Even though Luo Fan had mentally prepared himself, the sight before him still left him utterly awestruck.
Planets, stars, nebula... he had seen countless celestial bodies drifting aimlessly across the vast cosmos.
Even stumbling upon the wreckage of spacefaring vessels or encountering living cosmic behemoths no longer surprised him.
After all, his avatars had traveled to countless regions throughout the universe.
Not just across the Human territories, his avatars had also ventured deep into the realms of the Zerg, the Monster, and the Machine races.
But to see, with his own eyes, a continent, a landmass of unfathomable size, floating amidst the cosmic void… that was truly staggering.
This was no Virtual Universe simulation.
This was reality.
Although Luo Fan's avatars had explored many worlds, most of them had been ordinary planets.
They had never set foot in such mysterious domains, supercontinents, or the core lands of great races.
Thus, the sight before him now struck him with unshakable awe.
Beside this titanic continent, even the nearby stars and planets looked like specks of dust.
No matter how long the ship flew toward it, the continent still seemed as distant and boundless as before.
"Your Highness, this is the headquarters of the Virtual Universe Company," the white-haired youth said with a smile.
"This single continent spans several dozen light-years in diameter!
Countless powerhouses dwell here, World Masters, Immortals… even Venerables themselves!"
"Dozens of light-years…" Luo Fan couldn't help but think in astonishment.
Even a starship traveling at sub-light speed, without entering the Dark Universe, would need decades to cross it.
The sheer size of the continent was shocking enough.
But what truly stunned Luo Fan was the power required to create such a thing.
This continent wasn't a natural formation, it had been forged by the might of the Virtual Universe Company's supreme beings.
Just what level of strength did one need to construct a landmass tens of light-years wide?
As Luo Fan gazed upon that vast expanse, his heart swelled with boundless yearning for power.
Though the continent could already be seen from afar, the F6-class starship, even flying at near light speed, still took more than thirteen hours to reach one of the entrances to the Virtual Universe Company's main headquarters.
As the ship drew closer, Luo Fan looked around at the surrounding stars and planets.
They appeared perfectly natural, but he knew better.
These celestial bodies had all been transformed by mighty experts.
He could feel it, each one of these stars contained a presence that could easily annihilate him.
After another half hour of flight, the ship finally came to a stop.
After bidding farewell to Cang Liu, Luo Fan followed the staff member who had come to escort him toward the gathering area.
Along the way, the staffer handed Luo Fan a spatial ring, containing the nutrient pod he had applied for.
When Luo Fan had submitted the request, he had also asked whether he could purchase extra nutrient fluid.
But the immensely wealthy Virtual Universe Company didn't even hesitate.
After asking how much he wanted, they simply gifted him two hundred portions.
To put that into perspective, a normal Cosmic-level warrior needed only about one-third of a single portion to go from the first rank all the way to the peak of the Cosmic level.
Two hundred portions were enough for Luo Fan's main body and both of his avatars to reach the Cosmic peak.
Previously, his Machine Race and Space Worm avatars had already broken through to the Cosmic level, currently standing at rank four and rank six, respectively.
The Space Worm's rapid rise to the sixth rank was thanks to devouring a massive amount of space fragments and spatial essence crystals.
Now, with this supply of nutrient fluid, Luo Fan could ensure that during his time in Chaos City, his two avatars would both reach the Domain Lord level within three years.
When that happened, his comprehension of the laws would advance even faster.
Luo Feng had also followed Luo Fan's advice and managed to "pluck some wool" from the company as well.
He only needed five portions, and true to form, the Virtual Universe Company gave them to him completely free of charge.
Soon after, Luo Fan was led into an enormous oval-shaped hall.
The entire structure, walls, ceiling, and all... was made of transparent material, revealing the endless starry sky above.
From here, one could admire the breathtaking scenery of the headquarters, ships soaring through the void, and occasionally even glimpses of Immortal beings streaking past like falling stars.
As Luo Fan entered, several people immediately greeted him.
"Blade Emperor!"
"Luo Fan, over here!"
"Hahaha, finally meeting the Blade Emperor in reality!"
"Yo! Uka, Rong Jun and Luo Feng, you're all here too!"
Luo Fan smiled and returned their greetings.
After three years of cultivation at Rainmist, many of those who had entered the company alongside him had become familiar with one another.
Over time, except for a few solitary types, most had built friendly relationships, if not close friendships, then at least mutual respect.
Many of them had once been proud loners, but their arrogance came from solitude, not disdain.
Among peers of equal brilliance, camaraderie came naturally.
After all, anyone who had ranked in the top thousand of the Universe Genius Battle deserved admiration.
Befriending one another was only natural.
In the eyes of others, Luo Fan and Luo Feng appeared to have the closest bond.
Perhaps they simply clicked on a personal level.
The four men from Earth all behaved as though they had only gotten acquainted after the Genius Battle.
Uka glanced between Luo Fan and Luo Feng, grinning slyly.
"Hey, don't you guys think Luo Fan and Luo Feng look awfully alike?"
"Yeah, I've thought that too," someone chimed in.
"They look like actual brothers!"
"Even their names sound similar!"
Laughter rippled through the group.
Of course, human appearances like theirs were extremely common throughout the universe.
Earth's features were practically the standard template for humankind, differences across branches were usually just in eye color, skin tone, or hair.
So, everyone just took it as a harmless joke.
Luo Fan sat down among them, smiling.
"It's true, we thought so too. So, we went ahead and swore brotherhood. I'm his elder brother now."
The others burst into louder laughter.
"Haha! Truly brothers from different mothers and different universes!"
"What, were you two swapped at birth and raised in separate cosmic nations or something?"
The teasing continued, and Luo Fan just chuckled, joining in on the conversation.
Most of those present were from the Primal Beginning Region, while Luo Fan and Luo Feng were from the Original Region.
Still, unlike the reclusive Bolan, the two weren't difficult to get along with.
As for Thunder God and Hong, their strength was evident, and they'd also been accepted into this social circle.
Even Galax, whom Luo Fan had defeated before, maintained decent relations with everyone, he just hadn't arrived yet.
Finally, after another six hours or so, everyone had assembled.
A tall, thin man in a plain white robe, his eyes glowing scarlet, stepped forward and rasped,
"Everyone, please follow me."
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