Inside a common cave dwelling within the core area of Rainveil City’s inner district, a slightly plump man with dark blue skin, soft tentacles, and glasses was smiling as he watched a combat video from an intelligence report.

“Tianhe, you actually lost to a newly promoted Elder,” the chubby man said, smiling at Elder Tianhe who stood beside him.

“I lost fair and square, no doubt about it!” Elder Tianhe chuckled self-deprecatingly, then looked at the chubby man and asked, “Master, are you interested in challenging him?”

The chubby man smiled.

He was the Master of the Devious Workshop.

“There’s nothing to compare,” the Master of the Devious Workshop said, shaking his head. “His cultivation foundation is relatively weak; he only relies on external objects.” The Master of the Devious Workshop was still confident he could suppress Luo Feng’s final displayed claw attack.

The primary reason Elder Tianhe was willing to join the Devious Workshop was its Master.

The Master cultivated two Great Dao paths simultaneously and was even attempting to merge them into one.

“Even in the Dark Sacred Realm, there are quite a few who cultivate two or three paths simultaneously! But those who can merge different paths into one are extremely rare!” Among the top twenty existences in Rainveil City, the Master of the Devious Workshop was considered number one in terms of potential.

Elder Tianhe knew his own potential was limited and had even been forced to choose the bloodline path. Naturally, he needed to align himself with a powerful figure, and he chose the Master of the Devious Workshop.

“Tianhe!” The Master of the Devious Workshop said with a smile after reviewing all of Luo Feng’s intelligence. “Have your subordinates prepare one hundred million Chaos Crystals and deliver them to Luo Feng. Consider it your apology to him!”

“An apology?” Elder Tianhe couldn’t help but interject. “We’re both Elders. Why should I apologize to him? Besides, my presence in Rainveil City is merely a clone. Why should I curry favor with him? Elders generally possess clone techniques and are naturally proud!”

Elder Tianhe already felt it was humiliating enough to admit defeat outside the East City Gate.

And now an apology too?

“Do as I say!” the Master of the Devious Workshop commanded.

Anyone who followed him had to operate by his rules.

If Elder Tianhe disobeyed, the Master of the Devious Workshop would simply distance himself from Elder Tianhe.

Elder Tianhe hesitated, then could only nod. “Alright, I’ll arrange it.” Then he looked at the Master of the Devious Workshop and added, “Master, there’s something I don’t understand.”

“Look at the intelligence report,” the Master of the Devious Workshop said, smiling as he pointed to the detailed floating report in front of him. “He only arrived in Rainveil City a little over a thousand epochs ago. At first, he was suspected to be at the early Divine Emperor stage, but within just over a thousand epochs, he was able to suppress you! What kind of cultivation speed is that?”

“Master, the report also states ‘suspected to be at the early Divine Emperor stage’!” Elder Tianhe countered. “When he first arrived in Rainveil City, we couldn’t accurately verify his strength. A member of the Worm Nest once attempted to steal from him but failed, unable to grasp his true power. Luo Feng later openly acted on his own, eliminating our raiding party. At that point, we could only confirm that his strength was far superior to that of an ordinary mid-Divine Emperor realm cultivator. In my opinion, when he first arrived in Rainveil City, his true strength was likely at the mid-Divine Emperor realm. He only broke through to the late Divine Emperor stage after acquiring resources from Rainveil City!”

The Master of the Devious Workshop gently shook his head. “I don’t care about speculation; I only look at facts. The fact is, when Luo Feng first arrived in Rainveil City, he was even sharing a residence with Di Qing. He also bought the cheapest materials in the city, clearly indicating he was quite poor!”

“Yet in just over a thousand epochs, he became a late Divine Emperor realm cultivator,” the Master of the Devious Workshop continued. “Think about it, how long did it take us, and how many hundreds of millions of Chaos Crystals did we spend to reach the late Divine Emperor stage? How much did you, Elder Tianhe, pay to become a late Divine Emperor?”

“Even if he reaches the Half-Chaos level, what then?” Elder Tianhe retorted. “Our foundation is in the Dark Sacred Realm!”

“Don’t ask any more questions; you’ll understand in the future!”

The Master of the Devious Workshop said.

“Yes, I will go and arrange the apology now!” Elder Tianhe stood up. The Master of the Devious Workshop watched Tianhe depart.

Immediately, an invisible fluctuation appeared in the air ahead, and a phantom figure materialized—a man emanating boundless heat!

“Hall Master Weiyang!” the Master of the Devious Workshop greeted.

Hall Master Weiyang’s face was like a sculpture, his eyes deep and emotionless. He was an incredibly powerful and overbearing Half-Chaos level cultivator, who, after countless years of tempering in the Dark Sacred Realm, had arranged for a clone to establish a base in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm. Upon his arrival, he even overpowered the city’s founder, “Hall Master Yuanyuan,” to become the most influential Hall Master in Rainveil City! He also acquired the most resources and benefits among the three Hall Masters in Rainveil City.

“I hear Elder Tianhe of your Devious Workshop was defeated by someone named Luo Feng!” Hall Master Weiyang said, a rare smile appearing on his usually stoic face as he looked at the Master of the Devious Workshop. Given his immense pride, there were only a handful of individuals in the city he truly regarded, and the Master of the Devious Workshop was clearly one of them.

“This Luo Feng has extraordinary potential,” the Master of the Devious Workshop stated. “Even if he goes to the Dark Sacred Realm in the future, he might still leave a clone in Rainveil City!”

“Perhaps he will be the one calling the shots in Rainveil City in the future.”

Hall Master Weiyang’s phantom smiled. “You think so highly of him?”

The Master of the Devious Workshop said no more.

“Rainveil City is jointly controlled by us three Hall Masters,” Hall Master Weiyang said with a smile. “If he becomes strong enough, at most, we’ll go from three Hall Masters to four!”

“However, his current strength is still far from sufficient!”

“It seems the Hall Master has considered this very clearly,” the Master of the Devious Workshop nodded.

Hall Master Weiyang said, “With your talent and strength, you should have caught up to me long ago! Your two cultivated paths have consistently failed to break through. The next expedition is about to begin; are you still not participating?”

“No, I am not participating,” the Master of the Devious Workshop replied with a faint smile.

Hall Master Weiyang nodded.

He and the Master of the Devious Workshop were also friends in the Dark Sacred Realm.

The Master of the Devious Workshop mused that beneath the surface, he was not a benevolent person, despite establishing the Devious Workshop for himself. His Path of the Devious Realm was, moreover, filled with darkness and ferocity.

“Luo Feng… he actually made my ‘Heart of the Devious Realm’ feel fear.”

The Master of the Devious Workshop murmured to himself. While watching the combat video, the ‘Heart of the Devious Realm’ condensed within his body had trembled, instinctively fearing Luo Feng!

There were some cultivators in the Dark Sacred Realm who cultivated two paths simultaneously and had even elevated both to the Half-Chaos level. The Master of the Devious Workshop pondered, “But they still cannot break free from their cage. There’s a legend in the Dark Sacred Realm that cultivating two paths isn’t enough; only by merging them into one will a qualitative change occur, offering hope of breaking free from the cage.”

“I have cultivated until now, and I’ve only managed to elevate my Path of the Devious Realm to the early Divine Emperor stage,” the Master of the Devious Workshop gently shook his head.

He had only decided to pursue the path of fusion after both of his cultivated paths reached the late Divine Emperor stage. At that point, fusion was incredibly difficult. After countless epochs, his merged Path of the Devious Realm had only reached the early Divine Emperor stage! He had even slowed down his other two paths, fearing he was heading in the wrong direction!

“The path of fusion has a broader future! Even at just the early Divine Emperor stage, it can rival an ordinary late Divine Emperor path. If the path of fusion can reach the ‘Half-Chaos’ level, there might truly be hope of breaking free from the cage!”

The Master of the Devious Workshop naturally had great ambition and resolve.

“As for Luo Feng, I will observe him more carefully.” The Master of the Devious Workshop was unwilling to make an enemy of him, but also unwilling to get too close.

Meanwhile, in a cave dwelling in the core area of Rainveil City, which was only a few times larger than Di Qing’s dwelling in terms of area, Luo Feng said, “This is the new cave dwelling I’ve rented!” Di Qing, Di Ming, and Di Fu were observing the new dwelling.

“The energy supply here is immense!” Di Qing exclaimed, feeling the energy in the dwelling, which had liquefied into a mist.

“It should be enough for even a Half-Chaos level cultivator to absorb at full capacity!” Di Fu was also quite shaken.

“I can’t believe I can live in the core area of Rainveil City!” Di Ming couldn’t help but exclaim. The rent for any dwelling in the core area was ridiculously high.

“What’s the rent here?” Di Fu asked curiously.

“Five thousand Chaos Crystals per epoch!” Luo Feng replied, wincing slightly. There was no alternative; this was already one of the smaller dwellings available in the core area.

“Five thousand Chaos Crystals per epoch? So in just ten thousand epochs, merely living here would cost fifty million Chaos Crystals?”

Di Ming and Di Fu were both astounded. Such housing expenses would be continuous; without sufficient strength, one truly wouldn’t dare to rent such an expensive place!

Luo Feng had no choice. As his strength improved, his energy absorption speed increased, so he naturally had to choose a better dwelling.

This dwelling, at least, could ensure a sufficient energy supply even after his Path of Life and Death reached the mid-Divine Emperor stage.

“Hmm?” Luo Feng suddenly sensed a knock at the door.

Someone was knocking just after he moved in. “I’ll go see!”

Di Fu went to open the door, and saw an elder standing outside. The elder’s aura was contained, but even the subtle amount of power he implicitly exuded made Di Fu feel a tremor in his heart.

“Young friend Di Fu,” the elder said, recognizing Di Fu immediately and speaking warmly, “I’m here on behalf of my Master to deliver an invitation to Divine Emperor Luo Feng. My Master will personally visit tomorrow!”

Besides twelve invitations, Luo Feng also received a gift of apology from Elder Tianhe, totaling one hundred million Chaos Crystals, which greatly surprised him. “Elder Tianhe is a powerful being from a Source World; I can’t threaten him at all! Why would he send an apology?”

Luo Feng looked at the cloth bag in his hand; inside it were one hundred million Chaos Crystals!