The fifth ten-thousandth epoch, Luo Feng’s son. Luo Hai… finally became a Universe Venerable. He was the third Universe Venerable in the Luo family.

Though Luo Feng had two sons, Luo Ping was equally unenthusiastic about cultivation, merely relying on treasures and such to scrape by as an Immortal. As for Luo Hai, despite his fervent dedication, he had experienced too few setbacks. After all, his father, "Luo Feng," provided him with too much invisible assistance. Even if Luo Feng didn't intentionally intervene, there were always powerful beings eager to curry favor or show respect to Luo Feng.

This lack of true struggle meant that although Luo Hai’s talent was considerable, it was nowhere near as dazzling as that of Luo Feng or Hong.

"Even with so much help, reaching Universe Venerable might be his ceiling," Luo Feng assessed. "To become a Universe Master, a miracle would be required."

True prodigies were not easily born.

The vast expanse of time had swelled the Luo family lineage to an astonishing size, naturally birthing many talents. Before Luo Hai, two others had already achieved the rank of Universe Venerable.

However, none of these so-called numerous geniuses caught Luo Feng's eye. In Luo Feng's view, even with the excellent conditions provided, reaching Universe Venerable was likely their peak. Without such advantages and the legacy of the ancient civilizations, perhaps the first three—including his son Luo Hai—would have only managed to become Immortals.

Finally…

In the ninety-first thousandth epoch, the Luo family finally produced a peerless genius named Luo Zhenni! A truly astonishing talent, Luo Zhenni had initially held low status within the Luo family, living on a remote "Exile Star." He then rose swiftly, finally drawing Luo Feng's attention.

Luo Feng tested him lightly and was immediately overjoyed.

The territory controlled by the Luo family, combined with some remote regions of the universe, might now rival a Qianwu Universe Nation. Finally, a genius worthy of his notice had appeared.

Luo Feng directly accepted Luo Zhenni as his disciple—Luo Feng's first formal apprenticeship.

As the foremost powerhouse in the Sea of Chaos, even other Universe Masters among the higher echelons of the Human Race, along with City Lord of Chaos, had previously urged Luo Feng to take disciples. Many factions within the Human Race were desperate to place their geniuses under Luo Feng's tutelage, but Luo Feng had never been rushed, and peerless geniuses were rare to begin with, so he had always delayed.

This time, Luo Feng officially began accepting disciples.

However, Luo Feng's criteria for accepting a disciple were likely no less stringent than those of City Lord of Chaos.

He hadn't even accepted his own son, Luo Hai; one could imagine the strictness of his standards.

In the ninety-first thousand two hundredth epoch, Luo Zhenni became a Universe Venerable. This was despite Luo Feng imposing extremely harsh foundational requirements upon him; otherwise, he would have broken through sooner.

In the three hundred thirty-thousandth epoch, a human peerless genius named Huo Qiong emerged in the territory occupied by the Original Prison Race. Rising from savagery, Huo Qiong was incandescently brilliant, drawing the competition of several Human Race Universe Masters eager to claim him as a disciple. Ultimately, Luo Feng stepped forward and accepted this peerless genius as his second disciple.

Once Luo Feng made his appearance, the other Universe Masters naturally ceased their contention, and Huo Qiong himself was thrilled to bow before Luo Feng.

In truth, for those at the pinnacle like Luo Feng, City Lord of Chaos, and Peng Gong True God, their elevated status meant they had little need to recruit disciples to consolidate their power. Luo Feng took Huo Qiong precisely because of his talent, viewing him as a rare and worthy successor to the predecessor Jielouzi.

Huo Qiong was also exceptionally skilled in the laws of Water and Fire.

In Luo Feng’s estimation, the ultimate techniques created by Jiefanzi were of the highest order. By teaching them personally... and fitting them to Huo Qiong’s innate talent, Huo Qiong was guaranteed great achievements.

In the one million nine hundred ten-thousandth epoch, the Human Race gave birth to its third True God: the Dark True God!

The Lord of Darkness had finally broken through to the True God realm.

This had been anticipated by the leaders of the Human Race and all major powers in the Sea of Chaos. What puzzled them was... why hadn't Luo Feng broken through yet!

In the nine million two hundred ten-thousandth epoch, Luo Feng created another race, one capable of reproduction. This race could also be considered part of humanity (Luo Feng deliberately created flesh-and-blood life forms resembling humans, as he himself was human and naturally studied such things).

Upon reaching maturity, members of this race could immediately become Planetary level. This was considered highly exceptional.

The ability to create reproductive life led to rapid advancements for Luo Feng in the study of life structure diagrams. He broke through consecutively, his life gene level soaring from 72,000 times to 79,000 times, then to 83,000 times, finally stalling at the bottleneck of 85,000 times.

Time flowed on.

The vast number of Immortal Deities accumulated over the preceding long ages, aided by the ancient civilization's inheritance, became Universe Venerables in droves. Simultaneously, many of these Venerables broke through to become Universe Masters, causing the number of Human Race Universe Masters to continuously increase. However, the growth in the number of "True Gods" remained sluggish.

During the first one hundred million epoch era, the Human Race produced its fourth True God: the Desolate Mirror True God.

During the seven hundred million epoch era, the Human Race saw the birth of its fifth True God: the Green East True God. Within a million epochs of Lord of Green East breaking through to True God, Luo Feng's second disciple, Huo Qiong, shockingly also broke through, becoming the sixth True God of the human era!

A miracle!

Huo Qiong had submitted to Luo Feng later than his senior disciple, Luo Zhenni.

Luo Zhenni became a Universe Master first, followed closely by Huo Qiong. Unexpectedly, nearly seven hundred million epochs after becoming a Universe Master, Huo Qiong ascended to True God!

This sparked immense discussion throughout the Sea of Chaos, as the teacher, Luo Feng, still remained a Universe Master while his disciples had reached True God status.

In the twelfth epoch, the Human Race birthed its seventh True God—the Ice Peak True God.

Lord of Ice Peak had finally become a True God.

In the nineteenth epoch, the Human Race produced its eighth True God—the Dragon Travel True God.

Lord of Dragon Travel, an ancient Universe Master who had followed Primal Ancestor, finally broke through. In fact, for this cohort of older Universe Masters, who had achieved their rank without the aid of the ancient civilization’s inheritance, achieving True God status now, with so many advantages, was nearly certain.

Conversely, the later generations, those who relied on the guidance of the ancient civilization to become Universe Masters, possessed slightly less inherent potential.

The first hundred billion epochs could be considered an explosive growth period for humanity. The accumulation of previous eons manifested in an unprecedented outburst across these hundred epochs.

The number of Human Race Universe Masters surged to 239, and the number of Cosmic Sages skyrocketed to 21!

This sudden surge over a hundred billion epochs was entirely due to the deep foundations laid earlier, enabling such rapid growth in a short span.

Furthermore.

It wasn't just humanity experiencing a boom; all major powers in the Primal Universe, as well as factions within the Sea of Chaos, entered a period of rapid expansion. The ancient civilization's inheritance proved immensely beneficial, although these factions received less detailed inheritance and possessed fewer treasures than humanity. After all, Luo Feng's status in the Jin World was second only to the God King, and many treasures were sent back to his race.

Even so.

Races like the Demon Race saw their Universe Master count balloon to 51, with four True Gods (they previously had two).

The Bug Race's Universe Master count reached 32, with two True Gods.

The Mechanical Race had 39 Universe Masters and three True Gods.

The Prison Race boasted 78 Universe Masters and four True Gods.

The Crystal Race had 49 Universe Masters and five True Gods.

As for the Hong Alliance, the races that were formerly subordinate to humanity experienced another massive expansion. Even though humanity deliberately suppressed and slowed the development of its vassals, these affiliated races already possessed several hundred Universe Masters; now, their vassal Universe Masters soared to 1,220, with seven True Gods.

In reality, the 1,220 Universe Masters among the alien races of the Hong Alliance was already a restrained number, due to humanity’s deliberate suppression and the screening process of the Jin World.

The entire Sea of Chaos underwent a massive, explosive growth phase in these first hundred epochs, all thanks to the ancient civilization.

Though the First Reincarnation Era and Second Reincarnation Era could no longer produce True Gods, they yielded a great number of Universe Masters. These newly promoted Universe Masters relentlessly charged toward the Jin World, one after another.

Because Luo Feng wielded supreme authority within the Jin World, although a few races challenged human dominance regarding territory, Luo Feng swiftly administered harsh punishments within the Jin World.

Consequently, no one dared to challenge human authority again.

In the subsequent era, the development of all factions in the Sea of Chaos slowed significantly, as the accumulation of countless epochs had been fully expended in those hundred billion epochs.

For humanity, growth now entirely depended on new geniuses emerging. Fortunately, the territory controlled by humanity was vast.

If the preceding hundred billion epochs represented an explosion of growth, the trillions of epochs that followed saw less growth than those initial hundred epochs combined.

In the one quadrillion six hundred trillionth epoch.

Humanity birthed its tenth True God—Hong.

Hong, the peerless figure second only to Luo Feng in the Earth lineage, finally entered the ranks of True God. This drew intense scrutiny from major powers across the Sea of Chaos. Their focus was: why was Luo Feng, Hong's sworn brother and the most influential figure in the entire Human Race—the foremost powerhouse of the Sea of Chaos—still only a Universe Master?

"The race I created can become Star Level upon reaching maturity. My life gene level has reached 89,999 times! Just a sliver away—it’s a hairline fracture!" Luo Feng understood the immense difficulty of this final step.

It seemed negligible, the difference between 89,999 times and 90,000 times. In terms of raw power, there appeared to be no gap.

But this represented a fundamental leap in life essence. Luo Feng had been trapped at this barrier for nearly a hundred million epochs, unable to break through. Throughout those eons, Luo Feng's three instances of intervention had proven his terrifying power, establishing him as absolutely supreme across the Sea of Chaos.

This struck fear into all factions…

A Universe Master who reigns supreme over the Sea of Chaos! What would he be like as a True God?

In the one quadrillion six hundred thirty billionth epoch, two True Gods in the Sea of Chaos joined forces for the first time to advance toward the Boundary Beast Nest, the "Gloomy Land!"

This is the second chapter; there will be a third chapter today.