Swallowed Star 2: Origin Continent

Chapter 152: The Path of the Divine King

The Decision of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom

Within the borders of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, there was an ancient tree nurtured by the heavens and earth, called the Frost Fruit Tree, which bore fruit once every 196 epochs. The frost fruit it produced was a supplementary resource for cultivating the Primordial Bloodline.

“The Frost Fruit Tree is about to mature, and the Chaos Realm experts of the Ancient Flame Kingdom could come at any moment to seize it.” The guardian of the Frost Fruit Tree was a Chaos Realm peak expert. He had stopped cultivating in recent days, focusing entirely on controlling the formation and being constantly wary of incoming enemies.

Every 196 epochs, around the time the fruit matured, powerful experts would be stationed to guard it.

“With my strength and the formation set up by the Divine King, even if a Chaos Realm Transcendent were to make a move, I could hold them off for a certain period. Besides, a Chaos Realm Transcendent probably wouldn’t care about this small amount of fruit.” The gray-robed elder thought to himself.

Each time the tree bore fruit, there would only be eight fruits, worth eight thousand merit points. Generally, a Chaos Realm Transcendent wouldn’t be able to break the formation in a short time, and the Ancient Thunder Kingdom would send reinforcements.

“It’s almost time.”

“The Frost Fruit Tree should mature tonight.” The gray-robed elder kept a close watch as time slowly passed. Suddenly—

The ancient tree, which looked like it had been carved from ice, suddenly burst forth with a dazzling cold white light. Immediately, the light was absorbed into the eight fruits.

Whoosh!

The Black River World descended, completely sealing off the area around the Frost Fruit Tree.

“Not good.” The gray-robed elder was startled and immediately plucked the freshly matured fruits.

The vast black river waters surged forth, and the formation set up by the Divine King was immediately infiltrated and overwhelmed by this terrifying force. It could not stop the invasion of the river waters.

The gray-robed elder looked around and tried to escape through the gray mist, but he was unable to penetrate the Black River World.

“A world seal, the Black River Domain… is it Luo He the Great Sage?” The elder’s heart trembled.

The black river waters gathered in front of the elder, forming a figure—it was Luo Feng.

“Luo He the Great Sage.” The gray-robed elder immediately bowed respectfully, not daring to show any disrespect.

“Give me the fruits.” Luo Feng said, looking at him.

“Yes.”

The gray-robed elder obediently handed the eight fruits to Luo Feng without any resistance.

He was afraid that if he resisted, Luo Feng would kill him! And the weapons and secret treasures he carried were far more valuable than the eight fruits.

“Whew.” After receiving the eight fruits, the black river waters and the vast Black River World disappeared in an instant.

Only then did the gray-robed elder breathe a sigh of relief. “This Luo He the Great Sage is still merciful and didn’t harm me.”

Since Luo Feng had decided to harvest a large amount of heaven and earth treasures, he did not intend to slaughter the guardians on a large scale! Firstly, with his current strength, he was already among the strongest in the Divine King First Stage. Killing these weaker ones would be an act of bullying. Secondly, killing too many guardians would bring significant karmic repercussions. Many of these Chaos Realm guardians had backgrounds and factions in the Ancient Thunder Kingdom. Making too many enemies, especially by killing the weak, could provoke retaliation from the older generation.

Most importantly, Luo Feng despised those who killed recklessly.

His purpose in harvesting a large number of heaven and earth treasures this time was to force the Ancient Thunder Kingdom to negotiate and offer him a chance to enter a treasured land.

He had no other choice—he wasn’t a royal member of the two ancient kingdoms, and he didn’t want to cooperate with the foreign races. So, he had to use this method.

…

In the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, at the sacred place known as “Thunder Mountain.”

A Divine King in a deep purple robe sat there, handling a great number of trivial matters. A vast amount of information was continuously transmitted from the enormous ancient kingdom.

“Oh? Luo He, the top Chaos Realm Transcendent, seized eight frost fruits? This is his first time competing for the heaven and earth treasures at the border, isn’t it?” The Divine King smiled, his aura calm and peaceful. “I suppose those frost fruits have some use for him.”

He didn’t care at all.

Competition between Chaos Realm experts at the borders was very common, and this was Luo Feng’s first time taking action.

…

Although the border between the two ancient kingdoms was long, with many areas where heaven and earth treasures were nurtured, there were only about a hundred opportunities for action in each epoch.

Luo Feng had to patiently wait for the next opportunity after each attempt.

On his way to compete for heaven and earth treasures for the third time, Luo Feng received unexpected news.

“Marquis Liu Yin is dead?” Luo Feng stopped midair, shocked by the news.

“Marquis Liu Yin’s family core members have disappeared. According to information from the Ancient Flame Pavilion, they likely split into many branches and went into hiding. As for Marquis Liu Yin… his karmic link has completely vanished. He likely chose to reincarnate.”

This type of situation typically occurred when someone arranged everything for their family, handled all affairs, and then died. It was almost certain that he had chosen reincarnation.

“Why did he reincarnate? I had planned to seek him out after my mental and willpower reached the peak of the Divine King realm.” Luo Feng thought.

Luo Feng’s desire to kill Marquis Liu Yin was twofold: first, because of the death of his friend, Chang Tianyan, and second, because Marquis Liu Yin had a penchant for causing disasters and slaughtering, as did his children.

Luo Feng hadn’t made a move earlier because he wasn’t confident he could kill him completely.

Who would have thought that Marquis Liu Yin would reincarnate first?

Luo Feng didn’t dwell on it any longer and continued on his way, heading for his third attempt to claim heaven and earth treasures.

******

At Thunder Mountain.

The Divine King in the deep purple robe now wore a serious expression.

When Luo He competed for the Ancient Thunder Kingdom’s heaven and earth treasures for the first time, he had merely smiled.

The second and third times surprised him a little.

By the seventh and eighth times, he began to feel uneasy.

“Fifteen times! Luo He has seized the heaven and earth treasures at the border fifteen times in a row, without fail.” The Divine King now had a solemn look on his face. The cumulative value of these treasures was about one hundred thousand merit points.

This amount was insignificant to the Ancient Thunder Kingdom.

But Luo He’s actions had made the Divine King cautious.

“This must be reported to the monarch.” The Divine King stood up and went personally to report to the monarch.

…

A moment later.

Inside a vast and majestic palace, a figure bathed in thunder sat high on the throne.

“Monarch.”

Nine Divine Kings all bowed respectfully.

“Sit.” The thunderous figure’s golden eyes carried a terrifying pressure as he looked down at them. He was the current ruler of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, Monarch Lei Xiao. The nine monarchs of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom were mainly divided into two factions.

The first faction cultivated the Primordial Bloodline of the Thunder lineage, which was also the path of the Thunder Ancestor. This path was the most developed, but not every descendant excelled in the Thunder lineage. After all, among the supreme laws of the Origin Continent, there was no Origin Path of Thunder. So while this path was the most developed, it was also the most difficult.

Even in the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, only three of the monarchs had cultivated the Thunder Primordial Bloodline. They possessed more complete secret techniques, more suitable treasures, and were also more lucid.

The remaining six monarchs cultivated other Primordial Bloodlines and formed another faction.

Additionally, there were three “semi-uncontrolled” monarch-level experts, who could also be considered a faction. After all, when they were lucid, they had the true strength of monarchs.

“You all should be aware of the situation.” Monarch Lei Xiao looked at his subordinates. “Now, tell me, how should we resolve this?”

“The border between the two ancient kingdoms is long, and Luo He has seized heaven and earth treasures fifteen times in a row right after they matured. Five or six times could be attributed to coincidence, but fifteen consecutive times… there’s no way that’s a coincidence! He’s doing this on purpose. If we allow him to continue, in a hundred epochs, in a thousand epochs, all of our heaven and earth treasures will go to him! In my opinion, we should act immediately and wipe out all his avatars so he doesn’t have time to reincarnate!”

“Only this will deter others. It will let the Ancient Flame Kingdom know that border contests are fair competition, but if someone seizes treasures wantonly, we, the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, will not tolerate it.” The burly figure spoke coldly.

“Yes, kill him before he can reincarnate.” Another fur-covered Divine King shouted angrily.

Monarch Lei Xiao looked down at them.

Because there were so many who cultivated the Primordial Bloodline, most of the Divine Kings of the Ancient Thunder Kingdom were somewhat unstable. Why was the Thunder lineage held in such high regard? Strength was one reason, but the ability to

remain lucid was another.

“Tell me, how do we kill him completely?” A woman in a luxurious robe asked leisurely. “Luo He has mastered three Origin Paths—Life, Destruction, and Material—he has countless avatars! And some of his avatars reside in Chu Capital. Tell me… how are you going to kill a Divine King First Stage expert with countless avatars in a place like Chu Capital?”

“That’s Chu Capital! Chu Capital was personally refined by the Flame Wind Ancestor, and Emperor Chu oversees it! The influence of karma there is greatly diminished. How do you expect to kill him?” The woman in the luxurious robe looked at the other Divine Kings.

The other Divine Kings fell silent.

“Of course, we can’t do it, but the monarchs can.” The burly figure finally spoke up.

“You’re suggesting that we ask the monarchs to act? For something as trivial as this, you want a monarch to invade the Flame Wind Kingdom’s Chu Capital?” The woman in the luxurious robe shook her head. “Firstly, if a monarch takes action, it will be seen as bullying the weak, and the entire Origin Continent will mock us.”

“Secondly, in a place like Chu Capital, with Luo He’s countless avatars and Emperor Chu’s protection… even if a monarch could kill him, Luo He would have enough time to reincarnate. After reincarnation, he would hide, and when he became a Divine King, his strength would far surpass his current level. He might even be on par with me.” The woman in the luxurious robe explained.

“Thirdly, don’t forget Emperor Chu’s nature! If one of our monarchs were to bully the weak and invade Chu Capital to kill his disciple, what do you think Emperor Chu would do?” The woman looked around at the others.

The Divine Kings fell silent again.

Indeed.

If the Ancient Thunder Kingdom acted first by bullying the weak, Emperor Chu would not tolerate it! And if Emperor Chu took action, the other monarchs, though they might compete internally, would definitely unite against external threats.

“Most importantly, the competition at the border between the two ancient kingdoms was established by the two Ancestors.” The woman continued, “This was intended to temper the Chaos Realm experts of both kingdoms! Let them fight and kill, and the strong would claim the resources. Luo He is a Chaos Realm expert. His seizing of heaven and earth treasures is entirely within the rules. Now, just because he’s strong, you want to take action? Doesn’t that make us look petty?”

“Wouldn’t breaking the Ancestors’ rules over such a small matter be disgraceful?” The woman looked at her companions.

“So, what do you suggest? He’s continuously seizing the heaven and earth treasures.” The burly Divine King, with blood-red eyes, stared at her.

“Just negotiate with Luo He. It’s a small issue that can be resolved through negotiations.” The woman smiled as she glanced at the other Divine Kings.

Fools.

She looked down on her companions. Without relying on external forces, she had already reached the invincible level of the Divine King First Stage! She was one of the rulers of the Origin Continent.

She had ambition. The further she advanced without external help, the stronger she would become by borrowing the power of the Primordial Bloodline in the future! She might even become a new monarch.

“I support Divine King Jiayin.”

“Yes, we shouldn’t break the Ancestors’ rules.” Three Divine Kings immediately spoke in agreement.

Monarch Lei Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

The ‘Divine King Jiayin’ under his command was the one he valued most. Without external help, she had reached the invincible level of the Divine King First Stage. In the Ancient Thunder Kingdom, only strength granted status. Divine King Jiayin had enough strength and was completely lucid! She was always reliable.

Some of the other ruler-level figures were too erratic and reckless.

“Jiayin, I leave this matter to you.” Monarch Lei Xiao said.@@novelbin@@

“Yes, Monarch.” The woman in the luxurious robe accepted the command.

Monarch Lei Xiao then stood up and vanished. The woman also disappeared into thin air.

“Hmph.” The burly Divine King’s blood-red eyes were filled with anger as he glared at the spot where the woman had disappeared. “Always hiding, relying on the Path of the Infinite Origin.”

He disliked Divine King Jiayin and had even tried to confront her, but he could never touch her.