The massive secret pattern light shining upon the endless expanse of ice instantly shot towards the sky.
Whoosh!
The deep cyan mountain peak vanished into thin air.
“This is a special means of teleportation,” Zuoshan Ke chuckled from within the mountain. “It’s somewhat similar to your Star Tower. Your Star Tower contains vast spaces, and moving from one space to another easily creates a passageway. This is a similar approach, only here, the passageway is condensed into a single point, made void.”
Luofeng listened, though confusion still lingered in his eyes. He understood the concept, but the profound mystery eluded him.
“Haha, I told you, across three reincarnation eras and two holy land universes, perhaps no more than three entities could recognize this technique. And even their recognition speed wouldn't match mine,” Zuoshan Ke laughed. “If even the strongest experts of the myriad universes don’t grasp it, how could you? Just know that this is one of the inherent abilities of the Universe Boat itself. Frankly, I think… the Universe Boat is an incredibly miraculous supreme treasure! Far more magical than any ultimate supreme treasure we currently know of.”
“I think so too,” Luo Hui nodded.
“What do you mean, ‘you think so too’? This Universe Boat has the shape of a ‘boat,’ and its forging marks are so obvious. The vast majority of super experts suspect it is an unimaginably terrifying supreme treasure. Alright, the teleportation is complete,” Zuoshan Ke stated.
The external light dimmed faintly.
Spacetime flowed.
In a tranquil space, the mountain peak materialized out of thin air.
“Look outside,” Zuoshan Ke gestured outwards, while the deep cyan mountain stone itself rapidly dissolved into nothingness, offering no obstruction to sight.
“It’s beautiful; a very simple space,” Luofeng observed. The space wasn't large; there was an island at the center of a vast lake, barren of any vegetation, featuring only rows upon rows of exquisitely carved stone palaces, their forms undulating beautifully.
“Teacher, I can sense them. The two scales are within the lake,” Luofeng said.
“I already know how you obtained those two scales,” Zuoshan Ke pointed downward. “This enormous lake, and the water within it… this is the vast Icy Water Domain, about three days’ journey from here. It’s likely your two scales fell into the Icy Water Domain and perhaps found their way here through some hidden passage.”
“Teacher, I’ll go down first.” Luofeng was burning with impatience; he had no time for leisurely discussion with his teacher.
“Haha, go on then, go on,” Zuoshan Ke smiled and nodded.
He exited the mountain peak aboard the Blood-colored Pyramid.
Whooshing downwards, he plunged directly into the cold water domain.
He drilled ceaselessly toward the depths…
Luofeng had collected hundreds of thousands of scales from the Icy Water Domain previously, so he knew well that this icy water posed no threat. To be precise, the entire abyss could not threaten the ‘Star Tower.’ At worst, it could trap him, preventing him from ever leaving.
“There!”
Luofeng’s sensation grew stronger.
Deep in the lake, the Blood-colored Pyramid continued to sink. Immediately, a hazy golden light rapidly coalesced into a massive golden hand, snatching up the two scales in one grab.
“Haha, got them.”
Returning to the core space within the mountain peak.
Zuoshan Ke stood smiling to one side.
Luofeng, however, was tremendously excited. He quickly initiated the bonding process with the two scales in his hand. Instantly, even the half-finished Annihilation God Armor disintegrated, joining the massive number of previously unintegrated scales. In that moment, a full 899,999 scales hovered around Luofeng. The majority were black, with a very small fraction being gold.
Hiss!
They merged in an instant, interlocking with incredible precision. This made Luofeng sigh in awe. To first create so many secret techniques, then form them into secret patterns, and decompose them across nearly 900,000 scales—with defense, close combat, long-range attack, and other secret patterns intricately combined. It was incredible to fabricate such a supreme treasure.
“Not bad,” Zuoshan Ke praised with a nod.
Luofeng now wore this suit of black scale armor, with silver wings unfurling behind him. Suddenly, the armor’s color shifted, transforming into silver plating. Even the golden right hand component turned silver, and the design was subtly altered. “Like this, even the Master of the Five Chaos Realms wouldn't recognize you,” Zuoshan Ke smiled and nodded approvingly.
“Mm,” Luofeng was also somewhat thrilled.
“However, those Five Chaos Realms used this Mad Demon God-Slaying Armor as if it were a palace treasure, so the armor itself has sustained some minor damage,” Zuoshan Ke noted. “It likely stems from the injuries the Five Chaos Realms sustained in the magma sea.”
Luofeng nodded; he could sense that the Mad Demon God-Slaying Armor indeed had slight damage.
“Give it to me; I’ll help you repair it,” Zuoshan Ke offered.
“Yes.” Luofeng didn’t stand on ceremony, only growing more grateful.
“The damage is actually quite minor and won’t require much effort, but a treasure of this caliber—second only to ultimate supreme treasures—few in the Sea of Universe can repair it,” Zuoshan Ke said confidently. “If anyone in the Sea of Universe can fix it, naturally, that would be me.”
Luofeng was speechless. His teacher was indeed supremely confident when it came to refining supreme treasures.
But since he needed his teacher’s help, it was best to humor him.
He temporarily handed the Mad Demon God-Slaying Armor to his teacher, but Zuoshan Ke wasn’t in a rush to repair it. Instead, he said, “Let’s go take a look at that small island. This mysterious space is isolated from many other places; it should be the living quarters of some powerhouse from the Universe Boat’s era.”
“Mm,” Luofeng nodded.
The Universe Boat, long, long ago—more accurately, before the two holy land universes even came into existence—must have had users. The independent chambers corresponding to the black, cyan, and silver tokens were actually special spaces for rest and cultivation.
If the Abyss of Endless Slopes and the River of Heavy Mountains seemed to have been born naturally, then the Universe Boat displayed incredibly obvious marks of refinement.
“Whoosh!” The mountain peak flew swiftly, soon hovering above the central island in the lake. It then slowly descended, landing on the ground, where a cave opened up from the mountain.
“Let’s go out and see,” Zuoshan Ke stepped out first.
“Teacher, out there…” Luofeng couldn’t help but speak up; one had to be constantly cautious in the abyss.
“There is no danger on the island,” Zuoshan Ke was already outside.
“Yes.” Luofeng could only follow, though his Golden Horned Beast avatar remained inside the Blood-colored Pyramid.
Walking one after the other, they exited the mountain peak and stepped onto the island ground.
“The island is only a million kilometers in diameter; not large at all,” Luofeng thought to himself. For him, a single stride could take him from one end of the island to the other.
Zuoshan Ke gazed silently at the rows of undulating palaces, seemingly immersed in thought.
Luofeng also turned to look at the palaces. They were clearly carved and hollowed out from the island’s own rock, forming stone structures. On the palace walls were ancient, sprawling murals: images of immense boats flying through the sky, depictions of powerhouses engaged in combat, and figures of headless human-like experts suspended in the air while others knelt before great cauldrons…
Numerous patterns seemed to narrate some ancient history.
The atmosphere washing over them carried the aura of another ancient civilization. Even in the simple strokes of the carvings, an infinite sense of yearning was contained. This intense longing even began to affect Luofeng’s state of mind…
“What a terrifying civilization.”
“What terrifying powerhouses,” Luofeng murmured softly.
Zuoshan Ke looked at Luofeng. “You noticed?”
“I didn't discern anything else, only that the flying boat mural… judging by its appearance, that boat is the Universe Boat. How could a civilization capable of creating something as incredible as the Universe Boat not be terrifying?” Luofeng exclaimed. “And the carver’s power must have been formidable.”
“Teacher,” Luofeng turned to Zuoshan Ke, “did such an immensely powerful civilization truly exist?”
“Perhaps,” Zuoshan Ke sighed. “Even if it did, it was likely before the last reincarnation era. The two holy land universes have existed for an immense duration. By the time they arose, the Universe Boat was already damaged and one of the Three Great Death Zones. We can only find traces in ancient ruins. My methods for refining supreme treasures came from specific opportunities combined with my own comprehension. Take the Seven True Masters of the God-Eye Race; they also obtained legacies from some ancient ruins, studying them closely, even developing joint attack methods. As for the two holy land universes, their combat and cultivation styles are unique—partly taught by their founding ancestors, and partly, I suspect, due to discovering many ancient ruins.”
“Holy Land Universes,” Luofeng interjected, “Teacher, we’ve never seen the founding ancestors of those two holy land universes.”
“This touches upon the secrets of the strongest experts in the universe,” Zuoshan Ke looked at Luofeng. “Don’t dwell on it. Focus on cultivating diligently. When you become a universe’s strongest expert, you will naturally learn these mysteries. If you haven’t reached that level, knowing them will only bring you unnecessary trouble.”
“Mm,” Luofeng nodded.
“Come, let’s go inside and look,” Zuoshan Ke walked directly inward.
Following the entrance of one palace, they stepped inside.
Luofeng and Zuoshan Ke walked side-by-side, observing. The entire palace was adorned with ancient carvings everywhere: scenes of countless living beings celebrating, depictions of slaughter, illustrations of leaders roaring… countless patterns revealed the nature of that ancient civilization—it was a wondrous and mighty one.
“Yearning…” Luofeng sensed the longing imbued by the carver. He even suspected that these palaces were imitations of famous structures from that ancient civilization, because some buildings in the carvings matched portions of the stone palace complex itself.
After observing the ancient palaces for a long time, Luofeng and Zuoshan Ke reached the inner sanctum.
“Teacher,” Luofeng suddenly noticed Zuoshan Ke had stopped.
Luofeng followed Zuoshan Ke’s gaze to a distant, massive wall covered in complex script. The characters were ancient and mysterious—the very script used when messages were transmitted through numerous supreme treasures. Though Luofeng didn't recognize them, he clearly understood their meaning.
“Mistake!!!”
“This was all a mistake!!! Paying such a huge price only brought death!!!”
“One by one, death, one by one, death! Haha, I broke through, so what if I broke through? Still death, death!!!”
The words etched on the wall held fury, sorrow, unwillingness, and regret… leaving Luofeng and Zuoshan Ke stunned in silence for a long while.
Chapter One is here! Brothers, send those monthly tickets and recommendation votes, go all out!!!