Swallowed Star: Lord of the Wolf

The thunderous vortex of the Thunder Punishment Abyss slowly closed behind him, completely isolating the violent, deathly aura.

Suddenly, a vast, boundless void, flowing with soft silver light, opened up before them. The group had returned to the heart of the Thunder Kingdom, the Holy City.

The divine power avatar of the God King Jiayin was shrouded in countless points of light, like a moving galaxy, leading Lei Zhan, Xue Yin, and Lie Kong Hou to teleport directly within the Holy City and descend upon the residence of the Fourth Prince Lei Zhan.

"Lei Zhan, the Emperor will summon you shortly. You shall wait here quietly, tidy your appearance, and prepare for the audience." The voice of God-King Jia Yin remained as cold as ever, but to Lei Zhan's ears, it was like heavenly music.

She glanced at Elder Blood Shadow again, his blurred face shimmering with light and shadow: "Blood Shadow, you have offended many enemies this time. Think carefully about what will happen next."

The Blood-Hidden Elder was taken aback, bowed slightly, and said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you, God King."

The incarnation of the God-King Jia Yin said no more, transforming into specks of light that dissipated into the omnipresent, gentle radiance of the Holy City.

Lei Zhan took a deep breath, suppressing the surging excitement in his heart, and turned to look at the Blood Shadow Elder, his eyes overflowing with gratitude and awe: "Gentlemen, please come into the mansion to rest first."

He adopted an extremely humble posture, personally leading the way. He was able to obtain the Heart of Thunder this time entirely thanks to the two guest elders, especially the Blood Shadow Elder. If it weren't for the Blood Shadow Elder, it would be questionable whether he could have escaped unscathed.

The Lei Zhanhou Mansion covers a vast area and features a simple and imposing architectural style. It is mainly composed of deep purplish-black thunderstone, adorned with flowing silver-white thunder patterns, exuding the unique nobility of royalty within its majesty.

The mansion is surrounded by numerous array formations, forming its own world and isolating it from the noise and prying eyes of the outside world.

When the hunched figure of the Blood Shadow Elder stepped into the mansion gate with Lei Zhan, all the servants and guards inside, including Lei Zhan's Chaos Realm old servant, held their breath and were extremely respectful.

News of the battle in the abyss had already swept through the entire Holy City of the Thunder Ancient Kingdom like a hurricane!
"Withering and flourishing define the domain, a single finger shatters the Overlord Blade, a flick of the finger captures eight peak Chaos Realm cultivators..."

"The Blood-Hidden Elder... a transcendence of the Chaos Realm I've never heard of before!"

"The Fourth Prince Lei Zhan actually possesses such heaven-defying fortune that he could have such a person as his protector?"

"God-King Jia Yin personally led us back to the city, and the Emperor will soon summon us!"

This information was being frantically transmitted, pieced together, and fermented in every corner of the Holy City and in the intelligence centers of various major forces.

The Chaos Realm transcends all others. Regardless of whether one is a member of the royal family or a guest minister, once one reaches this realm, one's status is equivalent to that of an ordinary God-King. One possesses the power to influence the empire's structure and is an existence that all parties vie to win over or fear.

A newly emerged Chaos Realm Transcender will naturally attract attention from all sides!
……

The dark gold ship sped through the deep space.

Inside the cabin, the gentle flames around King Bharadvaja flickered violently, reflecting the ashen and humiliated expression on his white-scaled face.

Withered Wood, Blade Demon, and the others, their spirits waning, struggled to recover under the nourishment of the treasure.

"Investigate! Find out the origins of this Blood Shadow!" Polu's voice suppressed his burning rage. "The humiliation of today will be repaid a hundredfold by my Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom!"

The loss of face and resources of five top-tier Chaos Realm peak experts is secondary; the real threat is a stranger from the Chaos Realm who can easily suppress eight peak experts and make even God Kings hesitate to act against him, joining the opposing camp.

……

Tianmu Kingdom, the hidden world.

At the core of this vast world, where the roots of endless divine trees intertwined, a colossal figure, seemingly carved from the oldest purple wood, slightly moved its eyelids.

His thoughts swept across the void, capturing the information transmitted back by the intelligence organization.

"A new Chaos Realm Transcendence?" The voice of the Purple Wood God King carried a unique chaotic roar. "Interesting. However, he has been embroiled in the conflict between two ancient kingdoms. With this level of strength... if he doesn't have a powerful backer, his small frame can't withstand even the slightest storm."

An ancient vine wrapped in chaotic energy swayed slightly. Although the Chaos Realm Transcendence was of a high status, even he, an Ultimate Realm cultivator, had to be cautious when facing the two ancient kingdoms, let alone a Chaos Realm 'little guy'.
……

The Lord of the Myriad Realms was in a strange space that seemed to be composed of fragments of billions of worlds, his figure blurry and uncertain, as if he were comprehending the infinite laws.

Without even leaving, he could calculate with his fingers that fragments of information about the abyss from all sides would automatically converge and be analyzed before him.

"Transcending the Chaos Realm, a new one?" The Lord of Myriad Realms tapped his fingertip slightly. "A rather ingenious spatial confinement. This 'Withering and Flourishing' is no small matter; it has the potential to evolve chaos and form the prototype of its own universe."

"You can keep an eye on it."

To be able to attract even a sliver of attention from an Ultimate Realm expert is already an immense honor. Ordinary Chaos Realm experts don't even qualify to catch the attention of a chess player like this standing on the Origin Continent.

……

The Palace of Two Realms, somewhere within the palace.

The wills of beings at the God Emperor Realm communicate and collide here.

"A Chaos Realm Transcendence cultivator has emerged from the Thunder Ancient Kingdom? I've never heard of anyone cultivating the Great Dao of Life. Even Polu suffered a silent loss." A voice as cold as the clash of metal echoed.

“I’ve observed him. This person acted decisively, not recklessly, but he is also a greedy individual, worthy of our attention. We are too restricted in this source world; enticing more natives will allow us to better serve ourselves.” Another God Emperor’s thoughts resonated. They came from other source worlds and were naturally suppressed. Even with the Two Realms Palace, a secret treasure surpassing the ultimate God King realm, they could only hide in the shadows.

Moreover, this is the source world where Yuan left behind treasures and inheritances. The natives in it are not weak, and the two ancient kingdom ancestors are even extremely powerful!

Therefore, even though they coveted Yuan's treasures, they could only do so secretly and slowly.

On the other side, the mind responded: "Okay, activate the 'Spider Web Level C' contingency plan, collect all traces of its past, and if it's suitable, try trading twice first."

For God Emperor level experts, apart from what Yuan left behind, there was nothing in this Origin World that attracted them. Therefore, they were extremely generous with other tradable external objects!
This is why they were able to thrive in another world.

……

Wanfa Tower.

……

A lone boat in time and space.

……

Shadow Realm.

……

The Mother River of Life.

……

The Reincarnation Pavilion.

Inside the quaint little building, the Empress of Fengdu murmured, "A cultivator of the Great Dao of Life? Withering and Flourishing? That's quite rare."

The Wind Queen's languid voice rang out, tinged with interest. Her thoughts seemed to pierce through space, heading towards Thunder City.

Nearby, the Great Freedom Lord's laughter echoed: "Haha, interesting! To be able to force that brat Polu to obediently hand over his money, this temperament suits my taste! The cycle of flourishing and decay, the impermanence of life and death, does resonate somewhat with the true meaning of freedom. It's a pity, he's not one of my people." The Returning Void Emperor said in a low voice: "Desolation is the end, prosperity is the beginning? Ultimately, it's within the cycle of reincarnation. The Dao is acceptable, but his temperament... shows no sign of transcendence."

This evaluation is lukewarm and not high.

Blood Shadow wasn't enough to shake the entire building; it only piqued the interest of a few members.

……

Every top power on the Origin Continent has taken notice of the Blood Shadow Elder. His transcendence into the Chaos Realm has earned him their attention...

After all, the Origin Continent may seem vast and boundless, but in reality, it's just a backyard where top chess players raise wild beasts and cultivate their juniors.

Ordinary True Gods, Void True Gods, and even Eternal True Gods might never be able to travel all over the continent in their entire lives. But starting from the Chaos Realm, the Origin Continent 'shrank'. A normal Chaos Realm cultivator, as long as they don't court death or get unlucky enough to get caught in some vortex, can live quite comfortably on the Origin Continent.

Join a kingdom, acquire a fiefdom, build several cities, collect taxes from those cities, and live the life of a manor lord.

However, these Chaos Realm beings don't even have the power to change the internal power structure of a nation; they are merely larger ants.

To truly begin to influence the situation on the Origin Continent and shift the balance of power from within the chessboard to outside, one must reach the God-King realm, or rather, possess the strength of a God-King!

Therefore, the transcendence of the Chaos Realm has begun to be recognized by the top powers.

……

Thunder Holy City, Thunder War Marquis's Mansion.

Zi Lei Xuan is a quiet room built with ten-thousand-year-old lightning-struck wood and inscribed with a calming and concentration array.

The fragrant sandalwood incense smoke isolates one from all external disturbances.

The Blood-Hidden Elder sat cross-legged on a simple futon, his hunched body seemingly blending into the quiet room, his aura as still as a deep, ancient well.

Only the fist-sized "Chaotic Thunder Source Crystal" floating in front of him, its interior filled with chaotic lightning like the creation of the world, and the storage container beside him, whose space was slightly distorted and contained a huge amount of wealth, silently told the story of the glorious victory in the battle of the abyss.

His cloudy eyes were half-open, not in cultivation, but in sorting out his thoughts.

What was obtained from the abyss was not only a massive amount of cosmic sand 'cash', totaling about 150 billion, but also various rare treasures, including Xuan Yin and Qi Yun relics, ransoms for princes and worshippers, and ransoms for powerful figures from the Yanfeng Ancient Kingdom, totaling 350 billion in value.

This battle yielded a fortune equivalent to 500 billion cosmic sands, which shocked him!

Thoughts moved slightly.

hum!
Its aura began to decline, no longer transcending the Chaos Realm. Meanwhile, its two clones, one in Xuanhu City and the other in the Eastern Extreme Region, quickly reunited and returned through the particles they left behind.

The state of three bodies as one has been dissolved.

The Blood-Hidden Elder had returned to his normal peak Chaos Realm form, but with the perfect divine body concealing him invisibly, his aura remained obscure and hidden, no different from before.

Outside the quiet room, Lei Zhan's old servant stood silently guard like the most loyal protector, in case Xue Yin summoned him.

He could sense the strange aura emanating from the quiet room, a abyss-like stillness that seemed to encompass the life and death of all things, deepening his awe. The servants passing by the mansion were also extremely cautious, even walking lightly, for fear of disturbing this terrifying being who now shook the holy city.

Time slipped away quietly in the still room, amidst the changing atmosphere of life and death.

After an unknown amount of time, the voice of the old servant from the Chaos Realm, deliberately lowered but unable to conceal his excitement, came from outside the quiet room: "Lord Blood Shadow, His Highness has returned! The Emperor's bestowal of rewards has been completed!"

In the quiet room, the rhythm of life and death paused slightly.

The Blood-Hidden Elder slowly opened his eyes.

In the depths of those murky eyes, it seemed as if countless worlds were undergoing cycles of growth and decay, ultimately returning to a deeper tranquility.

The gains from the abyss have quietly accumulated, transforming into a more solid foundation for his path.

He flicked his sleeve to put away the Chaos Thunder Source Crystal and storage items, stood up with his hunched figure, and pushed open the door to the quiet room.

Outside the door, Lei Zhan stood in a brand-new prince's crown robe, its purple and gold lightning patterns gleaming. He exuded an air of grandeur, his brows revealing an undisguised arrogance.

Clearly, the Emperor's reward far exceeded expectations, solidifying his future core position within the royal family. However, his gaze towards Xue Yin was even more respectful than when he was in the Abyss, even carrying a hint of dependence.

"Blood Shadow!" Lei Zhan stepped forward and bowed deeply. "I have already accepted the Emperor's generous gift. However, I know that without your miraculous intervention, I would not have survived this journey to the Abyss, let alone received such an honor. I will forever remember this kindness!"

The old man with the hidden blood quickly helped him up and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Highness is blessed. I was just doing my duty."

Lei Zhan said solemnly, "I have never forgotten what you entrusted to me! However..."

A perfectly measured look of embarrassment and frankness appeared on his face. “The inheritance of the Hunyuan bloodline is the highest core secret of our Thunder Ancient Kingdom, involving the foundation of the ancient kingdom and the secrets of the emperor’s bloodline. Even though Lei Zhan has made great contributions this time and gained the emperor’s favor, and wishes to recommend you, we still need to follow the ancient etiquette, report through the layers of bureaucracy, and let the emperors make the final decision. There may be obstacles and hindrances along the way, but this is because the matter is of great importance, and it is not Lei Zhan’s way of shirking responsibility. Please understand.”

He paused, his eyes shining with sincerity: "But rest assured! Lei Zhan hereby swears that he will do his utmost to make this happen! It's just... it will take some time to process."

Ordinary Hunyuan bloodlines don't need to go through so much trouble, but Lei Zhan is certain that Xueyin looks down on those Hunyuan creatures in the Chaos Realm who are almost degenerating into ordinary beasts. Therefore, he wants to take advantage of this opportunity to meet the Emperor to obtain a powerful Hunyuan creature in the God King Realm for Xueyin!
This creature is also an extremely important strategic resource in the Thunder Kingdom.

The Blood-Hidden Elder listened quietly, his turbid eyes as still as a deep well, as if he had already seen through the intricacies of the situation.

The Thunder Kingdom has stood on the Origin Continent for countless years. The method of inheriting the Hunyuan bloodline must be the core of its core. How could it easily be given to outsiders, even a newly risen and meritorious Chaos Realm Transcendent?
Lei Zhan's words were half truth, half a test, and also a statement of his position—he would do his best, but it would take time, and he would also need Xueyin to give him enough trust and support.

An invisible pressure flowed through the air.

A moment later, the Blood Shadow Elder's hoarse voice slowly rang out, like a withered branch scraping against a hard rock: "Your Highness has gone to great lengths, I thank you in advance."

Lei Zhan smiled and nodded, then turned to the old servant of the Chaos Realm standing beside him and sternly instructed, "Uncle Lei, the Blood Shadow Guest Elder is the most honored person in my mansion, with a status equal to mine. Whatever your orders are, do them immediately without the slightest delay! If you are negligent, don't blame me for not showing any mercy!"

The old servant Reber stiffened and bowed deeply: "This old servant understands! I will do my utmost to serve Lord Blood Shadow!"

His gaze toward Xueyin was filled with even greater awe.

The Blood-Hidden Elder nodded slightly, said no more, and turned to slowly walk back to the quiet room in the Purple Thunder Pavilion. The heavy, lightning-struck wooden door closed silently behind him, once again separating the inside from the outside into two worlds.

Looking at the closed door, Lei Zhan felt an even stronger sense of responsibility.

This matter involves both trust and invisible pressure.

If this matter is handled poorly, not only will the previous favors be forfeited, but it may also offend a cunning and unpredictable Chaos Realm Transcendent.

His eyes narrowed, and he whispered to Reber, "Guard this place well. No one is allowed to disturb Xueyin's secluded cultivation. I'm going to pay my respects to some of the elders in the ancestral hall."

Having said that, he straightened his imperial robes and strode out. (End of Chapter)