Beside him, the North True Star Master watched anxiously. He understood precisely how much the Primordial Emperor valued this transaction; if anything went wrong, it would be disastrous. "The Ancestor only rarely manifests during the Endless Reincarnation Era. Yet, this time, to sever the lineage of the Duan Dong River, he has appeared frequently, even stating several times that he would pay any price. I hope this Stone of Memory meets the Ancestor's expectations!"

After a long time.

The Primordial Emperor was browsing at an incredible speed, far surpassing Luo Feng’s pace. He swiftly skimmed past the lower levels of cultivation experience, jumping directly to read the insights beginning from a level higher than the Universe Masters...

Silence reigned in the grand hall; a falling pin could have been heard.

"Hmph!" The Primordial Emperor's eyes snapped open, terrible flames erupting from them.

"Ancestor?" the North True Star Master ventured.

"Damn that human, Galaxy!" the Primordial Emperor spat through clenched teeth.

"Ancestor, this Stone of Memory?" The North True Star Master’s heart trembled.

"This Stone of Memory truly contains insights surpassing the Universe Masters," the Primordial Emperor sneered. "And quite a bit of it. However, the cultivation experience recorded within this Stone of Memory is less profound than my own! At best, it represents a unique path of cultivation, a peculiar route taken!"

"It hasn't reached my level—what use is it to me? What use is it?" The Primordial Emperor's icy voice made the surrounding space tremble.

The North True Star Master immediately bristled with anger. "Ancestor, this human Galaxy dared to toy with our Primordial Emperor Holy Land, daring to cheat us out of two Supreme Treasures! We must make him regret it!"

"How will he regret it?" The Primordial Emperor looked at the North True Star Master. "Are you going to the Original Universe?"

The North True Star Master choked on his words.

None of the other Reincarnation Era powers, including the two Great Holy Lands, dared to forcibly enter the Original Universe. Any being not native to the Original Universe who entered would be seeking death.

"Then... then we just let him walk away with two Supreme Treasures for nothing?" the North True Star Master protested, unwilling to accept it.

The Primordial Emperor sank into cold contemplation.

Perhaps the North True Star Master felt pained and unwilling to lose two Supreme Treasures. But what was the Primordial Emperor's vision? Those two Supreme Treasures meant nothing to him... Losing two was trivial. What enraged him was the dashed hope after so long yearning—he had expected a Stone of Memory containing deeper cultivation insights, but the level recorded was inferior even to his own.

His hope was shattered!

He could not reconcile with this!

Should he turn hostile toward Luo Feng?

But the Primordial Emperor understood that Luo Feng could not view cultivation experience beyond the Universe Master level. This meant Luo Feng had indeed shown 'good faith' by offering a Stone of Memory with 'profound' cultivation experience. It was just that Luo Feng himself couldn't ascertain precisely how profound that experience was.

"Perhaps it was just bad luck? Perhaps Luo Feng possesses other Stones of Memory with even deeper cultivation experience?" The Primordial Emperor still clung to a shred of hope.

He then materialized a communication token in his palm.

It was a messenger token.

"Luo Feng!" The Primordial Emperor sent a direct message.

In the distant Primal Universe, within the City Lord’s Mansion.

Luo Feng was drinking wine alone in a quiet hall. One end of the hall opened onto a balcony; leaning on the railing, one could take in nearly half of Chaos City.

Though seemingly leisurely, his consciousness was entirely immersed in the inheritance space of the Tomb Boat.

A divine power avatar was diligently grasping the 'Way of the Beast God' there.

The 'divine power avatar' that had been in the Ninth Abyss, Luo Feng had long since ordered to self-destruct. This was because the so-called ultimate techniques in the Ninth Abyss could be found in more detailed and systematic rune pattern lineages within the Duan Dong River inheritance, offering him a vast quantity of rune patterns to study.

Currently, the fastest way for him to advance his strength was to become a Universe Master as soon as possible!

However...

Even reaching a bottleneck, no matter how deep the foundation, truly breaking through could take anywhere from a few centuries to millennia, or even several epochs. While sudden success was possible through sheer luck, Luo Feng had not yet hit his true ceiling; he had stopped cultivating near that threshold.

"With the tenfold time acceleration of the inheritance space!" Luo Feng mused silently. "One year here equals one epoch outside! Even moving slowly, it won't take more than a few decades for me to become a Universe Master."

"Hmm?" Luo Feng frowned. "The token given by the North True Star Master? Why contact me now? Did the Stone of Memory I provided yield results?"

Of the three Stones of Memory traded with the Primordial Emperor Holy Land, he was prepared for all of them to contain cultivation experience surpassing the Universe Master level. But since these three portions did not qualify for inclusion in the 'Core Inheritance,' it was predestined that their cultivation experience, however profound, wouldn't be earth-shattering. At least, not superior to Duan Dong River's level.

Because cultivation experience at the level of Duan Dong River was cataloged within the Core Inheritance.

With a flip of his hand, the token appeared in his palm.

"Luo Feng." The message came from the other side.

"North True," Luo Feng responded.

"I am the Primordial Emperor," the message continued.

Luo Feng was momentarily stunned, then jolted to attention.

The Primordial Emperor—the most ancient existence in the entire Universe Sea? Based on the size of his miniature universe, he should also be the most powerful being in the Universe Sea.

"I am honored that the Primordial Emperor Ancestor has contacted me, and even used my real name," Luo Feng said. Usually, other Reincarnation Era powers referred to him as 'Human Galaxy'; very few used the name Luo Feng.

"The two Supreme Treasures, how were they?" the Primordial Emperor asked.

"Very good," Luo Feng replied. "It's just a pity one is a staff-type attack treasure. It would have been much better if it had been a domain-type, or perhaps another palace-type treasure."

"I fulfilled your requirement, but your end of the bargain... you have disappointed me," the Primordial Emperor transmitted. "The Stone of Memory you gave me, although it contains cultivation experience surpassing the Universe Masters, is pitifully little and of no use to me whatsoever."

Luo Feng quickly countered: "I am truly sorry, but I also cannot view content surpassing the Universe Master level, so how profound it truly is, I naturally do not know, Ancestor Primordial Emperor... I cannot refute your point."

"Are you implying I lied?" The Primordial Emperor showed a hint of anger.

"That's not what I meant," Luo Feng clarified. "I only meant that I know the cultivation experience in that Stone of Memory definitely exceeds the Universe Master level, and that is all."

"I stake my reputation on it: the cultivation experience in your Stone of Memory doesn't even match my current level," the Primordial Emperor asserted. "It's useless to me, so... I demand you give me another Stone of Memory, and I will not offer any Supreme Treasures as collateral."

Luo Feng had been surprised earlier by the Primordial Emperor appealing to his reputation.

Now he understood: the Primordial Emperor didn't want to give up more Supreme Treasures but wanted another Stone of Memory without payment.

"Ancestor Primordial Emperor, that is unacceptable," Luo Feng stated firmly.

"First, I have no guarantee of your honesty, and you just want a second Stone of Memory without paying anything? No! Furthermore, we had an agreement from the start: the first time required two Supreme Treasures as collateral. If you want a second one, you must provide four Supreme Treasures—not one less."

"I said, your first one was useless to me!" the Primordial Emperor retorted. "Would I lie to you about that?"

The Primordial Emperor was furious.

If he weren't genuinely desperate for higher cultivation experience, why would he waste so much breath talking to Luo Feng? He held himself in high esteem and wouldn't normally care for Luo Feng, whose only value lay in the Duan Dong River lineage inheritance.

"I don't care if you lied or not, Ancestor Primordial Emperor," Luo Feng said bluntly. "One sentence: everything stands as originally agreed. If you want the second Stone of Memory, bring four Supreme Treasures."

"Hmph!"

The Primordial Emperor erupted in fury and severed the transmission instantly.

Luo Feng looked at the communication token in his palm, then shook his head with a slight smile and tucked it away.

"Primordial Emperor?" Luo Feng scoffed. "An old relic who can never leave his Holy Land Universe—your reputation is worthless in my eyes! Worth less than a single treasure, and you expect to get a second Stone of Memory just by opening your mouth?"

"We'll see," Luo Feng murmured.

He knew that the Primordial Emperor clearly yearned deeply for superior experience. As long as this craving was strong enough... this desire would eventually force the Primordial Emperor to agree.

"It's a contest of patience," Luo Feng thought to himself.

In a vast expanse of the Original Universe, near a section of the cosmic membrane wall.

"Boom!"

A colossal figure burst straight through the cosmic membrane wall, leaving a small void that quickly sealed itself. This towering figure possessed two massive, curved horns pointing upward, blood-red long hair, and a body covered in cyan scales, with black scales on the chest. His face bore six eyes, and beneath a pair of seemingly pointed ears, another, much smaller pair was hidden.

He held a strange weapon and scanned his surroundings.

"It’s still best to charge straight out through the cosmic membrane from my Divine Kingdom. Having to rush through the largest black hole... that’s too far," the Lord of Bashir grumbled hoarsely. "Right, time to go to the Ying Feng Realm."

Swish!

He proceeded via instantaneous movement.

About half an hour later, the Lord of Bashir abruptly stopped amidst the vast chaotic airflow. Far in the distance, he spotted a gigantic miniature universe.

"That's the miniature universe of the Giant Axe Creator. I pass by it every time I head to the Ying Feng Realm. Why does it feel... off this time?" the Lord of Bashir muttered. Due to the distance, and the fact that the Giant Axe Creator's miniature universe had only just begun to collapse, its internal space was completely gone, and the surface showed some cracks and voids, but the overall spherical shape was maintained, making the surface anomalies insignificant from afar.

But...

The feeling was different.

In the past, the miniature universe exuded majesty and vitality. But this one possessed no trace of life, no oppressive aura, which naturally made the Lord of Bashir sense that something was wrong.

"Hmm?" The Lord of Bashir instantly teleported, arriving near the miniature universe.

"Ah!!!"

The Lord of Bashir stared with his six eyes at the massive miniature universe before him. Its surface was marred by mottled cracks and several voids, through which the chaotic airflow of the Universe Sea poured incessantly. Through the openings, his vision could glimpse shattered continents that had already collapsed inside.

"Giant Axe? Fell?" The Lord of Bashir was instantly stunned. ...

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