Chapter 396: Terra Council! I, Qin Feng, Am Surprisingly Already a Senior

Chapter 396: The Terra Council! Am I, Qin Feng, already an elder?!

After departing the Tianxuan Hall, Qin Feng did not linger long within the Holy Academy.

To him, the academy now served as little more than a transit station for information, offering nothing further to aid his ascent.

He required time and an environment of absolute stillness to digest the vast, terrifying accumulation he had gathered along his journey—a hoard sufficient to incite the envy of any Sovereign.

He chose the "Taixu Grotto-Heaven," a realm situated in a higher dimension specifically carved out by the academy for Sovereigns, as his sanctuary for seclusion.

Here, the flow of time differed from the outside world, and the laws were purer and more vibrant—the perfect setting to contemplate the Great Dao and refine his own existence.

A million years, to a mortal, is an epoch, a span long enough for a civilization to rise from birth to oblivion.

But for Qin Feng, immersed in the depths of cultivation, it felt like nothing more than a single, long-drawn breath.

For the first hundred thousand years of his retreat, Qin Feng did not seek to raise his cultivation level, but instead performed a thorough "combing" and "integration" of the massive resources he had plundered from the Endless Sea.

Source-Quality Divine Iron, Nine-Orifice Soul-Nurturing Jade, Primordial Dragon-Marrow Crystal, Heavenly Law Core, Eye of the Return to Ruins, Origin Star Core...

Any one of these cosmic treasures, capable of igniting wars among Sages, was brought forth by him as if they were mere common building materials.

Then, he began a "smelting" process unprecedented in history.

He no longer sought to forge these treasures into weapons or merely absorb their energy.

Using his own "Limitless Universe" as a furnace, his "Primordial Secret Arts" as the hammer, and his "Limitless Divine Light" as the fire, he forcibly shattered and decomposed these treasures—each imbued with distinct fundamental laws—reducing them to their most primitive "concepts" and "runes."

Then, bit by bit, he fused these concepts and runes into his "Hunyuan Limitless Body."

It was an agonizing and perilous process.

It was akin to using his own body as a test field, forcibly kneading together several disparate, even conflicting, top-tier laws.

The slightest misstep would result in the collapse of his Dao foundation and the disintegration of his sacred physique.

Yet, Qin Feng’s Dao was, by nature, one of "limits" and "inclusivity."

His Hunyuan Limitless Body was itself forged from billions of laws, possessing an inconceivable capacity for compatibility.

Relying on his rock-solid Sovereign Dao heart and his ultimate, microscopic control over power, he turned the impossible into reality.

The concepts of "growth" and "solidity" from the Source-Quality Divine Iron were fused into his bones, granting every bone the hardness and evolutionary potential of a Saint King’s weapon.

The concepts of "nourishment" and "protection" from the Nine-Orifice Soul-Nurturing Jade were woven into his spirit, forming an additional "Soul Barrier" around his Sovereign soul, impervious to all arts.

The concepts of "logic" and "rules" from the Heavenly Law Core were integrated into his meridians, ensuring that every movement of energy followed the most efficient and perfect path, without a shred of waste.

...

This process lasted for a full five hundred thousand years.

Half a million years later, when the final treasure was fully smelted into his being, his Hunyuan Limitless Body had undergone a fundamental metamorphosis.

It was no longer a mere "fleshly body," but rather a living, "human-shaped cosmic treasure" that resonated perfectly with his sacred Dao and possessed infinite potential for growth.

For the latter five hundred thousand years, Qin Feng began to push his cultivation level with all his might.

With this new "Dao Body," which had fused myriad laws into one furnace, his efficiency in absorbing and refining the universe’s primordial energy increased more than ten thousandfold.

Vast torrents of primordial energy, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, were effortlessly swallowed and converted by the Limitless Universe within him.

His cultivation began to climb in a steady, unstoppable ascent.

Early-stage Cosmic Sovereign...

Peak of the early-stage Cosmic Sovereign...

Finally, in the nine hundred and ninety-ninth thousandth year of his seclusion, he successfully broke through the bottleneck and stepped into a new level.

Mid-stage Cosmic Sovereign!

The moment he broke through, the entire Taixu Grotto-Heaven trembled, and countless chains of law manifested spontaneously, circling him as if paying homage to a newborn monarch.

Yet, the aura upon him fluctuated for only an instant before retracting, calm as a stagnant well.

There was no instability, no sense of hollowness.

That million years of sedimentation and smelting made every breakthrough feel as natural and inevitable as the turning of the tides.

The million-year term had arrived.

The gates of the grotto opened slowly.

Qin Feng stepped out; his appearance remained unchanged, yet those chaotic eyes were ten thousand times deeper than before.

It was as if a single glance could pierce the birth and death of eras and discern the ultimate truth of the universe.

"The Terra Council..."

He whispered to himself, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.

"The Emperor, the God-War, the future of humanity..."

"It is time to witness the scenery at the very pinnacle of this universe."

Qin Feng stepped out of the Taixu Grotto-Heaven and returned to the sanctuary of the Human Holy Academy.

He greeted no one, not even the Lord of Tianxuan who presided there.

At their level, words were redundant. The intersection of a single thought was enough to convey all information.

He could feel the vast consciousness of the Lord of Tianxuan linger upon him for a moment, carrying a trace of imperceptible wonder and gratification.

Qin Feng responded with a calm thought of his own.

Then, he looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of the academy’s barriers to look toward the most core, ancient, and sacred direction of human territory.

—Holy Terra.

His body began to blur and turn transparent.

He pushed his Sovereign-level spatial laws to their limit.

The space around him twisted violently, like boiling water, as a deep spatial wormhole, dark enough to swallow all light, slowly took shape.

This was the first time he had exerted spatial displacement at full power since ascending to the mid-stage.

He intended to cross this vast expanse of human territory at the fastest possible speed, returning to where it all began.

*Chi-la*—

Space was torn asunder.

Qin Feng’s figure stepped into the spatial turbulence—a place where even Sages could lose their way—without a moment’s hesitation, vanishing in an instant.

Only the slowly closing rift remained, a testament that a supreme being had departed from here, embarking on the journey home.

...

Within the spatial turbulence, there is no concept of time or direction.

A distance of billions of light-years was compressed into a mere span under the great power of a Sovereign.

Qin Feng’s figure, like a ghost traveling at high speed through a bizarre, kaleidoscopic tunnel, left galaxy after galaxy and nebula after nebula in his wake.

His heart was calmer than ever before.

Yet, beneath this calm, there hid a faint, lingering "homesickness" that even he had not yet perceived.

Holy Terra.

To any member of the human race, this name is far more than a mere geographical location.

It is a faith, a totem, the cradle of all humanity and its final resting place.

Qin Feng still remembers.

In his youth, when he had just set foot upon the path of martial arts on the tiny planet of Morning Star, every time he gazed up at the heavens, he would fantasize that one day, he might see with his own eyes the legendary center of the universe where the Golden Throne resides—Holy Terra.

It was the most sacred temple in the heart of every passionate youth.

He once believed he would realize this dream soon.

But fate played a cruel, gargantuan joke upon him.

For survival, for power, for vengeance... he fought his way through, traveling ever further.

Canaan Martial Academy, the Planet of Death, the Universal Genius Tournament, the Battlefield of Ten Thousand Races, the Endless Sea...

The physical distance between him and Terra grew ever greater.

The dream of his youth seemed to drift further away as well.

He had almost forgotten why he had set out in the first place.

Until today.

When he stood at the pinnacle of the universe, when he possessed the power to look down upon all living things with ease, and when he finally embarked on the journey back to Terra.

That longing from his youth, sealed deep within the vault of his memory, began to emit a mellow, rich fragrance, much like a vintage wine long aged.

"Who would have thought..."

As he streaked through the void, a self-deprecating curve touched the corner of Qin Feng's mouth.

"After such a long detour, only upon reaching the realm of a Universal Venerable do I finally return home to take a look."

This feeling was marvelous. It diluted the "divinity" brought about by his ascension, which had made him increasingly estranged from the world.

It allowed his heart, long as still as an ancient well, to ripple once more with the essence of a human.

He did not know how long he had traveled through the turbulence of space.

When a sea of light, brilliant to the extreme and seemingly constructed from pure gold and the power of faith, appeared before his eyes, he knew.

He had arrived.

He slowly decelerated, slipping out of the spatial turbulence, his figure reappearing in the reality of the universe.

And then, he was utterly stunned by the sight before him.

Even with his current state of mind as a Venerable, the moment he laid eyes on the Holy Terra system, he felt a genuine, indescribable sense of magnificence and majesty.

This was an unimaginably vast star system.

Its scale was far more grand than any naturally formed galaxy Qin Feng had ever witnessed.

At the center of the system sat a colossal yellow star, radiating a gentle and sacred light—the Sun of Holy Terra.

Yet, it was no true star.

Qin Feng could clearly perceive that it was a massive "Golden Beacon," ignited by supreme power and spanning several light-years!

Its light not only illuminated the entire system but pierced the barrier between reality and the warp, acting like a needle in the sea, guiding every human vessel navigating the cosmos toward home. As long as one could see this light, one would never be lost.

Surrounding this "sun" were not nine planets, but nine equally gargantuan "Orbital Temples," transformed into super-fortresses of war!

Each temple could house trillions of souls, and the star-killing cannons and law matrices deployed upon them were so dense that any Saint-level fleet would tremble in their presence.

These nine orbital temples operated in an arcane formation, collectively guarding the very core of the system.

And at that core, protected by the nine temples and the Golden Beacon, lay the legendary planet.

The origin of humanity, the seat of the Alliance's power, the location of the Emperor's Golden Throne—

Holy Terra!

It hung there in silence, its surface a primitive, cyan-blue.

Yet, its exterior had long been encased in countless layers of metal and architecture, becoming a "planet-city" in the truest sense.

Layer upon layer of gothic spires reaching into the clouds, bridge upon bridge spanning continents, formed a breathtaking tapestry of industrial aesthetics and sacred atmosphere.

Visible to the naked eye, golden torrents—composed of the "power of faith" and "racial destiny" accumulated by billions of humans over dozens of epochs—flowed like a celestial river from all directions into the planet, finally merging into the highest, most magnificent structure on the planet's axis, which seemed poised to pierce the heavens... the Imperial Palace.

Grand, majestic, prosperous, flourishing.

Any word seemed pale and powerless when witnessing this scene with one's own eyes.

This was not a planet.

This was a true miracle of the universe, created by the great human race through the heart's blood of countless epochs!

Qin Feng hovered quietly on the periphery of the system, admiring this magnificent tapestry belonging to his own kind.

After a long while, he withdrew his gaze and flew toward the main shipping lane of the Terra system.

The closer he drew, the more he could feel the bustle and the vigilance of the place.

In the void, patrol fleets composed of the most elite "Adeptus Custodes" wove back and forth. The prow of every warship was branded with the striking double-headed eagle emblem, and every soldier aboard possessed a cultivation level of at least the Planetary stage.

On the main lane, the flow of ships was like a river, a star-spanning current of steel and energy.

Countless civilian merchant ships, resource freighters, and pilgrim vessels sailed in an orderly fashion along the outer ring of the lane.

In the inner ring lay the "Void Avenue," reserved exclusively for those of profound cultivation.

Qin Feng could see streams of light flying in from all corners of human territory.

Within those streams were beings of powerful aura.

Some piloted ornate personal shuttles, branded with the crests of ancient noble houses.

Others traversed the void with their physical bodies alone, surrounded by the laws of the universe, their divine might awe-inspiring.

The lowest among them were at the King stage.

Among them were many with robust auras, Emperor-stage powerhouses who had already touched the threshold of the Saint realm.

Clearly, they were all like Qin Feng, having received the summons from the Terran Council to attend the assembly.

Qin Feng suppressed all his aura, mingling with the flow of people, and flew slowly toward the largest starport in the Terra system—the "Lion's Gate Starport."

He discovered an interesting phenomenon.

The surrounding King and Emperor-stage powerhouses were mostly very young.

Their faces carried the sharp edge and pride of newborn calves unafraid of tigers, occasionally eyeing one another with provocative gazes, as if they wished to determine who was superior even before the gates of Terra.

When Qin Feng, a "stranger," appeared, he drew the attention of some.

Several tyrannical divine senses swept over him without restraint.

Upon discovering that Qin Feng possessed no fluctuations of law, appearing as nothing more than a mortal, the owners of those senses revealed expressions of contempt and withdrew their gazes.

"Another old fellow from some remote star sector, who only broke through to the King stage by sheer luck, wanting to see the world on Terra?"

"Heh, looking at him, he probably doesn't even have a decent law-infused weapon. Truly a disgrace to us Emperor-stage cultivators."

A few exchanges of mental communication, laced with youthful arrogance and disdain, brushed against Qin Feng’s ears.

To this, Qin Feng merely offered a faint smile, unbothered.

He understood.

For he had already recognized the cultivation techniques practiced by several of these young Emperor-ranked warriors; they were schools of thought founded by his own old companions from long ago.

Time is the most merciless of things.

He had been away from the heart of human territory for far, far too long.

So long that his former rivals and dearest friends, those who once fought alongside him in the Universal Genius Tournament, had likely all ascended to Sainthood by now, or perhaps become overlords of distant star sectors, establishing their own sects.

And their descendants—this new generation of prodigies raised in greenhouses, pampered by peace and abundance—would naturally not recognize him, an "antique" nearly erased by history.

He was content with the quiet.

He had not come here to flaunt his might, nor to compete with these juniors.

He was merely a wanderer who had finally returned to his homeland.

Qin Feng descended slowly onto the massive docking platform of the "Lion Gate Starport," paved with pure, shimmering refined gold.

The scene here was even more breathtaking than what he had glimpsed from afar.

Countless colossal statues, ten thousand meters in height, stood at every corner of the starport. These were the legendary heroes and pioneers of human history.

The air was thick with a solemn and reverent atmosphere.

Even those unruly young Emperors, the moment they stepped onto this soil, instinctively reined in their pride, their faces reflecting a pilgrim’s devotion.

Qin Feng’s gaze swept across the familiar statues.

There was the "Progenitor" who pioneered genetic martial arts, the "Iron Wall Marshal" who single-handedly held back the Zerg’s billion-strong army for three millennia, and his own mentor, the "Heaven-Swallowing King."

Looking at those lifelike visages, a ripple stirred within Qin Feng’s heart.

He, too, had once been a part of this magnificent epic.

Yet now, he seemed to have become an "outsider."

Just then, a small commotion rippled through the crowd nearby.

"Look! It’s Thor, the ‘Thunder God’! He’s here too!"

"My god! It’s Lord Thor! He is the top prodigy of our generation, the one most likely to challenge the Saint realm within ten thousand years!"

"I heard that three hundred years ago, he single-handedly wiped out an entire star sector’s pirate alliance, including three veteran peak-level Emperors!"

Amidst the awe-struck gazes of the crowd, a burly youth with short golden hair, carrying a massive warhammer on his shoulder, stepped down from a magnificent warship with a hearty laugh.

With every step he took, the space beneath his feet seemed to crackle with thunder, radiating explosive power.

Qin Feng watched the youth named "Thor," his eyes flickering slightly.

He sensed an incredibly familiar aura emanating from the young man.

This Thor was, in all likelihood, a descendant or successor of the Thunderstorm King.

Thor clearly noticed Qin Feng’s gaze; he turned his head, his eyes as sharp as a hawk’s, and looked toward him.

When he saw Qin Feng’s plain attire and that unremarkable, "stranger" face, a flicker of confusion crossed his eyes, but he paid it no further mind, offering only a polite nod before moving toward the interior of the starport, surrounded by a throng of admirers.

Qin Feng withdrew his gaze, feeling no disappointment, only a faint sense of melancholy.

The new generation does not recognize the faces of the old.

Perhaps, this is simply the nature of time.

He, too, began to walk, blending into the crowd as he moved slowly toward that sacred planetary city, the vessel of all human glory and history.

His journey to the Terra Council had only just begun.

And those "old friends" who truly knew him were waiting, deep within the heart of that city.