Chapter 341: Advancing in Darkness – Vast Wealth

“My Path of Life and Death has been completely stuck!”

“Could it be that the path I’ve been exploring on my own is a dead end?”

Luo Feng could not help but feel doubtful.

At the Divine King stage, there had been complete Origin Paths to serve as references! So there were no dead ends—failure to comprehend only meant insufficient talent or ability.

But at the God Emperor stage, one had to grope forward in darkness. It was easy to take a wrong path, fall into a complete dead end, and never progress again.

Why was the Fusion Path so difficult? Because its complexity far exceeded that of a single pure path! It was very easy to get stuck and unable to proceed! Even someone with the comprehension of the Master of the Trick Workshop had only reached the Early-Stage God Emperor level on the Fusion Path.

“I have the Eye of Life and Death and have observed so many Primordial Bloodlines. My path shouldn’t be wrong!”

“If the path isn’t wrong, then how should I break through this bottleneck next?”

Luo Feng muttered softly.

“Life-and-death fusion—on the life aspect, what I pursue is the ultimate physical body! The larger, the better! Size represents powerful energy. Size represents the potential to unleash terrifying might. Size also represents endless vitality.”

“But… when the physical body becomes large enough, how do I control it?”

“According to my estimates, the Half-Primordial Life-and-Death Path should theoretically reach ‘1.2 billion times’ the energy reserve of a Perfect Divine Body.”

After the Battle of Rainlan City, Luo Feng had gone into seclusion again, advancing himself in all aspects. He was not far from the ‘Half-Primordial Life-and-Death Path’ and could already vaguely determine its theoretical level of power.

As the most difficult among the ‘three invincible paths,’ once this path succeeded, it would be absolutely invincible.

“At the Mid-Stage God Emperor level of the Path of Life and Death, my Immortal Blood Sea Body had a peak combat strength at 500 times the Perfect Divine Body energy reserve. At the limit, I could control over ten thousand times the energy reserve, but my strength wouldn’t increase further.”

“Now, my Immortal Blood Sea Body reaches peak combat strength at 3,000 times the Perfect Divine Body energy reserve. At the limit, I can control up to one hundred thousand times the energy reserve. Any more, and because the body becomes too massive to perfectly control, my strength actually begins to decline.”

“But…”

“The Half-Primordial Life-and-Death Path should theoretically reach 1.2 billion times the Perfect Divine Body energy reserve. How can I perfectly control that?”

“With such a massive body, once I take control of it, even walking would become difficult.”

“This means that in terms of ‘controlling the body,’ I have a major flaw.” Luo Feng had encountered this bottleneck.

His Path of Life and Death was already highly refined in many aspects.

Massive physical body, undying vitality, methods of unleashing power… all had reached their intended goals!

Only one aspect remained!

When the body was small, it was fine. Luo Feng’s current total energy reserve did not exceed 5,000 times that of a Perfect Divine Body, so controlling it was effortless.

But the theoretical ‘1.2 billion times’ energy reserve was far beyond what he could manage.

Yet if he sacrificed the massive body, then this path would not be complete! It would not be the ‘God Emperor Perfection’ Path of Life and Death.

“Based on the experiences of many Primordial Bloodlines, to control such a massive body likely requires two conditions. First, I must undergo a fundamental transformation in body control. Second, my Mental Will must escape the Prison Cage. Only by fulfilling both conditions simultaneously might I perfectly control such a body.”

From conversations with Hall Master Yuan Xiang and members of the Cultivation Squad, Luo Feng also knew that when Mental Will first escaped the Prison Cage, its power only increased by about tenfold.

This was because, historically, among the three invincible paths, the first path—‘Mental Will Escape the Prison Cage’—was the most common, and they had personally witnessed several such individuals.

Those with invincible Mental Will could suppress Hall Master Yuan Xiang and the others with a single thought. But only suppress—they could not achieve ‘will-based annihilation.’

“A mere tenfold increase in Mental Will helps with body control, but it is far from enough for ‘perfect control.’” Luo Feng understood this clearly.

With such an enormous body, even moving was difficult.

Let alone tenfold—even if his will increased a hundredfold, he might only be able to maneuver the massive body freely, perform some simple techniques, and fly. But executing the most profound techniques would still be impossible, not to mention multitasking.

To simultaneously trap enemies with formations using the massive body, perform close-combat techniques, use the Simulated Eye of Life and Death for observation, and activate secret treasures…

Only such multitasking could be considered true perfect control of the body!

A mere tenfold increase in Mental Will was still nowhere near sufficient.

“The gap is too great.”

“Even if my Mental Will escapes the Prison Cage, it’s still far from enough according to my estimates. That suggests… my path might be wrong.”

“Perhaps my Path of Life and Death shouldn’t pursue an ultimate massive body.”

Luo Feng began reflecting on himself.

Groping in darkness required constant reflection and correction.

“I’ll first try to explore methods of ‘controlling the body.’” Luo Feng was not one to give up easily. This path had been his chosen direction from the very beginning. If the fundamental direction changed, the entire Path of Life and Death would have to be overturned.

He would need to start again from the Ultimate Divine King level and re-deduce everything!

A blank slate was easiest to work with!

Even if he overturned his past path, he would still be influenced by it, making a new path difficult to establish.

This was cultivation!

One wrong step led to countless wrong steps!

“As long as I can make it through, then it isn’t wrong!”

“How long have I cultivated? The ancestors of the two ancient kingdoms have experienced multiple cycles of the Origin Continent. What is this bottleneck compared to that?” Luo Feng closed his eyes and began to calmly contemplate.

From various Primordial Bloodlines, from the Heart of Immortality and the World-in-Palm, and from the Star Tower and the Eye of Life and Death, he sought inspiration.

“Even including the Star Tower, life and destruction are only combined, not truly fused.”

“The Fusion Path has no reference.”

Ordinary paths could refer to the mysteries within Primordial Lifeform corpse materials.

But the Fusion Path had no reference at all!

It was manageable in the early stages, but the further one progressed, the harder it became!

Only upon reaching the stage from ‘Late-Stage God Emperor’ to ‘God Emperor Perfection’ did Luo Feng truly encounter a major bottleneck.

In truth, this was not even the hardest part of the Fusion Path.

Going from the ‘God Emperor Perfection Path’ to the ‘Primordial-level Path’—that was the true chasm! Compared to that, Luo Feng’s current bottleneck was insignificant.

Many extraordinarily talented individuals eventually switched to the Bloodline Path to escape the Prison Cage.

Because the ‘Path’ route became increasingly difficult—to the point of despair.

“Controlling the body…”

“How do I control such a massive body?”

Luo Feng pondered.

Studying each Primordial Bloodline, countless sparks of inspiration collided in his mind.

“No.”

“This method isn’t sufficient.”

One after another, embryonic methods of body control appeared in his mind, only to be rejected almost immediately.

With his level of intellect, the moment a prototype formed, he could already foresee its limits.

……

Luo Feng walked across the land of the Dark Sacred Realm, yet his thoughts remained entirely on cultivation. Occasionally, he would stop to comprehend.

If he encountered Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms along the way, he would casually kill them.

Sometimes killing weaker ones would attract stronger foes. Killing stronger ones could even draw terrifying squads for a siege.

When Luo Feng detected them from afar using the Simulated Eye of Life and Death, he would immediately move through the gaps of space and escape swiftly.

“Hmm?”

Luo Feng looked at the ancient city ahead. “Chengfeng City… I’ve arrived?”

While walking and cultivating, half an era had passed before he finally reached Chengfeng City! 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“Hu.”

Luo Feng completely concealed his aura. With a single step, he crossed space and entered the city, then walked within Chengfeng City. Most cultivators inside could not sense his presence at all.

“The Dark Sacred Realm gathers the strongest beings from nearby Source Worlds and countless worlds. Late-Stage God Emperor Seekers are merely the minimum threshold to enter here.”

Those on the Bloodline Path—even Half-Primordial Bloodline Cultivators—were considered the lowest tier here.

“God Emperor Bai Yin and the other two are in Chengfeng City.” Through causal sensing, Luo Feng detected his three friends from the Cultivation Squad. He did not rush to visit them, instead flying toward the Primordial Hall within the city.

“Among the five cities of the Dark Sacred Realm, only the central ‘Primordial City’ possesses a large Primordial Hall.” Luo Feng knew this information.

When the Dark Sacred Realm was first established, there had only been Primordial City, left behind by Senior Yuan and the others.

Over long ages, cultivators exchanged war merits to build four additional cities, making it easier to hunt surrounding Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms. The cities of the Dark Sacred Realm were far more expensive than those in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm.

“Hu.”

Luo Feng flew directly to the second floor of the Primordial Hall.

Two tall figures stood there motionless. When Luo Feng arrived, both opened their eyes simultaneously, their intangible aura enveloping the entire second floor.

“Cultivator Luo Feng, do you wish to confirm war merits or exchange for treasures?” one of the tall figures asked. They were both puppet lifeforms left behind by Senior Yuan—absolutely impartial.

“Confirm war merits.”

Luo Feng nodded. “These are the Low-Rank Primordial Lifeform corpses I’ve hunted. I’ll trouble you both.”

As he spoke, Luo Feng took out a Spatial Bracelet and released its seal.

“Weng—” The two puppet lifeforms simultaneously began inspecting the contents. Despite the terrifying quantity of corpses inside, their expressions did not change.

“Low-Rank Primordial Lifeform corpses: 9 Transcendent Limit Level, 2,902 God Emperor Perfection Level, 39,522 Late-Stage God Emperor Level, 68,990 Mid-Stage God Emperor Level, 83,560 Early-Stage God Emperor Level.”

“Cultivator Luo Feng, your total war merits are now 7,717,660.”

One of the puppets announced the final number.

Luo Feng heard it—over seven million war merits?

Among peak experts in the Dark Sacred Realm, although many were weaker than Luo Feng, they had lived for extremely long periods. Over time, they accumulated war merits and even purchased them using Primordial Crystals. After all, the uses of war merits far exceeded those of Primordial Crystals.

Thus, having several million war merits was common among top-tier existences. At the rate of one war merit per 100,000 Primordial Crystals, spending hundreds of billions of Primordial Crystals could buy millions of war merits.

Many cities maintained long-term purchases of war merits—Rainlan City included.

Although Luo Feng only had over seven million war merits, he was considered extremely wealthy. Because all his war merits came from his own hunting! The value of those Primordial Lifeform corpses alone was worth tens of trillions of Primordial Crystals.

“Over seven million war merits… that should be enough.”

Luo Feng thought to himself, then turned and headed directly to the first floor of the Primordial Hall. He planned to sell all those corpses!