Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

In the Blood Sea of ​​Life and Death, a deathly silence pervades.

The Goddess Xuan Yin has turned into a sea of ​​blood and withered bones, and the eerie blood mist formed by the explosion of the Palace Master of Qi Yun is gradually disappearing.

The fall of two peak Chaos Realm cultivators was like two heavy hammer blows, slamming into the souls of all the survivors. The terrifying scenes of their withered and dying, and their flourishing and exploding bodies, had become their nightmare.

The eldest prince, Lei Hao, was deathly pale, his lips trembled uncontrollably, and his pupils were dilated.

His greatest reliance, the right-hand men he fought for, vanished in an instant. This blow was not only a severe damage to his strength, but also a complete collapse of his psychological defenses.

From being the most promising character to a nobody... He looked at the huge skeletons floating on the churning sea of ​​blood and seemed to see his own future end.

"Blood Shadow, thank you for turning the tide and saving me from dire straits! Lei Zhan will never forget this kindness!" Lei Zhan tightly grasped the warm and hot Thunder Source Heart, which contained supreme power, and felt the immense power pulsating in his palm. The fear in his heart had long been replaced by great joy.

He looked at the Blood Elder's back with intense, burning eyes, filled with an unprecedented sense of reliance and awe.

Blood Shadow was the retainer he invited, his biggest trump card, and also his greatest stroke of luck on this trip!

Spending some resources to invite a Chaos Realm Transcendent expert as a worshipper is incredibly lucky!
Lei Zhan was overjoyed and decided that after the trial ended, he would apply to the royal family for a good Hunyuan bloodline for Xueyin!
The Blood Shadow Elder's eyes, as deep as a whirlpool of blood, swept over Lei Zhan, a smile appearing on his face. He nodded slightly, "Your Highness, it's only right."

This simple response was like a warm current flowing into Lei Zhan's heart, which had been cold but was now boiling, adding to his confidence and making him feel closer to Lei Zhan.

The Blood-Hidden Elder then turned around.

When his murky yet seemingly piercing gaze swept across the other princes and their retinues, who hung their heads like lambs to the slaughter, the air instantly froze into lead.

No one dared to meet his gaze.

Wherever that gaze falls, heads are buried even deeper, as if trying to bury themselves into the void.

Above the sea of ​​blood, only withered bones floated and sank, and the deathly silence of blood mist spreading was spreading. Every heartbeat was like a drumbeat, foreshadowing an unknown judgment.

The Blood-Hidden Elder did not speak immediately.

He simply stood there quietly, his body standing against the backdrop of the vast sea of ​​blood and the cycle of decay and rebirth, like a divine mountain supporting the entire cycle of decay and rebirth.

There was no deliberate attempt to exude pressure, but the indifference and sense of control that had been refined through countless cycles of rise and fall were more suffocating than any violent aura.

He seemed to be giving time, allowing the image of those two peak Chaos Realm cultivators falling to become an even deeper, more visceral fear, imprinted on everyone's soul.

Finally, his lips moved slightly, and his hoarse voice, though not loud, clearly reached everyone's ears: "Trial of the Thunder Punishment Abyss, a battle for treasures, where life and death are at your own risk."

His voice was calm, without the slightest hint of resentment at being surrounded.

"However, they attacked en masse, wanting to cut off the path and leave no room for retreat..." He paused slightly, his gaze slowly sweeping over Lei Hao, Lei Jin, Lei Xuan and the others, as if a cold carving knife was scraping across their souls, "but they were courting their own death."

“Xuan Yin and Qi Yun have already paid the price with their true bodies and treasures…” the Blood-Hidden Elder said. “If you want your true bodies to survive, you will also have to pay the price.”

With a flick of his withered finger, the ice crystal ring left behind by the Xuan Yin Lady and the small mountain of treasures left behind after the Qi Yun Palace Master exploded simultaneously lit up and flew up, hovering in front of Xue Yin.

"These two relics belong to me, to settle their karmic debts." Xueyin's voice was cold. "Your private savings, fifty percent of your wealth, converted into cosmic sand, shall be no less than 30 billion for a prince and no less than 20 billion for a guest minister. The transaction shall be completed immediately."

The Blood Shadow Elder set this number with a purpose. 300 billion cosmic sands is definitely less than half of the wealth of the other five princes! Lei Zhan gave him a batch of resources before, and the market value of those resources was more than 300 billion. It is unlikely that Lei Zhan would give away all his wealth to his guest elder... Therefore, it can be inferred that each prince's net worth is at least hundreds of billions of cosmic sands!
After all, as the most outstanding new generation of the lineage, they will definitely be nurtured with great effort, so it is not surprising that they have a net worth of hundreds of billions.

The Blood-Hidden Elder's demand for a life-saving benefit also stemmed from this limit.

If it's too much, the prince will feel the pinch and be reluctant to give it away, leading to a fight to the death. Even if he manages to kill all five of them in their true forms and obtain all the treasures, he will still offend the powerful god-kings behind these five lineages. Don't say that having strength means you have nothing to fear. Xueyin still has plans for the Thunder Ancient Kingdom. If these god-kings from the five lineages interfere when he tries to obtain the Hunyuan Bloodline, then it will be a loss for him.

If he loses too much, he'll appear weak and easily bullied, and he won't feel comfortable either. He's gone through all that trouble to scheme, only to end up with nothing.

Therefore, the figure of 300 billion for the prince is quite appropriate.

As for the 200 billion cosmic sands for the guest elders, the Blood Shadow Elder didn't care whether they lived or died. As a veteran peak Chaos Realm cultivator, it was impossible that he couldn't even produce 200 billion cosmic sands! If he couldn't produce cash, he would use various treasures and rare materials as payment... If he still couldn't produce it, then he should prepare for resurrection; he could forget about this body in the Blood Sea Realm of Withering and Flourishing.

"Ugh... Pfft!" Lei Hao was shocked and spat out a mouthful of blood, staining the deck red. "...I... admit defeat."

No less than 30 billion!

Not only did we not get the Thunder Source Heart, we also lost so much money!
What a disaster!

But he dared not hesitate. He had spent a huge amount of money to refine his body and temper his bloodline. If he died, it would take several 300 billion to recreate such a body.

The fear of death overwhelmed everything.

A surge of thought emanated from Lei Hao's ring, and countless radiant cosmic sands, divine gold ores, and even several treasures overflowing with precious light surged out like a burst dam, flowing into the front of Xue Yin.

Xueyin looked at the astonishingly valuable torrent of treasures, flicked his sleeves, and counted them clearly: "Not bad, you can leave now." After saying that, he no longer looked at Lei Hao.

His gaze shifted to the deathly pale-faced Lei Jin, Lei Xuan, Lei Jun, and Lei Li: "You all?"

Lei Jin's face was ashen, and his lips were tightly pressed together.

Three hundred billion, he looked at Huang Wu.

Huang Wu shook her head almost imperceptibly.

Seeing this, Lei Jin's chest heaved violently, a complex look flashing in his eyes. Finally, he gritted his teeth and slapped his storage ring. A massive, chaotic, and radiant torrent composed of pure cosmic sand roared out and piled up in front of the Blood Shadow Elder.

It's a whopping 300 billion cosmic sand cash!

This caught the attention of the Blood Shadow Elder; it was outrageous that he carried 300 billion units of cosmic sand cash with him.

However, he didn't say much, just nodded slightly.

With a flick of his sleeve, the torrent vanished instantly.

With the two setting an example, the rest was easy; no one dared to resist… Streams of wealth, composed of cosmic sand, divine gold, divine crystals, precious materials, and secret treasures, flowed like submissive rivers, each carrying its own aura and radiance, intertwining and flowing within the Blood Sea of ​​Withering and Flourishing, ultimately converging before Blood Shadow. With each gentle flick of Blood Shadow's sleeve, the immense wealth—enough to drive countless Chaos Realm cultivators mad with greed—vanished instantly.

Once the torrent of wealth subsided, only the even more bleak faces and heavy heartbeats remained in the Blood Sea of ​​Desolation and Glory.

It hurts, it hurts so much!

This wave, excluding the treasures of Xuan Yin and Qi Yun, saw the Blood Hidden Elder amass over 3000 billion cosmic sands!

This is an astonishing number that would even make a god-king take notice! For someone in the Chaos Realm to acquire such wealth, it would require an extremely long period of accumulation and adventure.

But no one dared to say anything, since the Blood Hidden Elder was not famous before, and no one knew that he was a Chaos Realm Transcendent... Otherwise, if a famous Chaos Realm Transcendent joined a family, the other five families would definitely spend a lot of money to invite one!
The reason no one invited them before is because it's not worth it.

Inviting a Chaos Realm Transcendent not only costs a huge amount of cosmic sand, but also requires a tremendous amount of personal favor. This is because there were only a little over 70 Chaos Realm Transcendents in the entire Origin Continent before, and their own influence alone was not enough to invite one; it required the intervention of their elders.

Nobody wants to spend extra money.

……

At the very bottom of the abyss, at the core of a vortex where the power of the array is concentrated.

The blurry figure composed of pure laws—the divine incarnation of King Jiayin—was silently watching everything that was happening above.

The boundless light surrounding her danced gently, her fingertips unconsciously caressing each other. The destructive power of thunder around her flowed gently between her fingers, reflecting the intrigued light in her eyes.

"The Great Dao of the Origin of Life... Never seen before... Transcendence of the Chaos Realm..." The voice of God-King Jiayin, like the whisper of Sanskrit, echoed in the empty depths. "When did such a figure emerge on the Origin Continent?"

The methods displayed by the Blood-Hidden Elder were at the true level of transcending the Chaos Realm.

But what is particularly important is that this person does not act recklessly and forcefully, but rather with great method and strategy.

“Priced at 30 billion… Hah.” The lightning arc at the fingertip of God-King Jiayin flickered, as if he were deducing something. “Not too much, not too little, just right. It will both swindle them out of a layer of profit, making them remember the pain, and not really damage their foundation, forcing the old guys behind them to tear off their masks and jump out.”

This keen understanding of the bottom lines of all parties, this calm calculation of the situation, is even more appreciated by God King Jiayin than his transcendent strength.

Because she was one of the few clear-headed people in the Thunder Kingdom, she looked down on those whose minds had been influenced by the Chaos Origin Will, even if those people were stronger than her!
However, she has cultivated the Great Dao of Cause and Effect and the Great Dao of Boundless Origin, making her ability to protect herself among the best in the Origin Continent.

“That kid Lei Zhan…” Her gaze seemed to pierce through space, landing on Lei Zhan’s face, which was tightly gripping the Thunder Source Heart and unable to hide his excitement. “He really hit the jackpot. To be able to mobilize such a person silently and without revealing the slightest hint of it is quite an achievement.”

This Abyss Trial was intended to be a comprehensive assessment of the six princes.

The assessment is not only about talent and ability to adapt to the situation, but also about vision, methods, and... the ability to gather resources and connections. Lei Zhan's invitation to Xue Yin is the greatest demonstration of his ability.

Whether Xueyin acted out of consideration for the reward or other personal relationships, it proved Lei Zhan's value.

"It can both intimidate the princes and force them to pay the ransom, without truly breaking the rules and leaving room for future compromise..." King Jiayin nodded slightly, a faint smile seemingly appearing on his blurred face. "Such methods are more interesting than simply sweeping through with force. If the Emperor knew, he would surely be satisfied."

She did not intervene.

Blood Shadow did not actually kill any of the princes, nor did it deprive the contest for the Thunder Source Heart of its own outcome. Its act of collecting ransom was also within the scope permitted by the trial rules.

……

Lei Jin forcibly suppressed his churning blood and bleeding emotions, and a thought entered his mind.

His voice, hoarse, broke the deathly silence, his gaze fixed intently on Xue Yin and Lei Zhan standing silently behind him: "Fourth Brother! Senior Xue Yin!"

Lei Zhan raised an eyebrow, holding the Heart of Thunder Source in his hand, and looked steadily at Lei Jin.

"Although the struggle among us princes has temporarily come to an end in the Abyss Trials..." Lei Jin deliberately raised his voice, laced with incitement, "the Thunder Punishment Abyss is not just us at this moment. Those eight old thieves from the Flamewind Ancient Kingdom have infiltrated the core of our ancient kingdom, eyeing us covetously. Taking advantage of our internal strife, they are frantically plundering Abyss Thunder Source Crystals and Chaos Thunder Source Crystals. This is a blatant provocation and plunder against us."

Upon hearing this, even Lei Xuan's resentment subsided slightly, and she immediately echoed, "Sixth Brother is right. With external enemies at hand, how can we allow them to reap the benefits? Blood Shadow God's might is unparalleled. Why not seize this opportunity to wipe out those despicable rats in one fell swoop? Let them taste the bitterness!"

Lei Jun and Lei Li also realized what was happening, their eyes flashing with ruthlessness and anticipation: "Please, Blood Shadow, take action and eliminate the external enemies!"

Their voices carried a suppressed humiliation and a hint of vengeful venting. They had suffered heavy losses, and if they could drag the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom group down with them and see them pay huge ransoms or even have their true forms destroyed, they would feel somewhat more at ease!

All eyes were focused on the Blood Shadow Elder, filled with hope and encouragement.

Lei Zhan's heart skipped a beat.

With the Heart of Thunder in hand and the Abyss Trial over, there shouldn't be any unexpected twists and turns, but at this moment he dared not interfere with Blood Shadow's decision.

Therefore, he looked at Xueyin with a questioning gaze.

The Blood-Hidden Elder's cloudy eyes were half-open, seemingly oblivious to the scorching, encouraging gazes around him.

He was silent for a moment before his hoarse voice slowly rang out, "Okay!"

Swish!
After saying that, he immediately disappeared from the spot with Lei Zhan and Lie Konghou.

Rumble——!
In the distance, like an ancient, boiling sea of ​​lightning, the violent, deathly thunder that could easily tear apart the chaotic realm began to roar!
The blood-red world also expanded again in the distance, enveloping all directions.

……

In the core of the abyss, somewhere in the sea of ​​lightning.

Within a strange space enveloped in solidified gray lightning magma, countless emerald green, crystalline vines, brimming with pure life energy, struggle to emerge from the solidified magma, frantically drawing upon the lightning essence contained within.

At the heart of the vines was a withered old man, the Hermit of the Dead Tree.

Just as he was delighted to sense that yet another high-quality Thunder Source Crystal had been captured by the vines, a ripple swept across the area.

All the lush green vines instantly stiffened, their once vibrant life force frozen in place, and even began to show subtle signs of withering. (End of Chapter)