Deeper along the 'Divine Power Path' toward true godhood, Luo Feng materialized out of thin air.
"Hm?" Luo Feng looked around. "A river?"
Ahead was still a passageway, its walls lined with countless specimens as before. But this vast and deep channel before him was a river!
"This is..."
Luo Feng hovered mid-air above the river, gazing down in shock. A slight probe of his divine power revealed that the river contained an endless, surging tide of masterless divine power! It was akin to the masterless divine power found in the 'Ocean of Laws' within the original universe—power he could absorb and utilize freely.
"It's actually masterless divine power, and so much of it." Luo Feng was pleasantly surprised. He knew his divine body alone stood at one hundred thousand kilometers tall, while the channel's width and height were both nearly one hundred million kilometers, with a length stretching into the tens of billions of kilometers. In such a massive passage... nearly half of it was filled with this river condensed from divine power.
"That God-King Majesty left so much masterless divine power here..." Luo Feng mused. "Later comers study here, and once they achieve enlightenment, their divine bodies advance. They would naturally need divine power to replenish. Is that the reason?"
Whatever the reason.
To possess divine power and not absorb it would be foolish.
"Whoosh~~~"
With a mere thought from Luo Feng, the churning sea of divine power below surged toward him, absorbed instantly. Luo Feng had indeed expended significant divine power traversing the first three layers of the Wu Qi Tower. Especially the 'Golden Horned Beast avatar'; since the Earthling true self had initially broken through to the 16,000 times life gene level, the Golden Horned Beast avatar’s divine body had always been severely lacking in the power needed to replenish the Earthling true self.
"Since there is so much divine power, I might as well seize this opportunity to elevate my divine body to the highest life gene level I currently comprehend," Luo Feng decided, putting hesitation aside.
"Divine body, reconstruct!" Luo Feng’s eyes flashed.
Boom!
Luo Feng’s Earthling true self instantly disintegrated completely, transforming into a vast expanse of divine power. Every particle of the divine power's life structure was remodeled, then rapidly coalesced with a resounding impact, reforming the Earthling true self.
"Hoo!" Around Luo Feng's divine body, the surrounding river surged madly, rapidly replenishing his form.
At the same instant—
The Golden Horned Beast avatar also underwent divine body reconstruction and immediately began absorbing divine power replenishment.
Moments later, everything settled.
"My current divine body’s life gene level has now reached about 28,000 times. But I'm still far from the target!" Luo Feng thought to himself. When setting out toward God-King Valley, the 'Endless Nether Sea' in the distant original universe had, for the first time, acquired a large quantity of true gods' blood, scales, and hair, enabling him to instantly break through and comprehend the 16,000 times life gene level life structure.
In the subsequent period, while Luo Feng was traveling, and especially while waiting in the third layer of the Wu Qi Tower for subsequent batches of soldiers to arrive, he continued to make breakthroughs under the ten-thousand-times time acceleration within the cultivation space, finally reaching the 28,000 times life gene level—a minor bottleneck reached in a short span of time.
At this moment, Luo Feng naturally seized the chance to absorb divine power, pushing himself instantly to the peak state of his divine body.
In truth, even with the innate secret technique 'Creation' and an abundance of true gods' blood, hair, and scales, he hadn't reached 30,000 times in the first phase, which was somewhat disappointing to Luo Feng.
After all, 30,000 times was merely the first stage.
...
"Life Maps!" Luo Feng stepped upon the divine power river, observing the increasingly complex, three-dimensional life structures on either side.
Flesh and blood types, rock types, energy types, metal types, plant types...
Various three-dimensional life maps spanned levels from over ten thousand times to thirty thousand times, numbering in the multitude. Luo Feng mastered the life maps for flesh and blood creatures the fastest; progress on the others was clearly much slower, as Luo Feng had primarily focused on the flesh and blood category, temporarily setting the rest aside... Of course, studying the flesh and blood type yielded supplementary gains in other life categories.
Days turned into weeks.
While Luo Feng studied these 'Life Maps,' the Endless Nether Sea in the distant original universe was also in deep study. Meanwhile, in the cultivation space within the inheritance chamber, the Golden Horned Beast avatar conducted repeated experiments.
On the fifteenth day alone.
Naturally...
Luo Feng achieved another breakthrough, his life gene level soaring directly to around 32,000 times. This was largely due to Luo Feng’s already excellent foundation—having already reached 28,000 times—a small nudge of comprehension here and there was enough to burst past the 30,000 times gene stage.
"Boom!" The towering Luo Feng was surrounded by the surging river, which spiraled around him, constantly pouring into his body.
The first stage of the divine body could see its height multiply tenfold (provided sufficient divine power existed). As he absorbed massive amounts of divine power...
Luo Feng quickly ballooned to a height of one million kilometers! Even the Golden Horned Beast avatar rapidly reached a length of one million kilometers.
"Haha..."
Luo Feng laughed heartily, standing at the end of this river passage. Before him was another wooden door, and upon it, another incomplete life map.
"Still flesh and blood life?" Luo Feng mused. "Are the trials set by His Majesty the God-King on the wooden doors segmented based on the soldiers entering? If a soldier specializing in plants entered, would the trial on the wooden door be the life map of a plant-based expert?"
Luo Feng didn't hesitate and quickly completed this life map.
This life map represented the 30,000 times life gene level. Luo Feng grasped it quickly after a moment of contemplation.
Buzz!
The wooden door emitted a cyan light that enveloped Luo Feng, instantly teleporting him to a deeper level of this true god path.
Luo Feng appeared in mid-air. Before him was yet another river channel, flanked by walls on both sides.
However, this river channel was significantly broader and deeper, and the life maps on the side walls were even more intricate and immense.
"The first segment was perfect life; the second, ten thousand times to thirty thousand times. This third segment... should probably be thirty thousand times to sixty thousand times," Luo Feng assessed with a sweeping glance, feeling the profound mystery and depth. "I passed the previous two segments easily because I already had a foundation. This segment... might not be so simple."
Luo Feng flew forward and then focused on the first flesh and blood life map on the right.
According to Luo Feng's estimation...
This map likely corresponded to a life gene level around 35,000 times. Yet, this single life map immediately confounded Luo Feng; there were many aspects he couldn't grasp or understand.
If he couldn't comprehend it, looking was pointless; closing his eyes meant he couldn't recall the details.
Only upon true enlightenment could it be remembered.
Luo Feng temporarily ignored other life forms, focusing exclusively on the flesh and blood type.
Before the first map, Luo Feng stood motionless upon the river for over three months. While he observed, the Endless Nether Sea in the original universe utilized the innate secret technique 'Creation' to view the true gods' blood, scales, and hair, while the Golden Horned Beast avatar relentlessly studied and dissected them under ten-thousand-times time acceleration.
What seemed like just over three months translated to nearly several thousand years of effort until he finally achieved comprehension.
Before the second map, Luo Feng stood watching for over a month.
Before the third map, Luo Feng spent more than half a year studying.
...
Luo Feng focused solely on the life maps of flesh and blood creatures, proceeding from lower to higher levels, meticulously cross-referencing them with the life structures of the true gods he observed via the 'Creation' secret technique utilized by the Endless Nether Sea. Under the ten-thousand-times time acceleration, he continuously researched the meaning behind every variation in each life map.
Mystical!
It was like forging secret techniques.
And Luo Feng’s mastery of the life gene level constantly increased.
In one and a half years, Luo Feng’s life gene level soared to 40,000 times.
It took approximately 80 years to reach 50,000 times.
But for the next thousand-plus years, Luo Feng remained trapped in this stretch, unable to break through.
Luo Feng couldn't bear to leave.
This true god path was undeniably a peerlessly precious treasure trove. Even the Duandong River lineage didn't possess such a detailed, continuous sequence of life maps! He absolutely had to study and comprehend them here, because once he departed, anything unmastered would be instantly forgotten, impossible to recall.
"One Eon!"
"The maximum time allocated for a titled mission is one eon. The next mission cycle begins in the next eon."
"I must give my all, strive to reap more rewards within this eon."
"Such precious life maps are laid out before me, entirely open for my study. And I even possess the innate secret technique 'Creation.' With these two massive advantages aiding me... if I miss this opportunity now, it might take millions of times longer in the future, perhaps never yielding the same harvest as this moment." Luo Feng dared not relax in the slightest.
Outside the Wu Qi Tower.
Whoosh!
A soldier was teleported out.
On the third floor of the silver-gray palace next to the Wu Qi Tower, four figures stood by the railing, all looking down at the soldier who had been ejected.
"Inside the Wu Qi Tower, the other soldiers have all been teleported out; their term on the fourth floor has expired. That soldier, Yin He... has achieved higher merit and can stay longer. But we don't know what gains he has made on the true god path of the divine power route!" the burly commander exclaimed, while the other three commanders also gazed toward the Wu Qi Tower.
They could not see inside.
But they knew clearly...
Since Soldier Yin He had advanced deeper onto the 'True God Path,' it implied he could enter the fifth floor and continue striving upwards!
"The entire titled mission lasts a maximum of one eon, and he can stay in the fourth floor of the Wu Qi Tower for only half an eon at most!"
"I wonder how much he can gain in this half-eon."
...
Luo Feng, however, was completely unaware that he could only stay on this true god path for half an eon. Even if he knew, it wouldn't matter, as he was already striving to comprehend with every fiber of his being, comprehending wildly.
In the 4,200th year on this true god path.
Standing motionless before a colossal life map near the very end of the entire passage, Luo Feng had been standing there for over two thousand years.
Suddenly...
He smiled, the deep frown on his brow easing, replaced by utter relaxation. A moment of insight brought sudden clarity! This feeling of sudden enlightenment was incomparably wonderful.
"So that's how it is," Luo Feng roared with laughter.
Boom!
His divine body instantly disintegrated, followed by a radical transformation in every particle of divine power. It then condensed with a resounding boom, while the surging river channeled toward him, and a towering divine body rapidly expanded... Soon, Luo Feng's feet stood on the floor of the passage, his head nearly brushing against the highest point of the channel.
Luo Feng... had achieved the level where his divine body reached one hundred million kilometers in height!
His life gene level had broken through sixty thousand times!
His immense body of one hundred million kilometers carried no sense of burden; unlike massive beings who struggled to move, Luo Feng, with his life gene level at sixty thousand times and such a colossal body, was only stronger in terms of speed and agility.
Both the Earthling true self and the Golden Horned Beast avatar had reached their ultimate states.
"Next segment!"
Luo Feng rapidly shrank, then walked to the wooden door, spending some time to complete the remaining fragments of the life map.
Whoosh!
The cyan light shone, transporting Luo Feng to the other side.
...
Before him was a passage, its side walls bare. There was no divine power seawater in the channel, and the walls bore no specimens—they were completely blank.
"Blank..." Luo Feng was stunned.