Chapter 258: Thunder Emperor Inheritance! The First Ray of Light in the Universe! Falling into Dead

Chapter 258: The Thunder Emperor’s Legacy! The First Light in the Universe! A Deadly Predicament!

……

At last, at the farthest reach of his mental perception, that legendary mountain range came into view.

Qin Feng halted, suspended in the frigid vacuum of space, gazing at the scene before him, his heart brimming with awe.

It was a mountain beyond any words to describe its grandeur.

It stretched across the cosmos, without beginning or end, as if it were a miracle born at the dawn of the universe.

Legend held that this was the corpse of the Thunder Emperor transformed. Qin Feng could sense that overwhelming, timeless, and eternal stillness, yet within that stillness, he detected a glimmer of vibrant life, the genesis of all things.

Countless planets of varying sizes, even burning stars, clung to the mountain like specks of dust, slowly revolving around it, forming an inconceivable celestial system.

The mountain’s “ravines” were deep spatial rifts; its “cliffs” were warped gravitational fields.

The entire Thunder Phase Mountain was shrouded in a dense, impenetrable layer of thunderclouds.

These were no ordinary lightning bolts, but thunderous storms imbued with terrifying mental energy.

Each flash of lightning seemed to expound upon the cosmic principles of creation and destruction.

Purple, gold, cyan… countless bolts of lightning roared and surged across the mountain, forming an ocean of thunder.

At the heart of this thunderous sea, an irresistible sovereign majesty permeated the air.

That majesty was like the heavenly Dao descending upon the mortal realm, ruling over all, causing even Qin Feng’s gold-red mental energy to feel a faint, subtle sting.

The overwhelming might of heaven, unparalleled in the world.

Qin Feng channeled his mental energy, struggling to pierce through the layers of thunderous storms, and gazed toward the core of that majesty and lightning—the summit of Thunder Phase Mountain’s highest peak.

There, a massive, luminous object stood silently.

It was a giant thunder silkworm.

Its entire body was a deep blue-black, yet its surface was as crystal clear as the purest glass.

Countless fine arcs of electricity danced across the silkworm’s surface, each flicker seeming like a breath of life.

Through its translucent shell, Qin Feng could clearly see a graceful figure lying quietly within.

It was a woman, with a face of peerless beauty and a form full of aesthetic grace, clad in a black-blue training uniform. Her eyes were closed, her expression serene, and her sky-blue hair drifted gently in the thunderlight.

When Qin Feng recognized that sleeping face, his pupils contracted sharply, and an expression of disbelief spread across his features.

That face was familiar to him.

“Zhou Yu?”

A name buried deep in his memory slipped out.

Qin Feng’s thoughts were instantly pulled back more than three thousand five hundred years, to when he first entered the martial arts world and underwent a potential assessment in the Imperial Arena, meeting that young girl jokingly called “the first rookie of the Thunder Martial Arts Hall.”

Time passed, and things changed.

He never imagined that the girl from back then would now come to this perilous battlefield of myriad races as a prodigy, even obtaining the complete legacy of a sealed emperor, trapped on this Thunder Phase Mountain, surrounded by prodigies from the universe’s peak races and countless beings from myriad races.

The strangeness of fate could not be more profound.

He shifted his gaze from the giant thunder silkworm and scanned the surroundings.

Then he saw the scattered remains around the silkworm.

Even from a great distance, the terrifying residual aura on those remains made Qin Feng’s heart tremble.

He clearly identified that seven or eight of them belonged to human warriors.

Their physical bodies had long perished, their indestructible projections shattered completely, leaving only broken power armor clinging to dry bones, while their secret treasures and weapons were snapped into several pieces, devoid of any spiritual light.

From the lingering Dao and law traces on those remains, their cultivation levels before death were all, without exception… Domain Lord-level powerhouses!

And around the human warriors’ remains, there were even more bizarre corpses of myriad races, all without exception radiating the terrifying residual might of Domain Lords.

Clearly, not long ago, a cataclysmic Domain Lord-level battle had erupted here over this sealed emperor’s legacy.

The final outcome seemed to be mutual destruction, with all participants falling here.

And now, though a great number of prodigies still gathered around Thunder Phase Mountain, the strongest aura Qin Feng sensed was merely at the Black Hole level.

Combining this with rumors heard earlier in various taverns, a clear inference formed in Qin Feng’s mind:

The human high command and the top forces among the myriad races had likely, after paying a heavy price, reached a new tacit understanding—higher-level powerhouses would no longer intervene, and the final ownership of the Thunder Emperor’s legacy would be contested by young prodigies below the Domain Lord level, each relying on their own abilities.

This situation was common in the battlefield of myriad races, a helpless yet efficient “rule” under the jungle law of the strong preying on the weak.

Of course, this was still because humanity was too “declining.”

“No wonder they say humanity is somewhat in decline.”

Qin Feng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: “If it were an era of great human prosperity, following humanity’s usual domineering style, they would have long since cleansed all alien races within the entire Saint Sea territory, leaving not a single being from myriad races. Where would there be any need for such compromised high-level diplomacy with them…”

……

Thunder Phase Mountain, this cosmic wonder, stood like a silent giant, stretching across the cold, dead sea of stars.

Its silhouette was shrouded by an endless thunderstorm, those blue-purple electric lights tearing through the vacuum, each flash accompanied by the overwhelming might of heaven capable of annihilating stars, proclaiming the former owner’s supreme authority.

Qin Feng’s figure silently emerged behind a distant asteroid belt far from Thunder Phase Mountain.

He did not advance rashly but concealed all his aura, even the battle-hardened limit power armor dimmed its radiance, making him blend into the dark background of the universe.

His gaze pierced through the void, staring at that forbidden land illuminated by thunderlight.

The closer he got, the more clearly he perceived the invisible barrier pervading the outskirts of Thunder Phase Mountain.

It was the residual will of several distinct yet intertwined terrifying presences, carrying the unique charm of “domains,” cold, absolute, forbidding any being below the corresponding level from setting foot.

These were the unyielding obsessions and power of the Domain Lord-level powerhouses who had fallen here, transformed into prohibitions.

Like loyal guardians, even with their masters gone, they still blocked the path to the core legacy.

Yet time was the most fair abrasive in the universe.

Under the erosion of billions of years, these once indestructible Domain Lord prohibitions had become riddled with holes, covered in cracks of time, their power dissipating at a visible rate.

The light flickered unsteadily, clearly unable to hold out much longer.

And precisely because of this, the outer region of Thunder Phase Mountain had now become a gathering place for the elite.

Hundreds of powerful beings converged here, varied in form and profound in aura, like a pack of sharks scenting blood, patiently waiting for the final barrier to crumble.

Qin Feng’s mental energy, like the most precise radar, carefully swept across this area, a hint of gravity rising in his heart.

Among these waiters, he saw several “familiar” faces.

That massive mechanical war body composed of countless precise components was the mechanical race prodigy who had pursued him for a hundred years, “Wild.”

The Stone Emperor’s son, Night Luo, was also present, surrounded by a heavy ring of rock stars, the pride and power of a sovereign’s offspring fully displayed.

The pitch-black undead race “Death Knell,” seemingly made of pure death and silence, and the holy spirit water race “Water Mo,” who could transform into an endless ocean, all hovered silently in the void, each occupying their own space.

Besides these old acquaintances, there were more unfamiliar beings whose auras were equally unsettling.

Among them, several auras had already surpassed the galaxy level in intensity and depth, firmly stepping into the threshold of the Black Hole level.

They were true cosmic titans, each movement causing ripples in space, the apex predators at the top of this battlefield’s pyramid.

Qin Feng instantly made the most correct judgment: conceal himself.

His current situation was extremely delicate.

The news that he possessed fragments of the King-Sealing Secret Treasure had already been spread far and wide by Kuang Ye and others, making him, in the eyes of many beings present, no less than a walking top-tier treasure vault.

Once his identity was exposed, he would instantly become a target for all, facing a united and relentless assault from every race present.

Even with his vastly increased strength and numerous hidden cards, he stood no chance of surviving such an overwhelmingly unequal siege.

"The art of transformation..."

A thought arose in Qin Feng's mind. "If I could master a profound technique of transformation, altering my aura and form, I wouldn't need to skulk and hide in situations like this, and my actions would be far more convenient."

The moment this thought surfaced, the mysterious blue page in his spiritual sea trembled slightly, and a voice full of temptation and allure rang directly in his mind, carrying an arrogance that saw through everything.

"Qin Feng, have you ever heard my name? The Lord of Change, Tzeentch."

"You yearn for the power of transformation? I can grant your wish. As a generous giver of knowledge, I can teach you a supreme secret art.

It will not only allow you to change anything at will but also let you manifest billions of avatars, each with independent thoughts and power, making you truly omnipresent, calculating all living beings..."

Before the voice finished, on the surface of the azure page, countless intricate and profound runes began to flow and recombine, ultimately forming a secret art named "The Myriad Transformation Divine Body."

Even reading just the opening few lines, Qin Feng could feel the cosmic truths contained within—a terrifying power that toyed with reality and twisted laws.

"This thing requires the Black Hole level to learn?"

Qin Feng's spiritual power swept over the cultivation threshold of the secret art and immediately spotted the key.

"Correct."

Tzeentch's page spoke with a tone of natural superiority. "This secret art's grade far exceeds your imagination.

It touches upon the fundamental laws of the universe. Only beings at the Black Hole level, who have condensed a spiritual singularity and undergone a qualitative change in thinking ability, are qualified to glimpse its threshold.

What do you think? Does this inheritance of knowledge sufficiently demonstrate my sincerity?"

"Is there one that can be learned at the Galaxy level?"

Qin Feng asked directly, unmoved.

"No."

Tzeentch's page answered decisively. "The thinking ability of Galaxy-level beings still has limits, and the structure of their spiritual power is insufficient to support the fundamental evolution of the 'change' law. This is an iron law of the universe."

"Then create one that can be learned at the Galaxy level."

Qin Feng's tone carried a hint of natural provocation.

"Create? This threshold is determined by the fundamental laws of the universe; it is not something I can casually alter."

Tzeentch's page was filled with doubt.

"Trash."

Qin Feng's evaluation was concise, dripping with undisguised contempt. "You call yourself the God of Knowledge, master of all change, yet you can't even create a basic version of a technique."

"..."

Tzeentch's page fell into a long silence.

On that azure page, the runes of the "Myriad Transformation Divine Body" that had been clearly displayed flickered rapidly a few times, as if erased by an invisible hand, then vanished completely, as if they had never existed.

Qin Feng chuckled softly and ignored this arrogant and seemingly fragile "God of Knowledge."

He fully retracted the Limit Power Armor into the subspace storage unit, changed into the most ordinary black robe, pulled the hood low to cover most of his face,

and simultaneously compressed and internalized his vast, ocean-like spiritual power and life aura layer by layer, suppressing them to an utterly inconspicuous degree, like the most ordinary speck of dust in the universe.

After doing all this, he silently mingled into the massive and motley crowd of beings on the periphery.

It was mainly the effect of suppressing his spiritual power. In fact, with Qin Feng's current life force, he could easily mold his flesh into various shapes or even change the arrangement of his cells, but his spiritual power was too distinctive.

Without suppressing his spiritual power, no amount of physical concealment would be of any use.

The beings here were too numerous, their forms bizarre.

There were crystalline lifeforms with bodies like crystal mountains, comet lifeforms dragging long tails, and elemental lifeforms composed entirely of plasma energy.

Beings like Qin Feng, who concealed their forms in black robes and did not want their true identities to be spied upon, were not few.

Thus, his joining attracted no attention.

Everyone's focus was on the renowned top-tier prodigies arriving one after another.

"Look! That's the prodigy of the Holy Flame Fire Clan, Blazing Flame! His aura... it's Black Hole level!"

"Hiss—the four hundred and twentieth on the Hidden Dragon List! Even a powerhouse of this level has been drawn here? The allure of the King-Sealing inheritance is truly terrifying!"

A stir spread through the crowd.

In the distant starry sky, a "great sun" was racing at high speed.

It was not a real star, but a giant composed entirely of blazing white flames.

With every step he took, the surrounding vacuum seemed to ignite, light and heat distorting space.

He was Blazing Flame, a walking calamity.

Then, another light cut through the darkness, purer and more dazzling than Blazing Flame's fire.

"It's the Light Clan! The prodigy of the Light Clan, Neil! Hidden Dragon List... tenth place!"

At the utterance of this name, the atmosphere froze instantly.

The top hundred on the Hidden Dragon List were all monsters among monsters, and the top ten were hailed as future overlords with the potential to become kings!

A humanoid outline composed of pure light particles appeared before everyone. He had no physical form, yet radiated a presence stronger than a star.

Legends of the Light Clan instantly surfaced in Qin Feng's mind.

The Light Clan, a mythical race born at the Galaxy level, possessed innate light speed, their bodies could transform into countless light particles, and they were immune to most psychic attacks.

They fed on stars, growing stronger.

Legend said that in ancient times, the first light in the universe transformed into a true god, who absorbed all the "light" in the subspace, causing the vast subspace to fall into eternal darkness.

Otherwise, the spiritual universe would be as prosperous as the physical universe, giving birth to countless spiritual lifeforms, or subspace beings, rather than the current situation with only a few weak and insignificant subspace lifeform races.

Neil's arrival raised the tension at the scene to its peak.

But the arrival of the strong did not end there.

"Roar—"

A silent roar transmitted through spatial vibrations. A colossal being, its size comparable to a small planet, tore through space and descended.

Its body was covered in dark golden carapace, each scale engraved with natural runic patterns, exuding a sense of power and immortal beauty.

"Star Beast... it's Tark of the Golden Armor Giant Beast Clan! He's here too! It's said his strength is infinitely close to the Black Hole level!"

Qin Feng's pupils, hidden beneath the hood, contracted slightly.

Golden Armor Giant Beast!

The revenge entrusted to him by King Guluo before his death was against the "Golden Emperor" of the Golden Armor Giant Beast Clan.

Unexpectedly, he had encountered a prodigy of this clan here ahead of time.

Qin Feng could clearly feel the pure, brutal power surging from deep within Tucker’s bloodline, along with that innate predator’s aura that saw all things as prey.

In the months that followed, similar scenes played out again and again.

One after another, prodigies renowned across the myriad-race battlefield arrived at Leixiang Mountain through various means.

Most hailed from the apex races of the cosmos, evidently summoned by their elders—powerful beings unable to enter the battlefield themselves tore through space to teleport them directly here.

Within just a few short months, the number of Hidden Dragon List prodigies gathered here had reached a staggering ten.

Beyond them, there were also dozens of Black Hole-level experts who had never made the list.

As for galaxy-level warriors of the myriad races, they were as numerous as hairs on an ox, countless beyond measure.

In contrast, among humanity, aside from Qin Feng, who deliberately concealed his identity, not a single other person appeared.

This stretch of starry sky had become a gluttonous feast for the myriad races.

“Hahaha—Shui Mo! You stagnant pool of water, how dare you show your face before me?”

A wild, explosive roar shattered the long-standing silence.

Blazing Flame of the Holy Spirit Fire Clan, that walking “Great Sun,” locked his scorching gaze onto Shui Mo of the Holy Spirit Water Clan.

His voice brimmed with undisguised killing intent and greed.

For the Holy Spirit Clan, whose internal strife was brutally savage, any member of a conflicting attribute was a massive tonic for one’s own primal evolution.

Blazing Flame hesitated not a moment; before his words had even faded, his colossal fiery body erupted, transforming into a true sun, charging straight at Shui Mo.

Within him, the recently condensed singularity of mental energy began to spin madly, like a newborn black hole, greedily absorbing all free mental-psychic energy fields in the surrounding space.

The moment a Black Hole-level expert struck, it was earth-shattering!

“Heh.”

Facing this attack that could sear the heavens and boil the seas, Shui Mo let out a cold laugh.

His liquid body remained unchanged, but an intangible, yin-soft yet vast domain instantly expanded outward from him.

A terrifying aura, also of the Black Hole level, was revealed without reservation!

“You… you’ve broken into the Black Hole level too!”

That “Great Sun” of Blazing Flame suddenly halted, his voice filled with disbelief.

Shui Mo’s liquid body twisted, morphing into a mocking human face, and he chuckled, “Lucky me, I caught a few clueless little brats not long ago.”

“Hmph, you got lucky!”

Blazing Flame snorted coldly and slowly withdrew his assault.

The standoff between the two Black Hole-level experts ended anticlimactically.

Even among Black Hole-level experts, there were vast differences. Those like Blazing Flame and Shui Mo, who had just broken through with shallow foundations, were at the bottom of their rank.

Both were from the Holy Spirit Clan, notoriously the “poor” race—without any elder inheritance, they likely didn’t even have a single decent Black Hole-level secret technique.

If they truly fought now, it would be an ugly brawl, not only failing to decide a victor but also exposing their weaknesses and trump cards to all competitors—a loss not worth the gain.

“Enough.”

Just then, a clear, commanding voice rang out, instantly overpowering all the clamor.

Neil, the prodigy of the Light Clan, that humanoid being formed of countless rays of light, spoke slowly.

“The restrictions are about to fully dissipate. Rather than wasting our strength here, let’s join forces to decipher the final core restrictions and speed up the process.

Otherwise, if that human prodigy inside the thunder cocoon fully refines the Undying Phoenix Thunder, this journey of ours will have been for nothing.”

“Agreed!”

Neil’s words carried an undeniable authority.

As soon as he spoke, all the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere instantly eased.

Even Blazing Flame and Shui Mo, who had just been locked in confrontation, each stepped back and fell silent.

Clearly, Neil’s strength, his tenth-place ranking on the Hidden Dragon List, and his Light Clan identity—backed by a god—gave him sufficient sway.

His proposal struck at the core interests of everyone present.

Thus, after a brief silence, the hundreds of powerful beings gathered—whether Hidden Dragon List prodigies or ordinary Black Hole-level experts—reached an unspoken understanding.

They temporarily set aside their hatred and covetousness, extending their mental energy to work together in breaking the last few domain master restrictions shrouding Leixiang Mountain.

Under normal circumstances, these restrictions might have held for centuries.

But with so many experts joining forces, their collapse was greatly accelerated.

It was estimated that within a few months, the restrictions would be broken.

…

Three months—in the near-eternal solitude of cosmic scales—was but a fleeting moment.

Yet for the tens of thousands of beings from every corner of the universe gathered outside Leixiang Mountain, these three months felt excruciatingly long.

Every minute, every second, was filled with anxious waiting and silent vigilance.

They were like a school of sharks scenting blood, circling a trapped whale, patiently awaiting the disappearance of the final restriction.

Finally, on the last day of the third month, the invisible barrier enveloping the entire Leixiang Mountain, with a crisp sound like shattering glass, spiderwebbed with cracks.

“Crack—”

The sound was faint, yet it clearly reached the mental perception of every being present.

That brittle noise was like a command, a bell tolling the start of the feast.

The once-dead starry sky instantly ignited.

“It’s open!”

Someone let out an uncontrollable roar.

The next moment, tens of thousands of figures—each with distinct auras and forms—transformed into tens of thousands of colorful streaks of light, like a bursting flood, surging from all directions toward the majestic mountain spanning the cosmos!

Behind the mechanical race prodigy, a metallic torrent of billions of nanomachines unfolded, forming a massive propulsion array like a mobile war fortress, crushing the void.

Nightfall, son of the Stone Emperor, each step he took seemed to solidify the space beneath him into a tangible staircase.

The Death Knell of the Undead Clan moved silently, his skeletal form merging into the shadows, becoming a barely traceable dashed line, swift enough to chill the heart.

Shui Mo of the Holy Spirit Water Clan had already turned into a boundless ocean; in the moment of the charge, his entire body dissolved into countless droplets.

And a golden-armored giant beast soared overhead, its wings stirring fierce winds.

But the most dazzling of all was undoubtedly Neil, the prodigy of the Light Clan.

He didn’t even have a concept of “movement”; the instant the restriction shattered, his body transformed into a beam of pure, ultimate light, appearing first at the foot of Leixiang Mountain.

Qin Feng, mingling within this chaotic torrent, revealed nothing special.

He wore the most ordinary black robe, had retracted his Limit Power Armor, and suppressed his mental energy to an unremarkable galaxy-level degree.

He didn’t use his Red Gold Wings, only driving himself with conventional energy, following the main force at a moderate pace.

“Charging in…”

"The goal of every living being is exceptionally clear—the Thunder Cocoon at the mountain's peak. There are no resources left on this Thunder Phase Mountain."

Qin Feng's gaze swept past the countless frenzied figures ahead, locking precisely onto the blue-black giant cocoon at the summit, pulsating like a heart.

"Human Domain Lords and Myriad Race Domain Lords perished here together. From the residual traces on the scene, the intensity of the battle was enough to destroy several star systems.

Yet the Thunder Cocoon sits intact at the center of the battlefield..."

His spiritual power, like the most delicate probe, carefully skimmed over the Domain Lord-level remains scattered across the mountain.

Those remains were of varied forms; some still maintained the posture of their final attack, but without exception, their bodies were covered in deep, bizarre lightning scorch marks.

That was no ordinary thunder—each trace retained a supreme, judgmental, and violent aura that seemed to judge all things.

"It is thunder... these Domain Lord powerhouses, whether human or from myriad races, all ultimately died by thunder."

A clear picture formed in Qin Feng's mind.

"Speculating, the most reasonable scenario should be this: the powerhouses of the Thunder Battle Group escorted Zhou Yu here.

They erupted into a brutal war with the myriad race powerhouses who arrived upon hearing the news.

In the end, the human side barely won, successfully helping Zhou Yu obtain the Undying Phoenix Thunder and become the Thunder Emperor's inheritor."

"Then, Zhou Yu began to accept the inheritance, automatically condensing into this giant cocoon that gathered all the essence of Thunder Phase Mountain.

And the formation of the cocoon was likely the key that triggered the Thunder Emperor's final contingency."

"This contingency was to indiscriminately slay all living beings within a certain range around the Thunder Cocoon, creating an absolutely safe evolutionary environment for the inheritor.

The Thunder Emperor might have envisioned enemies, but he probably never expected that, after his fall for endless ages, his secret place of death would be exposed to the entire universe, attracting so many covetous beings."

Qin Feng's gaze grew deeper.

"But... there is still a doubt.

Although the 'resources' of Thunder Phase Mountain have been absorbed, Thunder Phase Mountain itself—that is, the Thunder Emperor's 'corpse'—still exists.

As an emperor who once overlooked the universe, would he not leave behind a deeper contingency?

For instance, if the inheritance is forcibly interrupted by external forces, or if the inheritor dies within the cocoon, would this emperor's body... self-destruct?"

This thought sent a chill through Qin Feng's heart.

If that were the case, all living beings present, including himself, would instantly turn into cosmic dust.

It was precisely based on these speculations and caution that he did not try to seize the initiative at the first moment.

Before knowing the full picture, the first to eat the crab is often the first to be poisoned.

Facts soon confirmed his conjecture.

Since there were indeed no resources worth fighting for on the body of Thunder Phase Mountain, the torrent of tens of thousands of living beings encountered no conflict along the way, smoothly charging all the way to the summit and surrounding the giant Thunder Cocoon.

A tense atmosphere pervaded the peak.

Finally, a few galaxy-level beings who could no longer hold back made their move.

Perhaps they came from minor races, lacking deep backgrounds and intelligence support, knowing only that seizing opportunities required racing against time.

Three galaxy-level peak powerhouses of different forms attacked almost simultaneously.

A corrosive acid spear, a pitch-black axe condensed from spiritual power, and a storm of metal, with ear-piercing howls, fiercely struck the surface of the Thunder Cocoon.

However, just as these attacks were about to touch the cocoon, a sudden change occurred!

On the entire blue-black Thunder Cocoon, billions of electric serpents, like an enraged dragon horde, blazed brightly.

A blue-black divine thunder, a hundred times thicker than any previous thunderstorm, burst forth without warning from the thunder clouds in the sky.

It made no earth-shattering sound, nor had any flashy visual effects.

It appeared so abruptly, as if crossing time and space, directly acting upon the result.

Those three galaxy-level peak powerhouses, along with their attacks, could not even utter a scream before they were completely and utterly decomposed and evaporated in the radiance of that blue-black divine thunder—from matter to spirit, from indestructible projections to soul imprints, every trace of existence was wiped clean.

As if they had never appeared in this universe.

One strike, just one strike.

Absolute, overwhelming, unreasonable instant kill!

On the mountain peak, silence instantly fell.

All the beings who had been stirring just now felt a bone-chilling cold.

Those galaxy-level beings who were a step slower and hadn't had time to attack turned pale with fear and relief.

They were grateful for their hesitation; if they had been just a little faster, they would have been the ones turned to nothing.

As for the true top powerhouses, like Neil, Blazing Flame, and Wild, they wore calm expressions, their eyes even carrying a hint of "just as expected" understanding.

They had clearly anticipated this situation.

"Attacking the Thunder Cocoon will provoke a thunderous counterattack."

A voice rang out in the silence. It was a half-black-hole-level crystal race being, entirely composed of crystals, who spoke with lingering fear: "This kind of thunder contains emperor-level laws. A new galaxy-level being dies on contact; even a galaxy-level peak has no resistance!"

"Only those with sufficiently solid foundations, close to the black hole level, or true black hole-level beings, can withstand it for a while with their strong dao foundations and spiritual power."

Another powerhouse added.

Everyone's gaze converged on the light race prodigy Neil.

He was recognized as one of the deepest backgrounds and strongest presences present.

Neil floated in midair, radiating a soft and majestic light. He looked around, and his voice sounded calmly, yet clearly entered every being's mind:

"Everyone, the situation is now clear.

Any attack with malicious intent will trigger merciless annihilation."

His words plunged all present into deep thought.

Neil paused, then continued: "But this is not unsolvable. This is to protect the inheritor in completing evolution, not for permanent sealing. The core of this restriction is 'guardianship,' not 'destruction.'

Therefore, against forces that are not directly destructive, its defense drops significantly."

"My suggestion is,"

Neil's gaze swept over all the black-hole-level and Hidden Dragon List prodigies present, "that we all concentrate our spiritual power, abandon all offensive secret arts, and use only the purest spiritual power, like a gentle stream, to penetrate it.

Our goal is not to break it, but to 'interfere' with it.

Use our spiritual power to affect the internal balance, preventing that human prodigy from peacefully refining the Undying Phoenix Thunder."

"At the same time, this gentle penetration allows us, without triggering a fatal counterattack, to slowly analyze and wear down the structure of this restriction.

As long as we work together, this seemingly impenetrable barrier will eventually be dismantled from within.

When the restriction is lifted, the Thunder Cocoon will naturally open, and then we will each rely on our own abilities for the Undying Phoenix Thunder!"

A faint, barely perceptible sneer flashed in Neil's eyes.

He made the information public for a simple reason.

Alone, using such a painstaking method to break the Thunder Emperor's restriction would take who knows how many millennia.

Only by gathering the power of all the strong ones present could success be achieved in a short time.

And after success?

Among all the beings present, who could contend with him—the divine son of the Light Clan, the tenth-ranked peerless prodigy on the Hidden Dragon List?

The Undying Phoenix Thunder would then be his for the taking.

His open scheme, upright and aboveboard, yet no one could refuse it. For this was the only feasible path forward.

The Blazing Flame of the Sacred Spirit Fire Clan let out a cold snort, the flames around him receding slightly, a tacit acknowledgment.

The water-formed figure of Shui Mo nodded in agreement.

Data streams flickered wildly in the savage mechanical compound eyes, clearly calculating the plan’s feasibility, until at last they fell into silence, signaling consent.

The other Black Hole-level beings and Hidden Dragon List prodigies, after brief deliberation, also accepted the proposal.

Thus, a strange scene unfolded atop the mountain peak.

Dozens of top-tier powerhouses, any one of whom could stir up storms across a spiral galaxy in the outside world, now set aside their mutual hostility. They sat cross-legged, surrounding the massive Thunder Cocoon, and began to release their vast, ocean-like mental energy.

Threads of mental energy, varying in color and attribute, transformed into countless fine filaments. They touched the surface of the Thunder Cocoon with care and tenderness, then slowly, steadfastly, began to penetrate inward.

Qin Feng, mingling among the multitude of beings, also sat down in pretence. He extended a hand, a wisp of mental energy—deliberately disguised as ordinary pure gold—coiling around his fingertip, feigning the cracking of the seal.

Though many powerhouses were present, all attention was intensely focused on the Thunder Cocoon. Moreover, the gathered beings were a motley mix, their auras diverse; no one would bother to pay special heed to a seemingly unremarkable "Galaxy-level."

His mind, however, was wholly immersed in his own thoughts.

"This method is theoretically feasible... but it will take time. Decades at the shortest, centuries at the longest."

"This span is enough for me to devise a perfect way out of this predicament."

Qin Feng’s gaze pierced through layers of space and energy barriers, as if seeing the familiar yet unfamiliar figure within the Thunder Cocoon—Zhou Yu.

"First, I must confirm the most crucial point."

Qin Feng separated an imperceptible thread of gold-red mental energy, blending it into his disguised golden mental energy. In an extremely covert manner, he touched the surface of the Thunder Cocoon, then swiftly conducted a brief interactive test through the interface of his subspace storage unit.

"...It can be taken!"

The moment he reached this conclusion, Qin Feng’s heart gave a powerful leap.

This was the cornerstone of the entire plan.

Though the Thunder Cocoon was massive, its essence was an independent "egg" for evolution, with only a tenuous connection to the external environment—a single link that would summon thunderous destruction if attacked.

The Thunder Cocoon could indeed be stored within the subspace unit.

But new problems arose, and far more lethal ones.

How to make his move?

And how to escape?

Here, he was at the core encirclement of dozens of Black Hole-level beings and ten Hidden Dragon List prodigies.

The moment he acted, he would become the enemy of all. Even if his speed were unmatched, taking the Thunder Cocoon would require an instant—time enough for any Black Hole-level powerhouse present to launch an attack at him.

"I might be able to withstand one attack. The Chief Medal can block one, but what then?"

"Escape... that is the greatest challenge."

In his mind, Qin Feng began precise sand-table simulations.

"Suppose I successfully take the Thunder Cocoon and immediately activate the Crimson Gold Wings to flee at maximum speed. The velocity of a Black Hole-level treasure would allow me to outpace most opponents in a short time."

"But 'maximum speed' means an astronomical drain on mental energy.

Though my total mental energy far exceeds that of my peers, rivaling a newly ascended Black Hole-level powerhouse, sustaining the full burst of the Crimson Gold Wings would last at most a month."

"In a month, at my speed, I could cross the diameter of a spiral galaxy.

But in the boundless universe, that is hardly a safe distance.

Those Black Hole-level beings—except for the impoverished Saint Spirit clans—surely possess tracking treasures or techniques. Especially Neil, of the Light Clan, renowned for speed."

"Once my mental energy is exhausted and I fall into a weakened state, they can easily catch up.

Then, I would face the combined assault of dozens of enraged top-tier powerhouses."

Qin Feng’s brow furrowed slightly.

"The heavenly treasures and rare materials I’ve stockpiled, though seemingly vast for daily cultivation, are but a drop in the bucket when it comes to fueling the Crimson Gold Wings at this level. The recovery rate of the Ten Complete Hands, though astonishing, is far from enough to keep up with the consumption of extreme burst."

"A dead end... a nearly unsolvable dead end."

Qin Feng’s thoughts accelerated. One plan after another formed in his mind, only to be swiftly discarded.

A feint to the east while attacking the west? No—the target was too clear; everyone’s attention was fixed on the Thunder Cocoon.

Turn the seal against them?

The seal was already being suppressed by their combined efforts, and once he made a move to attack, he would become the seal’s primary target.

"Conventional methods won’t work."

"..."

Qin Feng slowly closed his eyes, deep in thought.

Outside, the fervor of the prodigies cracking the seal continued unabated.

(End of chapter)