Babata had made a bold assumption.
Just a month earlier, he had sent Rowan across the nations, trading the fragments of Muya Crystals in his possession for the wreckage of interstellar warships each country had collected.
Using his vast technological knowledge, Babata constructed a fleet of V-shaped cosmic probes and scattered them throughout the solar system. The machines scoured every planet and asteroid belt they could reach but found nothing.
This puzzled Babata deeply. With their current strength, even a battle between star-level beings should not extend beyond the solar system.
"Rowan, it's up to you now," Babata said, his digital voice filled with rare heaviness. "With you gone, the Inheritance of Yunmo Star depends on Luo Feng alone."
It had been hard for Babata to accept Rowan's apparent death. Though Luo Feng possessed considerable talent, he was still far from extraordinary adequate, perhaps, but not brilliant. With careful cultivation, he might reach the undying realm within a century or two, three at most.
"This…" Luo Feng hesitated. He knew what Babata was implying. If Rowan truly was gone, then the responsibility of protecting Earth would fall squarely upon him.
He clenched his fists. He could not allow humanity's home to fall.
After all, a cosmic beast had already descended on Earth a warning of sorts. If such creatures could appear here, it meant that the attention of other alien civilizations could not be far behind.
Compared to the boundless universe, Earth was fragile a mere grain of dust drifting in an infinite sea.
Once discovered by a high-level civilization, Earth would be enslaved, stripped, and auctioned away piece by piece. Humanity would lose not just freedom, but its right to exist.
Luo Feng shuddered at the thought.
"Think carefully," Babata warned. "If you don't inherit the Yunmo legacy and train seriously, the moment Earth's coordinates are exposed, every living being here will become prey. You can't imagine the cruelty of those higher civilizations."
Luo Feng had heard enough of Babata's lectures to understand the truth. Beyond Earth, the universe was vast and merciless. Civilizations rose and fell in fire and steel. To the strong, weaker races were nothing more than livestock.
And right now, Earth was exactly that a defenseless world whose strongest warriors were barely planetary-level.
In the grand scale of the cosmos, that was nothing. Less than nothing.
Finally, Luo Feng nodded. "I'll do it. I'll train according to your plan."
A faint smile flashed across Babata's holographic face. "Good. You might yet live long enough to see what Rowan saw."
The Marvel Universe.
Three and a half months later, on the surface of the fiery realm of Muspelheim, the Golden-Horned Beast had departed, roaming other planets in search of metallic sustenance.
Rowan had given it a simple command devour only lifeless worlds for metal, and under no circumstance harm sentient beings.
The creature obeyed faithfully, scouring barren worlds and consuming mountains of ore to strengthen its mighty body.
Meanwhile, deep within the lava fields of Muspelheim, Rowan's eyes slowly opened. Twin flames flickered in their depths.
"Finally finished…" he muttered, exhaling deeply. "Three thousand scrolls of secret techniques, over a thousand of them from human civilizations. After filtering out the low-tier ones, I still had to study nine hundred advanced tomes. What a marathon."
He collapsed onto the molten ground, the magma hissing beneath his body, but his expression was one of serene satisfaction.
Through the Memory Inheritance, Rowan had absorbed millennia of accumulated knowledge techniques, philosophies, laws of the cosmos. After endless study, he had chosen two that resonated most with him.
The first was a movement art known as Piercing the Void, a body technique created by a King-ranked undying warrior. It contained four stages: Gleam, Swift, Warp, and Transcendence.
At the first level Gleam the user channels the Law of Fire into their legs, creating bursts of superheated thrust that propel them at blinding speeds. The control requirements, however, were absurdly high.
The second level Swift required mastery of the Law of Fire itself, resonating with spatial frequencies to distort space and create afterimages of flame clones that mirrored the caster's every move.
At the third level Warp one must simultaneously grasp both Fire and Space Laws, allowing temporary space folding to blink short distances, mimicking teleportation.
And the final level Transcendence fused both laws completely, enabling true spatial traversal: instantaneous movement.
For Rowan, whose affinity with fire was already profound, Piercing the Void was a perfect fit.
The second art was Seven Blades of Sacrifice, a combat technique devised by another undying master. It demanded mastery over both Fire and Space Laws and required terrifying self-control each strike consumed part of one's life force in exchange for unstoppable power.
At its pinnacle, it could slice through the very fabric of space itself.
Although Rowan had yet to fully comprehend the Laws of Fire or Space, he could sense their presence lingering on the edge of his perception close enough to touch.
Settling himself deep within Muspelheim's molten caverns, Rowan crossed his legs beside the Eternal Flame. This time, he didn't erect a barrier. Instead, he let the searing heat wash over him, scorching skin and spirit alike.
He raised his hands toward the molten air. The magma stirred and coiled into his palms, burning with a fury that seemed alive.
Fire… is simple, Rowan thought. Unlike water, which nourishes; unlike wood, which grows; unlike earth, which shelters; unlike metal, which defends fire exists for one purpose.
Destruction.
The flames roared around him, whispering their truth. Destruction was creation's twin, the cycle of cosmic renewal. In fire's dance, he glimpsed the symmetry of the universe.
As his consciousness sank deeper into the flames, the Mind Stone embedded within the Infinity Gauntlet pulsed softly. A halo of blue light enveloped him, stabilizing his thoughts, guiding his enlightenment.
Time blurred. Five days passed in silence.
When Rowan finally opened his eyes, molten rivers raged beneath him, and the Eternal Flame quivered in response to his presence.
He reached forward and grasped it.
To his astonishment, the Flame said to be the most violent fire in existence responded with gentle warmth. It recognized him.
A smile curved his lips.
"The Law of Fire… finally."
Power surged through him, filling his veins with molten energy. Rowan shot upward from the magma, piercing the surface like a crimson comet.
Now moving effortlessly through the inferno, his body parted lava as though it obeyed him. The resistance melted away; the flames bent around him like loyal servants.
Breaking into open space, Rowan reached out across the void, sending a pulse of thought.
Moments later, a colossal shadow approached the Golden-Horned Beast, now even larger, gleaming with absorbed metals.
It lowered its massive head beside him, rumbling affectionately.
Rowan patted its snout. "Easy, friend. It's time to go home. But first… I must erase what you've seen here."
He pressed the Infinity Gauntlet to the creature's brow. The Mind Stone flared, threading blue light through its mind. Memories of Muspelheim vanished like mist.
When the beast slumped into gentle sleep, Rowan activated the Space Stone. In a flash of azure light, they vanished reappearing within his villa on Earth.
He removed the Infinity Gauntlet, setting it on its pedestal. Then, using the Twin Gate Rings, he teleported with the sleeping beast to Jupiter, their true home.
When the Golden-Horned Beast awoke, confusion clouded its eyes. Its memories of the fiery realm were gone.
"Stay here," Rowan said, gesturing to a nearby mountain of glittering ore. "Eat. Grow stronger."
He opened his space ring, pouring out mountains of vibranium and chro-steel a feast beyond imagination.
The beast's eyes lit up as it began devouring the precious metals, each bite echoing through the void.
Satisfied, Rowan turned away and soared into the stars, heading back toward Earth.
Meanwhile, in the virtual core of Earth's Moonlight District, Babata was overseeing Luo Feng's training inside a 2,000-times gravity chamber.
Suddenly, his holographic form flickered. His artificial eyes widened.
"Impossible… he's alive!"
"What's wrong?" Luo Feng gasped, halting his blade control.
Babata grinned like a madman. "Rowan! He's alive! I just detected his life signature he's coming from Jupiter!"
"What?!"
Luo Feng's heart leapt. Without hesitation, he bolted from the chamber.
"Wait for me!" Babata shouted, projecting himself into a bracelet. "I'm coming too!"
Together, they shot into space atop a shield forged from rare cosmic metals, streaking toward the signal.
Minutes later, they sensed it a vast, radiant aura burning brighter than any star.
"Rowan!" Luo Feng cried out as the two figures met amidst the starlit void.
Rowan turned, a wide grin spreading across his face. The two men clasped arms, laughter echoing through the endless dark.
"You're alive!" Luo Feng said, voice trembling. "I thought we lost you forever."
Rowan smiled. "It takes more than a universe to kill me."
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