Swallowing the Stars: Cultivate to Become Stronger.

Chapter 122: Guidance (4700 words in two parts)

Chaos City.

Having just emerged from the meditation chamber, Luo Shen's mind was still filled with the flashes of inspiration he had experienced when viewing the fourth image of the Giant Axe Chaos Stele, which transformed into a wealth of insights.

Several years have passed since I crossed the thirteenth level of the Sky Bridge.

Because he had mastered all 108 sword techniques of "Bloodstained Swordsmanship," Luo Shen's progress was not as exaggerated as when he first entered Chaos City. In recent years, he had been studying the fourth picture.

If you can thoroughly study this fourth picture before leaving Chaos City, you'll be confident of passing the fourteenth level.

"This is the last chance to gain enlightenment."

Luo Shen sighed and said, "If we can't figure out this fourth picture, we'll have to wait until we leave Chaos City before we can pass the fourteenth level."

The thirty years of cultivation in Chaos City are coming to an end.

brush!

Luo Shen transformed into a streak of light and flew towards his long-term cultivation residence not far away.

A short while later, Luo Shen landed on the rooftop of his cultivation residence, then sat cross-legged and began to close his eyes to sort out what he had gained from comprehending the "Giant Axe Chaos Stele" over the past seven days.

Occasionally, Luo Shen would look up at the inscriptions left on the rooftop and compare them with the insights in his mind.

******

On this day, a giant fish-shaped spaceship was passing through the chaotic passageway of the primordial universe via the corridor of the Virtual Universe Corporation headquarters.

After entering the initial universe.

The giant fish spaceship flicked its tail and flew towards Chaos City.

Inside the spaceship's main hall, there were two figures.

A man dressed in a blue battle robe sat in a seat, while a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in jade armor stood respectfully to the side. They were none other than the Nine Swords Venerable and the Jade King.

"How have these new recruits performed over the past thirty years?"

The Nine Swords Venerable asked.

Although he had been paying close attention to Luo Shen's movements over the years, and even watched the entire process of Luo Shen crossing the Tongtian Bridge every time, he would take the time to watch the video playback even if he didn't have time.

But he really didn't know much about the movements of other geniuses.

"Your Excellency, of the 1000 geniuses in this batch, 817 are still alive."

Longyu Wang respectfully said, "The most outstanding among them is, of course, Luo Shen, the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord. He had already passed the thirteenth level of the Tongtian Bridge ten years ago. I wonder how much he has grown in the past ten years."

"Next is Berlan."

"After Bolan switched to repairing the Chaos Stele, he had not crossed the Tongtian Bridge since he passed the sixth level more than ten years ago, and was ranked below Luo Shen."

Although Bolan initially chose the wrong path, under the guidance of the Nine Swords Master, his progress has been extremely rapid.

"Next are Luo Feng and Rong Jun. Both of them performed very well, especially Luo Feng, whose progress over the years has been exceptionally remarkable. Seven years ago, he even passed the fifth level of the Bridge to Heaven, firmly establishing himself as the third-ranked among these 1000 geniuses. Although Rong Jun was a little short, he still passed the fourth level four years ago."

"In addition, five other geniuses have passed the third level: Qian Shui, Uka, Galesi, Long Yun, and Gusiluo!"

The Jade King didn't mention the ordinary geniuses who only passed the first or second level.

After all, for the Nine Swords Venerable, ordinary geniuses are not worth mentioning. Only super geniuses like Luo Shen are worth pursuing, or geniuses like Luo Feng and Bo Lan, who only appear once every tens of thousands of epochs, can earn his respect.

As for Rong Jun...

If it weren't for the fact that two powerful rulers of the universe had taken him as their disciples, which aroused the intense curiosity of the Nine Swords Venerable, he probably wouldn't have paid much attention to it.

After all, although Rong Jun has amazing combat talent, in terms of understanding of laws, he is not top-notch among this group of geniuses. Looking at the tens of thousands of genius battles, he is only ranked in the top 100, which is not outstanding at all.

Rumble...

The giant fish spaceship continued its journey.

**********

The Chaos City, shrouded in chaotic energy, has existed since time immemorial.

On the rooftop of his residence, Luo Shen sat cross-legged in meditation, his eyes closed, constantly simulating the various essential and profound changes of the fundamental laws of space in his mind, his understanding of the laws gradually increasing.

He has been meditating here ever since he finished comprehending the Chaos Stele.

Unfortunately, time was too short.

Without a suitable secret method, it would be quite difficult to fully comprehend the fourth picture in a short period of time. Even with the help of a cheat code, he would still be a short distance away from completely understanding it.

"Come see me immediately!"

A deep, resonant voice rang out in Luo Shen's mind; it was the familiar voice of the Nine Swords Venerable.

"Come see me immediately!"

"Come see me immediately!"

……

The echoing sound caused all 817 surviving geniuses to cease their cultivation.

"Is it the Venerable One?"

Luo Shen turned to look at Luo Feng on the rooftop not far away.

At this moment, Luo Feng also broke free from his cultivation state and looked in Luo Shen's direction with some surprise. The two exchanged a glance, and then quickly transformed into two streaks of light, soaring into the sky and flying towards the direction from which the sound came.

brush!brush!brush!

Within the vast and boundless Chaos City, amidst the swirling currents of air, figures soared into the sky one after another, all flying in the same direction.

Above Chaos City, a giant, dark blue fish, over a thousand meters long, flew out from the shattering and solidifying chaos, its tail fin swaying slowly.

An aura that compels one to submit involuntarily emanates from this fish-shaped spaceship.

click!

The hatch on the belly of the "Big Fish" opened, and more than ten figures flew out one after another, the leader of whom was the Nine Swords Venerable, who was wearing a blue battle robe.

Luo Shen and more than 800 other surviving geniuses quickly gathered together.

"Greetings, Venerable One!" Luo Shen and the others bowed to the Nine Swords Venerable One.

Even though Luo Shen was the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord, in terms of status, the Nine Swords Venerable, a genuine powerhouse, was still of higher rank. After all, in terms of strength, the other party didn't even need to take action personally; a single glance would be enough to crush him!

"snort!"

The Nine Swords Venerable let out a cold snort, which was like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.

He coldly swept his gaze across everyone suspended below. Luo Shen and the others felt as if they were ants being watched by a giant dragon.

Silence reigned all around; no one dared to utter a sound.

"Chaos City is the safest training ground arranged for you!"

Standing high in the sky, the Nine Swords Venerable looked down at the group of geniuses below and coldly said, "What I didn't expect was that nearly 20% of your thousand people had perished, even in the safest Chaos City!"

"I'm so disappointed!"

Fortunately, the Nine Swords Venerable's purpose was not to truly display his authority in front of these little guys, but to bring them back to their senses, which had been numbed by comfort.

"Soon, you will be leaving Chaos City."

The Nine Swords Venerable said indifferently, "Take advantage of this time to attempt the Heavenly Bridge or study the Chaos Stele. Don't waste time, otherwise, after you leave, who knows when you'll be able to come back!"

Go!

With a wave of his hand.

"Yes!" the group of people replied respectfully.

Immediately, the group dispersed, like students who had just heard the school bell ring, hurrying off in different directions from Chaos City as if a teacher was chasing them.

Among them were Luo Shen and Luo Feng.

"In the blink of an eye, thirty years have passed."

Luo Feng sighed.

His gaze fell on Luo Shen beside him. Over the past thirty years, he had watched Luo Shen leap forward step by step, becoming the personal disciple of the Chaos City Lord and passing through the thirteenth level of the Tongtian Bridge, making all the geniuses of his generation look up to him!

"Ah Shen, you've really soared higher and higher."

He was so tall that he could barely see Luo Shen's back anymore.

He used to think that his cultivation speed was constantly improving and that he would soon be able to catch up with Luo Shen. But he never expected that after thirty years, he still couldn't even reach Luo Shen's level when he first entered Chaos City.

The gap is too big.

Even with Luo Feng's strong will, he couldn't help but feel somewhat powerless.

"What's wrong, senior brother? Giving up so soon?" Luo Shen teased. "This isn't like the you I know. Shouldn't you be cheering yourself on loudly, saying, 'I'll definitely surpass you!'"

Luo Feng rolled his eyes in annoyance.

A fifth floor!

A thirteenth floor!

The difference cannot be simply described by a 13-5 ratio.

"Senior brother, do you still remember Hong and Thor?"

Luo Shen suddenly turned his head to look at Luo Feng beside him and encouraged him, "I just met them a while ago. They said that there are many geniuses in the Qianwu Secret Realm, and their talent is not even worth mentioning."

If it weren't for that vial of cosmic-level bloodline evolution agent, they probably wouldn't even have been able to enter the Qianwu Secret Realm.

Luo Feng fell silent.

Compared to the gap between him and Luo Shen, the gap between Hong and Lei Shen is even greater.

After all, they belonged to a virtual universe company, which was a core member selected from countless star-level geniuses of the entire human race. Both he and Luo Shen were among the best.

Whether or not he can compare to Luo Shen, Luo Feng has already become the third best among this group of geniuses!

"But Thor, that bald guy, still looks like he's full of fighting spirit."

Seemingly recalling Thor's frantic antics that day, Luo Shen's smile deepened. He said, "He also told us to work harder. Although he and Hong aren't as good as us now, it won't be long before they become the top seed geniuses of the Qianwu Secret Realm!"

"Haha! Brother Lei is always so full of energy."

Luo Feng's face also showed a smile.

Although he didn't experience being trapped in the ruins of the Ninth Ancient Civilization as in the original work, nor did he experience the fearless battle against the Golden Horned Beast, Luo Feng's family background from a young age forged his incredibly resolute character.

I just couldn't figure it out at the time.

After Luo Shen's indirect guidance, the knot in his heart was naturally untied.

"It's just the thirteenth level. If I can't catch up in thirty or fifty years, then I'll try three or five hundred years, three or five thousand years. Anyway, I live a long time, and I'll catch up with you sooner or later!"

That's really true.

Normal human realm lords can only live for 1000 eras, but the lifespan of a realm lord-level golden-horned behemoth is more than ten times that of a human realm lord. It can outlive several waves of human realm lords just by enduring.

"cut!"

Luo Shen deliberately curled his lip: "So what if you live a long time? Maybe by the time you become immortal, I'll already be a cosmic venerable. When it comes to speed, I'm absolutely in a class of my own!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, you're the fastest, you're a three-second man, okay?!"

"Holy crap! I was trying to have a proper discussion with you, and you took me onto the highway, and the car wheels almost ran over my face."

As they spoke, the two had already returned to their respective cultivation platforms.

Luo Feng said, "While there's still time, I'll try again to see if I can successfully break through to the sixth level. If I can, I'll get double the points!"

Virtual Universe Company offers special incentives and rewards to its core members who come to Chaos City for the first time to cultivate.

Normally, passing the first level of the Sky Bridge only earns 100 points, but in order to encourage them to work hard, the Virtual Universe Company has given them a 10x point reward, meaning the points for the first level are increased to 1000!

The points you can earn on each level are ten times the original amount!

Luo Feng has now passed the fifth level and received a total reward of 31000 points. If he can pass the sixth level, he will receive 63000 points!

Luo Shen, who passed the thirteenth level, was even more terrifying!

A whopping 819 million points!

It's almost comparable to Huyan Bo's entire fortune at his peak!

If Luo Shen were to pass through the fourteenth level of the Sky Bridge before leaving Chaos City, this number would jump to 1639 million, comparable to the entire fortune of an ordinary Marquis Immortal!

Even just by looking at the points he earned, one can get a glimpse of the gap between Luo Shen and other geniuses.

However, this number...

Compared to the rewards one could obtain by conquering the Primordial Tongtian Mountain, a cosmic-level mountain, it seemed insignificant. After all, conquering the Primordial Tongtian Mountain would grant one 1 million points as a reward from the company upon becoming a Realm Lord!

The rewards for the original Tongtian Mountain at the Domain Lord and World Lord levels are as high as 30 billion and 1000 billion points respectively!

Good luck!

Luo Shen joked, "You guys go ahead and make your move. There are a lot of people here now. I'm going to see my teacher and senior brother first, and then I'll go to Tongtianqiao to show off my tops later."

"You little brat, are you about to unleash another attack?"

Seeing Luo Shen's smug look, Luo Feng pretended to hang himself: "How are we ordinary people supposed to live like this!"

After the teasing.

Luo Feng entered the virtual universe and headed directly to the Tongtian Bridge plane for his final sprint, while Luo Shen headed towards the Chaos City Lord's Mansion. Since the Giant Axe Tongtian Bridge was bound to be crowded with people, he decided not to join the fun for now.

Long ago, he received a suggestion from the Lord of Chaos City that he should go to Chaos Ruins before leaving Chaos City.

Now, the time has finally come.

Walking on the main road of Chaos City, Luo Shen quietly felt the ancient aura left by the surrounding buildings over countless years, which was both vicissitudes and incredibly surging, much older than the history of any civilization on Earth.

Before long, they arrived at the Chaos City Lord's Mansion.

Over the years, the guards who had been coming and going in the inner palace had long remembered Luo Shen's face, and he entered the Chaos Ruins without any difficulty.

The surrounding space spun around.

"teacher!"

Luo Shen bowed respectfully to the tall figure standing in front of him.

His gaze swept across the side.

Besides Venerable Guiyi, whom he often saw, there was also Venerable Jinfu, whom he had only seen once in the past thirty years. At this moment, the other party was also looking at him with a smile on his face.

The Lord of Chaos City turned around, his gaze falling on Luo Shen, his eyes full of gentleness: "Are you leaving Chaos City?"

Luo Shen nodded and said, "Yes, teacher. You once told me to come to Chaos Ruins before leaving Chaos City. I have always kept that in mind, so I have come to say goodbye to you now."

Although Luo Shen was taught by Venerable Guiyi for most of the past thirty years, he rarely saw the true form of the Chaos City Lord.

More often than not, they are seen in the temples on Thunder Island.

But Luo Shen understood.

Although the Lord of Chaos City is very concerned about his affairs, as can be seen from the changes on Earth in recent decades, the Virtual Universe Company has spent a lot of manpower and resources to transform Earth, and it is now a first-class life planet in the Qianwu Universe.

In terms of light protection level.

If we exclude the factor of immortal powerhouses, even the capital star of the Qianwu Universe Kingdom is not as safe as Earth!

"You haven't made a decision about the leader of your guards yet, have you? And you haven't chosen a teacher to teach you at the manor either." The Chaos City Lord laughed, "I've already had your Ninth Senior Brother make preparations for these."

Luo Shen looked at the Golden Axe Venerable.

The other party smiled and nodded, saying, "Junior brother has outstanding talent. When he is sent to the universe to complete his cultivation mission, he will definitely attract a lot of alien assassins. We must be careful."

The guard commander arranged by Venerable Golden Axe must be one of the most outstanding among the Immortal Army Lords, even comparable to a Marquis.

Luo Shen naturally wouldn't refuse.

He simply expressed his gratitude to the Venerable Golden Axe.

The Lord of Chaos waved his right hand, and an ancient token floated in front of Luo Shen, saying, "This is a token I made. As long as you crush it, I will appear in front of you in a very short time."

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Luo Shen reached out and took it.

This is essentially a talisman given to him by the Lord of Chaos City. He'll have to rely on this to save his life if he encounters an assassination attempt by a powerful figure in the future.

The Lord of Chaos nodded in satisfaction.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Ten years ago, you passed the thirteenth level. Now that you're about to leave Chaos City, would you like to try passing the fourteenth level?"

(End of this chapter)