"What kind of expression is that?" the giant Beast Shadow roared, its voice shaking the realm.
"As a successor of Zhou, you're not allowed to show weakness. We of the Beast God lineage fight with unwavering resolve!"
"My death came in the previous reincarnation era. I'm only fulfilling my final task now. I'm content—so why are you grieving?"
The Beast Shadow's thunderous voice echoed with pride.
"Alright. The final step begins now."
Its entire body ignited with brilliant reddish-white light, surging with divine energy like a galactic tide sweeping across the stars.
"Prepare yourself. To keep the powerhouses of this era from sensing anything unusual, I will burn the last of my divine power. The Time Fortress will be transferred into your Inner World, and I'll disrupt the surrounding space-time."
In the next moment, the Beast Shadow's towering form solidified. Divine energy at the level of a Law Master engulfed Malrick in a blazing storm.
It felt like both a fleeting moment and an eternity.
When Malrick opened his eyes again, he was already outside the Moon.
The void was quiet. Far in the distance, thousands of human space cruisers were still heading toward the lunar surface.
Time… hadn't moved. It was exactly the same moment he had first arrived.
If it weren't for the fortress pulsing in his Inner World, or the memories etched into his mind, he might have thought it had all been an illusion.
"Time manipulation... a rotting chessboard," Malrick murmured, eyes fixed on the Moon. "Is this how a Law Master plays?"
He turned, intending to return to the base where Hong and Thor were waiting.
But just then, a surge of power descended.
The World Will contacted him directly, a rare occurrence. "You have three days remaining."
Malrick paused. "Three days? That's plenty. But really now, you gave me such a massive inheritance and still offer three extra days? Feeling generous, are you?"
He chuckled and patted his chest. "Brother Will, I won't get sentimental. But know this: once I become a True God, I'll be back. I'll help you handle the Beast God crisis."
The World Will froze.
"…Beast God crisis? Beast God?"
At the mention of those words, the energy field around Malrick tensed like a startled animal.
Beast Gods—creatures born of the universe's supreme laws, existing to devour all. Their emergence was a sign of impending collapse.
"Oh right," Malrick sighed. "I got so caught up in everything I forgot to explain. The real threat this era faces isn't what you think. It's the Beast Gods."
He quickly recounted the true story—how the Beast Gods would emerge, and how a man named Luo Feng was fated to be the one who could stop them.
Knowing this in advance, Malrick figured, was only a benefit to the Original Universe—and to Luo Feng himself.
As for the far future, when Luo Feng might surpass the World Will?
Simple. If the World Will just helped him a little now, invested early, then Luo Feng wouldn't see it as an enemy later. He wouldn't have a reason to replace it.
"Luo Feng is a decent guy," Malrick said. "I suggest you make nice with him early. You never know—once he becomes a Lord, he might even help you evolve into a real lifeform."
"…Luo Feng. Lord…" The World Will hesitated. "And what about you?"
"Me? Of course I'll help too."
"Can you become a Lord in the future?"
"I don't know. But I believe I can."
The World Will was silent for a while.
"Return when you become a Law Master. I'll prepare something for you."
Malrick raised an eyebrow. Was the Source Will about to offer a second round of support?
He broke into a wide grin. "Perfect. Looking forward to it."
---
Three days later
Malrick sat cross-legged in deep space.
Behind him, stars rotated and celestial light wrapped around his form.
From deep within his world ring, radiant energy streamed into his body, lighting every cell with life.
Mitochondria surged like reactors, expanding and contracting, releasing energy like molten fire.
Within his Original Nucleus, a galaxy rotated. It had formed during the first phase of his Cosmic cultivation, and had now grown enormous.
It was a spiral galaxy with eight arms, orbiting a massive central black hole. On each spiral arm, a smaller black hole spun with gravitational force.
Malrick opened his eyes.
"The energy is sufficient. Begin the collapse."
He summoned all external energy inward, directing it into the Original Nucleus.
With a deep rumble, the galaxy began to shake and expand—then contract.
The suction force of the nine black holes intensified simultaneously.
First, the eight on the spiral arms devoured the surrounding matter. Then, the central black hole absorbed them all into itself.
The once vast galaxy disappeared.
In its place, a single colossal black hole floated in the void, devouring every drop of cosmic energy that flowed toward it.
As it expanded to its limit, Malrick's expression hardened.
He focused, compressing the black hole inward, forcing it to collapse—compressing all of existence within it.
From the collapse, a gray sphere emerged—an artificial singularity.
If Malrick had been a normal human, his breakthrough would've stopped here.
Later, to become a World Lord, he'd have needed to rupture the sphere and let it explode into an Inner World.
But Malrick was far from ordinary.
He already possessed an Inner World. So when the singularity stabilized, it began expanding again—merging into his Original Nucleus.
Only then was the breakthrough complete.
He had become a Domain Lord.
Yet that was only the beginning.
His body began absorbing feedback energy from the transformation.
His blood, bones, and every strand of genetic code evolved.
A golden glow traced through his skin—law marks etched directly onto his flesh.
His physique, already enhanced, reached a new peak.
Most importantly, his growth rate accelerated dramatically.
Even though the energy requirement for the next breakthrough had grown massively, his optimized genes kept the pace steady.
"So this is the Domain Lord realm. Incredible."
Malrick floated through the void, testing his power.
A standard first-tier Domain Lord could lift around 2 trillion tons.
But his base genetic multiplier was already 200, giving him a raw strength of 400 trillion tons.
With his perfected force technique at a hundredfold amplification, his output reached 400 quadrillion tons.
Comparable to some lower-tier World Lords.
Still, in the grand scale of the cosmos, it wasn't much.
The Moon alone weighs over 700 quintillion tons.
He couldn't match that—yet.
But speed changed the equation.
Thanks to his enhanced laws, he could now move at near-light speed.
With that momentum, one full-force strike could destroy a planet.
Earth included.
"It's time to head back."
Malrick turned and streaked toward Earth, vanishing into the starry void.
---
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