Luo Feng scrutinized the walls on either side of the passage before him. No specimens, no life diagrams. "Blank?"

"What does this mean? Could it be that the life diagrams for this section aren't in specimen form?" Luo Feng proceeded deeper into the passage, his gaze sharp, searching every detail, every trace for a clue.

Nothing.

Absolutely no trace that Luo Feng registered as special.

Suddenly—

Luo Feng’s ears twitched. Faint, ethereal sounds echoed around him. These sounds were minute yet omnipresent, gradually growing louder. Then, points of light shimmering with black radiance began to manifest in the surrounding space. Countless points converged, gathering not far ahead of Luo Feng.

They coalesced into a vague, indistinct figure—a shadowy form radiating black light. It appeared ordinary, yet it involuntarily inspired a sense of profound reverence in Luo Feng.

The indistinct figure stood with its back to him.

"Having reached this point, you are one final step away from the ultimate pinnacle of a True God. Remember... the path of the True God, to reach the extreme, is achieved only by seeking within oneself!" the shadowy figure spoke slowly. "May you ascend to the apex of the Wuqi Tower..."

The figure tilted its head slightly, glancing at Luo Feng, before dissolving into nothingness.

Luo Feng stood there, stunned. He hadn't seen the figure clearly at all, yet in its presence, he was overwhelmed by an urge to worship, an intense, boundless impulse to fight for it, to die for it.

"This... this must just be a residual virtual consciousness," Luo Feng was deeply shaken.

"Absolutely, absolutely stronger than my predecessor, Duan Donghe."

The previous Duan Donghe had long since perished.

However, he had left behind a virtual consciousness, forming an energy body to select a successor before voluntarily collapsing.

Virtual consciousness... theoretically not life, yet it contained all memory. Memory itself was a form of power. When one understood all memories, all Chaos Laws, naturally they would be extraordinary. Luo Feng estimated the virtual consciousness he just encountered was one left by 'His Majesty, the God-King.'

A mere virtual consciousness had inspired in him the urge to sacrifice his life.

If His Majesty the God-King were present in person, how much greater would that impact be?

"It should, it should be His Majesty the God-King."

"This Wuqi Tower was built by His Majesty the God-King! Especially this True God Path; the life diagrams contained within are incomparably precious. Even my lineage of Duan Donghe does not possess them, nor are ordinary experts under His Majesty the God-King qualified to access them. Whoever left a virtual consciousness here is almost certainly His Majesty the God-King."

Luo Feng suddenly understood...

This Titled Mission was extraordinary!

When accepting the Titled Mission, Luo Feng had purely sought the powerful mechanical flow treasure, 'Wuqi God,' and aimed to temper himself. But the life diagrams that appeared on the 'True God Path'—at the time, Luo Feng was only focused on his excitement. Now, having calmed down, he realized something was amiss.

Life diagrams this precious—would the God-King of the Jin Realm, even for beings like the Third Generation Ancestor, give them away easily?

Now, with the appearance of this virtual consciousness... Luo Feng felt even more certain that something was wrong.

"Furthermore, that colossal entity in the Cosmic Sea, if my guess is correct, is the fallen God-King."

"The God-King has fallen?"

"He constructed the Wuqi Tower and created the Wuqi God, setting up this Titled Mission before falling."

Innumerable thoughts flashed through Luo Feng's mind.

Suddenly—

"Boom!"

A beam of light descended from the void, enveloping Luo Feng. Whoosh, and Luo Feng vanished from the passage.

Wuqi Tower, Fifth Floor. This was a world of ice and snow.

Swish!

Luo Feng materialized.

"Hmm?" Luo Feng surveyed the endless, frozen landscape. "This must be the fifth floor of the Wuqi Tower."

A smile involuntarily spread across Luo Feng's face.

The harvest from the fourth floor was immense. The gains he anticipated from entering the Jin Realm were not as great as what he obtained on the fourth floor.

Over 4,000 years, his divine body had actually leaped to the second stage—the 'sixty thousand times life gene' level! Only one last stretch remained to reach the ninety thousand times gene level.

"That virtual consciousness, suspected to be His Majesty the God-King, said: 'The path of the True God, to reach the extreme, is achieved only by seeking within oneself'?" Luo Feng silently committed the words to memory.

Aside from the gains to his divine body, the culmination of the fourth floor had made Luo Feng realize...

This Titled Mission was not merely a simple mission; it concealed a massive secret.

"How could the colossal entity outside the Wuqi Tower have fallen and be drifting in the Cosmic Sea? Why would the inherent will of the Primal Universe actively guide us? And where did the completely opposite power used by Star Master Haolei before his death come from?" Luo Feng wrestled with many doubts.

Outside the Wuqi Tower, in the silver-gray palace.

The four commanders, who had guarded the God-King Valley for countless ages, waited upon their thrones. Because they could not see any of Luo Feng's movements deep within the True God Path, they could only wait. "Whoa!"

The screen of light that had been suspended suddenly displayed a scene on its surface.

"Wuqi Tower, Fifth Floor!" The Black Mist commander on the left throne exclaimed with surprise. "He has entered the fifth floor."

"He reached the fifth floor before even half a Jiyuan cycle passed?"

"Regardless, he is now making his dash for the fifth through seventh floors."

The Silver-Armored Female Commander, the Burly Male Commander, the Exotic Beast Commander, and the Black Mist Commander—all four appeared excited and expectant.

"I wonder if this soldier, Yinhe, can clear three floors consecutively and enter the eighth."

"The fifth, sixth, and seventh floors are immensely beneficial to the strong but also extremely difficult. Many elite soldiers in our Jin Realm were eliminated in the fifth floor, or the sixth, or even the seventh... Only one has ever managed to reach the eighth floor."

"These three levels are indeed exceptionally challenging."

"This soldier, Yinhe, is truly strong; he has a real chance to clear all three in succession."

The four commanders held their breath in anticipation.

The Wuqi Tower held great secrets.

The eighth and ninth floors were completely invisible to the four commanders. Countless elite soldiers over the ages had reached the eighth floor, only to fail before it. The eighth floor was the final hurdle; passing it meant ascending to the ninth!

Reaching the summit meant success and the ultimate reward.

Wuqi Tower, Fifth Floor, a vast world of ice and snow.

Luo Feng surveyed his surroundings.

"Am I the only one here?" Luo Feng mused. "Where are the other soldiers?"

There had been fifteen soldiers on the fourth floor.

"Boom!"

The surrounding blizzard suddenly swept up, engulfing Luo Feng, and an aged voice echoed in his mind: "Soldier Yinhe, all other soldiers have been eliminated. Starting from the fifth floor, you proceed alone. On the fifth floor, there is a powerful opponent. You only need to defeat him to advance to the sixth floor! Failure means expulsion from the Wuqi Tower."

Luo Feng nodded inwardly.

Only the first three floors carried the danger of death; from now on, there was no risk of dying.

"Hmm?" Luo Feng's pupils contracted as he looked into the distance.

In the distant snowstorm, a figure vaguely walked towards him, clad in a white robe, approaching with an unhurried gait that nonetheless rapidly closed the distance.

Luo Feng clearly saw the handsome face of the approaching man in white. A cinnabar mole rested between his eyebrows, and he wore a smile. His ears were slightly pointed as he looked at Luo Feng with appreciation. "Soldier Yinhe, my power will be the same as yours. Since you excel at blade techniques, I shall challenge you with the blade."

The man in white raised a hand, and the surrounding snowflakes frantically gathered, quickly condensing into an ice blade. Simultaneously, the man in white began to radiate soaring battle intent; it seemed his entire being was transforming into a battle blade... That powerful intent pressed down upon Luo Feng.

"Blade?"

Luo Feng extended his hand, and the Blood Shadow Blade materialized from thin air. He met his opponent's gaze, his own battle intent no less potent.

"Excellent," the man in white grinned. "Receive my first strike."

Whoosh!

The man in white moved like a phantom, his blade shadows ethereal. Countless blade shadows appeared in an instant before Luo Feng, as if he had fallen into a world made only of blade light. How could Luo Feng possibly defend against these innumerable shadows?

"An illusion cannot deceive me!" Luo Feng roared internally, and immediately everything vanished.

One blade shadow had already reached Luo Feng's face.

"Clash!"

The ice blade and the Blood Shadow Blade collided, and the man in white was immediately thrown backward, soaring far away.

"Second strike!" The man in white charged back with even greater speed, as if driven mad, his aura soaring like a fiercely burning flame. His blade force defied the heavens, delivering a downward vertical chop with boundless might... Splitting the world in two.

"Seal!"

Luo Feng vibrated the Blood Shadow Blade, instantly sending forth a slender line of blade light to meet the attack. It rapidly thickened, and at the point of contact, the light transformed into a miniature world that enveloped the incoming blade light.

The miniature world shattered!

The two blade lights struck!

"Third strike!" the man in white roared, spinning his divine body, instantly transforming into a whirlwind of chaotic energy...

"Ninth strike!"

"Thirty-sixth strike!"

"Ninety-ninth strike!"

"One hundred sixty-third strike!"

The man in white fought like a madman. If one strike was blocked, he immediately launched another, employing a completely different blade technique. Every technique was unique, yet Luo Feng, who had started with full effort, moved to excitement, and now fought as if possessed, meeting each blow.

"Incredible..." Luo Feng understood. This fifth floor wasn't a trial; it was a reward.

It was no wonder they said the rewards began from the fourth floor onward.

The blade techniques displayed by the man in white were fundamentally guiding Luo Feng, leading him through their combat exchange to impart knowledge. All the man's techniques could be categorized under the Ten Basic Laws: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Light, Time, and Space.

While the Chaos Laws were profoundly mysterious, the path beyond True Godhood was the pursuit of the ultimate Chaos Laws.

Yet, the very foundation of everything lay in the Ten Basic Laws.

Regardless of law fusion or cosmic evolution... the simplest ten laws formed the bedrock.

But even for these basics, Luo Feng's comprehension was rudimentary. In contrast, the blade techniques of the man in white—just the Metal Law alone—displayed sixteen distinct strikes, each with a different artistic conception, and each capable of being called a peak sixth-tier level. How incredible was that?

Could a single basic law give rise to such heaven-defying blade techniques?

Through these encounters alone, Luo Feng's understanding of the Ten Basic Laws soared. One exchange was more effective than eons of solitary contemplation. How could Luo Feng not be thrilled?

First update! I was busy during the day and fell asleep upon returning tonight. I started writing immediately upon waking up.