Age of Calamity in Swallowed Star

“Don't rush to leave, little ones. I have some good news to share with you.”

At the entrance of the cultivation chamber, Candreigh looked at the dejected young talents with a faint smile on his lips.

There was a time when he too had felt such helplessness.

“Please enlighten us, sir,” a young genius in black armor respectfully asked.

“No rush! You still have thirty years to survive in this Chaos City, so it's best to find a place to live first, and then…”

Pausing mid-sentence, Candreigh conjured a purple clay teapot out of thin air, took a sip, and continued, “Then, you can apply to enter the 'Bridge of the Heavens' in the virtual universe.”

“Bridge of the Heavens!?” Upon hearing this, question marks appeared on the foreheads of the geniuses.

“You'll understand when you enter the Bridge of the Heavens in the virtual universe network!” Candreigh smiled, not elaborating much. “Now, disperse.”

“Ah… that's it!?” Some geniuses widened their eyes, looking incredulous.

They thought they would receive something tangible, but unexpectedly, it was just this.

“Don't be surprised. Just leave.”

Immediately, the three-eyed old man Candreigh waved his hand, directly sending the geniuses out of the cultivation chamber.

He even threw them out of the City Lord's mansion.

“Little Feng, let's part ways here. Contact me if anything comes up,” Lin Ye said to Luo Feng at the entrance of the City Lord's mansion.

“And little Babata, remember to offer good advice to Luo Feng.” Lin Ye glanced at the little devil leisurely sitting on Luo Feng's shoulder, gently flicked the latter's forehead, and instructed.

“Got it! Lord Lin Ye!”

“Leave everything to me!!”

Babata puffed out his somewhat flat chest, speaking with confidence.

“That's good!” Lin Ye nodded, then parted ways with Luo Feng.

...

Chaos City had existed for an extremely long time, and its area was also very large.

Apart from a few landmark buildings, the rest of the cultivation residences were almost identical.

And most of the cultivation residences had white doors, indicating that they were still unowned.

“Let's settle here.” Looking around, Lin Ye finally chose an unoccupied residence and walked towards it.

“Beep beep beep… Welcome, my master.”

After Lin Ye placed his hand on it, he soon became the owner of this residence.

“It's quite big.”

The huge cultivation residence was divided into three floors: a living room on the first floor, a resting area on the second floor, and a cultivation and viewing platform on the third floor.

All the facilities were full of modern technology.

“Hello, master. I am the intelligent service AI here. I will serve you during your stay. You can ask me for anything you need.”

“Okay!” Lin Ye nodded, and with a flash of his figure, he went directly to the rooftop on the third floor.

“Now… let the years of my cultivation in Chaos City begin!”

Lin Ye stood on the rooftop, casually scanning the surroundings, and happened to see some cultivators on the rooftops also comprehending those special artistic conceptions.

“First, enter the virtual universe network and brave the Bridge of the Heavens.”

With a thought, Lin Ye connected his consciousness to the virtual universe network.

Immediately, his figure appeared in Manor 112 of the Primal Region of Rain Phase Mountain.

“Your Highness!”

The servants and guards all respectfully saluted the visitor.

“Mm.” Lin Ye nodded and said, “Chan'er, apply for entry to the Bridge of the Heavens.”

“No problem, arranged!”

Then, the miniature version of the virtual universe 'Chan'er' sitting on Lin Ye's shoulder directly contacted the virtual universe system and issued the application.

In less than a minute, a voice sounded in Lin Ye's mind: “Identity confirmed, Your Highness Lin Ye. You have obtained permanent access to the Bridge of the Heavens. I hope you can reach the end of the Bridge of the Heavens!”

“Now, begin teleportation!”

Swish!

Lin Ye disappeared directly from the manor.

...

Virtual universe, in a special plane of space.

The boundless, deep sea was churning, stirring up turbulent waves.

In the center of the ocean was an extremely beautiful island. On the edge of the island were 52 ports.

Each port extended an endless bridge, stretching towards the end of the heavens and earth… endlessly.

Like a large net, it directly enveloped the entire ocean.

“The Bridge of the Heavens corresponding to the 52 Chaos Tablets, as expected!”

Lin Ye retracted his gaze, feeling faintly expectant.

The next moment, his figure transformed again, appearing in the plaza in the center of the island.

“God of Slaughter, you're here too!”

“What a coincidence, we meet the God of Slaughter again!”

“…”

The geniuses who had arrived earlier were scattered around. Seeing Lin Ye's arrival, they all gathered around.

These people were the same group that had gone with Lin Ye to comprehend the Universe Chaos Tablet.

“God of Slaughter, why don't I see the Madman?”

“Yeah, where did Luo Feng go?”

Some geniuses asked. Lin Ye looked around and shook his head slightly after finding no one. “He should be cultivating.”

Suddenly, Lin Ye saw a man in a black star robe walking over in the distance of the plaza.

He had four ears and no nose, and his face was full of smiles.

This was Bafen, the guardian of the Bridge of the Heavens, who specialized in guarding the Bridge of the Heavens plane.

“Lin Ye, hello, I am Bafen, the guardian here.”

“Hello, Lord Bafen!” Lin Ye respectfully saluted.

“Regarding the Bridge of the Heavens plane created for the 52 Chaos Tablets of Chaos City, I will tell you a few things.”

“…”

Lord Bafen introduced it very carefully. More and more geniuses gathered around, and everyone was listening very carefully.

“So, every time you pass a level, you can get a chance to comprehend.” One of the geniuses nodded slightly, indicating understanding.

“But there is one thing I need to say in advance.”

Suddenly, the guardian Bafen said solemnly, “The Bridge of the Heavens corresponding to the Universe Chaos Tablet is extremely difficult, second only to the difficulty of the Giant Axe Bridge of the Heavens.”

“You little guys who have just comprehended the Universe Chaos Tablet may not even be able to pass the first level and will be defeated!!”

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” A confident young genius stood up and roared unconvinced.

“We are all killed from hundreds of millions of geniuses, absolutely impossible to lose on the first floor!” Some geniuses followed suit.

“At least… the God of Slaughter Lin Ye can pass the first level, right!” Some geniuses said weakly, with a very certain look in their eyes.

“Hahaha! Don't you believe it, you'll know when you hit the south wall.”

Seeming to have guessed that these proud and unparalleled geniuses were unconvinced, the guardian Bafen also laughed and said:

“But I still advise you, the Bridge of the Heavens here is different from your trial space. The difficulty of each level will skyrocket to the extreme,”

“I'm afraid that even the God of Slaughter you admire so much will not have an easy time!”

“…” After hearing this, all the geniuses present looked at Lin Ye, waiting for his answer.

“The 'Universe Chaos Tablet' is a treasure left by the peak predecessors of our race. The gains we get from comprehending the Chaos Tablet vary, and our strengths are naturally different, but!”

Pausing mid-sentence, Lin Ye glanced at the few little geniuses present, straightened his chest, and said, “As long as we do our best, no matter which level we reach on the Bridge of the Heavens, it doesn't matter!”

“Effort is enough!”

Just like workplace PUA, Lin Ye poured a large pot of poisonous chicken soup down.

“That's right!!”

The guardian Bafen smiled and looked at Lin Ye: “But, how are you going to prove your strength? It's not just by talking.”

“Go, the Bridge of the Heavens corresponding to the Universe Chaos Tablet, use all your strength to prove yourself!”

“The Universe Bridge of the Heavens has a total of 38 floors! The farther you go, the deeper your understanding of the 'Universe Chaos Tablet' will be. Once you fully understand the Chaos Tablet, you can pass all thirty-eight floors in one fell swoop and become one of the helmsmen of the Virtual Universe Company!”

“But this… is too difficult!”

Bafen's noseless face showed endless sighs.

“Because the Universe Bridge of the Heavens, reaching the twenty-fourth floor can be comparable to the existence of a Universe Country Lord, and passing the eighteenth floor can beat all the kings without an opponent.”

“Similarly, breaking through the eighteenth floor will give you permanent residence in Chaos City, and you can also join your universe's faction and become one of them!!”

“And then there's clearing the level…-”

“Hiss~ How terrifying!!” A genius couldn't help but say.

“Universe Country Lord, is that the level of the Qianwu Country Lord!?” A genius stretched his neck and asked, leaning forward.

A certain universe's first debtor glared: “Are you being polite!?”

“No, no, no!! Just an ordinary Universe Country Lord, equivalent to a mid-level Universe Venerable, not an ancient Venerable like the Qianwu Country Lord!!”

The guardian Bafen explained one by one.

Lin Ye also listened very carefully. He didn't ask questions, but pondered silently on the side.

After fully understanding the Universe Chaos Tablet, he can become a peak existence like the Chaos City Lord… then he can revive his master.

So no matter what, he must strive towards that level, at all costs!

“Little ones, let me see your strength! Who's first?” Bafen looked at everyone and asked.

“I'll go!!” A young genius in black armor glanced at Lin Ye and took the lead to stand up.

“Okay, spirited! Good luck!” Bafen smiled.

Then, this genius turned into a stream of light and flew towards the 'Universe Bridge of the Heavens,' one of the 52 Bridges of the Heavens.

However, how fast he flew in, how quickly he returned.

In less than one minute and thirty seconds, this person had already returned in failure, with a hint of loss on his face.

“To add a little more, even ordinary undying gods who venture into this Universe Bridge of the Heavens can only reach the twelfth floor at most, and marquises can add two floors, reaching the fourteenth floor.”

“As for ordinary kings… reaching the sixteenth floor is already the limit, which shows how difficult this Bridge of the Heavens is.”

Everyone: “…”

Hearing Bafen say this reality with a smile, even Lin Ye was silent.

“One last thing, the difficulty of the Bridge of the Heavens is very different for Star level, Universe level, and Domain Lord level.”

Bafen looked meaningful, and many geniuses looked at Lin Ye with great understanding.

At some point, a gust of wind blew, filling the plaza with the salty smell of the sea.

Meeting everyone's gaze, Lin Ye looked at the guardian Bafen and nodded slowly: “I accept this rule.”

“Not bad!” Bafen smiled very satisfied: “I look forward to the performance of you, the number one genius of this genius battle, the Domain Lord who comprehends multiple original laws!”

“I hope you will not disappoint the expectations of your master and many predecessors.”

The last sentence was Bafen directly appearing in Lin Ye's mind.

He didn't say a word, just nodded heavily, his eyes firm and divine, and his essence flashed like a fleeting meteor.

“Who's next!?”

His big ears fluttered, his eyes wandering among the geniuses, seemingly intentionally or unintentionally sweeping over Lin Ye, with a smile on his lips.

“No need for anyone else, I'll go!”

Lin Ye forcefully pressed down a genius who wanted to squeeze out of the crowd, moved to him, and said: “I'll go, I want to try how powerful this Bridge of the Heavens is!”

Even knowing that in the original work, Luo Feng was defeated again and again when facing this Bridge of the Heavens at the Universe level.

And Lin Ye's current Domain Lord level makes the difficulty skyrocket.

Even so, he was not afraid at all!

Many geniuses looked at Lin Ye with a resolute face and suddenly felt expectant.

The strongest of these people had only passed the first floor and was defeated on the second floor.

And Lin Ye, as the strongest among the geniuses of their class, where he can reach naturally represents the peak level of this class.

In this regard, everyone, whether they have participated in the trial of the Bridge of the Heavens or not, is full of expectations.

They yearn for Lin Ye to create a miracle.

“Good boy, go!” Bafen looked at Lin Ye and said, “Perform well!”

“Okay!” Lin Ye nodded.

“Swish!”

In the next instant, he transformed directly into a streak of bloody light, flying towards the Cosmic Heavenly Bridge that stretched to the ends of the universe in the most distant location.

...