one will easily give up. Luo Feng, you must be extremely cautious of the experts from the First Universe Era."

Luo Feng nodded. "Yes, Teacher."

"It's not just the First Universe Era. You must take note of every Universe Master whose strength ranks among the top," Lord Suishi said gravely. "If you encounter them, retreat early. And the two great Sacred Lands—you must give way to any representative of those two Sacred Lands. Your current strength is far inferior to theirs."

Luo Feng frowned slightly.

"I know this displeases you, but I say this for the sake of our Hong Alliance," Lord Suishi insisted. "If you encounter danger, immediately call for aid via the Virtual Universe System. It will instantly broadcast a message to every expert in the Hong Alliance, summoning the quickest ones to rush to your aid."

"I understand," Luo Feng nodded, saying no more.

...

Luo Feng was indeed somewhat displeased but offered no further argument; facts would speak for themselves.

Soon after.

Lord Youhou, Lord Penggong, Lord Anjue, Lord Suishi, and Lord Lang’an departed from the gathering spot and began their own adventures within the Crushing Peak Boundary.

"Suishi, you should restrain yourself a bit, especially given the presence of the City Lord of Chaos. And Luo Feng isn't as utterly incompetent as you claim," Lord Lang’an conversed with Lord Suishi in the void of the outer regions of the Crushing Peak Boundary.

"What, are we supposed to bow our heads just because the City Lord of Chaos is around? Moreover, what I said was absolutely true, perhaps even an understatement," Lord Suishi exhaled two plumes of flame from his nostrils. "Luo Feng battled Lord Banfu. What is Lord Banfu? He specializes in illusionary attacks and is severely lacking in material offense; he didn't even use his strongest secret technique. Yet, Luo Feng was suppressed and only managed to fight Banfu to a draw after deploying that miniature Chaos World."

"The miniature Chaos World managed to instantly annihilate so many Universe Venerables," Lord Lang’an countered.

"Hmph."

"It's only effective for wholesale slaughter of the weak," Lord Suishi snorted. "The miniature Chaos World is somewhat similar to domain-type supreme treasures; it's excellent for mass destruction of the weak. But against a one-on-one confrontation with a strong foe? It only provides supplementary power, and such wide-area strongest secret techniques consume immense divine power."

"Consuming divine power only allows for a slight power boost. Even boosted, it barely matches Lord Banfu’s material attack methods. Without this miniature Chaos World, anyone could bully him."

Flames jetted from Lord Suishi's nostrils again. "Hmph, I was actually being gentle. He’s the bottom of the barrel. Those old timers from the First Universe Era who cultivated for endless years are all desperate, and anyone from the two great Sacred Lands could crush him. Am I wrong? Hmph, if he dies, at the very least his supreme treasures will be plundered."

"How long has he cultivated? His supreme treasures must have been gifted by the Human Race faction," Lord Suishi continued. "We toil for ages just to acquire one decent supreme treasure, and he, just upon becoming a Universe Master, is already loaded with them. Just watch, this Luo Feng is definitely going to suffer a major setback."

"Now that you mention it, yes, his strength is somewhat lacking," Lord Lang’an slowly nodded his massive head.

"Hmph, who told him to be human? Even if he encounters danger, he’ll surely have his teacher, the City Lord of Chaos, to rescue him. In terms of true combat prowess, without his teacher, if he wandered the outer regions of the Crushing Peak Boundary alone, he wouldn't survive!"

In the canyon on the surface of the celestial stone, only Luo Feng and the City Lord of Chaos remained in the Grand Temple.

"Luo Feng, I too must leave to explore," the City Lord of Chaos announced. "If anything arises, you can contact me through the Virtual Universe."

"Yes, Teacher," Luo Feng nodded.

"Mmm."

The City Lord of Chaos gave Luo Feng a smiling look, then vanished with a single instant transmission.

Watching the City Lord of Chaos disappear, Luo Feng glanced back at the Grand Temple. In an instant, he was completely alone. It seemed that the experts adventuring in the Sea of Chaos were constantly forging themselves.

"I need to carefully study the information regarding the Crushing Peak Boundary in the Sea of Chaos map, as well as the information on the experts from the major factions."

On a rock outside the Grand Temple.

Luo Feng, clad in silver armor and silver wings, sat down cross-legged. He closed his eyes and began meticulously organizing the acquired intelligence, summarizing the crucial points he needed to heed.

...

Whoosh~~~

The celestial stone continued its movement at several times the speed of light, yet Luo Feng, nestled in the canyon on its surface, remained utterly still. He wasn't in a hurry to venture into the outer regions of the Crushing Peak Boundary.

"Hmm?" Luo Feng flipped his hand and produced a token.

"Teacher Sitting Mountain Guest is contacting me? It truly is a supreme-treasure-level communication token; I can connect even here in the Sea of Chaos." Luo Feng submerged his consciousness into the token.

A message was contained within.

"Luo Feng, are you in the Sea of Chaos?" Sitting Mountain Guest transmitted.

"Yes," Luo Feng replied.

"In which of the three great death zones?" Sitting Mountain Guest pressed.

"In the Crushing Peak Boundary. Teacher, why did you assume I would be in one of the three great death zones?"

"The three great death zones yield the most supreme treasures, and virtually all major factions converge there. If you weren't in one of the three great death zones for your first expedition, would you go to some remote area with extremely high danger but very few treasures? Your Human Race faction isn't foolish enough for that. Very well, if you encounter danger, you may call upon me for help, though I hope you won't have to."

"Understood," Luo Feng replied.

In the Sea of Chaos, deep within the boundless chaotic energy currents, at the core of the perilous zone known as the 'Northern Splendor Glacial Domain' (Beihua Xuelan Yu).

A solitary palace, emitting bursts of faint blue light and surrounded by endless currents, floated suspended. Inside the palace, shadowy figures of servants could be vaguely discerned; every single servant was a Universe Venerable. This was the true residence of 'Sitting Mountain Guest,' and this dangerous zone, the Northern Splendor Glacial Domain, represented Sitting Mountain Guest himself.

Among the nearly one hundred factions in the Sea of Chaos, not a single one dared to provoke Sitting Mountain Guest.

Everyone knew... Sitting Mountain Guest was not to be trifled with.

In the main hall.

On the throne sat a towering elder, over ninety thousand kilometers tall. Before the dais stood a human expert with a serpentine tail, a member of the 'Snake-Human' race, waiting respectfully.

"Haha, Puti, your junior brother has also entered the Sea of Chaos," boomed Sitting Mountain Guest's voice.

"Congratulations, Teacher," Puti replied respectfully.

"It’s too early for congratulations. His strength is still far lacking," Sitting Mountain Guest gazed down at Puti. "Puti, you have followed me the longest and understand me best. I am deeply disappointed in your Second Junior Brother; he has almost given up. You, however, are diligent. I know that among my three disciples, Luo Feng has the greatest potential, followed by your Second Junior Brother, and you have the least potential. Yet, you possess the greatest strength right now."

Puti bowed. "It is only because I have cultivated for the longest time and remained by your side, Teacher, observing much, that I have comprehended more."

He had always maintained a low profile, never showing off. Even Emperor Yan looked down on Puti, thinking Puti had merely been a servant before. He could never know that Puti's true strength had quietly surpassed his own.

"I will give you an opportunity."

"The same opportunity I gave your Second and Third Junior Brothers."

"You too shall venture out into the Sea of Chaos for proper tempering and experience," Sitting Mountain Guest looked at Puti, then produced a broken stub of cyan wood from his hand. "I cannot prepare a supreme treasure perfectly suited for you, so I bestow this strange item, the Divine Wood of Oddity, upon you. It has been in my possession for endless epochs, serving merely as a collectible for me, but in your hands, it should be able to unleash sufficient power."

Puti's divine body trembled slightly.

The same opportunity as his Second and Third Junior Brothers?

How long had he waited for those words?

"Yes, Teacher, your disciple will exert every effort and not disappoint you," Puti bowed, his voice filled with boundless conviction.

"Go then," Sitting Mountain Guest nodded.

Puti bowed once more before departing the hall.

Sitting Mountain Guest’s gaze pierced through the hall doors, seemingly traversing the infinite chaotic energy currents, looking far toward the Crushing Peak Boundary, murmuring softly, "I have waited too long, far too long..."

Although it is very late, sigh, the update is complete. It’s already the tenth day of the month; the busy period will soon pass, and updates will become regular.

It is now February; a new month has just begun, so I ask for your support. Thank you.