"So powerful!"
As the creator of his universe, Locke possessed absolute control over everything within it.
The moment Hongmeng entered the universe, Locke had already sensed his arrival.
Although Hongmeng merely stood before him as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world, Locke could clearly feel that even if he gathered the power of the entire universe upon himself...
...Hongmeng could still tear him apart with ease!
Is the Xuanhuang Body really that much stronger than the Hongmeng Body?
Locke's Space-Time Body was slightly inferior in raw durability to a Hongmeng Body tempered with Hongmeng energy.
However, in terms of functionality, it surpassed the Hongmeng Body by a considerable margin.
If the current Locke were to battle an ordinary Hongmeng lifeform who had cultivated a Hongmeng Body, he could easily toy with his opponent.
Yet now, with Hongmeng standing before him, Locke realized that the gap between them was even greater than he had imagined.
"As expected..."
Although Locke knew of Hongmeng's existence, based on his own life's trajectory, he should not have known that Hongmeng existed.
Therefore, after seeing Hongmeng, a trace of realization flashed through Locke's eyes before he asked,
"Senior, may I ask what you meant earlier by calling me 'Second Brother'?"
"Oh?"
Hongmeng smiled.
"You don't seem particularly surprised to see me."
"I am surprised."
"But it was also within my expectations."
Locke nodded.
"I've never believed myself to be unique."
"If I could cultivate within the Magic Universe until I transcended it, then naturally, others should be able to do the same."
"Furthermore, after comprehending the method of creating universes, I no longer believed that the universe I was born in had come into existence by mere chance."
"Someone must have transcended the universe before me, entered this place, and created that universe. Only then could I have been born."
"So meeting you, Senior, isn't something that surprises me."
"What surprises me..."
"...is that I met you so quickly."
"And you still haven't answered my earlier question."
"What exactly did you mean by calling me 'Second Brother'?"
"Hahaha..."
"Second Brother, listen to me first."
Hongmeng laughed.
"Your previous speculation wasn't wrong."
"But you've underestimated yourself."
"Indeed, the Magic Universe in which you grew up was created by me."
"My purpose in creating universes was precisely to nurture lifeforms capable of transcending them."
"However..."
"From the moment I successfully created my first universe until now, the only lifeform who has successfully transcended a universe..."
"...is you."
Afterward, Hongmeng explained his origins, as well as the circumstances of the Hongmeng Space, to Locke.
"After you transcended the Magic Universe, the Hongmeng Tide swept you into Hongmeng Space."
"It took me quite some time before I finally found you."
"But by the time I arrived, you had already begun creating your own universe."
"So I chose not to disturb you, lest I interfere with your universe's creation."
"Originally, I intended to wait until your universe had completely matured before officially meeting you."
"Who would have thought that Linley would violate the rules of the Planar Battlefield within the Magic Universe?"
"Only then did I discover that you had actually left behind another divine clone inside the Magic Universe."
As the creator of the Magic Universe, Hongmeng only needed a single thought to know everything happening within it.
However, under normal circumstances, Hongmeng never used such power to observe the happenings inside the universe.
Especially after Locke had transcended.
Hongmeng had already left the vicinity of his universe and entered Hongmeng Space to search for Locke, naturally paying even less attention to the Magic Universe afterward.
It was only because Linley's violation of the Planar Battlefield's rules triggered the universe's own self-correcting mechanisms, drawing Hongmeng's attention, that he spared another glance at the Magic Universe.
Only then did he discover Linley's uniqueness...
...and Locke's water divine clone.
Although Locke's successful transcendence had greatly eased Hongmeng's long-standing loneliness...
...that didn't mean Hongmeng no longer cared about Linley.
After all, among all the countless epochs that had passed, aside from Locke, Linley was the person Hongmeng had seen who had come closest to transcending the universe.
"To be honest, Second Brother..."
"Your talent is the most monstrous I have ever witnessed."
Hongmeng sighed.
"Within Hongmeng Space, I have created a total of five universes."
"One Primary Universe."
"And four subsidiary universes."
"Originally, I placed my greatest hopes upon the lifeforms of the Primary Universe."
"After all, the Primary Universe is over a hundred times stronger than the subsidiary universes."
"Because of that, it also possesses two additional cultivation realms."
"I thought that the second Hongmeng lifeform born within Hongmeng Space would most likely emerge from the Primary Universe."
"But after all these years..."
"...quite a few Celestials have appeared within the Primary Universe."
"Yet not a single one has reached the realm beyond Celestial."
"And besides..."
Hongmeng looked around the universe Locke had created.
Even Locke could hear the excitement in Hongmeng's voice.
"I spent more than five hundred epochs creating the method of opening a universe."
"And yet you..."
"...immediately after transcending your universe, were already capable of creating one yourself."
"Moreover..."
"...the stability of the universe you've created is actually superior even to the Primary Universe I created."
"Senior..."
"There's only the two of us brothers here in Hongmeng Space."
"You can simply call me Big Brother."
"...Very well, Big Brother."
"But what you just said really gives me too much credit."
Locke shook his head.
"Big Brother, when you created the method of opening a universe, you advanced from zero to one."
"That was a breakthrough from nothing into something."
"As for the method I created..."
"...it was built upon the universe you had already created."
"I merely stood upon your shoulders to see farther."
"Without the universe you created as a reference..."
"...no matter how much time I spent, I could never have created a method of opening a universe myself."
"Hahaha, Second Brother, you're too modest."
Hongmeng couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
As the creator of the Hongmeng Universe, he had watched everything that happened within it for more than a thousand epochs.
Over such an immense span of time, there wasn't any kind of praise he hadn't already heard from the countless lifeforms within his universes.
Yet Locke's praise still filled Hongmeng with pride.
After all...
Even Hongmeng himself felt that, in terms of comprehension, he was slightly inferior to Locke.
At the very least, if their positions had been reversed, Hongmeng didn't believe he could have reached Locke's current level.
To receive recognition from someone whose talent—and whose future strength—would likely surpass even his own...
...was something Hongmeng found immensely gratifying.
"Come, come, Second Brother."
"Let me tell you something."
"Once your universe finishes evolving..."
"...it will produce Xuanhuang energy even more powerful than Hongmeng energy!"
"And if you cultivate using that Xuanhuang energy..."
"...you'll be able to forge an even more powerful Xuanhuang Body and Xuanhuang Spirit!"
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